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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9932.txt b/9932.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e73b709 --- /dev/null +++ b/9932.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9433 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last Trail, by Zane Grey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Last Trail + +Author: Zane Grey + +Posting Date: November 5, 2011 [EBook #9932] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: November 1, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST TRAIL *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Audrey Longhurst, Tom Allen and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +ZANE GREY + +The Last Trail + +MCMIX + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Twilight of a certain summer day, many years ago, shaded softly down +over the wild Ohio valley bringing keen anxiety to a traveler on the +lonely river trail. He had expected to reach Fort Henry with his party +on this night, thus putting a welcome end to the long, rough, +hazardous journey through the wilderness; but the swift, on-coming +dusk made it imperative to halt. The narrow, forest-skirted trail, +difficult to follow in broad daylight, apparently led into gloomy +aisles in the woods. His guide had abandoned him that morning, making +excuse that his services were no longer needed; his teamster was new +to the frontier, and, altogether, the situation caused him much +uneasiness. + +"I wouldn't so much mind another night in camp, if the guide had not +left us," he said in a low tone to the teamster. + +That worthy shook his shaggy head, and growled while he began +unhitching the horses. + +"Uncle," said a young man, who had clambered out from the wagon, "we +must be within a few miles of Fort Henry." + +"How d'ye know we're near the fort?" interrupted the teamster, "or +safe, either, fer thet matter? I don't know this country." + +"The guide assured me we could easily make Fort Henry by sundown." + +"Thet guide! I tell ye, Mr. Sheppard----" + +"Not so loud. Do not alarm my daughter," cautioned the man who had +been called Sheppard. + +"Did ye notice anythin' queer about thet guide?" asked the teamster, +lowering his voice. "Did ye see how oneasy he was last night? Did it +strike ye he left us in a hurry, kind of excited like, in spite of his +offhand manner?" + +"Yes, he acted odd, or so it seemed to me," replied Sheppard. "How +about you, Will?" + +"Now that I think of it, I believe he was queer. He behaved like a man +who expected somebody, or feared something might happen. I fancied, +however, that it was simply the manner of a woodsman." + +"Wal, I hev my opinion," said the teamster, in a gruff whisper. "Ye +was in a hurry to be a-goin', an' wouldn't take no advice. The +fur-trader at Fort Pitt didn't give this guide Jenks no good send off. +Said he wasn't well-known round Pitt, 'cept he could handle a +knife some." + +"What is your opinion?" asked Sheppard, as the teamster paused. + +"Wal, the valley below Pitt is full of renegades, outlaws an' +hoss-thieves. The redskins ain't so bad as they used to be, but these +white fellers are wusser'n ever. This guide Jenks might be in with +them, that's all. Mebbe I'm wrong. I hope so. The way he left us +looks bad." + +"We won't borrow trouble. If we have come all this way without seeing +either Indian or outlaw--in fact, without incident--I feel certain we +can perform the remainder of the journey in safety." Then Mr. Sheppard +raised his voice. "Here, Helen, you lazy girl, come out of that wagon. +We want some supper. Will, you gather some firewood, and we'll soon +give this gloomy little glen a more cheerful aspect." + +As Mr. Sheppard turned toward the canvas-covered wagon a girl leaped +lightly down beside him. She was nearly as tall as he. + +"Is this Fort Henry?" she asked, cheerily, beginning to dance around +him. "Where's the inn? I'm _so_ hungry. How glad I am to get out of +that wagon! I'd like to run. Isn't this a lonesome, lovely spot?" + +A camp-fire soon crackled with hiss and sputter, and fragrant +wood-smoke filled the air. Steaming kettle, and savory steaks of +venison cheered the hungry travelers, making them forget for the time +the desertion of their guide and the fact that they might be lost. The +last glow faded entirely out of the western sky. Night enveloped the +forest, and the little glade was a bright spot in the gloom. + +The flickering light showed Mr. Sheppard to be a well-preserved old +man with gray hair and ruddy, kindly face. The nephew had a boyish, +frank expression. The girl was a splendid specimen of womanhood. Her +large, laughing eyes were as dark as the shadows beneath the trees. + +Suddenly a quick start on Helen's part interrupted the merry flow of +conversation. She sat bolt upright with half-averted face. + +"Cousin, what is the matter?" asked Will, quickly. + +Helen remained motionless. + +"My dear," said Mr. Sheppard sharply. + +"I heard a footstep," she whispered, pointing with trembling finger +toward the impenetrable blackness beyond the camp-fire. + +All could hear a soft patter on the leaves. Then distinct footfalls +broke the silence. + +The tired teamster raised his shaggy head and glanced fearfully around +the glade. Mr. Sheppard and Will gazed doubtfully toward the foliage; +but Helen did not change her position. The travelers appeared stricken +by the silence and solitude of the place. The faint hum of insects, +and the low moan of the night wind, seemed accentuated by the almost +painful stillness. + +"A panther, most likely," suggested Sheppard, in a voice which he +intended should be reassuring. "I saw one to-day slinking along +the trail." + +"I'd better get my gun from the wagon," said Will. + +"How dark and wild it is here!" exclaimed Helen nervously. "I believe +I was frightened. Perhaps I fancied it--there! Again--listen. Ah!" + +Two tall figures emerged from the darkness into the circle of light, +and with swift, supple steps gained the camp-fire before any of the +travelers had time to move. They were Indians, and the brandishing of +their tomahawks proclaimed that they were hostile. + +"Ugh!" grunted the taller savage, as he looked down upon the +defenseless, frightened group. + +As the menacing figures stood in the glare of the fire gazing at the +party with shifty eyes, they presented a frightful appearance. Fierce +lineaments, all the more so because of bars of paint, the hideous, +shaven heads adorned with tufts of hair holding a single feather, +sinewy, copper-colored limbs suggestive of action and endurance, the +general aspect of untamed ferocity, appalled the travelers and chilled +their blood. + +Grunts and chuckles manifested the satisfaction with which the Indians +fell upon the half-finished supper. They caused it to vanish with +astonishing celerity, and resembled wolves rather than human beings in +their greediness. + +Helen looked timidly around as if hoping to see those who would aid, +and the savages regarded her with ill humor. A movement on the part of +any member of the group caused muscular hands to steal toward the +tomahawks. + +Suddenly the larger savage clutched his companion's knee. Then lifting +his hatchet, shook it with a significant gesture in Sheppard's face, +at the same time putting a finger on his lips to enjoin silence. Both +Indians became statuesque in their immobility. They crouched in an +attitude of listening, with heads bent on one side, nostrils dilated, +and mouths open. + +One, two, three moments passed. The silence of the forest appeared to +be unbroken; but ears as keen as those of a deer had detected some +sound. The larger savage dropped noiselessly to the ground, where he +lay stretched out with his ear to the ground. The other remained +immovable; only his beady eyes gave signs of life, and these covered +every point. + +Finally the big savage rose silently, pointed down the dark trail, and +strode out of the circle of light. His companion followed close at his +heels. The two disappeared in the black shadows like specters, as +silently as they had come. + +"Well!" breathed Helen. + +"I am immensely relieved!" exclaimed Will. + +"What do you make of such strange behavior?" Sheppard asked of the +teamster. + +"I'spect they got wind of somebody; most likely thet guide, an'll be +back again. If they ain't, it's because they got switched off by some +signs or tokens, skeered, perhaps, by the scent of the wind." + +Hardly had he ceased speaking when again the circle of light was +invaded by stalking forms. + +"I thought so! Here comes the skulkin' varmints," whispered the +teamster. + +But he was wrong. A deep, calm voice spoke the single word: "Friends." + +Two men in the brown garb of woodsmen approached. One approached the +travelers; the other remained in the background, leaning upon a long, +black rifle. + +Thus exposed to the glare of the flames, the foremost woodsman +presented a singularly picturesque figure. His costume was the fringed +buckskins of the border. Fully six feet tall, this lithe-limbed young +giant had something of the wild, free grace of the Indian in +his posture. + +He surveyed the wondering travelers with dark, grave eyes. + +"Did the reddys do any mischief?" he asked. + +"No, they didn't harm us," replied Sheppard. "They ate our supper, +and slipped off into the woods without so much as touching one of us. +But, indeed, sir, we are mighty glad to see you." + +Will echoed this sentiment, and Helen's big eyes were fastened upon +the stranger in welcome and wonder. + +"We saw your fire blazin' through the twilight, an' came up just in +time to see the Injuns make off." + +"Might they not hide in the bushes and shoot us?" asked Will, who had +listened to many a border story at Fort Pitt. "It seems as if we'd +make good targets in this light." + +The gravity of the woodsman's face relaxed. + +"You will pursue them?" asked Helen. + +"They've melted into the night-shadows long ago," he replied. "Who was +your guide?" + +"I hired him at Fort Pitt. He left us suddenly this morning. A big +man, with black beard and bushy eyebrows. A bit of his ear had been +shot or cut out," Sheppard replied. + +"Jenks, one of Bing Legget's border-hawks." + +"You have his name right. And who may Bing Legget be?" + +"He's an outlaw. Jenks has been tryin' to lead you into a trap. Likely +he expected those Injuns to show up a day or two ago. Somethin' went +wrong with the plan, I reckon. Mebbe he was waitin' for five Shawnees, +an' mebbe he'll never see three of 'em again." + +Something suggestive, cold, and grim, in the last words did not escape +the listeners. + +"How far are we from Fort Henry?" asked Sheppard. + +"Eighteen miles as a crow flies; longer by trail." + +"Treachery!" exclaimed the old man. "We were no more than that this +morning. It is indeed fortunate that you found us. I take it you are +from Fort Henry, and will guide us there? I am an old friend of +Colonel Zane's. He will appreciate any kindness you may show us. Of +course you know him?" + +"I am Jonathan Zane." + +Sheppard suddenly realized that he was facing the most celebrated +scout on the border. In Revolutionary times Zane's fame had extended +even to the far Atlantic Colonies. + +"And your companion?" asked Sheppard with keen interest. He guessed +what might be told. Border lore coupled Jonathan Zane with a strange +and terrible character, a border Nemesis, a mysterious, shadowy, +elusive man, whom few pioneers ever saw, but of whom all knew. + +"Wetzel," answered Zane. + +With one accord the travelers gazed curiously at Zane's silent +companion. In the dim background of the glow cast by the fire, he +stood a gigantic figure, dark, quiet, and yet with something +intangible in his shadowy outline. + +Suddenly he appeared to merge into the gloom as if he really were a +phantom. A warning, "Hist!" came from the bushes. + +With one swift kick Zane scattered the camp-fire. + +The travelers waited with bated breaths. They could hear nothing save +the beating of their own hearts; they could not even see each other. + +"Better go to sleep," came in Zane's calm voice. What a relief it was! +"We'll keep watch, an' at daybreak guide you to Fort Henry." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Colonel Zane, a rugged, stalwart pioneer, with a strong, dark face, +sat listening to his old friend's dramatic story. At its close a +genial smile twinkled in his fine dark eyes. + +"Well, well, Sheppard, no doubt it was a thrilling adventure to you," +he said. "It might have been a little more interesting, and doubtless +would, had I not sent Wetzel and Jonathan to look you up." + +"You did? How on earth did you know I was on the border? I counted +much on the surprise I should give you." + +"My Indian runners leave Fort Pitt ahead of any travelers, and +acquaint me with particulars." + +"I remembered a fleet-looking Indian who seemed to be asking for +information about us, when we arrived at Fort Pitt. I am sorry I did +not take the fur-trader's advice in regard to the guide. But I was in +such a hurry to come, and didn't feel able to bear the expense of a +raft or boat that we might come by river. My nephew brought +considerable gold, and I all my earthly possessions." + +"All's well that ends well," replied Colonel Zane cheerily. "But we +must thank Providence that Wetzel and Jonathan came up in the nick +of time." + +"Indeed, yes. I'm not likely to forget those fierce savages. How they +slipped off into the darkness! I wonder if Wetzel pursued them? He +disappeared last night, and we did not see him again. In fact we +hardly had a fair look at him. I question if I should recognize him +now, unless by his great stature." + +"He was ahead of Jonathan on the trail. That is Wetzel's way. In times +of danger he is seldom seen, yet is always near. But come, let us go +out and look around. I am running up a log cabin which will come in +handy for you." + +They passed out into the shade of pine and maples. A winding path led +down a gentle slope. On the hillside under a spreading tree a throng +of bearded pioneers, clad in faded buckskins and wearing white-ringed +coonskin caps, were erecting a log cabin. + +"Life here on the border is keen, hard, invigorating," said Colonel +Zane. "I tell you, George Sheppard, in spite of your gray hair and +your pretty daughter, you have come out West because you want to live +among men who do things." + +"Colonel, I won't gainsay I've still got hot blood," replied Sheppard; +"but I came to Fort Henry for land. My old home in Williamsburg has +fallen into ruin together with the fortunes of my family. I brought my +daughter and my nephew because I wanted them to take root in +new soil." + +"Well, George, right glad we are to have you. Where are your sons? I +remember them, though 'tis sixteen long years since I left old +Williamsburg." + +"Gone. The Revolution took my sons. Helen is the last of the family." + +"Well, well, indeed that's hard. Independence has cost you colonists +as big a price as border-freedom has us pioneers. Come, old friend, +forget the past. A new life begins for you here, and it will be one +which gives you much. See, up goes a cabin; that will soon be +your home." + +Sheppard's eye marked the sturdy pioneers and a fast diminishing pile +of white-oak logs. + +"Ho-heave!" cried a brawny foreman. + +A dozen stout shoulders sagged beneath a well-trimmed log. + +"Ho-heave!" yelled the foreman. + +"See, up she goes," cried the colonel, "and to-morrow night she'll +shed rain." + +They walked down a sandy lane bounded on the right by a wide, green +clearing, and on the left by a line of chestnuts and maples, outposts +of the thick forests beyond. + +"Yours is a fine site for a house," observed Sheppard, taking in the +clean-trimmed field that extended up the hillside, a brook that +splashed clear and noisy over the stones to tarry in a little +grass-bound lake which forced water through half-hollowed logs into a +spring house. + +"I think so; this is the fourth time I've put up a' cabin on this +land," replied the colonel. + +"How's that?" + +"The redskins are keen to burn things." + +Sheppard laughed at the pioneer's reply. "It's not difficult, Colonel +Zane, to understand why Fort Henry has stood all these years, with you +as its leader. Certainly the location for your cabin is the finest in +the settlement. What a view!" + +High upon a bluff overhanging the majestic, slow-winding Ohio, the +colonel's cabin afforded a commanding position from which to view the +picturesque valley. Sheppard's eye first caught the outline of the +huge, bold, time-blackened fort which frowned protectingly over +surrounding log-cabins; then he saw the wide-sweeping river with its +verdant islands, golden, sandy bars, and willow-bordered shores, while +beyond, rolling pastures of wavy grass merging into green forests that +swept upward with slow swell until lost in the dim purple of distant +mountains. + +"Sixteen years ago I came out of the thicket upon yonder bluff, and +saw this valley. I was deeply impressed by its beauty, but more by its +wonderful promise." + +"Were you alone?" + +"I and my dog. There had been a few white men before me on the river; +but I was the first to see this glorious valley from the bluff. Now, +George, I'll let you have a hundred acres of well-cleared land. The +soil is so rich you can raise two crops in one season. With some +stock, and a few good hands, you'll soon be a busy man." + +"I didn't expect so much land; I can't well afford to pay for it." + +"Talk to me of payment when the farm yields an income. Is this young +nephew of yours strong and willing?" + +"He is, and has gold enough to buy a big farm." + +"Let him keep his money, and make a comfortable home for some good +lass. We marry our young people early out here. And your daughter, +George, is she fitted for this hard border life?" + +"Never fear for Helen." + +"The brunt of this pioneer work falls on our women. God bless them, +how heroic they've been! The life here is rough for a man, let alone a +woman. But it is a man's game. We need girls, girls who will bear +strong men. Yet I am always saddened when I see one come out on +the border." + +"I think I knew what I was bringing Helen to, and she didn't flinch," +said Sheppard, somewhat surprised at the tone in which the +colonel spoke. + +"No one knows until he has lived on the border. Well, well, all this +is discouraging to you. Ah! here is Miss Helen with my sister." + +The colonel's fine, dark face lost its sternness, and brightened with +a smile. + +"I hope you rested well after your long ride." + +"I am seldom tired, and I have been made most comfortable. I thank you +and your sister," replied the girl, giving Colonel Zane her hand, and +including both him and his sister in her grateful glance. + +The colonel's sister was a slender, handsome young woman, whose dark +beauty showed to most effective advantage by the contrast with her +companion's fair skin, golden hair, and blue eyes. + +Beautiful as was Helen Sheppard, it was her eyes that held Colonel +Zane irresistibly. They were unusually large, of a dark purple-blue +that changed, shaded, shadowed with her every thought. + +"Come, let us walk," Colonel Zane said abruptly, and, with Mr. +Sheppard, followed the girls down the path. He escorted them to the +fort, showed a long room with little squares cut in the rough-hewn +logs, many bullet holes, fire-charred timbers, and dark stains, +terribly suggestive of the pain and heroism which the defense of that +rude structure had cost. + +Under Helen's eager questioning Colonel Zane yielded to his weakness +for story-telling, and recited the history of the last siege of Fort +Henry; how the renegade Girty swooped down upon the settlement with +hundreds of Indians and British soldiers; how for three days of +whistling bullets, flaming arrows, screeching demons, fire, smoke, and +attack following attack, the brave defenders stood at their posts, +there to die before yielding. + +"Grand!" breathed Helen, and her eyes glowed. "It was then Betty Zane +ran with the powder? Oh! I've heard the story." + +"Let my sister tell you of that," said the colonel, smiling. + +"You! Was it you?" And Helen's eyes glowed brighter with the light of +youth's glory in great deeds. + +"My sister has been wedded and widowed since then," said Colonel Zane, +reading in Helen's earnest scrutiny of his sister's calm, sad face a +wonder if this quiet woman could be the fearless and famed +Elizabeth Zane. + +Impulsively Helen's hand closed softly over her companion's. Out of +the girlish sympathetic action a warm friendship was born. + +"I imagine things do happen here," said Mr. Sheppard, hoping to hear +more from Colonel Zane. + +The colonel smiled grimly. + +"Every summer during fifteen years has been a bloody one on the +border. The sieges of Fort Henry, and Crawford's defeat, the biggest +things we ever knew out here, are matters of history; of course you +are familiar with them. But the numberless Indian forays and attacks, +the women who have been carried into captivity by renegades, the +murdered farmers, in fact, ceaseless war never long directed at any +point, but carried on the entire length of the river, are matters +known only to the pioneers. Within five miles of Fort Henry I can show +you where the laurel bushes grow three feet high over the ashes of two +settlements, and many a clearing where some unfortunate pioneer had +staked his claim and thrown up a log cabin, only to die fighting for +his wife and children. Between here and Fort Pitt there is only one +settlement, Yellow Creek, and most of its inhabitants are survivors of +abandoned villages farther up the river. Last summer we had the +Moravian Massacre, the blackest, most inhuman deed ever committed. +Since then Simon Girty and his bloody redskins have lain low." + +"You must always have had a big force," said Sheppard. + +"We've managed always to be strong enough, though there never were a +large number of men here. During the last siege I had only forty in +the fort, counting men, women and boys. But I had pioneers and women +who could handle a rifle, and the best bordermen on the frontier." + +"Do you make a distinction between pioneers and bordermen?" asked +Sheppard. + +"Indeed, yes. I am a pioneer; a borderman is an Indian hunter, or +scout. For years my cabins housed Andrew Zane, Sam and John McCollock, +Bill Metzar, and John and Martin Wetzel, all of whom are dead. Not one +saved his scalp. Fort Henry is growing; it has pioneers, rivermen, +soldiers, but only two bordermen. Wetzel and Jonathan are the only +ones we have left of those great men." + +"They must be old," mused Helen, with a dreamy glow still in her eyes. + +"Well, Miss Helen, not in years, as you mean. Life here is old in +experience; few pioneers, and no bordermen, live to a great age. +Wetzel is about forty, and my brother Jonathan still a young man; but +both are old in border lore." + +Earnestly, as a man who loves his subject, Colonel Zane told his +listeners of these two most prominent characters of the border. +Sixteen years previously, when but boys in years, they had cast in +their lot with his, and journeyed over the Virginian Mountains, Wetzel +to devote his life to the vengeful calling he had chosen, and Jonathan +to give rein to an adventurous spirit and love of the wilds. By some +wonderful chance, by cunning, woodcraft, or daring, both men had lived +through the years of border warfare which had brought to a close the +careers of all their contemporaries. + +For many years Wetzel preferred solitude to companionship; he roamed +the wilderness in pursuit of Indians, his life-long foes, and seldom +appeared at the settlement except to bring news of an intended raid of +the savages. Jonathan also spent much time alone in the woods, or +scouting along the river. But of late years a friendship had ripened +between the two bordermen. Mutual interest had brought them together +on the trail of a noted renegade, and when, after many long days of +patient watching and persistent tracking, the outlaw paid an awful +penalty for his bloody deeds, these lone and silent men were friends. + +Powerful in build, fleet as deer, fearless and tireless, Wetzel's +peculiar bloodhound sagacity, ferocity, and implacability, balanced by +Jonathan's keen intelligence and judgment caused these bordermen to +become the bane of redmen and renegades. Their fame increased with +each succeeding summer, until now the people of the settlement looked +upon wonderful deeds of strength and of woodcraft as a matter of +course, rejoicing in the power and skill with which these men +were endowed. + +By common consent the pioneers attributed any mysterious deed, from +the finding of a fat turkey on a cabin doorstep, to the discovery of a +savage scalped and pulled from his ambush near a settler's spring, to +Wetzel and Jonathan. All the more did they feel sure of this +conclusion because the bordermen never spoke of their deeds. Sometimes +a pioneer living on the outskirts of the settlement would be awakened +in the morning by a single rifle shot, and on peering out would see a +dead Indian lying almost across his doorstep, while beyond, in the +dim, gray mist, a tall figure stealing away. Often in the twilight on +a summer evening, while fondling his children and enjoying his smoke +after a hard day's labor in the fields, this same settler would see +the tall, dark figure of Jonathan Zane step noiselessly out of a +thicket, and learn that he must take his family and flee at once to +the fort for safety. When a settler was murdered, his children carried +into captivity by Indians, and the wife given over to the power of +some brutal renegade, tragedies wofully frequent on the border, Wetzel +and Jonathan took the trail alone. Many a white woman was returned +alive and, sometimes, unharmed to her relatives; more than one maiden +lived to be captured, rescued, and returned to her lover, while almost +numberless were the bones of brutal redmen lying in the deep and +gloomy woods, or bleaching on the plains, silent, ghastly reminders of +the stern justice meted out by these two heroes. + +"Such are my two bordermen, Miss Sheppard. The fort there, and all +these cabins, would be only black ashes, save for them, and as for us, +our wives and children--God only knows." + +"Haven't they wives and children, too?" asked Helen. + +"No," answered Colonel Zane, with his genial smile. "Such joys are not +for bordermen." + +"Why not? Fine men like them deserve happiness," declared Helen. + +"It is necessary we have such," said the colonel simply, "and they +cannot be bordermen unless free as the air blows. Wetzel and Jonathan +have never had sweethearts. I believe Wetzel loved a lass once; but he +was an Indian-killer whose hands were red with blood. He silenced his +heart, and kept to his chosen, lonely life. Jonathan does not seem to +realize that women exist to charm, to please, to be loved and married. +Once we twitted him about his brothers doing their duty by the border, +whereupon he flashed out: 'My life is the border's: my sweetheart is +the North Star!'" + +Helen dreamily watched the dancing, dimpling waves that broke on the +stones of the river shore. All unconscious of the powerful impression +the colonel's recital had made upon her, she was feeling the greatness +of the lives of these bordermen, and the glory it would now be for her +to share with others the pride in their protection. + +"Say, Sheppard, look here," said Colonel Zane, on the return to his +cabin, "that girl of yours has a pair of eyes. I can't forget the way +they flashed! They'll cause more trouble here among my garrison than +would a swarm of redskins." + +"No! You don't mean it! Out here in this wilderness?" queried Sheppard +doubtfully. + +"Well, I do." + +"O Lord! What a time I've had with that girl! There was one man +especially, back home, who made our lives miserable. He was rich and +well born; but Helen would have none of him. He got around me, old +fool that I am! Practically stole what was left of my estate, and +gambled it away when Helen said she'd die before giving herself to +him. It was partly on his account that I brought her away. Then there +were a lot of moon-eyed beggars after her all the time, and she's +young and full of fire. I hoped I'd marry her to some farmer out here, +and end my days in peace." + +"Peace? With eyes like those? Never on this green earth," and Colonel +Zane laughed as he slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry, +old fellow. You can't help her having those changing dark-blue eyes +any more than you can help being proud of them. They have won me, +already, susceptible old backwoodsman! I'll help you with this +spirited young lady. I've had experience, Sheppard, and don't you +forget it. First, my sister, a Zane all through, which is saying +enough. Then as sweet and fiery a little Indian princess as ever +stepped in a beaded moccasin, and since, more than one beautiful, +impulsive creature. Being in authority, I suppose it's natural that +all the work, from keeping the garrison ready against an attack, to +straightening out love affairs, should fall upon me. I'll take the +care off your shoulders; I'll keep these young dare-devils from +killing each other over Miss Helen's favors. I certainly--Hello! There +are strangers at the gate. Something's up." + +Half a dozen rough-looking men had appeared from round the corner of +the cabin, and halted at the gate. + +"Bill Elsing, and some of his men from Yellow Creek," said Colonel +Zane, as he went toward the group. + +"Hullo, Kurnel," was the greeting of the foremost, evidently the +leader. "We've lost six head of hosses over our way, an' are out +lookin' 'em up." + +"The deuce you have! Say, this horse-stealing business is getting +interesting. What did you come in for?" + +"Wal, we meets Jonathan on the ridge about sunup, an' he sent us back +lickety-cut. Said he had two of the hosses corralled, an' mebbe Wetzel +could git the others." + +"That's strange," replied Colonel Zane thoughtfully. + +"'Pears to me Jack and Wetzel hev some redskins treed, an' didn't want +us to spile the fun. Mebbe there wasn't scalps enough to go round. +Anyway, we come in, an' we'll hang up here to-day." + +"Bill, who's doing this horse-stealing?" + +"Damn if I know. It's a mighty pert piece of work. I've a mind it's +some slick white fellar, with Injuns backin' him." + +Helen noted, when she was once more indoors, that Colonel Zane's wife +appeared worried. Her usual placid expression was gone. She put off +the playful overtures of her two bright boys with unusual +indifference, and turned to her husband with anxious questioning as to +whether the strangers brought news of Indians. Upon being assured that +such was not the case, she looked relieved, and explained to Helen +that she had seen armed men come so often to consult the colonel +regarding dangerous missions and expeditions, that the sight of a +stranger caused her unspeakable dread. + +"I am accustomed to danger, yet I can never control my fears for my +husband and children," said Mrs. Zane. "The older I grow the more of a +coward I am. Oh! this border life is sad for women. Only a little +while ago my brother Samuel McColloch was shot and scalped right here +on the river bank. He was going to the spring for a bucket of water. I +lost another brother in almost the same way. Every day during the +summer a husband and a father fall victim to some murderous Indian. My +husband will go in the same way some day. The border claims them all." + +"Bessie, you must not show your fears to our new friend. And, Miss +Helen, don't believe she's the coward she would make out," said the +colonel's sister smilingly. + +"Betty is right, Bess, don't frighten her," said Colonel Zane. "I'm +afraid I talked too much to-day. But, Miss Helen, you were so +interested, and are such a good listener, that I couldn't refrain. +Once for all let me say that you will no doubt see stirring life here; +but there is little danger of its affecting you. To be sure I think +you'll have troubles; but not with Indians or outlaws." + +He winked at his wife and sister. At first Helen did not understand +his sally, but then she blushed red all over her fair face. + +Some time after that, while unpacking her belongings, she heard the +clatter of horses' hoofs on the rocky road, accompanied by loud +voices. Running to the window, she saw a group of men at the gate. + +"Miss Sheppard, will you come out?" called Colonel Zane's sister from +the door. "My brother Jonathan has returned." + +Helen joined Betty at the door, and looked over her shoulder. + +"Wal, Jack, ye got two on 'em, anyways," drawled a voice which she +recognized as that of Elsing's. + +A man, lithe and supple, slipped from the back of one of the horses, +and, giving the halter to Elsing with a single word, turned and +entered the gate. Colonel Zane met him there. + +"Well, Jonathan, what's up?" + +"There's hell to pay," was the reply, and the speaker's voice rang +clear and sharp. + +Colonel Zane laid his hand on his brother's shoulder, and thus they +stood for a moment, singularly alike, and yet the sturdy pioneer was, +somehow, far different from the dark-haired borderman. + +"I thought we'd trouble in store from the look on your face," said the +colonel calmly. "I hope you haven't very bad news on the first day, +for our old friends from Virginia." + +"Jonathan," cried Betty when he did not answer the colonel. At her +call he half turned, and his dark eyes, steady, strained like those of +a watching deer, sought his sister's face. + +"Betty, old Jake Lane was murdered by horse thieves yesterday, and +Mabel Lane is gone." + +"Oh!" gasped Betty; but she said nothing more. + +Colonel Zane cursed inaudibly. + +"You know, Eb, I tried to keep Lane in the settlement for Mabel's +sake. But he wanted to work that farm. I believe horse-stealing wasn't +as much of an object as the girl. Pretty women are bad for the border, +or any other place, I guess. Wetzel has taken the trail, and I came in +because I've serious suspicions--I'll explain to you alone." + +The borderman bowed gravely to Helen, with a natural grace, and yet a +manner that sat awkwardly upon him. The girl, slightly flushed, and +somewhat confused by this meeting with the man around whom her +romantic imagination had already woven a story, stood in the doorway +after giving him a fleeting glance, the fairest, sweetest picture of +girlish beauty ever seen. + +The men went into the house; but their voices came distinctly through +the door. + +"Eb, if Bing Legget or Girty ever see that big-eyed lass, they'll have +her even if Fort Henry has to be burned, an' in case they do get her, +Wetzel an' I'll have taken our last trail." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +Supper over, Colonel Zane led his guests to a side porch, where they +were soon joined by Mrs. Zane and Betty. The host's two boys, Noah and +Sammy, who had preceded them, were now astride the porch-rail and, to +judge by their antics, were riding wild Indian mustangs. + +"It's quite cool," said Colonel Zane; "but I want you to see the +sunset in the valley. A good many of your future neighbors may come +over to-night for a word of welcome. It's the border custom." + +He was about to seat himself by the side of Mr. Sheppard, on a rustic +bench, when a Negro maid appeared in the doorway carrying a smiling, +black-eyed baby. Colonel Zane took the child and, holding it aloft, +said with fatherly pride: + +"This is Rebecca Zane, the first girl baby born to the Zanes, and +destined to be the belle of the border." + +"May I have her?" asked Helen softly, holding out her arms. She took +the child, and placed it upon her knee where its look of solemnity +soon changed to one of infantile delight. + +"Here come Nell and Jim," said Mrs. Zane, pointing toward the fort. + +"Yes, and there comes my brother Silas with his wife, too," added +Colonel Zane. "The first couple are James Douns, our young minister, +and Nell, his wife. They came out here a year or so ago. James had a +brother Joe, the finest young fellow who ever caught the border fever. +He was killed by one of the Girtys. His was a wonderful story, and +some day you shall hear about the parson and his wife." + +"What's the border fever?" asked Mr. Sheppard. + +"It's what brought you out here," replied Colonel Zane with a hearty +laugh. + +Helen gazed with interest at the couple now coming into the yard, and +when they gained the porch she saw that the man was big and tall, with +a frank, manly bearing, while his wife was a slender little woman with +bright, sunny hair, and a sweet, smiling face. They greeted Helen and +her father cordially. + +Next came Silas Zane, a typical bronzed and bearded pioneer, with his +buxom wife. Presently a little group of villagers joined the party. +They were rugged men, clad in faded buckskins, and sober-faced women +who wore dresses of plain gray linsey. They welcomed the newcomers +with simple, homely courtesy. Then six young frontiersmen appeared +from around a corner of the cabin, advancing hesitatingly. To Helen +they all looked alike, tall, awkward, with brown faces and big hands. +When Colonel Zane cheerily cried out to them, they stumbled forward +with evident embarrassment, each literally crushing Helen's hand in +his horny palm. Afterward they leaned on the rail and stole glances +at her. + +Soon a large number of villagers were on the porch or in the yard. +After paying their respects to Helen and her father they took part in +a general conversation. Two or three girls, the latest callers, were +surrounded by half a dozen young fellows, and their laughter sounded +high above the hum of voices. + +Helen gazed upon this company with mingled feelings of relief and +pleasure. She had been more concerned regarding the young people with +whom her lot might be cast, than the dangers of which others had told. +She knew that on the border there was no distinction of rank. Though +she came of an old family, and, during her girlhood, had been +surrounded by refinement, even luxury, she had accepted cheerfully the +reverses of fortune, and was determined to curb the pride which had +been hers. It was necessary she should have friends. Warm-hearted, +impulsive and loving, she needed to have around her those in whom she +could confide. Therefore it was with sincere pleasure she understood +how groundless were her fears and knew that if she did not find good, +true friends the fault would be her own. She saw at a glance that the +colonel's widowed sister was her equal, perhaps her superior, in +education and breeding, while Nellie Douns was as well-bred and +gracious a little lady as she had ever met. Then, the other girls, +too, were charming, with frank wholesomeness and freedom. + +Concerning the young men, of whom there were about a dozen, Helen had +hardly arrived at a conclusion. She liked the ruggedness, the signs of +honest worth which clung to them. Despite her youth, she had been much +sought after because of her personal attractions, and had thus added +experience to the natural keen intuition all women possess. The +glances of several of the men, particularly the bold regard of one +Roger Brandt, whom Colonel Zane introduced, she had seen before, and +learned to dislike. On the whole, however, she was delighted with the +prospect of new friends and future prosperity, and she felt even +greater pleasure in the certainty that her father shared her +gratification. + +Suddenly she became aware that the conversation had ceased. She looked +up to see the tall, lithe form of Jonathan Zane as he strode across +the porch. She could see that a certain constraint had momentarily +fallen upon the company. It was an involuntary acknowledgment of the +borderman's presence, of a presence that worked on all alike with a +subtle, strong magnetism. + +"Ah, Jonathan, come out to see the sunset? It's unusually fine +to-night," said Colonel Zane. + +With hardly more than a perceptible bow to those present, the +borderman took a seat near the rail, and, leaning upon it, directed +his gaze westward. + +Helen sat so near she could have touched him. She was conscious of the +same strange feeling, and impelling sense of power, which had come +upon her so strongly at first sight of him. More than that, a lively +interest had been aroused in her. This borderman was to her a new and +novel character. She was amused at learning that here was a young man +absolutely indifferent to the charms of the opposite sex, and although +hardly admitting such a thing, she believed it would be possible to +win him from his indifference. On raising her eyelids, it was with the +unconcern which a woman feigns when suspecting she is being regarded +with admiring eyes. But Jonathan Zane might not have known of her +presence, for all the attention he paid her. Therefore, having a good +opportunity to gaze at this borderman of daring deeds, Helen regarded +him closely. + +He was clad from head to foot in smooth, soft buckskin which fitted +well his powerful frame. Beaded moccasins, leggings bound high above +the knees, hunting coat laced and fringed, all had the neat, tidy +appearance due to good care. He wore no weapons. His hair fell in a +raven mass over his shoulders. His profile was regular, with a long, +straight nose, strong chin, and eyes black as night. They were now +fixed intently on the valley. The whole face gave an impression of +serenity, of calmness. + +Helen was wondering if the sad, almost stern, tranquility of that face +ever changed, when the baby cooed and held out its chubby little +hands. Jonathan's smile, which came quickly, accompanied by a warm +light in the eyes, relieved Helen of an unaccountable repugnance she +had begun to feel toward the borderman. That smile, brief as a flash, +showed his gentle kindness and told that he was not a creature who had +set himself apart from human life and love. + +As he took little Rebecca, one of his hands touched Helen's. If he had +taken heed of the contact, as any ordinary man might well have, she +would, perhaps, have thought nothing about it, but because he did not +appear to realize that her hand had been almost inclosed in his, she +could not help again feeling his singular personality. She saw that +this man had absolutely no thought of her. At the moment this did not +awaken resentment, for with all her fire and pride she was not vain; +but amusement gave place to a respect which came involuntarily. + +Little Rebecca presently manifested the faithlessness peculiar to her +sex, and had no sooner been taken upon Jonathan's knee than she cried +out to go back to Helen. + +"Girls are uncommon coy critters," said he, with a grave smile in his +eyes. He handed back the child, and once more was absorbed in the +setting sun. + +Helen looked down the valley to behold the most beautiful spectacle +she had ever seen. Between the hills far to the west, the sky flamed +with a red and gold light. The sun was poised above the river, and the +shimmering waters merged into a ruddy horizon. Long rays of crimson +fire crossed the smooth waters. A few purple clouds above caught the +refulgence, until aided by the delicate rose and blue space beyond, +they became many hued ships sailing on a rainbow sea. Each second saw +a gorgeous transformation. Slowly the sun dipped into the golden +flood; one by one the clouds changed from crimson to gold, from gold +to rose, and then to gray; slowly all the tints faded until, as the +sun slipped out of sight, the brilliance gave way to the soft +afterglow of warm lights. These in turn slowly toned down into +gray twilight. + +Helen retired to her room soon afterward, and, being unusually +thoughtful, sat down by the window. She reviewed the events of this +first day of her new life on the border. Her impressions had been so +many, so varied, that she wanted to distinguish them. First she felt +glad, with a sweet, warm thankfulness, that her father seemed so +happy, so encouraged by the outlook. Breaking old ties had been, she +knew, no child's play for him. She realized also that it had been done +solely because there had been nothing left to offer her in the old +home, and in a new one were hope and possibilities. Then she was +relieved at getting away from the attentions of a man whose +persistence had been most annoying to her. From thoughts of her +father, and the old life, she came to her new friends of the present. +She was so grateful for their kindness. She certainly would do all in +her power to win and keep their esteem. + +Somewhat of a surprise was it to her, that she reserved for Jonathan +Zane the last and most prominent place in her meditations. She +suddenly asked herself how she regarded this fighting borderman. She +recalled her unbounded enthusiasm for the man as Colonel Zane had told +of him; then her first glimpse, and her surprise and admiration at the +lithe-limbed young giant; then incredulity, amusement, and respect +followed in swift order, after which an unaccountable coldness that +was almost resentment. Helen was forced to admit that she did not know +how to regard him, but surely he was a man, throughout every inch of +his superb frame, and one who took life seriously, with neither +thought nor time for the opposite sex. And this last brought a blush +to her cheek, for she distinctly remembered she had expected, if not +admiration, more than passing notice from this hero of the border. + +Presently she took a little mirror from a table near where she sat. +Holding it to catch the fast-fading light, she studied her face +seriously. + +"Helen Sheppard, I think on the occasion of your arrival in a new +country a little plain talk will be wholesome. Somehow or other, +perhaps because of a crowd of idle men back there in the colonies, +possibly from your own misguided fancy, you imagined you were fair to +look at. It is well to be undeceived." + +Scorn spoke in Helen's voice. She was angry because of having been +interested in a man, and allowed that interest to betray her into a +girlish expectation that he would treat her as all other men had. The +mirror, even in the dim light, spoke more truly than she, for it +caught the golden tints of her luxuriant hair, the thousand beautiful +shadows in her great, dark eyes, the white glory of a face fair as a +star, and the swelling outline of neck and shoulders. + +With a sudden fiery impetuosity she flung the glass to the floor, +where it was broken into several pieces. + +"How foolish of me! What a temper I have!" she exclaimed repentantly. +"I'm glad I have another glass. Wouldn't Mr. Jonathan Zane, borderman, +Indian fighter, hero of a hundred battles and never a sweetheart, be +flattered? No, most decidedly he wouldn't. He never looked at me. I +don't think I expected that; I'm sure I didn't want it; but still he +might have--Oh! what am I thinking, and he a stranger?" + +Before Helen lost herself in slumber on that eventful evening, she +vowed to ignore the borderman; assured herself that she did not want +to see him again, and, rather inconsistently, that she would cure him +of his indifference. + + * * * * * + +When Colonel Zane's guests had retired, and the villagers were gone to +their homes, he was free to consult with Jonathan. + +"Well, Jack," he said, "I'm ready to hear about the horse thieves." + +"Wetzel makes it out the man who's runnin' this hoss-stealin' is +located right here in Fort Henry," answered the borderman. + +The colonel had lived too long on the frontier to show surprise; he +hummed a tune while the genial expression faded slowly from his face. + +"Last count there were one hundred and ten men at the fort," he +replied thoughtfully. "I know over a hundred, and can trust them. +There are some new fellows on the boats, and several strangers hanging +round Metzar's." + +"'Pears to Lew an' me that this fellar is a slick customer, an' one +who's been here long enough to know our hosses an' where we +keep them." + +"I see. Like Miller, who fooled us all, even Betty, when he stole our +powder and then sold us to Girty," rejoined Colonel Zane grimly. + +"Exactly, only this fellar is slicker an' more desperate than Miller." + +"Right you are, Jack, for the man who is trusted and betrays us, must +be desperate. Does he realize what he'll get if we ever find out, or +is he underrating us?" + +"He knows all right, an' is matchin' his cunnin' against our'n." + +"Tell me what you and Wetzel learned." + +The borderman proceeded to relate the events that had occurred during +a recent tramp in the forest with Wetzel. While returning from a hunt +in a swamp several miles over the ridge, back of Fort Henry, they ran +across the trail of three Indians. They followed this until darkness +set in, when both laid down to rest and wait for the early dawn, that +time most propitious for taking the savage by surprise. On resuming +the trail they found that other Indians had joined the party they were +tracking. To the bordermen this was significant of some unusual +activity directed toward the settlement. Unable to learn anything +definite from the moccasin traces, they hurried up on the trail to +find that the Indians had halted. + +Wetzel and Jonathan saw from their covert that the savages had a woman +prisoner. A singular feature about it all was that the Indians +remained in the same place all day, did not light a camp-fire, and +kept a sharp lookout. The bordermen crept up as close as safe, and +remained on watch during the day and night. + +Early next morning, when the air was fading from black to gray, the +silence was broken by the snapping of twigs and a tremor of the +ground. The bordermen believed another company of Indians was +approaching; but they soon saw it was a single white man leading a +number of horses. He departed before daybreak. Wetzel and Jonathan +could not get a clear view of him owing to the dim light; but they +heard his voice, and afterwards found the imprint of his moccasins. +They did, however, recognize the six horses as belonging to settlers +in Yellow Creek. + +While Jonathan and Wetzel were consulting as to what it was best to +do, the party of Indians divided, four going directly west, and the +others north. Wetzel immediately took the trail of the larger party +with the prisoner and four of the horses. Jonathan caught two of the +animals which the Indians had turned loose, and tied them in the +forest. He then started after the three Indians who had gone +northward. + +"Well?" Colonel Zane said impatiently, when Jonathan hesitated in his +story. + +"One got away," he said reluctantly. "I barked him as he was runnin' +like a streak through the bushes, an' judged that he was hard hit. I +got the hosses, an' turned back on the trail of the white man." + +"Where did it end?" + +"In that hard-packed path near the blacksmith shop. An' the fellar +steps as light as an Injun." + +"He's here, then, sure as you're born. We've lost no horses yet, but +last week old Sam heard a noise in the barn, and on going there found +Betty's mare out of her stall." + +"Some one as knows the lay of the land had been after her," suggested +Jonathan. + +"You can bet on that. We've got to find him before we lose all the +fine horse-flesh we own. Where do these stolen animals go? Indians +would steal any kind; but this thief takes only the best." + +"I'm to meet Wetzel on the ridge soon, an' then we'll know, for he's +goin' to find out where the hosses are taken." + +"That'll help some. On the way back you found where the white girl had +been taken from. Murdered father, burned cabin, the usual deviltry." + +"Exactly." + +"Poor Mabel! Do you think this white thief had anything to do with +carrying her away?" + +"No. Wetzel says that's Bing Legget's work. The Shawnees were members +of his gang." + +"Well, Jack, what'll I do?" + +"Keep quiet an' wait," was the borderman's answer. + +Colonel Zane, old pioneer and frontiersman though he was, shuddered as +he went to his room. His brother's dark look, and his deadly calmness, +were significant. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +To those few who saw Jonathan Zane in the village, it seemed as if he +was in his usual quiet and dreamy state. The people were accustomed to +his silence, and long since learned that what little time he spent in +the settlement was not given to sociability. In the morning he +sometimes lay with Colonel Zane's dog, Chief, by the side of a spring +under an elm tree, and in the afternoon strolled aimlessly along the +river bluff, or on the hillside. At night he sat on his brother's +porch smoking a long Indian pipe. Since that day, now a week past, +when he had returned with the stolen horses, his movements and habits +were precisely what would have been expected of an unsuspicious +borderman. + +In reality, however, Jonathan was not what he seemed. He knew all that +was going on in the settlement. Hardly a bird could have entered the +clearing unobserved. + +At night, after all the villagers were in bed, he stole cautiously +about the stockade, silencing with familiar word the bristling +watch-hounds, and went from barn to barn, ending his stealthy tramp at +the corral where Colonel Zane kept his thoroughbreds. + +But all this scouting by night availed nothing. No unusual event +occurred, not even the barking of a dog, a suspicious rustling among +the thickets, or whistling of a night-hawk had been heard. + +Vainly the borderman strained ears to catch some low night-signal +given by waiting Indians to the white traitor within the settlement. +By day there was even less to attract the sharp-eyed watcher. The +clumsy river boats, half raft, half sawn lumber, drifted down the Ohio +on their first and last voyage, discharged their cargoes of grain, +liquor, or merchandise, and were broken up. Their crews came back on +the long overland journey to Fort Pitt, there to man another craft. +The garrison at the fort performed their customary duties; the +pioneers tilled the fields; the blacksmith scattered sparks, the +wheelwright worked industriously at his bench, and the housewives +attended to their many cares. No strangers arrived at Fort Henry. The +quiet life of the village was uninterrupted. + +Near sunset of a long day Jonathan strolled down the sandy, +well-trodden path toward Metzar's inn. He did not drink, and +consequently seldom visited the rude, dark, ill-smelling bar-room. +When occasion demanded his presence there, he was evidently not +welcome. The original owner, a sturdy soldier and pioneer, came to +Fort Henry when Colonel Zane founded the settlement, and had been +killed during Girty's last attack. His successor, another Metzar, was, +according to Jonathan's belief, as bad as the whiskey he dispensed. +More than one murder had been committed at the inn; countless fatal +knife and tomahawk fights had stained red the hard clay floor; and +more than one desperate character had been harbored there. Once +Colonel Zane sent Wetzel there to invite a thief and outlaw to quit +the settlement, with the not unexpected result that it became +necessary the robber be carried out. + +Jonathan thought of the bad name the place bore all over the frontier, +and wondered if Metzar could tell anything about the horse-thieves. +When the borderman bent his tall frame to enter the low-studded door +he fancied he saw a dark figure disappear into a room just behind the +bar. A roughly-clad, heavily-bearded man turned hastily at the +same moment. + +"Hullo," he said gruffly. + +"H' are you, Metzar. I just dropped in to see if I could make a trade +for your sorrel mare," replied Jonathan. Being well aware that the +innkeeper would not part with his horse, the borderman had made this +announcement as his reason for entering the bar-room. + +"Nope, I'll allow you can't," replied Metzar. + +As he turned to go, Jonathan's eyes roamed around the bar-room. +Several strangers of shiftless aspect bleared at him. + +"They wouldn't steal a pumpkin," muttered Jonathan to himself as he +left the inn. Then he added suspiciously, "Metzar was talkin' to some +one, an' 'peared uneasy. I never liked Metzar. He'll bear watchin'." + +The borderman passed on down the path thinking of what he had heard +against Metzar. The colonel had said that the man was prosperous for +an innkeeper who took pelts, grain or meat in exchange for rum. The +village gossips disliked him because he was unmarried, taciturn, and +did not care for their company. Jonathan reflected also on the fact +that Indians were frequently coming to the inn, and this made him +distrustful of the proprietor. It was true that Colonel Zane had +red-skinned visitors, but there was always good reason for their +coming. Jonathan had seen, during the Revolution, more than one +trusted man proven to be a traitor, and the conviction settled upon +him that some quiet scouting would show up the innkeeper as aiding the +horse-thieves if not actually in league with them. + +"Good evening, Jonathan Zane." + +This greeting in a woman's clear voice brought Jonathan out from his +reveries. He glanced up to see Helen Sheppard standing in the doorway +of her father's cabin. + +"Evenin', miss," he said with a bow, and would have passed on. + +"Wait," she cried, and stepped out of the door. + +He waited by the gate with a manner which showed that such a summons +was novel to him. + +Helen, piqued at his curt greeting, had asked him to wait without any +idea of what she would say. Coming slowly down the path she felt again +a subtle awe of this borderman. Regretting her impulsiveness, she lost +confidence. + +Gaining the gate she looked up intending to speak; but was unable to +do so as she saw how cold and grave was his face, and how piercing +were his eyes. She flushed slightly, and then, conscious of an +embarrassment new and strange to her, blushed rosy red, making, as it +seemed to her, a stupid remark about the sunset. When he took her +words literally, and said the sunset was fine, she felt guilty of +deceitfulness. Whatever Helen's faults, and they were many, she was +honest, and because of not having looked at the sunset, but only +wanting him to see her as did other men, the innocent ruse suddenly +appeared mean and trifling. + +Then, with a woman's quick intuition, she understood that coquetries +were lost on this borderman, and, with a smile, got the better of her +embarrassment and humiliation by telling the truth. + +"I wanted to ask a favor of you, and I'm a little afraid." + +She spoke with girlish shyness, which increased as he stared at her. + +"Why--why do you look at me so?" + +"There's a lake over yonder which the Shawnees say is haunted by a +woman they killed," he replied quietly. "You'd do for her spirit, so +white an' beautiful in the silver moonlight." + +"So my white dress makes me look ghostly," she answered lightly, +though deeply conscious of surprise and pleasure at such an unexpected +reply from him. This borderman might be full of surprises. "Such a +time as I had bringing my dresses out here! I don't know when I can +wear them. This is the simplest one." + +"An' it's mighty new an' bewilderin' for the border," he replied with +a smile in his eyes. + +"When these are gone I'll get no more except linsey ones," she said +brightly, yet her eyes shone with a wistful uncertainty of the future. + +"Will you be happy here?" + +"I am happy. I have always wanted to be of some use in the world. I +assure you, Master Zane, I am not the butterfly I seem. I have worked +hard all day, that is, until your sister Betty came over. All the +girls have helped me fix up the cabin until it's more comfortable than +I ever dreamed one could be on the frontier. Father is well content +here, and that makes me happy. I haven't had time for forebodings. The +young men of Fort Henry have been--well, attentive; in fact, they've +been here all the time." + +She laughed a little at this last remark, and looked demurely at him. + +"It's a frontier custom," he said. + +"Oh, indeed? Do all the young men call often and stay late?" + +"They do." + +"You didn't," she retorted. "You're the only one who hasn't been to +see me." + +"I do not wait on the girls," he replied with a grave smile. + +"Oh, you don't? Do you expect them to wait on you?" she asked, +feeling, now she had made this silent man talk, once more at her ease. + +"I am a borderman," replied Jonathan. There was a certain dignity or +sadness in his answer which reminded Helen of Colonel Zane's portrayal +of a borderman's life. It struck her keenly. Here was this young giant +standing erect and handsome before her, as rugged as one of the ash +trees of his beloved forest. Who could tell when his strong life might +be ended by an Indian's hatchet? + +"For you, then, is there no such thing as friendship?" she asked. + +"On the border men are serious." + +This recalled his sister's conversation regarding the attentions of +the young men, that they would follow her, fight for her, and give her +absolutely no peace until one of them had carried her to his cabin +a bride. + +She could not carry on the usual conventional conversation with this +borderman, but remained silent for a time. She realized more keenly +than ever before how different he was from other men, and watched +closely as he stood gazing out over the river. Perhaps something she +had said caused him to think of the many pleasures and joys he missed. +But she could not be certain what was in his mind. She was not +accustomed to impassive faces and cold eyes with unlit fires in their +dark depths. More likely he was thinking of matters nearer to his +wild, free life; of his companion Wetzel somewhere out beyond those +frowning hills. Then she remembered that the colonel had told her of +his brother's love for nature in all its forms; how he watched the +shades of evening fall; lost himself in contemplation of the last +copper glow flushing the western sky, or became absorbed in the bright +stars. Possibly he had forgotten her presence. Darkness was rapidly +stealing down upon them. The evening, tranquil and gray, crept over +them with all its mystery. He was a part of it. She could not hope to +understand him; but saw clearly that his was no common personality. +She wanted to speak, to voice a sympathy strong within her; but she +did not know what to say to this borderman. + +"If what your sister tells me of the border is true, I may soon need a +friend," she said, after weighing well her words. She faced him +modestly yet bravely, and looked him straight in the eyes. Because he +did not reply she spoke again. + +"I mean such a friend as you or Wetzel." + +"You may count on both," he replied. + +"Thank you," she said softly, giving him her hand. "I shall not +forget. One more thing. Will you break a borderman's custom, for +my sake?" + +"How?" + +"Come to see me when you are in the settlement?" + +Helen said this in a low voice with just a sob in her breath; but she +met his gaze fairly. Her big eyes were all aglow, alight with girlish +appeal, and yet proud with a woman's honest demand for fair exchange. +Promise was there, too, could he but read it, of wonderful +possibilities. + +"No," he answered gently. + +Helen was not prepared for such a rebuff. She was interested in him, +and not ashamed to show it. She feared only that he might +misunderstand her; but to refuse her proffered friendship, that was +indeed unexpected. Rude she thought it was, while from brow to curving +throat her fair skin crimsoned. Then her face grew pale as the +moonlight. Hard on her resentment had surged the swell of some new +emotion strong and sweet. He refused her friendship because he did not +dare accept it; because his life was not his own; because he was a +borderman. + +While they stood thus, Jonathan looking perplexed and troubled, +feeling he had hurt her, but knowing not what to say, and Helen with a +warm softness in her eyes, the stalwart figure of a man loomed out of +the gathering darkness. + +"Ah, Miss Helen! Good evening," he said. + +"Is it you, Mr. Brandt?" asked Helen. "Of course you know Mr. Zane." + +Brandt acknowledged Jonathan's bow with an awkwardness which had +certainly been absent in his greeting to Helen. He started slightly +when she spoke the borderman's name. + +A brief pause ensued. + +"Good night," said Jonathan, and left them. + +He had noticed Brandt's gesture of surprise, slight though it was, and +was thinking about it as he walked away. Brandt may have been +astonished at finding a borderman talking to a girl, and certainly, as +far as Jonathan was concerned, the incident was without precedent. +But, on the other hand, Brandt may have had another reason, and +Jonathan tried to study out what it might be. + +He gave but little thought to Helen. That she might like him +exceedingly well, did not come into his mind. He remembered his sister +Betty's gossip regarding Helen and her admirers, and particularly +Roger Brandt; but felt no great concern; he had no curiosity to know +more of her. He admired Helen because she was beautiful, yet the +feeling was much the same he might have experienced for a graceful +deer, a full-foliaged tree, or a dark mossy-stoned bend in a murmuring +brook. The girl's face and figure, perfect and alluring as they were, +had not awakened him from his indifference. + +On arriving at his brother's home, he found the colonel and Betty +sitting on the porch. + +"Eb, who is this Brandt?" he asked. + +"Roger Brandt? He's a French-Canadian; came here from Detroit a year +ago. Why do you ask?" + +"I want to know more about him." + +Colonel Zane reflected a moment, first as to this unusual request from +Jonathan, and secondly in regard to what little he really did know of +Roger Brandt. + +"Well, Jack, I can't tell you much; nothing of him before he showed up +here. He says he has been a pioneer, hunter, scout, soldier, +trader--everything. When he came to the fort we needed men. It was +just after Girty's siege, and all the cabins had been burned. Brandt +seemed honest, and was a good fellow. Besides, he had gold. He started +the river barges, which came from Fort Pitt. He has surely done the +settlement good service, and has prospered. I never talked a dozen +times to him, and even then, not for long. He appears to like the +young people, which is only natural. That's all I know; Betty might +tell you more, for he tried to be attentive to her." + +"Did he, Betty?" Jonathan asked. + +"He followed me until I showed him I didn't care for company," +answered Betty. + +"What kind of a man is he?" + +"Jack, I know nothing against him, although I never fancied him. He's +better educated than the majority of frontiersmen; he's good-natured +and agreeable, and the people like him." + +"Why don't you?" + +Betty looked surprised at his blunt question, and then said with a +laugh: "I never tried to reason why; but since you have spoken I +believe my dislike was instinctive." + +After Betty had retired to her room the brothers remained on the porch +smoking. + +"Betty's pretty keen, Jack. I never knew her to misjudge a man. Why +this sudden interest in Roger Brandt?" + +The borderman puffed his pipe in silence. + +"Say, Jack," Colonel Zane said suddenly, "do you connect Brandt in any +way with this horse-stealing?" + +"No more than some, an' less than others," replied Jonathan curtly. + +Nothing more was said for a time. To the brothers this hour of early +dusk brought the same fullness of peace. From gray twilight to gloomy +dusk quiet reigned. The insects of night chirped and chorused with +low, incessant hum. From out the darkness came the peeping of frogs. + +Suddenly the borderman straightened up, and, removing the pipe from +his mouth, turned his ear to the faint breeze, while at the same time +one hand closed on the colonel's knee with a warning clutch. + +Colonel Zane knew what that clutch signified. Some faint noise, too +low for ordinary ears, had roused the borderman. The colonel listened, +but heard nothing save the familiar evening sounds. + +"Jack, what'd you hear?" he whispered. + +"Somethin' back of the barn," replied Jonathan, slipping noiselessly +off the steps, lying at full length with his ear close to the ground. +"Where's the dog?" he asked. + +"Chief must have gone with Sam. The old nigger sometimes goes at this +hour to see his daughter." + +Jonathan lay on the grass several moments; then suddenly he arose much +as a bent sapling springs to place. + +"I hear footsteps. Get the rifles," he said in a fierce whisper. + +"Damn! There is some one in the barn." + +"No; they're outside. Hurry, but softly." + +Colonel Zane had but just risen to his feet, when Mrs. Zane came to +the door and called him by name. + +Instantly from somewhere in the darkness overhanging the road, came a +low, warning whistle. + +"A signal!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. + +"Quick, Eb! Look toward Metzar's light. One, two, three, +shadows--Injuns!" + +"By the Lord Harry! Now they're gone; but I couldn't mistake those +round heads and bristling feathers." + +"Shawnees!" said the borderman, and his teeth shut hard like steel on +flint. + +"Jack, they were after the horses, and some one was on the lookout! By +God! right under our noses!" + +"Hurry," cried Jonathan, pulling his brother off the porch. + +Colonel Zane followed the borderman out of the yard, into the road, +and across the grassy square. + +"We might find the one who gave the signal," said the colonel. "He was +near at hand, and couldn't have passed the house." + +Colonel Zane was correct, for whoever had whistled would be forced to +take one of two ways of escape; either down the straight road ahead, +or over the high stockade fence of the fort. + +"There he goes," whispered Jonathan. + +"Where? I can't see a blamed thing." + +"Go across the square, run around the fort, an' head him off on the +road. Don't try to stop him for he'll have weapons, just find out +who he is." + +"I see him now," replied Colonel Zane, as he hurried off into the +darkness. + +During a few moments Jonathan kept in view the shadow he had seen +first come out of the gloom by the stockade, and thence pass swiftly +down the road. He followed swiftly, silently. Presently a light beyond +threw a glare across the road. He thought he was approaching a yard +where there was a fire, and the flames proved to be from pine cones +burning in the yard of Helen Sheppard. He remembered then that she was +entertaining some of the young people. + +The figure he was pursuing did not pass the glare. Jonathan made +certain it disappeared before reaching the light, and he knew his +eyesight too well not to trust to it absolutely. Advancing nearer the +yard, he heard the murmur of voices in gay conversation, and soon saw +figures moving about under the trees. + +No doubt was in his mind but that the man who gave the signal to warn +the Indians, was one of Helen Sheppard's guests. + +Jonathan had walked across the street then down the path, before he +saw the colonel coming from the opposite direction. Halting under a +maple he waited for his brother to approach. + +"I didn't meet any one. Did you lose him?" whispered Colonel Zane +breathlessly. + +"No; he's in there." + +"That's Sheppard's place. Do you mean he's hiding there?" + +"No!" + +Colonel Zane swore, as was his habit when exasperated. Kind and +generous man that he was, it went hard with him to believe in the +guilt of any of the young men he had trusted. But Jonathan had said +there was a traitor among them, and Colonel Zane did not question this +assertion. He knew the borderman. During years full of strife, and +war, and blood had he lived beside this silent man who said little, +but that little was the truth. Therefore Colonel Zane gave way +to anger. + +"Well, I'm not so damned surprised! What's to be done?" + +"Find out what men are there?" + +"That's easy. I'll go to see George and soon have the truth." + +"Won't do," said the borderman decisively. "Go back to the barn, an' +look after the hosses." + +When Colonel Zane had obeyed Jonathan dropped to his hands and knees, +and swiftly, with the agile movements of an Indian, gained a corner of +the Sheppard yard. He crouched in the shade of a big plum tree. Then, +at a favorable opportunity, vaulted the fence and disappeared under a +clump of lilac bushes. + +The evening wore away no more tediously to the borderman, than to +those young frontiersmen who were whispering tender or playful words +to their partners. Time and patience were the same to Jonathan Zane. +He lay hidden under the fragrant lilacs, his eyes, accustomed to the +dark from long practice, losing no movement of the guests. Finally it +became evident that the party was at an end. One couple took the +initiative, and said good night to their hostess. + +"Tom Bennet, I hope it's not you," whispered the borderman to himself, +as he recognized the young fellow. + +A general movement followed, until the merry party were assembled +about Helen near the front gate. + +"Jim Morrison, I'll bet it's not you," was Jonathan's comment. "That +soldier Williams is doubtful; Hart an' Johnson being strangers, are +unknown quantities around here, an' then comes Brandt." + +All departed except Brandt, who remained talking to Helen in low, +earnest tones. Jonathan lay very quietly, trying to decide what should +be his next move in the unraveling of the mystery. He paid little +attention to the young couple, but could not help overhearing their +conversation. + +"Indeed, Mr. Brandt, you frontiersmen are not backward," Helen was +saying in her clear voice. "I am surprised to learn that you love me +upon such short acquaintance, and am sorry, too, for I hardly know +whether I even so much as like you." + +"I love you. We men of the border do things rapidly," he replied +earnestly. + +"So it seems," she said with a soft laugh. + +"Won't you care for me?" he pleaded. + +"Nothing is surer than that I never know what I am going to do," Helen +replied lightly. + +"All these fellows are in love with you. They can't help it any more +than I. You are the most glorious creature. Please give me hope." + +"Mr. Brandt, let go my hand. I'm afraid I don't like such impulsive +men." + +"Please let me hold your hand." + +"Certainly not." + +"But I will hold it, and if you look at me like that again I'll do +more," he said. + +"What, bold sir frontiersman?" she returned, lightly still, but in a +voice which rang with a deeper note. + +"I'll kiss you," he cried desperately. + +"You wouldn't dare." + +"Wouldn't I though? You don't know us border fellows yet. You come +here with your wonderful beauty, and smile at us with that light in +your eyes which makes men mad. Oh, you'll pay for it." + +The borderman listened to all this love-making half disgusted, until +he began to grow interested. Brandt's back was turned to him, and +Helen stood so that the light from the pine cones shone on her face. +Her eyes were brilliant, otherwise she seemed a woman perfectly +self-possessed. Brandt held her hand despite the repeated efforts she +made to free it. But she did not struggle violently, or make +an outcry. + +Suddenly Brandt grasped her other hand, pulling her toward him. + +"These other fellows will kiss you, and I'm going to be the first!" he +declared passionately. + +Helen drew back, now thoroughly alarmed by the man's fierce energy. +She had been warned against this very boldness in frontiersmen; but +had felt secure in her own pride and dignity. Her blood boiled at the +thought that she must exert strength to escape insult. She struggled +violently when Brandt bent his head. Almost sick with fear, she had +determined to call for help, when a violent wrench almost toppled her +over. At the same instant her wrists were freed; she heard a fierce +cry, a resounding blow, and then the sodden thud of a heavy body +falling. Recovering her balance, she saw a tall figure beside her, and +a man in the act of rising from the ground. + +"You?" whispered Helen, recognizing the tall figure as Jonathan's. + +The borderman did not answer. He stepped forward, slipping his hand +inside his hunting frock. Brandt sprang nimbly to his feet, and with a +face which, even in the dim light, could be seen distorted with fury, +bent forward to look at the stranger. He, too, had his hand within his +coat, as if grasping a weapon; but he did not draw it. + +"Zane, a lighter blow would have been easier to forget," he cried, his +voice clear and cutting. Then he turned to the girl. "Miss Helen, I +got what I deserved. I crave your forgiveness, and ask you to +understand a man who was once a gentleman. If I am one no longer, the +frontier is to blame. I was mad to treat you as I did." + +Thus speaking, he bowed low with the grace of a man sometimes used to +the society of ladies, and then went out of the gate. + +"Where did you come from?" asked Helen, looking up at Jonathan. + +He pointed under the lilac bushes. + +"Were you there?" she asked wonderingly. "Did you hear all?" + +"I couldn't help hearin'." + +"It was fortunate for me; but why--why were you there?" + +Helen came a step nearer, and regarded him curiously with her great +eyes now black with excitement. + +The borderman was silent. + +Helen's softened mood changed instantly. There was nothing in his cold +face which might have betrayed in him a sentiment similar to that of +her admirers. + +"Did you spy on me?" she asked quickly, after a moment's thought. + +"No," replied Jonathan calmly. + +Helen gazed in perplexity at this strange man. She did not know how to +explain it; she was irritated, but did her best to conceal it. He had +no interest in her, yet had hidden under the lilacs in her yard. She +was grateful because he had saved her from annoyance, yet could not +fathom his reason for being so near. + +"Did you come here to see me?" she asked, forgetting her vexation. + +"No." + +"What for, then?" + +"I reckon I won't say," was the quiet, deliberate refusal. + +Helen stamped her foot in exasperation. + +"Be careful that I do not put a wrong construction on your strange +action," said she coldly. "If you have reasons, you might trust me. If +you are only----" + +"Sh-s-sh!" he breathed, grasping her wrist, and holding it firmly in +his powerful hand. The whole attitude of the man had altered swiftly, +subtly. The listlessness was gone. His lithe body became rigid as he +leaned forward, his head toward the ground, and turned slightly in a +manner that betokened intent listening. + +Helen trembled as she felt his powerful frame quiver. Whatever had +thus changed him, gave her another glimpse of his complex personality. +It seemed to her incredible that with one whispered exclamation this +man could change from cold indifference to a fire and force so strong +as to dominate her. + +Statue-like she remained listening; but hearing no sound, and +thrillingly conscious of the hand on her arm. + +Far up on the hillside an owl hooted dismally, and an instant later, +faint and far away, came an answer so low as to be almost indistinct. + +The borderman raised himself erect as he released her. + +"It's only an owl," she said in relief. + +His eyes gleamed like stars. + +"It's Wetzel, an' it means Injuns!" + +Then he was gone into the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +In the misty morning twilight Colonel Zane, fully armed, paced to and +fro before his cabin, on guard. All night he had maintained a watch. +He had not considered it necessary to send his family into the fort, +to which they had often been compelled to flee. On the previous night +Jonathan had come swiftly back to the cabin, and, speaking but two +words, seized his weapons and vanished into the black night. The words +were "Injuns! Wetzel!" and there were none others with more power to +affect hearers on the border. The colonel believed that Wetzel had +signaled to Jonathan. + +On the west a deep gully with precipitous sides separated the +settlement from a high, wooded bluff. Wetzel often returned from his +journeying by this difficult route. He had no doubt seen Indian signs, +and had communicated the intelligence to Jonathan by their system of +night-bird calls. The nearness of the mighty hunter reassured +Colonel Zane. + +When the colonel returned from his chase of the previous night, he +went directly to the stable, there to find that the Indians had made +off with a thoroughbred, and Betty's pony. Colonel Zane was furious, +not on account of the value of the horses, but because Bess was his +favorite bay, and Betty loved nothing more than her pony Madcap. To +have such a march stolen on him after he had heard and seen the +thieves was indeed hard. High time it was that these horse thieves be +run to earth. No Indian had planned these marauding expeditions. An +intelligent white man was at the bottom of the thieving, and he should +pay for his treachery. + +The colonel's temper, however, soon cooled. He realized after thinking +over the matter, that he was fortunate it passed off without +bloodshed. Very likely the intent had been to get all his horses, +perhaps his neighbor's as well, and it had been partly frustrated by +Jonathan's keen sagacity. These Shawnees, white leader or not, would +never again run such risks. + +"It's like a skulking Shawnee," muttered Colonel Zane, "to slip down +here under cover of early dusk, when no one but an Indian hunter could +detect him. I didn't look for trouble, especially so soon after the +lesson we gave Girty and his damned English and redskins. It's lucky +Jonathan was here. I'll go back to the old plan of stationing scouts +at the outposts until snow flies." + +While Colonel Zane talked to himself and paced the path he had +selected to patrol, the white mists cleared, and a rosy hue followed +the brightening in the east. The birds ceased twittering to break into +gay songs, and the cock in the barnyard gave one final clarion-voiced +salute to the dawn. The rose in the east deepened into rich red, and +then the sun peeped over the eastern hilltops to drench the valley +with glad golden light. + +A blue smoke curling lazily from the stone chimney of his cabin, +showed that Sam had made the kitchen fire, and a little later a rich, +savory odor gave pleasing evidence that his wife was cooking +breakfast. + +"Any sign of Jack?" a voice called from the open door, and Betty +appeared. + +"Nary sign." + +"Of the Indians, then?" + +"Well, Betts, they left you a token of their regard," and Colonel Zane +smiled as he took a broken halter from the fence. + +"Madcap?" cried Betty. + +"Yes, they've taken Madcap and Bess." + +"Oh, the villains! Poor pony," exclaimed Betty indignantly. "Eb, I'll +coax Wetzel to fetch the pony home if he has to kill every Shawnee in +the valley." + +"Now you're talking, Betts," Colonel Zane replied. "If you could get +Lew to do that much, you'd be blessed from one end of the border to +the other." + +He walked up the road; then back, keeping a sharp lookout on all +sides, and bestowing a particularly keen glance at the hillside across +the ravine, but could see no sign of the bordermen. As it was now +broad daylight he felt convinced that further watch was unnecessary, +and went in to breakfast. When he came out again the villagers were +astir. The sharp strokes of axes rang out on the clear morning air, +and a mellow anvil-clang pealed up from the blacksmith shop. Colonel +Zane found his brother Silas and Jim Douns near the gate. + +"Morning, boys," he cried cheerily. + +"Any glimpse of Jack or Lew?" asked Silas. + +"No; but I'm expecting one of 'em any moment." + +"How about the Indians?" asked Douns. "Silas roused me out last night; +but didn't stay long enough to say more than 'Indians.'" + +"I don't know much more than Silas. I saw several of the red devils +who stole the horses; but how many, where they've gone, or what we're +to expect, I can't say. We've got to wait for Jack or Lew. Silas, keep +the garrison in readiness at the fort, and don't allow a man, soldier +or farmer, to leave the clearing until further orders. Perhaps there +were only three of those Shawnees, and then again the woods might have +been full of them. I take it something's amiss, or Jack and Lew would +be in by now." + +"Here come Sheppard and his girl," said Silas, pointing down the lane. +"'Pears George is some excited." + +Colonel Zane had much the same idea as he saw Sheppard and his +daughter. The old man appeared in a hurry, which was sufficient reason +to believe him anxious or alarmed, and Helen looked pale. + +"Ebenezer, what's this I hear about Indians?" Sheppard asked +excitedly. "What with Helen's story about the fort being besieged, and +this brother of yours routing honest people from their beds, I haven't +had a wink of sleep. What's up? Where are the redskins?" + +"Now, George, be easy," said Colonel Zane calmly. "And you, Helen, +mustn't be frightened. There's no danger. We did have a visit from +Indians last night; but they hurt no one, and got only two horses." + +"Oh, I'm so relieved that it's not worse," said Helen. + +"It's bad enough, Helen," Betty cried, her black eyes flashing, "my +pony Madcap is gone." + +"Colonel Zane, come here quick!" cried Douns, who stood near the gate. + +With one leap Colonel Zane was at the gate, and, following with his +eyes the direction indicated by Douns' trembling finger, he saw two +tall, brown figures striding down the lane. One carried two rifles, +and the other a long bundle wrapped in a blanket. + +"It's Jack and Wetzel," whispered Colonel Zane to Jim. "They've got +the girl, and by God! from the way that bundle hangs, I think she's +dead. Here," he added, speaking loudly, "you women get into +the house." + +Mrs. Zane, Betty and Helen stared. + +"Go into the house!" he cried authoritatively. + +Without a protest the three women obeyed. + +At that moment Nellie Douns came across the lane; Sam shuffled out +from the backyard, and Sheppard arose from his seat on the steps. They +joined Colonel Zane, Silas and Jim at the gate. + +"I wondered what kept you so late," Colonel Zane said to Jonathan, as +he and his companion came up. "You've fetched Mabel, and she's----". +The good man could say no more. If he should live an hundred years on +the border amid savage murderers, he would still be tender-hearted. +Just now he believed the giant borderman by the side of Jonathan held +a dead girl, one whom he had danced, when a child, upon his knee. + +"Mabel, an' jest alive," replied Jonathan. + +"By God! I'm glad!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. "Here, Lew, give her to +me." + +Wetzel relinquished his burden to the colonel. + +"Lew, any bad Indian sign?" asked Colonel Zane as he turned to go into +the house. + +The borderman shook his head. + +"Wait for me," added the colonel. + +He carried the girl to that apartment in the cabin which served the +purpose of a sitting-room, and laid her on a couch. He gently removed +the folds of the blanket, disclosing to view a fragile, +white-faced girl. + +"Bess, hurry, hurry!" he screamed to his wife, and as she came running +in, followed no less hurriedly by Betty, Helen and Nellie, he +continued, "Here's Mabel Lane, alive, poor child; but in sore need of +help. First see whether she has any bodily injury. If a bullet must be +cut out, or a knife-wound sewed up, it's better she remained +unconscious. Betty, run for Bess's instruments, and bring brandy and +water. Lively now!" Then he gave vent to an oath and left the room. + +Helen, her heart throbbing wildly, went to the side of Mrs. Zane, who +was kneeling by the couch. She saw a delicate girl, not over eighteen +years old, with a face that would have been beautiful but for the set +lips, the closed eyelids, and an expression of intense pain. + +"Oh! Oh!" breathed Helen. + +"Nell, hand me the scissors," said Mrs. Zane, "and help me take off +this dress. Why, it's wet, but, thank goodness! 'tis not with blood. I +know that slippery touch too well. There, that's right. Betty, give me +a spoonful of brandy. Now heat a blanket, and get one of your linsey +gowns for this poor child." + +Helen watched Mrs. Zane as if fascinated. The colonel's wife continued +to talk while with deft fingers she forced a few drops of brandy +between the girl's closed teeth. Then with the adroitness of a skilled +surgeon, she made the examination. Helen had heard of this pioneer +woman's skill in setting broken bones and treating injuries, and when +she looked from the calm face to the steady fingers, she had no doubt +as to the truth of what had been told. + +"Neither bullet wound, cut, bruise, nor broken bone," said Mrs. Zane. +"It's fear, starvation, and the terrible shock." + +She rubbed Mabel's hands while gazing at her pale face. Then she +forced more brandy between the tightly-closed lips. She was rewarded +by ever so faint a color tinging the wan cheeks, to be followed by a +fluttering of the eyelids. Then the eyes opened wide. They were large, +soft, dark and humid with agony. + +Helen could not bear their gaze. She saw the shadow of death, and of +worse than death. She looked away, while in her heart rose a storm of +passionate fury at the brutes who had made of this tender girl +a wreck. + +The room was full of women now, sober-faced matrons and grave-eyed +girls, yet all wore the same expression, not alone of anger, nor fear, +nor pity, but of all combined. + +Helen instinctively felt that this was one of the trials of border +endurance, and she knew from the sterner faces of the maturer women +that such a trial was familiar. Despite all she had been told, the +shock and pain were too great, and she went out of the room sobbing. + +She almost fell over the broad back of Jonathan Zane who was sitting +on the steps. Near him stood Colonel Zane talking with a tall man clad +in faded buckskin. + +"Lass, you shouldn't have stayed," said Colonel Zane kindly. + +"It's--hurt--me--here," said Helen, placing her hand over her heart. + +"Yes, I know, I know; of course it has," he replied, taking her hand. +"But be brave, Helen, bear up, bear up. Oh! this border is a stern +place! Do not think of that poor girl. Come, let me introduce +Jonathan's friend, Wetzel!" + +Helen looked up and held out her hand. She saw a very tall man with +extremely broad shoulders, a mass of raven-black hair, and a white +face. He stepped forward, and took her hand in his huge, horny palm, +pressing it, he stepped back without speaking. Colonel Zane talked to +her in a soothing voice; but she failed to hear what he said. This +Wetzel, this Indian-hunter whom she had heard called "Deathwind of the +Border," this companion, guide, teacher of Jonathan Zane, this +borderman of wonderful deeds, stood before her. + +Helen saw a cold face, deathly in its pallor, lighted by eyes +sloe-black but like glinting steel. Striking as were these features, +they failed to fascinate as did the strange tracings which apparently +showed through the white, drawn skin. This first repelled, then drew +her with wonderful force. Suffering, of fire, and frost, and iron was +written there, and, stronger than all, so potent as to cause fear, +could be read the terrible purpose of this man's tragic life. + +"You avenged her! Oh! I know you did!" cried Helen, her whole heart +leaping with a blaze to her eyes. + +She was answered by a smile, but such a smile! Kindly it broke over +the stern face, giving a glimpse of a heart still warm beneath that +steely cold. Behind it, too, there was something fateful, +something deadly. + +Helen knew, though the borderman spoke not, that somewhere among the +grasses of the broad plains, or on the moss of the wooded hills, lay +dead the perpetrators of this outrage, their still faces bearing the +ghastly stamp of Deathwind. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Happier days than she had hoped for, dawned upon Helen after the first +touch of border sorrow. Mabel Lane did not die. Helen and Betty nursed +the stricken girl tenderly, weeping for very joy when signs of +improvement appeared. She had remained silent for several days, always +with that haunting fear in her eyes, and then gradually came a change. +Tender care and nursing had due effect in banishing the dark shadow. +One morning after a long sleep she awakened with a bright smile, and +from that time her improvement was rapid. + +Helen wanted Mabel to live with her. The girl's position was pitiable. +Homeless, fatherless, with not a relative on the border, yet so brave, +so patient that she aroused all the sympathy in Helen's breast. +Village gossip was in substance, that Mabel had given her love to a +young frontiersman, by name Alex Bennet, who had an affection for her, +so it was said, but as yet had made no choice between her and the +other lasses of the settlement. What effect Mabel's terrible +experience might have on this lukewarm lover, Helen could not even +guess; but she was not hopeful as to the future. Colonel Zane and +Betty approved of Helen's plan to persuade Mabel to live with her, and +the latter's faint protestations they silenced by claiming she could +be of great assistance in the management of the house, therefore it +was settled. + +Finally the day came when Mabel was ready to go with Helen. Betty had +given her a generous supply of clothing, for all her belongings had +been destroyed when the cabin was burned. With Helen's strong young +arm around her she voiced her gratitude to Betty and Mrs. Zane and +started toward the Sheppard home. + +From the green square, where the ground was highest, an unobstructed +view could be had of the valley. Mabel gazed down the river to where +her home formerly stood. Only a faint, dark spot, like a blur on the +green landscape, could be seen. Her soft eyes filled with tears; but +she spoke no word. + +"She's game and that's why she didn't go under," Colonel Zane said to +himself as he mused on the strength and spirit of borderwomen. To +their heroism, more than any other thing, he attributed the +establishing of homes in this wilderness. + +In the days that ensued, as Mabel grew stronger, the girls became very +fond of each other. Helen would have been happy at any time with such +a sweet companion, but just then, when the poor girl's mind was so +sorely disturbed she was doubly glad. For several days, after Mabel +was out of danger, Helen's thoughts had dwelt on a subject which +caused extreme vexation. She had begun to suspect that she encouraged +too many admirers for whom she did not care, and thought too much of a +man who did not reciprocate. She was gay and moody in turn. During the +moody hours she suspected herself, and in her gay ones, scorned the +idea that she might ever care for a man who was indifferent. But that +thought once admitted, had a trick of returning at odd moments, +clouding her cheerful moods. + +One sunshiny morning while the May flowers smiled under the hedge, +when dew sparkled on the leaves, and the locust-blossoms shone +creamy-white amid the soft green of the trees, the girls set about +their much-planned flower gardening. Helen was passionately fond of +plants, and had brought a jar of seeds of her favorites all the way +from her eastern home. + +"We'll plant the morning-glories so they'll run up the porch, and the +dahlias in this long row and the nasturtiums in this round bed," +Helen said. + +"You have some trailing arbutus," added Mabel, "and must have +clematis, wild honeysuckle and golden-glow, for they are all +sweet flowers." + +"This arbutus is so fresh, so dewy, so fragrant," said Helen, bending +aside a lilac bush to see the pale, creeping flowers. "I never saw +anything so beautiful. I grow more and more in love with my new home +and friends. I have such a pretty garden to look into, and I never +tire of the view beyond." + +Helen gazed with pleasure and pride at the garden with its fresh green +and lavender-crested lilacs, at the white-blossomed trees, and the +vine-covered log cabins with blue smoke curling from their stone +chimneys. Beyond, the great bulk of the fort stood guard above the +willow-skirted river, and far away over the winding stream the dark +hills, defiant, kept their secrets. + +"If it weren't for that threatening fort one could imagine this little +hamlet, nestling under the great bluff, as quiet and secure as it is +beautiful," said Helen. "But that charred stockade fence with its +scarred bastions and these lowering port-holes, always keep me alive +to the reality." + +"It wasn't very quiet when Girty was here," Mabel replied +thoughtfully. + +"Were you in the fort then?" asked Helen breathlessly. + +"Oh, yes, I cooled the rifles for the men," replied Mabel calmly. + +"Tell me all about it." + +Helen listened again to a story she had heard many times; but told by +new lips it always gained in vivid interest. She never tired of +hearing how the notorious renegade, Girty, rode around the fort on his +white horse, giving the defenders an hour in which to surrender; she +learned again of the attack, when the British soldiers remained silent +on an adjoining hillside, while the Indians yelled exultantly and ran +about in fiendish glee, when Wetzel began the battle by shooting an +Indian chieftain who had ventured within range of his ever fatal +rifle. And when it came to the heroic deeds of that memorable siege +Helen could not contain her enthusiasm. She shed tears over little +Harry Bennet's death at the south bastion where, though riddled with +bullets, he stuck to his post until relieved. Clark's race, across the +roof of the fort to extinguish a burning arrow, she applauded with +clapping hands. Her great eyes glowed and burned, but she was silent, +when hearing how Wetzel ran alone to a break in the stockade, and +there, with an ax, the terrible borderman held at bay the whole +infuriated Indian mob until the breach was closed. Lastly Betty Zane's +never-to-be-forgotten run with the powder to the relief of the +garrison and the saving of the fort was something not to cry over or +applaud; but to dream of and to glorify. + +"Down that slope from Colonel Zane's cabin is where Betty ran with the +powder," said Mabel, pointing. + +"Did you see her?" asked Helen. + +"Yes, I looked out of a port-hole. The Indians stopped firing at the +fort in their eagerness to shoot Betty. Oh, the banging of guns and +yelling of savages was one fearful, dreadful roar! Through all that +hail of bullets Betty ran swift as the wind." + +"I almost wish Girty would come again," said Helen. + +"Don't; he might." + +"How long has Betty's husband, Mr. Clarke, been dead?" inquired Helen. + +"I don't remember exactly. He didn't live long after the siege. Some +say he inhaled the flames while fighting fire inside the stockade." + +"How sad!" + +"Yes, it was. It nearly killed Betty. But we border girls do not give +up easily; we must not," replied Mabel, an unquenchable spirit showing +through the sadness of her eyes. + +Merry voices interrupted them, and they turned to see Betty and Nell +entering the gate. With Nell's bright chatter and Betty's wit, the +conversation became indeed vivacious, running from gossip to gowns, +and then to that old and ever new theme, love. Shortly afterward the +colonel entered the gate, with swinging step and genial smile. + +"Well, now, if here aren't four handsome lasses," he said with an +admiring glance. + +"Eb, I believe if you were single any girl might well suspect you of +being a flirt," said Betty. + +"No girl ever did. I tell you I was a lady-killer in my day," replied +Colonel Zane, straightening his fine form. He was indeed handsome, +with his stalwart frame, dark, bronzed face and rugged, manly bearing. + +"Bess said you were; but that it didn't last long after you saw her," +cried Betty, mischief gleaming in her dark eye. + +"Well, that's so," replied the colonel, looking a trifle crest-fallen; +"but you know every dog has his day." Then advancing to the porch, he +looked at Mabel with a more serious gaze as he asked, "How are +you to-day?" + +"Thank you, Colonel Zane, I am getting quite strong." + +"Look up the valley. There's a raft coming down the river," said he +softly. + +Far up the broad Ohio a square patch showed dark against the green +water. + +Colonel Zane saw Mabel start, and a dark red flush came over her pale +face. For an instant she gazed with an expression of appeal, almost +fear. He knew the reason. Alex Bennet was on that raft. + +"I came over to ask if I can be of any service?" + +"Tell him," she answered simply. + +"I say, Betts," Colonel Zane cried, "has Helen's cousin cast any more +such sheep eyes at you?" + +"Oh, Eb, what nonsense!" exclaimed Betty, blushing furiously. + +"Well, if he didn't look sweet at you I'm an old fool." + +"You're one anyway, and you're horrid," said Betty, tears of anger +glistening in her eyes. + +Colonel Zane whistled softly as he walked down the lane. He went into +the wheelwright's shop to see about some repairs he was having made on +a wagon, and then strolled on down to the river. Two Indians were +sitting on the rude log wharf, together with several frontiersmen and +rivermen, all waiting for the raft. He conversed with the Indians, who +were friendly Chippewas, until the raft was tied up. The first person +to leap on shore was a sturdy young fellow with a shock of yellow +hair, and a warm, ruddy skin. + +"Hello, Alex, did you have a good trip?" asked Colonel Zane of the +youth. + +"H'are ye, Colonel Zane. Yes, first-rate trip," replied young Bennet. +"Say, I've a word for you. Come aside," and drawing Colonel Zane out +of earshot of the others, he continued, "I heard this by accident, not +that I didn't spy a bit when I got interested, for I did; but the way +it came about was all chance. Briefly, there's a man, evidently an +Englishman, at Fort Pitt whom I overheard say he was out on the border +after a Sheppard girl. I happened to hear from one of Brandt's men, +who rode into Pitt just before we left, that you had new friends here +by that name. This fellow was a handsome chap, no common sort, but +lordly, dissipated and reckless as the devil. He had a servant +traveling with him, a sailor, by his gab, who was about the toughest +customer I've met in many a day. He cut a fellow in bad shape at Pitt. +These two will be on the next boat, due here in a day or so, according +to river and weather conditions, an' I thought, considerin' how +unusual the thing was, I'd better tell ye." + +"Well, well," said Colonel Zane reflectively. He recalled Sheppard's +talk about an Englishman. "Alex, you did well to tell me. Was the man +drunk when he said he came west after a woman?" + +"Sure he was," replied Alex. "But not when he spoke the name. Ye see I +got suspicious, an' asked about him. It's this way: Jake Wentz, the +trader, told me the fellow asked for the Sheppards when he got off the +wagon-train. When I first seen him he was drunk, and I heard Jeff Lynn +say as how the border was a bad place to come after a woman. That's +what made me prick up my ears. Then the Englishman said: 'It is, eh? +By God! I'd go to hell after a woman I wanted.' An' Colonel, he +looked it, too." + +Colonel Zane remained thoughtful while Alex made up a bundle and +forced the haft of an ax under the string; but as the young man +started away the colonel suddenly remembered his errand down to +the wharf. + +"Alex, come back here," he said, and wondered if the lad had good +stuff in him. The boatman's face was plain, but not evil, and a close +scrutiny of it rather prepossessed the colonel. + +"Alex, I've some bad news for you," and then bluntly, with his keen +gaze fastened on the young man's face, he told of old Lane's murder, +of Mabel's abduction, and of her rescue by Wetzel. + +Alex began to curse and swear vengeance. + +"Stow all that," said the colonel sharply. "Wetzel followed four +Indians who had Mabel and some stolen horses. The redskins quarreled +over the girl, and two took the horses, leaving Mabel to the others. +Wetzel went after these last, tomahawked them, and brought Mabel home. +She was in a bad way, but is now getting over the shock." + +"Say, what'd we do here without Wetzel?" Alex said huskily, unmindful +of the tears that streamed from his eyes and ran over his brown +cheeks. "Poor old Jake! Poor Mabel! Damn me! it's my fault. If I'd 'a +done right an' married her as I should, as I wanted to, she wouldn't +have had to suffer. But I'll marry her yet, if she'll have me. It was +only because I had no farm, no stock, an' only that little cabin as is +full now, that I waited." + +"Alex, you know me," said Colonel Zane in kindly tones. "Look there, +down the clearing half a mile. See that green strip of land along the +river, with the big chestnut in the middle and a cabin beyond. There's +as fine farming land as can be found on the border, eighty acres, well +watered. The day you marry Mabel that farm is yours." + +Alex grew red, stammered, and vainly tried to express his gratitude. + +"Come along, the sooner you tell Mabel the better," said the colonel +with glowing face. He was a good matchmaker. He derived more pleasure +from a little charity bestowed upon a deserving person, than from a +season's crops. + +When they arrived at the Sheppard house the girls were still on the +porch. Mabel rose when she saw Alex, standing white and still. He, +poor fellow, was embarrassed by the others, who regarded him with +steady eyes. + +Colonel Zane pushed Alex up on the porch, and said in a low voice: +"Mabel, I've just arranged something you're to give Alex. It's a nice +little farm, and it'll be a wedding present." + +Mabel looked in a bewildered manner from Colonel Zane's happy face to +the girls, and then at the red, joyous features of her lover. Only +then did she understand, and uttering a strange little cry, put her +trembling hands to her bosom as she swayed to and fro. + +But she did not fall, for Alex, quick at the last, leaped forward and +caught her in his arms. + + * * * * * + +That evening Helen denied herself to Mr. Brandt and several other +callers. She sat on the porch with her father while he smoked +his pipe. + +"Where's Will?" she asked. + +"Gone after snipe, so he said," replied her father. + +"Snipe? How funny! Imagine Will hunting! He's surely catching the wild +fever Colonel Zane told us about." + +"He surely is." + +Then came a time of silence. Mr. Sheppard, accustomed to Helen's +gladsome spirit and propensity to gay chatter, noted how quiet she +was, and wondered. + +"Why are you so still?" + +"I'm a little homesick," Helen replied reluctantly. + +"No? Well, I declare! This is a glorious country; but not for such as +you, dear, who love music and gaiety. I often fear you'll not be happy +here, and then I long for the old home, which reminds me of +your mother." + +"Dearest, forget what I said," cried Helen earnestly. "I'm only a +little blue to-day; perhaps not at all homesick." + +"Indeed, you always seemed happy." + +"Father, I am happy. It's only--only a girl's foolish sentiment." + +"I've got something to tell you, Helen, and it has bothered me since +Colonel Zane spoke of it to-night. Mordaunt is coming to Fort Henry." + +"Mordaunt? Oh, impossible! Who said so? How did you learn?" + +"I fear 'tis true, my dear. Colonel Zane told me he had heard of an +Englishman at Fort Pitt who asked after us. Moreover, the fellow +answers the description of Mordaunt. I am afraid it is he, and come +after you." + +"Suppose he has--who cares? We owe him nothing. He cannot hurt us." + +"But, Helen, he's a desperate man. Aren't you afraid of him?" + +"Not I," cried Helen, laughing in scorn. "He'd better have a care. He +can't run things with a high hand out here on the border. I told him I +would have none of him, and that ended it." + +"I'm much relieved. I didn't want to tell you; but it seemed +necessary. Well, child, good night, I'll go to bed." + +Long after Mr. Sheppard had retired Helen sat thinking. Memories of +the past, and of the unwelcome suitor, Mordaunt, thronged upon her +thick and fast. She could see him now with his pale, handsome face, +and distinguished bearing. She had liked him, as she had other men, +until he involved her father, with himself, in financial ruin, and had +made his attention to her unpleasantly persistent. Then he had +followed the fall of fortune with wild dissipation, and became a +gambler and a drunkard. But he did not desist in his mad wooing. He +became like her shadow, and life grew to be unendurable, until her +father planned to emigrate west, when she hailed the news with joy. +And now Mordaunt had tracked her to her new home. She was sick with +disgust. Then her spirit, always strong, and now freer for this new, +wild life of the frontier, rose within her, and she dismissed all +thoughts of this man and his passion. + +The old life was dead and buried. She was going to be happy here. As +for the present, it was enough to think of the little border village, +now her home; of her girl friends; of the quiet borderman: and, for +the moment, that the twilight was somber and beautiful. + +High up on the wooded bluff rising so gloomily over the village, she +saw among the trees something silver-bright. She watched it rise +slowly from behind the trees, now hidden, now white through rifts in +the foliage, until it soared lovely and grand above the black horizon. +The ebony shadows of night seemed to lift, as might a sable mantle +moved by invisible hands. But dark shadows, safe from the moon-rays, +lay under the trees, and a pale, misty vapor hung below the brow of +the bluff. + +Mysterious as had grown the night before darkness yielded to the moon, +this pale, white light flooding the still valley, was even more soft +and strange. To one of Helen's temperament no thought was needed; to +see was enough. Yet her mind was active. She felt with haunting power +the beauty of all before her; in fancy transporting herself far to +those silver-tipped clouds, and peopling the dells and shady nooks +under the hills with spirits and fairies, maidens and valiant knights. +To her the day was as a far-off dream. The great watch stars grew wan +before the radiant moon; it reigned alone. The immensity of the world +with its glimmering rivers, pensive valleys and deep, gloomy forests +lay revealed under the glory of the clear light. + +Absorbed in this contemplation Helen remained a long time gazing with +dreamy ecstasy at the moonlit valley until a slight chill disturbed +her happy thoughts. She knew she was not alone. Trembling, she stood +up to see, easily recognizable in the moonlight, the tall +buckskin-garbed figure of Jonathan Zane. + +"Well, sir," she called, sharply, yet with a tremor in her voice. + +The borderman came forward and stood in front of her. Somehow he +appeared changed. The long, black rifle, the dull, glinting weapons +made her shudder. Wilder and more untamable he looked than ever. The +very silence of the forest clung to him; the fragrance of the grassy +plains came faintly from his buckskin garments. + +"Evenin', lass," he said in his slow, cool manner. + +"How did you get here?" asked Helen presently, because he made no +effort to explain his presence at such a late hour. + +"I was able to walk." + +Helen observed, with a vaulting spirit, one ever ready to rise in +arms, that Master Zane was disposed to add humor to his penetrating +mysteriousness. She flushed hot and then paled. This borderman +certainly possessed the power to vex her, and, reluctantly she +admitted, to chill her soul and rouse her fear. She strove to keep +back sharp words, because she had learned that this singular +individual always gave good reason for his odd actions. + +"I think in kindness to me," she said, choosing her words carefully, +"you might tell me why you appear so suddenly, as if you had sprung +out of the ground." + +"Are you alone?" + +"Yes. Father is in bed; so is Mabel, and Will has not yet come home. +Why?" + +"Has no one else been here?" + +"Mr. Brandt came, as did some others; but wishing to be alone, I did +not see them," replied Helen in perplexity. + +"Have you seen Brandt since?" + +"Since when?" + +"The night I watched by the lilac bush." + +"Yes, several times," replied Helen. Something in his tone made her +ashamed. "I couldn't very well escape when he called. Are you +surprised because after he insulted me I'd see him?" + +"Yes." + +Helen felt more ashamed. + +"You don't love him?" he continued. + +Helen was so surprised she could only look into the dark face above +her. Then she dropped her gaze, abashed by his searching eyes. But, +thinking of his question, she subdued the vague stirrings of pleasure +in her breast, and answered coldly: + +"No, I do not; but for the service you rendered me I should never have +answered such a question." + +"I'm glad, an' hope you care as little for the other five men who were +here that night." + +"I declare, Master Zane, you seem exceedingly interested in the +affairs of a young woman whom you won't visit, except as you have come +to-night." + +He looked at her with his piercing eyes. + +"You spied upon my guests," she said, in no wise abashed now that her +temper was high. "Did you care so very much?" + +"Care?" he asked slowly. + +"Yes; you were interested to know how many of my admirers were here, +what they did, and what they said. You even hint disparagingly +of them." + +"True, I wanted to know," he replied; "but I don't hint about any +man." + +"You are so interested you wouldn't call on me when I invited you," +said Helen, with poorly veiled sarcasm. It was this that made her +bitter; she could never forget that she had asked this man to come to +see her, and he had refused. + +"I reckon you've mistook me," he said calmly. + +"Why did you come? Why do you shadow my friends? This is twice you +have done it. Goodness knows how many times you've been here! +Tell me." + +The borderman remained silent. + +"Answer me," commanded Helen, her eyes blazing. She actually stamped +her foot. "Borderman or not, you have no right to pry into my affairs. +If you are a gentleman, tell me why you came here?" + +The eyes Jonathan turned on Helen stilled all the angry throbbing of +her blood. + +"I come here to learn which of your lovers is the dastard who plotted +the abduction of Mabel Lane, an' the thief who stole our hosses. When +I find the villain I reckon Wetzel an' I'll swing him to some tree." + +The borderman's voice rang sharp and cold, and when he ceased speaking +she sank back upon the step, shocked, speechless, to gaze up at him +with staring eyes. + +"Don't look so, lass; don't be frightened," he said, his voice gentle +and kind as it had been hard. He took her hand in his. "You nettled me +into replyin'. You have a sharp tongue, lass, and when I spoke I was +thinkin' of him. I'm sorry." + +"A horse-thief and worse than murderer among my friends!" murmured +Helen, shuddering, yet she never thought to doubt his word. + +"I followed him here the night of your company." + +"Do you know which one?" + +"No." + +He still held her hand, unconsciously, but Helen knew it well. A sense +of his strength came with the warm pressure, and comforted her. She +would need that powerful hand, surely, in the evil days which seemed +to darken the horizon. + +"What shall I do?" she whispered, shuddering again. + +"Keep this secret between you an' me." + +"How can I? How can I?" + +"You must," his voice was deep and low. "If you tell your father, or +any one, I might lose the chance to find this man, for, lass, he's +desperate cunnin'. Then he'd go free to rob others, an' mebbe help +make off with other poor girls. Lass, keep my secret." + +"But he might try to carry me away," said Helen in fearful perplexity. + +"Most likely he might," replied the borderman with the smile that came +so rarely. + +"Oh! Knowing all this, how can I meet any of these men again? I'd +betray myself." + +"No; you've got too much pluck. It so happens you are the one to help +me an' Wetzel rid the border of these hell-hounds, an' you won't fail. +I know a woman when it comes to that." + +"I--I help you and Wetzel?" + +"Exactly." + +"Gracious!" cried Helen, half-laughing, half-crying. "And poor me with +more trouble coming on the next boat." + +"Lass, the colonel told me about the Englishman. It'll be bad for him +to annoy you." + +Helen thrilled with the depth of meaning in the low voice. Fate surely +was weaving a bond between her and this borderman. She felt it in his +steady, piercing gaze; in her own tingling blood. + +Then as her natural courage dispelled all girlish fears, she faced +him, white, resolute, with a look in her eyes that matched his own. + +"I will do what I can," she said. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Westward from Fort Henry, far above the eddying river, Jonathan Zane +slowly climbed a narrow, hazel-bordered, mountain trail. From time to +time he stopped in an open patch among the thickets and breathed deep +of the fresh, wood-scented air, while his keen gaze swept over the +glades near by, along the wooded hillsides, and above at the +timber-strewn woodland. + +This June morning in the wild forest was significant of nature's +brightness and joy. Broad-leaved poplars, dense foliaged oaks, and +vine-covered maples shaded cool, mossy banks, while between the trees +the sunshine streamed in bright spots. It shone silver on the glancing +silver-leaf, and gold on the colored leaves of the butternut tree. +Dewdrops glistened on the ferns; ripples sparkled in the brooks; +spider-webs glowed with wondrous rainbow hues, and the flower of the +forest, the sweet, pale-faced daisy, rose above the green like a +white star. + +Yellow birds flitted among the hazel bushes caroling joyously, and +cat-birds sang gaily. Robins called; bluejays screeched in the tall, +white oaks; wood-peckers hammered in the dead hard-woods, and crows +cawed overhead. Squirrels chattered everywhere. Ruffed grouse rose +with great bustle and a whirr, flitting like brown flakes through the +leaves. From far above came the shrill cry of a hawk, followed by the +wilder scream of an eagle. + +Wilderness music such as all this fell harmoniously on the borderman's +ear. It betokened the gladsome spirit of his wild friends, happy in +the warm sunshine above, or in the cool depths beneath the fluttering +leaves, and everywhere in those lonely haunts unalarmed and free. + +Familiar to Jonathan, almost as the footpath near his home, was this +winding trail. On the height above was a safe rendezvous, much +frequented by him and Wetzel. Every lichen-covered stone, mossy bank, +noisy brook and giant oak on the way up this mountain-side, could have +told, had they spoken their secrets, stories of the bordermen. The +fragile ferns and slender-bladed grasses peeping from the gray and +amber mosses, and the flowers that hung from craggy ledges, had wisdom +to impart. A borderman lived under the green tree-tops, and, +therefore, all the nodding branches of sassafras and laurel, the +grassy slopes and rocky cliffs, the stately ash trees, kingly oaks and +dark, mystic pines, together with the creatures that dwelt among them, +save his deadly red-skinned foes, he loved. Other affection as close +and true as this, he had not known. Hearkening thus with single heart +to nature's teachings, he learned her secrets. Certain it was, +therefore, that the many hours he passed in the woods apart from +savage pursuits, were happy and fruitful. + +Slowly he pressed on up the ascent, at length coming into open light +upon a small plateau marked by huge, rugged, weather-chipped stones. +On the eastern side was a rocky promontory, and close to the edge of +this cliff, an hundred feet in sheer descent, rose a gnarled, time and +tempest-twisted chestnut tree. Here the borderman laid down his rifle +and knapsack, and, half-reclining against the tree, settled himself to +rest and wait. + +This craggy point was the lonely watch-tower of eagles. Here on the +highest headland for miles around where the bordermen were wont to +meet, the outlook was far-reaching and grand. + +Below the gray, splintered cliffs sheered down to meet the waving +tree-tops, and then hill after hill, slope after slope, waved and +rolled far, far down to the green river. Open grassy patches, bright +little islands in that ocean of dark green, shone on the hillsides. +The rounded ridges ran straight, curved, or zigzag, but shaped their +graceful lines in the descent to make the valley. Long, purple-hued, +shadowy depressions in the wide expanse of foliage marked deep clefts +between ridges where dark, cool streams bounded on to meet the river. +Lower, where the land was level, in open spaces could be seen a broad +trail, yellow in the sunlight, winding along with the curves of the +water-course. On a swampy meadow, blue in the distance, a herd of +buffalo browsed. Beyond the river, high over the green island, Fort +Henry lay peaceful and solitary, the only token of the works of man in +all that vast panorama. + +Jonathan Zane was as much alone as if one thousand miles, instead of +five, intervened between him and the settlement. Loneliness was to him +a passion. Other men loved home, the light of woman's eyes, the rattle +of dice or the lust of hoarding; but to him this wild, remote +promontory, with its limitless view, stretching away to the dim hazy +horizon, was more than all the aching joys of civilization. + +Hours here, or in the shady valley, recompensed him for the loss of +home comforts, the soft touch of woman's hands, the kiss of baby lips, +and also for all he suffered in his pitiless pursuits, the hard fare, +the steel and blood of a borderman's life. + +Soon the sun shone straight overhead, dwarfing the shadow of the +chestnut on the rock. + +During such a time it was rare that any connected thought came into +the borderman's mind. His dark eyes, now strangely luminous, strayed +lingeringly over those purple, undulating slopes. This intense +watchfulness had no object, neither had his listening. He watched +nothing; he hearkened to the silence. Undoubtedly in this state of +rapt absorption his perceptions were acutely alert; but without +thought, as were those of the savage in the valley below, or the eagle +in the sky above. + +Yet so perfectly trained were these perceptions that the least +unnatural sound or sight brought him wary and watchful from his +dreamy trance. + +The slight snapping of a twig in the thicket caused him to sit erect, +and reach out toward his rifle. His eyes moved among the dark openings +in the thicket. In another moment a tall figure pressed the bushes +apart. Jonathan let fall his rifle, and sank back against the tree +once more. Wetzel stepped over the rocks toward him. + +"Come from Blue Pond?" asked Jonathan as the newcomer took a seat +beside him. + +Wetzel nodded as he carefully laid aside his long, black rifle. + +"Any Injun sign?" continued Jonathan, pushing toward his companion the +knapsack of eatables he had brought from the settlement. + +"Nary Shawnee track west of this divide," answered Wetzel, helping +himself to bread and cheese. + +"Lew, we must go eastward, over Bing Legget's way, to find the trail +of the stolen horses." + +"Likely, an' it'll be a long, hard tramp." + +"Who's in Legget's gang now beside Old Horse, the Chippewa, an' his +Shawnee pard, Wildfire? I don't know Bing; but I've seen some of his +Injuns an' they remember me." + +"Never seen Legget but onct," replied Wetzel, "an' that time I shot +half his face off. I've been told by them as have seen him since, that +he's got a nasty scar on his temple an' cheek. He's a big man an' +knows the woods. I don't know who all's in his gang, nor does anybody. +He works in the dark, an' for cunnin' he's got some on Jim Girty, +Deerin', an' several more renegades we know of lyin' quiet back here +in the woods. We never tackled as bad a gang as his'n; they're all +experienced woodsmen, old fighters, an' desperate, outlawed as they be +by Injuns an' whites. It wouldn't surprise me to find that it's him +an' his gang who are runnin' this hoss-thievin'; but bad or no, we're +goin' after 'em." + +Jonathan told of his movements since he had last seen his companion. + +"An' the lass Helen is goin' to help us," said Wetzel, much +interested. "It's a good move. Women are keen. Betty put Miller's +schemin' in my eye long 'afore I noticed it. But girls have chances we +men'd never get." + +"Yes, an' she's like Betts, quicker'n lightnin'. She'll find out this +hoss-thief in Fort Henry; but Lew, when we do get him we won't be much +better off. Where do them hosses go? Who's disposin' of 'em for +this fellar?" + +"Where's Brandt from?" asked Wetzel. + +"Detroit; he's a French-Canadian." + +Wetzel swung sharply around, his eyes glowing like wakening furnaces. + +"Bing Legget's a French-Canadian, an' from Detroit. Metzar was once +thick with him down Fort Pitt way 'afore he murdered a man an' became +an outlaw. We're on the trail, Jack." + +"Brandt an' Metzar, with Legget backin' them, an' the horses go +overland to Detroit?" + +"I calkilate you've hit the mark." + +"What'll we do?" asked Jonathan. + +"Wait; that's best. We've no call to hurry. We must know the truth +before makin' a move, an' as yet we're only suspicious. This lass'll +find out more in a week than we could in a year. But Jack, have a care +she don't fall into any snare. Brandt ain't any too honest a lookin' +chap, an' them renegades is hell for women. The scars you wear prove +that well enough. She's a rare, sweet, bloomin' lass, too. I never +seen her equal. I remember how her eyes flashed when she said she knew +I'd avenged Mabel. Jack, they're wonderful eyes; an' that girl, +however sweet an' good as she must be, is chain-lightnin' wrapped up +in a beautiful form. Aren't the boys at the fort runnin' arter her?" + +"Like mad; it'd make you laugh to see 'em," replied Jonathan calmly. + +"There'll be some fights before she's settled for, an' mebbe arter +thet. Have a care for her, Jack, an' see that she don't ketch you." + +"No more danger than for you." + +"I was ketched onct," replied Wetzel. + +Jonathan Zane looked up at his companion. Wetzel's head was bowed; but +there was no merriment in the serious face exposed to the +borderman's scrutiny. + +"Lew, you're jokin'." + +"Not me. Some day, when you're ketched good, an' I have to go back to +the lonely trail, as I did afore you an' me become friends, mebbe +then, when I'm the last borderman, I'll tell you." + +"Lew, 'cordin' to the way settlers are comin', in a few more years +there won't be any need for a borderman. When the Injuns are all gone +where'll be our work?" + +"'Tain't likely either of us'll ever see them times," said Wetzel, +"an' I don't want to. Wal, Jack, I'm off now, an' I'll meet you here +every other day." + +Wetzel shouldered his long rifle, and soon passed out of sight down +the mountain-side. + +Jonathan arose, shook himself as a big dog might have done, and went +down into the valley. Only once did he pause in his descent, and that +was when a crackling twig warned him some heavy body was moving near. +Silently he sank into the bushes bordering the trail. He listened with +his ear close to the ground. Presently he heard a noise as of two hard +substances striking together. He resumed his walk, having recognized +the grating noise of a deer-hoof striking a rock. Farther down he +espied a pair grazing. The buck ran into the thicket; but the doe eyed +him curiously. + +Less than an hour's rapid walking brought him to the river. Here he +plunged into a thicket of willows, and emerged on a sandy strip of +shore. He carefully surveyed the river bank, and then pulled a small +birch-bark canoe from among the foliage. He launched the frail craft, +paddled across the river and beached it under a reedy, over-hanging bank. + +The distance from this point in a straight line to his destination was +only a mile; but a rocky bluff and a ravine necessitated his making a +wide detour. While lightly leaping over a brook his keen eye fell on +an imprint in the sandy loam. Instantly he was on his knees. The +footprint was small, evidently a woman's, and, what was more unusual, +instead of the flat, round moccasin-track, it was pointed, with a +sharp, square heel. Such shoes were not worn by border girls. True +Betty and Nell had them; but they never went into the woods without +moccasins. + +Jonathan's experienced eye saw that this imprint was not an hour old. +He gazed up at the light. The day was growing short. Already shadows +lay in the glens. He would not long have light enough to follow the +trail; but he hurried on hoping to find the person who made it before +darkness came. He had not traveled many paces before learning that the +one who made it was lost. The uncertainty in those hasty steps was as +plain to the borderman's eyes, as if it had been written in words on +the sand. The course led along the brook, avoiding the rough places; +and leading into the open glades and glens; but it drew no nearer to +the settlement. A quarter of an hour of rapid trailing enabled +Jonathan to discern a dark figure moving among the trees. Abandoning +the trail, he cut across a ridge to head off the lost woman. Stepping +out of a sassafras thicket, he came face to face with Helen Sheppard. + +"Oh!" she cried in alarm, and then the expression of terror gave place +to one of extreme relief and gladness. "Oh! Thank goodness! You've +found me. I'm lost!" + +"I reckon," answered Jonathan grimly. "The settlement's only five +hundred yards over that hill." + +"I was going the wrong way. Oh! suppose you hadn't come!" exclaimed +Helen, sinking on a log and looking up at him with warm, glad eyes. + +"How did you lose your way?" Jonathan asked. He saw neither the warmth +in her eyes nor the gladness. + +"I went up the hillside, only a little way, after flowers, keeping the +fort in sight all the time. Then I saw some lovely violets down a +little hill, and thought I might venture. I found such loads of them I +forgot everything else, and I must have walked on a little way. On +turning to go back I couldn't find the little hill. I have hunted in +vain for the clearing. It seems as if I have been wandering about for +hours. I'm so glad you've found me!" + +"Weren't you told to stay in the settlement, inside the clearing?" +demanded Jonathan. + +"Yes," replied Helen, with her head up. + +"Why didn't you?" + +"Because I didn't choose." + +"You ought to have better sense." + +"It seems I hadn't," Helen said quietly, but her eyes belied that calm +voice. + +"You're a headstrong child," Jonathan added curtly. + +"Mr. Zane!" cried Helen with pale face. + +"I suppose you've always had your own sweet will; but out here on the +border you ought to think a little of others, if not of yourself." + +Helen maintained a proud silence. + +"You might have run right into prowlin' Shawnees." + +"That dreadful disaster would not have caused you any sorrow," she +flashed out. + +"Of course it would. I might have lost my scalp tryin' to get you back +home," said Jonathan, beginning to hesitate. Plainly he did not know +what to make of this remarkable young woman. + +"Such a pity to have lost all your fine hair," she answered with a +touch of scorn. + +Jonathan flushed, perhaps for the first time in his life. If there was +anything he was proud of, it was his long, glossy hair. + +"Miss Helen, I'm a poor hand at words," he said, with a pale, grave +face. "I was only speakin' for your own good." + +"You are exceedingly kind; but need not trouble yourself." + +"Say," Jonathan hesitated, looking half-vexed at the lovely, angry +face. Then an idea occurred to him. "Well, I won't trouble. Find your +way home yourself." + +Abruptly he turned and walked slowly away. He had no idea of allowing +her to go home alone; but believed it might be well for her to think +so. If she did not call him back he would remain near at hand, and +when she showed signs of anxiety or fear he could go to her. + +Helen determined she would die in the woods, or be captured by +Shawnees, before calling him back. But she watched him. Slowly the +tall, strong figure, with its graceful, springy stride, went down the +glade. He would be lost to view in a moment, and then she would be +alone. How dark it had suddenly become! The gray cloak of twilight was +spread over the forest, and in the hollows night already had settled +down. A breathless silence pervaded the woods. How lonely! thought +Helen, with a shiver. Surely it would be dark before she could find +the settlement. What hill hid the settlement from view? She did not +know, could not remember which he had pointed out. Suddenly she began +to tremble. She had been so frightened before he had found her, and so +relieved afterward; and now he was going away. + +"Mr. Zane," she cried with a great effort. "Come back." + +Jonathan kept slowly on. + +"Come back, Jonathan, please." + +The borderman retraced his steps. + +"Please take me home," she said, lifting a fair face all flushed, +tear-stained, and marked with traces of storm. "I was foolish, and +silly to come into the woods, and so glad to see you! But you spoke to +me--in--in a way no one ever used before. I'm sure I deserved it. +Please take me home. Papa will be worried." + +Softer eyes and voice than hers never entreated man. + +"Come," he said gently, and, taking her by the hand, he led her up the +ridge. + +Thus they passed through the darkening forest, hand in hand, like a +dusky redman and his bride. He helped her over stones and logs, but +still held her hand when there was no need of it. She looked up to see +him walking, so dark and calm beside her, his eyes ever roving among +the trees. Deepest remorse came upon her because of what she had said. +There was no sentiment for him in this walk under the dark canopy of +the leaves. He realized the responsibility. Any tree might hide a +treacherous foe. She would atone for her sarcasm, she promised +herself, while walking, ever conscious of her hand in his, her bosom +heaving with the sweet, undeniable emotion which came knocking at +her heart. + +Soon they were out of the thicket, and on the dusty lane. A few +moments of rapid walking brought them within sight of the twinkling +lights of the village, and a moment later they were at the lane +leading to Helen's home. Releasing her hand, she stopped him with a +light touch and said: + +"Please don't tell papa or Colonel Zane." + +"Child, I ought. Some one should make you stay at home." + +"I'll stay. Please don't tell. It will worry papa." + +Jonathan Zane looked down into her great, dark, wonderful eyes with an +unaccountable feeling. He really did not hear what she asked. +Something about that upturned face brought to his mind a rare and +perfect flower which grew in far-off rocky fastnesses. The feeling he +had was intangible, like no more than a breath of fragrant western +wind, faint with tidings of some beautiful field. + +"Promise me you won't tell." + +"Well, lass, have it your own way," replied Jonathan, wonderingly +conscious that it was the first pledge ever asked of him by a woman. + +"Thank you. Now we have two secrets, haven't we?" she laughed, with +eyes like stars. + +"Run home now, lass. Be careful hereafter. I do fear for you with such +spirit an' temper. I'd rather be scalped by Shawnees than have Bing +Legget so much as set eyes on you." + +"You would? Why?" Her voice was like low, soft music. + +"Why?" he mused. "It'd seem like a buzzard about to light on a doe." + +"Good-night," said Helen abruptly, and, wheeling, she hurried down the +lane. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +"Jack," said Colonel Zane to his brother next morning, "to-day is +Saturday and all the men will be in. There was high jinks over at +Metzar's place yesterday, and I'm looking for more to-day. The two +fellows Alex Bennet told me about, came on day-before-yesterday's +boat. Sure enough, one's a lordly Englishman, and the other, the +cussedest-looking little chap I ever saw. They started trouble +immediately. The Englishman, his name is Mordaunt, hunted up the +Sheppards and as near as I can make out from George's story, Helen +spoke her mind very plainly. Mordaunt and Case, that's his servant, +the little cuss, got drunk and raised hell down at Metzar's where +they're staying. Brandt and Williams are drinking hard, too, which is +something unusual for Brandt. They got chummy at once with the +Englishman, who seems to have plenty of gold and is fond of gambling. +This Mordaunt is a gentleman, or I never saw one. I feel sorry for +him. He appears to be a ruined man. If he lasts a week out here I'll +be surprised. Case looks ugly, as if he were spoiling to cut somebody. +I want you to keep your eye peeled. The day may pass off as many other +days of drinking bouts have, without anything serious, and on the +other hand there's liable to be trouble." + +Jonathan's preparations were characteristic of the borderman. He laid +aside his rifle, and, removing his short coat, buckled on a second +belt containing a heavier tomahawk and knife than those he had been +wearing. Then he put on his hunting frock, or shirt, and wore it loose +with the belts underneath, instead of on the outside. Unfastened, the +frock was rather full, and gave him the appearance of a man unarmed +and careless. + +Jonathan Zane was not so reckless as to court danger, nor, like many +frontiersmen, fond of fighting for its own sake. Colonel Zane was +commandant of the fort, and, in a land where there was no law, tried +to maintain a semblance of it. For years he had kept thieves, +renegades and outlaws away from his little settlement by dealing out +stern justice. His word was law, and his bordermen executed it as +such. Therefore Jonathan and Wetzel made it their duty to have a keen +eye on all that was happening. They kept the colonel posted, and never +interfered in any case without orders. + +The morning passed quietly. Jonathan strolled here or loitered there; +but saw none of the roisterers. He believed they were sleeping off the +effects of their orgy on the previous evening. After dinner he smoked +his pipe. Betty and Helen passed, and Helen smiled. It struck him +suddenly that she had never looked at him in such a way before. There +was meaning in that warm, radiant flash. A little sense of vexation, +the source of which he did not understand, stirred in him against this +girl; but with it came the realization that her white face and big, +dark eyes had risen before him often since the night before. He +wished, for the first time, that he could understand women better. + +"Everything quiet?" asked Colonel Zane, coming out on the steps. + +"All quiet," answered Jonathan. + +"They'll open up later, I suspect. I'm going over to Sheppard's for a +while, and, later, will drop into Metzar's. I'll make him haul in a +yard or two. I don't like things I hear about his selling the +youngsters rum. I'd like you to be within call." + +The borderman strolled down the bluff and along the path which +overhung the river. He disliked Metzar more than his brother +suspected, and with more weighty reason than that of selling rum to +minors. Jonathan threw himself at length on the ground and mused over +the situation. + +"We never had any peace in this settlement, an' never will in our day. +Eb is hopeful an' looks at the bright side, always expectin' to-morrow +will be different. What have the past sixteen years been? One long +bloody fight, an' the next sixteen won't be any better. I make out +that we'll have a mix-up soon. Metzar an' Brandt with their allies, +whoever they are, will be in it, an' if Bing Legget's in the gang, +we've got, as Wetzel said, a long, hard trail, which may be our last. +More'n that, there'll be trouble about this chain-lightnin' girl, as +Wetzel predicted. Women make trouble anyways; an' when they're winsome +an' pretty they cause more; but if they're beautiful an' fiery, bent +on havin' their way, as this new lass is, all hell couldn't hold a +candle to them. We don't need the Shawnees an' Girtys, an' hoss +thieves round this here settlement to stir up excitin' times, now +we've got this dark-eyed lass. An' yet any fool could see she's sweet, +an' good, an' true as gold." + +Toward the middle of the afternoon Jonathan sauntered in the direction +of Metzar's inn. It lay on the front of the bluff, with its main doors +looking into the road. A long, one-story log structure with two doors, +answered as a bar-room. The inn proper was a building more +pretentious, and joined the smaller one at its western end. Several +horses were hitched outside, and two great oxen yoked to a cumbersome +mud-crusted wagon stood patiently by. + +Jonathan bent his tall head as he entered the noisy bar-room. The +dingy place reeked with tobacco smoke and the fumes of vile liquor. It +was crowded with men. The lawlessness of the time and place was +evident. Gaunt, red-faced frontiersmen reeled to and fro across the +sawdust floor; hunters and fur-traders, raftsmen and farmers, swelled +the motley crowd; young men, honest-faced, but flushed and wild with +drink, hung over the bar; a group of sullen-visaged, serpent-eyed +Indians held one corner. The black-bearded proprietor dealt out +the rum. + +From beyond the bar-room, through a door entering upon the back porch, +came the rattling of dice. Jonathan crossed the bar-room apparently +oblivious to the keen glance Metzar shot at him, and went out upon the +porch. This also was crowded, but there was more room because of +greater space. At one table sat some pioneers drinking and laughing; +at another were three men playing with dice. Colonel Zane, Silas, and +Sheppard were among the lookers-on at the game. Jonathan joined them, +and gazed at the gamesters. + +Brandt he knew well enough; he had seen that set, wolfish expression +in the riverman's face before. He observed, however, that the man had +flushed cheeks and trembling hands, indications of hard drinking. The +player sitting next to Brandt was Williams, one of the garrison, and a +good-natured fellow, but garrulous and wickedly disposed when drunk. +The remaining player Jonathan at once saw was the Englishman, +Mordaunt. He was a handsome man, with fair skin, and long, silken, +blond mustache. Heavy lines, and purple shades under his blue eyes, +were die unmistakable stamp of dissipation. Reckless, dissolute, bad +as he looked, there yet clung something favorable about the man. +Perhaps it was his cool, devil-may-care way as he pushed over gold +piece after gold piece from the fast diminishing pile before him. His +velvet frock and silken doublet had once been elegant; but were now +sadly the worse for border roughing. + +Behind the Englishman's chair Jonathan saw a short man with a face +resembling that of a jackal. The grizzled, stubbly beard, the +protruding, vicious mouth, the broad, flat nose, and deep-set, small, +glittering eyes made a bad impression on the observer. This man, +Jonathan concluded, was the servant, Case, who was so eager with his +knife. The borderman made the reflection, that if knife-play was the +little man's pastime, he was not likely to go short of sport in +that vicinity. + +Colonel Zane attracted Jonathan's attention at this moment. The +pioneers had vacated the other table, and Silas and Sheppard now sat +by it. The colonel wanted his brother to join them. + +"Here, Johnny, bring drinks," he said to the serving boy. "Tell Metzar +who they're for." Then turning to Sheppard he continued: "He keeps +good whiskey; but few of these poor devils ever see it." At the same +time Colonel Zane pressed his foot upon that of Jonathan's. + +The borderman understood that the signal was intended to call +attention to Brandt. The latter had leaned forward, as Jonathan passed +by to take a seat with his brother, and said something in a low tone +to Mordaunt and Case. Jonathan knew by the way the Englishman and his +man quickly glanced up at him, that he had been the subject of +the remark. + +Suddenly Williams jumped to his feet with an oath. + +"I'm cleaned out," he cried. + +"Shall we play alone?" asked Brandt of Mordaunt. + +"As you like," replied the Englishman, in a tone which showed he cared +not a whit whether he played or not. + +"I've got work to do. Let's have some more drinks, and play another +time," said Brandt. + +The liquor was served and drank. Brandt pocketed his pile of Spanish +and English gold, and rose to his feet. He was a trifle unsteady; but +not drunk. + +"Will you gentlemen have a glass with me?" Mordaunt asked of Colonel +Zane's party. + +"Thank you, some other time, with pleasure. We have our drink now," +Colonel Zane said courteously. + +Meantime Brandt had been whispering in Case's ear. The little man +laughed at something the riverman said. Then he shuffled from behind +the table. He was short, his compact build gave promise of unusual +strength and agility. + +"What are you going to do now?" asked Mordaunt, rising also. He looked +hard at Case. + +"Shiver my sides, cap'n, if I don't need another drink," replied the +sailor. + +"You have had enough. Come upstairs with me," said Mordaunt. + +"Easy with your hatch, cap'n," grinned Case. "I want to drink with +that ther' Injun killer. I've had drinks with buccaneers, and bad men +all over the world, and I'm not going to miss this chance." + +"Come on; you will get into trouble. You must not annoy these +gentlemen," said Mordaunt. + +"Trouble is the name of my ship, and she's a trim, fast craft," +replied the man. + +His loud voice had put an end to the convention. Men began to crowd in +from the bar-room. Metzar himself came to see what had caused the +excitement. + +The little man threw up his cap, whooped, and addressed himself to +Jonathan: + +"Injun-killer, bad man of the border, will you drink with a jolly old +tar from England?" + +Suddenly a silence reigned, like that in the depths of the forest. To +those who knew the borderman, and few did not know him, the invitation +was nothing less than an insult. But it did not appear to them, as to +him, like a pre-arranged plot to provoke a fight. + +"Will you drink, redskin-hunter?" bawled the sailor. + +"No," said Jonathan in his quiet voice. + +"Maybe you mean that against old England?" demanded Case fiercely. + +The borderman eyed him steadily, inscrutable as to feeling or intent, +and was silent. + +"Go out there and I'll see the color of your insides quicker than I'd +take a drink," hissed the sailor, with his brick-red face distorted +and hideous to look upon. He pointed with a long-bladed knife that no +one had seen him draw, to the green sward beyond the porch. + +The borderman neither spoke, nor relaxed a muscle. + +"Ho! ho! my brave pirate of the plains!" cried Case, and he leered +with braggart sneer into the faces of Jonathan and his companions. + +It so happened that Sheppard sat nearest to him, and got the full +effect of the sailor's hot, rum-soaked breath. He arose with a +pale face. + +"Colonel, I can't stand this," he said hastily. "Let's get away from +that drunken ruffian." + +"Who's a drunken ruffian?" yelled Case, more angry than ever. "I'm not +drunk; but I'm going to be, and cut some of you white-livered border +mates. Here, you old masthead, drink this to my health, damn you!" + +The ruffian had seized a tumbler of liquor from the table, and held it +toward Sheppard while he brandished his long knife. + +White as snow, Sheppard backed against the wall; but did not take the +drink. + +The sailor had the floor; no one save him spoke a word. The action had +been so rapid that there had hardly been time. Colonel Zane and Silas +were as quiet and tense as the borderman. + +"Drink!" hoarsely cried the sailor, advancing his knife toward +Sheppard's body. + +When the sharp point all but pressed against the old man, a bright +object twinkled through the air. It struck Case's wrist, knocked the +knife from his fingers, and, bounding against the wall, fell upon the +floor. It was a tomahawk. + +The borderman sprang over the table like a huge catamount, and with +movement equally quick, knocked Case with a crash against the wall; +closed on him before he could move a hand, and flung him like a sack +of meal over the bluff. + +The tension relieved, some of the crowd laughed, others looked over +the embankment to see how Case had fared, and others remarked that for +some reason he had gotten off better than they expected. + +The borderman remained silent. He leaned against a post, with broad +breast gently heaving, but his eyes sparkled as they watched Brandt, +Williams, Mordaunt and Metzar. The Englishman alone spoke. + +"Handily done," he said, cool and suave. "Sir, yours is an iron hand. +I apologize for this unpleasant affair. My man is quarrelsome when +under the influence of liquor." + +"Metzar, a word with you," cried Colonel Zane curtly. + +"Come inside, kunnel," said the innkeeper, plainly ill at ease. + +"No; listen here. I'll speak to the point. You've got to stop running +this kind of a place. No words, now, you've got to stop. Understand? +You know as well as I, perhaps better, the character of your so-called +inn. You'll get but one more chance." + +"Wal, kunnel, this is a free country," growled Metzar. "I can't help +these fellars comin' here lookin' fer blood. I runs an honest place. +The men want to drink an' gamble. What's law here? What can you do?" + +"You know me, Metzar," Colonel Zane said grimly. "I don't waste words. +'To hell with law!' so you say. I can say that, too. Remember, the +next drunken boy I see, or shady deal, or gambling spree, out you go +for good." + +Metzar lowered his shaggy head and left the porch. Brandt and his +friends, with serious faces, withdrew into the bar-room. + +The borderman walked around the corner of the inn, and up the lane. +The colonel, with Silas and Sheppard, followed in more leisurely +fashion. At a shout from some one they turned to see a dusty, bloody +figure, with ragged clothes, stagger up from the bluff. + +"There's that blamed sailor now," said Sheppard. "He's a tough nut. +My! What a knock on the head Jonathan gave him. Strikes me, too, that +tomahawk came almost at the right time to save me a whole skin." + +"I was furious, but not at all alarmed," rejoined Colonel Zane. + +"I wondered what made you so quiet." + +"I was waiting. Jonathan never acts until the right moment, and +then--well, you saw him. The little villain deserved killing. I could +have shot him with pleasure. Do you know, Sheppard, Jonathan's +aversion to shedding blood is a singular thing. He'd never kill the +worst kind of a white man until driven to it." + +"That's commendable. How about Wetzel?" + +"Well, Lew is different," replied Colonel Zane with a shudder. "If I +told him to take an ax and clean out Metzar's place--God! what a wreck +he'd make of it. Maybe I'll have to tell him, and if I do, you'll see +something you can never forget." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +On Sunday morning under the bright, warm sun, the little hamlet of +Fort Henry lay peacefully quiet, as if no storms had ever rolled and +thundered overhead, no roistering ever disturbed its stillness, and no +Indian's yell ever horribly broke the quiet. + +"'Tis a fine morning," said Colonel Zane, joining his sister on the +porch. "Well, how nice you look! All in white for the first time +since--well, you do look charming. You're going to church, of course." + +"Yes, I invited Helen and her cousin to go. I've persuaded her to +teach my Sunday-school class, and I'll take another of older +children," replied Betty. + +"That's well. The youngsters don't have much chance to learn out here. +But we've made one great stride. A church and a preacher means very +much to young people. Next shall come the village school." + +"Helen and I might teach our classes an hour or two every afternoon." + +"It would be a grand thing if you did! Fancy these tots growing up +unable to read or write. I hate to think of it; but the Lord knows +I've done my best. I've had my troubles in keeping them alive." + +"Helen suggested the day school. She takes the greatest interest in +everything and everybody. Her energy is remarkable. She simply must +move, must do something. She overflows with kindness and sympathy. +Yesterday she cried with happiness when Mabel told her Alex was eager +to be married very soon. I tell you, Eb, Helen is a fine character." + +"Yes, good as she is pretty, which is saying some," mused the colonel. +"I wonder who'll be the lucky fellow to win her." + +"It's hard to say. Not that Englishman, surely. She hates him. +Jonathan might. You should see her eyes when he is mentioned." + +"Say, Betts, you don't mean it?" eagerly asked her brother. + +"Yes, I do," returned Betty, nodding her head positively. "I'm not +easily deceived about those things. Helen's completely fascinated with +Jack. She might be only a sixteen-year-old girl for the way she +betrays herself to me." + +"Betty, I have a beautiful plan." + +"No doubt; you're full of them." + +"We can do it, Betty, we can, you and I," he said, as he squeezed her +arm. + +"My dear old matchmaking brother," returned Betty, laughing, "it takes +two to make a bargain. Jack must be considered." + +"Bosh!" exclaimed the colonel, snapping his fingers. "You needn't tell +me any young man--any man, could resist that glorious girl." + +"Perhaps not; I couldn't if I were a man. But Jack's not like other +people. He'd never realize that she cared for him. Besides, he's a +borderman." + +"I know, and that's the only serious obstacle. But he could scout +around the fort, even if he was married. These long, lonely, terrible +journeys taken by him and Wetzel are mostly unnecessary. A sweet wife +could soon make him see that. The border will be civilized in a few +years, and because of that he'd better give over hunting for Indians. +I'd like to see him married and settled down, like all the rest of us, +even Isaac. You know Jack's the last of the Zanes, that is, the old +Zanes. The difficulty arising from his extreme modesty and bashfulness +can easily be overcome." + +"How, most wonderful brother?" + +"Easy as pie. Tell Jack that Helen is dying of love for him, and tell +her that Jack loves----" + +"But, dear Eb, that latter part is not true," interposed Betty. + +"True, of course it's true, or would be in any man who wasn't as blind +as a bat. We'll tell her Jack cares for her; but he is a borderman +with stern ideas of duty, and so slow and backward he'd never tell his +love even if he had overcome his tricks of ranging. That would settle +it with any girl worth her salt, and this one will fetch Jack in ten +days, or less." + +"Eb, you're a devil," said Betty gaily, and then she added in a more +sober vein, "I understand, Eb. Your idea is prompted by love of Jack, +and it's all right. I never see him go out of the clearing but I think +it may be for the last time, even as on that day so long ago when +brother Andrew waved his cap to us, and never came back. Jack is the +best man in the world, and I, too, want to see him happy, with a wife, +and babies, and a settled occupation in life. I think we might weave a +pretty little romance. Shall we try?" + +"Try? We'll do it! Now, Betts, you explain it to both. You can do it +smoother than I, and telling them is really the finest point of our +little plot. I'll help the good work along afterwards. He'll be out +presently. Nail him at once." + +Jonathan, all unconscious of the deep-laid scheme to make him happy, +soon came out on the porch, and stretched his long arms as he breathed +freely of the morning air. + +"Hello, Jack, where are you bound?" asked Betty, clasping one of his +powerful, buckskin-clad knees with her arm. + +"I reckon I'll go over to the spring," he replied, patting her dark, +glossy head. + +"Do you know I want to tell you something, Jack, and it's quite +serious," she said, blushing a little at her guilt; but resolute to +carry out her part of the plot. + +"Well, dear?" he asked as she hesitated. + +"Do you like Helen?" + +"That is a question," Jonathan replied after a moment. + +"Never mind; tell me," she persisted. + +He made no answer. + +"Well, Jack, she's--she's wildly in love with you." + +The borderman stood very still for several moments. Then, with one +step he gained the lawn, and turned to confront her. + +"What's that you say?" + +Betty trembled a little. He spoke so sharply, his eyes were bent on +her so keenly, and he looked so strong, so forceful that she was +almost afraid. But remembering that she had said only what, to her +mind, was absolutely true, she raised her eyes and repeated the words: + +"Helen is wildly'in love with you." + +"Betty, you wouldn't joke about such a thing; you wouldn't lie to me, +I know you wouldn't." + +"No, Jack dear." + +She saw his powerful frame tremble, even as she had seen more than one +man tremble, during the siege, under the impact of a bullet. + +Without speaking, he walked rapidly down the path toward the spring. + +Colonel Zane came out of his hiding-place behind the porch and, with a +face positively electrifying in its glowing pleasure, beamed upon +his sister. + +"Gee! Didn't he stalk off like an Indian chief!" he said, chuckling +with satisfaction. "By George! Betts, you must have got in a great +piece of work. I never in my life saw Jack look like that." + +Colonel Zane sat down by Betty's side and laughed softly but heartily. + +"We'll fix him all right, the lonely hill-climber! Why, he hasn't a +ghost of a chance. Wait until she sees him after hearing your story! I +tell you, Betty--why--damme! you're crying!" + +He had turned to find her head lowered, while she shaded her face with +her hand. + +"Now, Betty, just a little innocent deceit like that--what harm?" he +said, taking her hand. He was as tender as a woman. + +"Oh, Eb, it wasn't that. I didn't mind telling him. Only the flash in +his eyes reminded me of--of Alfred." + +"Surely it did. Why not? Almost everything brings up a tender memory +for some one we've loved and lost. But don't cry, Betty." + +She laughed a little, and raised a face with its dark cheeks flushed +and tear-stained. + +"I'm silly, I suppose; but I can't help it. I cry at least once every +day." + +"Brace up. Here come Helen and Will. Don't let them see you grieved. +My! Helen in pure white, too! This is a conspiracy to ruin the peace +of the masculine portion of Fort Henry." + +Betty went forward to meet her friends while Colonel Zane continued +talking, but now to himself. "What a fatal beauty she has!" His eyes +swept over Helen with the pleasure of an artist. The fair richness of +her skin, the perfect lips, the wavy, shiny hair, the wondrous +dark-blue, changing eyes, the tall figure, slender, but strong and +swelling with gracious womanhood, made a picture he delighted in and +loved to have near him. The girl did not possess for him any of that +magnetism, so commonly felt by most of her admirers; but he did feel +how subtly full she was of something, which for want of a better term +he described in Wetzel's characteristic expression, as "chain-lightning." + +He reflected that as he was so much older, that she, although always +winsome and earnest, showed nothing of the tormenting, bewildering +coquetry of her nature. Colonel Zane prided himself on his +discernment, and he had already observed that Helen had different +sides of character for different persons. To Betty, Mabel, Nell, and +the children, she was frank, girlish, full of fun and always lovable; +to her elders quiet and earnestly solicitous to please; to the young +men cold; but with a penetrating, mocking promise haunting that +coldness, and sometimes sweetly agreeable, often wilful, and +changeable as April winds. At last the colonel concluded that she +needed, as did all other spirited young women, the taming influence of +a man whom she loved, a home to care for, and children to soften and +temper her spirit. + +"Well, young friends, I see you count on keeping the Sabbath," he said +cheerily. "For my part, Will, I don't see how Jim Douns can preach +this morning, before this laurel blossom and that damask rose." + +"How poetical! Which is which?" asked Betty. + +"Flatterer!" laughed Helen, shaking her finger. + +"And a married man, too!" continued Betty. + +"Well, being married has not affected my poetical sentiment, nor +impaired my eyesight." + +"But it has seriously inconvenienced your old propensity of making +love to the girls. Not that you wouldn't if you dared," replied Betty +with mischief in her eye. + +"Now, Will, what do you think of that? Isn't it real sisterly regard? +Come, we'll go and look at my thoroughbreds," said Colonel Zane. + +"Where is Jonathan?" Helen asked presently. "Something happened at +Metzar's yesterday. Papa wouldn't tell me, and I want to ask +Jonathan." + +"Jack is down by the spring. He spends a great deal of his time there. +It's shady and cool, and the water babbles over the stones." + +"How much alone he is," said Helen. + +Betty took her former position on the steps, but did not raise her +eyes while she continued speaking. "Yes, he's more alone than ever +lately, and quieter, too. He hardly ever speaks now. There must be +something on his mind more serious than horse-thieves." + +"What?" Helen asked quickly. + +"I'd better not tell--you." + +A long moment passed before Helen spoke. + +"Please tell me!" + +"Well, Helen, we think, Eb and I, that Jack is in love for the first +time in his life, and with you, you adorable creature. But Jack's a +borderman; he is stern in his principles, thinks he is wedded to his +border life, and he knows that he has both red and white blood on his +hands. He'd die before he'd speak of his love, because he cannot +understand that would do any good, even if you loved him, which is, of +course, preposterous." + +"Loves me!" breathed Helen softly. + +She sat down rather beside Betty, and turned her face away. She still +held the young woman's hand which she squeezed so tightly as to make +its owner wince. Betty stole a look at her, and saw the rich red blood +mantling her cheeks, and her full bosom heave. + +Helen turned presently, with no trace of emotion except a singular +brilliance of the eyes. She was so slow to speak again that Colonel +Zane and Will returned from the corral before she found her voice. + +"Colonel Zane, please tell me about last night. When papa came home to +supper he was pale and very nervous. I knew something had happened. +But he would not explain, which made me all the more anxious. Won't +you please tell me?" + +Colonel Zane glanced again at her, and knew what had happened. Despite +her self-possession those tell-tale eyes told her secret. +Ever-changing and shadowing with a bounding, rapturous light, they +were indeed the windows of her soul. All the emotion of a woman's +heart shone there, fear, beauty, wondering appeal, trembling joy, and +timid hope. + +"Tell you? Indeed I will," replied Colonel Zane, softened and a little +remorseful under those wonderful eyes. + +No one liked to tell a story better than Colonel Zane. Briefly and +graphically he related the circumstances of the affair leading to the +attack on Helen's father, and, as the tale progressed, he became quite +excited, speaking with animated face and forceful gestures. + +"Just as the knife-point touched your father, a swiftly-flying object +knocked the weapon to the floor. It was Jonathan's tomahawk. What +followed was so sudden I hardly saw it. Like lightning, and flexible +as steel, Jonathan jumped over the table, smashed Case against the +wall, pulled him up and threw him over the bank. I tell you, Helen, it +was a beautiful piece of action; but not, of course, for a woman's +eyes. Now that's all. Your father was not even hurt." + +"He saved papa's life," murmured Helen, standing like a statue. + +She wheeled suddenly with that swift bird-like motion habitual to her, +and went quickly down the path leading to the spring. + + * * * * * + +Jonathan Zane, solitary dreamer of dreams as he was, had never been in +as strange and beautiful a reverie as that which possessed him on this +Sabbath morning. + +Deep into his heart had sunk Betty's words. The wonder of it, the +sweetness, that alone was all he felt. The glory of this girl had +begun, days past, to spread its glamour round him. Swept irresistibly +away now, he soared aloft in a dream-castle of fancy with its painted +windows and golden walls. + +For the first time in his life on the border he had entered the little +glade and had no eye for the crystal water flowing over the pebbles +and mossy stones, or the plot of grassy ground inclosed by tall, dark +trees and shaded by a canopy of fresh green and azure blue. Nor did he +hear the music of the soft rushing water, the warbling birds, or the +gentle sighing breeze moving the leaves. + +Gone, vanished, lost to-day was that sweet companionship of nature. +That indefinable and unutterable spirit which flowed so peacefully to +him from his beloved woods; that something more than merely affecting +his senses, which existed for him in the stony cliffs, and breathed +with life through the lonely aisles of the forest, had fled before the +fateful power of a woman's love and beauty. + +A long time that seemed only a moment passed while he leaned against a +stone. A light step sounded on the path. + +A vision in pure white entered the glade; two little hands pressed +his, and two dark-blue eyes of misty beauty shed their light on him. + +"Jonathan, I am come to thank you." + +Sweet and tremulous, the voice sounded far away. + +"Thank me? For what?" + +"You saved papa's life. Oh! how can I thank you?" + +No voice answered for him. + +"I have nothing to give but this." + +A flower-like face was held up to him; hands light as thistledown +touched his shoulders; dark-blue eyes glowed upon him with all +tenderness. + +"May I thank you--so?" + +Soft lips met his full and lingeringly. + +Then came a rush as of wind, a flash of white, and the patter of +flying feet. He was alone in the glade. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +June passed; July opened with unusually warm weather, and Fort Henry +had no visits from Indians or horse-thieves, nor any inconvenience +except the hot sun. It was the warmest weather for many years, and +seriously dwarfed the settlers' growing corn. Nearly all the springs +were dry, and a drouth menaced the farmers. + +The weather gave Helen an excuse which she was not slow to adopt. Her +pale face and languid air perplexed and worried her father and her +friends. She explained to them that the heat affected her +disagreeably. + +Long days had passed since that Sunday morning when she kissed the +borderman. What transports of sweet hope and fear were hers then! How +shame had scorched her happiness! Yet still she gloried in the act. By +that kiss had she awakened to a full consciousness of her love. With +insidious stealth and ever-increasing power this flood had increased +to full tide, and, bursting its bonds, surged over her with +irresistible strength. + +During the first days after the dawning of her passion, she lived in +its sweetness, hearing only melodious sounds chiming in her soul. The +hours following that Sunday were like long dreams. But as all things +reach fruition, so this girlish period passed, leaving her a +thoughtful woman. She began to gather up the threads of her life where +love had broken them, to plan nobly, and to hope and wait. + +Weeks passed, however, and her lover did not come. Betty told her that +Jonathan made flying trips at break of day to hold council with +Colonel Zane; that he and Wetzel were on the trail of Shawnees with +stolen horses, and both bordermen were in their dark, vengeful, +terrible moods. In these later days Helen passed through many stages +of feeling. After the exalting mood of hot, young love, came reaction. +She fell into the depths of despair. Sorrow paled her face, thinned +her cheeks and lent another shadow, a mournful one, to her great eyes. +The constant repression of emotion, the strain of trying to seem +cheerful when she was miserable, threatened even her magnificent +health. She answered the solicitude of her friends by evasion, and +then by that innocent falsehood in which a sensitive soul hides its +secrets. Shame was only natural, because since the borderman came not, +nor sent her a word, pride whispered that she had wooed him, +forgetting modesty. + +Pride, anger, shame, despair, however, finally fled before affection. +She loved this wild borderman, and knew he loved her in return +although he might not understand it himself. His simplicity, his lack +of experience with women, his hazardous life and stern duty regarding +it, pleaded for him and for her love. For the lack of a little +understanding she would never live unhappy and alone while she was +loved. Better give a thousand times more than she had sacrificed. He +would return to the village some day, when the Indians and the thieves +were run down, and would be his own calm, gentle self. Then she would +win him, break down his allegiance to this fearful border life, and +make him happy in her love. + +While Helen was going through one of the fires of life to come out +sweeter and purer, if a little pensive and sad, time, which waits not +for love, nor life, nor death, was hastening onward, and soon the +golden fields of grain were stored. September came with its fruitful +promise fulfilled. + +Helen entered once more into the quiet, social life of the little +settlement, taught her class on Sundays, did all her own work, and +even found time to bring a ray of sunshine to more than one sick +child's bed. Yet she did not forget her compact with Jonathan, and +bent all her intelligence to find some clew that might aid in the +capture of the horse-thief. She was still groping in the darkness. She +could not, however, banish the belief that the traitor was Brandt. She +blamed herself for this, because of having no good reasons for +suspicion; but the conviction was there, fixed by intuition. Because a +man's eyes were steely gray, sharp like those of a cat's, and capable +of the same contraction and enlargement, there was no reason to +believe their owner was a criminal. But that, Helen acknowledged with +a smile, was the only argument she had. To be sure Brandt had looked +capable of anything, the night Jonathan knocked him down; she knew he +had incited Case to begin the trouble at Metzar's, and had seemed +worried since that time. He had not left the settlement on short +journeys, as had been his custom before the affair in the bar-room. +And not a horse had disappeared from Fort Henry since that time. + +Brandt had not discontinued his attentions to her; if they were less +ardent it was because she had given him absolutely to understand that +she could be his friend only. And she would not have allowed even so +much except for Jonathan's plan. She fancied it was possible to see +behind Brandt's courtesy, the real subtle, threatening man. Stripped +of his kindliness, an assumed virtue, the iron man stood revealed, +cold, calculating, cruel. + +Mordaunt she never saw but once and then, shocking and pitiful, he lay +dead drunk in the grass by the side of the road, his pale, weary, +handsome face exposed to the pitiless rays of the sun. She ran home +weeping over this wreck of what had once been so fine a gentleman. Ah! +the curse of rum! He had learned his soft speech and courtly bearing +in the refinement of a home where a proud mother adored, and gentle +sisters loved him. And now, far from the kindred he had disgraced, he +lay in the road like a log. How it hurt her! She almost wished she +could have loved him, if love might have redeemed. She was more kind +to her other admirers, more tolerant of Brandt, and could forgive the +Englishman, because the pangs she had suffered through love had +softened her spirit. + +During this long period the growing friendship of her cousin for Betty +had been a source of infinite pleasure to Helen. She hoped and +believed a romance would develop between the young widow and Will, and +did all in her power, slyly abetted by the matchmaking colonel, to +bring the two together. + +One afternoon when the sky was clear with that intense blue peculiar +to bright days in early autumn, Helen started out toward Betty's, +intending to remind that young lady she had promised to hunt for +clematis and other fall flowers. + +About half-way to Betty's home she met Brandt. He came swinging round +a corner with his quick, firm step. She had not seen him for several +days, and somehow he seemed different. A brightness, a flash, as of +daring expectation, was in his face. The poise, too, of the man +had changed. + +"Well, I am fortunate. I was just going to your home," he said +cheerily. "Won't you come for a walk with me?" + +"You may walk with me to Betty's," Helen answered. + +"No, not that. Come up the hillside. We'll get some goldenrod. I'd +like to have a chat with you. I may go away--I mean I'm thinking of +making a short trip," he added hurriedly. + +"Please come." + +"I promised to go to Betty's." + +"You won't come?" His voice trembled with mingled disappointment and +resentment. + +"No," Helen replied in slight surprise. + +"You have gone with the other fellows. Why not with me?" He was white +now, and evidently laboring under powerful feelings that must have had +their origin in some thought or plan which hinged on the acceptance of +his invitation. + +"Because I choose not to," Helen replied coldly, meeting his glance +fully. + +A dark red flush swelled Brandt's face and neck; his gray eyes gleamed +balefully with wolfish glare; his teeth were clenched. He breathed +hard and trembled with anger. Then, by a powerful effort, he conquered +himself; the villainous expression left his face; the storm of rage +subsided. Great incentive there must have been for him thus to repress +his emotions so quickly. He looked long at her with sinister, intent +regard; then, with the laugh of a desperado, a laugh which might have +indicated contempt for the failure of his suit, and which was fraught +with a world of meaning, of menace, he left her without so much as +a salute. + +Helen pondered over this sudden change, and felt relieved because she +need make no further pretense of friendship. He had shown himself to +be what she had instinctively believed. She hurried on toward Betty's, +hoping to find Colonel Zane at home, and with Jonathan, for Brandt's +hint of leaving Fort Henry, and his evident chagrin at such a slip of +speech, had made her suspicious. She was informed by Mrs. Zane that +the colonel had gone to a log-raising; Jonathan had not been in for +several days, and Betty went away with Will. + +"Where did they go?" asked Helen. + +"I'm not sure; I think down to the spring." + +Helen followed the familiar path through the grove of oaks into the +glade. It was quite deserted. Sitting on the stone against which +Jonathan had leaned the day she kissed him, she gave way to tender +reflection. Suddenly she was disturbed by the sound of rapid +footsteps, and looking up, saw the hulking form of Metzar, the +innkeeper, coming down the path. He carried a bucket, and meant +evidently to get water. Helen did not desire to be seen, and, thinking +he would stay only a moment, slipped into a thicket of willows behind +the stone. She could see plainly through the foliage. Metzar came into +the glade, peered around in the manner of a man expecting to see some +one, and then, filling his bucket at the spring, sat down on +the stone. + +Not a minute elapsed before soft, rapid footsteps sounded in the +distance. The bushes parted, disclosing the white, set face and gray +eyes of Roger Brandt. With a light spring he cleared the brook and +approached Metzar. + +Before speaking he glanced around the glade with the fugitive, +distrustful glance of a man who suspects even the trees. Then, +satisfied by the scrutiny he opened his hunting frock, taking forth a +long object which he thrust toward Metzar. + +It was an Indian arrow. + +Metzar's dull gaze traveled from this to the ominous face of Brandt. + +"See there, you! Look at this arrow! Shot by the best Indian on the +border into the window of my room. I hadn't been there a minute when +it came from the island. God! but it was a great shot!" + +"Hell!" gasped Metzar, his dull face quickening with some awful +thought. + +"I guess it is hell," replied Brandt, his face growing whiter and +wilder. + +"Our game's up?" questioned Metzar with haggard cheek. + +"Up? Man! We haven't a day, maybe less, to shake Fort Henry." + +"What does it mean?" asked Metzar. He was the calmer of the two. + +"It's a signal. The Shawnees, who were in hiding with the horses over +by Blueberry swamp, have been flushed by those bordermen. Some of them +have escaped; at least one, for no one but Ashbow could shoot that +arrow across the river." + +"Suppose he hadn't come?" whispered Metzar hoarsely. + +Brandt answered him with a dark, shuddering gaze. + +A twig snapped in the thicket. Like foxes at the click of a trap, +these men whirled with fearsome glances. + +"Ugh!" came a low, guttural voice from the bushes, and an Indian of +magnificent proportions and somber, swarthy features, entered +the glade. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +The savage had just emerged from the river, for his graceful, +copper-colored body and scanty clothing were dripping with water. He +carried a long bow and a quiver of arrows. + +Brandt uttered an exclamation of surprise, and Metzar a curse, as the +lithe Indian leaped the brook. He was not young. His swarthy face was +lined, seamed, and terrible with a dark impassiveness. + +"Paleface-brother-get-arrow," he said in halting English, as his eyes +flashed upon Brandt. "Chief-want-make-sure." + +The white man leaned forward, grasped the Indian's arm, and addressed +him in an Indian language. This questioning was evidently in regard to +his signal, the whereabouts of others of the party, and why he took +such fearful risks almost in the village. The Indian answered with one +English word. + +"Deathwind!" + +Brandt drew back with drawn, white face, while a whistling breath +escaped him. + +"I knew it, Metz. Wetzel!" he exclaimed in a husky voice. + +The blood slowly receded from Metzar's evil, murky face, leaving it +haggard. + +"Deathwind-on-Chief's-trail-up-Eagle Rock," continued the Indian. +"Deathwind-fooled-not-for-long. Chief-wait-paleface-brothers at +Two Islands." + +The Indian stepped into the brook, parted the willows, and was gone as +he had come, silently. + +"We know what to expect," said Brandt in calmer tone as the daring +cast of countenance returned to him. "There's an Indian for you! He +got away, doubled like an old fox on his trail, and ran in here to +give us a chance at escape. Now you know why Bing Legget can't +be caught." + +"Let's dig at once," replied Metzar, with no show of returning courage +such as characterized his companion. + +Brandt walked to and fro with bent brows, like one in deep thought. +Suddenly he turned upon Metzar eyes which were brightly hard, and +reckless with resolve. + +"By Heaven! I'll do it! Listen. Wetzel has gone to the top of Eagle +Mountain, where he and Zane have a rendezvous. Even he won't suspect +the cunning of this Indian; anyway it'll be after daylight to-morrow +before he strikes the trail. I've got twenty-four hours, and more, to +get this girl, and I'll do it!" + +"Bad move to have weight like her on a march," said Metzar. + +"Bah! The thing's easy. As for you, go on, push ahead after we're +started. All I ask is that you stay by me until the time to +cut loose." + +"I ain't agoin' to crawfish now," growled Metzar. "Strikes me, too, +I'm losin' more'n you." + +"You won't be a loser if you can get back to Detroit with your scalp. +I'll pay you in horses and gold. Once we reach Legget's place +we're safe." + +"What's yer plan about gittin' the gal?" asked Metzar. + +Brandt leaned forward and spoke eagerly, but in a low tone. + +"Git away on hoss-back?" questioned Metzar, visibly brightening. "Wal, +that's some sense. Kin ye trust ther other party?" + +"I'm sure I can," rejoined Brandt. + +"It'll be a good job, a good job an' all done in daylight, too. Bing +Legget couldn't plan better," Metzar said, rubbing his hands, + +"We've fooled these Zanes and their fruit-raising farmers for a year, +and our time is about up," Brandt muttered. "One more job and we've +done. Once with Legget we're safe, and then we'll work slowly back +towards Detroit. Let's get out of here now, for some one may come at +any moment." + +The plotters separated, Brandt going through the grove, and Metzar +down the path by which he had come. + + * * * * * + +Helen, trembling with horror of what she had heard, raised herself +cautiously from the willows where she had lain, and watched the +innkeeper's retreating figure. When it had disappeared she gave a +little gasp of relief. Free now to run home, there to plan what course +must be pursued, she conquered her fear and weakness, and hurried from +the glade. Luckily, so far as she was able to tell, no one saw her +return. She resolved that she would be cool, deliberate, clever, +worthy of the borderman's confidence. + +First she tried to determine the purport of this interview between +Brandt and Metzar. She recalled to mind all that was said, and +supplied what she thought had been suggested. Brandt and Metzar were +horse-thieves, aids of Bing Legget. They had repaired to the glade to +plan. The Indian had been a surprise. Wetzel had routed the Shawnees, +and was now on the trail of this chieftain. The Indian warned them to +leave Fort Henry and to meet him at a place called Two Islands. +Brandt's plan, presumably somewhat changed by the advent of the +red-man, was to steal horses, abduct a girl in broad daylight, and +before tomorrow's sunset escape to join the ruffian Legget. + +"I am the girl," murmured Helen shudderingly, as she relapsed +momentarily into girlish fears. But at once she rose above +selfish feelings. + +Secondly, while it was easy to determine what the outlaws meant, the +wisest course was difficult to conceive. She had promised the +borderman to help him, and not speak of anything she learned to any +but himself. She could not be true to him if she asked advice. The +point was clear; either she must remain in the settlement hoping for +Jonathan's return in time to frustrate Brandt's villainous scheme, or +find the borderman. Suddenly she remembered Metzar's allusion to a +second person whom Brandt felt certain he could trust. This meant +another traitor in Fort Henry, another horse-thief, another desperado +willing to make off with helpless women. + +Helen's spirit rose in arms. She had their secret, and could ruin +them. She would find the borderman. + +Wetzel was on the trail at Eagle Rock. What for? Trailing an Indian +who was then five miles east of that rock? Not Wetzel! He was on that +track to meet Jonathan. Otherwise, with the redskins near the river, +he would have been closer to them. He would meet Jonathan there at +sunset to-day, Helen decided. + +She paced the room, trying to still her throbbing heart and trembling +hands. + +"I must be calm," she said sternly. "Time is precious. I have not a +moment to lose. I will find him. I've watched that mountain many a +time, and can find the trail and the rock. I am in more danger here, +than out there in the forest. With Wetzel and Jonathan on the mountain +side, the Indians have fled it. But what about the savage who warned +Brandt? Let me think. Yes, he'll avoid the river; he'll go round south +of the settlement, and, therefore, can't see me cross. How fortunate +that I have paddled a canoe many times across the river. How glad that +I made Colonel Zane describe the course up the mountains!" + +Her resolution fixed, Helen changed her skirt for one of buckskin, +putting on leggings and moccasins of the same serviceable material. +She filled the pockets of a short, rain-proof jacket with biscuits, +and, thus equipped, sallied forth with a spirit and exultation she +could not subdue. Only one thing she feared, which was that Brandt or +Metzar might see her cross the river. She launched her canoe and +paddled down stream, under cover of the bluff, to a point opposite the +end of the island, then straight across, keeping the island between +her and the settlement. Gaining the other shore, Helen pulled the +canoe into the willows, and mounted the bank. A thicket of willow and +alder made progress up the steep incline difficult, but once out of it +she faced a long stretch of grassy meadowland. A mile beyond began the +green, billowy rise of that mountain which she intended to climb. + +Helen's whole soul was thrown into the adventure. She felt her strong +young limbs in accord with her heart. + +"Now, Mr. Brandt, horse-thief and girl-snatcher, we'll see," she said +with scornful lips. "If I can't beat you now I'm not fit to be Betty +Zane's friend; and am unworthy of a borderman's trust." + +She traversed the whole length of meadowland close under the shadow of +the fringed bank, and gained the forest. Here she hesitated. All was +so wild and still. No definite course through the woods seemed to +invite, and yet all was open. Trees, trees, dark, immovable trees +everywhere. The violent trembling of poplar and aspen leaves, when all +others were so calm, struck her strangely, and the fearful stillness +awed her. Drawing a deep breath she started forward up the gently +rising ground. + +As she advanced the open forest became darker, and of wilder aspect. +The trees were larger and closer together. Still she made fair +progress without deviating from the course she had determined upon. +Before her rose a ridge, with a ravine on either side, reaching nearly +to the summit of the mountain. Here the underbrush was scanty, the +fallen trees had slipped down the side, and the rocks were not so +numerous, all of which gave her reason to be proud, so far, of +her judgment. + +Helen, pressing onward and upward, forgot time and danger, while she +reveled in the wonder of the forestland. Birds and squirrels fled +before her; whistling and wheezing of alarm, or heavy crashings in the +bushes, told of frightened wild beasts. A dull, faint roar, like a +distant wind, suggested tumbling waters. A single birch tree, gleaming +white among the black trees, enlivened the gloomy forest. Patches of +sunlight brightened the shade. Giant ferns, just tinging with autumn +colors, waved tips of sculptured perfection. Most wonderful of all +were the colored leaves, as they floated downward with a sad, +gentle rustle. + +Helen was brought to a realization of her hazardous undertaking by a +sudden roar of water, and the abrupt termination of the ridge in a +deep gorge. Grasping a tree she leaned over to look down. It was fully +an hundred feet deep, with impassable walls, green-stained and damp, +at the bottom of which a brawling, brown brook rushed on its way. +Fully twenty feet wide, it presented an insurmountable barrier to +further progress in that direction. + +But Helen looked upon it merely as a difficulty to be overcome. She +studied the situation, and decided to go to the left because higher +ground was to be seen that way. Abandoning the ridge, she pressed on, +keeping as close to the gorge as she dared, and came presently to a +fallen tree lying across the dark cleft. Without a second's +hesitation, for she knew such would be fatal, she stepped upon the +tree and started across, looking at nothing but the log under her +feet, while she tried to imagine herself walking across the +water-gate, at home in Virginia. + +She accomplished the venture without a misstep. When safely on the +ground once more she felt her knees tremble and a queer, light feeling +came into her head. She laughed, however, as she rested a moment. It +would take more than a gorge to discourage her, she resolved with set +lips, as once again she made her way along the rising ground. + +Perilous, if not desperate, work was ahead of her. Broken, rocky +ground, matted thicket, and seemingly impenetrable forest, rose darkly +in advance. But she was not even tired, and climbed, crawled, twisted +and turned on her way upward. She surmounted a rocky ledge, to face a +higher ridge covered with splintered, uneven stones, and the fallen +trees of many storms. Once she slipped and fell, spraining her wrist. +At length this uphill labor began to weary her. To breathe caused a +pain in her side and she was compelled to rest. + +Already the gray light of coming night shrouded the forest. She was +surprised at seeing the trees become indistinct; because the shadows +hovered over the thickets, and noted that the dark, dim outline of the +ridges was fading into obscurity. + +She struggled on up the uneven slope with a tightening at her heart +which was not all exhaustion. For the first time she doubted herself, +but it was too late. She could not turn back. Suddenly she felt that +she was on a smoother, easier course. Not to strike a stone or break a +twig seemed unusual. It might be a path worn by deer going to a +spring. Then into her troubled mind flashed the joyful thought, she +had found a trail. + +Soft, wiry grass, springing from a wet soil, rose under her feet. A +little rill trickled alongside the trail. Mossy, soft-cushioned stones +lay imbedded here and there. Young maples and hickories grew +breast-high on either side, and the way wound in and out under the +lowering shade of forest monarchs. + +Swiftly ascending this path she came at length to a point where it was +possible to see some distance ahead. The ascent became hardly +noticeable. Then, as she turned a bend of the trail, the light grew +brighter and brighter, until presently all was open and clear. An oval +space, covered with stones, lay before her. A big, blasted chestnut +stood near by. Beyond was the dim, purple haze of distance. Above, the +pale, blue sky just faintly rose-tinted by the setting sun. Far to her +left the scraggly trees of a low hill were tipped with orange and +russet shades. She had reached the summit. + +Desolate and lonely was this little plateau. Helen felt immeasurably +far away from home. Yet she could see in the blue distance the +glancing river, the dark fort, and that cluster of cabins which marked +the location of Fort Henry. Sitting upon the roots of the big chestnut +tree she gazed around. There were the remains of a small camp-fire. +Beyond, a hollow under a shelving rock. A bed of dry leaves lay packed +in this shelter. Some one had been here, and she doubted not that it +was the borderman. + +She was so tired and her wrist pained so severely that she lay back +against the tree-trunk, closed her eyes and rested. A weariness, the +apathy of utter exhaustion, came over her. She wished the bordermen +would hurry and come before she went to sleep. + +Drowsily she was sinking into slumber when a long, low rumble aroused +her. How dark it had suddenly become! A sheet of pale light flared +across the overcast heavens. + +"A storm!" exclaimed Helen. "Alone on this mountain-top with a storm +coming. Am I frightened? I don't believe it. At least I'm safe from +that ruffian Brandt. Oh! if my borderman would only come!" + +Helen changed her position from beside the tree, to the hollow under +the stone. It was high enough to permit of her sitting upright, and +offered a safe retreat from the storm. The bed of leaves was soft and +comfortable. She sat there peering out at the darkening heavens. + +All beneath her, southward and westward was gray twilight. The +settlement faded from sight; the river grew wan and shadowy. The ruddy +light in the west was fast succumbing to the rolling clouds. Darker +and darker it became, until only one break in the overspreading vapors +admitted the last crimson gleam of sunshine over hills and valley, +brightening the river until it resembled a stream of fire. Then the +light failed, the glow faded. The intense blackness of night +prevailed. + +Out of the ebon west came presently another flare of light, a quick, +spreading flush, like a flicker from a monster candle; it was followed +by a long, low, rumbling roll. + +Helen felt in those intervals of unutterably vast silence, that she +must shriek aloud. The thunder was a friend. She prayed for the storm +to break. She had withstood danger and toilsome effort with fortitude; +but could not brave this awful, boding, wilderness stillness. + +Flashes of lightning now revealed the rolling, pushing, turbulent +clouds, and peals of thunder sounded nearer and louder. + +A long swelling moan, sad, low, like the uneasy sigh of the sea, +breathed far in the west. It was the wind, the ominous warning of the +storm. Sheets of light were now mingled with long, straggling ropes of +fire, and the rumblings were often broken by louder, quicker +detonations. + +Then a period, longer than usual, of inky blackness succeeded the +sharp flaring of light. A faint breeze ruffled the leaves of the +thicket, and fanned Helen's hot cheek. The moan of the wind became +more distinct, then louder, and in another instant like the far-off +roar of a rushing river. The storm was upon her. Helen shrank closer +against the stone, and pulled her jacket tighter around her +trembling form. + +A sudden, intense, dazzling, blinding, white light enveloped her. The +rocky promontory, the weird, giant chestnut tree, the open plateau, +and beyond, the stormy heavens, were all luridly clear in the flash of +lightning. She fancied it was possible to see a tall, dark figure +emerging from the thicket. As the thunderclap rolled and pealed +overhead, she strained her eyes into the blackness waiting for the +next lightning flash. + +It came with brilliant, dazing splendor. The whole plateau and thicket +were as light as in the day. Close by the stone where she lay crept +the tall, dark figure of an Indian. With starting eyes she saw the +fringed clothing, the long, flying hair, and supple body peculiar to +the savage. He was creeping upon her. + +Helen's blood ran cold; terror held her voiceless. She felt herself +sinking slowly down upon the leaves. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +The sun had begun to cast long shadows the afternoon of Helen's hunt +for Jonathan, when the borderman, accompanied by Wetzel, led a string +of horses along the base of the very mountain she had ascended. + +"Last night's job was a good one, I ain't gainsayin'; but the redskin +I wanted got away," Wetzel said gloomily. + +"He's safe now as a squirrel in a hole. I saw him dartin' among the +trees with his white eagle feathers stickin' up like a buck's flag," +replied Jonathan. "He can run. If I'd only had my rifle loaded! But +I'm not sure he was that arrow-shootin' Shawnee." + +"It was him. I saw his bow. We ought'er taken more time an' picked him +out," Wetzel replied, shaking his head gravely. "Though mebbe that'd +been useless. I think he was hidin'. He's precious shy of his red +skin. I've been after him these ten year, an' never ketched him +nappin' yet. We'd have done much toward snuffin' out Legget an' his +gang if we'd winged the Shawnee." + +"He left a plain trail." + +"One of his tricks. He's slicker on a trail than any other Injun on +the border, unless mebbe it's old Wingenund, the Huron. This Shawnee'd +lead us many a mile for nuthin', if we'd stick to his trail. I'm long +ago used to him. He's doubled like an old fox, run harder'n a skeered +fawn, an', if needs be, he'll lay low as cunnin' buck. I calkilate +once over the mountain, he's made a bee-line east. We'll go on with +the hosses, an' then strike across country to find his trail." + +"It 'pears to me, Lew, that we've taken a long time in makin' a show +against these hoss-thieves," said Jonathan. + +"I ain't sayin' much; but I've felt it," replied Wetzel. + +"All summer, an' nothin' done. It was more luck than sense that we run +into those Injuns with the hosses. We only got three out of four, an' +let the best redskin give us the slip. Here fall is nigh on us, with +winter comin' soon, an' still we don't know who's the white traitor in +the settlement." + +"I said it's be a long, an' mebbe, our last trail." + +"Why?" + +"Because these fellars red or white, are in with a picked gang of the +best woodsmen as ever outlawed the border. We'll get the Fort Henry +hoss-thief. I'll back the bright-eyed lass for that." + +"I haven't seen her lately, an' allow she'd left me word if she +learned anythin'." + +"Wal, mebbe it's as well you hain't seen so much of her." In silence +they traveled and, arriving at the edge of the meadow, were about to +mount two of the horses, when Wetzel said in a sharp tone: + +"Look!" + +He pointed to a small, well-defined moccasin track in the black earth +on the margin of a rill. + +"Lew, it's a woman's, sure's you're born," declared Jonathan. + +Wetzel knelt and closely examined the footprint; "Yes, a woman's, an' +no Injun." + +"What?" Jonathan exclaimed, as he knelt to scrutinize the imprint. + +"This ain't half a day old," added Wetzel. "An' not a redskin's +moccasin near. What d'you reckon?" + +"A white girl, alone," replied Jonathan as he followed the trail a +short distance along the brook. "See, she's makin' upland. Wetzel, +these tracks could hardly be my sister's, an' there's only one other +girl on the border whose feet will match 'em! Helen Sheppard has +passed here, on her way up the mountain to find you or me." + +"I like your reckonin'." + +"She's suddenly discovered somethin', Injuns, hoss-thieves, the Fort +Henry traitor, or mebbe, an' most likely, some plottin'. Bein' bound +to secrecy by me, she's not told my brother. An' it must be call for +hurry. She knows we frequent this mountain-top; said Eb told her about +the way we get here." + +"I'd calkilate about the same." + +"What'll you do? Go with me after her?" asked Jonathan. + +"I'll take the hosses, an' be at the fort inside of an hour. If +Helen's gone, I'll tell her father you're close on her trail. Now +listen! It'll be dark soon, an' a storm's comin'. Don't waste time on +her trail. Hurry up to the rock. She'll be there, if any lass could +climb there. If not, come back in the mornin', hunt her trail out, an' +find her. I'm thinkin', Jack, we'll find the Shawnee had somethin' to +do with this. Whatever happens after I get back to the fort, I'll +expect you hard on my trail." + +Jonathan bounded across the brook and with an easy lope began the +gradual ascent. Soon he came upon a winding path. He ran along this +for perhaps a quarter of an hour, until it became too steep for rapid +traveling, when he settled down to a rapid walk. The forest was +already dark. A slight rustling of the leaves beneath his feet was the +only sound, except at long intervals the distant rumbling of thunder. + +The mere possibility of Helen's being alone on that mountain seeking +him, made Jonathan's heart beat as it never had before. For weeks he +had avoided her, almost forgot her. He had conquered the strange, +yearning weakness which assailed him after that memorable Sunday, and +once more the silent shaded glens, the mystery of the woods, the +breath of his wild, free life had claimed him. But now as this +evidence of her spirit, her recklessness, was before him, and he +remembered Betty's avowal, a pain, which was almost physical, tore at +his heart. How terrible it would be if she came to her death through +him! He pictured the big, alluring eyes, the perfect lips, the +haunting face, cold in death. And he shuddered. + +The dim gloom of the woods soon darkened into blackness. The flashes +of lightning, momentarily streaking the foliage, or sweeping overhead +in pale yellow sheets, aided Jonathan in keeping the trail. + +He gained the plateau just as a great flash illumined it, and +distinctly saw the dark hollow where he had taken refuge in many a +storm, and where he now hoped to find the girl. Picking his way +carefully over the sharp, loose stones, he at last put his hand on the +huge rock. Another blue-white, dazzling flash enveloped the scene. + +Under the rock he saw a dark form huddled, and a face as white as +snow, with wide, horrified eyes. + +"Lass," he said, when the thunder had rumbled away. He received no +answer, and called again. Kneeling, he groped about until touching +Helen's dress. He spoke again; but she did not reply. + +Jonathan crawled under the ledge beside the quiet figure. He touched +her hands; they were very cold. Bending over, he was relieved to hear +her heart beating. He called her name, but still she made no reply. +Dipping his hand into a little rill that ran beside the stone, he +bathed her face. Soon she stirred uneasily, moaned, and suddenly +sat up. + +"'Tis Jonathan," he said quickly; "don't be scared." + +Another illuminating flare of lightning brightened the plateau. + +"Oh! thank Heaven!" cried Helen. "I thought you were an Indian!" + +Helen sank trembling against the borderman, who enfolded her in his +long arms. Her relief and thankfulness were so great that she could +not speak. Her hands clasped and unclasped round his strong fingers. +Her tears flowed freely. + +The storm broke with terrific fury. A seething torrent of rain and +hail came with the rushing wind. Great heaven-broad sheets of +lightning played across the black dome overhead. Zigzag ropes, +steel-blue in color, shot downward. Crash, and crack, and boom the +thunder split and rolled the clouds above. The lightning flashes +showed the fall of rain in columns like white waterfalls, borne on the +irresistible wind. + +The grandeur of the storm awed, and stilled Helen's emotion. She sat +there watching the lightning, listening to the peals of thunder, and +thrilling with the wonder of the situation. + +Gradually the roar abated, the flashes became less frequent, the +thunder decreased, as the storm wore out its strength in passing. The +wind and rain ceased on the mountain-top almost as quickly as they had +begun, and the roar died slowly away in the distance. Far to the +eastward flashes of light illumined scowling clouds, and brightened +many a dark, wooded hill and valley. + +"Lass, how is't I find you here?" asked Jonathan gravely. + +With many a pause and broken phrase, Helen told the story of what she +had seen and heard at the spring. + +"Child, why didn't you go to my brother?" asked Jonathan. "You don't +know what you undertook!" + +"I thought of everything; but I wanted to find you myself. Besides, I +was just as safe alone on this mountain as in the village." + +"I don't know but you're right," replied Jonathan thoughtfully. "So +Brandt planned to make off with you to-morrow?" + +"Yes, and when I heard it I wanted to run away from the village." + +"You've done a wondrous clever thing, lass. This Brandt is a bad man, +an' hard to match. But if he hasn't shaken Fort Henry by now, his +career'll end mighty sudden, an' his bad trails stop short on the +hillside among the graves, for Eb will always give outlaws or Injuns +decent burial." + +"What will the colonel, or anyone, think has become of me?" + +"Wetzel knows, lass, for he found your trail below." + +"Then he'll tell papa you came after me? Oh! poor papa! I forgot him. +Shall we stay here until daylight?" + +"We'd gain nothin' by startin' now. The brooks are full, an' in the +dark we'd make little distance. You're dry here, an' comfortable. +What's more, lass, you're safe." + +"I feel perfectly safe, with you," Helen said softly. + +"Aren't you tired, lass?" + +"Tired? I'm nearly dead. My feet are cut and bruised, my wrist is +sprained, and I ache all over. But, Jonathan, I don't care. I am so +happy to have my wild venture turn out successfully." + +"You can lie here an' sleep while I keep watch." + +Jonathan made a move to withdraw his arm, which was still between +Helen and the rock but had dropped from her waist. + +"I am very comfortable. I'll sit here with you, watching for daybreak. +My! how dark it is! I cannot see my hand before my eyes." + +Helen settled herself back upon the stone, leaned a very little +against his shoulder, and tried to think over her adventure. But her +mind refused to entertain any ideas, except those of the present. +Mingled with the dreamy lassitude that grew stronger every moment, was +a sense of delight in her situation. She was alone on a wild mountain, +in the night, with this borderman, the one she loved. By chance and +her own foolhardiness this had come about, yet she was fortunate to +have it tend to some good beyond her own happiness. All she would +suffer from her perilous climb would be aching bones, and, perhaps, a +scolding from her father. What she might gain was more than she had +dared hope. The breaking up of the horse-thief gang would be a boon to +the harassed settlement. How proudly Colonel Zane would smile! Her +name would go on that long roll of border honor and heroism. That was +not, however, one thousandth part so pleasing, as to be alone with her +borderman. + +With a sigh of mingled weariness and content, Helen leaned her head on +Jonathan's shoulder and fell asleep. + +The borderman trembled. The sudden nestling of her head against him, +the light caress of her fragrant hair across his cheek, revived a +sweet, almost-conquered, almost-forgotten emotion. He felt an +inexplicable thrill vibrate through him. No untrodden, ambushed wild, +no perilous trail, no dark and bloody encounter had ever made him feel +fear as had the kiss of this maiden. He had sternly silenced faint, +unfamiliar, yet tender, voices whispering in his heart; and now his +rigorous discipline was as if it were not, for at her touch he +trembled. Still he did not move away. He knew she had succumbed to +weariness, and was fast asleep. He could, gently, without awakening +her, have laid her head upon the pillow of leaves; indeed, he thought +of doing it, but made no effort. A woman's head softly lying against +him was a thing novel, strange, wonderful. For all the power he had +then, each tumbling lock of her hair might as well have been a chain +linking him fast to the mountain. + +With the memory of his former yearning, unsatisfied moods, and the +unrest and pain his awakening tenderness had caused him, came a +determination to look things fairly in the face, to be just in thought +toward this innocent, impulsive girl, and be honest with himself. + +Duty commanded that he resist all charm other than that pertaining to +his life in the woods. Years ago he had accepted a borderman's +destiny, well content to be recompensed by its untamed freedom from +restraint; to be always under the trees he loved so well; to lend his +cunning and woodcraft in the pioneer's cause; to haunt the savage +trails; to live from day to day a menace to the foes of civilization. +That was the life he had chosen; it was all he could ever have. + +In view of this, justice demanded that he allow no friendship to +spring up between himself and this girl. If his sister's belief was +really true, if Helen really was interested in him, it must be a +romantic infatuation which, not encouraged, would wear itself out. +What was he, to win the love of any girl? An unlettered borderman, who +knew only the woods, whose life was hard and cruel, whose hands were +red with Indian blood, whose vengeance had not spared men even of his +own race. He could not believe she really loved him. Wildly impulsive +as girls were at times, she had kissed him. She had been grateful, +carried away by a generous feeling for him as the protector of her +father. When she did not see him for a long time, as he vowed should +be the case after he had carried her safely home, she would forget. + +Then honesty demanded that he probe his own feelings. Sternly, as if +judging a renegade, he searched out in his simple way the truth. This +big-eyed lass with her nameless charm would bewitch even a borderman, +unless he avoided her. So much he had not admitted until now. Love he +had never believed could be possible for him. When she fell asleep her +hand had slipped from his arm to his fingers, and now rested there +lightly as a leaf. The contact was delight. The gentle night breeze +blew a tress of hair across his lips. He trembled. Her rounded +shoulder pressed against him until he could feel her slow, deep +breathing. He almost held his own breath lest he disturb her rest. + +No, he was no longer indifferent. As surely as those pale stars +blinked far above, he knew the delight of a woman's presence. It +moved him to study the emotion, as he studied all things, which was +the habit of his borderman's life. Did it come from knowledge of her +beauty, matchless as that of the mountain-laurel? He recalled the dark +glance of her challenging eyes, her tall, supple figure, and the +bewildering excitation and magnetism of her presence. Beauty was +wonderful, but not everything. Beauty belonged to her, but she would +have been irresistible without it. Was it not because she was a woman? +That was the secret. She was a woman with all a woman's charm to +bewitch, to twine round the strength of men as the ivy encircles the +oak; with all a woman's weakness to pity and to guard; with all a +woman's wilful burning love, and with all a woman's mystery. + +At last so much of life was intelligible to him. The renegade +committed his worst crimes because even in his outlawed, homeless +state, he could not exist without the companionship, if not the love, +of a woman. The pioneer's toil and privation were for a woman, and the +joy of loving her and living for her. The Indian brave, when not on +the war-path, walked hand in hand with a dusky, soft-eyed maiden, and +sang to her of moonlit lakes and western winds. Even the birds and +beasts mated. The robins returned to their old nest; the eagles paired +once and were constant in life and death. The buck followed the doe +through the forest. All nature sang that love made life worth living. +Love, then, was everything. + +The borderman sat out the long vigil of the night watching the stars, +and trying to decide that love was not for him. If Wetzel had locked a +secret within his breast, and never in all these years spoke of it to +his companion, then surely that companion could as well live without +love. Stern, dark, deadly work must stain and blot all tenderness from +his life, else it would be unutterably barren. The joy of living, of +unharassed freedom he had always known. If a fair face and dark, +mournful eyes were to haunt him on every lonely trail, then it were +better an Indian should end his existence. + +The darkest hour before dawn, as well as the darkest of doubt and +longing in Jonathan's life, passed away. A gray gloom obscured the +pale, winking stars; the east slowly whitened, then brightened, and at +length day broke misty and fresh. + +The borderman rose to stretch his cramped limbs. When he turned to the +little cavern the girl's eyes were wide open. All the darkness, the +shadow, the beauty, and the thought of the past night, lay in their +blue depths. He looked away across the valley where the sky was +reddening and a pale rim of gold appeared above the hill-tops. + +"Well, if I haven't been asleep!" exclaimed Helen, with a low, soft +laugh. + +"You're rested, I hope," said Jonathan, with averted eyes. He dared +not look at her. + +"Oh, yes, indeed. I am ready to start at once. How gray, how beautiful +the morning is! Shall we be long? I hope papa knows." + +In silence the borderman led the way across the rocky plateau, and +into the winding, narrow trail. His pale, slightly drawn and stern, +face did not invite conversation, therefore Helen followed silently in +his footsteps. The way was steep, and at times he was forced to lend +her aid. She put her hand in his and jumped lightly as a fawn. +Presently a brawling brook, over-crowding its banks, impeded +further progress. + +"I'll have to carry you across," said Jonathan. + +"I'm very heavy," replied Helen, with a smile in her eyes. + +She flushed as the borderman put his right arm around her waist. Then +a clasp as of steel enclosed her; she felt herself swinging easily +into the air, and over the muddy brook. + +Farther down the mountain this troublesome brook again crossed the +trail, this time much wider and more formidable. Helen looked with +some vexation and embarrassment into the borderman's face. It was +always the same, stern, almost cold. + +"Perhaps I'd better wade," she said hesitatingly. + +"Why? The water's deep an' cold. You'd better not get wet." + +Helen flushed, but did not answer. With downcast eyes she let herself +be carried on his powerful arm. + +The wading was difficult this time. The water foamed furiously around +his knees. Once he slipped on a stone, and nearly lost his balance. +Uttering a little scream Helen grasped at him wildly, and her arm +encircled his neck. What was still more trying, when he put her on her +feet again, it was found that her hair had become entangled in the +porcupine quills on his hunting-coat. + +She stood before him while with clumsy fingers he endeavored to +untangle the shimmering strands; but in vain. Helen unwound the snarl +of wavy hair. Most alluring she was then, with a certain softness on +her face, and light and laughter, and something warm in her eyes. + +The borderman felt that he breathed a subtle exhilaration which +emanated from her glowing, gracious beauty. She radiated with the +gladness of life, with an uncontainable sweetness and joy. But, giving +no token of his feeling, he turned to march on down through the woods. + +From this point the trail broadened, descending at an easier angle. +Jonathan's stride lengthened until Helen was forced to walk rapidly, +and sometimes run, in order to keep close behind him. A quick journey +home was expedient, and in order to accomplish this she would gladly +have exerted herself to a greater extent. When they reached the end +of the trail where the forest opened clear of brush, finally to merge +into the broad, verdant plain, the sun had chased the mist-clouds from +the eastern hill-tops, and was gloriously brightening the valley. + +With the touch of sentiment natural to her, Helen gazed backward for +one more view of the mountain-top. The wall of rugged rock she had so +often admired from her window at home, which henceforth would ever +hold a tender place of remembrance in her heart, rose out of a +gray-blue bank of mist. The long, swelling slope lay clear to the +sunshine. With the rays of the sun gleaming and glistening upon the +variegated foliage, and upon the shiny rolling haze above, a beautiful +picture of autumn splendor was before her. Tall pines, here and there +towered high and lonely over the surrounding trees. Their dark, green, +graceful heads stood in bold relief above the gold and yellow crests +beneath. Maples, tinged from faintest pink to deepest rose, added warm +color to the scene, and chestnuts with their brown-white burrs lent +fresher beauty to the undulating slope. + +The remaining distance to the settlement was short. Jonathan spoke +only once to Helen, then questioning her as to where she had left her +canoe. They traversed the meadow, found the boat in the thicket of +willows, and were soon under the frowning bluff of Fort Henry. +Ascending the steep path, they followed the road leading to Colonel +Zane's cabin. + +A crowd of boys, men and women loitering near the bluff arrested +Helen's attention. Struck by this unusual occurrence, she wondered +what was the cause of such idleness among the busy pioneer people. +They were standing in little groups. Some made vehement gestures, +others conversed earnestly, and yet more were silent. On seeing +Jonathan, a number shouted and pointed toward the inn. The borderman +hurried Helen along the path, giving no heed to the throng. + +But Helen had seen the cause of all this excitement. At first glance +she thought Metzar's inn had been burned; but a second later it could +be seen that the smoke came from a smoldering heap of rubbish in the +road. The inn, nevertheless, had been wrecked. Windows stared with +that vacantness peculiar to deserted houses. The doors were broken +from their hinges. A pile of furniture, rude tables, chairs, beds, and +other articles, were heaped beside the smoking rubbish. Scattered +around lay barrels and kegs all with gaping sides and broken heads. +Liquor had stained the road, where it had been soaked up by the +thirsty dust. + +Upon a shattered cellar-door lay a figure covered with a piece of rag +carpet. When Helen's quick eyes took in this last, she turned away in +horror. That motionless form might be Brandt's. Remorse and womanly +sympathy surged over her, for bad as the man had shown himself, he had +loved her. + +She followed the borderman, trying to compose herself. As they neared +Colonel Zane's cabin she saw her father, Will, the colonel, Betty, +Nell, Mrs. Zane, Silas Zane, and others whom she did not recognize. +They were all looking at her. Helen's throat swelled, and her eyes +filled when she got near enough to see her father's haggard, eager +face. The others were grave. She wondered guiltily if she had done +much wrong. + +In another moment she was among them. Tears fell as her father +extended his trembling hands to clasp her, and as she hid her burning +face on his breast, he cried: "My dear, dear child!" Then Betty gave +her a great hug, and Nell flew about them like a happy bird. Colonel +Zane's face was pale, and wore a clouded, stern expression. She smiled +timidly at him through her tears. "Well! well! well!" he mused, while +his gaze softened. That was all he said; but he took her hand and held +it while he turned to Jonathan. + +The borderman leaned on his long rifle, regarding him with expectant +eyes. + +"Well, Jack, you missed a little scrimmage this morning. Wetzel got in +at daybreak. The storm and horses held him up on the other side of the +river until daylight. He told me of your suspicions, with the +additional news that he'd found a fresh Indian trail on the island +just across from the inn. We went down not expecting to find any one +awake; but Metzar was hurriedly packing some of his traps. Half a +dozen men were there, having probably stayed all night. That little +English cuss was one of them, and another, an ugly fellow, a stranger +to us, but evidently a woodsman. Things looked bad. Metzar told a +decidedly conflicting story. Wetzel and I went outside to talk over +the situation, with the result that I ordered him to clean out +the place." + +Here Colonel Zane paused to indulge in a grim, meaning laugh. + +"Well, he cleaned out the place all right. The ugly stranger got +rattlesnake-mad, and yanked out a big knife. Sam is hitching up the +team now to haul what's left of him up on the hillside. Metzar +resisted arrest, and got badly hurt. He's in the guardhouse. Case, who +has been drunk for a week, got in Wetzel's way and was kicked into the +middle of next week. He's been spitting blood for the last hour, but I +guess he's not much hurt. Brandt flew the coop last night. Wetzel +found this hid in his room." + +Colonel Zane took a long, feathered arrow from where it lay on a +bench, and held it out to Jonathan. + +"The Shawnee signal! Wetzel had it right," muttered the borderman. + +"Exactly. Lew found where the arrow struck in the wall of Brandt's +room. It was shot from the island at the exact spot where Lew came to +an end of the Indian's trail in the water." + +"That Shawnee got away from us." + +"So Lew said. Well, he's gone now. So is Brandt. We're well rid of the +gang, if only we never hear of them again." + +The borderman shook his head. During the colonel's recital his face +changed. The dark eyes had become deadly; the square jaw was shut, the +lines of the cheek had grown tense, and over his usually expressive +countenance had settled a chill, lowering shade. + +"Lew thinks Brandt's in with Bing Legget. Well, d--- his black +traitor heart! He's a good man for the worst and strongest gang that +ever tracked the border." + +The borderman was silent; but the furtive, restless shifting of his +eyes over the river and island, hill and valley, spoke more plainly +than words. + +"You're to take his trail at once," added Colonel Zane. "I had Bess +put you up some bread, meat and parched corn. No doubt you'll have a +long, hard tramp. Good luck." + +The borderman went into the cabin, presently emerging with a buckskin +knapsack strapped to his shoulder. He set off eastward with a long, +swinging stride. + +The women had taken Helen within the house where, no doubt, they could +discuss with greater freedom the events of the previous day. + +"Sheppard," said Colonel Zane, turning with a sparkle in his eyes. +"Brandt was after Helen sure as a bad weed grows fast. And certain as +death Jonathan and Wetzel will see him cold and quiet back in the +woods. That's a border saying, and it means a good deal. I never saw +Wetzel so implacable, nor Jonathan so fatally cold but once, and that +was when Miller, another traitor, much like Brandt, tried to make away +with Betty. It would have chilled your blood to see Wetzel go at that +fool this morning. Why did he want to pull a knife on the borderman? +It was a sad sight. Well, these things are justifiable. We must +protect ourselves, and above all our women. We've had bad men, and a +bad man out here is something you cannot yet appreciate, come here and +slip into the life of the settlement, because on the border you can +never tell what a man is until he proves himself. There have been +scores of criminals spread over the frontier, and some better men, +like Simon Girty, who were driven to outlaw life. Simon must not be +confounded with Jim Girty, absolutely the most fiendish desperado who +ever lived. Why, even the Indians feared Jim so much that after his +death his skeleton remained unmolested in the glade where he was +killed. The place is believed to be haunted now, by all Indians and +many white hunters, and I believe the bones stand there yet." + +"Stand?" asked Sheppard, deeply interested. + +"Yes, it stands where Girty stood and died, upright against a tree, +pinned, pinned there by a big knife." + +"Heavens, man! Who did it?" Sheppard cried in horror. + +Again Colonel Zane's laugh, almost metallic, broke grimly from his +lips. + +"Who? Why, Wetzel, of course. Lew hunted Jim Girty five long years. +When he caught him--God! I'll tell you some other time. Jonathan saw +Wetzel handle Jim and his pal, Deering, as if they were mere boys. +Well, as I said, the border has had, and still has, its bad men. Simon +Girty took McKee and Elliott, the Tories, from Fort Pitt, when he +deserted, and ten men besides. They're all, except those who are dead, +outlaws of the worst type. The other bad men drifted out here from +Lord only knows where. They're scattered all over. Simon Girty, since +his crowning black deed, the massacre of the Christian Indians, is in +hiding. Bing Legget now has the field. He's a hard nut, a cunning +woodsman, and capable leader who surrounds himself with only the most +desperate Indians and renegades. Brandt is an agent of Legget's and +I'll bet we'll hear from him again." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Jonathan traveled toward the east straight as a crow flies. Wetzel's +trail as he pursued Brandt had been left designedly plain. Branches of +young maples had been broken by the borderman; they were glaring +evidences of his passage. On open ground, or through swampy meadows he +had contrived to leave other means to facilitate his comrade's +progress. Bits of sumach lay strewn along the way, every red, leafy +branch a bright marker of the course; crimson maple leaves served +their turn, and even long-bladed ferns were scattered at intervals. + +Ten miles east of Fort Henry, at a point where two islands lay +opposite each other, Wetzel had crossed the Ohio. Jonathan removed his +clothing, and tying these, together with his knapsack, to the rifle, +held them above the water while he swam the three narrow channels. He +took up the trail again, finding here, as he expected, where Brandt +had joined the waiting Shawnee chief. The borderman pressed on harder +to the eastward. + +About the middle of the afternoon signs betokened that Wetzel and his +quarry were not far in advance. Fresh imprints in the grass; crushed +asters and moss, broken branches with unwithered leaves, and plots of +grassy ground where Jonathan saw that the blades of grass were yet +springing back to their original position, proved to the borderman's +practiced eye that he was close upon Wetzel. + +In time he came to a grove of yellow birch trees. The ground was +nearly free from brush, beautifully carpeted with flowers and ferns, +and, except where bushy windfalls obstructed the way, was singularly +open to the gaze for several hundred yards ahead. + +Upon entering this wood Wetzel's plain, intentional markings became +manifest, then wavered, and finally disappeared. Jonathan pondered a +moment. He concluded that the way was so open and clear, with nothing +but grass and moss to mark a trail, that Wetzel had simply considered +it waste of time for, perhaps, the short length of this grove. + +Jonathan knew he was wrong after taking a dozen steps more. Wetzel's +trail, known so well to him, as never to be mistaken, sheered abruptly +off to the left, and, after a few yards, the distance between the +footsteps widened perceptibly. Then came a point where they were so +far apart that they could only have been made by long leaps. + +On the instant the borderman knew that some unforeseen peril or urgent +cause had put Wetzel to flight, and he now bent piercing eyes around +the grove. Retracing his steps to where he had found the break in the +trail, he followed up Brandt's tracks for several rods. Not one +hundred paces beyond where Wetzel had quit the pursuit, were the +remains of a camp fire, the embers still smoldering, and moccasin +tracks of a small band of Indians. The trail of Brandt and his +Shawnee guide met the others at almost right angles. + +The Indian, either by accident or design, had guided Brandt to a band +of his fellows, and thus led Wetzel almost into an ambush. + +Evidence was not clear, however, that the Indians had discovered the +keen tracker who had run almost into their midst. + +While studying the forest ahead Jonathan's mind was running over the +possibilities. How close was Wetzel? Was he still in flight? Had the +savages an inkling of his pursuit? Or was he now working out one of +his cunning tricks of woodcraft? The borderman had no other idea than +that of following the trail to learn all this. Taking the desperate +chances warranted under the circumstances, he walked boldly forward in +his comrade's footsteps. + +Deep and gloomy was the forest adjoining the birch grove. It was a +heavy growth of hardwood trees, interspersed with slender ash and +maples, which with their scanty foliage resembled a labyrinth of green +and yellow network, like filmy dotted lace, hung on the taller, darker +oaks. Jonathan felt safer in this deep wood. He could still see +several rods in advance. Following the trail, he was relieved to see +that Wetzel's leaps had become shorter and shorter, until they once +again were about the length of a long stride. The borderman was, +moreover, swinging in a curve to the northeast. This was proof that +the borderman had not been pursued, but was making a wide detour to +get ahead of the enemy. Five hundred yards farther on the trail turned +sharply toward the birch grove in the rear. + +The trail was fresh. Wetzel was possibly within signal call; surely +within sound of a rifle shot. But even more stirring was the +certainty that Brandt and his Indians were inside the circle +Wetzel had made. + +Once again in sight of the more open woodland, Jonathan crawled on his +hands and knees, keeping close to the cluster of ferns, until well +within the eastern end of the grove. He lay for some minutes +listening. A threatening silence, like the hush before a storm, +permeated the wilderness. He peered out from his covert; but, owing to +its location in a little hollow, he could not see far. Crawling to the +nearest tree he rose to his feet slowly, cautiously. + +No unnatural sight or sound arrested his attention. Repeatedly, with +the acute, unsatisfied gaze of the borderman who knew that every tree, +every patch of ferns, every tangled brush-heap might harbor a foe, he +searched the grove with his eyes; but the curly-barked birches, the +clumps of colored ferns, the bushy windfalls kept their secrets. + +For the borderman, however, the whole aspect of the birch-grove had +changed. Over the forest was a deep calm. A gentle, barely perceptible +wind sighed among the leaves, like rustling silk. The far-off drowsy +drum of a grouse intruded on the vast stillness. The silence of the +birds betokened a message. That mysterious breathing, that beautiful +life of the woods lay hushed, locked in a waiting, brooding silence. +Far away among the somber trees, where the shade deepened into +impenetrable gloom, lay a menace, invisible and indefinable. + +A wind, a breath, a chill, terribly potent, seemed to pass over the +borderman. Long experience had given him intuition of danger. + +As he moved slightly, with lynx-eyes fixed on the grove before him, a +sharp, clear, perfect bird-note broke the ominous quiet. It was like +the melancholy cry of an oriole, short, deep, suggestive of lonely +forest dells. By a slight variation in the short call, Jonathan +recognized it as a signal from Wetzel. The borderman smiled as he +realized that with all his stealth, Wetzel had heard or seen him +re-enter the grove. The signal was a warning to stand still +or retreat. + +Jonathan's gaze narrowed down to the particular point whence had come +the signal. Some two hundred yards ahead in this direction were +several large trees standing in a group. With one exception, they all +had straight trunks. This deviated from the others in that it +possessed an irregular, bulging trunk, or else half-shielded the form +of Wetzel. So indistinct and immovable was this irregularity, that the +watcher could not be certain. Out of line, somewhat, with this tree +which he suspected screened his comrade, lay a huge windfall large +enough to conceal in ambush a whole band of savages. + +Even as he gazed a sheet of flame flashed from this covert. + +_Crack!_ + +A loud report followed; then the whistle and zip of a bullet as it +whizzed close by his head. + +"Shawnee lead!" muttered Jonathan. + +Unfortunately the tree he had selected did not hide him sufficiently. +His shoulders were so wide that either one or the other was exposed, +affording a fine target for a marksman. + +A quick glance showed him a change in the knotty tree-trunk; the +seeming bulge was now the well-known figure of Wetzel. + +Jonathan dodged as some object glanced slantingly before his eyes. + +_Twang. Whizz. Thud._ Three familiar and distinct sounds caused him to +press hard against the tree. + +A tufted arrow quivered in the bark not a foot from his head. + +"Close shave! Damn that arrow-shootin' Shawnee!" muttered Jonathan. +"An' he ain't in that windfall either." His eyes searched to the left +for the source of this new peril. + +Another sheet of flame, another report from the windfall. A bullet +sang, close overhead, and, glancing on a branch, went harmlessly into +the forest. + +"Injuns all around; I guess I'd better be makin' tracks," Jonathan +said to himself, peering out to learn if Wetzel was still under cover. + +He saw the tall figure straighten up; a long, black rifle rise to a +level and become rigid; a red fire belch forth, followed by a puff of +white smoke. + +_Spang!_ + +An Indian's horrible, strangely-breaking death yell rent the silence. + +Then a chorus of plaintive howls, followed by angry shouts, rang +through the forest. Naked, painted savages darted out of the windfall +toward the tree that had sheltered Wetzel. + +Quick as thought Jonathan covered the foremost Indian, and with the +crack of his rifle saw the redskin drop his gun, stop in his mad run, +stagger sideways, and fall. Then the borderman looked to see what had +become of his ally. The cracking of the Indian's rifle told him that +Wetzel had been seen by his foes. + +With almost incredible fleetness a brown figure with long black hair +streaming behind, darted in and out among the trees, flashed through +the sunlit glade, and vanished in the dark depths of the forest. + +Jonathan turned to flee also, when he heard again the twanging of an +Indian's bow. A wind smote his cheek, a shock blinded him, an +excruciating pain seized upon his breast. A feathered arrow had pinned +his shoulder to the tree. He raised his hand to pull it out; but, +slippery with blood, it afforded a poor hold for his fingers. +Violently exerting himself, with both hands he wrenched away the +weapon. The flint-head lacerating his flesh and scraping his shoulder +bones caused sharpest agony. The pain gave away to a sudden sense of +giddiness; he tried to run; a dark mist veiled his sight; he stumbled +and fell. Then he seemed to sink into a great darkness, and knew +no more. + +When consciousness returned to Jonathan it was night. He lay on his +back, and knew because of his cramped limbs that he had been securely +bound. He saw the glimmer of a fire, but could not raise his head. A +rustling of leaves in the wind told that he was yet in the woods, and +the distant rumble of a waterfall sounded familiar. He felt drowsy; +his wound smarted slightly, still he did not suffer any pain. +Presently he fell asleep. + +Broad daylight had come when again he opened his eyes. The blue sky +was directly above, and before him he saw a ledge covered with dwarfed +pine trees. He turned his head, and saw that he was in a sort of +amphitheater of about two acres in extent enclosed by low cliffs. A +cleft in the stony wall let out a brawling brook, and served, no +doubt, as entrance to the place. Several rude log cabins stood on that +side of the enclosure. Jonathan knew he had been brought to Bing +Legget's retreat. + +Voices attracted his attention, and, turning his head to the other +side, he saw a big Indian pacing near him, and beyond, seven savages +and three white men reclining in the shade. + +The powerful, dark-visaged savage near him he at once recognized as +Ashbow, the Shawnee chief, and noted emissary of Bing Legget. Of the +other Indians, three were Delawares, and four Shawnees, all veterans, +with swarthy, somber faces and glistening heads on which the +scalp-locks were trimmed and tufted. Their naked, muscular bodies were +painted for the war-path with their strange emblems of death. A trio +of white men, nearly as bronzed as their savage comrades, completed +the group. One, a desperate-looking outlaw, Jonathan did not know. The +blond-bearded giant in the center was Legget. Steel-blue, inhuman +eyes, with the expression of a free but hunted animal; a set, +mastiff-like jaw, brutal and coarse, individualized him. The last man +was the haggard-faced Brandt. + +"I tell ye, Brandt, I ain't agoin' against this Injun," Legget was +saying positively. "He's the best reddy on the border, an' has saved +me scores of times. This fellar Zane belongs to him, an' while I'd +much rather see the scout knifed right here an' now, I won't do +nothin' to interfere with the Shawnee's plans." + +"Why does the redskin want to take him away to his village?" Brandt +growled. "All Injun vanity and pride." + +"It's Injun ways, an' we can't do nothin' to change 'em." + +"But you're boss here. You could make him put this borderman out of +the way." + +"Wal, I ain't agoin' ter interfere. Anyways, Brandt, the Shawnee'll +make short work of the scout when he gits him among the tribe. Injuns +is Injuns. It's a great honor fer him to git Zane, an' he wants his +own people to figger in the finish. Quite nat'r'l, I reckon." + +"I understand all that; but it's not safe for us, and it's courting +death for Ashbow. Why don't he keep Zane here until you can spare more +than three Indians to go with him? These bordermen can't be stopped. +You don't know them, because you're new in this part of the country." + +"I've been here as long as you, an' agoin' some, too, I reckon," +replied Legget complacently. + +"But you've not been hunted until lately by these bordermen, and +you've had little opportunity to hear of them except from Indians. +What can you learn from these silent redskins? I tell you, letting +this fellow get out of here alive, even for an hour is a fatal +mistake. It's two full days' tramp to the Shawnee village. You don't +suppose Wetzel will be afraid of four savages? Why, he sneaked right +into eight of us, when we were ambushed, waiting for him. He killed +one and then was gone like a streak. It was only a piece of pure luck +we got Zane." + +"I've reason to know this Wetzel, this Deathwind, as the Delawares +call him. I never seen him though, an' anyways, I reckon I can handle +him if ever I get the chance." + +"Man, you're crazy!" cried Brandt. "He'd cut you to pieces before +you'd have time to draw. He could give you a tomahawk, then take it +away and split your head. I tell you I know! You remember Jake +Deering? He came from up your way. Wetzel fought Deering and Jim Girty +together, and killed them. You know how he left Girty." + +"I'll allow he must be a fighter; but I ain't afraid of him." + +"That's not the question. I am talking sense. You've got a chance now +to put one of these bordermen out of the way. Do it quick! That's +my advice." + +Brandt spoke so vehemently that Legget seemed impressed. He stroked +his yellow beard, and puffed thoughtfully on his pipe. Presently he +addressed the Shawnee chief in the native tongue. + +"Will Ashbow take five horses for his prisoner?" + +The Indian shook his head. + +"How many will he take?" + +The chief strode with dignity to and fro before his captive. His dark, +impassive face gave no clew to his thoughts; but his lofty bearing, +his measured, stately walk were indicative of great pride. Then he +spoke in his deep bass: + +"The Shawnee knows the woods from the Great Lakes where the sun sets, +to the Blue Hills where it rises. He has met the great paleface +hunters. Only for Deathwind will Ashbow trade his captive." + +"See? It ain't no use," said Legget, spreading out his hands, "Let him +go. He'll outwit the bordermen if any redskin's able to. The sooner he +goes the quicker he'll git back, an' we can go to work. You ought'er +be satisfied to git the girl----" + +"Shut up!" interrupted Brandt sharply. + +"'Pears to me, Brandt, bein' in love hes kinder worked on your nerves. +You used to be game. Now you're afeerd of a bound an' tied man who +ain't got long to live." + +"I fear no man," answered Brandt, scowling darkly. "But I know what +you don't seem to have sense enough to see. If this Zane gets away, +which is probable, he and Wetzel will clean up your gang." + +"Haw! haw! haw!" roared Legget, slapping his knees. "Then you'd hev +little chanst of gittin' the lass, eh?" + +"All right. I've no more to say," snapped Brandt, rising and turning +on his heel. As he passed Jonathan he paused. "Zane, if I could, I'd +get even with you for that punch you once gave me. As it is, I'll stop +at the Shawnee village on my way west----" + +"With the pretty lass," interposed Legget. + +"Where I hope to see your scalp drying in the chief's lodge." + +The borderman eyed him steadily; but in silence. Words could not so +well have conveyed his thought as did the cold glance of dark scorn +and merciless meaning. + +Brandt shuffled on with a curse. No coward was he. No man ever saw him +flinch. But his intelligence was against him as a desperado. While +such as these bordermen lived, an outlaw should never sleep, for he +was a marked and doomed man. The deadly, cold-pointed flame which +scintillated in the prisoner's eyes was only a gleam of what the +border felt towards outlaws. + +While Jonathan was considering all he had heard, three more Shawnees +entered the retreat, and were at once called aside in consultation by +Ashbow. At the conclusion of this brief conference the chief advanced +to Jonathan, cut the bonds round his feet, and motioned for him to +rise. The prisoner complied to find himself weak and sore, but able to +walk. He concluded that his wound, while very painful, was not of a +serious nature, and that he would be taken at once on the march toward +the Shawnee village. + +He was correct, for the chief led him, with the three Shawnees +following, toward the outlet of the enclosure. Jonathan's sharp eye +took in every detail of Legget's rendezvous. In a corral near the +entrance, he saw a number of fine horses, and among them his sister's +pony. A more inaccessible, natural refuge than Legget's, could hardly +have been found in that country. The entrance was a narrow opening in +the wall, and could be held by half a dozen against an army of +besiegers. It opened, moreover, on the side of a barren hill, from +which could be had a good survey of the surrounding forests +and plains. + +As Jonathan went with his captors down the hill his hopes, which while +ever alive, had been flagging, now rose. The long journey to the +Shawnee town led through an untracked wilderness. The Delaware +villages lay far to the north; the Wyandot to the west. No likelihood +was there of falling in with a band of Indians hunting, because this +region, stony, barren, and poorly watered, afforded sparse pasture for +deer or bison. From the prisoner's point of view this enterprise of +Ashbow's was reckless and vainglorious. Cunning as the chief was, he +erred in one point, a great warrior's only weakness, love of show, of +pride, of his achievement. In Indian nature this desire for fame was +as strong as love of life. The brave risked everything to win his +eagle feathers, and the matured warrior found death while keeping +bright the glory of the plumes he had won. + +Wetzel was in the woods, fleet as a deer, fierce and fearless as a +lion. Somewhere among those glades he trod, stealthily, with the ears +of a doe and eyes of a hawk strained for sound or sight of his +comrade's captors. When he found their trail he would stick to it as +the wolf to that of a bleeding buck's. The rescue would not be +attempted until the right moment, even though that came within +rifle-shot of the Shawnee encampment. Wonderful as his other gifts, +was the borderman's patience. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"Good morning, Colonel Zane," said Helen cheerily, coming into the +yard where the colonel was at work. "Did Will come over this way?" + +"I reckon you'll find him if you find Betty," replied Colonel Zane +dryly. + +"Come to think of it, that's true," Helen said, laughing. "I've a +suspicion Will ran off from me this morning." + +"He and Betty have gone nutting." + +"I declare it's mean of Will," Helen said petulantly. "I have been +wanting to go so much, and both he and Betty promised to take me." + +"Say, Helen, let me tell you something," said the colonel, resting on +his spade and looking at her quizzically. "I told them we hadn't had +enough frost yet to ripen hickory-nuts and chestnuts. But they went +anyhow. Will did remember to say if you came along, to tell you he'd +bring the colored leaves you wanted." + +"How extremely kind of him. I've a mind to follow them." + +"Now see here, Helen, it might be a right good idea for you not to," +returned the colonel, with a twinkle and a meaning in his eye. + +"Oh, I understand. How singularly dull I've been." + +"It's this way. We're mighty glad to have a fine young fellow like +Will come along and interest Betty. Lord knows we had a time with her +after Alfred died. She's just beginning to brighten up now, and, +Helen, the point is that young people on the border must get married. +No, my dear, you needn't laugh, you'll have to find a husband same as +the other girls. It's not here as it was back east, where a lass might +have her fling, so to speak, and take her time choosing. An unmarried +girl on the border is a positive menace. I saw, not many years ago, +two first-rate youngsters, wild with border fire and spirit, fight and +kill each other over a lass who wouldn't choose. Like as not, if she +had done so, the three would have been good friends, for out here +we're like one big family. Remember this, Helen, and as far as Betty +and Will are concerned you will be wise to follow our example: Leave +them to themselves. Nothing else will so quickly strike fire between a +boy and a girl." + +"Betty and Will! I'm sure I'd love to see them care for each other." +Then with big, bright eyes bent gravely on him she continued, "May I +ask, Colonel Zane, who you have picked out for me?" + +"There, now you've said it, and that's the problem. I've looked over +every marriageable young man in the settlement, except Jack. Of +course you couldn't care for him, a borderman, a fighter and all that; +but I can't find a fellow I think quite up to you." + +"Colonel Zane, is not a borderman such as Jonathan worthy a woman's +regard?" Helen asked a little wistfully. + +"Bless your heart, lass, yes!" replied Colonel Zane heartily. "People +out here are not as they are back east. An educated man, polished and +all that, but incapable of hard labor, or shrinking from dirt and +sweat on his hands, or even blood, would not help us in the winning of +the West. Plain as Jonathan is, and with his lack of schooling, he is +greatly superior to the majority of young men on the frontier. But, +unlettered or not, he is as fine a man as ever stepped in moccasins, +or any other kind of foot gear." + +"Then why did you say--that--what you did?" + +"Well, it's this way," replied Colonel Zane, stealing a glance at her +pensive, downcast face. "Girls all like to be wooed. Almost every one +I ever knew wanted the young man of her choice to outstrip all her +other admirers, and then, for a spell, nearly die of love for her, +after which she'd give in. Now, Jack, being a borderman, a man with no +occupation except scouting, will never look at a girl, let alone make +up to her. I imagine, my dear, it'd take some mighty tall courting to +fetch home Helen Sheppard a bride. On the other hand, if some pretty +and spirited lass, like, say for instance, Helen Sheppard, would come +along and just make Jack forget Indians and fighting, she'd get the +finest husband in the world. True, he's wild; but only in the woods. A +simpler, kinder, cleaner man cannot be found." + +"I believe that, Colonel Zane; but where is the girl who would +interest him?" Helen asked with spirit. "These bordermen are +unapproachable. Imagine a girl interesting that great, cold, stern +Wetzel! All her flatteries, her wiles, the little coquetries that +might attract ordinary men, would not be noticed by him, or +Jonathan either." + +"I grant it'd not be easy, but woman was made to subjugate man, and +always, everlastingly, until the end of life here on this beautiful +earth, she will do it." + +"Do you think Jonathan and Wetzel will catch Brandt?" asked Helen, +changing the subject abruptly. + +"I'd stake my all that this year's autumn leaves will fall on Brandt's +grave." + +Colonel Zane's calm, matter-of-fact coldness made Helen shiver. + +"Why, the leaves have already begun to fall. Papa told me Brandt had +gone to join the most powerful outlaw band on the border. How can +these two men, alone, cope with savages, as I've heard they do, and +break up such an outlaw band as Legget's?" + +"That's a question I've heard Daniel Boone ask about Wetzel, and +Boone, though not a borderman in all the name implies, was a great +Indian fighter. I've heard old frontiersmen, grown grizzled on the +frontier, use the same words. I've been twenty years with that man, +yet I can't answer it. Jonathan, of course, is only a shadow of him; +Wetzel is the type of these men who have held the frontier for us. He +was the first borderman, and no doubt he'll be the last." + +"What have Jonathan and Wetzel that other men do not possess?" + +"In them is united a marvelously developed woodcraft, with wonderful +physical powers. Imagine a man having a sense, almost an animal +instinct, for what is going on in the woods. Take for instance the +fleetness of foot. That is one of the greatest factors. It is +absolutely necessary to run, to get away when to hold ground would be +death. Whether at home or in the woods, the bordermen retreat every +day. You wouldn't think they practiced anything of the kind, would +you? Well, a man can't be great in anything without keeping at it. +Jonathan says he exercises to keep his feet light. Wetzel would just +as soon run as walk. Think of the magnificent condition of these men. +When a dash of speed is called for, when to be fleet of foot is to +elude vengeance-seeking Indians, they must travel as swiftly as the +deer. The Zanes were all sprinters. I could do something of the kind; +Betty was fast on her feet, as that old fort will testify until the +logs rot; Isaac was fleet, too, and Jonathan can get over the ground +like a scared buck. But, even so, Wetzel can beat him." + +"Goodness me, Helen!" exclaimed the colonel's buxom wife, from the +window, "don't you ever get tired hearing Eb talk of Wetzel, and Jack, +and Indians? Come in with me. I venture to say my gossip will do you +more good than his stories." + +Therefore Helen went in to chat with Mrs. Zane, for she was always +glad to listen to the colonel's wife, who was so bright and pleasant, +so helpful and kindly in her womanly way. In the course of their +conversation, which drifted from weaving linsey, Mrs. Zane's +occupation at the tune, to the costly silks and satins of remembered +days, and then to matters of more present interest, Helen spoke of +Colonel Zane's hint about Will and Betty. + +"Isn't Eb a terror? He's the worst matchmatcher you ever saw," +declared the colonel's good spouse. + +"There's no harm in that." + +"No, indeed; it's a good thing, but he makes me laugh, and Betty, he +sets her furious." + +"The colonel said he had designs on me." + +"Of course he has, dear old Eb! How he'd love to see you happily +married. His heart is as big as that mountain yonder. He has given +this settlement his whole life." + +"I believe you. He has such interest, such zeal for everybody. Only +the other day he was speaking to me of Mr. Mordaunt, telling how sorry +he was for the Englishman, and how much he'd like to help him. It does +seem a pity a man of Mordaunt's blood and attainments should sink to +utter worthlessness." + +"Yes,'tis a pity for any man, blood or no, and the world's full of +such wrecks. I always liked that man's looks. I never had a word with +him, of course; but I've seen him often, and something about him +appealed to me. I don't believe it was just his handsome face; still I +know women are susceptible that way." + +"I, too, liked him once as a friend," said Helen feelingly. "Well, I'm +glad he's gone." + +"Gone?" + +"Yes, he left Fort Henry yesterday. He came to say good-bye to me, +and, except for his pale face and trembling hands, was much as he used +to be in Virginia. Said he was going home to England, and wanted to +tell me he was sorry--for--for all he'd done to make papa and me +suffer. Drink had broken him, he said, and surely he looked 'a broken +man. I shook hands with him, and then slipped upstairs and cried." + +"Poor fellow!" sighed Mrs. Zane. + +"Papa said he left Fort Pitt with one of Metzar's men as a guide." + +"Then he didn't take the 'little cuss,' as Eb calls his man Case?" + +"No, if I remember rightly papa said Case wouldn't go." + +"I wish he had. He's no addition to our village." + +Voices outside attracted their attention. Mrs. Zane glanced from the +window and said: "There come Betty and Will." + +Helen went on the porch to see her cousin and Betty entering the +yard, and Colonel Zane once again leaning on his spade. + +"Gather any hickory-nuts from birch or any other kind of trees?" asked +the colonel grimly. + +"No," replied Will cheerily, "the shells haven't opened yet." + +"Too bad the frost is so backward," said Colonel Zane with a laugh. +"But I can't see that it makes any difference." + +"Where are my leaves?" asked Helen, with a smile and a nod to Betty. + +"What leaves?" inquired that young woman, plainly mystified. + +"Why, the autumn leaves Will promised to gather with me, then changed +his mind, and said he'd bring them." + +"I forgot," Will replied a little awkwardly. + +Colonel Zane coughed, and then, catching Betty's glance, which had +begun to flash, he plied his spade vigorously. + +Betty's face had colored warmly at her brother's first question; it +toned down slightly when she understood that he was not going to tease +her as usual, and suddenly, as she looked over his head, it paled +white as snow. + +"Eb, look down the lane!" she cried. + +Two tall men were approaching with labored tread, one half-supporting +his companion. + +"Wetzel! Jack! and Jack's hurt!" cried Betty. + +"My dear, be calm," said Colonel Zane, in that quiet tone he always +used during moments of excitement. He turned toward the bordermen, and +helped Wetzel lead Jonathan up the walk into the yard. + +From Wetzel's clothing water ran, his long hair was disheveled, his +aspect frightful. Jonathan's face was white and drawn. His buckskin +hunting coat was covered with blood, and the hand which he held +tightly against his left breast showed dark red stains. + +Helen shuddered. Almost fainting, she leaned against the porch, too +horrified to cry out, with contracting heart and a chill stealing +through her veins. + +"Jack! Jack!" cried Betty, in agonized appeal. + +"Betty, it's nothin'," said Wetzel. + +"Now, Betts, don't be scared of a little blood," Jonathan said with a +faint smile flitting across his haggard face. + +"Bring water, shears an' some linsey cloth," added Wetzel, as Mrs. +Zane came running out. + +"Come inside," cried the colonel's wife, as she disappeared again +immediately. + +"No," replied the borderman, removing his coat, and, with the +assistance of his brother, he unlaced his hunting shirt, pulling it +down from a wounded shoulder. A great gory hole gaped just beneath his +left collar-bone. + +Although stricken with fear, when Helen saw the bronzed, massive +shoulder, the long, powerful arm with its cords of muscles playing +under the brown skin, she felt a thrill of admiration. + +"Just missed the lung," said Mrs. Zane. "Eb, no bullet ever made that +hole." + +Wetzel washed the bloody wound, and, placing on it a wad of leaves he +took from his pocket, bound up the shoulder tightly. + +"What made that hole?" asked Colonel Zane. + +Wetzel lifted the quiver of arrows Jonathan had laid on the porch, +and, selecting one, handed it to the colonel. The flint-head and a +portion of the shaft were stained with blood. + +"The Shawnee!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. Then he led Wetzel aside, and +began conversing in low tones while Jonathan, with Betty holding his +arm, ascended the steps and went within the dwelling. + +Helen ran home, and, once in her room, gave vent to her emotions. She +cried because of fright, nervousness, relief, and joy. Then she bathed +her face, tried to rub some color into her pale cheeks, and set about +getting dinner as one in a trance. She could not forget that broad +shoulder with its frightful wound. What a man Jonathan must be to +receive a blow like that and live! Exhausted, almost spent, had been +his strength when he reached home, yet how calm and cool he was! What +would she not have given for the faint smile that shone in his eyes +for Betty? + +The afternoon was long for Helen. When at last supper was over she +changed her gown, and, asking Will to accompany her, went down the +lane toward Colonel Zane's cabin. At this hour the colonel almost +invariably could be found sitting on his doorstep puffing a long +Indian pipe, and gazing with dreamy eyes over the valley. + +"Well, well, how sweet you look!" he said to Helen; then with a wink +of his eyelid, "Hello, Willie, you'll find Elizabeth inside +with Jack." + +"How is he?" asked Helen eagerly, as Will with a laugh and a retort +mounted the steps. + +"Jack's doing splendidly. He slept all day. I don't think his injury +amounts to much, at least not for such as him or Wetzel. It would have +finished ordinary men. Bess says if complications don't set in, +blood-poison or something to start a fever, he'll be up shortly. +Wetzel believes the two of 'em will be on the trail inside of a week." + +"Did they find Brandt?" asked Helen in a low voice. + +"Yes, they ran him to his hole, and, as might have been expected, it +was Bing Legget's camp. The Indians took Jonathan there." + +"Then Jack was captured?" + +Colonel Zane related the events, as told briefly by Wetzel, that had +taken place during the preceding three days. + +"The Indian I saw at the spring carried that bow Jonathan brought +back. He must have shot the arrow. He was a magnificent savage." + +"He was indeed a great, and a bad Indian, one of the craftiest spies +who ever stepped in moccasins; but he lies quiet now on the moss and +the leaves. Bing Legget will never find another runner like that +Shawnee. Let us go indoors." + +He led Helen into the large sitting-room where Jonathan lay on a +couch, with Betty and Will sitting beside him. The colonel's wife and +children, Silas Zane, and several neighbors, were present. + +"Here, Jack, is a lady inquiring after your health. Betts, this +reminds me of the time Isaac came home wounded, after his escape from +the Hurons. Strikes me he and his Indian bride should be about due +here on a visit." + +Helen forgot every one except the wounded man lying so quiet and pale +upon the couch. She looked down upon him with eyes strangely dilated, +and darkly bright. + +"How are you?" she asked softly. + +"I'm all right, thank you, lass," answered Jonathan. + +Colonel Zane contrived, with inimitable skill, to get Betty, Will, +Silas, Bessie and the others interested in some remarkable news he had +just heard, or made up, and this left Jonathan and Helen comparatively +alone for the moment. + +The wise old colonel thought perhaps this might be the right time. He +saw Helen's face as she leaned over Jonathan, and that was enough for +him. He would have taxed his ingenuity to the utmost to keep the +others away from the young couple. + +"I was so frightened," murmured Helen. + +"Why?" asked Jonathan. + +"Oh! You looked so deathly--the blood, and that awful wound!" + +"It's nothin', lass." + +Helen smiled down upon him. Whether or not the hurt amounted to +anything in the borderman's opinion, she knew from his weakness, and +his white, drawn face, that the strain of the march home had been +fearful. His dark eyes held now nothing of the coldness and glitter so +natural to them. They were weary, almost sad. She did not feel afraid +of him now. He lay there so helpless, his long, powerful frame as +quiet as a sleeping child's! Hitherto an almost indefinable antagonism +in him had made itself felt; now there was only gentleness, as of a +man too weary to fight longer. Helen's heart swelled with pity, and +tenderness, and love. His weakness affected her as had never his +strength. With an involuntary gesture of sympathy she placed her hand +softly on his. + +Jonathan looked up at her with eyes no longer blind. Pain had softened +him. For the moment he felt carried out of himself, as it were, and +saw things differently. The melting tenderness of her gaze, the +glowing softness of her face, the beauty, bewitched him; and beyond +that, a sweet, impelling gladness stirred within him and would not be +denied. He thrilled as her fingers lightly, timidly touched his, and +opened his broad hand to press hers closely and warmly. + +"Lass," he whispered, with a huskiness and unsteadiness unnatural to +his deep voice. + +Helen bent her head closer to him; she saw his lips tremble, and his +nostrils dilate; but an unutterable sadness shaded the brightness +in his eyes. + +"I love you." + +The low whisper reached Helen's ears. She seemed to float dreamily +away to some beautiful world, with the music of those words ringing in +her ears. She looked at him again. Had she been dreaming? No; his dark +eyes met hers with a love that he could no longer deny. An exquisite +emotion, keen, strangely sweet and strong, yet terrible with sharp +pain, pulsated through her being. The revelation had been too abrupt. +It was so wonderfully different from what she had ever dared hope. She +lowered her head, trembling. + +The next moment she felt Colonel Zane's hand on her chair, and heard +him say in a cheery voice: + +"Well, well, see here, lass, you mustn't make Jack talk too much. See +how white and tired he looks." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +In forty-eight hours Jonathan Zane was up and about the cabin as +though he had never been wounded; the third day he walked to the +spring; in a week he was waiting for Wetzel, ready to go on the trail. + +On the eighth day of his enforced idleness, as he sat with Betty and +the colonel in the yard, Wetzel appeared on a ridge east of the fort. +Soon he rounded the stockade fence, and came straight toward them. To +Colonel Zane and Betty, Wetzel's expression was terrible. The stern +kindliness, the calm, though cold, gravity of his countenance, as they +usually saw it, had disappeared. Yet it showed no trace of his +unnatural passion to pursue and slay. No doubt that terrible +instinct, or lust, was at white heat; but it wore a mask of +impenetrable stone-gray gloom. + +Wetzel spoke briefly. After telling Jonathan to meet him at sunset on +the following day at a point five miles up the river, he reported to +the colonel that Legget with his band had left their retreat, moving +southward, apparently on a marauding expedition. Then he shook hands +with Colonel Zane and turned to Betty. + +"Good-bye, Betty," he said, in his deep, sonorous voice. + +"Good-bye, Lew," answered Betty slowly, as if surprised. "God save +you," she added. + +He shouldered his rifle, and hurried down the lane, halting before +entering the thicket that bounded the clearing, to look back at the +settlement. In another moment his dark figure had disappeared among +the bushes. + +"Betts, I've seen Wetzel go like that hundreds of times, though he +never shook hands before; but I feel sort of queer about it now. +Wasn't he strange?" + +Betty did not answer until Jonathan, who had started to go within, was +out of hearing. + +"Lew looked and acted the same the morning he struck Miller's trail," +Betty replied in a low voice. "I believe, despite his indifference to +danger, he realizes that the chances are greatly against him, as they +were when he began the trailing of Miller, certain it would lead him +into Girty's camp. Then I know Lew has an affection for us, though it +is never shown in ordinary ways. I pray he and Jack will come +home safe." + +"This is a bad trail they're taking up; the worst, perhaps, in border +warfare," said Colonel Zane gloomily. "Did you notice how Jack's face +darkened when his comrade came? Much of this borderman-life of his is +due to Wetzel's influence." + +"Eb, I'll tell you one thing," returned Betty, with a flash of her +old spirit. "This is Jack's last trail." + +"Why do you think so?" + +"If he doesn't return he'll be gone the way of all bordermen; but if +he comes back once more he'll never get away from Helen." + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Zane, venting his pleasure in characteristic Indian +way. + +"That night after Jack came home wounded," continued Betty, "I saw +him, as he lay on the couch, gaze at Helen. Such a look! Eb, she +has won." + +"I hope so, but I fear, I fear," replied her brother gloomily. "If +only he returns, that's the thing! Betts, be sure he sees Helen before +he goes away." + +"I shall try. Here he comes now," said Betty. + +"Hello, Jack!" cried the colonel, as his brother came out in somewhat +of a hurry. "What have you got? By George! It's that blamed arrow the +Shawnee shot into you. Where are you going with it? What the +deuce--Say--Betts, eh?" + +Betty had given him a sharp little kick. + +The borderman looked embarrassed. He hesitated and flushed. Evidently +he would have liked to avoid his brother's question; but the inquiry +came direct. Dissimulation with him was impossible. + +"Helen wanted this, an' I reckon that's where I'm goin' with it," he +said finally, and walked away. + +"Eb, you're a stupid!" exclaimed Betty. + +"Hang it! Who'd have thought he was going to give her that blamed, +bloody arrow?" + +As Helen ushered Jonathan, for the first time, into her cosy little +sitting-room, her heart began to thump so hard she could hear it. + +She had not seen him since the night he whispered the words which gave +such happiness. She had stayed at home, thankful beyond expression to +learn every day of his rapid improvement, living in the sweetness of +her joy, and waiting for him. And now as he had come, so dark, so +grave, so unlike a lover to woo, that she felt a chill steal over her. + +"I'm so glad you've brought the arrow," she faltered, "for, of course, +coming so far means that you're well once more." + +"You asked me for it, an' I've fetched it over. To-morrow I'm off on a +trail I may never return from," he answered simply, and his voice +seemed cold. + +An immeasurable distance stretched once more between them. Helen's +happiness slowly died. + +"I thank you," she said with a voice that was tremulous despite all +her efforts. + +"It's not much of a keepsake." + +"I did not ask for it as a keepsake, but because--because I wanted it. +I need nothing tangible to keep alive my memory. A few words whispered +to me not many days ago will suffice for remembrance--or--or did I +dream them?" + +Bitter disappointment almost choked Helen. This was not the gentle, +soft-voiced man who had said he loved her. It was the indifferent +borderman. Again he was the embodiment of his strange, quiet woods. +Once more he seemed the comrade of the cold, inscrutable Wetzel. + +"No, lass, I reckon you didn't dream," he replied. + +Helen swayed from sick bitterness and a suffocating sense of pain, +back to her old, sweet, joyous, tumultuous heart-throbbing. + +"Tell me, if I didn't dream," she said softly, her face flashing warm +again. She came close to him and looked up with all her heart in her +great dark eyes, and love trembling on her red lips. + +Calmness deserted the borderman after one glance at her. He paced the +floor; twisted and clasped his hands while his eyes gleamed. + +"Lass, I'm only human," he cried hoarsely, facing her again. + +But only for a moment did he stand before her; but it was long enough +for him to see her shrink a little, the gladness in her eyes giving +way to uncertainty and a fugitive hope. Suddenly he began to pace the +room again, and to talk incoherently. With the flow of words he +gradually grew calmer, and, with something of his natural dignity, +spoke more rationally. + +"I said I loved you, an' it's true, but I didn't mean to speak. I +oughtn't have done it. Somethin' made it so easy, so natural like. I'd +have died before letting you know, if any idea had come to me of what +I was sayin'. I've fought this feelin' for months. I allowed myself to +think of you at first, an' there's the wrong. I went on the trail with +your big eyes pictured in my mind, an' before I'd dreamed of it you'd +crept into my heart. Life has never been the same since--that kiss. +Betty said as how you cared for me, an' that made me worse, only I +never really believed. Today I came over here to say good-bye, +expectin' to hold myself well in hand; but the first glance of your +eyes unmans me. Nothin' can come of it, lass, nothin' but trouble. +Even if you cared, an' I don't dare believe you do, nothin' can come +of it! I've my own life to live, an' there's no sweetheart in it. +Mebbe, as Lew says, there's one in Heaven. Oh! girl, this has been +hard on me. I see you always on my lonely tramps; I see your glorious +eyes in the sunny fields an' in the woods, at gray twilight, an' when +the stars shine brightest. They haunt me. Ah! you're the sweetest +lass as ever tormented a man, an' I love you, I love you!" + +He turned to the window only to hear a soft, broken cry, and a flurry +of skirts. A rush of wind seemed to envelop him. Then two soft, +rounded arms encircled his neck, and a golden head lay on his breast. + +"My borderman! My hero! My love!" + +Jonathan clasped the beautiful, quivering girl to his heart. + +"Lass, for God's sake don't say you love me," he implored, thrilling +with contact of her warm arms. + +"Ah!" she breathed, and raised her head. Her radiant eyes darkly +wonderful with unutterable love, burned into his. + +He had almost pressed his lips to the sweet red ones so near his, when +he drew back with a start, and his frame straightened. + +"Am I a man, or only a coward?" he muttered. "Lass, let me think. +Don't believe I'm harsh, nor cold, nor nothin' except that I want to +do what's right." + +He leaned out of the window while Helen stood near him with a hand on +his quivering shoulder. When at last he turned, his face was +colorless, white as marble, and sad, and set, and stern. + +"Lass, it mustn't be; I'll not ruin your life." + +"But you will if you give me up." + +"No, no, lass." + +"I cannot live without you." + +"You must. My life is not mine to give." + +"But you love me." + +"I am a borderman." + +"I will not live without you." + +"Hush! lass, hush!" + +"I love you." + +Jonathan breathed hard; once more the tremor, which seemed pitiful in +such a strong man, came upon him. His face was gray. + +"I love you," she repeated, her rich voice indescribably deep and +full. She opened wide her arms and stood before him with heaving +bosom, with great eyes dark with woman's sadness, passionate with +woman's promise, perfect in her beauty, glorious in her abandonment. + +The borderman bowed and bent like a broken reed. + +"Listen," she whispered, coming closer to him, "go if you must leave +me; but let this be your last trail. Come back to me, Jack, come back +to me! You have had enough of this terrible life; you have won a name +that will never be forgotten; you have done your duty to the border. +The Indians and outlaws will be gone soon. Take the farm your brother +wants you to have, and live for me. We will be happy. I shall learn to +keep your home. Oh! my dear, I will recompense you for the loss of all +this wild hunting and fighting. Let me persuade you, as much for your +sake as for mine, for you are my heart, and soul, and life. Go out +upon your last trail, Jack, and come back to me." + +"An' let Wetzel go always alone?" + +"He is different; he lives only for revenge. What are those poor +savages to you? You have a better, nobler life opening." + +"Lass, I can't give him up." + +"You need not; but give up this useless seeking of adventure. That, +you know, is half a borderman's life. Give it up, Jack, it not for +your own, then for my sake." + +"No-no-never-I can't-I won't be a coward! After all these years I +won't desert him. No-no----" + +"Do not say more," she pleaded, stealing closer to him until she was +against his breast. She slipped her arms around his neck. For love and +more than life she was fighting now. "Good-bye, my love." She kissed +him, a long, lingering pressure of her soft full lips on his. +"Dearest, do not shame me further. Dearest Jack, come back to me, for +I love you." + +She released him, and ran sobbing from the room. + +Unsteady as a blind man, he groped for the door, found it, and went +out. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +The longest day in Jonathan Zane's life, the oddest, the most terrible +and complex with unintelligible emotions, was that one in which he +learned that the wilderness no longer sufficed for him. + +He wandered through the forest like a man lost, searching for, he knew +not what. Rambling along the shady trails he looked for that +contentment which had always been his, but found it not. He plunged +into the depths of deep, gloomy ravines; into the fastnesses of +heavy-timbered hollows where the trees hid the light of day; he sought +the open, grassy hillsides, and roamed far over meadow and plain. Yet +something always eluded him. The invisible and beautiful life of all +inanimate things sang no more in his heart. The springy moss, the +quivering leaf, the tell-tale bark of the trees, the limpid, misty, +eddying pools under green banks, the myriads of natural objects from +which he had learned so much, and the manifold joyous life around him, +no longer spoke with soul-satisfying faithfulness. The environment of +his boyish days, of his youth, and manhood, rendered not a sweetness +as of old. + +His intelligence, sharpened by the pain of new experience, told him +he had been vain to imagine that he, because he was a borderman, could +escape the universal destiny of human life. Dimly he could feel the +broadening, the awakening into a fuller existence, but he did not +welcome this new light. He realized that men had always turned, at +some time in their lives, to women even as the cypress leans toward +the sun. This weakening of the sterner stuff in him; this softening of +his heart, and especially the inquietude, and lack of joy and harmony +in his old pursuits of the forest trails bewildered him, and troubled +him some. Thousands of times his borderman's trail had been crossed, +yet never to his sorrow until now when it had been crossed by a woman. + +Sick at heart, hurt in his pride, darkly savage, sad, remorseful, and +thrilling with awakened passion, all in turn, he roamed the woodland +unconsciously visiting the scenes where he had formerly found +contentment. + +He paused by many a shady glen, and beautiful quiet glade; by gray +cliffs and mossy banks, searching with moody eyes for the spirit which +evaded him. + +Here in the green and golden woods rose before him a rugged, giant +rock, moss-stained, and gleaming with trickling water. Tangled ferns +dressed in autumn's russet hue lay at the base of the green-gray +cliff, and circled a dark, deep pool dotted with yellow leaves. +Half-way up, the perpendicular ascent was broken by a protruding ledge +upon which waved broad-leaved plants and rusty ferns. Above, the cliff +sheered out with many cracks and seams in its weather-beaten front. + +The forest grew to the verge of the precipice. A full foliaged oak and +a luxuriant maple, the former still fresh with its dark green leaves, +the latter making a vivid contrast with its pale yellow, purple-red, +and orange hues, leaned far out over the bluff. A mighty chestnut +grasped with gnarled roots deep into the broken cliff. Dainty plumes +of goldenrod swayed on the brink; red berries, amber moss, and green +trailing vines peeped over the edge, and every little niche and cranny +sported fragile ferns and pale-faced asters. A second cliff, higher +than the first, and more heavily wooded, loomed above, and over it +sprayed a transparent film of water, thin as smoke, and iridescent in +the sunshine. Far above where the glancing rill caressed the mossy +cliff and shone like gleaming gold against the dark branches with +their green and red and purple leaves, lay the faint blue of the sky. + +Jonathan pulled on down the stream with humbler heart. His favorite +waterfall had denied him. The gold that had gleamed there was his +sweetheart's hair; the red was of her lips; the dark pool with its +lights and shades, its unfathomable mystery, was like her eyes. + +He came at length to another scene of milder aspect. An open glade +where the dancing, dimpling brook raced under dark hemlocks, and where +blood-red sumach leaves, and beech leaves like flashes of sunshine, +lay against the green. Under a leaning birch he found a patch of +purple asters, and a little apart from them, by a mossy stone, a +lonely fringed gentian. Its deep color brought to him the dark blue +eyes that haunted him, and once again, like one possessed of an evil +spirit, he wandered along the merry water-course. + +But finally pain and unrest left him. When he surrendered to his love, +peace returned. Though he said in his heart that Helen was not for +him, he felt he did not need to torture himself by fighting against +resistless power. He could love her without being a coward. He would +take up his life where it had been changed, and live it, carrying this +bitter-sweet burden always. + +Memory, now that he admitted himself conquered, made a toy of him, +bringing the sweetness of fragrant hair, and eloquent eyes, and +clinging arms, and dewy lips. A thousand-fold harder to fight than +pain was the seductive thought that he had but to go back to Helen to +feel again the charm of her presence, to see the grace of her person, +to hear the music of her voice, to have again her lips on his. + +Jonathan knew then that his trial had but begun; that the pain and +suffering of a borderman's broken pride and conquered spirit was +nothing; that to steel his heart against the joy, the sweetness, the +longing of love was everything. + +So a tumult raged within his heart. No bitterness, nor wretchedness +stabbed him as before, but a passionate yearning, born of memory, and +unquenchable as the fires of the sun, burned there. + +Helen's reply to his pale excuses, to his duty, to his life, was that +she loved him. The wonder of it made him weak. Was not her answer +enough? "I love you!" Three words only; but they changed the world. A +beautiful girl loved him, she had kissed him, and his life could never +again be the same. She had held out her arms to him--and he, cold, +churlish, unfeeling brute, had let her shame herself, fighting for her +happiness, for the joy that is a woman's divine right. He had been +blind; he had not understood the significance of her gracious action; +he had never realized until too late, what it must have cost her, what +heartburning shame and scorn his refusal brought upon her. If she ever +looked tenderly at him again with her great eyes; or leaned toward him +with her beautiful arms outstretched, he would fall at her feet and +throw his duty to the winds, swearing his love was hers always and his +life forever. + +So love stormed in the borderman's heart. + +Slowly the melancholy Indian-summer day waned as Jonathan strode out +of the woods into a plain beyond, where he was to meet Wetzel at +sunset. A smoky haze like a purple cloud lay upon the gently waving +grass. He could not see across the stretch of prairie-land, though at +this point he knew it was hardly a mile wide. With the trilling of the +grasshoppers alone disturbing the serene quiet of this autumn +afternoon, all nature seemed in harmony with the declining season. He +stood a while, his thoughts becoming the calmer for the silence and +loneliness of this breathing meadow. + +When the shadows of the trees began to lengthen, and to steal far out +over the yellow grass, he knew the time had come, and glided out upon +the plain. He crossed it, and sat down upon a huge stone which lay +with one shelving end overhanging the river. + +Far in the west the gold-red sun, too fiery for his direct gaze, lost +the brilliance of its under circle behind the fringe of the wooded +hill. Slowly the red ball sank. When the last bright gleam had +vanished in the dark horizon Jonathan turned to search wood and plain. +Wetzel was to meet him at sunset. Even as his first glance swept +around a light step sounded behind him. He did not move, for that step +was familiar. In another moment the tall form of Wetzel stood +beside him. + +"I'm about as much behind as you was ahead of time," said Wetzel. +"We'll stay here fer the night, an' be off early in the mornin'." + +Under the shelving side of the rock, and in the shade of the thicket, +the bordermen built a little fire and roasted strips of deer-meat. +Then, puffing at their long pipes they sat for a long time in silence, +while twilight let fall a dark, gray cloak over river and plain. + +"Legget's move up the river was a blind, as I suspected," said +Wetzel, presently. "He's not far back in the woods from here, an' +seems to be waitin' fer somethin' or somebody. Brandt an' seven +redskins are with him. We'd hev a good chance at them in the mornin'; +now we've got 'em a long ways from their camp, so we'll wait, an' see +what deviltry they're up to." + +"Mebbe he's waitin' for some Injun band," suggested Jonathan. + +"Thar's redskins in the valley an' close to him; but I reckon he's +barkin' up another tree." + +"Suppose we run into some of these Injuns?" + +"We'll hev to take what comes," replied Wetzel, lying down on a bed of +leaves. + +When darkness enveloped the spot Wetzel lay wrapped in deep slumber, +while Jonathan sat against the rock, watching the last flickerings of +the camp-fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +Will and Helen hurried back along the river road. Beguiled by the soft +beauty of the autumn morning they ventured farther from the fort than +ever before, and had been suddenly brought to a realization of the +fact by a crackling in the underbrush. Instantly their minds reverted +to bears and panthers, such as they had heard invested the thickets +round the settlement. + +"Oh! Will! I saw a dark form stealing along in the woods from tree to +tree!" exclaimed Helen in a startled whisper. + +"So did I. It was an Indian, or I never saw one. Walk faster. Once +round the bend in the road we'll be within sight of the fort; then +we'll run," replied Will. He had turned pale, but maintained his +composure. + +They increased their speed, and had almost come up to the curve in the +road, marked by dense undergrowth on both sides, when the branches in +the thicket swayed violently, a sturdy little man armed with a musket +appeared from among them. + +"Avast! Heave to!" he commanded in a low, fierce voice, leveling his +weapon. "One breeze from ye, an' I let sail this broadside." + +"What do you want? We have no valuables," said Will, speaking low. + +Helen stared at the little man. She was speechless with terror. It +flashed into her mind as soon as she recognized the red, evil face of +the sailor, that he was the accomplice upon whom Brandt had told Metzar +he could rely. + +"Shut up! It's not ye I want, nor valuables, but this wench," growled +Case. He pushed Will around with the muzzle of the musket, which +action caused the young man to turn a sickly white and shrink +involuntarily with fear. The hammer of the musket was raised, and +might fall at the slightest jar. + +"For God's sake! Will, do as he says," cried Helen, who saw murder in +Case's eyes. Capture or anything was better than sacrifice of life. + +"March!" ordered Case, with the musket against Will's back. + +Will hurriedly started forward, jostling Helen, who had preceded him. +He was forced to hurry, because every few moments Case pressed the gun +to his back or side. + +Without another word the sailor marched them swiftly along the road, +which now narrowed down to a trail. His intention, no doubt, was to +put as much distance between him and the fort as was possible. No +more than a mile had been thus traversed when two Indians stepped +into view. + +"My God! My God!" cried Will as the savages proceeded first to bind +Helen's arms behind her, and then his in the same manner. After this +the journey was continued in silence, the Indians walking beside the +prisoners, and Case in the rear. + +Helen was so terrified that for a long time she could not think +coherently. It seemed as if she had walked miles, yet did not feel +tired. Always in front wound the narrow, leaf-girt trail, and to the +left the broad river gleamed at intervals through open spaces in the +thickets. Flocks of birds rose in the line of march. They seemed tame, +and uttered plaintive notes as if in sympathy. + +About noon the trail led to the river bank. One of the savages +disappeared in a copse of willows, and presently reappeared carrying a +birch-bark canoe. Case ordered Helen and Will into the boat, got in +himself, and the savages, taking stations at bow and stern, paddled +out into the stream. They shot over under the lee of an island, around +a rocky point, and across a strait to another island. Beyond this they +gained the Ohio shore, and beached the canoe. + +"Ahoy! there, cap'n," cried Case, pushing Helen up the bank before +him, and she, gazing upward, was more than amazed to see Mordaunt +leaning against a tree. + +"Mordaunt, had you anything to do with this?" cried Helen +breathlessly. + +"I had all to do with it," answered the Englishman. + +"What do you mean?" + +He did not meet her gaze, nor make reply; but turned to address a few +words in a low tone to a white man sitting on a log. + +Helen knew she had seen this person before, and doubted not he was +one of Metzar's men. She saw a rude, bark lean-to, the remains of a +camp-fire, and a pack tied in blankets. Evidently Mordaunt and his men +had tarried here awaiting such developments as had come to pass. + +"You white-faced hound!" hissed Will, beside himself with rage when he +realized the situation. Bound though he was, he leaped up and tried to +get at Mordaunt. Case knocked him on the head with the handle of his +knife. Will fell with blood streaming from a cut over the temple. + +The dastardly act aroused all Helen's fiery courage. She turned to the +Englishman with eyes ablaze. + +"So you've at last found your level. Border-outlaw! Kill me at once. +I'd rather be dead than breathe the same air with such a coward!" + +"I swore I'd have you, if not by fair means then by foul," he +answered, with dark and haggard face. + +"What do you intend to do with me now that I am tied?" she demanded +scornfully. + +"Keep you a prisoner in the woods till you consent to marry me." + +Helen laughed in scorn. Desperate as was the plight, her natural +courage had arisen at the cruel blow dealt her cousin, and she faced +the Englishman with flashing eyes and undaunted mien. She saw he was +again unsteady, and had the cough and catching breath habitual to +certain men under the influence of liquor. She turned her attention to +Will. He lay as he had fallen, with blood streaming over his pale face +and fair hair. While she gazed at him Case whipped out his long knife, +and looked up at Mordaunt. + +"Cap'n, I'd better loosen a hatch fer him," he said brutally. "He's +dead cargo fer us, an' in the way." + +He lowered the gleaming point upon Will's chest. + +"Oh-h-h!" breathed Helen in horror. She tried to close her eyes but +was so fascinated she could not. + +"Get up. I'll have no murder," ordered Mordaunt. "Leave him here." + +"He's not got a bad cut," said the man sitting on the log. "He'll come +to arter a spell, go back to ther fort, an' give an alarm." + +"What's that to me?" asked Mordaunt sharply. "We shall be safe. I +won't have him with us because some Indian or another will kill him. +It's not my purpose to murder any one." + +"Ugh!" grunted one of the savages, and pointed eastward with his hand. +"Hurry-long-way-go," he said in English. With the Indians in the lead +the party turned from the river into the forest. + +Helen looked back into the sandy glade and saw Will lying as they had +left him, unconscious, with his hands still bound tightly behind him, +and blood running over his face. Painful as was the thought of leaving +him thus, it afforded her relief. She assured herself he had not been +badly hurt, would recover consciousness before long, and, even bound +as he was, could make his way back to the settlement. + +Her own situation, now that she knew Mordaunt had instigated the +abduction, did not seem hopeless. Although dreading Brandt with +unspeakable horror, she did not in the least fear the Englishman. He +was mad to carry her off like this into the wilderness, but would +force her to do nothing. He could not keep her a prisoner long while +Jonathan Zane and Wetzel were free to take his trail. What were his +intentions? Where was he taking her? Such questions as these, however, +troubled Helen more than a little. They brought her thoughts back to +the Indians leading the way with lithe and stealthy step. How had +Mordaunt associated himself with these savages? Then, suddenly, it +dawned upon her that Brandt also might be in this scheme to carry her +off. She scouted the idea; but it returned. Perhaps Mordaunt was only +a tool; perhaps he himself was being deceived. Helen turned pale at +the very thought. She had never forgotten the strange, unreadable, yet +threatening, expression which Brandt had worn the day she had refused +to walk with him. + +Meanwhile the party made rapid progress through the forest. Not a word +was spoken, nor did any noise of rustling leaves or crackling twigs +follow their footsteps. The savage in the lead chose the open and less +difficult ground; he took advantage of glades, mossy places, and rocky +ridges. This careful choosing was, evidently, to avoid noise, and make +the trail as difficult to follow as possible. Once he stopped +suddenly, and listened. + +Helen had a good look at the savage while he was in this position. His +lean, athletic figure resembled, in its half-clothed condition, a +bronzed statue; his powerful visage was set, changeless like iron. His +dark eyes seemed to take in all points of the forest before him. + +Whatever had caused the halt was an enigma to all save his red-skinned +companion. + +The silence of the wood was the silence of the desert. No bird +chirped; no breath of wind sighed in the tree-tops; even the aspens +remained unagitated. Pale yellow leaves sailed slowly, reluctantly +down from above. + +But some faint sound, something unusual had jarred upon the +exquisitely sensitive ears of the leader, for with a meaning shake of +the head to his followers, he resumed the march in a direction at +right angles with the original course. + +This caution, and evident distrust of the forest ahead, made Helen +think again of Jonathan and Wetzel. Those great bordermen might +already be on the trail of her captors. The thought thrilled her. +Presently she realized, from another long, silent march through forest +thickets, glades, aisles, and groves, over rock-strewn ridges, and +down mossy-stoned ravines, that her strength was beginning to fail. + +"I can go no further with my arms tied in this way," she declared, +stopping suddenly. + +"Ugh!" uttered the savage before her, turning sharply. He brandished a +tomahawk before her eyes. + +Mordaunt hurriedly set free her wrists. His pale face flushed a dark, +flaming red when she shrank from his touch as if he were a viper. + +After they had traveled what seemed to Helen many miles, the vigilance +of the leaders relaxed. + +On the banks of the willow-skirted stream the Indian guide halted +them, and proceeded on alone to disappear in a green thicket. +Presently he reappeared, and motioned for them to come on. He led the +way over smooth, sandy paths between clumps of willows, into a heavy +growth of alder bushes and prickly thorns, at length to emerge upon a +beautiful grassy plot enclosed by green and yellow shrubbery. Above +the stream, which cut the edge of the glade, rose a sloping, wooded +ridge, with huge rocks projecting here and there out of the +brown forest. + +Several birch-bark huts could be seen; then two rough bearded men +lolling upon the grass, and beyond them a group of painted Indians. + +A whoop so shrill, so savage, so exultant, that it seemingly froze her +blood, rent the silence. A man, unseen before, came crashing through +the willows on the side of the ridge. He leaped the stream with the +spring of a wild horse. He was big and broad, with disheveled hair, +keen, hard face, and wild, gray eyes. + +Helen's sight almost failed her; her head whirled dizzily; it was as +if her heart had stopped beating and was become a cold, dead weight. +She recognized in this man the one whom she feared most of +all--Brandt. + +He cast one glance full at her, the same threatening, cool, and +evil-meaning look she remembered so well, and then engaged the Indian +guide in low conversation. + +Helen sank at the foot of a tree, leaning against it. Despite her +weariness she had retained some spirit until this direful revelation +broke her courage. What worse could have happened? Mordaunt had led +her, for some reason that she could not divine, into the clutches of +Brandt, into the power of Legget and his outlaws. + +But Helen was not one to remain long dispirited or hopeless. As this +plot thickened, as every added misfortune weighed upon her, when just +ready to give up to despair she remembered the bordermen. Then Colonel +Zane's tales of their fearless, implacable pursuit when bent on rescue +or revenge, recurred to her, and fortitude returned. While she had +life she would hope. + +The advent of the party with their prisoner enlivened Legget's gang. A +great giant of a man, blond-bearded, and handsome in a wild, rugged, +uncouth way, a man Helen instinctively knew to be Legget, slapped +Brandt on the shoulder. + +"Damme, Roge, if she ain't a regular little daisy! Never seed such a +purty lass in my life." + +Brandt spoke hurriedly, and Legget laughed. + +All this time Case had been sitting on the grass, saying nothing, but +with his little eyes watchful. Mordaunt stood near him, his head +bowed, his face gloomy. + +"Say, cap'n, I don't like this mess," whispered Case to his master. +"They ain't no crew fer us. I know men, fer I've sailed the seas, an' +you're goin' to get what Metz calls the double-cross." + +Mordaunt seemed to arouse from his gloomy reverie. He looked at Brandt +and Legget who were now in earnest council. Then his eyes wandered +toward Helen. She beckoned him to come to her. + +"Why did you bring me here?" she asked. + +"Brandt understood my case. He planned this thing, and seemed to be a +good friend of mine. He said if I once got you out of the settlement, +he would give me protection until I crossed the border into Canada. +There we could be married," replied Mordaunt unsteadily. + +"Then you meant marriage by me, if I could be made to consent?" + +"Of course. I'm not utterly vile," he replied, with face lowered in +shame. + +"Have you any idea what you've done?" + +"Done? I don't understand." + +"You have ruined yourself, lost your manhood, become an outlaw, a +fugitive, made yourself the worst thing on the border--a girl-thief, +and all for nothing." + +"No, I have you. You are more to me than all." + +"But can't you see? You've brought me out here for Brandt!" + +"My God!" exclaimed Mordaunt. He rose slowly to his feet and gazed +around like a man suddenly wakened from a dream. "I see it all now! +Miserable, drunken wretch that I am!" + +Helen saw his face change and lighten as if a cloud of darkness had +passed away from it. She understood that love of liquor had made him a +party to this plot. Brandt had cunningly worked upon his weakness, +proposed a daring scheme; and filled his befogged mind with hopes +that, in a moment of clear-sightedness, he would have seen to be vain +and impossible. And Helen understood also that the sudden shock of +surprise, pain, possible fury, had sobered Mordaunt, probably for the +first time in weeks. + +The Englishman's face became exceedingly pale. Seating himself on a +stone near Case, he bowed his head, remaining silent and motionless. + +The conference between Legget and Brandt lasted for some time. When it +ended the latter strode toward the motionless figure on the rock. + +"Mordaunt, you and Case will do well to follow this Indian at once to +the river, where you can strike the Fort Pitt trail," said Brandt. + +He spoke arrogantly and authoritatively. His keen, hard face, his +steely eyes, bespoke the iron will and purpose of the man. + +Mordaunt rose with cold dignity. If he had been a dupe, he was one no +longer, as could be plainly read on his calm, pale face. The old +listlessness, the unsteadiness had vanished. He wore a manner of +extreme quietude; but his eyes were like balls of blazing blue steel. + +"Mr. Brandt, I seem to have done you a service, and am no longer +required," he said in a courteous tone. + +Brandt eyed his man; but judged him wrongly. An English gentleman was +new to the border-outlaw. + +"I swore the girl should be mine," he hissed. + +"Doomed men cannot be choosers!" cried Helen, who had heard him. Her +dark eyes burned with scorn and hatred. + +All the party heard her passionate outburst. Case arose as if +unconcernedly, and stood by the side of his master. Legget and the +other two outlaws came up. The Indians turned their swarthy faces. + +"Hah! ain't she sassy?" cried Legget. + +Brandt looked at Helen, understood the meaning of her words, and +laughed. But his face paled, and involuntarily his shifty glance +sought the rocks and trees upon the ridge. + +"You played me from the first?" asked Mordaunt quietly. + +"I did," replied Brandt. + +"You meant nothing of your promise to help me across the border?" + +"No." + +"You intended to let me shift for myself out here in this wilderness?" + +"Yes, after this Indian guides you to the river-trail," said Brandt, +indicating with his finger the nearest savage. + +"I get what you frontier men call the double-cross'?" + +"That's it," replied Brandt with a hard laugh, in which Legget joined. + +A short pause ensued. + +"What will you do with the girl?" + +"That's my affair." + +"Marry her?" Mordaunt's voice was low and quiet. + +"No!" cried Brandt. "She flaunted my love in my face, scorned me! She +saw that borderman strike me, and by God! I'll get even. I'll keep her +here in the woods until I'm tired of her, and when her beauty fades +I'll turn her over to Legget." + +Scarcely had the words dropped from his vile lips when Mordaunt moved +with tigerish agility. He seized a knife from the belt of one of +the Indians. + +"Die!" he screamed. + +Brandt grasped his tomahawk. At the same instant the man who had acted +as Mordaunt's guide grasped the Englishman from behind. + +Brandt struck ineffectually at the struggling man. + +"Fair play!" roared Case, leaping at Mordaunt's second assailant. His +long knife sheathed its glittering length in the man's breast. Without +even a groan he dropped. "Clear the decks!" Case yelled, sweeping +round in a circle. All fell back before that whirling knife. + +Several of the Indians started as if to raise their rifles; but +Legget's stern command caused them to desist. + +The Englishman and the outlaw now engaged in a fearful encounter. The +practiced, rugged, frontier desperado apparently had found his match +in this pale-faced, slender man. His border skill with the hatchet +seemed offset by Mordaunt's terrible rage. Brandt whirled and swung +the weapon as he leaped around his antagonist. With his left arm the +Englishman sought only to protect his head, while with his right he +brandished the knife. Whirling here and there they struggled across +the cleared space, plunging out of sight among the willows. During a +moment there was a sound as of breaking branches; then a dull blow, +horrible to hear, followed by a low moan, and then deep silence. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A black weight was seemingly lifted from Helen's weary eyelids. The +sun shone; the golden forest surrounded her; the brook babbled +merrily; but where were the struggling, panting men? She noticed +presently, when her vision had grown more clear, that the scene +differed entirely from the willow-glade where she had closed her eyes +upon the fight. Then came the knowledge that she had fainted, and, +during the time of unconsciousness, been moved. + +She lay upon a mossy mound a few feet higher than a swiftly running +brook. A magnificent chestnut tree spread its leafy branches above +her. Directly opposite, about an hundred feet away, loomed a gray, +ragged, moss-stained cliff. She noted this particularly because the +dense forest encroaching to its very edge excited her admiration. Such +wonderful coloring seemed unreal. Dead gold and bright red foliage +flamed everywhere. + +Two Indians stood near by silent, immovable. No other of Legget's band +was visible. Helen watched the red men. + +Sinewy, muscular warriors they were, with bodies partially painted, +and long, straight hair, black as burnt wood, interwoven with bits of +white bone, and plaited around waving eagle plumes. At first glance +their dark faces and dark eyes were expressive of craft, cunning, +cruelty, courage, all attributes of the savage. + +Yet wild as these savages appeared, Helen did not fear them as she did +the outlaws. Brandt's eyes, and Legget's, too, when turned on her, +emitted a flame that seemed to scorch and shrivel her soul. When the +savages met her gaze, which was but seldom, she imagined she saw +intelligence, even pity, in their dusky eyes. Certain it was she did +not shrink from them as from Brandt. + +Suddenly, with a sensation of relief and joy, she remembered +Mordaunt's terrible onslaught upon Brandt. Although she could not +recollect the termination of that furious struggle, she did recall +Brandt's scream of mortal agony, and the death of the other at Case's +hands. This meant, whether Brandt was dead or not, that the fighting +strength of her captors had been diminished. Surely as the sun had +risen that morning, Helen believed Jonathan and Wetzel lurked on the +trail of these renegades. She prayed that her courage, hope, strength, +might be continued. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed one of the savages, pointing across the open space. +A slight swaying of the bushes told that some living thing was moving +among them, and an instant later the huge frame of the leader came +into view. The other outlaw, and Case, followed closely. Farther down +the margin of the thicket the Indians appeared; but without the +slightest noise or disturbance of the shrubbery. + +It required but a glance to show Helen that Case was in high spirits. +His repulsive face glowed with satisfaction. He carried a bundle, +which Helen saw, with a sickening sense of horror, was made up of +Mordaunt's clothing. Brandt had killed the Englishman. Legget also had +a package under his arm, which he threw down when he reached the +chestnut tree, to draw from his pocket a long, leather belt, such as +travelers use for the carrying of valuables. It was evidently heavy, +and the musical clink which accompanied his motion proclaimed the +contents to be gold. + +Brandt appeared next; he was white and held his hand to his breast. +There were dark stains on his hunting coat, which he removed to expose +a shirt blotched with red. + +"You ain't much hurt, I reckon?" inquired Legget solicitously. + +"No; but I'm bleeding bad," replied Brandt coolly. He then called an +Indian and went among the willows skirting the stream. + +"So I'm to be in this border crew?" asked Case, looking up at Legget. + +"Sure," replied the big outlaw. "You're a handy fellar, Case, an' +after I break you into border ways you will fit in here tip-top. Now +you'd better stick by me. When Eb Zane, his brother Jack, an' Wetzel +find out this here day's work, hell will be a cool place compared with +their whereabouts. You'll be safe with me, an' this is the only place +on the border, I reckon, where you can say your life is your own." + +"I'm yer mate, cap'n. I've sailed with soldiers, pirates, sailors, an' +I guess I can navigate this borderland. Do we mess here? You didn't +come far." + +"Wal, I ain't pertikuler, but I don't like eatin' with buzzards," said +Legget, with a grin. "Thet's why we moved a bit." + +"What's buzzards?" + +"Ho! ho! Mebbe you'll hev 'em closer'n you'd like, some day, if you'd +only know it. Buzzards are fine birds, most particular birds, as won't +eat nothin' but flesh, an' white man or Injun is pie fer 'em." + +"Cap'n, I've seed birds as wouldn't wait till a man was dead," said +Case. + +"Haw! haw! you can't come no sailor yarns on this fellar. Wal, now, +we've got ther Englishman's gold. One or t'other of us might jest as +well hev it all." + +"Right yer are, cap'n. Dice, cards, anyways, so long as I knows the +game." + +"Here, Jenks, hand over yer clickers, an' bring us a flat stone," said +Legget, sitting on the moss and emptying the belt in front of him. +Case took a small bag from the dark blue jacket that had so lately +covered Mordaunt's shoulders, and poured out its bright contents. + +"This coat ain't worth keepin'," he said, holding it up. The garment +was rent and slashed, and under the left sleeve was a small, +blood-stained hole where one of Brandt's blows had fallen. "Hullo, +what's this?" muttered the sailor, feeling in the pocket of the +jacket. "Blast my timbers, hooray!" + +He held up a small, silver-mounted whiskey flask, unscrewed the lid, +and lifted the vessel to his mouth. + +"I'm kinder thirsty myself," suggested Legget. + +"Cap'n, a nip an' no more," Case replied, holding the flask to +Legget's lips. + +The outlaw called Jenks now returned with a flat stone which he placed +between the two men. The Indians gathered around. With greedy eyes +they bent their heads over the gamblers, and watched every movement +with breathless interest. At each click of the dice, or clink of gold, +they uttered deep exclamations. + +"Luck's again' ye, cap'n," said Case, skilfully shaking the ivory +cubes. + +"Hain't I got eyes?" growled the outlaw. + +Steadily his pile of gold diminished, and darker grew his face. + +"Cap'n, I'm a bad wind to draw," Case rejoined, drinking again from +the flask. His naturally red face had become livid, his skin moist, +and his eyes wild with excitement. + +"Hullo! If them dice wasn't Jenks's, an' I hadn't played afore with +him, I'd swear they's loaded." + +"You ain't insinuatin' nothin', cap'n?" inquired Case softly, +hesitating with the dice in his hands, his evil eyes glinting +at Legget. + +"No, you're fair enough," growled the leader. "It's my tough luck." + +The game progressed with infrequent runs of fortune for the outlaw, +and presently every piece of gold lay in a shining heap before +the sailor. + +"Clean busted!" exclaimed Legget in disgust. + +"Can't you find nothin' more?" asked Case. + +The outlaw's bold eyes wandered here and there until they rested upon +the prisoner. + +"I'll play ther lass against yer pile of gold," he growled. "Best two +throws out 'en three. See here, she's as much mine as Brandt's." + +"Make it half my pile an' I'll go you." + +"Nary time. Bet, or give me back what yer win," replied Legget +gruffly. + +"She's a trim little craft, no mistake," said Case, critically +surveying Helen. "All right, cap'n, I've sportin' blood, an' I'll bet. +Yer throw first." + +Legget won the first cast, and Case the second. With deliberation the +outlaw shook the dice in his huge fist, and rattled them out upon the +stone. "Hah!" he cried in delight. He had come within one of the +highest score possible. Case nonchalantly flipped the little white +blocks. The Indians crowded forward, their dusky eyes shining. + +Legget swore in a terrible voice which re-echoed from the stony cliff. +The sailor was victorious. The outlaw got up, kicked the stone and +dice in the brook, and walked away from the group. He strode to and +fro under one of the trees. Gruffly he gave an order to the Indians. +Several of them began at once to kindle a fire. Presently he called +Jenks, who was fishing the dice out of the brook, and began to +converse earnestly with him, making fierce gestures and casting +lowering glances at the sailor. + +Case was too drunk now to see that he had incurred the enmity of the +outlaw leader. He drank the last of the rum, and tossed the silver +flask to an Indian, who received the present with every show +of delight. + +Case then, with the slow, uncertain movements of a man whose mind is +befogged, began to count his gold; but only to gather up a few pieces +when they slipped out of his trembling hands to roll on the moss. +Laboriously, seriously, he kept at it with the doggedness of a drunken +man. Apparently he had forgotten the others. Failing to learn the +value of the coins by taking up each in turn, he arranged them in +several piles, and began to estimate his wealth in sections. + +In the meanwhile Helen, who had not failed to take in the slightest +detail of what was going on, saw that a plot was hatching which boded +ill to the sailor. Moreover, she heard Legget and Jenks whispering. + +"I kin take him from right here 'atwixt his eyes," said Jenks softly, +and tapped his rifle significantly. + +"Wal, go ahead, only I ruther hev it done quieter," answered Legget. +"We're yet a long ways, near thirty miles, from my camp, an' there's +no tellin' who's in ther woods. But we've got ter git rid of ther +fresh sailor, an' there's no surer way." + +Cautiously cocking his rifle, Jenks deliberately raised it to his +shoulder. One of the Indian sentinels who stood near at hand, sprang +forward and struck up the weapon. He spoke a single word to Legget, +pointed to the woods above the cliff, and then resumed his +statue-like attitude. + +"I told yer, Jenks, that it wouldn't do. The redskin scents somethin' +in the woods, an' ther's an Injun I never seed fooled. We mustn't make +a noise. Take yer knife an' tomahawk, crawl down below the edge o' the +bank an' slip up on him. I'll give half ther gold fer ther job." + +Jenks buckled his belt more tightly, gave one threatening glance at +the sailor, and slipped over the bank. The bed of the brook lay about +six feet below the level of the ground. This afforded an opportunity +for the outlaw to get behind Case without being observed. A moment +passed. Jenks disappeared round a bend of the stream. Presently his +grizzled head appeared above the bank. He was immediately behind the +sailor; but still some thirty feet away. This ground must be covered +quickly and noiselessly. The outlaw began to crawl. In his right hand +he grasped a tomahawk, and between his teeth was a long knife. He +looked like a huge, yellow bear. + +The savages, with the exception of the sentinel who seemed absorbed in +the dense thicket on the cliff, sat with their knees between their +hands, watching the impending tragedy. + +Nothing but the merest chance, or some extraordinary intervention, +could avert Case's doom. He was gloating over his gold. The creeping +outlaw made no more noise than a snake. Nearer and nearer he came; his +sweaty face shining in the sun; his eyes tigerish; his long body +slipping silently over the grass. At length he was within five feet of +the sailor. His knotty hands were dug into the sward as he gathered +energy for a sudden spring. + +At that very moment Case, with his hand on his knife, rose quickly and +turned round. + +The outlaw, discovered in the act of leaping, had no alternative, and +spring he did, like a panther. + +The little sailor stepped out of line with remarkable quickness, and +as the yellow body whirled past him, his knife flashed blue-bright in +the sunshine. + +Jenks fell forward, his knife buried in the grass beneath him, and his +outstretched hand still holding the tomahawk. + +"Tryin' ter double-cross me fer my gold," muttered the sailor, +sheathing his weapon. He never looked to see whether or no his blow +had been fatal. "These border fellars might think a man as sails the +seas can't handle a knife." He calmly began gathering up his gold, +evidently indifferent to further attack. + +Helen saw Legget raise his own rifle, but only to have it struck aside +as had Jenks's. This time the savage whispered earnestly to Legget, +who called the other Indians around him. The sentinel's low throaty +tones mingled with the soft babbling of the stream. No sooner had he +ceased speaking than the effect of his words showed how serious had +been the information, warning or advice. The Indians cast furtive +glances toward the woods. Two of them melted like shadows into the red +and gold thicket. Another stealthily slipped from tree to tree until +he reached the open ground, then dropped into the grass, and was seen +no more until his dark body rose under the cliff. He stole along the +green-stained wall, climbed a rugged corner, and vanished amid the +dense foliage. + +Helen felt that she was almost past discernment or thought. The events +of the day succeeding one another so swiftly, and fraught with panic, +had, despite her hope and fortitude, reduced her to a helpless +condition of piteous fear. She understood that the savages scented +danger, or had, in their mysterious way, received intelligence such as +rendered them wary and watchful. + +"Come on, now, an' make no noise," said Legget to Case. "Bring the +girl, an' see that she steps light." + +"Ay, ay, cap'n," replied the sailor. "Where's Brandt?" + +"He'll be comin' soon's his cut stops bleedin'. I reckon he's weak +yet." + +Case gathered up his goods, and, tucking it under his arm, grasped +Helen's arm. She was leaning against the tree, and when he pulled her, +she wrenched herself free, rising with difficulty. His disgusting +touch and revolting face had revived her sensibilities. + +"Yer kin begin duty by carryin' thet," said Case, thrusting the +package into Helen's arms. She let it drop without moving a hand. + +"I'm runnin' this ship. Yer belong to me," hissed Case, and then he +struck her on the head. Helen uttered a low cry of distress, and half +staggered against the tree. The sailor picked up the package. This +time she took it, trembling with horror. + +"Thet's right. Now, give ther cap'n a kiss," he leered, and jostled +against her. + +Helen pushed him violently. With agonized eyes she appealed to the +Indians. They were engaged tying up their packs. Legget looked on with +a lazy grin. + +"Oh! oh!" breathed Helen as Case seized her again. She tried to +scream, but could not make a sound. The evil eyes, the beastly face, +transfixed her with terror. + +Case struck her twice, then roughly pulled her toward him. + +Half-fainting, unable to move, Helen gazed at the heated, bloated face +approaching hers. + +When his coarse lips were within a few inches of her lips something +hot hissed across her brow. Following so closely as to be an +accompaniment, rang out with singular clearness the sharp crack of +a rifle. + +Case's face changed. The hot, surging flush faded; the expression +became shaded, dulled into vacant emptiness; his eyes rolled wildly, +then remained fixed, with a look of dark surprise. He stood upright an +instant, swayed with the regular poise of a falling oak, and then +plunged backward to the ground. His face, ghastly and livid, took on +the awful calm of death. + +A very small hole, reddish-blue round the edges, dotted the center of +his temple. + +Legget stared aghast at the dead sailor; then he possessed himself of +the bag of gold. + +"Saved me ther trouble," he muttered, giving Case a kick. + +The Indians glanced at the little figure, then out into the flaming +thickets. Each savage sprang behind a tree with incredible quickness. +Legget saw this, and grasping Helen, he quickly led her within cover +of the chestnut. + +Brandt appeared with his Indian companion, and both leaped to shelter +behind a clump of birches near where Legget stood. Brandt's hawk eyes +flashed upon the dead Jenks and Case. Without asking a question he +seemed to take in the situation. He stepped over and grasped Helen +by the arm. + +"Who killed Case?" he asked in a whisper, staring at the little blue +hole in the sailor's temple. + +No one answered. + +The two Indians who had gone into the woods to the right of the +stream, now returned. Hardly were they under the trees with their +party, when the savage who had gone off alone arose out of the grass +in the left of the brook, took it with a flying leap, and darted into +their midst. He was the sentinel who had knocked up the weapons, +thereby saving Case's life twice. He was lithe and supple, but not +young. His grave, shadowy-lined, iron visage showed the traces of time +and experience. All gazed at him as at one whose wisdom was greater +than theirs. + +"Old Horse," said Brandt in English. "Haven't I seen bullet holes like +this?" + +The Chippewa bent over Case, and then slowly straightened his tall +form. + +"_Deathwind!_" he replied, answering in the white man's language. + +His Indian companions uttered low, plaintive murmurs, not signifying +fear so much as respect. + +Brandt turned as pale as the clean birch-bark on the tree near him. +The gray flare of his eyes gave out a terrible light of certainty +and terror. + +"Legget, you needn't try to hide your trail," he hissed, and it +seemed as if there was a bitter, reckless pleasure in these words. + +Then the Chippewa glided into the low bushes bordering the creek. +Legget followed him, with Brandt leading Helen, and the other Indians +brought up the rear, each one sending wild, savage glances into the +dark, surrounding forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A dense white fog rose from the river, obscuring all objects, when the +bordermen rolled out of their snug bed of leaves. The air was cool and +bracing, faintly fragrant with dying foliage and the damp, dewy +luxuriance of the ripened season. Wetzel pulled from under the +protecting ledge a bundle of bark and sticks he had put there to keep +dry, and built a fire, while Jonathan fashioned a cup from a green +fruit resembling a gourd, filling it at a spring near by. + +"Lew, there's a frosty nip in the water this mornin'," said Jonathan. + +"I reckon. It's gettin' along into fall now. Any clear, still night'll +fetch all the leaves, an' strip the trees bare as burned timber," +answered Wetzel, brushing the ashes off the strip of meat he had +roasted. "Get a stick, an' help me cook the rest of this chunk of +bison. The sun'll be an hour breakin' up thet mist, an' we can't clear +out till then. Mebbe we won't have no chance to light another +fire soon." + +With these bordermen everything pertaining to their lonely lives, from +the lighting of a fire to the trailing of a redskin, was singularly +serious. No gladsome song ever came from their lips; there was no +jollity around their camp-fire. Hunters had their moments of rapturous +delight; bordermen knew the peace, the content of the wilderness, but +their pursuits racked nerve and heart. Wetzel had his moments of +frenzied joy, but they passed with the echo of his vengeful yell. +Jonathan's happiness, such as it was, had been to roam the forests. +That, before a woman's eyes had dispelled it, had been enough, and +compensated him for the gloomy, bloody phantoms which haunted him. + +The bordermen, having partaken of the frugal breakfast, stowed in +their spacious pockets all the meat that was left, and were ready for +the day's march. They sat silent for a time waiting for the mist to +lift. It broke in places, rolled in huge billows, sailed aloft like +great white clouds, and again hung tenaciously to the river and the +plain. Away in the west blue patches of sky shone through the rifts, +and eastward banks of misty vapor reddened beneath the rising sun. +Suddenly from beneath the silver edge of the rising pall the sun burst +gleaming gold, disclosing the winding valley with its steaming river. + +"We'll make up stream fer Two Islands, an' cross there if so be we've +reason," Wetzel had said. + +Through the dewy dells, avoiding the wet grass and bushes, along the +dark, damp glades with their yellow carpets, under the thinning arches +of the trees, down the gentle slopes of the ridges, rich with green +moss, the bordermen glided like gray shadows. The forest was yet +asleep. A squirrel frisked up an oak and barked quarrelsomely at these +strange, noiseless visitors. A crow cawed from somewhere overhead. +These were the only sounds disturbing the quiet early hour. + +As the bordermen advanced the woods lightened and awoke to life and +joy. Birds sang, trilled, warbled, or whistled their plaintive songs, +peculiar to the dying season, and in harmony with the glory of the +earth. Birds that in earlier seasons would have screeched and fought, +now sang and fluttered side by side, in fraternal parade on their slow +pilgrimage to the far south. + +"Bad time fer us, when the birds are so tame, an' chipper. We can't +put faith in them these days," said Wetzel. "Seems like they never was +wild. I can tell, 'cept at this season, by the way they whistle an' +act in the woods, if there's been any Injuns along the trails." + +The greater part of the morning passed thus with the bordermen +steadily traversing the forest; here, through a spare and gloomy wood, +blasted by fire, worn by age, with many a dethroned monarch of bygone +times rotting to punk and duff under the ferns, with many a dark, +seamed and ragged king still standing, but gray and bald of head and +almost ready to take his place in the forest of the past; there, +through a maze of young saplings where each ash, maple, hickory and +oak added some new and beautiful hue to the riot of color. + +"I just had a glimpse of the lower island, as we passed an opening in +the thicket," said Jonathan. + +"We ain't far away," replied Wetzel. + +The bordermen walked less rapidly in order to proceed with more +watchfulness. Every rod or two they stopped to listen. + +"You think Legget's across the river?" asked Jonathan. + +"He was two days back, an' had his gang with him. He's up to some bad +work, but I can't make out what. One thing, I never seen his trail so +near Fort Henry." + +They emerged at length into a more open forest which skirted the +river. At a point still some distance ahead, but plainly in sight, two +small islands rose out of the water. + +"Hist! What's that?" whispered Wetzel, slipping his hand in Jonathan's +arm. + +A hundred yards beyond lay a long, dark figure stretched at full +length under one of the trees close to the bank. + +"Looks like a man," said Jonathan. + +"You've hit the mark. Take a good peep roun' now, Jack, fer we're +comin' somewhere near the trail we want." + +Minutes passed while the patient bordermen searched the forest with +their eyes, seeking out every tree within rifle range, or surveyed the +level glades, scrutinized the hollows, and bent piercing eyes upon the +patches of ferns. + +"If there's a redskin around he ain't big enough to hold a gun," said +Wetzel, moving forward again, yet still with that same stealthy step +and keen caution. + +Finally they were gazing down upon the object which had attracted +Wetzel's attention. + +"Will Sheppard!" cried Jonathan. "Is he dead? What's this mean?" + +Wetzel leaned over the prostrate lad, and then quickly turned to his +companion. + +"Get some water. Take his cap. No, he ain't even hurt bad, unless he's +got some wound as don't show." + +Jonathan returned with the water, and Wetzel bathed the bloody face. +When the gash on Will's forehead was clean, it told the +bordermen much. + +"Not an hour old, that blow," muttered Wetzel. + +"He's comin' to," said Jonathan as Will stirred uneasily and moaned. +Presently the lad opened his eyes and sat bolt upright. He looked +bewildered for a moment, and felt of his head while gazing vaguely at +the bordermen. Suddenly he cried: + +"I remember! We were captured, brought here, and I was struck down by +that villain Case." + +"We? Who was with you?" asked Jonathan slowly. + +"Helen. We came after flowers and leaves. While in full sight of the +fort I saw an Indian. We hurried back," he cried, and proceeded with +broken, panting voice to tell his story. + +Jonathan Zane leaped to his feet with face deathly white and eyes +blue-black, like burning stars. + +"Jack, study the trail while I get the lad acrost the river, an' +steered fer home," said Wetzel, and then he asked Will if he +could swim. + +"Yes; but you will find a canoe there in those willows." + +"Come, lad, we've no time to spare," added Wetzel, sliding down the +bank and entering the willows. He came out almost immediately with the +canoe which he launched. + +Will turned that he might make a parting appeal to Jonathan to save +Helen; but could not speak. The expression on the borderman's face +frightened him. + +Motionless and erect Jonathan stood, his arms folded and his white, +stern face distorted with the agony of remorse, fear, and anguish, +which, even as Will gazed, froze into an awful, deadly look of +fateful purpose. + +Wetzel pushed the canoe off, and paddled with powerful strokes; he +left Will on the opposite bank, and returned as swiftly as he could +propel the light craft. + +The bordermen met each other's glance, and had little need of words. +Wetzel's great shoulders began to sag slightly, and his head lowered +as his eyes sought the grass; a dark and gloomy shade overcast his +features. Thus he passed from borderman to Deathwind. The sough of the +wind overhead among the almost naked branches might well have warned +Indians and renegades that Deathwind was on the trail! + +"Brandt's had a hand in this, an' the Englishman's a fool!" said +Wetzel. + +"An hour ahead; can we come up with them before they join Brandt an' +Legget?" + +"We can try, but like as not we'll fail. Legget's gang is thirteen +strong by now. I said it! Somethin' told me--a hard trail, a long +trail, an' our last trail." + +"It's over thirty miles to Legget's camp. We know the woods, an' every +stream, an' every cover," hissed Jonathan Zane. + +With no further words Wetzel took the trail on the run, and so plain +was it to his keen eyes that he did not relax his steady lope except +to stop and listen at regular intervals. Jonathan followed with easy +swing. Through forest and meadow, over hill and valley, they ran, +fleet and tireless. Once, with unerring instinct, they abruptly left +the broad trail and cut far across a wide and rugged ridge to come +again upon the tracks of the marching band. Then, in open country they +reduced their speed to a walk. Ahead, in a narrow valley, rose a +thicket of willows, yellow in the sunlight, and impenetrable to human +vision. Like huge snakes the bordermen crept into this copse, over the +sand, under the low branches, hard on the trail. Finally, in a light, +open space, where the sun shone through a network of yellow branches +and foliage, Wetzel's hand was laid upon Jonathan's shoulder. + +"Listen! Hear that!" he whispered. + +Jonathan heard the flapping of wings, and a low, hissing sound, not +unlike that made by a goose. + +"Buzzards!" he said, with a dark, grim smile. "Mebbe Brandt has begun +our work. Come." + +Out into the open they crawled to put to flight a flock of huge black +birds with grisly, naked necks, hooked beaks, and long, yellow claws. +Upon the green grass lay three half-naked men, ghastly, bloody, in +terribly limp and lifeless positions. + +"Metzar's man Smith, Jenks, the outlaw, and Mordaunt!" + +Jonathan Zane gazed darkly into the steely, sightless eyes of the +traitor. Death's awful calm had set the expression; but the man's +whole life was there, its better part sadly shining forth among the +cruel shadows. + +His body was mutilated in a frightful manner. Cuts, stabs, and slashes +told the tale of a long encounter, brought to an end by one +clean stroke. + +"Come here, Lew. You've seen men chopped up; but look at this dead +Englishman," called Zane. + +Mordaunt lay weltering in a crimson tide. Strangely though, his face +was uninjured. A black bruise showed under his fair hair. The ghost of +a smile seemed to hover around his set lips, yet almost intangible +though it was, it showed that at last he had died a man. His left +shoulder, side and arm showed where the brunt of Brandt's attack +had fallen. + +"How'd he ever fight so?" mused Jonathan. + +"You never can tell," replied Wetzel. "Mebbe he killed this other +fellar, too; but I reckon not. Come, we must go slow now, fer Legget +is near at hand." + +Jonathan brought huge, flat stones from the brook, and laid them over +Mordaunt; then, cautiously he left the glade on Wetzel's trail. + +Five hundred yards farther on Wetzel had ceased following the outlaw's +tracks to cross the creek and climb a ridge. He was beginning his +favorite trick of making a wide detour. Jonathan hurried forward, +feeling he was safe from observation. Soon he distinguished the tall, +brown figure of his comrade gliding ahead from tree to tree, from +bush to bush. + +"See them maples an' chestnuts down thar," said Wetzel when Jonathan +had come up, pointing through an opening in the foliage. "They've +stopped fer some reason." + +On through the forest the bordermen glided. They kept near the summit +of the ridge, under the best cover they could find, and passed swiftly +over this half-circle. When beginning once more to draw toward the +open grove in the valley, they saw a long, irregular cliff, densely +wooded. They swerved a little, and made for this excellent covert. + +They crawled the last hundred yards and never shook a fern, moved a +leaf, or broke a twig. Having reached the brink of the low precipice, +they saw the grassy meadow below, the straggling trees, the brook, the +group of Indians crowding round the white men. + +"See that point of rock thar? It's better cover," whispered Wetzel. + +Patiently, with no hurry or excitement, they slowly made their +difficult way among the rocks and ferns to the vantage point desired. +Taking a position like this was one the bordermen strongly favored. +They could see everywhere in front, and had the thick woods at +their backs. + +"What are they up to?" whispered Jonathan, as he and Wetzel lay close +together under a mass of grapevine still tenacious of its +broad leaves. + +"Dicin'," answered Wetzel. "I can see 'em throw; anyways, nothin' but +bettin' ever makes redskins act like that." + +"Who's playin'? Where's Brandt?" + +"I can make out Legget; see his shaggy head. The other must be Case. +Brandt ain't in sight. Nursin' a hurt perhaps. Ah! See thar! Over +under the big tree as stands dark-like agin the thicket. Thet's an +Injun, an' he looks too quiet an' keen to suit me. We'll have a +care of him." + +"Must be playin' fer Mordaunt's gold." + +"Like as not, for where'd them ruffians get any 'cept they stole it." + +"Aha! They're gettin' up! See Legget walk away shakin' his big head. +He's mad. Mebbe he'll be madder presently," growled Jonathan. + +"Case's left alone. He's countin' his winnin's. Jack, look out fer +more work took off our hands." + +"By gum! See that Injun knock up a leveled rifle." + +"I told you, an' thet redskin has his suspicions. He's seen us down +along ther ridge. There's Helen, sittin' behind the biggest tree. Thet +Injun guard, 'afore he moved, kept us from seein' her." + +Jonathan made no answer to this; but his breath literally hissed +through his clenched teeth. + +"Thar goes the other outlaw," whispered Wetzel, as if his comrade +could not see. "It's all up with Case. See the sneak bendin' down the +bank. Now, thet's a poor way. It'd better be done from the front, +walkin' up natural-like, instead of tryin' to cover thet wide stretch. +Case'll see him or hear him sure. Thar, he's up now, an' crawlin'. +He's too slow, too slow. Aha! I knew it--Case turns. Look at the +outlaw spring! Well, did you see thet little cuss whip his knife? One +more less fer us to quiet. Thet makes four, Jack, an' mebbe, soon, +it'll be five." + +"They're holdin' a council," said Jonathan. + +"I see two Injuns sneakin' off into the woods, an' here comes thet +guard. He's a keen redskin, Jack, fer we did come light through the +brush. Mebbe it'd be well to stop his scoutin'." + +"Lew, that villain Case is bullyin' Helen!" cried Jonathan. + +"Sh-sh-h," whispered Wetzel. + +"See! He's pulled her to her feet. Oh! He struck her! Oh!" + +Jonathan leveled his rifle and would have fired, but for the iron +grasp on his wrist. + +"Hev you lost yer senses? It's full two hundred paces, an' too far fer +your piece," said Wetzel in a whisper. "An' it ain't sense to try +from here." + +"Lend me your gun! Lend me your gun!" + +Silently Wetzel handed him the long, black rifle. + +Jonathan raised it, but trembled so violently that the barrel wavered +like a leaf in the breeze. + +"Take it, I can't cover him," groaned Jonathan. "This is new to me. I +ain't myself. God! Lew, he struck her again! _Again!_ He's tryin' to +kiss her! Wetzel, if you're my friend, kill him!" + +"Jack, it'd be better to wait, an'----" + +"I love her," breathed Jonathan. + +The long, black barrel swept up to a level and stopped. White smoke +belched from among the green leaves; the report rang throughout +the forest. + +"Ah! I saw him stop an' pause," hissed Jonathan. "He stands, he sways, +he falls! Death for yours, you sailor-beast!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +The bordermen watched Legget and his band disappear into the thicket +adjoining the grove. When the last dark, lithe form glided out of +sight among the yellowing copse, Jonathan leaped from the low cliff, +and had hardly reached the ground before Wetzel dashed down to the +grassy turf. + +Again they followed the outlaw's trail darker-faced, fiercer-visaged +than ever, with cocked, tightly-gripped rifles thrust well before +them, and light feet that scarcely brushed the leaves. + +Wetzel halted after a long tramp up and down the ridges, and surveyed +with keen intent the lay of the land ahead. + +"Sooner or later we'll hear from that redskin as discovered us a ways +back," whispered he. "I wish we might get a crack at him afore he +hinders us bad. I ain't seen many keener Injuns. It's lucky we fixed +ther arrow-shootin' Shawnee. We'd never hev beat thet combination. An' +fer all of thet I'm worrin' some about the goin' ahead." + +"Ambush?" Jonathan asked. + +"Like as not. Legget'll send thet Injun back, an' mebbe more'n him. +Jack, see them little footprints? They're Helen's. Look how she's +draggin' along. Almost tuckered out. Legget can't travel many more +miles to-day. He'll make a stand somewheres, an' lose all his redskins +afore he gives up the lass." + +"I'll never live through to-night with her in that gang. She'll be +saved, or dead, before the stars pale in the light of the moon." + +"I reckon we're nigh the end for some of us. It'll be moonlight an +hour arter dusk, an' now it's only the middle of the arternoon; we've +time enough fer anythin'. Now, Jack, let's not tackle the trail +straight. We'll split, an' go round to head 'em off. See thet dead +white oak standin' high over thar?" + +Jonathan looked out between the spreading branches of a beech, and +saw, far over a low meadow, luxuriant with grasses and rushes and +bright with sparkling ponds and streams, a dense wood out of which +towered a bare, bleached tree-top. + +"You slip around along the right side of this meader, an' I'll take +the left side. Go slow, an' hev yer eyes open. We'll meet under thet +big dead tree. I allow we can see it from anywhere around. We'll leave +the trail here, an' take it up farther on. Legget's goin' straight +for his camp; he ain't losin' an inch. He wants to get in that rocky +hole of his'n." + +Wetzel stepped off the trail, glided into the woods, and vanished. + +Jonathan turned to the right, traversed the summit of the ridge, +softly traveled down its slope, and, after crossing a slow, eddying, +quiet stream, gained the edge of the forest on that side of the swamp. +A fringe of briars and prickly thorns bordered this wood affording an +excellent cover. On the right the land rose rather abruptly. He saw +that by walking up a few paces he could command a view of the entire +swamp, as well as the ridge beyond, which contained Wetzel, and, +probably, the outlaw and his band. + +Remembering his comrade's admonition, Jonathan curbed his unusual +impatience and moved slowly. The wind swayed the tree-tops, and +rustled the fallen leaves. Birds sang as if thinking the warm, soft +weather was summer come again. Squirrels dropped heavy nuts that +cracked on the limbs, or fell with a thud to the ground, and they +scampered over the dry earth, scratching up the leaves as they barked +and scolded. Crows cawed clamorously after a hawk that had darted +under the tree-tops to escape them; deer loped swiftly up the hill, +and a lordly elk rose from a wallow in the grassy swamp, crashing into +the thicket. + +When two-thirds around this oval plain, which was a mile long and +perhaps one-fourth as wide, Jonathan ascended the hill to make a +survey. The grass waved bright brown and golden in the sunshine, +swished in the wind, and swept like a choppy sea to the opposite +ridge. The hill was not densely wooded. In many places the red-brown +foliage opened upon irregular patches, some black, as if having been +burned over, others showing the yellow and purple colors of the low +thickets and the gray, barren stones. + +Suddenly Jonathan saw something darken one of these sunlit plots. It +might have been a deer. He studied the rolling, rounded tree-tops, the +narrow strips between the black trunks, and the open places that were +clear in the sunshine. He had nearly come to believe he had seen a +small animal or bird flit across the white of the sky far in the +background, when he distinctly saw dark figures stealing along past a +green-gray rock, only to disappear under colored banks of foliage. +Presently, lower down, they reappeared and crossed an open patch of +yellow fern. Jonathan counted them. Two were rather yellow in color, +the hue of buckskin; another, slight of stature as compared with the +first, and light gray by contrast. Then six black, slender, gliding +forms crossed the space. Jonathan then lost sight of them, and did not +get another glimpse. He knew them to be Legget and his band. The +slight figure was Helen. + +Jonathan broke into a run, completed the circle around the swamp, and +slowed into a walk when approaching the big dead tree where he was to +wait for Wetzel. + +Several rods beyond the lowland he came to a wood of white oaks, all +giants rugged and old, with scarcely a sapling intermingled with them. +Although he could not see the objective point, he knew from his +accurate sense of distance that he was near it. As he entered the wood +he swept its whole length and width with his eyes, he darted forward +twenty paces to halt suddenly behind a tree. He knew full well that a +sharply moving object was more difficult to see in the woods, than one +stationary. Again he ran, fleet and light, a few paces ahead to take +up a position as before behind a tree. Thus he traversed the forest. +On the other side he found the dead oak of which Wetzel had spoken. + +Its trunk was hollow. Jonathan squeezed himself into the blackened +space, with his head in a favorable position behind a projecting knot, +where he could see what might occur near at hand. + +He waited for what seemed to him a long while, during which he neither +saw nor heard anything, and then, suddenly, the report of a rifle rang +out. A single, piercing scream followed. Hardly had the echo ceased +when three hollow reports, distinctly different in tone from the +first, could be heard from the same direction. In quick succession +short, fierce yells attended rather than succeeded, the reports. + +Jonathan stepped out of the hiding-place, cocked his rifle, and fixed +a sharp eye on the ridge before him whence those startling cries had +come. The first rifle-shot, unlike any other in its short, spiteful, +stinging quality, was unmistakably Wetzel's. Zane had heard it, +followed many times, as now, by the wild death-cry of a savage. The +other reports were of Indian guns, and the yells were the clamoring, +exultant cries of Indians in pursuit. + +Far down where the open forest met the gloom of the thickets, a brown +figure flashed across the yellow ground. Darting among the trees, +across the glades, it moved so swiftly that Jonathan knew it was +Wetzel. In another instant a chorus of yelps resounded from the +foliage, and three savages burst through the thicket almost at right +angles with the fleeing borderman, running to intercept him. The +borderman did not swerve from his course; but came on straight toward +the dead tree, with the wonderful fleetness that so often had +served him well. + +Even in that moment Jonathan thought of what desperate chances his +comrade had taken. The trick was plain. Wetzel had, most likely, shot +the dangerous scout, and, taking to his heels, raced past the others, +trusting to his speed and their poor marksmanship to escape with a +whole skin. + +When within a hundred yards of the oak Wetzel's strength apparently +gave out. His speed deserted him; he ran awkwardly, and limped. The +savages burst out into full cry like a pack of hungry wolves. They had +already emptied their rifles at him, and now, supposing one of the +shots had taken effect, redoubled their efforts, making the forest +ring with their short, savage yells. One gaunt, dark-bodied Indian +with a long, powerful, springy stride easily distanced his companions, +and, evidently sure of gaining the coveted scalp of the borderman, +rapidly closed the gap between them as he swung aloft his tomahawk, +yelling the war-cry. + +The sight on Jonathan's rifle had several times covered this savage's +dark face; but when he was about to press the trigger Wetzel's +fleeting form, also in line with the savage, made it extremely +hazardous to take a shot. + +Jonathan stepped from his place of concealment, and let out a yell +that pealed high over the cries of the savages. + +Wetzel suddenly dropped flat on the ground. + +With a whipping crack of Jonathan's rifle, the big Indian plunged +forward on his face. + +The other Indians, not fifty yards away, stopped aghast at the fate of +their comrade, and were about to seek the shelter of trees when, with +his terrible yell, Wetzel sprang up and charged upon them. He had left +his rifle where he fell; but his tomahawk glittered as he ran. The +lameness had been a trick, for now he covered ground with a swiftness +which caused his former progress to seem slow. + +The Indians, matured and seasoned warriors though they were, gave but +one glance at this huge, brown figure bearing down upon them like a +fiend, and, uttering the Indian name of _Deathwind_, wavered, broke +and ran. + +One, not so fleet as his companion, Wetzel overtook and cut down with +a single stroke. The other gained an hundred-yard start in the slight +interval of Wetzel's attack, and, spurred on by a pealing, awful cry +in the rear, sped swiftly in and out among the trees until he was +lost to view. + +Wetzel scalped the two dead savages, and, after returning to regain +his rifle, joined Jonathan at the dead oak. + +"Jack, you can never tell how things is comin' out. Thet redskin I +allowed might worry us a bit, fooled me as slick as you ever saw, an' +I hed to shoot him. Knowin' it was a case of runnin', I just cut fer +this oak, drew the redskins' fire, an' hed 'em arter me quicker 'n +you'd say Jack Robinson. I was hopin' you'd be here; but wasn't sure +till I'd seen your rifle. Then I kinder got a kink in my leg jest to +coax the brutes on." + +"Three more quiet," said Jonathan Zane. "What now?" + +"We've headed Legget, an' we'll keep nosin' him off his course. +Already he's lookin' fer a safe campin' place for the night." + +"There is none in these woods, fer him." + +"We didn't plan this gettin' between him an' his camp; but couldn't be +better fixed. A mile farther along the ridge, is a campin' place, with +a spring in a little dell close under a big stone, an' well wooded. +Legget's headin' straight fer it. With a couple of Injuns guardin' +thet spot, he'll think he's safe. But I know the place, an' can crawl +to thet rock the darkest night thet ever was an' never crack a stick." + + * * * * * + +In the gray of the deepening twilight Jonathan Zane sat alone. An owl +hooted dismally in the dark woods beyond the thicket where the +borderman crouched waiting for Wetzel. His listening ear detected a +soft, rustling sound like the play of a mole under the leaves. A +branch trembled and swung back; a soft footstep followed and Wetzel +came into the retreat. + +"Well?" asked Jonathan impatiently, as Wetzel deliberately sat down +and laid his rifle across his knees. + +"Easy, Jack, easy. We've an hour to wait." + +"The time I've already waited has been long for me." + +"They're thar," said Wetzel grimly. + +"How far from here?" + +"A half-hour's slow crawl." + +"Close by?" hissed Jonathan. + +"Too near fer you to get excited." + +"Let us go; it's as light now as in the gray of mornin'." + +"Mornin' would be best. Injuns get sleepy along towards day. I've ever +found thet time the best. But we'll be lucky if we ketch these +redskins asleep." + +"Lew, I can't wait here all night. I won't leave her longer with that +renegade. I've got to free or kill her." + +"Most likely it'll be the last," said Wetzel simply. + +"Well, so be it then," and the borderman hung his head. + +"You needn't worry none, 'bout Helen. I jest had a good look at her, +not half an hour back. She's fagged out; but full of spunk yet. I seen +thet when Brandt went near her. Legget's got his hands full jest now +with the redskins. He's hevin' trouble keepin' them on this slow +trail. I ain't sayin' they're skeered; but they're mighty restless." + +"Will you take the chance now?" + +"I reckon you needn't hev asked thet." + +"Tell me the lay of the land." + +"Wai, if we get to this rock I spoke 'bout, we'll be right over 'em. +It's ten feet high, an' we can jump straight amongst 'em. Most likely +two or three'll be guardin' the openin' which is a little ways to the +right. Ther's a big tree, the only one, low down by the spring. +Helen's under it, half-sittin', half-leanin' against the roots. When I +first looked, her hands were free; but I saw Brandt bind her feet. An' +he had to get an Injun to help him, fer she kicked like a spirited +little filly. There's moss under the tree an' there's where the +redskins'll lay down to rest." + +"I've got that; now out with your plan." + +"Wal, I calkilate it's this. The moon'll be up in about an hour. We'll +crawl as we've never crawled afore, because Helen's life depends as +much on our not makin' a noise, as it does on fightin' when the time +comes. If they hear us afore we're ready to shoot, the lass'll be +tomahawked quicker'n lightnin'. If they don't suspicion us, when the +right moment comes you shoot Brandt, yell louder'n you ever did afore, +leap amongst 'em, an' cut down the first Injun thet's near you on your +way to Helen. Swing her over your arm, an' dig into the woods." + +"Well?" asked Jonathan when Wetzel finished. + +"That's all," the borderman replied grimly. + +"An' leave you all alone to fight Legget an' the rest of 'em?" + +"I reckon." + +"Not to be thought of." + +"Ther's no other way." + +"There must be! Let me think; I can't, I'm not myself." + +"No other way," repeated Wetzel curtly. + +Jonathan's broad hand fastened on Wetzel's shoulder and wheeled him +around. + +"Have I ever left you alone?" + +"This's different," and Wetzel turned away again. His voice was cold +and hard. + +"How is it different? We've had the same thing to do, almost, more +than once." + +"We've never had as bad a bunch to handle as Legget's. They're lookin' +fer us, an' will be hard to beat." + +"That's no reason." + +"We never had to save a girl one of us loved." + +Jonathan was silent. + +"I said this'd be my last trail," continued Wetzel. "I felt it, an' I +know it'll be yours." + +"Why?" + +"If you get away with the girl she'll keep you at home, an' it'll be +well. If you don't succeed, you'll die tryin', so it's sure your +last trail." + +Wetzel's deep, cold voice rang with truth. + +"Lew, I can't run away an' leave you to fight those devils alone, +after all these years we've been together, I can't." + +"No other chance to save the lass." + +Jonathan quivered with the force of his emotion. His black eyes +glittered; his hands grasped at nothing. Once more he was between love +and duty. Again he fought over the old battle, but this time it +left him weak. + +"You love the big-eyed lass, don't you?" asked Wetzel, turning with +softened face and voice. + +"I have gone mad!" cried Jonathan, tortured by the simple question of +his friend. Those big, dear, wonderful eyes he loved so well, looked +at him now from the gloom of the thicket. The old, beautiful, soft +glow, the tender light, was there, and more, a beseeching prayer +to save her. + +Jonathan bowed his head, ashamed to let his friend see the tears that +dimmed his eyes. + +"Jack, we've follered the trail fer years together. Always you've +been true an' staunch. This is our last, but whatever bides we'll +break up Legget's band to-night, an' the border'll be cleared, mebbe, +for always. At least his race is run. Let thet content you. Our time'd +have to come, sooner or later, so why not now? I know how it is, that +you want to stick by me; but the lass draws you to her. I understand, +an' want you to save her. Mebbe you never dreamed it; but I can tell +jest how you feel. All the tremblin', an' softness, an' sweetness, an' +delight you've got for thet girl, is no mystery to Lew Wetzel." + +"You loved a lass?" + +Wetzel bowed his head, as perhaps he had never before in all his life. + +"Betty--always," he answered softly. + +"My sister!" exclaimed Jonathan, and then his hand closed hard on his +comrade's, his mind going back to many things, strange in the past, +but now explained. Wetzel had revealed his secret. + +"An' it's been all my life, since she wasn't higher 'n my knee. There +was a time when I might hev been closer to you than I am now. But I +was a mad an' bloody Injun hater, so I never let her know till I seen +it was too late. Wal, wal, no more of me. I only told it fer you." + +Jonathan was silent. + +"An' now to come back where we left off," continued Wetzel. "Let's +take a more hopeful look at this comin' fight. Sure I said it was my +last trail, but mebbe it's not. You can never tell. Feelin' as we do, +I imagine they've no odds on us. Never in my life did I say to you, +least of all to any one else, what I was goin' to do; but I'll tell it +now. If I land uninjured amongst thet bunch, I'll kill them all." + +The giant borderman's low voice hissed, and stung. His eyes glittered +with unearthly fire. His face was cold and gray. He spread out his +brawny arms and clenched his huge fists, making the muscles of his +broad shoulders roll and bulge. + +"I hate the thought, Lew, I hate the thought. Ain't there no other +way?" + +"No other way." + +"I'll do it, Lew, because I'd do the same for you; because I have to, +because I love her; but God! it hurts." + +"Thet's right," answered Wetzel, his deep voice softening until it was +singularly low and rich. "I'm glad you've come to it. An' sure it +hurts. I want you to feel so at leavin' me to go it alone. If we both +get out alive, I'll come many times to see you an' Helen. If you live +an' I don't, think of me sometimes, think of the trails we've crossed +together. When the fall comes with its soft, cool air, an' smoky +mornin's an' starry nights, when the wind's sad among the bare +branches, an' the leaves drop down, remember they're fallin' on +my grave." + +Twilight darkened into gloom; the red tinge in the west changed to +opal light; through the trees over a dark ridge a rim of silver +glinted and moved. + +The moon had risen; the hour was come. + +The bordermen tightened their belts, replaced their leggings, tied +their hunting coats, loosened their hatchets, looked to the priming of +their rifles, and were ready. + +Wetzel walked twenty paces and turned. His face was white in the +moonlight; his dark eyes softened into a look of love as he gripped +his comrade's outstretched hand. + +Then he dropped flat on the ground, carefully saw to the position of +his rifle, and began to creep. Jonathan kept close at his heels. + +Slowly but steadily they crawled, minute after minute. The hazel-nut +bushes above them had not yet shed their leaves; the ground was clean +and hard, and the course fatefully perfect for their deadly purpose. + +A slight rustling of their buckskin garments sounded like the rustling +of leaves in a faint breeze. + +The moon came out above the trees and still Wetzel advanced softly, +steadily, surely. + +The owl, lonely sentinel of that wood, hooted dismally. Even his night +eyes, which made the darkness seem clear as day, missed those gliding +figures. Even he, sure guardian of the wilderness, failed the savages. + +Jonathan felt soft moss beneath him; he was now in the woods under the +trees. The thicket had been passed. + +Wetzel's moccasin pressed softly against Jonathan's head. The first +signal! + +Jonathan crawled forward, and slightly raised himself. + +He was on a rock. The trees were thick and gloomy. Below, the little +hollow was almost in the wan moonbeams. Dark figures lay close +together. Two savages paced noiselessly to and fro. A slight form +rolled in a blanket lay against a tree. + +Jonathan felt his arm gently squeezed. + +The second signal! + +Slowly he thrust forward his rifle, and raised it in unison with +Wetzel's. Slowly he rose to his feet as if the same muscles guided +them both. + +Over his head a twig snapped. In the darkness he had not seen a low +branch. + +The Indian guards stopped suddenly, and became motionless as stone. + +They had heard; but too late. + +With the blended roar of the rifles both dropped, lifeless. + +Almost under the spouting flame and white cloud of smoke, Jonathan +leaped behind Wetzel, over the bank. His yells were mingled with +Wetzel's vengeful cry. Like leaping shadows the bordermen were upon +their foes. + +An Indian sprang up, raised a weapon, and fell beneath Jonathan's +savage blow, to rise no more. Over his prostrate body the borderman +bounded. A dark, nimble form darted upon the captive. He swung high a +blade that shone like silver in the moonlight. His shrill war-cry of +death rang out with Helen's scream of despair. Even as he swung back +her head with one hand in her long hair, his arm descended; but it +fell upon the borderman's body. Jonathan and the Indian rolled upon +the moss. There was a terrific struggle, a whirling blade, a dull blow +which silenced the yell, and the borderman rose alone. + +He lifted Helen as if she were a child, leaped the brook, and plunged +into the thicket. + +The noise of the fearful conflict he left behind, swelled high and +hideously on the night air. Above the shrill cries of the Indians, and +the furious yells of Legget, rose the mad, booming roar of Wetzel. No +rifle cracked; but sodden blows, the clash of steel, the threshing of +struggling men, told of the dreadful strife. + +Jonathan gained the woods, sped through the moonlit glades, and far on +under light and shadow. + +The shrill cries ceased; only the hoarse yells and the mad roar could +be heard. Gradually these also died away, and the forest was still. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +Next morning, when the mist was breaking and rolling away under the +warm rays of the Indian-summer sun, Jonathan Zane beached his canoe on +the steep bank before Fort Henry. A pioneer, attracted by the +borderman's halloo, ran to the bluff and sounded the alarm with shrill +whoops. Among the hurrying, brown-clad figures that answered this +summons, was Colonel Zane. + +"It's Jack, kurnel, an' he's got her!" cried one. + +The doughty colonel gained the bluff to see his brother climbing the +bank with a white-faced girl in his arms. + +"Well?" he asked, looking darkly at Jonathan. Nothing kindly or genial +was visible in his manner now; rather grim and forbidding he seemed, +thus showing he had the same blood in his veins as the borderman. + +"Lend a hand," said Jonathan. "As far as I know she's not hurt." + +They carried Helen toward Colonel Zane's cabin. Many women of the +settlement saw them as they passed, and looked gravely at one another, +but none spoke. This return of an abducted girl was by no means a +strange event. + +"Somebody run for Sheppard," ordered Colonel Zane, as they entered his +cabin. + +Betty, who was in the sitting-room, sprang up and cried: "Oh! Eb! Eb! +Don't say she's----" + +"No, no, Betts, she's all right. Where's my wife? Ah! Bess, here, get +to work." + +The colonel left Helen in the tender, skilful hands of his wife and +sister, and followed Jonathan into the kitchen. + +"I was just ready for breakfast when I heard some one yell," said he. +"Come, Jack, eat something." + +They ate in silence. From the sitting-room came excited whispers, a +joyous cry from Betty, and a faint voice. Then heavy, hurrying +footsteps, followed by Sheppard's words of thanks-giving. + +"Where's Wetzel?" began Colonel Zane. + +The borderman shook his head gloomily. + +"Where did you leave him?" + +"We jumped Legget's bunch last night, when the moon was about an hour +high. I reckon about fifteen miles northeast. I got away with +the lass." + +"Ah! Left Lew fighting?" + +The borderman answered the question with bowed head. + +"You got off well. Not a hurt that I can see, and more than lucky to +save Helen. Well, Jack, what do you think about Lew?" + +"I'm goin' back," replied Jonathan. + +"No! no!" + +The door opened to admit Mrs. Zane. She looked bright and cheerful, +"Hello, Jack; glad you're home. Helen's all right, only faint from +hunger and over-exertion. I want something for her to eat--well! you +men didn't leave much." + +Colonel Zane went into the sitting-room. Sheppard sat beside the couch +where Helen lay, white and wan. Betty and Nell were looking on with +their hearts in their eyes. Silas Zane was there, and his wife, with +several women neighbors. + +"Betty, go fetch Jack in here," whispered the colonel in his sister's +ear. "Drag him, if you have to," he added fiercely. + +The young woman left the room, to reappear directly with her brother. +He came in reluctantly. + +As the stern-faced borderman crossed the threshold a smile, beautiful +to see, dawned in Helen's eyes. + +"I'm glad to see you're comin' round," said Jonathan, but he spoke +dully as if his mind was on other things. + +"She's a little flighty; but a night's sleep will cure that," cried +Mrs. Zane from the kitchen. + +"What do you think?" interrupted the colonel. "Jack's not satisfied to +get back with Helen unharmed, and a whole skin himself; but he's going +on the trail again." + +"No, Jack, no, no!" cried Betty. + +"What's that I hear?" asked Mrs. Zane as she came in. "Jack's going +out again? Well, all I want to say is that he's as mad as a +March hare." + +"Jonathan, look here," said Silas seriously. "Can't you stay home +now?" + +"Jack, listen," whispered Betty, going close to him. "Not one of us +ever expected to see either you or Helen again, and oh! we are so +happy. Do not go away again. You are a man; you do not know, you +cannot understand all a woman feels. She must sit and wait, and hope, +and pray for the safe return of husband or brother or sweetheart. The +long days! Oh, the long sleepless nights, with the wail of the wind in +the pines, and the rain on the roof! It is maddening. Do not leave us! +Do not leave me! Do not leave Helen! Say you will not, Jack." + +To these entreaties the borderman remained silent. He stood leaning on +his rifle, a tall, dark, strangely sad and stern man. + +"Helen, beg him to stay!" implored Betty. + +Colonel Zane took Helen's hand, and stroked it. "Yes," he said, "you +ask him, lass. I'm sure you can persuade him to stay." + +Helen raised her head. "Is Brandt dead?" she whispered faintly. + +Still the borderman failed to speak, but his silence was not an +affirmative. + +"You said you loved me," she cried wildly. "You said you loved me, yet +you didn't kill that monster!" + +The borderman, moving quickly like a startled Indian, went out of the +door. + + * * * * * + +Once more Jonathan Zane entered the gloomy, quiet aisles of the forest +with his soft, tireless tread hardly stirring the leaves. + +It was late in the afternoon when he had long left Two Islands behind, +and arrived at the scene of Mordaunt's death. Satisfied with the +distance he had traversed, he crawled into a thicket to rest. + +Daybreak found him again on the trail. He made a short cut over the +ridges and by the time the mist had lifted from the valley he was +within stalking distance of the glade. He approached this in the +familiar, slow, cautious manner, and halted behind the big rock from +which he and Wetzel had leaped. The wood was solemnly quiet. No +twittering of birds could be heard. The only sign of life was a gaunt +timber-wolf slinking away amid the foliage. Under the big tree the +savage who had been killed as he would have murdered Helen, lay a +crumpled mass where he had fallen. Two dead Indians were in the center +of the glade, and on the other side were three more bloody, lifeless +forms. Wetzel was not there, nor Legget, nor Brandt. + +"I reckoned so," muttered Jonathan as he studied the scene. The grass +had been trampled, the trees barked, the bushes crushed aside. + +Jonathan went out of the glade a short distance, and, circling it, +began to look for Wetzel's trail. He found it, and near the light +footprints of his comrade were the great, broad moccasin tracks of +the outlaw. Further searching disclosed the fact that Brandt must have +traveled in line with the others. + +With the certainty that Wetzel had killed three of the Indians, and, +in some wonderful manner characteristic of him, routed the outlaws of +whom he was now in pursuit, Jonathan's smoldering emotion burst forth +into full flame. Love for his old comrade, deadly hatred of the +outlaws, and passionate thirst for their blood, rioted in his heart. + +Like a lynx scenting its quarry, the borderman started on the trail, +tireless and unswervable. The traces left by the fleeing outlaws and +their pursuer were plain to Jonathan. It was not necessary for him to +stop. Legget and Brandt, seeking to escape the implacable Nemesis, +were traveling with all possible speed, regardless of the broad trail +such hurried movements left behind. They knew full well it would be +difficult to throw this wolf off the scent; understood that if any +attempt was made to ambush the trail, they must cope with woodcraft +keener than an Indian's. Flying in desperation, they hoped to reach +the rocky retreat, where, like foxes in their burrows, they believed +themselves safe. + +When the sun sloped low toward the western horizon, lengthening +Jonathan's shadow, he slackened pace. He was entering the rocky, +rugged country which marked the approach to the distant Alleghenies. +From the top of a ridge he took his bearings, deciding that he was +within a few miles of Legget's hiding-place. + +At the foot of this ridge, where a murmuring brook sped softly over +its bed, he halted. Here a number of horses had forded the brook. They +were iron-shod, which indicated almost to a certainty, that they were +stolen horses, and in the hands of Indians. + +Jonathan saw where the trail of the steeds was merged into that of +the outlaws. He suspected that the Indians and Legget had held a short +council. As he advanced the borderman found only the faintest +impression of Wetzel's trail. Legget and Brandt no longer left any +token of their course. They were riding the horses. + +All the borderman cared to know was if Wetzel still pursued. He passed +on swiftly up a hill, through a wood of birches where the trail showed +on a line of broken ferns, then out upon a low ridge where patches of +grass grew sparsely. Here he saw in this last ground no indication of +his comrade's trail; nothing was to be seen save the imprints of the +horses' hoofs. Jonathan halted behind the nearest underbrush. This +sudden move on the part of Wetzel was token that, suspecting an +ambush, he had made a detour somewhere, probably in the grove +of birches. + +All the while his eyes searched the long, barren reach ahead. No +thicket, fallen tree, or splintered rocks, such as Indians utilized +for an ambush, could be seen. Indians always sought the densely matted +underbrush, a windfall, or rocky retreat and there awaited a pursuer. +It was one of the borderman's tricks of woodcraft that he could +recognize such places. + +Far beyond the sandy ridge Jonathan came to a sloping, wooded +hillside, upon which were scattered big rocks, some mossy and +lichen-covered, and one, a giant boulder, with a crown of ferns and +laurel gracing its flat surface. It was such a place as the savages +would select for ambush. He knew, however, that if an Indian had +hidden himself there Wetzel would have discovered him. When opposite +the rock Jonathan saw a broken fern hanging over the edge. The heavy +trail of the horses ran close beside it. + +Then with that thoroughness of search which made the borderman what +he was, Jonathan leaped upon the rock. There, lying in the midst of +the ferns, lay an Indian with sullen, somber face set in the repose of +death. In his side was a small bullet hole. + +Jonathan examined the savage's rifle. It had been discharged. The +rock, the broken fern, the dead Indian, the discharged rifle, told the +story of that woodland tragedy. + +Wetzel had discovered the ambush. Leaving the trail, he had tricked +the redskin into firing, then getting a glimpse of the Indian's red +body through the sights of his fatal weapon, the deed was done. + +With greater caution Jonathan advanced once more. Not far beyond the +rock he found Wetzel's trail. The afternoon was drawing to a close. He +could not travel much farther, yet he kept on, hoping to overtake his +comrade before darkness set in. From time to time he whistled; but got +no answering signal. + +When the tracks of the horses were nearly hidden by the gathering +dusk, Jonathan decided to halt for the night. He whistled one more +note, louder and clearer, and awaited the result with strained ears. +The deep silence of the wilderness prevailed, suddenly to be broken by +a faint, far-away, melancholy call of the hermit-thrush. It was the +answering signal the borderman had hoped to hear. + +Not many moments elapsed before he heard another call, low, and near +at hand, to which he replied. The bushes parted noiselessly on his +left, and the tall form of Wetzel appeared silently out of the gloom. + +The two gripped hands in silence. + +"Hev you any meat?" Wetzel asked, and as Jonathan handed him his +knapsack, he continued, "I was kinder lookin' fer you. Did you get out +all right with the lass?" + +"Nary a scratch." + +The giant borderman grunted his satisfaction. + +"How'd Legget and Brandt get away?" asked Jonathan. + +"Cut an' run like scared bucks. Never got a hand on either of 'em." + +"How many redskins did they meet back here a spell?" + +"They was seven; but now there are only six, an' all snug in Legget's +place by this time." + +"I reckon we're near his den." + +"We're not far off." + +Night soon closing down upon the bordermen found them wrapped in +slumber, as if no deadly foes were near at hand. The soft night wind +sighed dismally among the bare trees. A few bright stars twinkled +overhead. In the darkness of the forest the bordermen were at home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +In Legget's rude log cabin a fire burned low, lightening the forms of +the two border outlaws, and showing in the background the dark forms +of Indians sitting motionless on the floor. Their dusky eyes emitted a +baleful glint, seemingly a reflection of their savage souls caught by +the firelight. Legget wore a look of ferocity and sullen fear +strangely blended. Brandt's face was hard and haggard, his lips set, +his gray eyes smoldering. + +"Safe?" he hissed. "Safe you say? You'll see that it's the same now as +on the other night, when those border-tigers jumped us and we ran +like cowards. I'd have fought it out here, but for you." + +"Thet man Wetzel is ravin' mad, I tell you," growled Legget. "I reckon +I've stood my ground enough to know I ain't no coward. But this +fellar's crazy. He hed the Injuns slashin' each other like a pack of +wolves round a buck." + +"He's no more mad than you or I," declared Brandt. "I know all about +him. His moaning in the woods, and wild yells are only tricks. He +knows the Indian nature, and he makes their very superstition and +religion aid him in his fighting. I told you what he'd do. Didn't I +beg you to kill Zane when we had a chance? Wetzel would never have +taken our trail alone. Now they've beat me out of the girl, and as +sure as death will round us up here." + +"You don't believe they'll rush us here?" asked Legget. + +"They're too keen to take foolish chances, but something will be done +we don't expect. Zane was a prisoner here; he had a good look at this +place, and you can gamble he'll remember." + +"Zane must hev gone back to Fort Henry with the girl." + +"Mark what I say, he'll come back!" + +"Wal, we kin hold this place against all the men Eb Zane may put out." + +"He won't send a man," snapped Brandt passionately. "Remember this, +Legget, we're not to fight against soldiers, settlers, or hunters; but +bordermen--understand--bordermen! Such as have been developed right +here on this bloody frontier, and nowhere else on earth. They haven't +fear in them. Both are fleet as deer in the woods. They can't be seen +or trailed. They can snuff a candle with a rifle ball in the dark. +I've seen Zane do it three times at a hundred yards. And Wetzel! He +wouldn't waste powder on practicing. They can't be ambushed, or shaken +off a track; they take the scent like buzzards, and have eyes +like eagles." + +"We kin slip out of here under cover of night," suggested Legget. + +"Well, what then? That's all they want. They'd be on us again by +sunset. No! we've got to stand our ground and fight. We'll stay as +long as we can; but they'll rout us out somehow, be sure of that. And +if one of us pokes his nose out to the daylight, it will be shot off." + +"You're sore, an' you've lost your nerve," said Legget harshly. "Sore +at me 'cause I got sweet on the girl. Ho! ho!" + +Brandt shot a glance at Legget which boded no good. His strong hands +clenched in an action betraying the reckless rage in his heart. Then +he carefully removed his hunting coat, and examined his wound. He +retied the bandage, muttering gloomily, "I'm so weak as to be +light-headed. If this cut opens again, it's all day for me." + +After that the inmates of the hut were quiet. The huge outlaw bowed +his shaggy head for a while, and then threw himself on a pile of +hemlock boughs. Brandt was not long in seeking rest. Soon both were +fast asleep. Two of the savages passed out with cat-like step, leaving +the door open. The fire had burned low, leaving a bed of dead coals. +Outside in the dark a waterfall splashed softly. + +The darkest hour came, and passed, and paled slowly to gray. Birds +began to twitter. Through the door of the cabin the light of day +streamed in. The two Indian sentinels were building a fire on the +stone hearth. One by one the other savages got up, stretched and +yawned, and began the business of the day by cooking their breakfast. +It was, apparently, every one for himself. + +Legget arose, shook himself like a shaggy dog, and was starting for +the door when one of the sentinels stopped him. Brandt, who was now +awake, saw the action, and smiled. + +In a few moments Indians and outlaws were eating for breakfast roasted +strips of venison, with corn meal baked brown, which served as bread. +It was a somber, silent group. + +Presently the shrill neigh of a horse startled them. Following it, the +whip-like crack of a rifle stung and split the morning air. Hard on +this came an Indian's long, wailing death-cry. + +"Hah!" exclaimed Brandt. + +Legget remained immovable. One of the savages peered out through a +little port-hole at the rear of the hut. The others continued +their meal. + +"Whistler'll come in presently to tell us who's doin' thet shootin'," +said Legget. "He's a keen Injun." + +"He's not very keen now," replied Brandt, with bitter certainty. "He's +what the settlers call a good Indian, which is to say, dead!" + +Legget scowled at his lieutenant. + +"I'll go an' see," he replied and seized his rifle. + +He opened the door, when another rifle-shot rang out. A bullet +whistled in the air, grazing the outlaw's shoulder, and imbedded +itself in the heavy door-frame. + +Legget leaped back with a curse. + +"Close shave!" said Brandt coolly. "That bullet came, probably, +straight down from the top of the cliff. Jack Zane's there. Wetzel is +lower down watching the outlet. We're trapped." + +"Trapped," shouted Legget with an angry leer. "We kin live here +longer'n the bordermen kin. We've meat on hand, an' a good spring in +the back of the hut. How'er we trapped?" + +"We won't live twenty-four hours," declared Brandt. + +"Why?" + +"Because we'll be routed out. They'll find some way to do it, and +we'll never have another chance to fight in the open, as we had the +other night when they came after the girl. From now on there'll be no +sleep, no time to eat, the nameless fear of an unseen foe who can't be +shaken off, marching by night, hiding and starving by day, until----! +I'd rather be back in Fort Henry at Colonel Zane's mercy." + +Legget turned a ghastly face toward Brandt. "Look a here. You're +takin' a lot of glee in sayin' these things. I believe you've lost +your nerve, or the lettin' out of a little blood hes made you wobbly. +We've Injuns here, an' ought to be a match fer two men." + +Brandt gazed at him with a derisive smile. + +"We kin go out an' fight these fellars," continued Legget. "We might +try their own game, hidin' an' crawlin' through the woods." + +"We two would have to go it alone. If you still had your trusty, +trained band of experienced Indians, I'd say that would be just the +thing. But Ashbow and the Chippewa are dead; so are the others. This +bunch of redskins here may do to steal a few horses; but they don't +amount to much against Zane and Wetzel. Besides, they'll cut and run +presently, for they're scared and suspicious. Look at the chief; +ask him." + +The savage Brandt indicated was a big Indian just coming into manhood. +His swarthy face still retained some of the frankness and +simplicity of youth. + +"Chief," said Legget in the Indian tongue. "The great paleface hunter, +Deathwind, lies hid in the woods." + +"Last night the Shawnee heard the wind of death mourn through the +trees," replied the chief gloomily. + +"See! What did I say?" cried Brandt. "The superstitious fool! He +would begin his death-chant almost without a fight. We can't count on +the redskins. What's to be done?" + +The outlaw threw himself upon the bed of boughs, and Legget sat down +with his rifle across his knees. The Indians maintained the same +stoical composure. The moments dragged by into hours. + +"Ugh!" suddenly exclaimed the Indian at the end of the hut. + +Legget ran to him, and acting upon a motion of the Indian's hand, +looked out through the little port-hole. + +The sun was high. He saw four of the horses grazing by the brook; then +gazed scrutinizingly from the steep waterfall, along the green-stained +cliff to the dark narrow cleft in the rocks. Here was the only outlet +from the inclosure. He failed to discover anything unusual. + +The Indian grunted again, and pointed upward. + +"Smoke! There's smoke risin' above the trees," cried Legget. "Brandt, +come here. What's thet mean?" + +Brandt hurried, looked out. His face paled, his lower jaw protruded, +quivered, and then was shut hard. He walked away, put his foot on a +bench and began to lace his leggings. + +"Wal?" demanded Legget. + +"The game's up! Get ready to run and be shot at," cried Brandt with a +hiss of passion. + +Almost as he spoke the roof of the hut shook under a heavy blow. + +"What's thet?" No one replied. Legget glanced from Brandt's cold, +determined face to the uneasy savages. They were restless, and +handling their weapons. The chief strode across the floor with +stealthy steps. + +"Thud!" + +A repetition of the first blow caused the Indians to jump, and drew a +fierce imprecation from their outlaw leader. + +Brandt eyed him narrowly. "It's coming to you, Legget. They are +shooting arrows of fire into the roof from the cliff. Zane is doin' +that. He can make a bow and draw one, too. We're to be burned out. +Now, damn you! take your medicine! I wanted you to kill him when you +had the chance. If you had done so we'd never have come to this. +Burned out, do you get that? Burned out!" + +"Fire!" exclaimed Legget. He sat down as if the strength had left his +legs. + +The Indians circled around the room like caged tigers. + +"Ugh!" The chief suddenly reached up and touched the birch-bark roof +of the hut. + +His action brought the attention of all to a faint crackling of +burning wood. + +"It's caught all right," cried Brandt in a voice which cut the air +like a blow from a knife. + +"I'll not be smoked like a ham, fer all these tricky bordermen," +roared Legget. Drawing his knife he hacked at the heavy buckskin +hinges of the rude door. When it dropped free he measured it against +the open space. Sheathing the blade, he grasped his rifle in his right +hand and swung the door on his left arm. Heavy though it was he +carried it easily. The roughly hewn planks afforded a capital shield +for all except the lower portion of his legs and feet. He went out of +the hut with the screen of wood between himself and the cliff, calling +for the Indians to follow. They gathered behind him, breathing hard, +clutching their weapons, and seemingly almost crazed by excitement. + +Brandt, with no thought of joining this foolhardy attempt to escape +from the inclosure, ran to the little port-hole that he might see the +outcome. Legget and his five redskins were running toward the narrow +outlet in the gorge. The awkward and futile efforts of the Indians to +remain behind the shield were almost pitiful. They crowded each other +for favorable positions, but, struggle as they might, one or two were +always exposed to the cliff. Suddenly one, pushed to the rear, stopped +simultaneously with the crack of a rifle, threw up his arms and fell. +Another report, differing from the first, rang out. A savage staggered +from behind the speeding group with his hand at his side. Then he +dropped into the brook. + +Evidently Legget grasped this as a golden opportunity, for he threw +aside the heavy shield and sprang forward, closely followed by his +red-skinned allies. Immediately they came near the cliff, where the +trail ran into the gorge, a violent shaking of the dry ferns overhead +made manifest the activity of some heavy body. Next instant a huge +yellow figure, not unlike a leaping catamount, plunged down with a +roar so terrible as to sound inhuman. Legget, Indians, and newcomer +rolled along the declivity toward the brook in an indistinguishable +mass. + +Two of the savages shook themselves free, and bounded to their feet +nimbly as cats, but Legget and the other redskin became engaged in a +terrific combat. It was a wrestling whirl, so fierce and rapid as to +render blows ineffectual. The leaves scattered as if in a whirlwind. +Legget's fury must have been awful, to judge from his hoarse screams; +the Indians' fear maddening, as could be told by their shrieks. The +two savages ran wildly about the combatants, one trying to level a +rifle, the other to get in a blow with a tomahawk. But the movements +of the trio, locked in deadly embrace, were too swift. + +Above all the noise of the contest rose that strange, thrilling roar. + +"Wetzel!" muttered Brandt, with a chill, creeping shudder as he gazed +upon the strife with fascinated eyes. + +"Bang!" Again from the cliff came that heavy bellow. + +The savage with the rifle shrunk back as if stung, and without a cry +fell limply in a heap. His companion, uttering a frightened cry, fled +from the glen. + +The struggle seemed too deadly, too terrible, to last long. The Indian +and the outlaw were at a disadvantage. They could not strike freely. +The whirling conflict grew more fearful. During one second the huge, +brown, bearish figure of Legget appeared on top; then the dark-bodied, +half-naked savage, spotted like a hyena, and finally the lithe, +powerful, tiger-shape of the borderman. + +Finally Legget wrenched himself free at the same instant that the +bloody-stained Indian rolled, writhing in convulsions, away from +Wetzel. The outlaw dashed with desperate speed up the trail, and +disappeared in the gorge. The borderman sped toward the cliff, leaped +on a projecting ledge, grasped an overhanging branch, and pulled +himself up. He was out of sight almost as quickly as Legget. + +"After his rifle," Brandt muttered, and then realized that he had +watched the encounter without any idea of aiding his comrade. He +consoled himself with the knowledge that such an attempt would have +been useless. From the moment the borderman sprang upon Legget, until +he scaled the cliff, his movements had been incredibly swift. It would +have been hardly possible to cover him with a rifle, and the outlaw +grimly understood that he needed to be careful of that charge in +his weapon. + +"By Heavens, Wetzel's a wonder!" cried Brandt in unwilling admiration. +"Now he'll go after Legget and the redskin, while Zane stays here to +get me. Well, he'll succeed, most likely, but I'll never quit. +What's this?" + +He felt something slippery and warm on his hand. It was blood running +from the inside of his sleeve. A slight pain made itself felt in his +side. Upon examination he found, to his dismay, that his wound had +reopened. With a desperate curse he pulled a linsey jacket off a peg, +tore it into strips, and bound up the injury as tightly as possible. + +Then he grasped his rifle, and watched the cliff and the gorge with +flaring eyes. Suddenly he found it difficult to breathe; his throat +was parched, his eyes smarted. Then the odor of wood-smoke brought him +to a realization that the cabin was burning. It was only now he +understood that the room was full of blue clouds. He sank into the +corner, a wolf at bay. + +Not many moments passed before the outlaw understood that he could not +withstand the increasing heat and stifling vapor of the room. Pieces +of burning birch dropped from the roof. The crackling above grew into +a steady roar. + +"I've got to run for it," he gasped. Death awaited him outside the +door, but that was more acceptable than death by fire. Yet to face the +final moment when he desired with all his soul to live, required +almost super-human courage. Sweating, panting, he glared around. "God! +Is there no other way?" he cried in agony. At this moment he saw an ax +on the floor. + +Seizing it he attacked the wall of the cabin. Beyond this partition +was a hut which had been used for a stable. Half a dozen strokes of +the ax opened a hole large enough for him to pass through. With his +rifle, and a piece of venison which hung near, he literally fell +through the hole, where he lay choking, almost fainting. After a time +he crawled across the floor to a door. Outside was a dense laurel +thicket, into which he crawled. + +The crackling and roaring of the fire grew louder. He could see the +column of yellow and black smoke. Once fairly under way, the flames +rapidly consumed the pitch-pine logs. In an hour Legget's cabins were +a heap of ashes. + +The afternoon waned. Brandt lay watchful, slowly recovering his +strength. He felt secure under this cover, and only prayed for night +to come. As the shadows began to creep down the sides of the cliffs, +he indulged in hope. If he could slip out in the dark he had a good +chance to elude the borderman. In the passionate desire to escape, he +had forgotten his fatalistic words to Legget. He reasoned that he +could not be trailed until daylight; that a long night's march would +put him far in the lead, and there was just a possibility of Zane's +having gone away with Wetzel. + +When darkness had set in he slipped out of the covert and began his +journey for life. Within a few yards he reached the brook. He had only +to follow its course in order to find the outlet to the glen. +Moreover, its rush and gurgle over the stones would drown any slight +noise he might make. + +Slowly, patiently he crawled, stopping every moment to listen. What a +long time he was in coming to the mossy stones over which the brook +dashed through the gorge! But he reached them at last. Here if +anywhere Zane would wait for him. + +With teeth clenched desperately, and an inward tightening of his +chest, for at any moment he expected to see the red flame of a rifle, +he slipped cautiously over the mossy stones. Finally his hands touched +the dewy grass, and a breath of cool wind fanned his hot cheek. He had +succeeded in reaching the open. Crawling some rods farther on, he lay +still a while and listened. The solemn wilderness calm was unbroken. +Rising, he peered about. Behind loomed the black hill with its narrow +cleft just discernible. Facing the north star, he went silently out +into the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +At daylight Jonathan Zane rolled from his snug bed of leaves under the +side of a log, and with the flint, steel and punk he always carried, +began building a fire. His actions were far from being hurried. They +were deliberate, and seemed strange on the part of a man whose stern +face suggested some dark business to be done. When his little fire had +been made, he warmed some slices of venison which had already been +cooked, and thus satisfied his hunger. Carefully extinguishing the +fire and looking to the priming of his rifle, he was ready for +the trail. + +He stood near the edge of the cliff from which he could command a view +of the glen. The black, smoldering ruins of the burned cabins defaced +a picturesque scene. + +"Brandt must have lit out last night, for I could have seen even a +rabbit hidin' in that laurel patch. He's gone, an' it's what I +wanted," thought the borderman. + +He made his way slowly around the edge of the inclosure and clambered +down on the splintered cliff at the end of the gorge. A wide, +well-trodden trail extended into the forest below. Jonathan gave +scarcely a glance to the beaten path before him; but bent keen eyes to +the north, and carefully scrutinized the mossy stones along the brook. +Upon a little sand bar running out from the bank he found the light +imprint of a hand. + +"It was a black night. He'd have to travel by the stars, an' north's +the only safe direction for him," muttered the borderman. + +On the bank above he found oblong indentations in the grass, barely +perceptible, but owing to the peculiar position of the blades of +grass, easy for him to follow. + +"He'd better have learned to walk light as an Injun before he took to +outlawin'," said the borderman in disdain. Then he returned to the +gorge and entered the inclosure. At the foot of the little rise of +ground where Wetzel had leaped upon his quarry, was one of the dead +Indians. Another lay partly submerged in the brown water. + +Jonathan carried the weapons of the savages to a dry place under a +projecting ledge in the cliff. Passing on down the glen, he stopped a +moment where the cabins had stood. Not a log remained. The horses, +with the exception of two, were tethered in the copse of laurel. He +recognized Colonel Zane's thoroughbred, and Betty's pony. He cut them +loose, positive they would not stray from the glen, and might easily +be secured at another time. + +He set out upon the trail of Brandt with a long, swinging stride. To +him the outcome of that pursuit was but a question of time. The +consciousness of superior endurance, speed, and craft, spoke in his +every movement. The consciousness of being in right, a factor so +powerfully potent for victory, spoke in the intrepid front with which +he faced the north. + +It was a gloomy November day. Gray, steely clouds drifted overhead. +The wind wailed through the bare trees, sending dead leaves scurrying +and rustling over the brown earth. + +The borderman advanced with a step that covered glade and glen, forest +and field, with astonishing swiftness. Long since he had seen that +Brandt was holding to the lowland. This did not strike him as singular +until for the third time he found the trail lead a short distance up +the side of a ridge, then descend, seeking a level. With this +discovery came the certainty that Brandt's pace was lessening. He had +set out with a hunter's stride, but it had begun to shorten. The +outlaw had shirked the hills, and shifted from his northern course. +Why? The man was weakening; he could not climb; he was favoring +a wound. + +What seemed more serious for the outlaw, was the fact that he had left +a good trail, and entered the low, wild land north of the Ohio. Even +the Indians seldom penetrated this tangled belt of laurel and thorn. +Owing to the dry season the swamps were shallow, which was another +factor against Brandt. No doubt he had hoped to hide his trail by +wading, and here it showed up like the track of a bison. + +Jonathan kept steadily on, knowing the farther Brandt penetrated into +this wilderness the worse off he would be. The outlaw dared not take +to the river until below Fort Henry, which was distant many a weary +mile. The trail grew more ragged as the afternoon wore away. When +twilight rendered further tracking impossible, the borderman built a +fire in a sheltered place, ate his supper, and went to sleep. + +In the dim, gray morning light he awoke, fancying he had been startled +by a distant rifle shot. He roasted his strips of venison carefully, +and ate with a hungry hunter's appreciation, yet sparingly, as +befitted a borderman who knew how to keep up his strength upon a +long trail. + +Hardly had he traveled a mile when Brandt's footprints covered +another's. Nothing surprised the borderman; but he had expected this +least of all. A hasty examination convinced him that Legget and his +Indian ally had fled this way with Wetzel in pursuit. + +The morning passed slowly. The borderman kept to the trail like a +hound. The afternoon wore on. Over sandy reaches thick with willows, +and through long, matted, dried-out cranberry marshes and copses of +prickly thorn, the borderman hung to his purpose. His legs seemed +never to lose their spring, but his chest began to heave, his head +bent, and his face shone with sweat. + +At dusk he tired. Crawling into a dry thicket, he ate his scanty meal +and fell asleep. When he awoke it was gray daylight. He was wet and +chilled. Again he kindled a fire, and sat over it while cooking +breakfast. + +Suddenly he was brought to his feet by the sound of a rifle shot; then +two others followed in rapid succession. Though they were faint, and +far away to the west, Jonathan recognized the first, which could have +come only from Wetzel's weapon, and he felt reasonably certain of the +third, which was Brandt's. There might have been, he reflected grimly, +a good reason for Legget's not shooting. However, he knew that Wetzel +had rounded up the fugitives, and again he set out. + +It was another dismal day, such a one as would be fitting for a dark +deed of border justice. A cold, drizzly rain blew from the northwest. +Jonathan wrapped a piece of oil-skin around his rifle-breech, and +faced the downfall. Soon he was wet to the skin. He kept on, but his +free stride had shortened. Even upon his iron muscles this soggy, +sticky ground had begun to tell. + +The morning passed but the storm did not; the air grew colder and +darker. The short afternoon would afford him little time, especially +as the rain and running rills of water were obliterating the trail. + +In the midst of a dense forest of great cottonwoods and sycamores he +came upon a little pond, hidden among the bushes, and shrouded in a +windy, wet gloom. Jonathan recognized the place. He had been there in +winter hunting bears when all the swampland was locked by ice. + +The borderman searched along the banks for a time, then went back to +the trail, patiently following it. Around the pond it led to the side +of a great, shelving rock. He saw an Indian leaning against this, and +was about to throw forward his rifle when the strange, fixed, position +of the savage told of the tragedy. A wound extended from his shoulder +to his waist. Near by on the ground lay Legget. He, too, was dead. His +gigantic frame weltered in blood. His big feet were wide apart; his +arms spread, and from the middle of his chest protruded the haft of +a knife. + +The level space surrounding the bodies showed evidence of a desperate +struggle. A bush had been rolled upon and crushed by heavy bodies. On +the ground was blood as on the stones and leaves. The blade Legget +still clutched was red, and the wrist of the hand which held it showed +a dark, discolored band, where it had felt the relentless grasp of +Wetzel's steel grip. The dead man's buckskin coat was cut into +ribbons. On his broad face a demoniacal expression had set in eternal +rigidity; the animal terror of death was frozen in his wide staring +eyes. The outlaw chief had died as he had lived, desperately. + +Jonathan found Wetzel's trail leading directly toward the river, and +soon understood that the borderman was on the track of Brandt. The +borderman had surprised the worn, starved, sleepy fugitives in the +gray, misty dawn. The Indian, doubtless, was the sentinel, and had +fallen asleep at his post never to awaken. Legget and Brandt must have +discharged their weapons ineffectually. Zane could not understand why +his comrade had missed Brandt at a few rods' distance. Perhaps he had +wounded the younger outlaw; but certainly he had escaped while Wetzel +had closed in on Legget to meet the hardest battle of his career. + +While going over his version of the attack, Jonathan followed Brandt's +trail, as had Wetzel, to where it ended in the river. The old +borderman had continued on down stream along the sandy shore. The +outlaw remained in the water to hide his trail. + +At one point Wetzel turned north. This move puzzled Jonathan, as did +also the peculiar tracks. It was more perplexing because not far below +Zane discovered where the fugitive had left the water to get around a +ledge of rock. + +The trail was approaching Fort Henry. Jonathan kept on down the river +until arriving at the head of the island which lay opposite the +settlement. Still no traces of Wetzel! Here Zane lost Brandt's trail +completely. He waded the first channel, which was shallow and narrow, +and hurried across the island. Walking out upon a sand-bar he signaled +with his well-known Indian cry. Almost immediately came an +answering shout. + +While waiting he glanced at the sand, and there, pointing straight +toward the fort, he found Brandt's straggling trail! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +Colonel Zane paced to and fro on the porch. His genial smile had not +returned; he was grave and somber. Information had just reached him +that Jonathan had hailed from the island, and that one of the settlers +had started across the river in a boat. + +Betty came out accompanied by Mrs. Zane. + +"What's this I hear?" asked Betty, flashing an anxious glance toward +the river. "Has Jack really come in?" + +"Yes," replied the colonel, pointing to a throng of men on the river +bank. + +"Now there'll be trouble," said Mrs. Zane nervously. "I wish with all +my heart Brandt had not thrown himself, as he called it, on +your mercy." + +"So do I," declared Colonel Zane. + +"What will be done?" she asked. "There! that's Jack! Silas has hold of +his arm." + +"He's lame. He has been hurt," replied her husband. + +A little procession of men and boys followed the borderman from the +river, and from the cabins appeared the settlers and their wives. But +there was no excitement except among the children. The crowd filed +into the colonel's yard behind Jonathan and Silas. + +Colonel Zane silently greeted his brother with an iron grip of the +hand which was more expressive than words. No unusual sight was it to +see the borderman wet, ragged, bloody, worn with long marches, +hollow-eyed and gloomy; yet he had never before presented such an +appearance at Fort Henry. Betty ran forward, and, though she clasped +his arm, shrank back. There was that in the borderman's presence to +cause fear. + +"Wetzel?" Jonathan cried sharply. + +The colonel raised both hands, palms open, and returned his brother's +keen glance. Then he spoke. "Lew hasn't come in. He chased Brandt +across the river. That's all I know." + +"Brandt's here, then?" hissed the borderman. + +The colonel nodded gloomily. + +"Where?" + +"In the long room over the fort. I locked him in there." + +"Why did he come here?" + +Colonel Zane shrugged his shoulders. "It's beyond me. He said he'd +rather place himself in my hands than be run down by Wetzel or you. He +didn't crawl; I'll say that for him. He just said, 'I'm your +prisoner.' He's in pretty bad shape; barked over the temple, lame in +one foot, cut under the arm, starved and worn out." + +"Take me to him," said the borderman, and he threw his rifle on a +bench. + +"Very well. Come along," replied the colonel. He frowned at those +following them. "Here, you women, clear out!" But they did not +obey him. + +It was a sober-faced group that marched in through the big stockade +gate, under the huge, bulging front of the fort, and up the rough +stairway. Colonel Zane removed a heavy bar from before a door, and +thrust it open with his foot. The long guardroom brilliantly lighted +by sunshine coming through the portholes, was empty save for a ragged +man lying on a bench. + +The noise aroused him; he sat up, and then slowly labored to his feet. +It was the same flaring, wild-eyed Brandt, only fiercer and more +haggard. He wore a bloody bandage round his head. When he saw the +borderman he backed, with involuntary, instinctive action, against the +wall, yet showed no fear. + +In the dark glance Jonathan shot at Brandt shone a pitiless +implacability; no scorn, nor hate, nor passion, but something which, +had it not been so terrible, might have been justice. + +"I think Wetzel was hurt in the fight with Legget," said Jonathan +deliberately, "an' ask if you know?" + +"I believe he was," replied Brandt readily. "I was asleep when he +jumped us, and was awakened by the Indian's yell. Wetzel must have +taken a snap shot at me as I was getting up, which accounts, probably, +for my being alive. I fell, but did not lose consciousness. I heard +Wetzel and Legget fighting, and at last struggled to my feet. Although +dizzy and bewildered, I could see to shoot; but missed. For a long +time, it seemed to me, I watched that terrible fight, and then ran, +finally reaching the river, where I recovered somewhat." + +"Did you see Wetzel again?" + +"Once, about a quarter of a mile behind me. He was staggering along on +my trail." + +At this juncture there was a commotion among the settlers crowding +behind Colonel Zane and Jonathan, and Helen Sheppard appeared, white, +with her big eyes strangely dilated. + +"Oh!" she cried breathlessly, clasping both hands around Jonathan's +arm. "I'm not too late? You're not going to----" + +"Helen, this is no place for you," said Colonel Zane sternly. "This is +business for men. You must not interfere." + +Helen gazed at him, at Brandt, and then up at the borderman. She did +not loose his arm. + +"Outside some one told me you intended to shoot him. Is it true?" + +Colonel Zane evaded the searching gaze of those strained, brilliant +eyes. Nor did he answer. + +As Helen stepped slowly back a hush fell upon the crowd. The +whispering, the nervous coughing, and shuffling of feet, ceased. + +In those around her Helen saw the spirit of the border. Colonel Zane +and Silas wore the same look, cold, hard, almost brutal. The women +were strangely grave. Nellie Douns' sweet face seemed changed; there +was pity, even suffering on it, but no relenting. Even Betty's face, +always so warm, piquant, and wholesome, had taken on a shade of doubt, +of gloom, of something almost sullen, which blighted its dark beauty. +What hurt Helen most cruelly was the borderman's glittering eyes. + +She fought against a shuddering weakness which threatened to overcome +her. + +"Whose prisoner is Brandt?" she asked of Colonel Zane. + +"He gave himself up to me, naturally, as I am in authority here," +replied the colonel. "But that signifies little. I can do no less than +abide by Jonathan's decree, which, after all, is the decree of +the border." + +"And that is?" + +"Death to outlaws and renegades." + +"But cannot you spare him?" implored Helen. "I know he is a bad man; +but he might become a better one. It seems like murder to me. To kill +him in cold blood, wounded, suffering as he is, when he claimed your +mercy. Oh! it is dreadful!" + +The usually kind-hearted colonel, soft as wax in the hands of a girl, +was now colder and harder than flint. + +"It is useless," he replied curtly. "I am sorry for you. We all +understand your feelings, that yours are not the principles of the +border. If you had lived long here you could appreciate what these +outlaws and renegades have done to us. This man is a hardened +criminal; he is a thief, a murderer." + +"He did not kill Mordaunt," replied Helen quickly. "I saw him draw +first and attack Brandt." + +"No matter. Come, Helen, cease. No more of this," Colonel Zane cried +with impatience. + +"But I will not!" exclaimed Helen, with ringing voice and flashing +eye. She turned to her girl friends and besought them to intercede for +the outlaw. But Nell only looked sorrowfully on, while Betty met her +appealing glance with a fire in her eyes that was no dim reflection of +her brother's. + +"Then I must make my appeal to you," said Helen, facing the borderman. +There could be no mistaking how she regarded him. Respect, honor and +love breathed from every line of her beautiful face. + +"Why do you want him to go free?" demanded Jonathan. "You told me to +kill him." + +"Oh, I know. But I was not in my right mind. Listen to me, please. He +must have been very different once; perhaps had sisters. For their +sake give him another chance. I know he has a better nature. I feared +him, hated him, scorned him, as if he were a snake, yet he saved me +from that monster Legget!" + +"For himself!" + +"Well, yes, I can't deny that. But he could have ruined me, wrecked +me, yet he did not. At least, he meant marriage by me. He said if I +would marry him he would flee over the border and be an honest man." + +"Have you no other reason?" + +"Yes." Helen's bosom swelled and a glory shone in her splendid eyes. +"The other reason is, my own happiness!" + +Plain to all, if not through her words, from the light in her eyes, +that she could not love a man who was a party to what she considered +injustice. + +The borderman's white face became flaming red. + +It was difficult to refuse this glorious girl any sacrifice she +demanded for the sake of the love so openly avowed. + +Sweetly and pityingly she turned to Brandt: "Will not you help me?" + +"Lass, if it were for me you were asking my life I'd swear it yours +for always, and I'd be a man," he replied with bitterness; "but not to +save my soul would I ask anything of him." + +The giant passions, hate and jealousy, flamed in his gray eyes. + +"If I persuade them to release you, will you go away, leave this +country, and never come back?" + +"I'll promise that, lass, and honestly," he replied. + +She wheeled toward Jonathan, and now the rosy color chased the pallor +from her cheeks. + +"Jack, do you remember when we parted at my home; when you left on +this terrible trail, now ended, thank God! Do you remember what an +ordeal that was for me? Must I go through it again?" + +Bewitchingly sweet she was then, with the girlish charm of coquetry +almost lost in the deeper, stranger power of the woman. + +The borderman drew his breath sharply; then he wrapped his long arms +closely round her. She, understanding that victory was hers, sank +weeping upon his breast. For a moment he bowed his face over her, and +when he lifted it the dark and terrible gloom had gone. + +"Eb, let him go, an' at once," ordered Jonathan. "Give him a rifle, +some meat, an' a canoe, for he can't travel, an' turn him loose. Only +be quick about it, because if Wetzel comes in, God himself couldn't +save the outlaw." + +It was an indescribable glance that Brandt cast upon the tearful face +of the girl who had saved his life. But without a word he followed +Colonel Zane from the room. + +The crowd slowly filed down the steps. Betty and Nell lingered behind, +their eyes beaming through happy tears. Jonathan, long so cold, showed +evidence of becoming as quick and passionate a lover as he had been a +borderman. At least, Helen had to release herself from his embrace, +and it was a blushing, tear-stained face she turned to her friends. + +When they reached the stockade gate Colonel Zane was hurrying toward +the river with a bag in one hand, and a rifle and a paddle in the +other. Brandt limped along after him, the two disappearing over the +river bank. + +Betty, Nell, and the lovers went to the edge of the bluff. + +They saw Colonel Zane choose a canoe from among a number on the beach. +He launched it, deposited the bag in the bottom, handed the rifle and +paddle to Brandt, and wheeled about. + +The outlaw stepped aboard, and, pushing off slowly, drifted down and +out toward mid-stream. When about fifty yards from shore he gave a +quick glance around, and ceased paddling. His face gleamed white, and +his eyes glinted like bits of steel in the sun. + +Suddenly he grasped the rifle, and, leveling it with the swiftness of +thought, fired at Jonathan. + +The borderman saw the act, even from the beginning, and must have read +the outlaw's motive, for as the weapon flashed he dropped flat on the +bank. The bullet sang harmlessly over him, imbedding itself in the +stockade fence with a distinct thud. + +The girls were so numb with horror that they could not even scream. + +Colonel Zane swore lustily. "Where's my gun? Get me a gun. Oh! What +did I tell you?" + +"Look!" cried Jonathan as he rose to his feet. + +Upon the sand-bar opposite stood a tall, dark, familiar figure. + +"By all that's holy, Wetzel!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. + +They saw the giant borderman raise a long, black rifle, which wavered +and fell, and rose again. A little puff of white smoke leaped out, +accompanied by a clear, stinging report. + +Brandt dropped the paddle he had hurriedly begun plying after his +traitor's act. His white face was turned toward the shore as it sank +forward to rest at last upon the gunwale of the canoe. Then his body +slowly settled, as if seeking repose. His hand trailed outside in the +water, drooping inert and lifeless. The little craft drifted +down stream. + +"You see, Helen, it had to be," said Colonel Zane gently. "What a +dastard! A long shot, Jack! Fate itself must have glanced down the +sights of Wetzel's rifle." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A year rolled round; once again Indian summer veiled the golden fields +and forests in a soft, smoky haze. Once more from the opal-blue sky of +autumn nights, shone the great white stars, and nature seemed wrapped +in a melancholy hush. + +November the third was the anniversary of a memorable event on the +frontier--the marriage of the younger borderman. + +Colonel Zane gave it the name of "Independence Day," and arranged a +holiday, a feast and dance where all the settlement might meet in +joyful thankfulness for the first year of freedom on the border. + +With the wiping out of Legget's fierce band, the yoke of the renegades +and outlaws was thrown off forever. Simon Girty migrated to Canada and +lived with a few Indians who remained true to him. His confederates +slowly sank into oblivion. The Shawnee tribe sullenly retreated +westward, far into the interior of Ohio; the Delawares buried the war +hatchet, and smoked the pipe of peace they had ever before refused. +For them the dark, mysterious, fatal wind had ceased to moan along the +trails, or sigh through tree-tops over lonely Indian camp-fires. + +The beautiful Ohio valley had been wrested from the savages and from +those parasites who for years had hung around the necks of the +red men. + +This day was the happiest of Colonel Zane's life. The task he had set +himself, and which he had hardly ever hoped to see completed, was +ended. The West had been won. What Boone achieved in Kentucky he had +accomplished in Ohio and West Virginia. + +The feast was spread on the colonel's lawn. Every man, woman and child +in the settlement was there. Isaac Zane, with his Indian wife and +child, had come from the far-off Huron town. Pioneers from Yellow +Creek and eastward to Fort Pitt attended. The spirit of the occasion +manifested itself in such joyousness as had never before been +experienced in Fort Henry. The great feast was equal to the event. +Choice cuts of beef and venison, savory viands, wonderful loaves of +bread and great plump pies, sweet cider and old wine, delighted the +merry party. + +"Friends, neighbors, dear ones," said Colonel Zane, "my heart is +almost too full for speech. This occasion, commemorating the day of +our freedom on the border, is the beginning of the reward for stern +labor, hardship, silenced hearths of long, relentless years. I did not +think I'd live to see it. The seed we have sown has taken root; in +years to come, perhaps, a great people will grow up on these farms we +call our homes. And as we hope those coming afterward will remember +us, we should stop a moment to think of the heroes who have gone +before. Many there are whose names will never be written on the roll +of fame, whose graves will be unmarked in history. But we who worked, +fought, bled beside them, who saw them die for those they left behind, +will render them all justice, honor and love. To them we give the +victory. They were true; then let us, who begin to enjoy the freedom, +happiness and prosperity they won with their lives, likewise be true +in memory of them, in deed to ourselves, and in grace to God." + +By no means the least of the pleasant features of this pleasant day +was the fact that three couples blushingly presented themselves before +the colonel, and confided to him their sudden conclusions in regard +to the felicitousness of the moment. The happy colonel raced around +until he discovered Jim Douns, the minister, and there amid the merry +throng he gave the brides away, being the first to kiss them. + +It was late in the afternoon when the villagers dispersed to their +homes and left the colonel to his own circle. With his strong, dark +face beaming, he mounted the old porch step. + +"Where are my Zane babies?" he asked. "Ah! here you are! Did anybody +ever see anything to beat that? Four wonderful babies! Mother, here's +your Daniel--if you'd only named him Eb! Silas, come for Silas junior, +bad boy that he is. Isaac, take your Indian princess; ah! little +Myeerah with the dusky face. Woe be to him who looks into those eyes +when you come to age. Jack, here's little Jonathan, the last of the +bordermen; he, too, has beautiful eyes, big like his mother's. Ah! +well, I don't believe I have left a wish, unless----" + +"Unless?" suggested Betty with her sweet smile. + +"It might be----" he said and looked at her. + +Betty's warm cheek was close to his as she whispered: "Dear Eb!" The +rest only the colonel heard. + +"Well! By all that's glorious!" he exclaimed, and attempted to seize +her; but with burning face Betty fled. + + * * * * * + +"Jack, dear, how the leaves are falling!" exclaimed Helen. "See them +floating and whirling. It reminds me of the day I lay a prisoner in +the forest glade praying, waiting for you." + +The borderman was silent. + +They passed down the sandy lane under the colored maple trees, to a +new cottage on the hillside. + +"I am perfectly happy to-day," continued Helen. "Everybody seems to be +content, except you. For the first time in weeks I see that shade on +your face, that look in your eyes. Jack, you do not regret the +new life?" + +"My love, no, a thousand times no," he answered, smiling down into her +eyes. They were changing, shadowing with thought; bright as in other +days, and with an added beauty. The wilful spirit had been softened +by love. + +"Ah, I know, you miss the old friend." + +The yellow thicket on the slope opened to let out a tall, dark man who +came down with lithe and springy stride. + +"Jack, it's Wetzel!" said Helen softly. + +No words were spoken as the comrades gripped hands. + +"Let me see the boy?" asked Wetzel, turning to Helen. + +Little Jonathan blinked up at the grave borderman with great round +eyes, and pulled with friendly, chubby fingers at the fringed +buckskin coat. + +"When you're a man the forest trails will be corn fields," muttered +Wetzel. + +The bordermen strolled together up the brown hillside, and wandered +along the river bluff. The air was cool; in the west the ruddy light +darkened behind bold hills; a blue mist streaming in the valley shaded +into gray as twilight fell. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last Trail, by Zane Grey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST TRAIL *** + +***** This file should be named 9932.txt or 9932.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/3/9932/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Audrey Longhurst, Tom Allen and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Last Trail + +Author: Zane Grey + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9932] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 1, 2003] +[Date last updated: July 1, 2004] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST TRAIL *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Audrey Longhurst, Tom Allen +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +ZANE GREY + +The Last Trail + +MCMIX + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Twilight of a certain summer day, many years ago, shaded softly down +over the wild Ohio valley bringing keen anxiety to a traveler on the +lonely river trail. He had expected to reach Fort Henry with his party +on this night, thus putting a welcome end to the long, rough, +hazardous journey through the wilderness; but the swift, on-coming +dusk made it imperative to halt. The narrow, forest-skirted trail, +difficult to follow in broad daylight, apparently led into gloomy +aisles in the woods. His guide had abandoned him that morning, making +excuse that his services were no longer needed; his teamster was new +to the frontier, and, altogether, the situation caused him much +uneasiness. + +"I wouldn't so much mind another night in camp, if the guide had not +left us," he said in a low tone to the teamster. + +That worthy shook his shaggy head, and growled while he began +unhitching the horses. + +"Uncle," said a young man, who had clambered out from the wagon, "we +must be within a few miles of Fort Henry." + +"How d'ye know we're near the fort?" interrupted the teamster, "or +safe, either, fer thet matter? I don't know this country." + +"The guide assured me we could easily make Fort Henry by sundown." + +"Thet guide! I tell ye, Mr. Sheppard----" + +"Not so loud. Do not alarm my daughter," cautioned the man who had +been called Sheppard. + +"Did ye notice anythin' queer about thet guide?" asked the teamster, +lowering his voice. "Did ye see how oneasy he was last night? Did it +strike ye he left us in a hurry, kind of excited like, in spite of his +offhand manner?" + +"Yes, he acted odd, or so it seemed to me," replied Sheppard. "How +about you, Will?" + +"Now that I think of it, I believe he was queer. He behaved like a man +who expected somebody, or feared something might happen. I fancied, +however, that it was simply the manner of a woodsman." + +"Wal, I hev my opinion," said the teamster, in a gruff whisper. "Ye +was in a hurry to be a-goin', an' wouldn't take no advice. The +fur-trader at Fort Pitt didn't give this guide Jenks no good send off. +Said he wasn't well-known round Pitt, 'cept he could handle a +knife some." + +"What is your opinion?" asked Sheppard, as the teamster paused. + +"Wal, the valley below Pitt is full of renegades, outlaws an' +hoss-thieves. The redskins ain't so bad as they used to be, but these +white fellers are wusser'n ever. This guide Jenks might be in with +them, that's all. Mebbe I'm wrong. I hope so. The way he left us +looks bad." + +"We won't borrow trouble. If we have come all this way without seeing +either Indian or outlaw--in fact, without incident--I feel certain we +can perform the remainder of the journey in safety." Then Mr. Sheppard +raised his voice. "Here, Helen, you lazy girl, come out of that wagon. +We want some supper. Will, you gather some firewood, and we'll soon +give this gloomy little glen a more cheerful aspect." + +As Mr. Sheppard turned toward the canvas-covered wagon a girl leaped +lightly down beside him. She was nearly as tall as he. + +"Is this Fort Henry?" she asked, cheerily, beginning to dance around +him. "Where's the inn? I'm _so_ hungry. How glad I am to get out of +that wagon! I'd like to run. Isn't this a lonesome, lovely spot?" + +A camp-fire soon crackled with hiss and sputter, and fragrant +wood-smoke filled the air. Steaming kettle, and savory steaks of +venison cheered the hungry travelers, making them forget for the time +the desertion of their guide and the fact that they might be lost. The +last glow faded entirely out of the western sky. Night enveloped the +forest, and the little glade was a bright spot in the gloom. + +The flickering light showed Mr. Sheppard to be a well-preserved old +man with gray hair and ruddy, kindly face. The nephew had a boyish, +frank expression. The girl was a splendid specimen of womanhood. Her +large, laughing eyes were as dark as the shadows beneath the trees. + +Suddenly a quick start on Helen's part interrupted the merry flow of +conversation. She sat bolt upright with half-averted face. + +"Cousin, what is the matter?" asked Will, quickly. + +Helen remained motionless. + +"My dear," said Mr. Sheppard sharply. + +"I heard a footstep," she whispered, pointing with trembling finger +toward the impenetrable blackness beyond the camp-fire. + +All could hear a soft patter on the leaves. Then distinct footfalls +broke the silence. + +The tired teamster raised his shaggy head and glanced fearfully around +the glade. Mr. Sheppard and Will gazed doubtfully toward the foliage; +but Helen did not change her position. The travelers appeared stricken +by the silence and solitude of the place. The faint hum of insects, +and the low moan of the night wind, seemed accentuated by the almost +painful stillness. + +"A panther, most likely," suggested Sheppard, in a voice which he +intended should be reassuring. "I saw one to-day slinking along +the trail." + +"I'd better get my gun from the wagon," said Will. + +"How dark and wild it is here!" exclaimed Helen nervously. "I believe +I was frightened. Perhaps I fancied it--there! Again--listen. Ah!" + +Two tall figures emerged from the darkness into the circle of light, +and with swift, supple steps gained the camp-fire before any of the +travelers had time to move. They were Indians, and the brandishing of +their tomahawks proclaimed that they were hostile. + +"Ugh!" grunted the taller savage, as he looked down upon the +defenseless, frightened group. + +As the menacing figures stood in the glare of the fire gazing at the +party with shifty eyes, they presented a frightful appearance. Fierce +lineaments, all the more so because of bars of paint, the hideous, +shaven heads adorned with tufts of hair holding a single feather, +sinewy, copper-colored limbs suggestive of action and endurance, the +general aspect of untamed ferocity, appalled the travelers and chilled +their blood. + +Grunts and chuckles manifested the satisfaction with which the Indians +fell upon the half-finished supper. They caused it to vanish with +astonishing celerity, and resembled wolves rather than human beings in +their greediness. + +Helen looked timidly around as if hoping to see those who would aid, +and the savages regarded her with ill humor. A movement on the part of +any member of the group caused muscular hands to steal toward the +tomahawks. + +Suddenly the larger savage clutched his companion's knee. Then lifting +his hatchet, shook it with a significant gesture in Sheppard's face, +at the same time putting a finger on his lips to enjoin silence. Both +Indians became statuesque in their immobility. They crouched in an +attitude of listening, with heads bent on one side, nostrils dilated, +and mouths open. + +One, two, three moments passed. The silence of the forest appeared to +be unbroken; but ears as keen as those of a deer had detected some +sound. The larger savage dropped noiselessly to the ground, where he +lay stretched out with his ear to the ground. The other remained +immovable; only his beady eyes gave signs of life, and these covered +every point. + +Finally the big savage rose silently, pointed down the dark trail, and +strode out of the circle of light. His companion followed close at his +heels. The two disappeared in the black shadows like specters, as +silently as they had come. + +"Well!" breathed Helen. + +"I am immensely relieved!" exclaimed Will. + +"What do you make of such strange behavior?" Sheppard asked of the +teamster. + +"I'spect they got wind of somebody; most likely thet guide, an'll be +back again. If they ain't, it's because they got switched off by some +signs or tokens, skeered, perhaps, by the scent of the wind." + +Hardly had he ceased speaking when again the circle of light was +invaded by stalking forms. + +"I thought so! Here comes the skulkin' varmints," whispered the +teamster. + +But he was wrong. A deep, calm voice spoke the single word: "Friends." + +Two men in the brown garb of woodsmen approached. One approached the +travelers; the other remained in the background, leaning upon a long, +black rifle. + +Thus exposed to the glare of the flames, the foremost woodsman +presented a singularly picturesque figure. His costume was the fringed +buckskins of the border. Fully six feet tall, this lithe-limbed young +giant had something of the wild, free grace of the Indian in +his posture. + +He surveyed the wondering travelers with dark, grave eyes. + +"Did the reddys do any mischief?" he asked. + +"No, they didn't harm us," replied Sheppard. "They ate our supper, +and slipped off into the woods without so much as touching one of us. +But, indeed, sir, we are mighty glad to see you." + +Will echoed this sentiment, and Helen's big eyes were fastened upon +the stranger in welcome and wonder. + +"We saw your fire blazin' through the twilight, an' came up just in +time to see the Injuns make off." + +"Might they not hide in the bushes and shoot us?" asked Will, who had +listened to many a border story at Fort Pitt. "It seems as if we'd +make good targets in this light." + +The gravity of the woodsman's face relaxed. + +"You will pursue them?" asked Helen. + +"They've melted into the night-shadows long ago," he replied. "Who was +your guide?" + +"I hired him at Fort Pitt. He left us suddenly this morning. A big +man, with black beard and bushy eyebrows. A bit of his ear had been +shot or cut out," Sheppard replied. + +"Jenks, one of Bing Legget's border-hawks." + +"You have his name right. And who may Bing Legget be?" + +"He's an outlaw. Jenks has been tryin' to lead you into a trap. Likely +he expected those Injuns to show up a day or two ago. Somethin' went +wrong with the plan, I reckon. Mebbe he was waitin' for five Shawnees, +an' mebbe he'll never see three of 'em again." + +Something suggestive, cold, and grim, in the last words did not escape +the listeners. + +"How far are we from Fort Henry?" asked Sheppard. + +"Eighteen miles as a crow flies; longer by trail." + +"Treachery!" exclaimed the old man. "We were no more than that this +morning. It is indeed fortunate that you found us. I take it you are +from Fort Henry, and will guide us there? I am an old friend of +Colonel Zane's. He will appreciate any kindness you may show us. Of +course you know him?" + +"I am Jonathan Zane." + +Sheppard suddenly realized that he was facing the most celebrated +scout on the border. In Revolutionary times Zane's fame had extended +even to the far Atlantic Colonies. + +"And your companion?" asked Sheppard with keen interest. He guessed +what might be told. Border lore coupled Jonathan Zane with a strange +and terrible character, a border Nemesis, a mysterious, shadowy, +elusive man, whom few pioneers ever saw, but of whom all knew. + +"Wetzel," answered Zane. + +With one accord the travelers gazed curiously at Zane's silent +companion. In the dim background of the glow cast by the fire, he +stood a gigantic figure, dark, quiet, and yet with something +intangible in his shadowy outline. + +Suddenly he appeared to merge into the gloom as if he really were a +phantom. A warning, "Hist!" came from the bushes. + +With one swift kick Zane scattered the camp-fire. + +The travelers waited with bated breaths. They could hear nothing save +the beating of their own hearts; they could not even see each other. + +"Better go to sleep," came in Zane's calm voice. What a relief it was! +"We'll keep watch, an' at daybreak guide you to Fort Henry." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Colonel Zane, a rugged, stalwart pioneer, with a strong, dark face, +sat listening to his old friend's dramatic story. At its close a +genial smile twinkled in his fine dark eyes. + +"Well, well, Sheppard, no doubt it was a thrilling adventure to you," +he said. "It might have been a little more interesting, and doubtless +would, had I not sent Wetzel and Jonathan to look you up." + +"You did? How on earth did you know I was on the border? I counted +much on the surprise I should give you." + +"My Indian runners leave Fort Pitt ahead of any travelers, and +acquaint me with particulars." + +"I remembered a fleet-looking Indian who seemed to be asking for +information about us, when we arrived at Fort Pitt. I am sorry I did +not take the fur-trader's advice in regard to the guide. But I was in +such a hurry to come, and didn't feel able to bear the expense of a +raft or boat that we might come by river. My nephew brought +considerable gold, and I all my earthly possessions." + +"All's well that ends well," replied Colonel Zane cheerily. "But we +must thank Providence that Wetzel and Jonathan came up in the nick +of time." + +"Indeed, yes. I'm not likely to forget those fierce savages. How they +slipped off into the darkness! I wonder if Wetzel pursued them? He +disappeared last night, and we did not see him again. In fact we +hardly had a fair look at him. I question if I should recognize him +now, unless by his great stature." + +"He was ahead of Jonathan on the trail. That is Wetzel's way. In times +of danger he is seldom seen, yet is always near. But come, let us go +out and look around. I am running up a log cabin which will come in +handy for you." + +They passed out into the shade of pine and maples. A winding path led +down a gentle slope. On the hillside under a spreading tree a throng +of bearded pioneers, clad in faded buckskins and wearing white-ringed +coonskin caps, were erecting a log cabin. + +"Life here on the border is keen, hard, invigorating," said Colonel +Zane. "I tell you, George Sheppard, in spite of your gray hair and +your pretty daughter, you have come out West because you want to live +among men who do things." + +"Colonel, I won't gainsay I've still got hot blood," replied Sheppard; +"but I came to Fort Henry for land. My old home in Williamsburg has +fallen into ruin together with the fortunes of my family. I brought my +daughter and my nephew because I wanted them to take root in +new soil." + +"Well, George, right glad we are to have you. Where are your sons? I +remember them, though 'tis sixteen long years since I left old +Williamsburg." + +"Gone. The Revolution took my sons. Helen is the last of the family." + +"Well, well, indeed that's hard. Independence has cost you colonists +as big a price as border-freedom has us pioneers. Come, old friend, +forget the past. A new life begins for you here, and it will be one +which gives you much. See, up goes a cabin; that will soon be +your home." + +Sheppard's eye marked the sturdy pioneers and a fast diminishing pile +of white-oak logs. + +"Ho-heave!" cried a brawny foreman. + +A dozen stout shoulders sagged beneath a well-trimmed log. + +"Ho-heave!" yelled the foreman. + +"See, up she goes," cried the colonel, "and to-morrow night she'll +shed rain." + +They walked down a sandy lane bounded on the right by a wide, green +clearing, and on the left by a line of chestnuts and maples, outposts +of the thick forests beyond. + +"Yours is a fine site for a house," observed Sheppard, taking in the +clean-trimmed field that extended up the hillside, a brook that +splashed clear and noisy over the stones to tarry in a little +grass-bound lake which forced water through half-hollowed logs into a +spring house. + +"I think so; this is the fourth time I've put up a' cabin on this +land," replied the colonel. + +"How's that?" + +"The redskins are keen to burn things." + +Sheppard laughed at the pioneer's reply. "It's not difficult, Colonel +Zane, to understand why Fort Henry has stood all these years, with you +as its leader. Certainly the location for your cabin is the finest in +the settlement. What a view!" + +High upon a bluff overhanging the majestic, slow-winding Ohio, the +colonel's cabin afforded a commanding position from which to view the +picturesque valley. Sheppard's eye first caught the outline of the +huge, bold, time-blackened fort which frowned protectingly over +surrounding log-cabins; then he saw the wide-sweeping river with its +verdant islands, golden, sandy bars, and willow-bordered shores, while +beyond, rolling pastures of wavy grass merging into green forests that +swept upward with slow swell until lost in the dim purple of distant +mountains. + +"Sixteen years ago I came out of the thicket upon yonder bluff, and +saw this valley. I was deeply impressed by its beauty, but more by its +wonderful promise." + +"Were you alone?" + +"I and my dog. There had been a few white men before me on the river; +but I was the first to see this glorious valley from the bluff. Now, +George, I'll let you have a hundred acres of well-cleared land. The +soil is so rich you can raise two crops in one season. With some +stock, and a few good hands, you'll soon be a busy man." + +"I didn't expect so much land; I can't well afford to pay for it." + +"Talk to me of payment when the farm yields an income. Is this young +nephew of yours strong and willing?" + +"He is, and has gold enough to buy a big farm." + +"Let him keep his money, and make a comfortable home for some good +lass. We marry our young people early out here. And your daughter, +George, is she fitted for this hard border life?" + +"Never fear for Helen." + +"The brunt of this pioneer work falls on our women. God bless them, +how heroic they've been! The life here is rough for a man, let alone a +woman. But it is a man's game. We need girls, girls who will bear +strong men. Yet I am always saddened when I see one come out on +the border." + +"I think I knew what I was bringing Helen to, and she didn't flinch," +said Sheppard, somewhat surprised at the tone in which the +colonel spoke. + +"No one knows until he has lived on the border. Well, well, all this +is discouraging to you. Ah! here is Miss Helen with my sister." + +The colonel's fine, dark face lost its sternness, and brightened with +a smile. + +"I hope you rested well after your long ride." + +"I am seldom tired, and I have been made most comfortable. I thank you +and your sister," replied the girl, giving Colonel Zane her hand, and +including both him and his sister in her grateful glance. + +The colonel's sister was a slender, handsome young woman, whose dark +beauty showed to most effective advantage by the contrast with her +companion's fair skin, golden hair, and blue eyes. + +Beautiful as was Helen Sheppard, it was her eyes that held Colonel +Zane irresistibly. They were unusually large, of a dark purple-blue +that changed, shaded, shadowed with her every thought. + +"Come, let us walk," Colonel Zane said abruptly, and, with Mr. +Sheppard, followed the girls down the path. He escorted them to the +fort, showed a long room with little squares cut in the rough-hewn +logs, many bullet holes, fire-charred timbers, and dark stains, +terribly suggestive of the pain and heroism which the defense of that +rude structure had cost. + +Under Helen's eager questioning Colonel Zane yielded to his weakness +for story-telling, and recited the history of the last siege of Fort +Henry; how the renegade Girty swooped down upon the settlement with +hundreds of Indians and British soldiers; how for three days of +whistling bullets, flaming arrows, screeching demons, fire, smoke, and +attack following attack, the brave defenders stood at their posts, +there to die before yielding. + +"Grand!" breathed Helen, and her eyes glowed. "It was then Betty Zane +ran with the powder? Oh! I've heard the story." + +"Let my sister tell you of that," said the colonel, smiling. + +"You! Was it you?" And Helen's eyes glowed brighter with the light of +youth's glory in great deeds. + +"My sister has been wedded and widowed since then," said Colonel Zane, +reading in Helen's earnest scrutiny of his sister's calm, sad face a +wonder if this quiet woman could be the fearless and famed +Elizabeth Zane. + +Impulsively Helen's hand closed softly over her companion's. Out of +the girlish sympathetic action a warm friendship was born. + +"I imagine things do happen here," said Mr. Sheppard, hoping to hear +more from Colonel Zane. + +The colonel smiled grimly. + +"Every summer during fifteen years has been a bloody one on the +border. The sieges of Fort Henry, and Crawford's defeat, the biggest +things we ever knew out here, are matters of history; of course you +are familiar with them. But the numberless Indian forays and attacks, +the women who have been carried into captivity by renegades, the +murdered farmers, in fact, ceaseless war never long directed at any +point, but carried on the entire length of the river, are matters +known only to the pioneers. Within five miles of Fort Henry I can show +you where the laurel bushes grow three feet high over the ashes of two +settlements, and many a clearing where some unfortunate pioneer had +staked his claim and thrown up a log cabin, only to die fighting for +his wife and children. Between here and Fort Pitt there is only one +settlement, Yellow Creek, and most of its inhabitants are survivors of +abandoned villages farther up the river. Last summer we had the +Moravian Massacre, the blackest, most inhuman deed ever committed. +Since then Simon Girty and his bloody redskins have lain low." + +"You must always have had a big force," said Sheppard. + +"We've managed always to be strong enough, though there never were a +large number of men here. During the last siege I had only forty in +the fort, counting men, women and boys. But I had pioneers and women +who could handle a rifle, and the best bordermen on the frontier." + +"Do you make a distinction between pioneers and bordermen?" asked +Sheppard. + +"Indeed, yes. I am a pioneer; a borderman is an Indian hunter, or +scout. For years my cabins housed Andrew Zane, Sam and John McCollock, +Bill Metzar, and John and Martin Wetzel, all of whom are dead. Not one +saved his scalp. Fort Henry is growing; it has pioneers, rivermen, +soldiers, but only two bordermen. Wetzel and Jonathan are the only +ones we have left of those great men." + +"They must be old," mused Helen, with a dreamy glow still in her eyes. + +"Well, Miss Helen, not in years, as you mean. Life here is old in +experience; few pioneers, and no bordermen, live to a great age. +Wetzel is about forty, and my brother Jonathan still a young man; but +both are old in border lore." + +Earnestly, as a man who loves his subject, Colonel Zane told his +listeners of these two most prominent characters of the border. +Sixteen years previously, when but boys in years, they had cast in +their lot with his, and journeyed over the Virginian Mountains, Wetzel +to devote his life to the vengeful calling he had chosen, and Jonathan +to give rein to an adventurous spirit and love of the wilds. By some +wonderful chance, by cunning, woodcraft, or daring, both men had lived +through the years of border warfare which had brought to a close the +careers of all their contemporaries. + +For many years Wetzel preferred solitude to companionship; he roamed +the wilderness in pursuit of Indians, his life-long foes, and seldom +appeared at the settlement except to bring news of an intended raid of +the savages. Jonathan also spent much time alone in the woods, or +scouting along the river. But of late years a friendship had ripened +between the two bordermen. Mutual interest had brought them together +on the trail of a noted renegade, and when, after many long days of +patient watching and persistent tracking, the outlaw paid an awful +penalty for his bloody deeds, these lone and silent men were friends. + +Powerful in build, fleet as deer, fearless and tireless, Wetzel's +peculiar bloodhound sagacity, ferocity, and implacability, balanced by +Jonathan's keen intelligence and judgment caused these bordermen to +become the bane of redmen and renegades. Their fame increased with +each succeeding summer, until now the people of the settlement looked +upon wonderful deeds of strength and of woodcraft as a matter of +course, rejoicing in the power and skill with which these men +were endowed. + +By common consent the pioneers attributed any mysterious deed, from +the finding of a fat turkey on a cabin doorstep, to the discovery of a +savage scalped and pulled from his ambush near a settler's spring, to +Wetzel and Jonathan. All the more did they feel sure of this +conclusion because the bordermen never spoke of their deeds. Sometimes +a pioneer living on the outskirts of the settlement would be awakened +in the morning by a single rifle shot, and on peering out would see a +dead Indian lying almost across his doorstep, while beyond, in the +dim, gray mist, a tall figure stealing away. Often in the twilight on +a summer evening, while fondling his children and enjoying his smoke +after a hard day's labor in the fields, this same settler would see +the tall, dark figure of Jonathan Zane step noiselessly out of a +thicket, and learn that he must take his family and flee at once to +the fort for safety. When a settler was murdered, his children carried +into captivity by Indians, and the wife given over to the power of +some brutal renegade, tragedies wofully frequent on the border, Wetzel +and Jonathan took the trail alone. Many a white woman was returned +alive and, sometimes, unharmed to her relatives; more than one maiden +lived to be captured, rescued, and returned to her lover, while almost +numberless were the bones of brutal redmen lying in the deep and +gloomy woods, or bleaching on the plains, silent, ghastly reminders of +the stern justice meted out by these two heroes. + +"Such are my two bordermen, Miss Sheppard. The fort there, and all +these cabins, would be only black ashes, save for them, and as for us, +our wives and children--God only knows." + +"Haven't they wives and children, too?" asked Helen. + +"No," answered Colonel Zane, with his genial smile. "Such joys are not +for bordermen." + +"Why not? Fine men like them deserve happiness," declared Helen. + +"It is necessary we have such," said the colonel simply, "and they +cannot be bordermen unless free as the air blows. Wetzel and Jonathan +have never had sweethearts. I believe Wetzel loved a lass once; but he +was an Indian-killer whose hands were red with blood. He silenced his +heart, and kept to his chosen, lonely life. Jonathan does not seem to +realize that women exist to charm, to please, to be loved and married. +Once we twitted him about his brothers doing their duty by the border, +whereupon he flashed out: 'My life is the border's: my sweetheart is +the North Star!'" + +Helen dreamily watched the dancing, dimpling waves that broke on the +stones of the river shore. All unconscious of the powerful impression +the colonel's recital had made upon her, she was feeling the greatness +of the lives of these bordermen, and the glory it would now be for her +to share with others the pride in their protection. + +"Say, Sheppard, look here," said Colonel Zane, on the return to his +cabin, "that girl of yours has a pair of eyes. I can't forget the way +they flashed! They'll cause more trouble here among my garrison than +would a swarm of redskins." + +"No! You don't mean it! Out here in this wilderness?" queried Sheppard +doubtfully. + +"Well, I do." + +"O Lord! What a time I've had with that girl! There was one man +especially, back home, who made our lives miserable. He was rich and +well born; but Helen would have none of him. He got around me, old +fool that I am! Practically stole what was left of my estate, and +gambled it away when Helen said she'd die before giving herself to +him. It was partly on his account that I brought her away. Then there +were a lot of moon-eyed beggars after her all the time, and she's +young and full of fire. I hoped I'd marry her to some farmer out here, +and end my days in peace." + +"Peace? With eyes like those? Never on this green earth," and Colonel +Zane laughed as he slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry, +old fellow. You can't help her having those changing dark-blue eyes +any more than you can help being proud of them. They have won me, +already, susceptible old backwoodsman! I'll help you with this +spirited young lady. I've had experience, Sheppard, and don't you +forget it. First, my sister, a Zane all through, which is saying +enough. Then as sweet and fiery a little Indian princess as ever +stepped in a beaded moccasin, and since, more than one beautiful, +impulsive creature. Being in authority, I suppose it's natural that +all the work, from keeping the garrison ready against an attack, to +straightening out love affairs, should fall upon me. I'll take the +care off your shoulders; I'll keep these young dare-devils from +killing each other over Miss Helen's favors. I certainly--Hello! There +are strangers at the gate. Something's up." + +Half a dozen rough-looking men had appeared from round the corner of +the cabin, and halted at the gate. + +"Bill Elsing, and some of his men from Yellow Creek," said Colonel +Zane, as he went toward the group. + +"Hullo, Kurnel," was the greeting of the foremost, evidently the +leader. "We've lost six head of hosses over our way, an' are out +lookin' 'em up." + +"The deuce you have! Say, this horse-stealing business is getting +interesting. What did you come in for?" + +"Wal, we meets Jonathan on the ridge about sunup, an' he sent us back +lickety-cut. Said he had two of the hosses corralled, an' mebbe Wetzel +could git the others." + +"That's strange," replied Colonel Zane thoughtfully. + +"'Pears to me Jack and Wetzel hev some redskins treed, an' didn't want +us to spile the fun. Mebbe there wasn't scalps enough to go round. +Anyway, we come in, an' we'll hang up here to-day." + +"Bill, who's doing this horse-stealing?" + +"Damn if I know. It's a mighty pert piece of work. I've a mind it's +some slick white fellar, with Injuns backin' him." + +Helen noted, when she was once more indoors, that Colonel Zane's wife +appeared worried. Her usual placid expression was gone. She put off +the playful overtures of her two bright boys with unusual +indifference, and turned to her husband with anxious questioning as to +whether the strangers brought news of Indians. Upon being assured that +such was not the case, she looked relieved, and explained to Helen +that she had seen armed men come so often to consult the colonel +regarding dangerous missions and expeditions, that the sight of a +stranger caused her unspeakable dread. + +"I am accustomed to danger, yet I can never control my fears for my +husband and children," said Mrs. Zane. "The older I grow the more of a +coward I am. Oh! this border life is sad for women. Only a little +while ago my brother Samuel McColloch was shot and scalped right here +on the river bank. He was going to the spring for a bucket of water. I +lost another brother in almost the same way. Every day during the +summer a husband and a father fall victim to some murderous Indian. My +husband will go in the same way some day. The border claims them all." + +"Bessie, you must not show your fears to our new friend. And, Miss +Helen, don't believe she's the coward she would make out," said the +colonel's sister smilingly. + +"Betty is right, Bess, don't frighten her," said Colonel Zane. "I'm +afraid I talked too much to-day. But, Miss Helen, you were so +interested, and are such a good listener, that I couldn't refrain. +Once for all let me say that you will no doubt see stirring life here; +but there is little danger of its affecting you. To be sure I think +you'll have troubles; but not with Indians or outlaws." + +He winked at his wife and sister. At first Helen did not understand +his sally, but then she blushed red all over her fair face. + +Some time after that, while unpacking her belongings, she heard the +clatter of horses' hoofs on the rocky road, accompanied by loud +voices. Running to the window, she saw a group of men at the gate. + +"Miss Sheppard, will you come out?" called Colonel Zane's sister from +the door. "My brother Jonathan has returned." + +Helen joined Betty at the door, and looked over her shoulder. + +"Wal, Jack, ye got two on 'em, anyways," drawled a voice which she +recognized as that of Elsing's. + +A man, lithe and supple, slipped from the back of one of the horses, +and, giving the halter to Elsing with a single word, turned and +entered the gate. Colonel Zane met him there. + +"Well, Jonathan, what's up?" + +"There's hell to pay," was the reply, and the speaker's voice rang +clear and sharp. + +Colonel Zane laid his hand on his brother's shoulder, and thus they +stood for a moment, singularly alike, and yet the sturdy pioneer was, +somehow, far different from the dark-haired borderman. + +"I thought we'd trouble in store from the look on your face," said the +colonel calmly. "I hope you haven't very bad news on the first day, +for our old friends from Virginia." + +"Jonathan," cried Betty when he did not answer the colonel. At her +call he half turned, and his dark eyes, steady, strained like those of +a watching deer, sought his sister's face. + +"Betty, old Jake Lane was murdered by horse thieves yesterday, and +Mabel Lane is gone." + +"Oh!" gasped Betty; but she said nothing more. + +Colonel Zane cursed inaudibly. + +"You know, Eb, I tried to keep Lane in the settlement for Mabel's +sake. But he wanted to work that farm. I believe horse-stealing wasn't +as much of an object as the girl. Pretty women are bad for the border, +or any other place, I guess. Wetzel has taken the trail, and I came in +because I've serious suspicions--I'll explain to you alone." + +The borderman bowed gravely to Helen, with a natural grace, and yet a +manner that sat awkwardly upon him. The girl, slightly flushed, and +somewhat confused by this meeting with the man around whom her +romantic imagination had already woven a story, stood in the doorway +after giving him a fleeting glance, the fairest, sweetest picture of +girlish beauty ever seen. + +The men went into the house; but their voices came distinctly through +the door. + +"Eb, if Bing Legget or Girty ever see that big-eyed lass, they'll have +her even if Fort Henry has to be burned, an' in case they do get her, +Wetzel an' I'll have taken our last trail." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +Supper over, Colonel Zane led his guests to a side porch, where they +were soon joined by Mrs. Zane and Betty. The host's two boys, Noah and +Sammy, who had preceded them, were now astride the porch-rail and, to +judge by their antics, were riding wild Indian mustangs. + +"It's quite cool," said Colonel Zane; "but I want you to see the +sunset in the valley. A good many of your future neighbors may come +over to-night for a word of welcome. It's the border custom." + +He was about to seat himself by the side of Mr. Sheppard, on a rustic +bench, when a Negro maid appeared in the doorway carrying a smiling, +black-eyed baby. Colonel Zane took the child and, holding it aloft, +said with fatherly pride: + +"This is Rebecca Zane, the first girl baby born to the Zanes, and +destined to be the belle of the border." + +"May I have her?" asked Helen softly, holding out her arms. She took +the child, and placed it upon her knee where its look of solemnity +soon changed to one of infantile delight. + +"Here come Nell and Jim," said Mrs. Zane, pointing toward the fort. + +"Yes, and there comes my brother Silas with his wife, too," added +Colonel Zane. "The first couple are James Douns, our young minister, +and Nell, his wife. They came out here a year or so ago. James had a +brother Joe, the finest young fellow who ever caught the border fever. +He was killed by one of the Girtys. His was a wonderful story, and +some day you shall hear about the parson and his wife." + +"What's the border fever?" asked Mr. Sheppard. + +"It's what brought you out here," replied Colonel Zane with a hearty +laugh. + +Helen gazed with interest at the couple now coming into the yard, and +when they gained the porch she saw that the man was big and tall, with +a frank, manly bearing, while his wife was a slender little woman with +bright, sunny hair, and a sweet, smiling face. They greeted Helen and +her father cordially. + +Next came Silas Zane, a typical bronzed and bearded pioneer, with his +buxom wife. Presently a little group of villagers joined the party. +They were rugged men, clad in faded buckskins, and sober-faced women +who wore dresses of plain gray linsey. They welcomed the newcomers +with simple, homely courtesy. Then six young frontiersmen appeared +from around a corner of the cabin, advancing hesitatingly. To Helen +they all looked alike, tall, awkward, with brown faces and big hands. +When Colonel Zane cheerily cried out to them, they stumbled forward +with evident embarrassment, each literally crushing Helen's hand in +his horny palm. Afterward they leaned on the rail and stole glances +at her. + +Soon a large number of villagers were on the porch or in the yard. +After paying their respects to Helen and her father they took part in +a general conversation. Two or three girls, the latest callers, were +surrounded by half a dozen young fellows, and their laughter sounded +high above the hum of voices. + +Helen gazed upon this company with mingled feelings of relief and +pleasure. She had been more concerned regarding the young people with +whom her lot might be cast, than the dangers of which others had told. +She knew that on the border there was no distinction of rank. Though +she came of an old family, and, during her girlhood, had been +surrounded by refinement, even luxury, she had accepted cheerfully the +reverses of fortune, and was determined to curb the pride which had +been hers. It was necessary she should have friends. Warm-hearted, +impulsive and loving, she needed to have around her those in whom she +could confide. Therefore it was with sincere pleasure she understood +how groundless were her fears and knew that if she did not find good, +true friends the fault would be her own. She saw at a glance that the +colonel's widowed sister was her equal, perhaps her superior, in +education and breeding, while Nellie Douns was as well-bred and +gracious a little lady as she had ever met. Then, the other girls, +too, were charming, with frank wholesomeness and freedom. + +Concerning the young men, of whom there were about a dozen, Helen had +hardly arrived at a conclusion. She liked the ruggedness, the signs of +honest worth which clung to them. Despite her youth, she had been much +sought after because of her personal attractions, and had thus added +experience to the natural keen intuition all women possess. The +glances of several of the men, particularly the bold regard of one +Roger Brandt, whom Colonel Zane introduced, she had seen before, and +learned to dislike. On the whole, however, she was delighted with the +prospect of new friends and future prosperity, and she felt even +greater pleasure in the certainty that her father shared her +gratification. + +Suddenly she became aware that the conversation had ceased. She looked +up to see the tall, lithe form of Jonathan Zane as he strode across +the porch. She could see that a certain constraint had momentarily +fallen upon the company. It was an involuntary acknowledgment of the +borderman's presence, of a presence that worked on all alike with a +subtle, strong magnetism. + +"Ah, Jonathan, come out to see the sunset? It's unusually fine +to-night," said Colonel Zane. + +With hardly more than a perceptible bow to those present, the +borderman took a seat near the rail, and, leaning upon it, directed +his gaze westward. + +Helen sat so near she could have touched him. She was conscious of the +same strange feeling, and impelling sense of power, which had come +upon her so strongly at first sight of him. More than that, a lively +interest had been aroused in her. This borderman was to her a new and +novel character. She was amused at learning that here was a young man +absolutely indifferent to the charms of the opposite sex, and although +hardly admitting such a thing, she believed it would be possible to +win him from his indifference. On raising her eyelids, it was with the +unconcern which a woman feigns when suspecting she is being regarded +with admiring eyes. But Jonathan Zane might not have known of her +presence, for all the attention he paid her. Therefore, having a good +opportunity to gaze at this borderman of daring deeds, Helen regarded +him closely. + +He was clad from head to foot in smooth, soft buckskin which fitted +well his powerful frame. Beaded moccasins, leggings bound high above +the knees, hunting coat laced and fringed, all had the neat, tidy +appearance due to good care. He wore no weapons. His hair fell in a +raven mass over his shoulders. His profile was regular, with a long, +straight nose, strong chin, and eyes black as night. They were now +fixed intently on the valley. The whole face gave an impression of +serenity, of calmness. + +Helen was wondering if the sad, almost stern, tranquility of that face +ever changed, when the baby cooed and held out its chubby little +hands. Jonathan's smile, which came quickly, accompanied by a warm +light in the eyes, relieved Helen of an unaccountable repugnance she +had begun to feel toward the borderman. That smile, brief as a flash, +showed his gentle kindness and told that he was not a creature who had +set himself apart from human life and love. + +As he took little Rebecca, one of his hands touched Helen's. If he had +taken heed of the contact, as any ordinary man might well have, she +would, perhaps, have thought nothing about it, but because he did not +appear to realize that her hand had been almost inclosed in his, she +could not help again feeling his singular personality. She saw that +this man had absolutely no thought of her. At the moment this did not +awaken resentment, for with all her fire and pride she was not vain; +but amusement gave place to a respect which came involuntarily. + +Little Rebecca presently manifested the faithlessness peculiar to her +sex, and had no sooner been taken upon Jonathan's knee than she cried +out to go back to Helen. + +"Girls are uncommon coy critters," said he, with a grave smile in his +eyes. He handed back the child, and once more was absorbed in the +setting sun. + +Helen looked down the valley to behold the most beautiful spectacle +she had ever seen. Between the hills far to the west, the sky flamed +with a red and gold light. The sun was poised above the river, and the +shimmering waters merged into a ruddy horizon. Long rays of crimson +fire crossed the smooth waters. A few purple clouds above caught the +refulgence, until aided by the delicate rose and blue space beyond, +they became many hued ships sailing on a rainbow sea. Each second saw +a gorgeous transformation. Slowly the sun dipped into the golden +flood; one by one the clouds changed from crimson to gold, from gold +to rose, and then to gray; slowly all the tints faded until, as the +sun slipped out of sight, the brilliance gave way to the soft +afterglow of warm lights. These in turn slowly toned down into +gray twilight. + +Helen retired to her room soon afterward, and, being unusually +thoughtful, sat down by the window. She reviewed the events of this +first day of her new life on the border. Her impressions had been so +many, so varied, that she wanted to distinguish them. First she felt +glad, with a sweet, warm thankfulness, that her father seemed so +happy, so encouraged by the outlook. Breaking old ties had been, she +knew, no child's play for him. She realized also that it had been done +solely because there had been nothing left to offer her in the old +home, and in a new one were hope and possibilities. Then she was +relieved at getting away from the attentions of a man whose +persistence had been most annoying to her. From thoughts of her +father, and the old life, she came to her new friends of the present. +She was so grateful for their kindness. She certainly would do all in +her power to win and keep their esteem. + +Somewhat of a surprise was it to her, that she reserved for Jonathan +Zane the last and most prominent place in her meditations. She +suddenly asked herself how she regarded this fighting borderman. She +recalled her unbounded enthusiasm for the man as Colonel Zane had told +of him; then her first glimpse, and her surprise and admiration at the +lithe-limbed young giant; then incredulity, amusement, and respect +followed in swift order, after which an unaccountable coldness that +was almost resentment. Helen was forced to admit that she did not know +how to regard him, but surely he was a man, throughout every inch of +his superb frame, and one who took life seriously, with neither +thought nor time for the opposite sex. And this last brought a blush +to her cheek, for she distinctly remembered she had expected, if not +admiration, more than passing notice from this hero of the border. + +Presently she took a little mirror from a table near where she sat. +Holding it to catch the fast-fading light, she studied her face +seriously. + +"Helen Sheppard, I think on the occasion of your arrival in a new +country a little plain talk will be wholesome. Somehow or other, +perhaps because of a crowd of idle men back there in the colonies, +possibly from your own misguided fancy, you imagined you were fair to +look at. It is well to be undeceived." + +Scorn spoke in Helen's voice. She was angry because of having been +interested in a man, and allowed that interest to betray her into a +girlish expectation that he would treat her as all other men had. The +mirror, even in the dim light, spoke more truly than she, for it +caught the golden tints of her luxuriant hair, the thousand beautiful +shadows in her great, dark eyes, the white glory of a face fair as a +star, and the swelling outline of neck and shoulders. + +With a sudden fiery impetuosity she flung the glass to the floor, +where it was broken into several pieces. + +"How foolish of me! What a temper I have!" she exclaimed repentantly. +"I'm glad I have another glass. Wouldn't Mr. Jonathan Zane, borderman, +Indian fighter, hero of a hundred battles and never a sweetheart, be +flattered? No, most decidedly he wouldn't. He never looked at me. I +don't think I expected that; I'm sure I didn't want it; but still he +might have--Oh! what am I thinking, and he a stranger?" + +Before Helen lost herself in slumber on that eventful evening, she +vowed to ignore the borderman; assured herself that she did not want +to see him again, and, rather inconsistently, that she would cure him +of his indifference. + + * * * * * + +When Colonel Zane's guests had retired, and the villagers were gone to +their homes, he was free to consult with Jonathan. + +"Well, Jack," he said, "I'm ready to hear about the horse thieves." + +"Wetzel makes it out the man who's runnin' this hoss-stealin' is +located right here in Fort Henry," answered the borderman. + +The colonel had lived too long on the frontier to show surprise; he +hummed a tune while the genial expression faded slowly from his face. + +"Last count there were one hundred and ten men at the fort," he +replied thoughtfully. "I know over a hundred, and can trust them. +There are some new fellows on the boats, and several strangers hanging +round Metzar's." + +"'Pears to Lew an' me that this fellar is a slick customer, an' one +who's been here long enough to know our hosses an' where we +keep them." + +"I see. Like Miller, who fooled us all, even Betty, when he stole our +powder and then sold us to Girty," rejoined Colonel Zane grimly. + +"Exactly, only this fellar is slicker an' more desperate than Miller." + +"Right you are, Jack, for the man who is trusted and betrays us, must +be desperate. Does he realize what he'll get if we ever find out, or +is he underrating us?" + +"He knows all right, an' is matchin' his cunnin' against our'n." + +"Tell me what you and Wetzel learned." + +The borderman proceeded to relate the events that had occurred during +a recent tramp in the forest with Wetzel. While returning from a hunt +in a swamp several miles over the ridge, back of Fort Henry, they ran +across the trail of three Indians. They followed this until darkness +set in, when both laid down to rest and wait for the early dawn, that +time most propitious for taking the savage by surprise. On resuming +the trail they found that other Indians had joined the party they were +tracking. To the bordermen this was significant of some unusual +activity directed toward the settlement. Unable to learn anything +definite from the moccasin traces, they hurried up on the trail to +find that the Indians had halted. + +Wetzel and Jonathan saw from their covert that the savages had a woman +prisoner. A singular feature about it all was that the Indians +remained in the same place all day, did not light a camp-fire, and +kept a sharp lookout. The bordermen crept up as close as safe, and +remained on watch during the day and night. + +Early next morning, when the air was fading from black to gray, the +silence was broken by the snapping of twigs and a tremor of the +ground. The bordermen believed another company of Indians was +approaching; but they soon saw it was a single white man leading a +number of horses. He departed before daybreak. Wetzel and Jonathan +could not get a clear view of him owing to the dim light; but they +heard his voice, and afterwards found the imprint of his moccasins. +They did, however, recognize the six horses as belonging to settlers +in Yellow Creek. + +While Jonathan and Wetzel were consulting as to what it was best to +do, the party of Indians divided, four going directly west, and the +others north. Wetzel immediately took the trail of the larger party +with the prisoner and four of the horses. Jonathan caught two of the +animals which the Indians had turned loose, and tied them in the +forest. He then started after the three Indians who had gone +northward. + +"Well?" Colonel Zane said impatiently, when Jonathan hesitated in his +story. + +"One got away," he said reluctantly. "I barked him as he was runnin' +like a streak through the bushes, an' judged that he was hard hit. I +got the hosses, an' turned back on the trail of the white man." + +"Where did it end?" + +"In that hard-packed path near the blacksmith shop. An' the fellar +steps as light as an Injun." + +"He's here, then, sure as you're born. We've lost no horses yet, but +last week old Sam heard a noise in the barn, and on going there found +Betty's mare out of her stall." + +"Some one as knows the lay of the land had been after her," suggested +Jonathan. + +"You can bet on that. We've got to find him before we lose all the +fine horse-flesh we own. Where do these stolen animals go? Indians +would steal any kind; but this thief takes only the best." + +"I'm to meet Wetzel on the ridge soon, an' then we'll know, for he's +goin' to find out where the hosses are taken." + +"That'll help some. On the way back you found where the white girl had +been taken from. Murdered father, burned cabin, the usual deviltry." + +"Exactly." + +"Poor Mabel! Do you think this white thief had anything to do with +carrying her away?" + +"No. Wetzel says that's Bing Legget's work. The Shawnees were members +of his gang." + +"Well, Jack, what'll I do?" + +"Keep quiet an' wait," was the borderman's answer. + +Colonel Zane, old pioneer and frontiersman though he was, shuddered as +he went to his room. His brother's dark look, and his deadly calmness, +were significant. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +To those few who saw Jonathan Zane in the village, it seemed as if he +was in his usual quiet and dreamy state. The people were accustomed to +his silence, and long since learned that what little time he spent in +the settlement was not given to sociability. In the morning he +sometimes lay with Colonel Zane's dog, Chief, by the side of a spring +under an elm tree, and in the afternoon strolled aimlessly along the +river bluff, or on the hillside. At night he sat on his brother's +porch smoking a long Indian pipe. Since that day, now a week past, +when he had returned with the stolen horses, his movements and habits +were precisely what would have been expected of an unsuspicious +borderman. + +In reality, however, Jonathan was not what he seemed. He knew all that +was going on in the settlement. Hardly a bird could have entered the +clearing unobserved. + +At night, after all the villagers were in bed, he stole cautiously +about the stockade, silencing with familiar word the bristling +watch-hounds, and went from barn to barn, ending his stealthy tramp at +the corral where Colonel Zane kept his thoroughbreds. + +But all this scouting by night availed nothing. No unusual event +occurred, not even the barking of a dog, a suspicious rustling among +the thickets, or whistling of a night-hawk had been heard. + +Vainly the borderman strained ears to catch some low night-signal +given by waiting Indians to the white traitor within the settlement. +By day there was even less to attract the sharp-eyed watcher. The +clumsy river boats, half raft, half sawn lumber, drifted down the Ohio +on their first and last voyage, discharged their cargoes of grain, +liquor, or merchandise, and were broken up. Their crews came back on +the long overland journey to Fort Pitt, there to man another craft. +The garrison at the fort performed their customary duties; the +pioneers tilled the fields; the blacksmith scattered sparks, the +wheelwright worked industriously at his bench, and the housewives +attended to their many cares. No strangers arrived at Fort Henry. The +quiet life of the village was uninterrupted. + +Near sunset of a long day Jonathan strolled down the sandy, +well-trodden path toward Metzar's inn. He did not drink, and +consequently seldom visited the rude, dark, ill-smelling bar-room. +When occasion demanded his presence there, he was evidently not +welcome. The original owner, a sturdy soldier and pioneer, came to +Fort Henry when Colonel Zane founded the settlement, and had been +killed during Girty's last attack. His successor, another Metzar, was, +according to Jonathan's belief, as bad as the whiskey he dispensed. +More than one murder had been committed at the inn; countless fatal +knife and tomahawk fights had stained red the hard clay floor; and +more than one desperate character had been harbored there. Once +Colonel Zane sent Wetzel there to invite a thief and outlaw to quit +the settlement, with the not unexpected result that it became +necessary the robber be carried out. + +Jonathan thought of the bad name the place bore all over the frontier, +and wondered if Metzar could tell anything about the horse-thieves. +When the borderman bent his tall frame to enter the low-studded door +he fancied he saw a dark figure disappear into a room just behind the +bar. A roughly-clad, heavily-bearded man turned hastily at the +same moment. + +"Hullo," he said gruffly. + +"H' are you, Metzar. I just dropped in to see if I could make a trade +for your sorrel mare," replied Jonathan. Being well aware that the +innkeeper would not part with his horse, the borderman had made this +announcement as his reason for entering the bar-room. + +"Nope, I'll allow you can't," replied Metzar. + +As he turned to go, Jonathan's eyes roamed around the bar-room. +Several strangers of shiftless aspect bleared at him. + +"They wouldn't steal a pumpkin," muttered Jonathan to himself as he +left the inn. Then he added suspiciously, "Metzar was talkin' to some +one, an' 'peared uneasy. I never liked Metzar. He'll bear watchin'." + +The borderman passed on down the path thinking of what he had heard +against Metzar. The colonel had said that the man was prosperous for +an innkeeper who took pelts, grain or meat in exchange for rum. The +village gossips disliked him because he was unmarried, taciturn, and +did not care for their company. Jonathan reflected also on the fact +that Indians were frequently coming to the inn, and this made him +distrustful of the proprietor. It was true that Colonel Zane had +red-skinned visitors, but there was always good reason for their +coming. Jonathan had seen, during the Revolution, more than one +trusted man proven to be a traitor, and the conviction settled upon +him that some quiet scouting would show up the innkeeper as aiding the +horse-thieves if not actually in league with them. + +"Good evening, Jonathan Zane." + +This greeting in a woman's clear voice brought Jonathan out from his +reveries. He glanced up to see Helen Sheppard standing in the doorway +of her father's cabin. + +"Evenin', miss," he said with a bow, and would have passed on. + +"Wait," she cried, and stepped out of the door. + +He waited by the gate with a manner which showed that such a summons +was novel to him. + +Helen, piqued at his curt greeting, had asked him to wait without any +idea of what she would say. Coming slowly down the path she felt again +a subtle awe of this borderman. Regretting her impulsiveness, she lost +confidence. + +Gaining the gate she looked up intending to speak; but was unable to +do so as she saw how cold and grave was his face, and how piercing +were his eyes. She flushed slightly, and then, conscious of an +embarrassment new and strange to her, blushed rosy red, making, as it +seemed to her, a stupid remark about the sunset. When he took her +words literally, and said the sunset was fine, she felt guilty of +deceitfulness. Whatever Helen's faults, and they were many, she was +honest, and because of not having looked at the sunset, but only +wanting him to see her as did other men, the innocent ruse suddenly +appeared mean and trifling. + +Then, with a woman's quick intuition, she understood that coquetries +were lost on this borderman, and, with a smile, got the better of her +embarrassment and humiliation by telling the truth. + +"I wanted to ask a favor of you, and I'm a little afraid." + +She spoke with girlish shyness, which increased as he stared at her. + +"Why--why do you look at me so?" + +"There's a lake over yonder which the Shawnees say is haunted by a +woman they killed," he replied quietly. "You'd do for her spirit, so +white an' beautiful in the silver moonlight." + +"So my white dress makes me look ghostly," she answered lightly, +though deeply conscious of surprise and pleasure at such an unexpected +reply from him. This borderman might be full of surprises. "Such a +time as I had bringing my dresses out here! I don't know when I can +wear them. This is the simplest one." + +"An' it's mighty new an' bewilderin' for the border," he replied with +a smile in his eyes. + +"When these are gone I'll get no more except linsey ones," she said +brightly, yet her eyes shone with a wistful uncertainty of the future. + +"Will you be happy here?" + +"I am happy. I have always wanted to be of some use in the world. I +assure you, Master Zane, I am not the butterfly I seem. I have worked +hard all day, that is, until your sister Betty came over. All the +girls have helped me fix up the cabin until it's more comfortable than +I ever dreamed one could be on the frontier. Father is well content +here, and that makes me happy. I haven't had time for forebodings. The +young men of Fort Henry have been--well, attentive; in fact, they've +been here all the time." + +She laughed a little at this last remark, and looked demurely at him. + +"It's a frontier custom," he said. + +"Oh, indeed? Do all the young men call often and stay late?" + +"They do." + +"You didn't," she retorted. "You're the only one who hasn't been to +see me." + +"I do not wait on the girls," he replied with a grave smile. + +"Oh, you don't? Do you expect them to wait on you?" she asked, +feeling, now she had made this silent man talk, once more at her ease. + +"I am a borderman," replied Jonathan. There was a certain dignity or +sadness in his answer which reminded Helen of Colonel Zane's portrayal +of a borderman's life. It struck her keenly. Here was this young giant +standing erect and handsome before her, as rugged as one of the ash +trees of his beloved forest. Who could tell when his strong life might +be ended by an Indian's hatchet? + +"For you, then, is there no such thing as friendship?" she asked. + +"On the border men are serious." + +This recalled his sister's conversation regarding the attentions of +the young men, that they would follow her, fight for her, and give her +absolutely no peace until one of them had carried her to his cabin +a bride. + +She could not carry on the usual conventional conversation with this +borderman, but remained silent for a time. She realized more keenly +than ever before how different he was from other men, and watched +closely as he stood gazing out over the river. Perhaps something she +had said caused him to think of the many pleasures and joys he missed. +But she could not be certain what was in his mind. She was not +accustomed to impassive faces and cold eyes with unlit fires in their +dark depths. More likely he was thinking of matters nearer to his +wild, free life; of his companion Wetzel somewhere out beyond those +frowning hills. Then she remembered that the colonel had told her of +his brother's love for nature in all its forms; how he watched the +shades of evening fall; lost himself in contemplation of the last +copper glow flushing the western sky, or became absorbed in the bright +stars. Possibly he had forgotten her presence. Darkness was rapidly +stealing down upon them. The evening, tranquil and gray, crept over +them with all its mystery. He was a part of it. She could not hope to +understand him; but saw clearly that his was no common personality. +She wanted to speak, to voice a sympathy strong within her; but she +did not know what to say to this borderman. + +"If what your sister tells me of the border is true, I may soon need a +friend," she said, after weighing well her words. She faced him +modestly yet bravely, and looked him straight in the eyes. Because he +did not reply she spoke again. + +"I mean such a friend as you or Wetzel." + +"You may count on both," he replied. + +"Thank you," she said softly, giving him her hand. "I shall not +forget. One more thing. Will you break a borderman's custom, for +my sake?" + +"How?" + +"Come to see me when you are in the settlement?" + +Helen said this in a low voice with just a sob in her breath; but she +met his gaze fairly. Her big eyes were all aglow, alight with girlish +appeal, and yet proud with a woman's honest demand for fair exchange. +Promise was there, too, could he but read it, of wonderful +possibilities. + +"No," he answered gently. + +Helen was not prepared for such a rebuff. She was interested in him, +and not ashamed to show it. She feared only that he might +misunderstand her; but to refuse her proffered friendship, that was +indeed unexpected. Rude she thought it was, while from brow to curving +throat her fair skin crimsoned. Then her face grew pale as the +moonlight. Hard on her resentment had surged the swell of some new +emotion strong and sweet. He refused her friendship because he did not +dare accept it; because his life was not his own; because he was a +borderman. + +While they stood thus, Jonathan looking perplexed and troubled, +feeling he had hurt her, but knowing not what to say, and Helen with a +warm softness in her eyes, the stalwart figure of a man loomed out of +the gathering darkness. + +"Ah, Miss Helen! Good evening," he said. + +"Is it you, Mr. Brandt?" asked Helen. "Of course you know Mr. Zane." + +Brandt acknowledged Jonathan's bow with an awkwardness which had +certainly been absent in his greeting to Helen. He started slightly +when she spoke the borderman's name. + +A brief pause ensued. + +"Good night," said Jonathan, and left them. + +He had noticed Brandt's gesture of surprise, slight though it was, and +was thinking about it as he walked away. Brandt may have been +astonished at finding a borderman talking to a girl, and certainly, as +far as Jonathan was concerned, the incident was without precedent. +But, on the other hand, Brandt may have had another reason, and +Jonathan tried to study out what it might be. + +He gave but little thought to Helen. That she might like him +exceedingly well, did not come into his mind. He remembered his sister +Betty's gossip regarding Helen and her admirers, and particularly +Roger Brandt; but felt no great concern; he had no curiosity to know +more of her. He admired Helen because she was beautiful, yet the +feeling was much the same he might have experienced for a graceful +deer, a full-foliaged tree, or a dark mossy-stoned bend in a murmuring +brook. The girl's face and figure, perfect and alluring as they were, +had not awakened him from his indifference. + +On arriving at his brother's home, he found the colonel and Betty +sitting on the porch. + +"Eb, who is this Brandt?" he asked. + +"Roger Brandt? He's a French-Canadian; came here from Detroit a year +ago. Why do you ask?" + +"I want to know more about him." + +Colonel Zane reflected a moment, first as to this unusual request from +Jonathan, and secondly in regard to what little he really did know of +Roger Brandt. + +"Well, Jack, I can't tell you much; nothing of him before he showed up +here. He says he has been a pioneer, hunter, scout, soldier, +trader--everything. When he came to the fort we needed men. It was +just after Girty's siege, and all the cabins had been burned. Brandt +seemed honest, and was a good fellow. Besides, he had gold. He started +the river barges, which came from Fort Pitt. He has surely done the +settlement good service, and has prospered. I never talked a dozen +times to him, and even then, not for long. He appears to like the +young people, which is only natural. That's all I know; Betty might +tell you more, for he tried to be attentive to her." + +"Did he, Betty?" Jonathan asked. + +"He followed me until I showed him I didn't care for company," +answered Betty. + +"What kind of a man is he?" + +"Jack, I know nothing against him, although I never fancied him. He's +better educated than the majority of frontiersmen; he's good-natured +and agreeable, and the people like him." + +"Why don't you?" + +Betty looked surprised at his blunt question, and then said with a +laugh: "I never tried to reason why; but since you have spoken I +believe my dislike was instinctive." + +After Betty had retired to her room the brothers remained on the porch +smoking. + +"Betty's pretty keen, Jack. I never knew her to misjudge a man. Why +this sudden interest in Roger Brandt?" + +The borderman puffed his pipe in silence. + +"Say, Jack," Colonel Zane said suddenly, "do you connect Brandt in any +way with this horse-stealing?" + +"No more than some, an' less than others," replied Jonathan curtly. + +Nothing more was said for a time. To the brothers this hour of early +dusk brought the same fullness of peace. From gray twilight to gloomy +dusk quiet reigned. The insects of night chirped and chorused with +low, incessant hum. From out the darkness came the peeping of frogs. + +Suddenly the borderman straightened up, and, removing the pipe from +his mouth, turned his ear to the faint breeze, while at the same time +one hand closed on the colonel's knee with a warning clutch. + +Colonel Zane knew what that clutch signified. Some faint noise, too +low for ordinary ears, had roused the borderman. The colonel listened, +but heard nothing save the familiar evening sounds. + +"Jack, what'd you hear?" he whispered. + +"Somethin' back of the barn," replied Jonathan, slipping noiselessly +off the steps, lying at full length with his ear close to the ground. +"Where's the dog?" he asked. + +"Chief must have gone with Sam. The old nigger sometimes goes at this +hour to see his daughter." + +Jonathan lay on the grass several moments; then suddenly he arose much +as a bent sapling springs to place. + +"I hear footsteps. Get the rifles," he said in a fierce whisper. + +"Damn! There is some one in the barn." + +"No; they're outside. Hurry, but softly." + +Colonel Zane had but just risen to his feet, when Mrs. Zane came to +the door and called him by name. + +Instantly from somewhere in the darkness overhanging the road, came a +low, warning whistle. + +"A signal!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. + +"Quick, Eb! Look toward Metzar's light. One, two, three, +shadows--Injuns!" + +"By the Lord Harry! Now they're gone; but I couldn't mistake those +round heads and bristling feathers." + +"Shawnees!" said the borderman, and his teeth shut hard like steel on +flint. + +"Jack, they were after the horses, and some one was on the lookout! By +God! right under our noses!" + +"Hurry," cried Jonathan, pulling his brother off the porch. + +Colonel Zane followed the borderman out of the yard, into the road, +and across the grassy square. + +"We might find the one who gave the signal," said the colonel. "He was +near at hand, and couldn't have passed the house." + +Colonel Zane was correct, for whoever had whistled would be forced to +take one of two ways of escape; either down the straight road ahead, +or over the high stockade fence of the fort. + +"There he goes," whispered Jonathan. + +"Where? I can't see a blamed thing." + +"Go across the square, run around the fort, an' head him off on the +road. Don't try to stop him for he'll have weapons, just find out +who he is." + +"I see him now," replied Colonel Zane, as he hurried off into the +darkness. + +During a few moments Jonathan kept in view the shadow he had seen +first come out of the gloom by the stockade, and thence pass swiftly +down the road. He followed swiftly, silently. Presently a light beyond +threw a glare across the road. He thought he was approaching a yard +where there was a fire, and the flames proved to be from pine cones +burning in the yard of Helen Sheppard. He remembered then that she was +entertaining some of the young people. + +The figure he was pursuing did not pass the glare. Jonathan made +certain it disappeared before reaching the light, and he knew his +eyesight too well not to trust to it absolutely. Advancing nearer the +yard, he heard the murmur of voices in gay conversation, and soon saw +figures moving about under the trees. + +No doubt was in his mind but that the man who gave the signal to warn +the Indians, was one of Helen Sheppard's guests. + +Jonathan had walked across the street then down the path, before he +saw the colonel coming from the opposite direction. Halting under a +maple he waited for his brother to approach. + +"I didn't meet any one. Did you lose him?" whispered Colonel Zane +breathlessly. + +"No; he's in there." + +"That's Sheppard's place. Do you mean he's hiding there?" + +"No!" + +Colonel Zane swore, as was his habit when exasperated. Kind and +generous man that he was, it went hard with him to believe in the +guilt of any of the young men he had trusted. But Jonathan had said +there was a traitor among them, and Colonel Zane did not question this +assertion. He knew the borderman. During years full of strife, and +war, and blood had he lived beside this silent man who said little, +but that little was the truth. Therefore Colonel Zane gave way +to anger. + +"Well, I'm not so damned surprised! What's to be done?" + +"Find out what men are there?" + +"That's easy. I'll go to see George and soon have the truth." + +"Won't do," said the borderman decisively. "Go back to the barn, an' +look after the hosses." + +When Colonel Zane had obeyed Jonathan dropped to his hands and knees, +and swiftly, with the agile movements of an Indian, gained a corner of +the Sheppard yard. He crouched in the shade of a big plum tree. Then, +at a favorable opportunity, vaulted the fence and disappeared under a +clump of lilac bushes. + +The evening wore away no more tediously to the borderman, than to +those young frontiersmen who were whispering tender or playful words +to their partners. Time and patience were the same to Jonathan Zane. +He lay hidden under the fragrant lilacs, his eyes, accustomed to the +dark from long practice, losing no movement of the guests. Finally it +became evident that the party was at an end. One couple took the +initiative, and said good night to their hostess. + +"Tom Bennet, I hope it's not you," whispered the borderman to himself, +as he recognized the young fellow. + +A general movement followed, until the merry party were assembled +about Helen near the front gate. + +"Jim Morrison, I'll bet it's not you," was Jonathan's comment. "That +soldier Williams is doubtful; Hart an' Johnson being strangers, are +unknown quantities around here, an' then comes Brandt." + +All departed except Brandt, who remained talking to Helen in low, +earnest tones. Jonathan lay very quietly, trying to decide what should +be his next move in the unraveling of the mystery. He paid little +attention to the young couple, but could not help overhearing their +conversation. + +"Indeed, Mr. Brandt, you frontiersmen are not backward," Helen was +saying in her clear voice. "I am surprised to learn that you love me +upon such short acquaintance, and am sorry, too, for I hardly know +whether I even so much as like you." + +"I love you. We men of the border do things rapidly," he replied +earnestly. + +"So it seems," she said with a soft laugh. + +"Won't you care for me?" he pleaded. + +"Nothing is surer than that I never know what I am going to do," Helen +replied lightly. + +"All these fellows are in love with you. They can't help it any more +than I. You are the most glorious creature. Please give me hope." + +"Mr. Brandt, let go my hand. I'm afraid I don't like such impulsive +men." + +"Please let me hold your hand." + +"Certainly not." + +"But I will hold it, and if you look at me like that again I'll do +more," he said. + +"What, bold sir frontiersman?" she returned, lightly still, but in a +voice which rang with a deeper note. + +"I'll kiss you," he cried desperately. + +"You wouldn't dare." + +"Wouldn't I though? You don't know us border fellows yet. You come +here with your wonderful beauty, and smile at us with that light in +your eyes which makes men mad. Oh, you'll pay for it." + +The borderman listened to all this love-making half disgusted, until +he began to grow interested. Brandt's back was turned to him, and +Helen stood so that the light from the pine cones shone on her face. +Her eyes were brilliant, otherwise she seemed a woman perfectly +self-possessed. Brandt held her hand despite the repeated efforts she +made to free it. But she did not struggle violently, or make +an outcry. + +Suddenly Brandt grasped her other hand, pulling her toward him. + +"These other fellows will kiss you, and I'm going to be the first!" he +declared passionately. + +Helen drew back, now thoroughly alarmed by the man's fierce energy. +She had been warned against this very boldness in frontiersmen; but +had felt secure in her own pride and dignity. Her blood boiled at the +thought that she must exert strength to escape insult. She struggled +violently when Brandt bent his head. Almost sick with fear, she had +determined to call for help, when a violent wrench almost toppled her +over. At the same instant her wrists were freed; she heard a fierce +cry, a resounding blow, and then the sodden thud of a heavy body +falling. Recovering her balance, she saw a tall figure beside her, and +a man in the act of rising from the ground. + +"You?" whispered Helen, recognizing the tall figure as Jonathan's. + +The borderman did not answer. He stepped forward, slipping his hand +inside his hunting frock. Brandt sprang nimbly to his feet, and with a +face which, even in the dim light, could be seen distorted with fury, +bent forward to look at the stranger. He, too, had his hand within his +coat, as if grasping a weapon; but he did not draw it. + +"Zane, a lighter blow would have been easier to forget," he cried, his +voice clear and cutting. Then he turned to the girl. "Miss Helen, I +got what I deserved. I crave your forgiveness, and ask you to +understand a man who was once a gentleman. If I am one no longer, the +frontier is to blame. I was mad to treat you as I did." + +Thus speaking, he bowed low with the grace of a man sometimes used to +the society of ladies, and then went out of the gate. + +"Where did you come from?" asked Helen, looking up at Jonathan. + +He pointed under the lilac bushes. + +"Were you there?" she asked wonderingly. "Did you hear all?" + +"I couldn't help hearin'." + +"It was fortunate for me; but why--why were you there?" + +Helen came a step nearer, and regarded him curiously with her great +eyes now black with excitement. + +The borderman was silent. + +Helen's softened mood changed instantly. There was nothing in his cold +face which might have betrayed in him a sentiment similar to that of +her admirers. + +"Did you spy on me?" she asked quickly, after a moment's thought. + +"No," replied Jonathan calmly. + +Helen gazed in perplexity at this strange man. She did not know how to +explain it; she was irritated, but did her best to conceal it. He had +no interest in her, yet had hidden under the lilacs in her yard. She +was grateful because he had saved her from annoyance, yet could not +fathom his reason for being so near. + +"Did you come here to see me?" she asked, forgetting her vexation. + +"No." + +"What for, then?" + +"I reckon I won't say," was the quiet, deliberate refusal. + +Helen stamped her foot in exasperation. + +"Be careful that I do not put a wrong construction on your strange +action," said she coldly. "If you have reasons, you might trust me. If +you are only----" + +"Sh-s-sh!" he breathed, grasping her wrist, and holding it firmly in +his powerful hand. The whole attitude of the man had altered swiftly, +subtly. The listlessness was gone. His lithe body became rigid as he +leaned forward, his head toward the ground, and turned slightly in a +manner that betokened intent listening. + +Helen trembled as she felt his powerful frame quiver. Whatever had +thus changed him, gave her another glimpse of his complex personality. +It seemed to her incredible that with one whispered exclamation this +man could change from cold indifference to a fire and force so strong +as to dominate her. + +Statue-like she remained listening; but hearing no sound, and +thrillingly conscious of the hand on her arm. + +Far up on the hillside an owl hooted dismally, and an instant later, +faint and far away, came an answer so low as to be almost indistinct. + +The borderman raised himself erect as he released her. + +"It's only an owl," she said in relief. + +His eyes gleamed like stars. + +"It's Wetzel, an' it means Injuns!" + +Then he was gone into the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +In the misty morning twilight Colonel Zane, fully armed, paced to and +fro before his cabin, on guard. All night he had maintained a watch. +He had not considered it necessary to send his family into the fort, +to which they had often been compelled to flee. On the previous night +Jonathan had come swiftly back to the cabin, and, speaking but two +words, seized his weapons and vanished into the black night. The words +were "Injuns! Wetzel!" and there were none others with more power to +affect hearers on the border. The colonel believed that Wetzel had +signaled to Jonathan. + +On the west a deep gully with precipitous sides separated the +settlement from a high, wooded bluff. Wetzel often returned from his +journeying by this difficult route. He had no doubt seen Indian signs, +and had communicated the intelligence to Jonathan by their system of +night-bird calls. The nearness of the mighty hunter reassured +Colonel Zane. + +When the colonel returned from his chase of the previous night, he +went directly to the stable, there to find that the Indians had made +off with a thoroughbred, and Betty's pony. Colonel Zane was furious, +not on account of the value of the horses, but because Bess was his +favorite bay, and Betty loved nothing more than her pony Madcap. To +have such a march stolen on him after he had heard and seen the +thieves was indeed hard. High time it was that these horse thieves be +run to earth. No Indian had planned these marauding expeditions. An +intelligent white man was at the bottom of the thieving, and he should +pay for his treachery. + +The colonel's temper, however, soon cooled. He realized after thinking +over the matter, that he was fortunate it passed off without +bloodshed. Very likely the intent had been to get all his horses, +perhaps his neighbor's as well, and it had been partly frustrated by +Jonathan's keen sagacity. These Shawnees, white leader or not, would +never again run such risks. + +"It's like a skulking Shawnee," muttered Colonel Zane, "to slip down +here under cover of early dusk, when no one but an Indian hunter could +detect him. I didn't look for trouble, especially so soon after the +lesson we gave Girty and his damned English and redskins. It's lucky +Jonathan was here. I'll go back to the old plan of stationing scouts +at the outposts until snow flies." + +While Colonel Zane talked to himself and paced the path he had +selected to patrol, the white mists cleared, and a rosy hue followed +the brightening in the east. The birds ceased twittering to break into +gay songs, and the cock in the barnyard gave one final clarion-voiced +salute to the dawn. The rose in the east deepened into rich red, and +then the sun peeped over the eastern hilltops to drench the valley +with glad golden light. + +A blue smoke curling lazily from the stone chimney of his cabin, +showed that Sam had made the kitchen fire, and a little later a rich, +savory odor gave pleasing evidence that his wife was cooking +breakfast. + +"Any sign of Jack?" a voice called from the open door, and Betty +appeared. + +"Nary sign." + +"Of the Indians, then?" + +"Well, Betts, they left you a token of their regard," and Colonel Zane +smiled as he took a broken halter from the fence. + +"Madcap?" cried Betty. + +"Yes, they've taken Madcap and Bess." + +"Oh, the villains! Poor pony," exclaimed Betty indignantly. "Eb, I'll +coax Wetzel to fetch the pony home if he has to kill every Shawnee in +the valley." + +"Now you're talking, Betts," Colonel Zane replied. "If you could get +Lew to do that much, you'd be blessed from one end of the border to +the other." + +He walked up the road; then back, keeping a sharp lookout on all +sides, and bestowing a particularly keen glance at the hillside across +the ravine, but could see no sign of the bordermen. As it was now +broad daylight he felt convinced that further watch was unnecessary, +and went in to breakfast. When he came out again the villagers were +astir. The sharp strokes of axes rang out on the clear morning air, +and a mellow anvil-clang pealed up from the blacksmith shop. Colonel +Zane found his brother Silas and Jim Douns near the gate. + +"Morning, boys," he cried cheerily. + +"Any glimpse of Jack or Lew?" asked Silas. + +"No; but I'm expecting one of 'em any moment." + +"How about the Indians?" asked Douns. "Silas roused me out last night; +but didn't stay long enough to say more than 'Indians.'" + +"I don't know much more than Silas. I saw several of the red devils +who stole the horses; but how many, where they've gone, or what we're +to expect, I can't say. We've got to wait for Jack or Lew. Silas, keep +the garrison in readiness at the fort, and don't allow a man, soldier +or farmer, to leave the clearing until further orders. Perhaps there +were only three of those Shawnees, and then again the woods might have +been full of them. I take it something's amiss, or Jack and Lew would +be in by now." + +"Here come Sheppard and his girl," said Silas, pointing down the lane. +"'Pears George is some excited." + +Colonel Zane had much the same idea as he saw Sheppard and his +daughter. The old man appeared in a hurry, which was sufficient reason +to believe him anxious or alarmed, and Helen looked pale. + +"Ebenezer, what's this I hear about Indians?" Sheppard asked +excitedly. "What with Helen's story about the fort being besieged, and +this brother of yours routing honest people from their beds, I haven't +had a wink of sleep. What's up? Where are the redskins?" + +"Now, George, be easy," said Colonel Zane calmly. "And you, Helen, +mustn't be frightened. There's no danger. We did have a visit from +Indians last night; but they hurt no one, and got only two horses." + +"Oh, I'm so relieved that it's not worse," said Helen. + +"It's bad enough, Helen," Betty cried, her black eyes flashing, "my +pony Madcap is gone." + +"Colonel Zane, come here quick!" cried Douns, who stood near the gate. + +With one leap Colonel Zane was at the gate, and, following with his +eyes the direction indicated by Douns' trembling finger, he saw two +tall, brown figures striding down the lane. One carried two rifles, +and the other a long bundle wrapped in a blanket. + +"It's Jack and Wetzel," whispered Colonel Zane to Jim. "They've got +the girl, and by God! from the way that bundle hangs, I think she's +dead. Here," he added, speaking loudly, "you women get into +the house." + +Mrs. Zane, Betty and Helen stared. + +"Go into the house!" he cried authoritatively. + +Without a protest the three women obeyed. + +At that moment Nellie Douns came across the lane; Sam shuffled out +from the backyard, and Sheppard arose from his seat on the steps. They +joined Colonel Zane, Silas and Jim at the gate. + +"I wondered what kept you so late," Colonel Zane said to Jonathan, as +he and his companion came up. "You've fetched Mabel, and she's----". +The good man could say no more. If he should live an hundred years on +the border amid savage murderers, he would still be tender-hearted. +Just now he believed the giant borderman by the side of Jonathan held +a dead girl, one whom he had danced, when a child, upon his knee. + +"Mabel, an' jest alive," replied Jonathan. + +"By God! I'm glad!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. "Here, Lew, give her to +me." + +Wetzel relinquished his burden to the colonel. + +"Lew, any bad Indian sign?" asked Colonel Zane as he turned to go into +the house. + +The borderman shook his head. + +"Wait for me," added the colonel. + +He carried the girl to that apartment in the cabin which served the +purpose of a sitting-room, and laid her on a couch. He gently removed +the folds of the blanket, disclosing to view a fragile, +white-faced girl. + +"Bess, hurry, hurry!" he screamed to his wife, and as she came running +in, followed no less hurriedly by Betty, Helen and Nellie, he +continued, "Here's Mabel Lane, alive, poor child; but in sore need of +help. First see whether she has any bodily injury. If a bullet must be +cut out, or a knife-wound sewed up, it's better she remained +unconscious. Betty, run for Bess's instruments, and bring brandy and +water. Lively now!" Then he gave vent to an oath and left the room. + +Helen, her heart throbbing wildly, went to the side of Mrs. Zane, who +was kneeling by the couch. She saw a delicate girl, not over eighteen +years old, with a face that would have been beautiful but for the set +lips, the closed eyelids, and an expression of intense pain. + +"Oh! Oh!" breathed Helen. + +"Nell, hand me the scissors," said Mrs. Zane, "and help me take off +this dress. Why, it's wet, but, thank goodness! 'tis not with blood. I +know that slippery touch too well. There, that's right. Betty, give me +a spoonful of brandy. Now heat a blanket, and get one of your linsey +gowns for this poor child." + +Helen watched Mrs. Zane as if fascinated. The colonel's wife continued +to talk while with deft fingers she forced a few drops of brandy +between the girl's closed teeth. Then with the adroitness of a skilled +surgeon, she made the examination. Helen had heard of this pioneer +woman's skill in setting broken bones and treating injuries, and when +she looked from the calm face to the steady fingers, she had no doubt +as to the truth of what had been told. + +"Neither bullet wound, cut, bruise, nor broken bone," said Mrs. Zane. +"It's fear, starvation, and the terrible shock." + +She rubbed Mabel's hands while gazing at her pale face. Then she +forced more brandy between the tightly-closed lips. She was rewarded +by ever so faint a color tinging the wan cheeks, to be followed by a +fluttering of the eyelids. Then the eyes opened wide. They were large, +soft, dark and humid with agony. + +Helen could not bear their gaze. She saw the shadow of death, and of +worse than death. She looked away, while in her heart rose a storm of +passionate fury at the brutes who had made of this tender girl +a wreck. + +The room was full of women now, sober-faced matrons and grave-eyed +girls, yet all wore the same expression, not alone of anger, nor fear, +nor pity, but of all combined. + +Helen instinctively felt that this was one of the trials of border +endurance, and she knew from the sterner faces of the maturer women +that such a trial was familiar. Despite all she had been told, the +shock and pain were too great, and she went out of the room sobbing. + +She almost fell over the broad back of Jonathan Zane who was sitting +on the steps. Near him stood Colonel Zane talking with a tall man clad +in faded buckskin. + +"Lass, you shouldn't have stayed," said Colonel Zane kindly. + +"It's--hurt--me--here," said Helen, placing her hand over her heart. + +"Yes, I know, I know; of course it has," he replied, taking her hand. +"But be brave, Helen, bear up, bear up. Oh! this border is a stern +place! Do not think of that poor girl. Come, let me introduce +Jonathan's friend, Wetzel!" + +Helen looked up and held out her hand. She saw a very tall man with +extremely broad shoulders, a mass of raven-black hair, and a white +face. He stepped forward, and took her hand in his huge, horny palm, +pressing it, he stepped back without speaking. Colonel Zane talked to +her in a soothing voice; but she failed to hear what he said. This +Wetzel, this Indian-hunter whom she had heard called "Deathwind of the +Border," this companion, guide, teacher of Jonathan Zane, this +borderman of wonderful deeds, stood before her. + +Helen saw a cold face, deathly in its pallor, lighted by eyes +sloe-black but like glinting steel. Striking as were these features, +they failed to fascinate as did the strange tracings which apparently +showed through the white, drawn skin. This first repelled, then drew +her with wonderful force. Suffering, of fire, and frost, and iron was +written there, and, stronger than all, so potent as to cause fear, +could be read the terrible purpose of this man's tragic life. + +"You avenged her! Oh! I know you did!" cried Helen, her whole heart +leaping with a blaze to her eyes. + +She was answered by a smile, but such a smile! Kindly it broke over +the stern face, giving a glimpse of a heart still warm beneath that +steely cold. Behind it, too, there was something fateful, +something deadly. + +Helen knew, though the borderman spoke not, that somewhere among the +grasses of the broad plains, or on the moss of the wooded hills, lay +dead the perpetrators of this outrage, their still faces bearing the +ghastly stamp of Deathwind. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Happier days than she had hoped for, dawned upon Helen after the first +touch of border sorrow. Mabel Lane did not die. Helen and Betty nursed +the stricken girl tenderly, weeping for very joy when signs of +improvement appeared. She had remained silent for several days, always +with that haunting fear in her eyes, and then gradually came a change. +Tender care and nursing had due effect in banishing the dark shadow. +One morning after a long sleep she awakened with a bright smile, and +from that time her improvement was rapid. + +Helen wanted Mabel to live with her. The girl's position was pitiable. +Homeless, fatherless, with not a relative on the border, yet so brave, +so patient that she aroused all the sympathy in Helen's breast. +Village gossip was in substance, that Mabel had given her love to a +young frontiersman, by name Alex Bennet, who had an affection for her, +so it was said, but as yet had made no choice between her and the +other lasses of the settlement. What effect Mabel's terrible +experience might have on this lukewarm lover, Helen could not even +guess; but she was not hopeful as to the future. Colonel Zane and +Betty approved of Helen's plan to persuade Mabel to live with her, and +the latter's faint protestations they silenced by claiming she could +be of great assistance in the management of the house, therefore it +was settled. + +Finally the day came when Mabel was ready to go with Helen. Betty had +given her a generous supply of clothing, for all her belongings had +been destroyed when the cabin was burned. With Helen's strong young +arm around her she voiced her gratitude to Betty and Mrs. Zane and +started toward the Sheppard home. + +From the green square, where the ground was highest, an unobstructed +view could be had of the valley. Mabel gazed down the river to where +her home formerly stood. Only a faint, dark spot, like a blur on the +green landscape, could be seen. Her soft eyes filled with tears; but +she spoke no word. + +"She's game and that's why she didn't go under," Colonel Zane said to +himself as he mused on the strength and spirit of borderwomen. To +their heroism, more than any other thing, he attributed the +establishing of homes in this wilderness. + +In the days that ensued, as Mabel grew stronger, the girls became very +fond of each other. Helen would have been happy at any time with such +a sweet companion, but just then, when the poor girl's mind was so +sorely disturbed she was doubly glad. For several days, after Mabel +was out of danger, Helen's thoughts had dwelt on a subject which +caused extreme vexation. She had begun to suspect that she encouraged +too many admirers for whom she did not care, and thought too much of a +man who did not reciprocate. She was gay and moody in turn. During the +moody hours she suspected herself, and in her gay ones, scorned the +idea that she might ever care for a man who was indifferent. But that +thought once admitted, had a trick of returning at odd moments, +clouding her cheerful moods. + +One sunshiny morning while the May flowers smiled under the hedge, +when dew sparkled on the leaves, and the locust-blossoms shone +creamy-white amid the soft green of the trees, the girls set about +their much-planned flower gardening. Helen was passionately fond of +plants, and had brought a jar of seeds of her favorites all the way +from her eastern home. + +"We'll plant the morning-glories so they'll run up the porch, and the +dahlias in this long row and the nasturtiums in this round bed," +Helen said. + +"You have some trailing arbutus," added Mabel, "and must have +clematis, wild honeysuckle and golden-glow, for they are all +sweet flowers." + +"This arbutus is so fresh, so dewy, so fragrant," said Helen, bending +aside a lilac bush to see the pale, creeping flowers. "I never saw +anything so beautiful. I grow more and more in love with my new home +and friends. I have such a pretty garden to look into, and I never +tire of the view beyond." + +Helen gazed with pleasure and pride at the garden with its fresh green +and lavender-crested lilacs, at the white-blossomed trees, and the +vine-covered log cabins with blue smoke curling from their stone +chimneys. Beyond, the great bulk of the fort stood guard above the +willow-skirted river, and far away over the winding stream the dark +hills, defiant, kept their secrets. + +"If it weren't for that threatening fort one could imagine this little +hamlet, nestling under the great bluff, as quiet and secure as it is +beautiful," said Helen. "But that charred stockade fence with its +scarred bastions and these lowering port-holes, always keep me alive +to the reality." + +"It wasn't very quiet when Girty was here," Mabel replied +thoughtfully. + +"Were you in the fort then?" asked Helen breathlessly. + +"Oh, yes, I cooled the rifles for the men," replied Mabel calmly. + +"Tell me all about it." + +Helen listened again to a story she had heard many times; but told by +new lips it always gained in vivid interest. She never tired of +hearing how the notorious renegade, Girty, rode around the fort on his +white horse, giving the defenders an hour in which to surrender; she +learned again of the attack, when the British soldiers remained silent +on an adjoining hillside, while the Indians yelled exultantly and ran +about in fiendish glee, when Wetzel began the battle by shooting an +Indian chieftain who had ventured within range of his ever fatal +rifle. And when it came to the heroic deeds of that memorable siege +Helen could not contain her enthusiasm. She shed tears over little +Harry Bennet's death at the south bastion where, though riddled with +bullets, he stuck to his post until relieved. Clark's race, across the +roof of the fort to extinguish a burning arrow, she applauded with +clapping hands. Her great eyes glowed and burned, but she was silent, +when hearing how Wetzel ran alone to a break in the stockade, and +there, with an ax, the terrible borderman held at bay the whole +infuriated Indian mob until the breach was closed. Lastly Betty Zane's +never-to-be-forgotten run with the powder to the relief of the +garrison and the saving of the fort was something not to cry over or +applaud; but to dream of and to glorify. + +"Down that slope from Colonel Zane's cabin is where Betty ran with the +powder," said Mabel, pointing. + +"Did you see her?" asked Helen. + +"Yes, I looked out of a port-hole. The Indians stopped firing at the +fort in their eagerness to shoot Betty. Oh, the banging of guns and +yelling of savages was one fearful, dreadful roar! Through all that +hail of bullets Betty ran swift as the wind." + +"I almost wish Girty would come again," said Helen. + +"Don't; he might." + +"How long has Betty's husband, Mr. Clarke, been dead?" inquired Helen. + +"I don't remember exactly. He didn't live long after the siege. Some +say he inhaled the flames while fighting fire inside the stockade." + +"How sad!" + +"Yes, it was. It nearly killed Betty. But we border girls do not give +up easily; we must not," replied Mabel, an unquenchable spirit showing +through the sadness of her eyes. + +Merry voices interrupted them, and they turned to see Betty and Nell +entering the gate. With Nell's bright chatter and Betty's wit, the +conversation became indeed vivacious, running from gossip to gowns, +and then to that old and ever new theme, love. Shortly afterward the +colonel entered the gate, with swinging step and genial smile. + +"Well, now, if here aren't four handsome lasses," he said with an +admiring glance. + +"Eb, I believe if you were single any girl might well suspect you of +being a flirt," said Betty. + +"No girl ever did. I tell you I was a lady-killer in my day," replied +Colonel Zane, straightening his fine form. He was indeed handsome, +with his stalwart frame, dark, bronzed face and rugged, manly bearing. + +"Bess said you were; but that it didn't last long after you saw her," +cried Betty, mischief gleaming in her dark eye. + +"Well, that's so," replied the colonel, looking a trifle crest-fallen; +"but you know every dog has his day." Then advancing to the porch, he +looked at Mabel with a more serious gaze as he asked, "How are +you to-day?" + +"Thank you, Colonel Zane, I am getting quite strong." + +"Look up the valley. There's a raft coming down the river," said he +softly. + +Far up the broad Ohio a square patch showed dark against the green +water. + +Colonel Zane saw Mabel start, and a dark red flush came over her pale +face. For an instant she gazed with an expression of appeal, almost +fear. He knew the reason. Alex Bennet was on that raft. + +"I came over to ask if I can be of any service?" + +"Tell him," she answered simply. + +"I say, Betts," Colonel Zane cried, "has Helen's cousin cast any more +such sheep eyes at you?" + +"Oh, Eb, what nonsense!" exclaimed Betty, blushing furiously. + +"Well, if he didn't look sweet at you I'm an old fool." + +"You're one anyway, and you're horrid," said Betty, tears of anger +glistening in her eyes. + +Colonel Zane whistled softly as he walked down the lane. He went into +the wheelwright's shop to see about some repairs he was having made on +a wagon, and then strolled on down to the river. Two Indians were +sitting on the rude log wharf, together with several frontiersmen and +rivermen, all waiting for the raft. He conversed with the Indians, who +were friendly Chippewas, until the raft was tied up. The first person +to leap on shore was a sturdy young fellow with a shock of yellow +hair, and a warm, ruddy skin. + +"Hello, Alex, did you have a good trip?" asked Colonel Zane of the +youth. + +"H'are ye, Colonel Zane. Yes, first-rate trip," replied young Bennet. +"Say, I've a word for you. Come aside," and drawing Colonel Zane out +of earshot of the others, he continued, "I heard this by accident, not +that I didn't spy a bit when I got interested, for I did; but the way +it came about was all chance. Briefly, there's a man, evidently an +Englishman, at Fort Pitt whom I overheard say he was out on the border +after a Sheppard girl. I happened to hear from one of Brandt's men, +who rode into Pitt just before we left, that you had new friends here +by that name. This fellow was a handsome chap, no common sort, but +lordly, dissipated and reckless as the devil. He had a servant +traveling with him, a sailor, by his gab, who was about the toughest +customer I've met in many a day. He cut a fellow in bad shape at Pitt. +These two will be on the next boat, due here in a day or so, according +to river and weather conditions, an' I thought, considerin' how +unusual the thing was, I'd better tell ye." + +"Well, well," said Colonel Zane reflectively. He recalled Sheppard's +talk about an Englishman. "Alex, you did well to tell me. Was the man +drunk when he said he came west after a woman?" + +"Sure he was," replied Alex. "But not when he spoke the name. Ye see I +got suspicious, an' asked about him. It's this way: Jake Wentz, the +trader, told me the fellow asked for the Sheppards when he got off the +wagon-train. When I first seen him he was drunk, and I heard Jeff Lynn +say as how the border was a bad place to come after a woman. That's +what made me prick up my ears. Then the Englishman said: 'It is, eh? +By God! I'd go to hell after a woman I wanted.' An' Colonel, he +looked it, too." + +Colonel Zane remained thoughtful while Alex made up a bundle and +forced the haft of an ax under the string; but as the young man +started away the colonel suddenly remembered his errand down to +the wharf. + +"Alex, come back here," he said, and wondered if the lad had good +stuff in him. The boatman's face was plain, but not evil, and a close +scrutiny of it rather prepossessed the colonel. + +"Alex, I've some bad news for you," and then bluntly, with his keen +gaze fastened on the young man's face, he told of old Lane's murder, +of Mabel's abduction, and of her rescue by Wetzel. + +Alex began to curse and swear vengeance. + +"Stow all that," said the colonel sharply. "Wetzel followed four +Indians who had Mabel and some stolen horses. The redskins quarreled +over the girl, and two took the horses, leaving Mabel to the others. +Wetzel went after these last, tomahawked them, and brought Mabel home. +She was in a bad way, but is now getting over the shock." + +"Say, what'd we do here without Wetzel?" Alex said huskily, unmindful +of the tears that streamed from his eyes and ran over his brown +cheeks. "Poor old Jake! Poor Mabel! Damn me! it's my fault. If I'd 'a +done right an' married her as I should, as I wanted to, she wouldn't +have had to suffer. But I'll marry her yet, if she'll have me. It was +only because I had no farm, no stock, an' only that little cabin as is +full now, that I waited." + +"Alex, you know me," said Colonel Zane in kindly tones. "Look there, +down the clearing half a mile. See that green strip of land along the +river, with the big chestnut in the middle and a cabin beyond. There's +as fine farming land as can be found on the border, eighty acres, well +watered. The day you marry Mabel that farm is yours." + +Alex grew red, stammered, and vainly tried to express his gratitude. + +"Come along, the sooner you tell Mabel the better," said the colonel +with glowing face. He was a good matchmaker. He derived more pleasure +from a little charity bestowed upon a deserving person, than from a +season's crops. + +When they arrived at the Sheppard house the girls were still on the +porch. Mabel rose when she saw Alex, standing white and still. He, +poor fellow, was embarrassed by the others, who regarded him with +steady eyes. + +Colonel Zane pushed Alex up on the porch, and said in a low voice: +"Mabel, I've just arranged something you're to give Alex. It's a nice +little farm, and it'll be a wedding present." + +Mabel looked in a bewildered manner from Colonel Zane's happy face to +the girls, and then at the red, joyous features of her lover. Only +then did she understand, and uttering a strange little cry, put her +trembling hands to her bosom as she swayed to and fro. + +But she did not fall, for Alex, quick at the last, leaped forward and +caught her in his arms. + + * * * * * + +That evening Helen denied herself to Mr. Brandt and several other +callers. She sat on the porch with her father while he smoked +his pipe. + +"Where's Will?" she asked. + +"Gone after snipe, so he said," replied her father. + +"Snipe? How funny! Imagine Will hunting! He's surely catching the wild +fever Colonel Zane told us about." + +"He surely is." + +Then came a time of silence. Mr. Sheppard, accustomed to Helen's +gladsome spirit and propensity to gay chatter, noted how quiet she +was, and wondered. + +"Why are you so still?" + +"I'm a little homesick," Helen replied reluctantly. + +"No? Well, I declare! This is a glorious country; but not for such as +you, dear, who love music and gaiety. I often fear you'll not be happy +here, and then I long for the old home, which reminds me of +your mother." + +"Dearest, forget what I said," cried Helen earnestly. "I'm only a +little blue to-day; perhaps not at all homesick." + +"Indeed, you always seemed happy." + +"Father, I am happy. It's only--only a girl's foolish sentiment." + +"I've got something to tell you, Helen, and it has bothered me since +Colonel Zane spoke of it to-night. Mordaunt is coming to Fort Henry." + +"Mordaunt? Oh, impossible! Who said so? How did you learn?" + +"I fear 'tis true, my dear. Colonel Zane told me he had heard of an +Englishman at Fort Pitt who asked after us. Moreover, the fellow +answers the description of Mordaunt. I am afraid it is he, and come +after you." + +"Suppose he has--who cares? We owe him nothing. He cannot hurt us." + +"But, Helen, he's a desperate man. Aren't you afraid of him?" + +"Not I," cried Helen, laughing in scorn. "He'd better have a care. He +can't run things with a high hand out here on the border. I told him I +would have none of him, and that ended it." + +"I'm much relieved. I didn't want to tell you; but it seemed +necessary. Well, child, good night, I'll go to bed." + +Long after Mr. Sheppard had retired Helen sat thinking. Memories of +the past, and of the unwelcome suitor, Mordaunt, thronged upon her +thick and fast. She could see him now with his pale, handsome face, +and distinguished bearing. She had liked him, as she had other men, +until he involved her father, with himself, in financial ruin, and had +made his attention to her unpleasantly persistent. Then he had +followed the fall of fortune with wild dissipation, and became a +gambler and a drunkard. But he did not desist in his mad wooing. He +became like her shadow, and life grew to be unendurable, until her +father planned to emigrate west, when she hailed the news with joy. +And now Mordaunt had tracked her to her new home. She was sick with +disgust. Then her spirit, always strong, and now freer for this new, +wild life of the frontier, rose within her, and she dismissed all +thoughts of this man and his passion. + +The old life was dead and buried. She was going to be happy here. As +for the present, it was enough to think of the little border village, +now her home; of her girl friends; of the quiet borderman: and, for +the moment, that the twilight was somber and beautiful. + +High up on the wooded bluff rising so gloomily over the village, she +saw among the trees something silver-bright. She watched it rise +slowly from behind the trees, now hidden, now white through rifts in +the foliage, until it soared lovely and grand above the black horizon. +The ebony shadows of night seemed to lift, as might a sable mantle +moved by invisible hands. But dark shadows, safe from the moon-rays, +lay under the trees, and a pale, misty vapor hung below the brow of +the bluff. + +Mysterious as had grown the night before darkness yielded to the moon, +this pale, white light flooding the still valley, was even more soft +and strange. To one of Helen's temperament no thought was needed; to +see was enough. Yet her mind was active. She felt with haunting power +the beauty of all before her; in fancy transporting herself far to +those silver-tipped clouds, and peopling the dells and shady nooks +under the hills with spirits and fairies, maidens and valiant knights. +To her the day was as a far-off dream. The great watch stars grew wan +before the radiant moon; it reigned alone. The immensity of the world +with its glimmering rivers, pensive valleys and deep, gloomy forests +lay revealed under the glory of the clear light. + +Absorbed in this contemplation Helen remained a long time gazing with +dreamy ecstasy at the moonlit valley until a slight chill disturbed +her happy thoughts. She knew she was not alone. Trembling, she stood +up to see, easily recognizable in the moonlight, the tall +buckskin-garbed figure of Jonathan Zane. + +"Well, sir," she called, sharply, yet with a tremor in her voice. + +The borderman came forward and stood in front of her. Somehow he +appeared changed. The long, black rifle, the dull, glinting weapons +made her shudder. Wilder and more untamable he looked than ever. The +very silence of the forest clung to him; the fragrance of the grassy +plains came faintly from his buckskin garments. + +"Evenin', lass," he said in his slow, cool manner. + +"How did you get here?" asked Helen presently, because he made no +effort to explain his presence at such a late hour. + +"I was able to walk." + +Helen observed, with a vaulting spirit, one ever ready to rise in +arms, that Master Zane was disposed to add humor to his penetrating +mysteriousness. She flushed hot and then paled. This borderman +certainly possessed the power to vex her, and, reluctantly she +admitted, to chill her soul and rouse her fear. She strove to keep +back sharp words, because she had learned that this singular +individual always gave good reason for his odd actions. + +"I think in kindness to me," she said, choosing her words carefully, +"you might tell me why you appear so suddenly, as if you had sprung +out of the ground." + +"Are you alone?" + +"Yes. Father is in bed; so is Mabel, and Will has not yet come home. +Why?" + +"Has no one else been here?" + +"Mr. Brandt came, as did some others; but wishing to be alone, I did +not see them," replied Helen in perplexity. + +"Have you seen Brandt since?" + +"Since when?" + +"The night I watched by the lilac bush." + +"Yes, several times," replied Helen. Something in his tone made her +ashamed. "I couldn't very well escape when he called. Are you +surprised because after he insulted me I'd see him?" + +"Yes." + +Helen felt more ashamed. + +"You don't love him?" he continued. + +Helen was so surprised she could only look into the dark face above +her. Then she dropped her gaze, abashed by his searching eyes. But, +thinking of his question, she subdued the vague stirrings of pleasure +in her breast, and answered coldly: + +"No, I do not; but for the service you rendered me I should never have +answered such a question." + +"I'm glad, an' hope you care as little for the other five men who were +here that night." + +"I declare, Master Zane, you seem exceedingly interested in the +affairs of a young woman whom you won't visit, except as you have come +to-night." + +He looked at her with his piercing eyes. + +"You spied upon my guests," she said, in no wise abashed now that her +temper was high. "Did you care so very much?" + +"Care?" he asked slowly. + +"Yes; you were interested to know how many of my admirers were here, +what they did, and what they said. You even hint disparagingly +of them." + +"True, I wanted to know," he replied; "but I don't hint about any +man." + +"You are so interested you wouldn't call on me when I invited you," +said Helen, with poorly veiled sarcasm. It was this that made her +bitter; she could never forget that she had asked this man to come to +see her, and he had refused. + +"I reckon you've mistook me," he said calmly. + +"Why did you come? Why do you shadow my friends? This is twice you +have done it. Goodness knows how many times you've been here! +Tell me." + +The borderman remained silent. + +"Answer me," commanded Helen, her eyes blazing. She actually stamped +her foot. "Borderman or not, you have no right to pry into my affairs. +If you are a gentleman, tell me why you came here?" + +The eyes Jonathan turned on Helen stilled all the angry throbbing of +her blood. + +"I come here to learn which of your lovers is the dastard who plotted +the abduction of Mabel Lane, an' the thief who stole our hosses. When +I find the villain I reckon Wetzel an' I'll swing him to some tree." + +The borderman's voice rang sharp and cold, and when he ceased speaking +she sank back upon the step, shocked, speechless, to gaze up at him +with staring eyes. + +"Don't look so, lass; don't be frightened," he said, his voice gentle +and kind as it had been hard. He took her hand in his. "You nettled me +into replyin'. You have a sharp tongue, lass, and when I spoke I was +thinkin' of him. I'm sorry." + +"A horse-thief and worse than murderer among my friends!" murmured +Helen, shuddering, yet she never thought to doubt his word. + +"I followed him here the night of your company." + +"Do you know which one?" + +"No." + +He still held her hand, unconsciously, but Helen knew it well. A sense +of his strength came with the warm pressure, and comforted her. She +would need that powerful hand, surely, in the evil days which seemed +to darken the horizon. + +"What shall I do?" she whispered, shuddering again. + +"Keep this secret between you an' me." + +"How can I? How can I?" + +"You must," his voice was deep and low. "If you tell your father, or +any one, I might lose the chance to find this man, for, lass, he's +desperate cunnin'. Then he'd go free to rob others, an' mebbe help +make off with other poor girls. Lass, keep my secret." + +"But he might try to carry me away," said Helen in fearful perplexity. + +"Most likely he might," replied the borderman with the smile that came +so rarely. + +"Oh! Knowing all this, how can I meet any of these men again? I'd +betray myself." + +"No; you've got too much pluck. It so happens you are the one to help +me an' Wetzel rid the border of these hell-hounds, an' you won't fail. +I know a woman when it comes to that." + +"I--I help you and Wetzel?" + +"Exactly." + +"Gracious!" cried Helen, half-laughing, half-crying. "And poor me with +more trouble coming on the next boat." + +"Lass, the colonel told me about the Englishman. It'll be bad for him +to annoy you." + +Helen thrilled with the depth of meaning in the low voice. Fate surely +was weaving a bond between her and this borderman. She felt it in his +steady, piercing gaze; in her own tingling blood. + +Then as her natural courage dispelled all girlish fears, she faced +him, white, resolute, with a look in her eyes that matched his own. + +"I will do what I can," she said. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Westward from Fort Henry, far above the eddying river, Jonathan Zane +slowly climbed a narrow, hazel-bordered, mountain trail. From time to +time he stopped in an open patch among the thickets and breathed deep +of the fresh, wood-scented air, while his keen gaze swept over the +glades near by, along the wooded hillsides, and above at the +timber-strewn woodland. + +This June morning in the wild forest was significant of nature's +brightness and joy. Broad-leaved poplars, dense foliaged oaks, and +vine-covered maples shaded cool, mossy banks, while between the trees +the sunshine streamed in bright spots. It shone silver on the glancing +silver-leaf, and gold on the colored leaves of the butternut tree. +Dewdrops glistened on the ferns; ripples sparkled in the brooks; +spider-webs glowed with wondrous rainbow hues, and the flower of the +forest, the sweet, pale-faced daisy, rose above the green like a +white star. + +Yellow birds flitted among the hazel bushes caroling joyously, and +cat-birds sang gaily. Robins called; bluejays screeched in the tall, +white oaks; wood-peckers hammered in the dead hard-woods, and crows +cawed overhead. Squirrels chattered everywhere. Ruffed grouse rose +with great bustle and a whirr, flitting like brown flakes through the +leaves. From far above came the shrill cry of a hawk, followed by the +wilder scream of an eagle. + +Wilderness music such as all this fell harmoniously on the borderman's +ear. It betokened the gladsome spirit of his wild friends, happy in +the warm sunshine above, or in the cool depths beneath the fluttering +leaves, and everywhere in those lonely haunts unalarmed and free. + +Familiar to Jonathan, almost as the footpath near his home, was this +winding trail. On the height above was a safe rendezvous, much +frequented by him and Wetzel. Every lichen-covered stone, mossy bank, +noisy brook and giant oak on the way up this mountain-side, could have +told, had they spoken their secrets, stories of the bordermen. The +fragile ferns and slender-bladed grasses peeping from the gray and +amber mosses, and the flowers that hung from craggy ledges, had wisdom +to impart. A borderman lived under the green tree-tops, and, +therefore, all the nodding branches of sassafras and laurel, the +grassy slopes and rocky cliffs, the stately ash trees, kingly oaks and +dark, mystic pines, together with the creatures that dwelt among them, +save his deadly red-skinned foes, he loved. Other affection as close +and true as this, he had not known. Hearkening thus with single heart +to nature's teachings, he learned her secrets. Certain it was, +therefore, that the many hours he passed in the woods apart from +savage pursuits, were happy and fruitful. + +Slowly he pressed on up the ascent, at length coming into open light +upon a small plateau marked by huge, rugged, weather-chipped stones. +On the eastern side was a rocky promontory, and close to the edge of +this cliff, an hundred feet in sheer descent, rose a gnarled, time and +tempest-twisted chestnut tree. Here the borderman laid down his rifle +and knapsack, and, half-reclining against the tree, settled himself to +rest and wait. + +This craggy point was the lonely watch-tower of eagles. Here on the +highest headland for miles around where the bordermen were wont to +meet, the outlook was far-reaching and grand. + +Below the gray, splintered cliffs sheered down to meet the waving +tree-tops, and then hill after hill, slope after slope, waved and +rolled far, far down to the green river. Open grassy patches, bright +little islands in that ocean of dark green, shone on the hillsides. +The rounded ridges ran straight, curved, or zigzag, but shaped their +graceful lines in the descent to make the valley. Long, purple-hued, +shadowy depressions in the wide expanse of foliage marked deep clefts +between ridges where dark, cool streams bounded on to meet the river. +Lower, where the land was level, in open spaces could be seen a broad +trail, yellow in the sunlight, winding along with the curves of the +water-course. On a swampy meadow, blue in the distance, a herd of +buffalo browsed. Beyond the river, high over the green island, Fort +Henry lay peaceful and solitary, the only token of the works of man in +all that vast panorama. + +Jonathan Zane was as much alone as if one thousand miles, instead of +five, intervened between him and the settlement. Loneliness was to him +a passion. Other men loved home, the light of woman's eyes, the rattle +of dice or the lust of hoarding; but to him this wild, remote +promontory, with its limitless view, stretching away to the dim hazy +horizon, was more than all the aching joys of civilization. + +Hours here, or in the shady valley, recompensed him for the loss of +home comforts, the soft touch of woman's hands, the kiss of baby lips, +and also for all he suffered in his pitiless pursuits, the hard fare, +the steel and blood of a borderman's life. + +Soon the sun shone straight overhead, dwarfing the shadow of the +chestnut on the rock. + +During such a time it was rare that any connected thought came into +the borderman's mind. His dark eyes, now strangely luminous, strayed +lingeringly over those purple, undulating slopes. This intense +watchfulness had no object, neither had his listening. He watched +nothing; he hearkened to the silence. Undoubtedly in this state of +rapt absorption his perceptions were acutely alert; but without +thought, as were those of the savage in the valley below, or the eagle +in the sky above. + +Yet so perfectly trained were these perceptions that the least +unnatural sound or sight brought him wary and watchful from his +dreamy trance. + +The slight snapping of a twig in the thicket caused him to sit erect, +and reach out toward his rifle. His eyes moved among the dark openings +in the thicket. In another moment a tall figure pressed the bushes +apart. Jonathan let fall his rifle, and sank back against the tree +once more. Wetzel stepped over the rocks toward him. + +"Come from Blue Pond?" asked Jonathan as the newcomer took a seat +beside him. + +Wetzel nodded as he carefully laid aside his long, black rifle. + +"Any Injun sign?" continued Jonathan, pushing toward his companion the +knapsack of eatables he had brought from the settlement. + +"Nary Shawnee track west of this divide," answered Wetzel, helping +himself to bread and cheese. + +"Lew, we must go eastward, over Bing Legget's way, to find the trail +of the stolen horses." + +"Likely, an' it'll be a long, hard tramp." + +"Who's in Legget's gang now beside Old Horse, the Chippewa, an' his +Shawnee pard, Wildfire? I don't know Bing; but I've seen some of his +Injuns an' they remember me." + +"Never seen Legget but onct," replied Wetzel, "an' that time I shot +half his face off. I've been told by them as have seen him since, that +he's got a nasty scar on his temple an' cheek. He's a big man an' +knows the woods. I don't know who all's in his gang, nor does anybody. +He works in the dark, an' for cunnin' he's got some on Jim Girty, +Deerin', an' several more renegades we know of lyin' quiet back here +in the woods. We never tackled as bad a gang as his'n; they're all +experienced woodsmen, old fighters, an' desperate, outlawed as they be +by Injuns an' whites. It wouldn't surprise me to find that it's him +an' his gang who are runnin' this hoss-thievin'; but bad or no, we're +goin' after 'em." + +Jonathan told of his movements since he had last seen his companion. + +"An' the lass Helen is goin' to help us," said Wetzel, much +interested. "It's a good move. Women are keen. Betty put Miller's +schemin' in my eye long 'afore I noticed it. But girls have chances we +men'd never get." + +"Yes, an' she's like Betts, quicker'n lightnin'. She'll find out this +hoss-thief in Fort Henry; but Lew, when we do get him we won't be much +better off. Where do them hosses go? Who's disposin' of 'em for +this fellar?" + +"Where's Brandt from?" asked Wetzel. + +"Detroit; he's a French-Canadian." + +Wetzel swung sharply around, his eyes glowing like wakening furnaces. + +"Bing Legget's a French-Canadian, an' from Detroit. Metzar was once +thick with him down Fort Pitt way 'afore he murdered a man an' became +an outlaw. We're on the trail, Jack." + +"Brandt an' Metzar, with Legget backin' them, an' the horses go +overland to Detroit?" + +"I calkilate you've hit the mark." + +"What'll we do?" asked Jonathan. + +"Wait; that's best. We've no call to hurry. We must know the truth +before makin' a move, an' as yet we're only suspicious. This lass'll +find out more in a week than we could in a year. But Jack, have a care +she don't fall into any snare. Brandt ain't any too honest a lookin' +chap, an' them renegades is hell for women. The scars you wear prove +that well enough. She's a rare, sweet, bloomin' lass, too. I never +seen her equal. I remember how her eyes flashed when she said she knew +I'd avenged Mabel. Jack, they're wonderful eyes; an' that girl, +however sweet an' good as she must be, is chain-lightnin' wrapped up +in a beautiful form. Aren't the boys at the fort runnin' arter her?" + +"Like mad; it'd make you laugh to see 'em," replied Jonathan calmly. + +"There'll be some fights before she's settled for, an' mebbe arter +thet. Have a care for her, Jack, an' see that she don't ketch you." + +"No more danger than for you." + +"I was ketched onct," replied Wetzel. + +Jonathan Zane looked up at his companion. Wetzel's head was bowed; but +there was no merriment in the serious face exposed to the +borderman's scrutiny. + +"Lew, you're jokin'." + +"Not me. Some day, when you're ketched good, an' I have to go back to +the lonely trail, as I did afore you an' me become friends, mebbe +then, when I'm the last borderman, I'll tell you." + +"Lew, 'cordin' to the way settlers are comin', in a few more years +there won't be any need for a borderman. When the Injuns are all gone +where'll be our work?" + +"'Tain't likely either of us'll ever see them times," said Wetzel, +"an' I don't want to. Wal, Jack, I'm off now, an' I'll meet you here +every other day." + +Wetzel shouldered his long rifle, and soon passed out of sight down +the mountain-side. + +Jonathan arose, shook himself as a big dog might have done, and went +down into the valley. Only once did he pause in his descent, and that +was when a crackling twig warned him some heavy body was moving near. +Silently he sank into the bushes bordering the trail. He listened with +his ear close to the ground. Presently he heard a noise as of two hard +substances striking together. He resumed his walk, having recognized +the grating noise of a deer-hoof striking a rock. Farther down he +espied a pair grazing. The buck ran into the thicket; but the doe eyed +him curiously. + +Less than an hour's rapid walking brought him to the river. Here he +plunged into a thicket of willows, and emerged on a sandy strip of +shore. He carefully surveyed the river bank, and then pulled a small +birch-bark canoe from among the foliage. He launched the frail craft, +paddled across the river and beached it under a reedy, over-hanging bank. + +The distance from this point in a straight line to his destination was +only a mile; but a rocky bluff and a ravine necessitated his making a +wide detour. While lightly leaping over a brook his keen eye fell on +an imprint in the sandy loam. Instantly he was on his knees. The +footprint was small, evidently a woman's, and, what was more unusual, +instead of the flat, round moccasin-track, it was pointed, with a +sharp, square heel. Such shoes were not worn by border girls. True +Betty and Nell had them; but they never went into the woods without +moccasins. + +Jonathan's experienced eye saw that this imprint was not an hour old. +He gazed up at the light. The day was growing short. Already shadows +lay in the glens. He would not long have light enough to follow the +trail; but he hurried on hoping to find the person who made it before +darkness came. He had not traveled many paces before learning that the +one who made it was lost. The uncertainty in those hasty steps was as +plain to the borderman's eyes, as if it had been written in words on +the sand. The course led along the brook, avoiding the rough places; +and leading into the open glades and glens; but it drew no nearer to +the settlement. A quarter of an hour of rapid trailing enabled +Jonathan to discern a dark figure moving among the trees. Abandoning +the trail, he cut across a ridge to head off the lost woman. Stepping +out of a sassafras thicket, he came face to face with Helen Sheppard. + +"Oh!" she cried in alarm, and then the expression of terror gave place +to one of extreme relief and gladness. "Oh! Thank goodness! You've +found me. I'm lost!" + +"I reckon," answered Jonathan grimly. "The settlement's only five +hundred yards over that hill." + +"I was going the wrong way. Oh! suppose you hadn't come!" exclaimed +Helen, sinking on a log and looking up at him with warm, glad eyes. + +"How did you lose your way?" Jonathan asked. He saw neither the warmth +in her eyes nor the gladness. + +"I went up the hillside, only a little way, after flowers, keeping the +fort in sight all the time. Then I saw some lovely violets down a +little hill, and thought I might venture. I found such loads of them I +forgot everything else, and I must have walked on a little way. On +turning to go back I couldn't find the little hill. I have hunted in +vain for the clearing. It seems as if I have been wandering about for +hours. I'm so glad you've found me!" + +"Weren't you told to stay in the settlement, inside the clearing?" +demanded Jonathan. + +"Yes," replied Helen, with her head up. + +"Why didn't you?" + +"Because I didn't choose." + +"You ought to have better sense." + +"It seems I hadn't," Helen said quietly, but her eyes belied that calm +voice. + +"You're a headstrong child," Jonathan added curtly. + +"Mr. Zane!" cried Helen with pale face. + +"I suppose you've always had your own sweet will; but out here on the +border you ought to think a little of others, if not of yourself." + +Helen maintained a proud silence. + +"You might have run right into prowlin' Shawnees." + +"That dreadful disaster would not have caused you any sorrow," she +flashed out. + +"Of course it would. I might have lost my scalp tryin' to get you back +home," said Jonathan, beginning to hesitate. Plainly he did not know +what to make of this remarkable young woman. + +"Such a pity to have lost all your fine hair," she answered with a +touch of scorn. + +Jonathan flushed, perhaps for the first time in his life. If there was +anything he was proud of, it was his long, glossy hair. + +"Miss Helen, I'm a poor hand at words," he said, with a pale, grave +face. "I was only speakin' for your own good." + +"You are exceedingly kind; but need not trouble yourself." + +"Say," Jonathan hesitated, looking half-vexed at the lovely, angry +face. Then an idea occurred to him. "Well, I won't trouble. Find your +way home yourself." + +Abruptly he turned and walked slowly away. He had no idea of allowing +her to go home alone; but believed it might be well for her to think +so. If she did not call him back he would remain near at hand, and +when she showed signs of anxiety or fear he could go to her. + +Helen determined she would die in the woods, or be captured by +Shawnees, before calling him back. But she watched him. Slowly the +tall, strong figure, with its graceful, springy stride, went down the +glade. He would be lost to view in a moment, and then she would be +alone. How dark it had suddenly become! The gray cloak of twilight was +spread over the forest, and in the hollows night already had settled +down. A breathless silence pervaded the woods. How lonely! thought +Helen, with a shiver. Surely it would be dark before she could find +the settlement. What hill hid the settlement from view? She did not +know, could not remember which he had pointed out. Suddenly she began +to tremble. She had been so frightened before he had found her, and so +relieved afterward; and now he was going away. + +"Mr. Zane," she cried with a great effort. "Come back." + +Jonathan kept slowly on. + +"Come back, Jonathan, please." + +The borderman retraced his steps. + +"Please take me home," she said, lifting a fair face all flushed, +tear-stained, and marked with traces of storm. "I was foolish, and +silly to come into the woods, and so glad to see you! But you spoke to +me--in--in a way no one ever used before. I'm sure I deserved it. +Please take me home. Papa will be worried." + +Softer eyes and voice than hers never entreated man. + +"Come," he said gently, and, taking her by the hand, he led her up the +ridge. + +Thus they passed through the darkening forest, hand in hand, like a +dusky redman and his bride. He helped her over stones and logs, but +still held her hand when there was no need of it. She looked up to see +him walking, so dark and calm beside her, his eyes ever roving among +the trees. Deepest remorse came upon her because of what she had said. +There was no sentiment for him in this walk under the dark canopy of +the leaves. He realized the responsibility. Any tree might hide a +treacherous foe. She would atone for her sarcasm, she promised +herself, while walking, ever conscious of her hand in his, her bosom +heaving with the sweet, undeniable emotion which came knocking at +her heart. + +Soon they were out of the thicket, and on the dusty lane. A few +moments of rapid walking brought them within sight of the twinkling +lights of the village, and a moment later they were at the lane +leading to Helen's home. Releasing her hand, she stopped him with a +light touch and said: + +"Please don't tell papa or Colonel Zane." + +"Child, I ought. Some one should make you stay at home." + +"I'll stay. Please don't tell. It will worry papa." + +Jonathan Zane looked down into her great, dark, wonderful eyes with an +unaccountable feeling. He really did not hear what she asked. +Something about that upturned face brought to his mind a rare and +perfect flower which grew in far-off rocky fastnesses. The feeling he +had was intangible, like no more than a breath of fragrant western +wind, faint with tidings of some beautiful field. + +"Promise me you won't tell." + +"Well, lass, have it your own way," replied Jonathan, wonderingly +conscious that it was the first pledge ever asked of him by a woman. + +"Thank you. Now we have two secrets, haven't we?" she laughed, with +eyes like stars. + +"Run home now, lass. Be careful hereafter. I do fear for you with such +spirit an' temper. I'd rather be scalped by Shawnees than have Bing +Legget so much as set eyes on you." + +"You would? Why?" Her voice was like low, soft music. + +"Why?" he mused. "It'd seem like a buzzard about to light on a doe." + +"Good-night," said Helen abruptly, and, wheeling, she hurried down the +lane. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +"Jack," said Colonel Zane to his brother next morning, "to-day is +Saturday and all the men will be in. There was high jinks over at +Metzar's place yesterday, and I'm looking for more to-day. The two +fellows Alex Bennet told me about, came on day-before-yesterday's +boat. Sure enough, one's a lordly Englishman, and the other, the +cussedest-looking little chap I ever saw. They started trouble +immediately. The Englishman, his name is Mordaunt, hunted up the +Sheppards and as near as I can make out from George's story, Helen +spoke her mind very plainly. Mordaunt and Case, that's his servant, +the little cuss, got drunk and raised hell down at Metzar's where +they're staying. Brandt and Williams are drinking hard, too, which is +something unusual for Brandt. They got chummy at once with the +Englishman, who seems to have plenty of gold and is fond of gambling. +This Mordaunt is a gentleman, or I never saw one. I feel sorry for +him. He appears to be a ruined man. If he lasts a week out here I'll +be surprised. Case looks ugly, as if he were spoiling to cut somebody. +I want you to keep your eye peeled. The day may pass off as many other +days of drinking bouts have, without anything serious, and on the +other hand there's liable to be trouble." + +Jonathan's preparations were characteristic of the borderman. He laid +aside his rifle, and, removing his short coat, buckled on a second +belt containing a heavier tomahawk and knife than those he had been +wearing. Then he put on his hunting frock, or shirt, and wore it loose +with the belts underneath, instead of on the outside. Unfastened, the +frock was rather full, and gave him the appearance of a man unarmed +and careless. + +Jonathan Zane was not so reckless as to court danger, nor, like many +frontiersmen, fond of fighting for its own sake. Colonel Zane was +commandant of the fort, and, in a land where there was no law, tried +to maintain a semblance of it. For years he had kept thieves, +renegades and outlaws away from his little settlement by dealing out +stern justice. His word was law, and his bordermen executed it as +such. Therefore Jonathan and Wetzel made it their duty to have a keen +eye on all that was happening. They kept the colonel posted, and never +interfered in any case without orders. + +The morning passed quietly. Jonathan strolled here or loitered there; +but saw none of the roisterers. He believed they were sleeping off the +effects of their orgy on the previous evening. After dinner he smoked +his pipe. Betty and Helen passed, and Helen smiled. It struck him +suddenly that she had never looked at him in such a way before. There +was meaning in that warm, radiant flash. A little sense of vexation, +the source of which he did not understand, stirred in him against this +girl; but with it came the realization that her white face and big, +dark eyes had risen before him often since the night before. He +wished, for the first time, that he could understand women better. + +"Everything quiet?" asked Colonel Zane, coming out on the steps. + +"All quiet," answered Jonathan. + +"They'll open up later, I suspect. I'm going over to Sheppard's for a +while, and, later, will drop into Metzar's. I'll make him haul in a +yard or two. I don't like things I hear about his selling the +youngsters rum. I'd like you to be within call." + +The borderman strolled down the bluff and along the path which +overhung the river. He disliked Metzar more than his brother +suspected, and with more weighty reason than that of selling rum to +minors. Jonathan threw himself at length on the ground and mused over +the situation. + +"We never had any peace in this settlement, an' never will in our day. +Eb is hopeful an' looks at the bright side, always expectin' to-morrow +will be different. What have the past sixteen years been? One long +bloody fight, an' the next sixteen won't be any better. I make out +that we'll have a mix-up soon. Metzar an' Brandt with their allies, +whoever they are, will be in it, an' if Bing Legget's in the gang, +we've got, as Wetzel said, a long, hard trail, which may be our last. +More'n that, there'll be trouble about this chain-lightnin' girl, as +Wetzel predicted. Women make trouble anyways; an' when they're winsome +an' pretty they cause more; but if they're beautiful an' fiery, bent +on havin' their way, as this new lass is, all hell couldn't hold a +candle to them. We don't need the Shawnees an' Girtys, an' hoss +thieves round this here settlement to stir up excitin' times, now +we've got this dark-eyed lass. An' yet any fool could see she's sweet, +an' good, an' true as gold." + +Toward the middle of the afternoon Jonathan sauntered in the direction +of Metzar's inn. It lay on the front of the bluff, with its main doors +looking into the road. A long, one-story log structure with two doors, +answered as a bar-room. The inn proper was a building more +pretentious, and joined the smaller one at its western end. Several +horses were hitched outside, and two great oxen yoked to a cumbersome +mud-crusted wagon stood patiently by. + +Jonathan bent his tall head as he entered the noisy bar-room. The +dingy place reeked with tobacco smoke and the fumes of vile liquor. It +was crowded with men. The lawlessness of the time and place was +evident. Gaunt, red-faced frontiersmen reeled to and fro across the +sawdust floor; hunters and fur-traders, raftsmen and farmers, swelled +the motley crowd; young men, honest-faced, but flushed and wild with +drink, hung over the bar; a group of sullen-visaged, serpent-eyed +Indians held one corner. The black-bearded proprietor dealt out +the rum. + +From beyond the bar-room, through a door entering upon the back porch, +came the rattling of dice. Jonathan crossed the bar-room apparently +oblivious to the keen glance Metzar shot at him, and went out upon the +porch. This also was crowded, but there was more room because of +greater space. At one table sat some pioneers drinking and laughing; +at another were three men playing with dice. Colonel Zane, Silas, and +Sheppard were among the lookers-on at the game. Jonathan joined them, +and gazed at the gamesters. + +Brandt he knew well enough; he had seen that set, wolfish expression +in the riverman's face before. He observed, however, that the man had +flushed cheeks and trembling hands, indications of hard drinking. The +player sitting next to Brandt was Williams, one of the garrison, and a +good-natured fellow, but garrulous and wickedly disposed when drunk. +The remaining player Jonathan at once saw was the Englishman, +Mordaunt. He was a handsome man, with fair skin, and long, silken, +blond mustache. Heavy lines, and purple shades under his blue eyes, +were die unmistakable stamp of dissipation. Reckless, dissolute, bad +as he looked, there yet clung something favorable about the man. +Perhaps it was his cool, devil-may-care way as he pushed over gold +piece after gold piece from the fast diminishing pile before him. His +velvet frock and silken doublet had once been elegant; but were now +sadly the worse for border roughing. + +Behind the Englishman's chair Jonathan saw a short man with a face +resembling that of a jackal. The grizzled, stubbly beard, the +protruding, vicious mouth, the broad, flat nose, and deep-set, small, +glittering eyes made a bad impression on the observer. This man, +Jonathan concluded, was the servant, Case, who was so eager with his +knife. The borderman made the reflection, that if knife-play was the +little man's pastime, he was not likely to go short of sport in +that vicinity. + +Colonel Zane attracted Jonathan's attention at this moment. The +pioneers had vacated the other table, and Silas and Sheppard now sat +by it. The colonel wanted his brother to join them. + +"Here, Johnny, bring drinks," he said to the serving boy. "Tell Metzar +who they're for." Then turning to Sheppard he continued: "He keeps +good whiskey; but few of these poor devils ever see it." At the same +time Colonel Zane pressed his foot upon that of Jonathan's. + +The borderman understood that the signal was intended to call +attention to Brandt. The latter had leaned forward, as Jonathan passed +by to take a seat with his brother, and said something in a low tone +to Mordaunt and Case. Jonathan knew by the way the Englishman and his +man quickly glanced up at him, that he had been the subject of +the remark. + +Suddenly Williams jumped to his feet with an oath. + +"I'm cleaned out," he cried. + +"Shall we play alone?" asked Brandt of Mordaunt. + +"As you like," replied the Englishman, in a tone which showed he cared +not a whit whether he played or not. + +"I've got work to do. Let's have some more drinks, and play another +time," said Brandt. + +The liquor was served and drank. Brandt pocketed his pile of Spanish +and English gold, and rose to his feet. He was a trifle unsteady; but +not drunk. + +"Will you gentlemen have a glass with me?" Mordaunt asked of Colonel +Zane's party. + +"Thank you, some other time, with pleasure. We have our drink now," +Colonel Zane said courteously. + +Meantime Brandt had been whispering in Case's ear. The little man +laughed at something the riverman said. Then he shuffled from behind +the table. He was short, his compact build gave promise of unusual +strength and agility. + +"What are you going to do now?" asked Mordaunt, rising also. He looked +hard at Case. + +"Shiver my sides, cap'n, if I don't need another drink," replied the +sailor. + +"You have had enough. Come upstairs with me," said Mordaunt. + +"Easy with your hatch, cap'n," grinned Case. "I want to drink with +that ther' Injun killer. I've had drinks with buccaneers, and bad men +all over the world, and I'm not going to miss this chance." + +"Come on; you will get into trouble. You must not annoy these +gentlemen," said Mordaunt. + +"Trouble is the name of my ship, and she's a trim, fast craft," +replied the man. + +His loud voice had put an end to the convention. Men began to crowd in +from the bar-room. Metzar himself came to see what had caused the +excitement. + +The little man threw up his cap, whooped, and addressed himself to +Jonathan: + +"Injun-killer, bad man of the border, will you drink with a jolly old +tar from England?" + +Suddenly a silence reigned, like that in the depths of the forest. To +those who knew the borderman, and few did not know him, the invitation +was nothing less than an insult. But it did not appear to them, as to +him, like a pre-arranged plot to provoke a fight. + +"Will you drink, redskin-hunter?" bawled the sailor. + +"No," said Jonathan in his quiet voice. + +"Maybe you mean that against old England?" demanded Case fiercely. + +The borderman eyed him steadily, inscrutable as to feeling or intent, +and was silent. + +"Go out there and I'll see the color of your insides quicker than I'd +take a drink," hissed the sailor, with his brick-red face distorted +and hideous to look upon. He pointed with a long-bladed knife that no +one had seen him draw, to the green sward beyond the porch. + +The borderman neither spoke, nor relaxed a muscle. + +"Ho! ho! my brave pirate of the plains!" cried Case, and he leered +with braggart sneer into the faces of Jonathan and his companions. + +It so happened that Sheppard sat nearest to him, and got the full +effect of the sailor's hot, rum-soaked breath. He arose with a +pale face. + +"Colonel, I can't stand this," he said hastily. "Let's get away from +that drunken ruffian." + +"Who's a drunken ruffian?" yelled Case, more angry than ever. "I'm not +drunk; but I'm going to be, and cut some of you white-livered border +mates. Here, you old masthead, drink this to my health, damn you!" + +The ruffian had seized a tumbler of liquor from the table, and held it +toward Sheppard while he brandished his long knife. + +White as snow, Sheppard backed against the wall; but did not take the +drink. + +The sailor had the floor; no one save him spoke a word. The action had +been so rapid that there had hardly been time. Colonel Zane and Silas +were as quiet and tense as the borderman. + +"Drink!" hoarsely cried the sailor, advancing his knife toward +Sheppard's body. + +When the sharp point all but pressed against the old man, a bright +object twinkled through the air. It struck Case's wrist, knocked the +knife from his fingers, and, bounding against the wall, fell upon the +floor. It was a tomahawk. + +The borderman sprang over the table like a huge catamount, and with +movement equally quick, knocked Case with a crash against the wall; +closed on him before he could move a hand, and flung him like a sack +of meal over the bluff. + +The tension relieved, some of the crowd laughed, others looked over +the embankment to see how Case had fared, and others remarked that for +some reason he had gotten off better than they expected. + +The borderman remained silent. He leaned against a post, with broad +breast gently heaving, but his eyes sparkled as they watched Brandt, +Williams, Mordaunt and Metzar. The Englishman alone spoke. + +"Handily done," he said, cool and suave. "Sir, yours is an iron hand. +I apologize for this unpleasant affair. My man is quarrelsome when +under the influence of liquor." + +"Metzar, a word with you," cried Colonel Zane curtly. + +"Come inside, kunnel," said the innkeeper, plainly ill at ease. + +"No; listen here. I'll speak to the point. You've got to stop running +this kind of a place. No words, now, you've got to stop. Understand? +You know as well as I, perhaps better, the character of your so-called +inn. You'll get but one more chance." + +"Wal, kunnel, this is a free country," growled Metzar. "I can't help +these fellars comin' here lookin' fer blood. I runs an honest place. +The men want to drink an' gamble. What's law here? What can you do?" + +"You know me, Metzar," Colonel Zane said grimly. "I don't waste words. +'To hell with law!' so you say. I can say that, too. Remember, the +next drunken boy I see, or shady deal, or gambling spree, out you go +for good." + +Metzar lowered his shaggy head and left the porch. Brandt and his +friends, with serious faces, withdrew into the bar-room. + +The borderman walked around the corner of the inn, and up the lane. +The colonel, with Silas and Sheppard, followed in more leisurely +fashion. At a shout from some one they turned to see a dusty, bloody +figure, with ragged clothes, stagger up from the bluff. + +"There's that blamed sailor now," said Sheppard. "He's a tough nut. +My! What a knock on the head Jonathan gave him. Strikes me, too, that +tomahawk came almost at the right time to save me a whole skin." + +"I was furious, but not at all alarmed," rejoined Colonel Zane. + +"I wondered what made you so quiet." + +"I was waiting. Jonathan never acts until the right moment, and +then--well, you saw him. The little villain deserved killing. I could +have shot him with pleasure. Do you know, Sheppard, Jonathan's +aversion to shedding blood is a singular thing. He'd never kill the +worst kind of a white man until driven to it." + +"That's commendable. How about Wetzel?" + +"Well, Lew is different," replied Colonel Zane with a shudder. "If I +told him to take an ax and clean out Metzar's place--God! what a wreck +he'd make of it. Maybe I'll have to tell him, and if I do, you'll see +something you can never forget." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +On Sunday morning under the bright, warm sun, the little hamlet of +Fort Henry lay peacefully quiet, as if no storms had ever rolled and +thundered overhead, no roistering ever disturbed its stillness, and no +Indian's yell ever horribly broke the quiet. + +"'Tis a fine morning," said Colonel Zane, joining his sister on the +porch. "Well, how nice you look! All in white for the first time +since--well, you do look charming. You're going to church, of course." + +"Yes, I invited Helen and her cousin to go. I've persuaded her to +teach my Sunday-school class, and I'll take another of older +children," replied Betty. + +"That's well. The youngsters don't have much chance to learn out here. +But we've made one great stride. A church and a preacher means very +much to young people. Next shall come the village school." + +"Helen and I might teach our classes an hour or two every afternoon." + +"It would be a grand thing if you did! Fancy these tots growing up +unable to read or write. I hate to think of it; but the Lord knows +I've done my best. I've had my troubles in keeping them alive." + +"Helen suggested the day school. She takes the greatest interest in +everything and everybody. Her energy is remarkable. She simply must +move, must do something. She overflows with kindness and sympathy. +Yesterday she cried with happiness when Mabel told her Alex was eager +to be married very soon. I tell you, Eb, Helen is a fine character." + +"Yes, good as she is pretty, which is saying some," mused the colonel. +"I wonder who'll be the lucky fellow to win her." + +"It's hard to say. Not that Englishman, surely. She hates him. +Jonathan might. You should see her eyes when he is mentioned." + +"Say, Betts, you don't mean it?" eagerly asked her brother. + +"Yes, I do," returned Betty, nodding her head positively. "I'm not +easily deceived about those things. Helen's completely fascinated with +Jack. She might be only a sixteen-year-old girl for the way she +betrays herself to me." + +"Betty, I have a beautiful plan." + +"No doubt; you're full of them." + +"We can do it, Betty, we can, you and I," he said, as he squeezed her +arm. + +"My dear old matchmaking brother," returned Betty, laughing, "it takes +two to make a bargain. Jack must be considered." + +"Bosh!" exclaimed the colonel, snapping his fingers. "You needn't tell +me any young man--any man, could resist that glorious girl." + +"Perhaps not; I couldn't if I were a man. But Jack's not like other +people. He'd never realize that she cared for him. Besides, he's a +borderman." + +"I know, and that's the only serious obstacle. But he could scout +around the fort, even if he was married. These long, lonely, terrible +journeys taken by him and Wetzel are mostly unnecessary. A sweet wife +could soon make him see that. The border will be civilized in a few +years, and because of that he'd better give over hunting for Indians. +I'd like to see him married and settled down, like all the rest of us, +even Isaac. You know Jack's the last of the Zanes, that is, the old +Zanes. The difficulty arising from his extreme modesty and bashfulness +can easily be overcome." + +"How, most wonderful brother?" + +"Easy as pie. Tell Jack that Helen is dying of love for him, and tell +her that Jack loves----" + +"But, dear Eb, that latter part is not true," interposed Betty. + +"True, of course it's true, or would be in any man who wasn't as blind +as a bat. We'll tell her Jack cares for her; but he is a borderman +with stern ideas of duty, and so slow and backward he'd never tell his +love even if he had overcome his tricks of ranging. That would settle +it with any girl worth her salt, and this one will fetch Jack in ten +days, or less." + +"Eb, you're a devil," said Betty gaily, and then she added in a more +sober vein, "I understand, Eb. Your idea is prompted by love of Jack, +and it's all right. I never see him go out of the clearing but I think +it may be for the last time, even as on that day so long ago when +brother Andrew waved his cap to us, and never came back. Jack is the +best man in the world, and I, too, want to see him happy, with a wife, +and babies, and a settled occupation in life. I think we might weave a +pretty little romance. Shall we try?" + +"Try? We'll do it! Now, Betts, you explain it to both. You can do it +smoother than I, and telling them is really the finest point of our +little plot. I'll help the good work along afterwards. He'll be out +presently. Nail him at once." + +Jonathan, all unconscious of the deep-laid scheme to make him happy, +soon came out on the porch, and stretched his long arms as he breathed +freely of the morning air. + +"Hello, Jack, where are you bound?" asked Betty, clasping one of his +powerful, buckskin-clad knees with her arm. + +"I reckon I'll go over to the spring," he replied, patting her dark, +glossy head. + +"Do you know I want to tell you something, Jack, and it's quite +serious," she said, blushing a little at her guilt; but resolute to +carry out her part of the plot. + +"Well, dear?" he asked as she hesitated. + +"Do you like Helen?" + +"That is a question," Jonathan replied after a moment. + +"Never mind; tell me," she persisted. + +He made no answer. + +"Well, Jack, she's--she's wildly in love with you." + +The borderman stood very still for several moments. Then, with one +step he gained the lawn, and turned to confront her. + +"What's that you say?" + +Betty trembled a little. He spoke so sharply, his eyes were bent on +her so keenly, and he looked so strong, so forceful that she was +almost afraid. But remembering that she had said only what, to her +mind, was absolutely true, she raised her eyes and repeated the words: + +"Helen is wildly'in love with you." + +"Betty, you wouldn't joke about such a thing; you wouldn't lie to me, +I know you wouldn't." + +"No, Jack dear." + +She saw his powerful frame tremble, even as she had seen more than one +man tremble, during the siege, under the impact of a bullet. + +Without speaking, he walked rapidly down the path toward the spring. + +Colonel Zane came out of his hiding-place behind the porch and, with a +face positively electrifying in its glowing pleasure, beamed upon +his sister. + +"Gee! Didn't he stalk off like an Indian chief!" he said, chuckling +with satisfaction. "By George! Betts, you must have got in a great +piece of work. I never in my life saw Jack look like that." + +Colonel Zane sat down by Betty's side and laughed softly but heartily. + +"We'll fix him all right, the lonely hill-climber! Why, he hasn't a +ghost of a chance. Wait until she sees him after hearing your story! I +tell you, Betty--why--damme! you're crying!" + +He had turned to find her head lowered, while she shaded her face with +her hand. + +"Now, Betty, just a little innocent deceit like that--what harm?" he +said, taking her hand. He was as tender as a woman. + +"Oh, Eb, it wasn't that. I didn't mind telling him. Only the flash in +his eyes reminded me of--of Alfred." + +"Surely it did. Why not? Almost everything brings up a tender memory +for some one we've loved and lost. But don't cry, Betty." + +She laughed a little, and raised a face with its dark cheeks flushed +and tear-stained. + +"I'm silly, I suppose; but I can't help it. I cry at least once every +day." + +"Brace up. Here come Helen and Will. Don't let them see you grieved. +My! Helen in pure white, too! This is a conspiracy to ruin the peace +of the masculine portion of Fort Henry." + +Betty went forward to meet her friends while Colonel Zane continued +talking, but now to himself. "What a fatal beauty she has!" His eyes +swept over Helen with the pleasure of an artist. The fair richness of +her skin, the perfect lips, the wavy, shiny hair, the wondrous +dark-blue, changing eyes, the tall figure, slender, but strong and +swelling with gracious womanhood, made a picture he delighted in and +loved to have near him. The girl did not possess for him any of that +magnetism, so commonly felt by most of her admirers; but he did feel +how subtly full she was of something, which for want of a better term +he described in Wetzel's characteristic expression, as "chain-lightning." + +He reflected that as he was so much older, that she, although always +winsome and earnest, showed nothing of the tormenting, bewildering +coquetry of her nature. Colonel Zane prided himself on his +discernment, and he had already observed that Helen had different +sides of character for different persons. To Betty, Mabel, Nell, and +the children, she was frank, girlish, full of fun and always lovable; +to her elders quiet and earnestly solicitous to please; to the young +men cold; but with a penetrating, mocking promise haunting that +coldness, and sometimes sweetly agreeable, often wilful, and +changeable as April winds. At last the colonel concluded that she +needed, as did all other spirited young women, the taming influence of +a man whom she loved, a home to care for, and children to soften and +temper her spirit. + +"Well, young friends, I see you count on keeping the Sabbath," he said +cheerily. "For my part, Will, I don't see how Jim Douns can preach +this morning, before this laurel blossom and that damask rose." + +"How poetical! Which is which?" asked Betty. + +"Flatterer!" laughed Helen, shaking her finger. + +"And a married man, too!" continued Betty. + +"Well, being married has not affected my poetical sentiment, nor +impaired my eyesight." + +"But it has seriously inconvenienced your old propensity of making +love to the girls. Not that you wouldn't if you dared," replied Betty +with mischief in her eye. + +"Now, Will, what do you think of that? Isn't it real sisterly regard? +Come, we'll go and look at my thoroughbreds," said Colonel Zane. + +"Where is Jonathan?" Helen asked presently. "Something happened at +Metzar's yesterday. Papa wouldn't tell me, and I want to ask +Jonathan." + +"Jack is down by the spring. He spends a great deal of his time there. +It's shady and cool, and the water babbles over the stones." + +"How much alone he is," said Helen. + +Betty took her former position on the steps, but did not raise her +eyes while she continued speaking. "Yes, he's more alone than ever +lately, and quieter, too. He hardly ever speaks now. There must be +something on his mind more serious than horse-thieves." + +"What?" Helen asked quickly. + +"I'd better not tell--you." + +A long moment passed before Helen spoke. + +"Please tell me!" + +"Well, Helen, we think, Eb and I, that Jack is in love for the first +time in his life, and with you, you adorable creature. But Jack's a +borderman; he is stern in his principles, thinks he is wedded to his +border life, and he knows that he has both red and white blood on his +hands. He'd die before he'd speak of his love, because he cannot +understand that would do any good, even if you loved him, which is, of +course, preposterous." + +"Loves me!" breathed Helen softly. + +She sat down rather beside Betty, and turned her face away. She still +held the young woman's hand which she squeezed so tightly as to make +its owner wince. Betty stole a look at her, and saw the rich red blood +mantling her cheeks, and her full bosom heave. + +Helen turned presently, with no trace of emotion except a singular +brilliance of the eyes. She was so slow to speak again that Colonel +Zane and Will returned from the corral before she found her voice. + +"Colonel Zane, please tell me about last night. When papa came home to +supper he was pale and very nervous. I knew something had happened. +But he would not explain, which made me all the more anxious. Won't +you please tell me?" + +Colonel Zane glanced again at her, and knew what had happened. Despite +her self-possession those tell-tale eyes told her secret. +Ever-changing and shadowing with a bounding, rapturous light, they +were indeed the windows of her soul. All the emotion of a woman's +heart shone there, fear, beauty, wondering appeal, trembling joy, and +timid hope. + +"Tell you? Indeed I will," replied Colonel Zane, softened and a little +remorseful under those wonderful eyes. + +No one liked to tell a story better than Colonel Zane. Briefly and +graphically he related the circumstances of the affair leading to the +attack on Helen's father, and, as the tale progressed, he became quite +excited, speaking with animated face and forceful gestures. + +"Just as the knife-point touched your father, a swiftly-flying object +knocked the weapon to the floor. It was Jonathan's tomahawk. What +followed was so sudden I hardly saw it. Like lightning, and flexible +as steel, Jonathan jumped over the table, smashed Case against the +wall, pulled him up and threw him over the bank. I tell you, Helen, it +was a beautiful piece of action; but not, of course, for a woman's +eyes. Now that's all. Your father was not even hurt." + +"He saved papa's life," murmured Helen, standing like a statue. + +She wheeled suddenly with that swift bird-like motion habitual to her, +and went quickly down the path leading to the spring. + + * * * * * + +Jonathan Zane, solitary dreamer of dreams as he was, had never been in +as strange and beautiful a reverie as that which possessed him on this +Sabbath morning. + +Deep into his heart had sunk Betty's words. The wonder of it, the +sweetness, that alone was all he felt. The glory of this girl had +begun, days past, to spread its glamour round him. Swept irresistibly +away now, he soared aloft in a dream-castle of fancy with its painted +windows and golden walls. + +For the first time in his life on the border he had entered the little +glade and had no eye for the crystal water flowing over the pebbles +and mossy stones, or the plot of grassy ground inclosed by tall, dark +trees and shaded by a canopy of fresh green and azure blue. Nor did he +hear the music of the soft rushing water, the warbling birds, or the +gentle sighing breeze moving the leaves. + +Gone, vanished, lost to-day was that sweet companionship of nature. +That indefinable and unutterable spirit which flowed so peacefully to +him from his beloved woods; that something more than merely affecting +his senses, which existed for him in the stony cliffs, and breathed +with life through the lonely aisles of the forest, had fled before the +fateful power of a woman's love and beauty. + +A long time that seemed only a moment passed while he leaned against a +stone. A light step sounded on the path. + +A vision in pure white entered the glade; two little hands pressed +his, and two dark-blue eyes of misty beauty shed their light on him. + +"Jonathan, I am come to thank you." + +Sweet and tremulous, the voice sounded far away. + +"Thank me? For what?" + +"You saved papa's life. Oh! how can I thank you?" + +No voice answered for him. + +"I have nothing to give but this." + +A flower-like face was held up to him; hands light as thistledown +touched his shoulders; dark-blue eyes glowed upon him with all +tenderness. + +"May I thank you--so?" + +Soft lips met his full and lingeringly. + +Then came a rush as of wind, a flash of white, and the patter of +flying feet. He was alone in the glade. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +June passed; July opened with unusually warm weather, and Fort Henry +had no visits from Indians or horse-thieves, nor any inconvenience +except the hot sun. It was the warmest weather for many years, and +seriously dwarfed the settlers' growing corn. Nearly all the springs +were dry, and a drouth menaced the farmers. + +The weather gave Helen an excuse which she was not slow to adopt. Her +pale face and languid air perplexed and worried her father and her +friends. She explained to them that the heat affected her +disagreeably. + +Long days had passed since that Sunday morning when she kissed the +borderman. What transports of sweet hope and fear were hers then! How +shame had scorched her happiness! Yet still she gloried in the act. By +that kiss had she awakened to a full consciousness of her love. With +insidious stealth and ever-increasing power this flood had increased +to full tide, and, bursting its bonds, surged over her with +irresistible strength. + +During the first days after the dawning of her passion, she lived in +its sweetness, hearing only melodious sounds chiming in her soul. The +hours following that Sunday were like long dreams. But as all things +reach fruition, so this girlish period passed, leaving her a +thoughtful woman. She began to gather up the threads of her life where +love had broken them, to plan nobly, and to hope and wait. + +Weeks passed, however, and her lover did not come. Betty told her that +Jonathan made flying trips at break of day to hold council with +Colonel Zane; that he and Wetzel were on the trail of Shawnees with +stolen horses, and both bordermen were in their dark, vengeful, +terrible moods. In these later days Helen passed through many stages +of feeling. After the exalting mood of hot, young love, came reaction. +She fell into the depths of despair. Sorrow paled her face, thinned +her cheeks and lent another shadow, a mournful one, to her great eyes. +The constant repression of emotion, the strain of trying to seem +cheerful when she was miserable, threatened even her magnificent +health. She answered the solicitude of her friends by evasion, and +then by that innocent falsehood in which a sensitive soul hides its +secrets. Shame was only natural, because since the borderman came not, +nor sent her a word, pride whispered that she had wooed him, +forgetting modesty. + +Pride, anger, shame, despair, however, finally fled before affection. +She loved this wild borderman, and knew he loved her in return +although he might not understand it himself. His simplicity, his lack +of experience with women, his hazardous life and stern duty regarding +it, pleaded for him and for her love. For the lack of a little +understanding she would never live unhappy and alone while she was +loved. Better give a thousand times more than she had sacrificed. He +would return to the village some day, when the Indians and the thieves +were run down, and would be his own calm, gentle self. Then she would +win him, break down his allegiance to this fearful border life, and +make him happy in her love. + +While Helen was going through one of the fires of life to come out +sweeter and purer, if a little pensive and sad, time, which waits not +for love, nor life, nor death, was hastening onward, and soon the +golden fields of grain were stored. September came with its fruitful +promise fulfilled. + +Helen entered once more into the quiet, social life of the little +settlement, taught her class on Sundays, did all her own work, and +even found time to bring a ray of sunshine to more than one sick +child's bed. Yet she did not forget her compact with Jonathan, and +bent all her intelligence to find some clew that might aid in the +capture of the horse-thief. She was still groping in the darkness. She +could not, however, banish the belief that the traitor was Brandt. She +blamed herself for this, because of having no good reasons for +suspicion; but the conviction was there, fixed by intuition. Because a +man's eyes were steely gray, sharp like those of a cat's, and capable +of the same contraction and enlargement, there was no reason to +believe their owner was a criminal. But that, Helen acknowledged with +a smile, was the only argument she had. To be sure Brandt had looked +capable of anything, the night Jonathan knocked him down; she knew he +had incited Case to begin the trouble at Metzar's, and had seemed +worried since that time. He had not left the settlement on short +journeys, as had been his custom before the affair in the bar-room. +And not a horse had disappeared from Fort Henry since that time. + +Brandt had not discontinued his attentions to her; if they were less +ardent it was because she had given him absolutely to understand that +she could be his friend only. And she would not have allowed even so +much except for Jonathan's plan. She fancied it was possible to see +behind Brandt's courtesy, the real subtle, threatening man. Stripped +of his kindliness, an assumed virtue, the iron man stood revealed, +cold, calculating, cruel. + +Mordaunt she never saw but once and then, shocking and pitiful, he lay +dead drunk in the grass by the side of the road, his pale, weary, +handsome face exposed to the pitiless rays of the sun. She ran home +weeping over this wreck of what had once been so fine a gentleman. Ah! +the curse of rum! He had learned his soft speech and courtly bearing +in the refinement of a home where a proud mother adored, and gentle +sisters loved him. And now, far from the kindred he had disgraced, he +lay in the road like a log. How it hurt her! She almost wished she +could have loved him, if love might have redeemed. She was more kind +to her other admirers, more tolerant of Brandt, and could forgive the +Englishman, because the pangs she had suffered through love had +softened her spirit. + +During this long period the growing friendship of her cousin for Betty +had been a source of infinite pleasure to Helen. She hoped and +believed a romance would develop between the young widow and Will, and +did all in her power, slyly abetted by the matchmaking colonel, to +bring the two together. + +One afternoon when the sky was clear with that intense blue peculiar +to bright days in early autumn, Helen started out toward Betty's, +intending to remind that young lady she had promised to hunt for +clematis and other fall flowers. + +About half-way to Betty's home she met Brandt. He came swinging round +a corner with his quick, firm step. She had not seen him for several +days, and somehow he seemed different. A brightness, a flash, as of +daring expectation, was in his face. The poise, too, of the man +had changed. + +"Well, I am fortunate. I was just going to your home," he said +cheerily. "Won't you come for a walk with me?" + +"You may walk with me to Betty's," Helen answered. + +"No, not that. Come up the hillside. We'll get some goldenrod. I'd +like to have a chat with you. I may go away--I mean I'm thinking of +making a short trip," he added hurriedly. + +"Please come." + +"I promised to go to Betty's." + +"You won't come?" His voice trembled with mingled disappointment and +resentment. + +"No," Helen replied in slight surprise. + +"You have gone with the other fellows. Why not with me?" He was white +now, and evidently laboring under powerful feelings that must have had +their origin in some thought or plan which hinged on the acceptance of +his invitation. + +"Because I choose not to," Helen replied coldly, meeting his glance +fully. + +A dark red flush swelled Brandt's face and neck; his gray eyes gleamed +balefully with wolfish glare; his teeth were clenched. He breathed +hard and trembled with anger. Then, by a powerful effort, he conquered +himself; the villainous expression left his face; the storm of rage +subsided. Great incentive there must have been for him thus to repress +his emotions so quickly. He looked long at her with sinister, intent +regard; then, with the laugh of a desperado, a laugh which might have +indicated contempt for the failure of his suit, and which was fraught +with a world of meaning, of menace, he left her without so much as +a salute. + +Helen pondered over this sudden change, and felt relieved because she +need make no further pretense of friendship. He had shown himself to +be what she had instinctively believed. She hurried on toward Betty's, +hoping to find Colonel Zane at home, and with Jonathan, for Brandt's +hint of leaving Fort Henry, and his evident chagrin at such a slip of +speech, had made her suspicious. She was informed by Mrs. Zane that +the colonel had gone to a log-raising; Jonathan had not been in for +several days, and Betty went away with Will. + +"Where did they go?" asked Helen. + +"I'm not sure; I think down to the spring." + +Helen followed the familiar path through the grove of oaks into the +glade. It was quite deserted. Sitting on the stone against which +Jonathan had leaned the day she kissed him, she gave way to tender +reflection. Suddenly she was disturbed by the sound of rapid +footsteps, and looking up, saw the hulking form of Metzar, the +innkeeper, coming down the path. He carried a bucket, and meant +evidently to get water. Helen did not desire to be seen, and, thinking +he would stay only a moment, slipped into a thicket of willows behind +the stone. She could see plainly through the foliage. Metzar came into +the glade, peered around in the manner of a man expecting to see some +one, and then, filling his bucket at the spring, sat down on +the stone. + +Not a minute elapsed before soft, rapid footsteps sounded in the +distance. The bushes parted, disclosing the white, set face and gray +eyes of Roger Brandt. With a light spring he cleared the brook and +approached Metzar. + +Before speaking he glanced around the glade with the fugitive, +distrustful glance of a man who suspects even the trees. Then, +satisfied by the scrutiny he opened his hunting frock, taking forth a +long object which he thrust toward Metzar. + +It was an Indian arrow. + +Metzar's dull gaze traveled from this to the ominous face of Brandt. + +"See there, you! Look at this arrow! Shot by the best Indian on the +border into the window of my room. I hadn't been there a minute when +it came from the island. God! but it was a great shot!" + +"Hell!" gasped Metzar, his dull face quickening with some awful +thought. + +"I guess it is hell," replied Brandt, his face growing whiter and +wilder. + +"Our game's up?" questioned Metzar with haggard cheek. + +"Up? Man! We haven't a day, maybe less, to shake Fort Henry." + +"What does it mean?" asked Metzar. He was the calmer of the two. + +"It's a signal. The Shawnees, who were in hiding with the horses over +by Blueberry swamp, have been flushed by those bordermen. Some of them +have escaped; at least one, for no one but Ashbow could shoot that +arrow across the river." + +"Suppose he hadn't come?" whispered Metzar hoarsely. + +Brandt answered him with a dark, shuddering gaze. + +A twig snapped in the thicket. Like foxes at the click of a trap, +these men whirled with fearsome glances. + +"Ugh!" came a low, guttural voice from the bushes, and an Indian of +magnificent proportions and somber, swarthy features, entered +the glade. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +The savage had just emerged from the river, for his graceful, +copper-colored body and scanty clothing were dripping with water. He +carried a long bow and a quiver of arrows. + +Brandt uttered an exclamation of surprise, and Metzar a curse, as the +lithe Indian leaped the brook. He was not young. His swarthy face was +lined, seamed, and terrible with a dark impassiveness. + +"Paleface-brother-get-arrow," he said in halting English, as his eyes +flashed upon Brandt. "Chief-want-make-sure." + +The white man leaned forward, grasped the Indian's arm, and addressed +him in an Indian language. This questioning was evidently in regard to +his signal, the whereabouts of others of the party, and why he took +such fearful risks almost in the village. The Indian answered with one +English word. + +"Deathwind!" + +Brandt drew back with drawn, white face, while a whistling breath +escaped him. + +"I knew it, Metz. Wetzel!" he exclaimed in a husky voice. + +The blood slowly receded from Metzar's evil, murky face, leaving it +haggard. + +"Deathwind-on-Chief's-trail-up-Eagle Rock," continued the Indian. +"Deathwind-fooled-not-for-long. Chief-wait-paleface-brothers at +Two Islands." + +The Indian stepped into the brook, parted the willows, and was gone as +he had come, silently. + +"We know what to expect," said Brandt in calmer tone as the daring +cast of countenance returned to him. "There's an Indian for you! He +got away, doubled like an old fox on his trail, and ran in here to +give us a chance at escape. Now you know why Bing Legget can't +be caught." + +"Let's dig at once," replied Metzar, with no show of returning courage +such as characterized his companion. + +Brandt walked to and fro with bent brows, like one in deep thought. +Suddenly he turned upon Metzar eyes which were brightly hard, and +reckless with resolve. + +"By Heaven! I'll do it! Listen. Wetzel has gone to the top of Eagle +Mountain, where he and Zane have a rendezvous. Even he won't suspect +the cunning of this Indian; anyway it'll be after daylight to-morrow +before he strikes the trail. I've got twenty-four hours, and more, to +get this girl, and I'll do it!" + +"Bad move to have weight like her on a march," said Metzar. + +"Bah! The thing's easy. As for you, go on, push ahead after we're +started. All I ask is that you stay by me until the time to +cut loose." + +"I ain't agoin' to crawfish now," growled Metzar. "Strikes me, too, +I'm losin' more'n you." + +"You won't be a loser if you can get back to Detroit with your scalp. +I'll pay you in horses and gold. Once we reach Legget's place +we're safe." + +"What's yer plan about gittin' the gal?" asked Metzar. + +Brandt leaned forward and spoke eagerly, but in a low tone. + +"Git away on hoss-back?" questioned Metzar, visibly brightening. "Wal, +that's some sense. Kin ye trust ther other party?" + +"I'm sure I can," rejoined Brandt. + +"It'll be a good job, a good job an' all done in daylight, too. Bing +Legget couldn't plan better," Metzar said, rubbing his hands, + +"We've fooled these Zanes and their fruit-raising farmers for a year, +and our time is about up," Brandt muttered. "One more job and we've +done. Once with Legget we're safe, and then we'll work slowly back +towards Detroit. Let's get out of here now, for some one may come at +any moment." + +The plotters separated, Brandt going through the grove, and Metzar +down the path by which he had come. + + * * * * * + +Helen, trembling with horror of what she had heard, raised herself +cautiously from the willows where she had lain, and watched the +innkeeper's retreating figure. When it had disappeared she gave a +little gasp of relief. Free now to run home, there to plan what course +must be pursued, she conquered her fear and weakness, and hurried from +the glade. Luckily, so far as she was able to tell, no one saw her +return. She resolved that she would be cool, deliberate, clever, +worthy of the borderman's confidence. + +First she tried to determine the purport of this interview between +Brandt and Metzar. She recalled to mind all that was said, and +supplied what she thought had been suggested. Brandt and Metzar were +horse-thieves, aids of Bing Legget. They had repaired to the glade to +plan. The Indian had been a surprise. Wetzel had routed the Shawnees, +and was now on the trail of this chieftain. The Indian warned them to +leave Fort Henry and to meet him at a place called Two Islands. +Brandt's plan, presumably somewhat changed by the advent of the +red-man, was to steal horses, abduct a girl in broad daylight, and +before tomorrow's sunset escape to join the ruffian Legget. + +"I am the girl," murmured Helen shudderingly, as she relapsed +momentarily into girlish fears. But at once she rose above +selfish feelings. + +Secondly, while it was easy to determine what the outlaws meant, the +wisest course was difficult to conceive. She had promised the +borderman to help him, and not speak of anything she learned to any +but himself. She could not be true to him if she asked advice. The +point was clear; either she must remain in the settlement hoping for +Jonathan's return in time to frustrate Brandt's villainous scheme, or +find the borderman. Suddenly she remembered Metzar's allusion to a +second person whom Brandt felt certain he could trust. This meant +another traitor in Fort Henry, another horse-thief, another desperado +willing to make off with helpless women. + +Helen's spirit rose in arms. She had their secret, and could ruin +them. She would find the borderman. + +Wetzel was on the trail at Eagle Rock. What for? Trailing an Indian +who was then five miles east of that rock? Not Wetzel! He was on that +track to meet Jonathan. Otherwise, with the redskins near the river, +he would have been closer to them. He would meet Jonathan there at +sunset to-day, Helen decided. + +She paced the room, trying to still her throbbing heart and trembling +hands. + +"I must be calm," she said sternly. "Time is precious. I have not a +moment to lose. I will find him. I've watched that mountain many a +time, and can find the trail and the rock. I am in more danger here, +than out there in the forest. With Wetzel and Jonathan on the mountain +side, the Indians have fled it. But what about the savage who warned +Brandt? Let me think. Yes, he'll avoid the river; he'll go round south +of the settlement, and, therefore, can't see me cross. How fortunate +that I have paddled a canoe many times across the river. How glad that +I made Colonel Zane describe the course up the mountains!" + +Her resolution fixed, Helen changed her skirt for one of buckskin, +putting on leggings and moccasins of the same serviceable material. +She filled the pockets of a short, rain-proof jacket with biscuits, +and, thus equipped, sallied forth with a spirit and exultation she +could not subdue. Only one thing she feared, which was that Brandt or +Metzar might see her cross the river. She launched her canoe and +paddled down stream, under cover of the bluff, to a point opposite the +end of the island, then straight across, keeping the island between +her and the settlement. Gaining the other shore, Helen pulled the +canoe into the willows, and mounted the bank. A thicket of willow and +alder made progress up the steep incline difficult, but once out of it +she faced a long stretch of grassy meadowland. A mile beyond began the +green, billowy rise of that mountain which she intended to climb. + +Helen's whole soul was thrown into the adventure. She felt her strong +young limbs in accord with her heart. + +"Now, Mr. Brandt, horse-thief and girl-snatcher, we'll see," she said +with scornful lips. "If I can't beat you now I'm not fit to be Betty +Zane's friend; and am unworthy of a borderman's trust." + +She traversed the whole length of meadowland close under the shadow of +the fringed bank, and gained the forest. Here she hesitated. All was +so wild and still. No definite course through the woods seemed to +invite, and yet all was open. Trees, trees, dark, immovable trees +everywhere. The violent trembling of poplar and aspen leaves, when all +others were so calm, struck her strangely, and the fearful stillness +awed her. Drawing a deep breath she started forward up the gently +rising ground. + +As she advanced the open forest became darker, and of wilder aspect. +The trees were larger and closer together. Still she made fair +progress without deviating from the course she had determined upon. +Before her rose a ridge, with a ravine on either side, reaching nearly +to the summit of the mountain. Here the underbrush was scanty, the +fallen trees had slipped down the side, and the rocks were not so +numerous, all of which gave her reason to be proud, so far, of +her judgment. + +Helen, pressing onward and upward, forgot time and danger, while she +reveled in the wonder of the forestland. Birds and squirrels fled +before her; whistling and wheezing of alarm, or heavy crashings in the +bushes, told of frightened wild beasts. A dull, faint roar, like a +distant wind, suggested tumbling waters. A single birch tree, gleaming +white among the black trees, enlivened the gloomy forest. Patches of +sunlight brightened the shade. Giant ferns, just tinging with autumn +colors, waved tips of sculptured perfection. Most wonderful of all +were the colored leaves, as they floated downward with a sad, +gentle rustle. + +Helen was brought to a realization of her hazardous undertaking by a +sudden roar of water, and the abrupt termination of the ridge in a +deep gorge. Grasping a tree she leaned over to look down. It was fully +an hundred feet deep, with impassable walls, green-stained and damp, +at the bottom of which a brawling, brown brook rushed on its way. +Fully twenty feet wide, it presented an insurmountable barrier to +further progress in that direction. + +But Helen looked upon it merely as a difficulty to be overcome. She +studied the situation, and decided to go to the left because higher +ground was to be seen that way. Abandoning the ridge, she pressed on, +keeping as close to the gorge as she dared, and came presently to a +fallen tree lying across the dark cleft. Without a second's +hesitation, for she knew such would be fatal, she stepped upon the +tree and started across, looking at nothing but the log under her +feet, while she tried to imagine herself walking across the +water-gate, at home in Virginia. + +She accomplished the venture without a misstep. When safely on the +ground once more she felt her knees tremble and a queer, light feeling +came into her head. She laughed, however, as she rested a moment. It +would take more than a gorge to discourage her, she resolved with set +lips, as once again she made her way along the rising ground. + +Perilous, if not desperate, work was ahead of her. Broken, rocky +ground, matted thicket, and seemingly impenetrable forest, rose darkly +in advance. But she was not even tired, and climbed, crawled, twisted +and turned on her way upward. She surmounted a rocky ledge, to face a +higher ridge covered with splintered, uneven stones, and the fallen +trees of many storms. Once she slipped and fell, spraining her wrist. +At length this uphill labor began to weary her. To breathe caused a +pain in her side and she was compelled to rest. + +Already the gray light of coming night shrouded the forest. She was +surprised at seeing the trees become indistinct; because the shadows +hovered over the thickets, and noted that the dark, dim outline of the +ridges was fading into obscurity. + +She struggled on up the uneven slope with a tightening at her heart +which was not all exhaustion. For the first time she doubted herself, +but it was too late. She could not turn back. Suddenly she felt that +she was on a smoother, easier course. Not to strike a stone or break a +twig seemed unusual. It might be a path worn by deer going to a +spring. Then into her troubled mind flashed the joyful thought, she +had found a trail. + +Soft, wiry grass, springing from a wet soil, rose under her feet. A +little rill trickled alongside the trail. Mossy, soft-cushioned stones +lay imbedded here and there. Young maples and hickories grew +breast-high on either side, and the way wound in and out under the +lowering shade of forest monarchs. + +Swiftly ascending this path she came at length to a point where it was +possible to see some distance ahead. The ascent became hardly +noticeable. Then, as she turned a bend of the trail, the light grew +brighter and brighter, until presently all was open and clear. An oval +space, covered with stones, lay before her. A big, blasted chestnut +stood near by. Beyond was the dim, purple haze of distance. Above, the +pale, blue sky just faintly rose-tinted by the setting sun. Far to her +left the scraggly trees of a low hill were tipped with orange and +russet shades. She had reached the summit. + +Desolate and lonely was this little plateau. Helen felt immeasurably +far away from home. Yet she could see in the blue distance the +glancing river, the dark fort, and that cluster of cabins which marked +the location of Fort Henry. Sitting upon the roots of the big chestnut +tree she gazed around. There were the remains of a small camp-fire. +Beyond, a hollow under a shelving rock. A bed of dry leaves lay packed +in this shelter. Some one had been here, and she doubted not that it +was the borderman. + +She was so tired and her wrist pained so severely that she lay back +against the tree-trunk, closed her eyes and rested. A weariness, the +apathy of utter exhaustion, came over her. She wished the bordermen +would hurry and come before she went to sleep. + +Drowsily she was sinking into slumber when a long, low rumble aroused +her. How dark it had suddenly become! A sheet of pale light flared +across the overcast heavens. + +"A storm!" exclaimed Helen. "Alone on this mountain-top with a storm +coming. Am I frightened? I don't believe it. At least I'm safe from +that ruffian Brandt. Oh! if my borderman would only come!" + +Helen changed her position from beside the tree, to the hollow under +the stone. It was high enough to permit of her sitting upright, and +offered a safe retreat from the storm. The bed of leaves was soft and +comfortable. She sat there peering out at the darkening heavens. + +All beneath her, southward and westward was gray twilight. The +settlement faded from sight; the river grew wan and shadowy. The ruddy +light in the west was fast succumbing to the rolling clouds. Darker +and darker it became, until only one break in the overspreading vapors +admitted the last crimson gleam of sunshine over hills and valley, +brightening the river until it resembled a stream of fire. Then the +light failed, the glow faded. The intense blackness of night +prevailed. + +Out of the ebon west came presently another flare of light, a quick, +spreading flush, like a flicker from a monster candle; it was followed +by a long, low, rumbling roll. + +Helen felt in those intervals of unutterably vast silence, that she +must shriek aloud. The thunder was a friend. She prayed for the storm +to break. She had withstood danger and toilsome effort with fortitude; +but could not brave this awful, boding, wilderness stillness. + +Flashes of lightning now revealed the rolling, pushing, turbulent +clouds, and peals of thunder sounded nearer and louder. + +A long swelling moan, sad, low, like the uneasy sigh of the sea, +breathed far in the west. It was the wind, the ominous warning of the +storm. Sheets of light were now mingled with long, straggling ropes of +fire, and the rumblings were often broken by louder, quicker +detonations. + +Then a period, longer than usual, of inky blackness succeeded the +sharp flaring of light. A faint breeze ruffled the leaves of the +thicket, and fanned Helen's hot cheek. The moan of the wind became +more distinct, then louder, and in another instant like the far-off +roar of a rushing river. The storm was upon her. Helen shrank closer +against the stone, and pulled her jacket tighter around her +trembling form. + +A sudden, intense, dazzling, blinding, white light enveloped her. The +rocky promontory, the weird, giant chestnut tree, the open plateau, +and beyond, the stormy heavens, were all luridly clear in the flash of +lightning. She fancied it was possible to see a tall, dark figure +emerging from the thicket. As the thunderclap rolled and pealed +overhead, she strained her eyes into the blackness waiting for the +next lightning flash. + +It came with brilliant, dazing splendor. The whole plateau and thicket +were as light as in the day. Close by the stone where she lay crept +the tall, dark figure of an Indian. With starting eyes she saw the +fringed clothing, the long, flying hair, and supple body peculiar to +the savage. He was creeping upon her. + +Helen's blood ran cold; terror held her voiceless. She felt herself +sinking slowly down upon the leaves. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +The sun had begun to cast long shadows the afternoon of Helen's hunt +for Jonathan, when the borderman, accompanied by Wetzel, led a string +of horses along the base of the very mountain she had ascended. + +"Last night's job was a good one, I ain't gainsayin'; but the redskin +I wanted got away," Wetzel said gloomily. + +"He's safe now as a squirrel in a hole. I saw him dartin' among the +trees with his white eagle feathers stickin' up like a buck's flag," +replied Jonathan. "He can run. If I'd only had my rifle loaded! But +I'm not sure he was that arrow-shootin' Shawnee." + +"It was him. I saw his bow. We ought'er taken more time an' picked him +out," Wetzel replied, shaking his head gravely. "Though mebbe that'd +been useless. I think he was hidin'. He's precious shy of his red +skin. I've been after him these ten year, an' never ketched him +nappin' yet. We'd have done much toward snuffin' out Legget an' his +gang if we'd winged the Shawnee." + +"He left a plain trail." + +"One of his tricks. He's slicker on a trail than any other Injun on +the border, unless mebbe it's old Wingenund, the Huron. This Shawnee'd +lead us many a mile for nuthin', if we'd stick to his trail. I'm long +ago used to him. He's doubled like an old fox, run harder'n a skeered +fawn, an', if needs be, he'll lay low as cunnin' buck. I calkilate +once over the mountain, he's made a bee-line east. We'll go on with +the hosses, an' then strike across country to find his trail." + +"It 'pears to me, Lew, that we've taken a long time in makin' a show +against these hoss-thieves," said Jonathan. + +"I ain't sayin' much; but I've felt it," replied Wetzel. + +"All summer, an' nothin' done. It was more luck than sense that we run +into those Injuns with the hosses. We only got three out of four, an' +let the best redskin give us the slip. Here fall is nigh on us, with +winter comin' soon, an' still we don't know who's the white traitor in +the settlement." + +"I said it's be a long, an' mebbe, our last trail." + +"Why?" + +"Because these fellars red or white, are in with a picked gang of the +best woodsmen as ever outlawed the border. We'll get the Fort Henry +hoss-thief. I'll back the bright-eyed lass for that." + +"I haven't seen her lately, an' allow she'd left me word if she +learned anythin'." + +"Wal, mebbe it's as well you hain't seen so much of her." In silence +they traveled and, arriving at the edge of the meadow, were about to +mount two of the horses, when Wetzel said in a sharp tone: + +"Look!" + +He pointed to a small, well-defined moccasin track in the black earth +on the margin of a rill. + +"Lew, it's a woman's, sure's you're born," declared Jonathan. + +Wetzel knelt and closely examined the footprint; "Yes, a woman's, an' +no Injun." + +"What?" Jonathan exclaimed, as he knelt to scrutinize the imprint. + +"This ain't half a day old," added Wetzel. "An' not a redskin's +moccasin near. What d'you reckon?" + +"A white girl, alone," replied Jonathan as he followed the trail a +short distance along the brook. "See, she's makin' upland. Wetzel, +these tracks could hardly be my sister's, an' there's only one other +girl on the border whose feet will match 'em! Helen Sheppard has +passed here, on her way up the mountain to find you or me." + +"I like your reckonin'." + +"She's suddenly discovered somethin', Injuns, hoss-thieves, the Fort +Henry traitor, or mebbe, an' most likely, some plottin'. Bein' bound +to secrecy by me, she's not told my brother. An' it must be call for +hurry. She knows we frequent this mountain-top; said Eb told her about +the way we get here." + +"I'd calkilate about the same." + +"What'll you do? Go with me after her?" asked Jonathan. + +"I'll take the hosses, an' be at the fort inside of an hour. If +Helen's gone, I'll tell her father you're close on her trail. Now +listen! It'll be dark soon, an' a storm's comin'. Don't waste time on +her trail. Hurry up to the rock. She'll be there, if any lass could +climb there. If not, come back in the mornin', hunt her trail out, an' +find her. I'm thinkin', Jack, we'll find the Shawnee had somethin' to +do with this. Whatever happens after I get back to the fort, I'll +expect you hard on my trail." + +Jonathan bounded across the brook and with an easy lope began the +gradual ascent. Soon he came upon a winding path. He ran along this +for perhaps a quarter of an hour, until it became too steep for rapid +traveling, when he settled down to a rapid walk. The forest was +already dark. A slight rustling of the leaves beneath his feet was the +only sound, except at long intervals the distant rumbling of thunder. + +The mere possibility of Helen's being alone on that mountain seeking +him, made Jonathan's heart beat as it never had before. For weeks he +had avoided her, almost forgot her. He had conquered the strange, +yearning weakness which assailed him after that memorable Sunday, and +once more the silent shaded glens, the mystery of the woods, the +breath of his wild, free life had claimed him. But now as this +evidence of her spirit, her recklessness, was before him, and he +remembered Betty's avowal, a pain, which was almost physical, tore at +his heart. How terrible it would be if she came to her death through +him! He pictured the big, alluring eyes, the perfect lips, the +haunting face, cold in death. And he shuddered. + +The dim gloom of the woods soon darkened into blackness. The flashes +of lightning, momentarily streaking the foliage, or sweeping overhead +in pale yellow sheets, aided Jonathan in keeping the trail. + +He gained the plateau just as a great flash illumined it, and +distinctly saw the dark hollow where he had taken refuge in many a +storm, and where he now hoped to find the girl. Picking his way +carefully over the sharp, loose stones, he at last put his hand on the +huge rock. Another blue-white, dazzling flash enveloped the scene. + +Under the rock he saw a dark form huddled, and a face as white as +snow, with wide, horrified eyes. + +"Lass," he said, when the thunder had rumbled away. He received no +answer, and called again. Kneeling, he groped about until touching +Helen's dress. He spoke again; but she did not reply. + +Jonathan crawled under the ledge beside the quiet figure. He touched +her hands; they were very cold. Bending over, he was relieved to hear +her heart beating. He called her name, but still she made no reply. +Dipping his hand into a little rill that ran beside the stone, he +bathed her face. Soon she stirred uneasily, moaned, and suddenly +sat up. + +"'Tis Jonathan," he said quickly; "don't be scared." + +Another illuminating flare of lightning brightened the plateau. + +"Oh! thank Heaven!" cried Helen. "I thought you were an Indian!" + +Helen sank trembling against the borderman, who enfolded her in his +long arms. Her relief and thankfulness were so great that she could +not speak. Her hands clasped and unclasped round his strong fingers. +Her tears flowed freely. + +The storm broke with terrific fury. A seething torrent of rain and +hail came with the rushing wind. Great heaven-broad sheets of +lightning played across the black dome overhead. Zigzag ropes, +steel-blue in color, shot downward. Crash, and crack, and boom the +thunder split and rolled the clouds above. The lightning flashes +showed the fall of rain in columns like white waterfalls, borne on the +irresistible wind. + +The grandeur of the storm awed, and stilled Helen's emotion. She sat +there watching the lightning, listening to the peals of thunder, and +thrilling with the wonder of the situation. + +Gradually the roar abated, the flashes became less frequent, the +thunder decreased, as the storm wore out its strength in passing. The +wind and rain ceased on the mountain-top almost as quickly as they had +begun, and the roar died slowly away in the distance. Far to the +eastward flashes of light illumined scowling clouds, and brightened +many a dark, wooded hill and valley. + +"Lass, how is't I find you here?" asked Jonathan gravely. + +With many a pause and broken phrase, Helen told the story of what she +had seen and heard at the spring. + +"Child, why didn't you go to my brother?" asked Jonathan. "You don't +know what you undertook!" + +"I thought of everything; but I wanted to find you myself. Besides, I +was just as safe alone on this mountain as in the village." + +"I don't know but you're right," replied Jonathan thoughtfully. "So +Brandt planned to make off with you to-morrow?" + +"Yes, and when I heard it I wanted to run away from the village." + +"You've done a wondrous clever thing, lass. This Brandt is a bad man, +an' hard to match. But if he hasn't shaken Fort Henry by now, his +career'll end mighty sudden, an' his bad trails stop short on the +hillside among the graves, for Eb will always give outlaws or Injuns +decent burial." + +"What will the colonel, or anyone, think has become of me?" + +"Wetzel knows, lass, for he found your trail below." + +"Then he'll tell papa you came after me? Oh! poor papa! I forgot him. +Shall we stay here until daylight?" + +"We'd gain nothin' by startin' now. The brooks are full, an' in the +dark we'd make little distance. You're dry here, an' comfortable. +What's more, lass, you're safe." + +"I feel perfectly safe, with you," Helen said softly. + +"Aren't you tired, lass?" + +"Tired? I'm nearly dead. My feet are cut and bruised, my wrist is +sprained, and I ache all over. But, Jonathan, I don't care. I am so +happy to have my wild venture turn out successfully." + +"You can lie here an' sleep while I keep watch." + +Jonathan made a move to withdraw his arm, which was still between +Helen and the rock but had dropped from her waist. + +"I am very comfortable. I'll sit here with you, watching for daybreak. +My! how dark it is! I cannot see my hand before my eyes." + +Helen settled herself back upon the stone, leaned a very little +against his shoulder, and tried to think over her adventure. But her +mind refused to entertain any ideas, except those of the present. +Mingled with the dreamy lassitude that grew stronger every moment, was +a sense of delight in her situation. She was alone on a wild mountain, +in the night, with this borderman, the one she loved. By chance and +her own foolhardiness this had come about, yet she was fortunate to +have it tend to some good beyond her own happiness. All she would +suffer from her perilous climb would be aching bones, and, perhaps, a +scolding from her father. What she might gain was more than she had +dared hope. The breaking up of the horse-thief gang would be a boon to +the harassed settlement. How proudly Colonel Zane would smile! Her +name would go on that long roll of border honor and heroism. That was +not, however, one thousandth part so pleasing, as to be alone with her +borderman. + +With a sigh of mingled weariness and content, Helen leaned her head on +Jonathan's shoulder and fell asleep. + +The borderman trembled. The sudden nestling of her head against him, +the light caress of her fragrant hair across his cheek, revived a +sweet, almost-conquered, almost-forgotten emotion. He felt an +inexplicable thrill vibrate through him. No untrodden, ambushed wild, +no perilous trail, no dark and bloody encounter had ever made him feel +fear as had the kiss of this maiden. He had sternly silenced faint, +unfamiliar, yet tender, voices whispering in his heart; and now his +rigorous discipline was as if it were not, for at her touch he +trembled. Still he did not move away. He knew she had succumbed to +weariness, and was fast asleep. He could, gently, without awakening +her, have laid her head upon the pillow of leaves; indeed, he thought +of doing it, but made no effort. A woman's head softly lying against +him was a thing novel, strange, wonderful. For all the power he had +then, each tumbling lock of her hair might as well have been a chain +linking him fast to the mountain. + +With the memory of his former yearning, unsatisfied moods, and the +unrest and pain his awakening tenderness had caused him, came a +determination to look things fairly in the face, to be just in thought +toward this innocent, impulsive girl, and be honest with himself. + +Duty commanded that he resist all charm other than that pertaining to +his life in the woods. Years ago he had accepted a borderman's +destiny, well content to be recompensed by its untamed freedom from +restraint; to be always under the trees he loved so well; to lend his +cunning and woodcraft in the pioneer's cause; to haunt the savage +trails; to live from day to day a menace to the foes of civilization. +That was the life he had chosen; it was all he could ever have. + +In view of this, justice demanded that he allow no friendship to +spring up between himself and this girl. If his sister's belief was +really true, if Helen really was interested in him, it must be a +romantic infatuation which, not encouraged, would wear itself out. +What was he, to win the love of any girl? An unlettered borderman, who +knew only the woods, whose life was hard and cruel, whose hands were +red with Indian blood, whose vengeance had not spared men even of his +own race. He could not believe she really loved him. Wildly impulsive +as girls were at times, she had kissed him. She had been grateful, +carried away by a generous feeling for him as the protector of her +father. When she did not see him for a long time, as he vowed should +be the case after he had carried her safely home, she would forget. + +Then honesty demanded that he probe his own feelings. Sternly, as if +judging a renegade, he searched out in his simple way the truth. This +big-eyed lass with her nameless charm would bewitch even a borderman, +unless he avoided her. So much he had not admitted until now. Love he +had never believed could be possible for him. When she fell asleep her +hand had slipped from his arm to his fingers, and now rested there +lightly as a leaf. The contact was delight. The gentle night breeze +blew a tress of hair across his lips. He trembled. Her rounded +shoulder pressed against him until he could feel her slow, deep +breathing. He almost held his own breath lest he disturb her rest. + +No, he was no longer indifferent. As surely as those pale stars +blinked far above, he knew the delight of a woman's presence. It +moved him to study the emotion, as he studied all things, which was +the habit of his borderman's life. Did it come from knowledge of her +beauty, matchless as that of the mountain-laurel? He recalled the dark +glance of her challenging eyes, her tall, supple figure, and the +bewildering excitation and magnetism of her presence. Beauty was +wonderful, but not everything. Beauty belonged to her, but she would +have been irresistible without it. Was it not because she was a woman? +That was the secret. She was a woman with all a woman's charm to +bewitch, to twine round the strength of men as the ivy encircles the +oak; with all a woman's weakness to pity and to guard; with all a +woman's wilful burning love, and with all a woman's mystery. + +At last so much of life was intelligible to him. The renegade +committed his worst crimes because even in his outlawed, homeless +state, he could not exist without the companionship, if not the love, +of a woman. The pioneer's toil and privation were for a woman, and the +joy of loving her and living for her. The Indian brave, when not on +the war-path, walked hand in hand with a dusky, soft-eyed maiden, and +sang to her of moonlit lakes and western winds. Even the birds and +beasts mated. The robins returned to their old nest; the eagles paired +once and were constant in life and death. The buck followed the doe +through the forest. All nature sang that love made life worth living. +Love, then, was everything. + +The borderman sat out the long vigil of the night watching the stars, +and trying to decide that love was not for him. If Wetzel had locked a +secret within his breast, and never in all these years spoke of it to +his companion, then surely that companion could as well live without +love. Stern, dark, deadly work must stain and blot all tenderness from +his life, else it would be unutterably barren. The joy of living, of +unharassed freedom he had always known. If a fair face and dark, +mournful eyes were to haunt him on every lonely trail, then it were +better an Indian should end his existence. + +The darkest hour before dawn, as well as the darkest of doubt and +longing in Jonathan's life, passed away. A gray gloom obscured the +pale, winking stars; the east slowly whitened, then brightened, and at +length day broke misty and fresh. + +The borderman rose to stretch his cramped limbs. When he turned to the +little cavern the girl's eyes were wide open. All the darkness, the +shadow, the beauty, and the thought of the past night, lay in their +blue depths. He looked away across the valley where the sky was +reddening and a pale rim of gold appeared above the hill-tops. + +"Well, if I haven't been asleep!" exclaimed Helen, with a low, soft +laugh. + +"You're rested, I hope," said Jonathan, with averted eyes. He dared +not look at her. + +"Oh, yes, indeed. I am ready to start at once. How gray, how beautiful +the morning is! Shall we be long? I hope papa knows." + +In silence the borderman led the way across the rocky plateau, and +into the winding, narrow trail. His pale, slightly drawn and stern, +face did not invite conversation, therefore Helen followed silently in +his footsteps. The way was steep, and at times he was forced to lend +her aid. She put her hand in his and jumped lightly as a fawn. +Presently a brawling brook, over-crowding its banks, impeded +further progress. + +"I'll have to carry you across," said Jonathan. + +"I'm very heavy," replied Helen, with a smile in her eyes. + +She flushed as the borderman put his right arm around her waist. Then +a clasp as of steel enclosed her; she felt herself swinging easily +into the air, and over the muddy brook. + +Farther down the mountain this troublesome brook again crossed the +trail, this time much wider and more formidable. Helen looked with +some vexation and embarrassment into the borderman's face. It was +always the same, stern, almost cold. + +"Perhaps I'd better wade," she said hesitatingly. + +"Why? The water's deep an' cold. You'd better not get wet." + +Helen flushed, but did not answer. With downcast eyes she let herself +be carried on his powerful arm. + +The wading was difficult this time. The water foamed furiously around +his knees. Once he slipped on a stone, and nearly lost his balance. +Uttering a little scream Helen grasped at him wildly, and her arm +encircled his neck. What was still more trying, when he put her on her +feet again, it was found that her hair had become entangled in the +porcupine quills on his hunting-coat. + +She stood before him while with clumsy fingers he endeavored to +untangle the shimmering strands; but in vain. Helen unwound the snarl +of wavy hair. Most alluring she was then, with a certain softness on +her face, and light and laughter, and something warm in her eyes. + +The borderman felt that he breathed a subtle exhilaration which +emanated from her glowing, gracious beauty. She radiated with the +gladness of life, with an uncontainable sweetness and joy. But, giving +no token of his feeling, he turned to march on down through the woods. + +From this point the trail broadened, descending at an easier angle. +Jonathan's stride lengthened until Helen was forced to walk rapidly, +and sometimes run, in order to keep close behind him. A quick journey +home was expedient, and in order to accomplish this she would gladly +have exerted herself to a greater extent. When they reached the end +of the trail where the forest opened clear of brush, finally to merge +into the broad, verdant plain, the sun had chased the mist-clouds from +the eastern hill-tops, and was gloriously brightening the valley. + +With the touch of sentiment natural to her, Helen gazed backward for +one more view of the mountain-top. The wall of rugged rock she had so +often admired from her window at home, which henceforth would ever +hold a tender place of remembrance in her heart, rose out of a +gray-blue bank of mist. The long, swelling slope lay clear to the +sunshine. With the rays of the sun gleaming and glistening upon the +variegated foliage, and upon the shiny rolling haze above, a beautiful +picture of autumn splendor was before her. Tall pines, here and there +towered high and lonely over the surrounding trees. Their dark, green, +graceful heads stood in bold relief above the gold and yellow crests +beneath. Maples, tinged from faintest pink to deepest rose, added warm +color to the scene, and chestnuts with their brown-white burrs lent +fresher beauty to the undulating slope. + +The remaining distance to the settlement was short. Jonathan spoke +only once to Helen, then questioning her as to where she had left her +canoe. They traversed the meadow, found the boat in the thicket of +willows, and were soon under the frowning bluff of Fort Henry. +Ascending the steep path, they followed the road leading to Colonel +Zane's cabin. + +A crowd of boys, men and women loitering near the bluff arrested +Helen's attention. Struck by this unusual occurrence, she wondered +what was the cause of such idleness among the busy pioneer people. +They were standing in little groups. Some made vehement gestures, +others conversed earnestly, and yet more were silent. On seeing +Jonathan, a number shouted and pointed toward the inn. The borderman +hurried Helen along the path, giving no heed to the throng. + +But Helen had seen the cause of all this excitement. At first glance +she thought Metzar's inn had been burned; but a second later it could +be seen that the smoke came from a smoldering heap of rubbish in the +road. The inn, nevertheless, had been wrecked. Windows stared with +that vacantness peculiar to deserted houses. The doors were broken +from their hinges. A pile of furniture, rude tables, chairs, beds, and +other articles, were heaped beside the smoking rubbish. Scattered +around lay barrels and kegs all with gaping sides and broken heads. +Liquor had stained the road, where it had been soaked up by the +thirsty dust. + +Upon a shattered cellar-door lay a figure covered with a piece of rag +carpet. When Helen's quick eyes took in this last, she turned away in +horror. That motionless form might be Brandt's. Remorse and womanly +sympathy surged over her, for bad as the man had shown himself, he had +loved her. + +She followed the borderman, trying to compose herself. As they neared +Colonel Zane's cabin she saw her father, Will, the colonel, Betty, +Nell, Mrs. Zane, Silas Zane, and others whom she did not recognize. +They were all looking at her. Helen's throat swelled, and her eyes +filled when she got near enough to see her father's haggard, eager +face. The others were grave. She wondered guiltily if she had done +much wrong. + +In another moment she was among them. Tears fell as her father +extended his trembling hands to clasp her, and as she hid her burning +face on his breast, he cried: "My dear, dear child!" Then Betty gave +her a great hug, and Nell flew about them like a happy bird. Colonel +Zane's face was pale, and wore a clouded, stern expression. She smiled +timidly at him through her tears. "Well! well! well!" he mused, while +his gaze softened. That was all he said; but he took her hand and held +it while he turned to Jonathan. + +The borderman leaned on his long rifle, regarding him with expectant +eyes. + +"Well, Jack, you missed a little scrimmage this morning. Wetzel got in +at daybreak. The storm and horses held him up on the other side of the +river until daylight. He told me of your suspicions, with the +additional news that he'd found a fresh Indian trail on the island +just across from the inn. We went down not expecting to find any one +awake; but Metzar was hurriedly packing some of his traps. Half a +dozen men were there, having probably stayed all night. That little +English cuss was one of them, and another, an ugly fellow, a stranger +to us, but evidently a woodsman. Things looked bad. Metzar told a +decidedly conflicting story. Wetzel and I went outside to talk over +the situation, with the result that I ordered him to clean out +the place." + +Here Colonel Zane paused to indulge in a grim, meaning laugh. + +"Well, he cleaned out the place all right. The ugly stranger got +rattlesnake-mad, and yanked out a big knife. Sam is hitching up the +team now to haul what's left of him up on the hillside. Metzar +resisted arrest, and got badly hurt. He's in the guardhouse. Case, who +has been drunk for a week, got in Wetzel's way and was kicked into the +middle of next week. He's been spitting blood for the last hour, but I +guess he's not much hurt. Brandt flew the coop last night. Wetzel +found this hid in his room." + +Colonel Zane took a long, feathered arrow from where it lay on a +bench, and held it out to Jonathan. + +"The Shawnee signal! Wetzel had it right," muttered the borderman. + +"Exactly. Lew found where the arrow struck in the wall of Brandt's +room. It was shot from the island at the exact spot where Lew came to +an end of the Indian's trail in the water." + +"That Shawnee got away from us." + +"So Lew said. Well, he's gone now. So is Brandt. We're well rid of the +gang, if only we never hear of them again." + +The borderman shook his head. During the colonel's recital his face +changed. The dark eyes had become deadly; the square jaw was shut, the +lines of the cheek had grown tense, and over his usually expressive +countenance had settled a chill, lowering shade. + +"Lew thinks Brandt's in with Bing Legget. Well, d--- his black +traitor heart! He's a good man for the worst and strongest gang that +ever tracked the border." + +The borderman was silent; but the furtive, restless shifting of his +eyes over the river and island, hill and valley, spoke more plainly +than words. + +"You're to take his trail at once," added Colonel Zane. "I had Bess +put you up some bread, meat and parched corn. No doubt you'll have a +long, hard tramp. Good luck." + +The borderman went into the cabin, presently emerging with a buckskin +knapsack strapped to his shoulder. He set off eastward with a long, +swinging stride. + +The women had taken Helen within the house where, no doubt, they could +discuss with greater freedom the events of the previous day. + +"Sheppard," said Colonel Zane, turning with a sparkle in his eyes. +"Brandt was after Helen sure as a bad weed grows fast. And certain as +death Jonathan and Wetzel will see him cold and quiet back in the +woods. That's a border saying, and it means a good deal. I never saw +Wetzel so implacable, nor Jonathan so fatally cold but once, and that +was when Miller, another traitor, much like Brandt, tried to make away +with Betty. It would have chilled your blood to see Wetzel go at that +fool this morning. Why did he want to pull a knife on the borderman? +It was a sad sight. Well, these things are justifiable. We must +protect ourselves, and above all our women. We've had bad men, and a +bad man out here is something you cannot yet appreciate, come here and +slip into the life of the settlement, because on the border you can +never tell what a man is until he proves himself. There have been +scores of criminals spread over the frontier, and some better men, +like Simon Girty, who were driven to outlaw life. Simon must not be +confounded with Jim Girty, absolutely the most fiendish desperado who +ever lived. Why, even the Indians feared Jim so much that after his +death his skeleton remained unmolested in the glade where he was +killed. The place is believed to be haunted now, by all Indians and +many white hunters, and I believe the bones stand there yet." + +"Stand?" asked Sheppard, deeply interested. + +"Yes, it stands where Girty stood and died, upright against a tree, +pinned, pinned there by a big knife." + +"Heavens, man! Who did it?" Sheppard cried in horror. + +Again Colonel Zane's laugh, almost metallic, broke grimly from his +lips. + +"Who? Why, Wetzel, of course. Lew hunted Jim Girty five long years. +When he caught him--God! I'll tell you some other time. Jonathan saw +Wetzel handle Jim and his pal, Deering, as if they were mere boys. +Well, as I said, the border has had, and still has, its bad men. Simon +Girty took McKee and Elliott, the Tories, from Fort Pitt, when he +deserted, and ten men besides. They're all, except those who are dead, +outlaws of the worst type. The other bad men drifted out here from +Lord only knows where. They're scattered all over. Simon Girty, since +his crowning black deed, the massacre of the Christian Indians, is in +hiding. Bing Legget now has the field. He's a hard nut, a cunning +woodsman, and capable leader who surrounds himself with only the most +desperate Indians and renegades. Brandt is an agent of Legget's and +I'll bet we'll hear from him again." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Jonathan traveled toward the east straight as a crow flies. Wetzel's +trail as he pursued Brandt had been left designedly plain. Branches of +young maples had been broken by the borderman; they were glaring +evidences of his passage. On open ground, or through swampy meadows he +had contrived to leave other means to facilitate his comrade's +progress. Bits of sumach lay strewn along the way, every red, leafy +branch a bright marker of the course; crimson maple leaves served +their turn, and even long-bladed ferns were scattered at intervals. + +Ten miles east of Fort Henry, at a point where two islands lay +opposite each other, Wetzel had crossed the Ohio. Jonathan removed his +clothing, and tying these, together with his knapsack, to the rifle, +held them above the water while he swam the three narrow channels. He +took up the trail again, finding here, as he expected, where Brandt +had joined the waiting Shawnee chief. The borderman pressed on harder +to the eastward. + +About the middle of the afternoon signs betokened that Wetzel and his +quarry were not far in advance. Fresh imprints in the grass; crushed +asters and moss, broken branches with unwithered leaves, and plots of +grassy ground where Jonathan saw that the blades of grass were yet +springing back to their original position, proved to the borderman's +practiced eye that he was close upon Wetzel. + +In time he came to a grove of yellow birch trees. The ground was +nearly free from brush, beautifully carpeted with flowers and ferns, +and, except where bushy windfalls obstructed the way, was singularly +open to the gaze for several hundred yards ahead. + +Upon entering this wood Wetzel's plain, intentional markings became +manifest, then wavered, and finally disappeared. Jonathan pondered a +moment. He concluded that the way was so open and clear, with nothing +but grass and moss to mark a trail, that Wetzel had simply considered +it waste of time for, perhaps, the short length of this grove. + +Jonathan knew he was wrong after taking a dozen steps more. Wetzel's +trail, known so well to him, as never to be mistaken, sheered abruptly +off to the left, and, after a few yards, the distance between the +footsteps widened perceptibly. Then came a point where they were so +far apart that they could only have been made by long leaps. + +On the instant the borderman knew that some unforeseen peril or urgent +cause had put Wetzel to flight, and he now bent piercing eyes around +the grove. Retracing his steps to where he had found the break in the +trail, he followed up Brandt's tracks for several rods. Not one +hundred paces beyond where Wetzel had quit the pursuit, were the +remains of a camp fire, the embers still smoldering, and moccasin +tracks of a small band of Indians. The trail of Brandt and his +Shawnee guide met the others at almost right angles. + +The Indian, either by accident or design, had guided Brandt to a band +of his fellows, and thus led Wetzel almost into an ambush. + +Evidence was not clear, however, that the Indians had discovered the +keen tracker who had run almost into their midst. + +While studying the forest ahead Jonathan's mind was running over the +possibilities. How close was Wetzel? Was he still in flight? Had the +savages an inkling of his pursuit? Or was he now working out one of +his cunning tricks of woodcraft? The borderman had no other idea than +that of following the trail to learn all this. Taking the desperate +chances warranted under the circumstances, he walked boldly forward in +his comrade's footsteps. + +Deep and gloomy was the forest adjoining the birch grove. It was a +heavy growth of hardwood trees, interspersed with slender ash and +maples, which with their scanty foliage resembled a labyrinth of green +and yellow network, like filmy dotted lace, hung on the taller, darker +oaks. Jonathan felt safer in this deep wood. He could still see +several rods in advance. Following the trail, he was relieved to see +that Wetzel's leaps had become shorter and shorter, until they once +again were about the length of a long stride. The borderman was, +moreover, swinging in a curve to the northeast. This was proof that +the borderman had not been pursued, but was making a wide detour to +get ahead of the enemy. Five hundred yards farther on the trail turned +sharply toward the birch grove in the rear. + +The trail was fresh. Wetzel was possibly within signal call; surely +within sound of a rifle shot. But even more stirring was the +certainty that Brandt and his Indians were inside the circle +Wetzel had made. + +Once again in sight of the more open woodland, Jonathan crawled on his +hands and knees, keeping close to the cluster of ferns, until well +within the eastern end of the grove. He lay for some minutes +listening. A threatening silence, like the hush before a storm, +permeated the wilderness. He peered out from his covert; but, owing to +its location in a little hollow, he could not see far. Crawling to the +nearest tree he rose to his feet slowly, cautiously. + +No unnatural sight or sound arrested his attention. Repeatedly, with +the acute, unsatisfied gaze of the borderman who knew that every tree, +every patch of ferns, every tangled brush-heap might harbor a foe, he +searched the grove with his eyes; but the curly-barked birches, the +clumps of colored ferns, the bushy windfalls kept their secrets. + +For the borderman, however, the whole aspect of the birch-grove had +changed. Over the forest was a deep calm. A gentle, barely perceptible +wind sighed among the leaves, like rustling silk. The far-off drowsy +drum of a grouse intruded on the vast stillness. The silence of the +birds betokened a message. That mysterious breathing, that beautiful +life of the woods lay hushed, locked in a waiting, brooding silence. +Far away among the somber trees, where the shade deepened into +impenetrable gloom, lay a menace, invisible and indefinable. + +A wind, a breath, a chill, terribly potent, seemed to pass over the +borderman. Long experience had given him intuition of danger. + +As he moved slightly, with lynx-eyes fixed on the grove before him, a +sharp, clear, perfect bird-note broke the ominous quiet. It was like +the melancholy cry of an oriole, short, deep, suggestive of lonely +forest dells. By a slight variation in the short call, Jonathan +recognized it as a signal from Wetzel. The borderman smiled as he +realized that with all his stealth, Wetzel had heard or seen him +re-enter the grove. The signal was a warning to stand still +or retreat. + +Jonathan's gaze narrowed down to the particular point whence had come +the signal. Some two hundred yards ahead in this direction were +several large trees standing in a group. With one exception, they all +had straight trunks. This deviated from the others in that it +possessed an irregular, bulging trunk, or else half-shielded the form +of Wetzel. So indistinct and immovable was this irregularity, that the +watcher could not be certain. Out of line, somewhat, with this tree +which he suspected screened his comrade, lay a huge windfall large +enough to conceal in ambush a whole band of savages. + +Even as he gazed a sheet of flame flashed from this covert. + +_Crack!_ + +A loud report followed; then the whistle and zip of a bullet as it +whizzed close by his head. + +"Shawnee lead!" muttered Jonathan. + +Unfortunately the tree he had selected did not hide him sufficiently. +His shoulders were so wide that either one or the other was exposed, +affording a fine target for a marksman. + +A quick glance showed him a change in the knotty tree-trunk; the +seeming bulge was now the well-known figure of Wetzel. + +Jonathan dodged as some object glanced slantingly before his eyes. + +_Twang. Whizz. Thud._ Three familiar and distinct sounds caused him to +press hard against the tree. + +A tufted arrow quivered in the bark not a foot from his head. + +"Close shave! Damn that arrow-shootin' Shawnee!" muttered Jonathan. +"An' he ain't in that windfall either." His eyes searched to the left +for the source of this new peril. + +Another sheet of flame, another report from the windfall. A bullet +sang, close overhead, and, glancing on a branch, went harmlessly into +the forest. + +"Injuns all around; I guess I'd better be makin' tracks," Jonathan +said to himself, peering out to learn if Wetzel was still under cover. + +He saw the tall figure straighten up; a long, black rifle rise to a +level and become rigid; a red fire belch forth, followed by a puff of +white smoke. + +_Spang!_ + +An Indian's horrible, strangely-breaking death yell rent the silence. + +Then a chorus of plaintive howls, followed by angry shouts, rang +through the forest. Naked, painted savages darted out of the windfall +toward the tree that had sheltered Wetzel. + +Quick as thought Jonathan covered the foremost Indian, and with the +crack of his rifle saw the redskin drop his gun, stop in his mad run, +stagger sideways, and fall. Then the borderman looked to see what had +become of his ally. The cracking of the Indian's rifle told him that +Wetzel had been seen by his foes. + +With almost incredible fleetness a brown figure with long black hair +streaming behind, darted in and out among the trees, flashed through +the sunlit glade, and vanished in the dark depths of the forest. + +Jonathan turned to flee also, when he heard again the twanging of an +Indian's bow. A wind smote his cheek, a shock blinded him, an +excruciating pain seized upon his breast. A feathered arrow had pinned +his shoulder to the tree. He raised his hand to pull it out; but, +slippery with blood, it afforded a poor hold for his fingers. +Violently exerting himself, with both hands he wrenched away the +weapon. The flint-head lacerating his flesh and scraping his shoulder +bones caused sharpest agony. The pain gave away to a sudden sense of +giddiness; he tried to run; a dark mist veiled his sight; he stumbled +and fell. Then he seemed to sink into a great darkness, and knew +no more. + +When consciousness returned to Jonathan it was night. He lay on his +back, and knew because of his cramped limbs that he had been securely +bound. He saw the glimmer of a fire, but could not raise his head. A +rustling of leaves in the wind told that he was yet in the woods, and +the distant rumble of a waterfall sounded familiar. He felt drowsy; +his wound smarted slightly, still he did not suffer any pain. +Presently he fell asleep. + +Broad daylight had come when again he opened his eyes. The blue sky +was directly above, and before him he saw a ledge covered with dwarfed +pine trees. He turned his head, and saw that he was in a sort of +amphitheater of about two acres in extent enclosed by low cliffs. A +cleft in the stony wall let out a brawling brook, and served, no +doubt, as entrance to the place. Several rude log cabins stood on that +side of the enclosure. Jonathan knew he had been brought to Bing +Legget's retreat. + +Voices attracted his attention, and, turning his head to the other +side, he saw a big Indian pacing near him, and beyond, seven savages +and three white men reclining in the shade. + +The powerful, dark-visaged savage near him he at once recognized as +Ashbow, the Shawnee chief, and noted emissary of Bing Legget. Of the +other Indians, three were Delawares, and four Shawnees, all veterans, +with swarthy, somber faces and glistening heads on which the +scalp-locks were trimmed and tufted. Their naked, muscular bodies were +painted for the war-path with their strange emblems of death. A trio +of white men, nearly as bronzed as their savage comrades, completed +the group. One, a desperate-looking outlaw, Jonathan did not know. The +blond-bearded giant in the center was Legget. Steel-blue, inhuman +eyes, with the expression of a free but hunted animal; a set, +mastiff-like jaw, brutal and coarse, individualized him. The last man +was the haggard-faced Brandt. + +"I tell ye, Brandt, I ain't agoin' against this Injun," Legget was +saying positively. "He's the best reddy on the border, an' has saved +me scores of times. This fellar Zane belongs to him, an' while I'd +much rather see the scout knifed right here an' now, I won't do +nothin' to interfere with the Shawnee's plans." + +"Why does the redskin want to take him away to his village?" Brandt +growled. "All Injun vanity and pride." + +"It's Injun ways, an' we can't do nothin' to change 'em." + +"But you're boss here. You could make him put this borderman out of +the way." + +"Wal, I ain't agoin' ter interfere. Anyways, Brandt, the Shawnee'll +make short work of the scout when he gits him among the tribe. Injuns +is Injuns. It's a great honor fer him to git Zane, an' he wants his +own people to figger in the finish. Quite nat'r'l, I reckon." + +"I understand all that; but it's not safe for us, and it's courting +death for Ashbow. Why don't he keep Zane here until you can spare more +than three Indians to go with him? These bordermen can't be stopped. +You don't know them, because you're new in this part of the country." + +"I've been here as long as you, an' agoin' some, too, I reckon," +replied Legget complacently. + +"But you've not been hunted until lately by these bordermen, and +you've had little opportunity to hear of them except from Indians. +What can you learn from these silent redskins? I tell you, letting +this fellow get out of here alive, even for an hour is a fatal +mistake. It's two full days' tramp to the Shawnee village. You don't +suppose Wetzel will be afraid of four savages? Why, he sneaked right +into eight of us, when we were ambushed, waiting for him. He killed +one and then was gone like a streak. It was only a piece of pure luck +we got Zane." + +"I've reason to know this Wetzel, this Deathwind, as the Delawares +call him. I never seen him though, an' anyways, I reckon I can handle +him if ever I get the chance." + +"Man, you're crazy!" cried Brandt. "He'd cut you to pieces before +you'd have time to draw. He could give you a tomahawk, then take it +away and split your head. I tell you I know! You remember Jake +Deering? He came from up your way. Wetzel fought Deering and Jim Girty +together, and killed them. You know how he left Girty." + +"I'll allow he must be a fighter; but I ain't afraid of him." + +"That's not the question. I am talking sense. You've got a chance now +to put one of these bordermen out of the way. Do it quick! That's +my advice." + +Brandt spoke so vehemently that Legget seemed impressed. He stroked +his yellow beard, and puffed thoughtfully on his pipe. Presently he +addressed the Shawnee chief in the native tongue. + +"Will Ashbow take five horses for his prisoner?" + +The Indian shook his head. + +"How many will he take?" + +The chief strode with dignity to and fro before his captive. His dark, +impassive face gave no clew to his thoughts; but his lofty bearing, +his measured, stately walk were indicative of great pride. Then he +spoke in his deep bass: + +"The Shawnee knows the woods from the Great Lakes where the sun sets, +to the Blue Hills where it rises. He has met the great paleface +hunters. Only for Deathwind will Ashbow trade his captive." + +"See? It ain't no use," said Legget, spreading out his hands, "Let him +go. He'll outwit the bordermen if any redskin's able to. The sooner he +goes the quicker he'll git back, an' we can go to work. You ought'er +be satisfied to git the girl----" + +"Shut up!" interrupted Brandt sharply. + +"'Pears to me, Brandt, bein' in love hes kinder worked on your nerves. +You used to be game. Now you're afeerd of a bound an' tied man who +ain't got long to live." + +"I fear no man," answered Brandt, scowling darkly. "But I know what +you don't seem to have sense enough to see. If this Zane gets away, +which is probable, he and Wetzel will clean up your gang." + +"Haw! haw! haw!" roared Legget, slapping his knees. "Then you'd hev +little chanst of gittin' the lass, eh?" + +"All right. I've no more to say," snapped Brandt, rising and turning +on his heel. As he passed Jonathan he paused. "Zane, if I could, I'd +get even with you for that punch you once gave me. As it is, I'll stop +at the Shawnee village on my way west----" + +"With the pretty lass," interposed Legget. + +"Where I hope to see your scalp drying in the chief's lodge." + +The borderman eyed him steadily; but in silence. Words could not so +well have conveyed his thought as did the cold glance of dark scorn +and merciless meaning. + +Brandt shuffled on with a curse. No coward was he. No man ever saw him +flinch. But his intelligence was against him as a desperado. While +such as these bordermen lived, an outlaw should never sleep, for he +was a marked and doomed man. The deadly, cold-pointed flame which +scintillated in the prisoner's eyes was only a gleam of what the +border felt towards outlaws. + +While Jonathan was considering all he had heard, three more Shawnees +entered the retreat, and were at once called aside in consultation by +Ashbow. At the conclusion of this brief conference the chief advanced +to Jonathan, cut the bonds round his feet, and motioned for him to +rise. The prisoner complied to find himself weak and sore, but able to +walk. He concluded that his wound, while very painful, was not of a +serious nature, and that he would be taken at once on the march toward +the Shawnee village. + +He was correct, for the chief led him, with the three Shawnees +following, toward the outlet of the enclosure. Jonathan's sharp eye +took in every detail of Legget's rendezvous. In a corral near the +entrance, he saw a number of fine horses, and among them his sister's +pony. A more inaccessible, natural refuge than Legget's, could hardly +have been found in that country. The entrance was a narrow opening in +the wall, and could be held by half a dozen against an army of +besiegers. It opened, moreover, on the side of a barren hill, from +which could be had a good survey of the surrounding forests +and plains. + +As Jonathan went with his captors down the hill his hopes, which while +ever alive, had been flagging, now rose. The long journey to the +Shawnee town led through an untracked wilderness. The Delaware +villages lay far to the north; the Wyandot to the west. No likelihood +was there of falling in with a band of Indians hunting, because this +region, stony, barren, and poorly watered, afforded sparse pasture for +deer or bison. From the prisoner's point of view this enterprise of +Ashbow's was reckless and vainglorious. Cunning as the chief was, he +erred in one point, a great warrior's only weakness, love of show, of +pride, of his achievement. In Indian nature this desire for fame was +as strong as love of life. The brave risked everything to win his +eagle feathers, and the matured warrior found death while keeping +bright the glory of the plumes he had won. + +Wetzel was in the woods, fleet as a deer, fierce and fearless as a +lion. Somewhere among those glades he trod, stealthily, with the ears +of a doe and eyes of a hawk strained for sound or sight of his +comrade's captors. When he found their trail he would stick to it as +the wolf to that of a bleeding buck's. The rescue would not be +attempted until the right moment, even though that came within +rifle-shot of the Shawnee encampment. Wonderful as his other gifts, +was the borderman's patience. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"Good morning, Colonel Zane," said Helen cheerily, coming into the +yard where the colonel was at work. "Did Will come over this way?" + +"I reckon you'll find him if you find Betty," replied Colonel Zane +dryly. + +"Come to think of it, that's true," Helen said, laughing. "I've a +suspicion Will ran off from me this morning." + +"He and Betty have gone nutting." + +"I declare it's mean of Will," Helen said petulantly. "I have been +wanting to go so much, and both he and Betty promised to take me." + +"Say, Helen, let me tell you something," said the colonel, resting on +his spade and looking at her quizzically. "I told them we hadn't had +enough frost yet to ripen hickory-nuts and chestnuts. But they went +anyhow. Will did remember to say if you came along, to tell you he'd +bring the colored leaves you wanted." + +"How extremely kind of him. I've a mind to follow them." + +"Now see here, Helen, it might be a right good idea for you not to," +returned the colonel, with a twinkle and a meaning in his eye. + +"Oh, I understand. How singularly dull I've been." + +"It's this way. We're mighty glad to have a fine young fellow like +Will come along and interest Betty. Lord knows we had a time with her +after Alfred died. She's just beginning to brighten up now, and, +Helen, the point is that young people on the border must get married. +No, my dear, you needn't laugh, you'll have to find a husband same as +the other girls. It's not here as it was back east, where a lass might +have her fling, so to speak, and take her time choosing. An unmarried +girl on the border is a positive menace. I saw, not many years ago, +two first-rate youngsters, wild with border fire and spirit, fight and +kill each other over a lass who wouldn't choose. Like as not, if she +had done so, the three would have been good friends, for out here +we're like one big family. Remember this, Helen, and as far as Betty +and Will are concerned you will be wise to follow our example: Leave +them to themselves. Nothing else will so quickly strike fire between a +boy and a girl." + +"Betty and Will! I'm sure I'd love to see them care for each other." +Then with big, bright eyes bent gravely on him she continued, "May I +ask, Colonel Zane, who you have picked out for me?" + +"There, now you've said it, and that's the problem. I've looked over +every marriageable young man in the settlement, except Jack. Of +course you couldn't care for him, a borderman, a fighter and all that; +but I can't find a fellow I think quite up to you." + +"Colonel Zane, is not a borderman such as Jonathan worthy a woman's +regard?" Helen asked a little wistfully. + +"Bless your heart, lass, yes!" replied Colonel Zane heartily. "People +out here are not as they are back east. An educated man, polished and +all that, but incapable of hard labor, or shrinking from dirt and +sweat on his hands, or even blood, would not help us in the winning of +the West. Plain as Jonathan is, and with his lack of schooling, he is +greatly superior to the majority of young men on the frontier. But, +unlettered or not, he is as fine a man as ever stepped in moccasins, +or any other kind of foot gear." + +"Then why did you say--that--what you did?" + +"Well, it's this way," replied Colonel Zane, stealing a glance at her +pensive, downcast face. "Girls all like to be wooed. Almost every one +I ever knew wanted the young man of her choice to outstrip all her +other admirers, and then, for a spell, nearly die of love for her, +after which she'd give in. Now, Jack, being a borderman, a man with no +occupation except scouting, will never look at a girl, let alone make +up to her. I imagine, my dear, it'd take some mighty tall courting to +fetch home Helen Sheppard a bride. On the other hand, if some pretty +and spirited lass, like, say for instance, Helen Sheppard, would come +along and just make Jack forget Indians and fighting, she'd get the +finest husband in the world. True, he's wild; but only in the woods. A +simpler, kinder, cleaner man cannot be found." + +"I believe that, Colonel Zane; but where is the girl who would +interest him?" Helen asked with spirit. "These bordermen are +unapproachable. Imagine a girl interesting that great, cold, stern +Wetzel! All her flatteries, her wiles, the little coquetries that +might attract ordinary men, would not be noticed by him, or +Jonathan either." + +"I grant it'd not be easy, but woman was made to subjugate man, and +always, everlastingly, until the end of life here on this beautiful +earth, she will do it." + +"Do you think Jonathan and Wetzel will catch Brandt?" asked Helen, +changing the subject abruptly. + +"I'd stake my all that this year's autumn leaves will fall on Brandt's +grave." + +Colonel Zane's calm, matter-of-fact coldness made Helen shiver. + +"Why, the leaves have already begun to fall. Papa told me Brandt had +gone to join the most powerful outlaw band on the border. How can +these two men, alone, cope with savages, as I've heard they do, and +break up such an outlaw band as Legget's?" + +"That's a question I've heard Daniel Boone ask about Wetzel, and +Boone, though not a borderman in all the name implies, was a great +Indian fighter. I've heard old frontiersmen, grown grizzled on the +frontier, use the same words. I've been twenty years with that man, +yet I can't answer it. Jonathan, of course, is only a shadow of him; +Wetzel is the type of these men who have held the frontier for us. He +was the first borderman, and no doubt he'll be the last." + +"What have Jonathan and Wetzel that other men do not possess?" + +"In them is united a marvelously developed woodcraft, with wonderful +physical powers. Imagine a man having a sense, almost an animal +instinct, for what is going on in the woods. Take for instance the +fleetness of foot. That is one of the greatest factors. It is +absolutely necessary to run, to get away when to hold ground would be +death. Whether at home or in the woods, the bordermen retreat every +day. You wouldn't think they practiced anything of the kind, would +you? Well, a man can't be great in anything without keeping at it. +Jonathan says he exercises to keep his feet light. Wetzel would just +as soon run as walk. Think of the magnificent condition of these men. +When a dash of speed is called for, when to be fleet of foot is to +elude vengeance-seeking Indians, they must travel as swiftly as the +deer. The Zanes were all sprinters. I could do something of the kind; +Betty was fast on her feet, as that old fort will testify until the +logs rot; Isaac was fleet, too, and Jonathan can get over the ground +like a scared buck. But, even so, Wetzel can beat him." + +"Goodness me, Helen!" exclaimed the colonel's buxom wife, from the +window, "don't you ever get tired hearing Eb talk of Wetzel, and Jack, +and Indians? Come in with me. I venture to say my gossip will do you +more good than his stories." + +Therefore Helen went in to chat with Mrs. Zane, for she was always +glad to listen to the colonel's wife, who was so bright and pleasant, +so helpful and kindly in her womanly way. In the course of their +conversation, which drifted from weaving linsey, Mrs. Zane's +occupation at the tune, to the costly silks and satins of remembered +days, and then to matters of more present interest, Helen spoke of +Colonel Zane's hint about Will and Betty. + +"Isn't Eb a terror? He's the worst matchmatcher you ever saw," +declared the colonel's good spouse. + +"There's no harm in that." + +"No, indeed; it's a good thing, but he makes me laugh, and Betty, he +sets her furious." + +"The colonel said he had designs on me." + +"Of course he has, dear old Eb! How he'd love to see you happily +married. His heart is as big as that mountain yonder. He has given +this settlement his whole life." + +"I believe you. He has such interest, such zeal for everybody. Only +the other day he was speaking to me of Mr. Mordaunt, telling how sorry +he was for the Englishman, and how much he'd like to help him. It does +seem a pity a man of Mordaunt's blood and attainments should sink to +utter worthlessness." + +"Yes,'tis a pity for any man, blood or no, and the world's full of +such wrecks. I always liked that man's looks. I never had a word with +him, of course; but I've seen him often, and something about him +appealed to me. I don't believe it was just his handsome face; still I +know women are susceptible that way." + +"I, too, liked him once as a friend," said Helen feelingly. "Well, I'm +glad he's gone." + +"Gone?" + +"Yes, he left Fort Henry yesterday. He came to say good-bye to me, +and, except for his pale face and trembling hands, was much as he used +to be in Virginia. Said he was going home to England, and wanted to +tell me he was sorry--for--for all he'd done to make papa and me +suffer. Drink had broken him, he said, and surely he looked 'a broken +man. I shook hands with him, and then slipped upstairs and cried." + +"Poor fellow!" sighed Mrs. Zane. + +"Papa said he left Fort Pitt with one of Metzar's men as a guide." + +"Then he didn't take the 'little cuss,' as Eb calls his man Case?" + +"No, if I remember rightly papa said Case wouldn't go." + +"I wish he had. He's no addition to our village." + +Voices outside attracted their attention. Mrs. Zane glanced from the +window and said: "There come Betty and Will." + +Helen went on the porch to see her cousin and Betty entering the +yard, and Colonel Zane once again leaning on his spade. + +"Gather any hickory-nuts from birch or any other kind of trees?" asked +the colonel grimly. + +"No," replied Will cheerily, "the shells haven't opened yet." + +"Too bad the frost is so backward," said Colonel Zane with a laugh. +"But I can't see that it makes any difference." + +"Where are my leaves?" asked Helen, with a smile and a nod to Betty. + +"What leaves?" inquired that young woman, plainly mystified. + +"Why, the autumn leaves Will promised to gather with me, then changed +his mind, and said he'd bring them." + +"I forgot," Will replied a little awkwardly. + +Colonel Zane coughed, and then, catching Betty's glance, which had +begun to flash, he plied his spade vigorously. + +Betty's face had colored warmly at her brother's first question; it +toned down slightly when she understood that he was not going to tease +her as usual, and suddenly, as she looked over his head, it paled +white as snow. + +"Eb, look down the lane!" she cried. + +Two tall men were approaching with labored tread, one half-supporting +his companion. + +"Wetzel! Jack! and Jack's hurt!" cried Betty. + +"My dear, be calm," said Colonel Zane, in that quiet tone he always +used during moments of excitement. He turned toward the bordermen, and +helped Wetzel lead Jonathan up the walk into the yard. + +From Wetzel's clothing water ran, his long hair was disheveled, his +aspect frightful. Jonathan's face was white and drawn. His buckskin +hunting coat was covered with blood, and the hand which he held +tightly against his left breast showed dark red stains. + +Helen shuddered. Almost fainting, she leaned against the porch, too +horrified to cry out, with contracting heart and a chill stealing +through her veins. + +"Jack! Jack!" cried Betty, in agonized appeal. + +"Betty, it's nothin'," said Wetzel. + +"Now, Betts, don't be scared of a little blood," Jonathan said with a +faint smile flitting across his haggard face. + +"Bring water, shears an' some linsey cloth," added Wetzel, as Mrs. +Zane came running out. + +"Come inside," cried the colonel's wife, as she disappeared again +immediately. + +"No," replied the borderman, removing his coat, and, with the +assistance of his brother, he unlaced his hunting shirt, pulling it +down from a wounded shoulder. A great gory hole gaped just beneath his +left collar-bone. + +Although stricken with fear, when Helen saw the bronzed, massive +shoulder, the long, powerful arm with its cords of muscles playing +under the brown skin, she felt a thrill of admiration. + +"Just missed the lung," said Mrs. Zane. "Eb, no bullet ever made that +hole." + +Wetzel washed the bloody wound, and, placing on it a wad of leaves he +took from his pocket, bound up the shoulder tightly. + +"What made that hole?" asked Colonel Zane. + +Wetzel lifted the quiver of arrows Jonathan had laid on the porch, +and, selecting one, handed it to the colonel. The flint-head and a +portion of the shaft were stained with blood. + +"The Shawnee!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. Then he led Wetzel aside, and +began conversing in low tones while Jonathan, with Betty holding his +arm, ascended the steps and went within the dwelling. + +Helen ran home, and, once in her room, gave vent to her emotions. She +cried because of fright, nervousness, relief, and joy. Then she bathed +her face, tried to rub some color into her pale cheeks, and set about +getting dinner as one in a trance. She could not forget that broad +shoulder with its frightful wound. What a man Jonathan must be to +receive a blow like that and live! Exhausted, almost spent, had been +his strength when he reached home, yet how calm and cool he was! What +would she not have given for the faint smile that shone in his eyes +for Betty? + +The afternoon was long for Helen. When at last supper was over she +changed her gown, and, asking Will to accompany her, went down the +lane toward Colonel Zane's cabin. At this hour the colonel almost +invariably could be found sitting on his doorstep puffing a long +Indian pipe, and gazing with dreamy eyes over the valley. + +"Well, well, how sweet you look!" he said to Helen; then with a wink +of his eyelid, "Hello, Willie, you'll find Elizabeth inside +with Jack." + +"How is he?" asked Helen eagerly, as Will with a laugh and a retort +mounted the steps. + +"Jack's doing splendidly. He slept all day. I don't think his injury +amounts to much, at least not for such as him or Wetzel. It would have +finished ordinary men. Bess says if complications don't set in, +blood-poison or something to start a fever, he'll be up shortly. +Wetzel believes the two of 'em will be on the trail inside of a week." + +"Did they find Brandt?" asked Helen in a low voice. + +"Yes, they ran him to his hole, and, as might have been expected, it +was Bing Legget's camp. The Indians took Jonathan there." + +"Then Jack was captured?" + +Colonel Zane related the events, as told briefly by Wetzel, that had +taken place during the preceding three days. + +"The Indian I saw at the spring carried that bow Jonathan brought +back. He must have shot the arrow. He was a magnificent savage." + +"He was indeed a great, and a bad Indian, one of the craftiest spies +who ever stepped in moccasins; but he lies quiet now on the moss and +the leaves. Bing Legget will never find another runner like that +Shawnee. Let us go indoors." + +He led Helen into the large sitting-room where Jonathan lay on a +couch, with Betty and Will sitting beside him. The colonel's wife and +children, Silas Zane, and several neighbors, were present. + +"Here, Jack, is a lady inquiring after your health. Betts, this +reminds me of the time Isaac came home wounded, after his escape from +the Hurons. Strikes me he and his Indian bride should be about due +here on a visit." + +Helen forgot every one except the wounded man lying so quiet and pale +upon the couch. She looked down upon him with eyes strangely dilated, +and darkly bright. + +"How are you?" she asked softly. + +"I'm all right, thank you, lass," answered Jonathan. + +Colonel Zane contrived, with inimitable skill, to get Betty, Will, +Silas, Bessie and the others interested in some remarkable news he had +just heard, or made up, and this left Jonathan and Helen comparatively +alone for the moment. + +The wise old colonel thought perhaps this might be the right time. He +saw Helen's face as she leaned over Jonathan, and that was enough for +him. He would have taxed his ingenuity to the utmost to keep the +others away from the young couple. + +"I was so frightened," murmured Helen. + +"Why?" asked Jonathan. + +"Oh! You looked so deathly--the blood, and that awful wound!" + +"It's nothin', lass." + +Helen smiled down upon him. Whether or not the hurt amounted to +anything in the borderman's opinion, she knew from his weakness, and +his white, drawn face, that the strain of the march home had been +fearful. His dark eyes held now nothing of the coldness and glitter so +natural to them. They were weary, almost sad. She did not feel afraid +of him now. He lay there so helpless, his long, powerful frame as +quiet as a sleeping child's! Hitherto an almost indefinable antagonism +in him had made itself felt; now there was only gentleness, as of a +man too weary to fight longer. Helen's heart swelled with pity, and +tenderness, and love. His weakness affected her as had never his +strength. With an involuntary gesture of sympathy she placed her hand +softly on his. + +Jonathan looked up at her with eyes no longer blind. Pain had softened +him. For the moment he felt carried out of himself, as it were, and +saw things differently. The melting tenderness of her gaze, the +glowing softness of her face, the beauty, bewitched him; and beyond +that, a sweet, impelling gladness stirred within him and would not be +denied. He thrilled as her fingers lightly, timidly touched his, and +opened his broad hand to press hers closely and warmly. + +"Lass," he whispered, with a huskiness and unsteadiness unnatural to +his deep voice. + +Helen bent her head closer to him; she saw his lips tremble, and his +nostrils dilate; but an unutterable sadness shaded the brightness +in his eyes. + +"I love you." + +The low whisper reached Helen's ears. She seemed to float dreamily +away to some beautiful world, with the music of those words ringing in +her ears. She looked at him again. Had she been dreaming? No; his dark +eyes met hers with a love that he could no longer deny. An exquisite +emotion, keen, strangely sweet and strong, yet terrible with sharp +pain, pulsated through her being. The revelation had been too abrupt. +It was so wonderfully different from what she had ever dared hope. She +lowered her head, trembling. + +The next moment she felt Colonel Zane's hand on her chair, and heard +him say in a cheery voice: + +"Well, well, see here, lass, you mustn't make Jack talk too much. See +how white and tired he looks." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +In forty-eight hours Jonathan Zane was up and about the cabin as +though he had never been wounded; the third day he walked to the +spring; in a week he was waiting for Wetzel, ready to go on the trail. + +On the eighth day of his enforced idleness, as he sat with Betty and +the colonel in the yard, Wetzel appeared on a ridge east of the fort. +Soon he rounded the stockade fence, and came straight toward them. To +Colonel Zane and Betty, Wetzel's expression was terrible. The stern +kindliness, the calm, though cold, gravity of his countenance, as they +usually saw it, had disappeared. Yet it showed no trace of his +unnatural passion to pursue and slay. No doubt that terrible +instinct, or lust, was at white heat; but it wore a mask of +impenetrable stone-gray gloom. + +Wetzel spoke briefly. After telling Jonathan to meet him at sunset on +the following day at a point five miles up the river, he reported to +the colonel that Legget with his band had left their retreat, moving +southward, apparently on a marauding expedition. Then he shook hands +with Colonel Zane and turned to Betty. + +"Good-bye, Betty," he said, in his deep, sonorous voice. + +"Good-bye, Lew," answered Betty slowly, as if surprised. "God save +you," she added. + +He shouldered his rifle, and hurried down the lane, halting before +entering the thicket that bounded the clearing, to look back at the +settlement. In another moment his dark figure had disappeared among +the bushes. + +"Betts, I've seen Wetzel go like that hundreds of times, though he +never shook hands before; but I feel sort of queer about it now. +Wasn't he strange?" + +Betty did not answer until Jonathan, who had started to go within, was +out of hearing. + +"Lew looked and acted the same the morning he struck Miller's trail," +Betty replied in a low voice. "I believe, despite his indifference to +danger, he realizes that the chances are greatly against him, as they +were when he began the trailing of Miller, certain it would lead him +into Girty's camp. Then I know Lew has an affection for us, though it +is never shown in ordinary ways. I pray he and Jack will come +home safe." + +"This is a bad trail they're taking up; the worst, perhaps, in border +warfare," said Colonel Zane gloomily. "Did you notice how Jack's face +darkened when his comrade came? Much of this borderman-life of his is +due to Wetzel's influence." + +"Eb, I'll tell you one thing," returned Betty, with a flash of her +old spirit. "This is Jack's last trail." + +"Why do you think so?" + +"If he doesn't return he'll be gone the way of all bordermen; but if +he comes back once more he'll never get away from Helen." + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Zane, venting his pleasure in characteristic Indian +way. + +"That night after Jack came home wounded," continued Betty, "I saw +him, as he lay on the couch, gaze at Helen. Such a look! Eb, she +has won." + +"I hope so, but I fear, I fear," replied her brother gloomily. "If +only he returns, that's the thing! Betts, be sure he sees Helen before +he goes away." + +"I shall try. Here he comes now," said Betty. + +"Hello, Jack!" cried the colonel, as his brother came out in somewhat +of a hurry. "What have you got? By George! It's that blamed arrow the +Shawnee shot into you. Where are you going with it? What the +deuce--Say--Betts, eh?" + +Betty had given him a sharp little kick. + +The borderman looked embarrassed. He hesitated and flushed. Evidently +he would have liked to avoid his brother's question; but the inquiry +came direct. Dissimulation with him was impossible. + +"Helen wanted this, an' I reckon that's where I'm goin' with it," he +said finally, and walked away. + +"Eb, you're a stupid!" exclaimed Betty. + +"Hang it! Who'd have thought he was going to give her that blamed, +bloody arrow?" + +As Helen ushered Jonathan, for the first time, into her cosy little +sitting-room, her heart began to thump so hard she could hear it. + +She had not seen him since the night he whispered the words which gave +such happiness. She had stayed at home, thankful beyond expression to +learn every day of his rapid improvement, living in the sweetness of +her joy, and waiting for him. And now as he had come, so dark, so +grave, so unlike a lover to woo, that she felt a chill steal over her. + +"I'm so glad you've brought the arrow," she faltered, "for, of course, +coming so far means that you're well once more." + +"You asked me for it, an' I've fetched it over. To-morrow I'm off on a +trail I may never return from," he answered simply, and his voice +seemed cold. + +An immeasurable distance stretched once more between them. Helen's +happiness slowly died. + +"I thank you," she said with a voice that was tremulous despite all +her efforts. + +"It's not much of a keepsake." + +"I did not ask for it as a keepsake, but because--because I wanted it. +I need nothing tangible to keep alive my memory. A few words whispered +to me not many days ago will suffice for remembrance--or--or did I +dream them?" + +Bitter disappointment almost choked Helen. This was not the gentle, +soft-voiced man who had said he loved her. It was the indifferent +borderman. Again he was the embodiment of his strange, quiet woods. +Once more he seemed the comrade of the cold, inscrutable Wetzel. + +"No, lass, I reckon you didn't dream," he replied. + +Helen swayed from sick bitterness and a suffocating sense of pain, +back to her old, sweet, joyous, tumultuous heart-throbbing. + +"Tell me, if I didn't dream," she said softly, her face flashing warm +again. She came close to him and looked up with all her heart in her +great dark eyes, and love trembling on her red lips. + +Calmness deserted the borderman after one glance at her. He paced the +floor; twisted and clasped his hands while his eyes gleamed. + +"Lass, I'm only human," he cried hoarsely, facing her again. + +But only for a moment did he stand before her; but it was long enough +for him to see her shrink a little, the gladness in her eyes giving +way to uncertainty and a fugitive hope. Suddenly he began to pace the +room again, and to talk incoherently. With the flow of words he +gradually grew calmer, and, with something of his natural dignity, +spoke more rationally. + +"I said I loved you, an' it's true, but I didn't mean to speak. I +oughtn't have done it. Somethin' made it so easy, so natural like. I'd +have died before letting you know, if any idea had come to me of what +I was sayin'. I've fought this feelin' for months. I allowed myself to +think of you at first, an' there's the wrong. I went on the trail with +your big eyes pictured in my mind, an' before I'd dreamed of it you'd +crept into my heart. Life has never been the same since--that kiss. +Betty said as how you cared for me, an' that made me worse, only I +never really believed. Today I came over here to say good-bye, +expectin' to hold myself well in hand; but the first glance of your +eyes unmans me. Nothin' can come of it, lass, nothin' but trouble. +Even if you cared, an' I don't dare believe you do, nothin' can come +of it! I've my own life to live, an' there's no sweetheart in it. +Mebbe, as Lew says, there's one in Heaven. Oh! girl, this has been +hard on me. I see you always on my lonely tramps; I see your glorious +eyes in the sunny fields an' in the woods, at gray twilight, an' when +the stars shine brightest. They haunt me. Ah! you're the sweetest +lass as ever tormented a man, an' I love you, I love you!" + +He turned to the window only to hear a soft, broken cry, and a flurry +of skirts. A rush of wind seemed to envelop him. Then two soft, +rounded arms encircled his neck, and a golden head lay on his breast. + +"My borderman! My hero! My love!" + +Jonathan clasped the beautiful, quivering girl to his heart. + +"Lass, for God's sake don't say you love me," he implored, thrilling +with contact of her warm arms. + +"Ah!" she breathed, and raised her head. Her radiant eyes darkly +wonderful with unutterable love, burned into his. + +He had almost pressed his lips to the sweet red ones so near his, when +he drew back with a start, and his frame straightened. + +"Am I a man, or only a coward?" he muttered. "Lass, let me think. +Don't believe I'm harsh, nor cold, nor nothin' except that I want to +do what's right." + +He leaned out of the window while Helen stood near him with a hand on +his quivering shoulder. When at last he turned, his face was +colorless, white as marble, and sad, and set, and stern. + +"Lass, it mustn't be; I'll not ruin your life." + +"But you will if you give me up." + +"No, no, lass." + +"I cannot live without you." + +"You must. My life is not mine to give." + +"But you love me." + +"I am a borderman." + +"I will not live without you." + +"Hush! lass, hush!" + +"I love you." + +Jonathan breathed hard; once more the tremor, which seemed pitiful in +such a strong man, came upon him. His face was gray. + +"I love you," she repeated, her rich voice indescribably deep and +full. She opened wide her arms and stood before him with heaving +bosom, with great eyes dark with woman's sadness, passionate with +woman's promise, perfect in her beauty, glorious in her abandonment. + +The borderman bowed and bent like a broken reed. + +"Listen," she whispered, coming closer to him, "go if you must leave +me; but let this be your last trail. Come back to me, Jack, come back +to me! You have had enough of this terrible life; you have won a name +that will never be forgotten; you have done your duty to the border. +The Indians and outlaws will be gone soon. Take the farm your brother +wants you to have, and live for me. We will be happy. I shall learn to +keep your home. Oh! my dear, I will recompense you for the loss of all +this wild hunting and fighting. Let me persuade you, as much for your +sake as for mine, for you are my heart, and soul, and life. Go out +upon your last trail, Jack, and come back to me." + +"An' let Wetzel go always alone?" + +"He is different; he lives only for revenge. What are those poor +savages to you? You have a better, nobler life opening." + +"Lass, I can't give him up." + +"You need not; but give up this useless seeking of adventure. That, +you know, is half a borderman's life. Give it up, Jack, it not for +your own, then for my sake." + +"No-no-never-I can't-I won't be a coward! After all these years I +won't desert him. No-no----" + +"Do not say more," she pleaded, stealing closer to him until she was +against his breast. She slipped her arms around his neck. For love and +more than life she was fighting now. "Good-bye, my love." She kissed +him, a long, lingering pressure of her soft full lips on his. +"Dearest, do not shame me further. Dearest Jack, come back to me, for +I love you." + +She released him, and ran sobbing from the room. + +Unsteady as a blind man, he groped for the door, found it, and went +out. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +The longest day in Jonathan Zane's life, the oddest, the most terrible +and complex with unintelligible emotions, was that one in which he +learned that the wilderness no longer sufficed for him. + +He wandered through the forest like a man lost, searching for, he knew +not what. Rambling along the shady trails he looked for that +contentment which had always been his, but found it not. He plunged +into the depths of deep, gloomy ravines; into the fastnesses of +heavy-timbered hollows where the trees hid the light of day; he sought +the open, grassy hillsides, and roamed far over meadow and plain. Yet +something always eluded him. The invisible and beautiful life of all +inanimate things sang no more in his heart. The springy moss, the +quivering leaf, the tell-tale bark of the trees, the limpid, misty, +eddying pools under green banks, the myriads of natural objects from +which he had learned so much, and the manifold joyous life around him, +no longer spoke with soul-satisfying faithfulness. The environment of +his boyish days, of his youth, and manhood, rendered not a sweetness +as of old. + +His intelligence, sharpened by the pain of new experience, told him +he had been vain to imagine that he, because he was a borderman, could +escape the universal destiny of human life. Dimly he could feel the +broadening, the awakening into a fuller existence, but he did not +welcome this new light. He realized that men had always turned, at +some time in their lives, to women even as the cypress leans toward +the sun. This weakening of the sterner stuff in him; this softening of +his heart, and especially the inquietude, and lack of joy and harmony +in his old pursuits of the forest trails bewildered him, and troubled +him some. Thousands of times his borderman's trail had been crossed, +yet never to his sorrow until now when it had been crossed by a woman. + +Sick at heart, hurt in his pride, darkly savage, sad, remorseful, and +thrilling with awakened passion, all in turn, he roamed the woodland +unconsciously visiting the scenes where he had formerly found +contentment. + +He paused by many a shady glen, and beautiful quiet glade; by gray +cliffs and mossy banks, searching with moody eyes for the spirit which +evaded him. + +Here in the green and golden woods rose before him a rugged, giant +rock, moss-stained, and gleaming with trickling water. Tangled ferns +dressed in autumn's russet hue lay at the base of the green-gray +cliff, and circled a dark, deep pool dotted with yellow leaves. +Half-way up, the perpendicular ascent was broken by a protruding ledge +upon which waved broad-leaved plants and rusty ferns. Above, the cliff +sheered out with many cracks and seams in its weather-beaten front. + +The forest grew to the verge of the precipice. A full foliaged oak and +a luxuriant maple, the former still fresh with its dark green leaves, +the latter making a vivid contrast with its pale yellow, purple-red, +and orange hues, leaned far out over the bluff. A mighty chestnut +grasped with gnarled roots deep into the broken cliff. Dainty plumes +of goldenrod swayed on the brink; red berries, amber moss, and green +trailing vines peeped over the edge, and every little niche and cranny +sported fragile ferns and pale-faced asters. A second cliff, higher +than the first, and more heavily wooded, loomed above, and over it +sprayed a transparent film of water, thin as smoke, and iridescent in +the sunshine. Far above where the glancing rill caressed the mossy +cliff and shone like gleaming gold against the dark branches with +their green and red and purple leaves, lay the faint blue of the sky. + +Jonathan pulled on down the stream with humbler heart. His favorite +waterfall had denied him. The gold that had gleamed there was his +sweetheart's hair; the red was of her lips; the dark pool with its +lights and shades, its unfathomable mystery, was like her eyes. + +He came at length to another scene of milder aspect. An open glade +where the dancing, dimpling brook raced under dark hemlocks, and where +blood-red sumach leaves, and beech leaves like flashes of sunshine, +lay against the green. Under a leaning birch he found a patch of +purple asters, and a little apart from them, by a mossy stone, a +lonely fringed gentian. Its deep color brought to him the dark blue +eyes that haunted him, and once again, like one possessed of an evil +spirit, he wandered along the merry water-course. + +But finally pain and unrest left him. When he surrendered to his love, +peace returned. Though he said in his heart that Helen was not for +him, he felt he did not need to torture himself by fighting against +resistless power. He could love her without being a coward. He would +take up his life where it had been changed, and live it, carrying this +bitter-sweet burden always. + +Memory, now that he admitted himself conquered, made a toy of him, +bringing the sweetness of fragrant hair, and eloquent eyes, and +clinging arms, and dewy lips. A thousand-fold harder to fight than +pain was the seductive thought that he had but to go back to Helen to +feel again the charm of her presence, to see the grace of her person, +to hear the music of her voice, to have again her lips on his. + +Jonathan knew then that his trial had but begun; that the pain and +suffering of a borderman's broken pride and conquered spirit was +nothing; that to steel his heart against the joy, the sweetness, the +longing of love was everything. + +So a tumult raged within his heart. No bitterness, nor wretchedness +stabbed him as before, but a passionate yearning, born of memory, and +unquenchable as the fires of the sun, burned there. + +Helen's reply to his pale excuses, to his duty, to his life, was that +she loved him. The wonder of it made him weak. Was not her answer +enough? "I love you!" Three words only; but they changed the world. A +beautiful girl loved him, she had kissed him, and his life could never +again be the same. She had held out her arms to him--and he, cold, +churlish, unfeeling brute, had let her shame herself, fighting for her +happiness, for the joy that is a woman's divine right. He had been +blind; he had not understood the significance of her gracious action; +he had never realized until too late, what it must have cost her, what +heartburning shame and scorn his refusal brought upon her. If she ever +looked tenderly at him again with her great eyes; or leaned toward him +with her beautiful arms outstretched, he would fall at her feet and +throw his duty to the winds, swearing his love was hers always and his +life forever. + +So love stormed in the borderman's heart. + +Slowly the melancholy Indian-summer day waned as Jonathan strode out +of the woods into a plain beyond, where he was to meet Wetzel at +sunset. A smoky haze like a purple cloud lay upon the gently waving +grass. He could not see across the stretch of prairie-land, though at +this point he knew it was hardly a mile wide. With the trilling of the +grasshoppers alone disturbing the serene quiet of this autumn +afternoon, all nature seemed in harmony with the declining season. He +stood a while, his thoughts becoming the calmer for the silence and +loneliness of this breathing meadow. + +When the shadows of the trees began to lengthen, and to steal far out +over the yellow grass, he knew the time had come, and glided out upon +the plain. He crossed it, and sat down upon a huge stone which lay +with one shelving end overhanging the river. + +Far in the west the gold-red sun, too fiery for his direct gaze, lost +the brilliance of its under circle behind the fringe of the wooded +hill. Slowly the red ball sank. When the last bright gleam had +vanished in the dark horizon Jonathan turned to search wood and plain. +Wetzel was to meet him at sunset. Even as his first glance swept +around a light step sounded behind him. He did not move, for that step +was familiar. In another moment the tall form of Wetzel stood +beside him. + +"I'm about as much behind as you was ahead of time," said Wetzel. +"We'll stay here fer the night, an' be off early in the mornin'." + +Under the shelving side of the rock, and in the shade of the thicket, +the bordermen built a little fire and roasted strips of deer-meat. +Then, puffing at their long pipes they sat for a long time in silence, +while twilight let fall a dark, gray cloak over river and plain. + +"Legget's move up the river was a blind, as I suspected," said +Wetzel, presently. "He's not far back in the woods from here, an' +seems to be waitin' fer somethin' or somebody. Brandt an' seven +redskins are with him. We'd hev a good chance at them in the mornin'; +now we've got 'em a long ways from their camp, so we'll wait, an' see +what deviltry they're up to." + +"Mebbe he's waitin' for some Injun band," suggested Jonathan. + +"Thar's redskins in the valley an' close to him; but I reckon he's +barkin' up another tree." + +"Suppose we run into some of these Injuns?" + +"We'll hev to take what comes," replied Wetzel, lying down on a bed of +leaves. + +When darkness enveloped the spot Wetzel lay wrapped in deep slumber, +while Jonathan sat against the rock, watching the last flickerings of +the camp-fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +Will and Helen hurried back along the river road. Beguiled by the soft +beauty of the autumn morning they ventured farther from the fort than +ever before, and had been suddenly brought to a realization of the +fact by a crackling in the underbrush. Instantly their minds reverted +to bears and panthers, such as they had heard invested the thickets +round the settlement. + +"Oh! Will! I saw a dark form stealing along in the woods from tree to +tree!" exclaimed Helen in a startled whisper. + +"So did I. It was an Indian, or I never saw one. Walk faster. Once +round the bend in the road we'll be within sight of the fort; then +we'll run," replied Will. He had turned pale, but maintained his +composure. + +They increased their speed, and had almost come up to the curve in the +road, marked by dense undergrowth on both sides, when the branches in +the thicket swayed violently, a sturdy little man armed with a musket +appeared from among them. + +"Avast! Heave to!" he commanded in a low, fierce voice, leveling his +weapon. "One breeze from ye, an' I let sail this broadside." + +"What do you want? We have no valuables," said Will, speaking low. + +Helen stared at the little man. She was speechless with terror. It +flashed into her mind as soon as she recognized the red, evil face of +the sailor, that he was the accomplice upon whom Brandt had told Metzar +he could rely. + +"Shut up! It's not ye I want, nor valuables, but this wench," growled +Case. He pushed Will around with the muzzle of the musket, which +action caused the young man to turn a sickly white and shrink +involuntarily with fear. The hammer of the musket was raised, and +might fall at the slightest jar. + +"For God's sake! Will, do as he says," cried Helen, who saw murder in +Case's eyes. Capture or anything was better than sacrifice of life. + +"March!" ordered Case, with the musket against Will's back. + +Will hurriedly started forward, jostling Helen, who had preceded him. +He was forced to hurry, because every few moments Case pressed the gun +to his back or side. + +Without another word the sailor marched them swiftly along the road, +which now narrowed down to a trail. His intention, no doubt, was to +put as much distance between him and the fort as was possible. No +more than a mile had been thus traversed when two Indians stepped +into view. + +"My God! My God!" cried Will as the savages proceeded first to bind +Helen's arms behind her, and then his in the same manner. After this +the journey was continued in silence, the Indians walking beside the +prisoners, and Case in the rear. + +Helen was so terrified that for a long time she could not think +coherently. It seemed as if she had walked miles, yet did not feel +tired. Always in front wound the narrow, leaf-girt trail, and to the +left the broad river gleamed at intervals through open spaces in the +thickets. Flocks of birds rose in the line of march. They seemed tame, +and uttered plaintive notes as if in sympathy. + +About noon the trail led to the river bank. One of the savages +disappeared in a copse of willows, and presently reappeared carrying a +birch-bark canoe. Case ordered Helen and Will into the boat, got in +himself, and the savages, taking stations at bow and stern, paddled +out into the stream. They shot over under the lee of an island, around +a rocky point, and across a strait to another island. Beyond this they +gained the Ohio shore, and beached the canoe. + +"Ahoy! there, cap'n," cried Case, pushing Helen up the bank before +him, and she, gazing upward, was more than amazed to see Mordaunt +leaning against a tree. + +"Mordaunt, had you anything to do with this?" cried Helen +breathlessly. + +"I had all to do with it," answered the Englishman. + +"What do you mean?" + +He did not meet her gaze, nor make reply; but turned to address a few +words in a low tone to a white man sitting on a log. + +Helen knew she had seen this person before, and doubted not he was +one of Metzar's men. She saw a rude, bark lean-to, the remains of a +camp-fire, and a pack tied in blankets. Evidently Mordaunt and his men +had tarried here awaiting such developments as had come to pass. + +"You white-faced hound!" hissed Will, beside himself with rage when he +realized the situation. Bound though he was, he leaped up and tried to +get at Mordaunt. Case knocked him on the head with the handle of his +knife. Will fell with blood streaming from a cut over the temple. + +The dastardly act aroused all Helen's fiery courage. She turned to the +Englishman with eyes ablaze. + +"So you've at last found your level. Border-outlaw! Kill me at once. +I'd rather be dead than breathe the same air with such a coward!" + +"I swore I'd have you, if not by fair means then by foul," he +answered, with dark and haggard face. + +"What do you intend to do with me now that I am tied?" she demanded +scornfully. + +"Keep you a prisoner in the woods till you consent to marry me." + +Helen laughed in scorn. Desperate as was the plight, her natural +courage had arisen at the cruel blow dealt her cousin, and she faced +the Englishman with flashing eyes and undaunted mien. She saw he was +again unsteady, and had the cough and catching breath habitual to +certain men under the influence of liquor. She turned her attention to +Will. He lay as he had fallen, with blood streaming over his pale face +and fair hair. While she gazed at him Case whipped out his long knife, +and looked up at Mordaunt. + +"Cap'n, I'd better loosen a hatch fer him," he said brutally. "He's +dead cargo fer us, an' in the way." + +He lowered the gleaming point upon Will's chest. + +"Oh-h-h!" breathed Helen in horror. She tried to close her eyes but +was so fascinated she could not. + +"Get up. I'll have no murder," ordered Mordaunt. "Leave him here." + +"He's not got a bad cut," said the man sitting on the log. "He'll come +to arter a spell, go back to ther fort, an' give an alarm." + +"What's that to me?" asked Mordaunt sharply. "We shall be safe. I +won't have him with us because some Indian or another will kill him. +It's not my purpose to murder any one." + +"Ugh!" grunted one of the savages, and pointed eastward with his hand. +"Hurry-long-way-go," he said in English. With the Indians in the lead +the party turned from the river into the forest. + +Helen looked back into the sandy glade and saw Will lying as they had +left him, unconscious, with his hands still bound tightly behind him, +and blood running over his face. Painful as was the thought of leaving +him thus, it afforded her relief. She assured herself he had not been +badly hurt, would recover consciousness before long, and, even bound +as he was, could make his way back to the settlement. + +Her own situation, now that she knew Mordaunt had instigated the +abduction, did not seem hopeless. Although dreading Brandt with +unspeakable horror, she did not in the least fear the Englishman. He +was mad to carry her off like this into the wilderness, but would +force her to do nothing. He could not keep her a prisoner long while +Jonathan Zane and Wetzel were free to take his trail. What were his +intentions? Where was he taking her? Such questions as these, however, +troubled Helen more than a little. They brought her thoughts back to +the Indians leading the way with lithe and stealthy step. How had +Mordaunt associated himself with these savages? Then, suddenly, it +dawned upon her that Brandt also might be in this scheme to carry her +off. She scouted the idea; but it returned. Perhaps Mordaunt was only +a tool; perhaps he himself was being deceived. Helen turned pale at +the very thought. She had never forgotten the strange, unreadable, yet +threatening, expression which Brandt had worn the day she had refused +to walk with him. + +Meanwhile the party made rapid progress through the forest. Not a word +was spoken, nor did any noise of rustling leaves or crackling twigs +follow their footsteps. The savage in the lead chose the open and less +difficult ground; he took advantage of glades, mossy places, and rocky +ridges. This careful choosing was, evidently, to avoid noise, and make +the trail as difficult to follow as possible. Once he stopped +suddenly, and listened. + +Helen had a good look at the savage while he was in this position. His +lean, athletic figure resembled, in its half-clothed condition, a +bronzed statue; his powerful visage was set, changeless like iron. His +dark eyes seemed to take in all points of the forest before him. + +Whatever had caused the halt was an enigma to all save his red-skinned +companion. + +The silence of the wood was the silence of the desert. No bird +chirped; no breath of wind sighed in the tree-tops; even the aspens +remained unagitated. Pale yellow leaves sailed slowly, reluctantly +down from above. + +But some faint sound, something unusual had jarred upon the +exquisitely sensitive ears of the leader, for with a meaning shake of +the head to his followers, he resumed the march in a direction at +right angles with the original course. + +This caution, and evident distrust of the forest ahead, made Helen +think again of Jonathan and Wetzel. Those great bordermen might +already be on the trail of her captors. The thought thrilled her. +Presently she realized, from another long, silent march through forest +thickets, glades, aisles, and groves, over rock-strewn ridges, and +down mossy-stoned ravines, that her strength was beginning to fail. + +"I can go no further with my arms tied in this way," she declared, +stopping suddenly. + +"Ugh!" uttered the savage before her, turning sharply. He brandished a +tomahawk before her eyes. + +Mordaunt hurriedly set free her wrists. His pale face flushed a dark, +flaming red when she shrank from his touch as if he were a viper. + +After they had traveled what seemed to Helen many miles, the vigilance +of the leaders relaxed. + +On the banks of the willow-skirted stream the Indian guide halted +them, and proceeded on alone to disappear in a green thicket. +Presently he reappeared, and motioned for them to come on. He led the +way over smooth, sandy paths between clumps of willows, into a heavy +growth of alder bushes and prickly thorns, at length to emerge upon a +beautiful grassy plot enclosed by green and yellow shrubbery. Above +the stream, which cut the edge of the glade, rose a sloping, wooded +ridge, with huge rocks projecting here and there out of the +brown forest. + +Several birch-bark huts could be seen; then two rough bearded men +lolling upon the grass, and beyond them a group of painted Indians. + +A whoop so shrill, so savage, so exultant, that it seemingly froze her +blood, rent the silence. A man, unseen before, came crashing through +the willows on the side of the ridge. He leaped the stream with the +spring of a wild horse. He was big and broad, with disheveled hair, +keen, hard face, and wild, gray eyes. + +Helen's sight almost failed her; her head whirled dizzily; it was as +if her heart had stopped beating and was become a cold, dead weight. +She recognized in this man the one whom she feared most of +all--Brandt. + +He cast one glance full at her, the same threatening, cool, and +evil-meaning look she remembered so well, and then engaged the Indian +guide in low conversation. + +Helen sank at the foot of a tree, leaning against it. Despite her +weariness she had retained some spirit until this direful revelation +broke her courage. What worse could have happened? Mordaunt had led +her, for some reason that she could not divine, into the clutches of +Brandt, into the power of Legget and his outlaws. + +But Helen was not one to remain long dispirited or hopeless. As this +plot thickened, as every added misfortune weighed upon her, when just +ready to give up to despair she remembered the bordermen. Then Colonel +Zane's tales of their fearless, implacable pursuit when bent on rescue +or revenge, recurred to her, and fortitude returned. While she had +life she would hope. + +The advent of the party with their prisoner enlivened Legget's gang. A +great giant of a man, blond-bearded, and handsome in a wild, rugged, +uncouth way, a man Helen instinctively knew to be Legget, slapped +Brandt on the shoulder. + +"Damme, Roge, if she ain't a regular little daisy! Never seed such a +purty lass in my life." + +Brandt spoke hurriedly, and Legget laughed. + +All this time Case had been sitting on the grass, saying nothing, but +with his little eyes watchful. Mordaunt stood near him, his head +bowed, his face gloomy. + +"Say, cap'n, I don't like this mess," whispered Case to his master. +"They ain't no crew fer us. I know men, fer I've sailed the seas, an' +you're goin' to get what Metz calls the double-cross." + +Mordaunt seemed to arouse from his gloomy reverie. He looked at Brandt +and Legget who were now in earnest council. Then his eyes wandered +toward Helen. She beckoned him to come to her. + +"Why did you bring me here?" she asked. + +"Brandt understood my case. He planned this thing, and seemed to be a +good friend of mine. He said if I once got you out of the settlement, +he would give me protection until I crossed the border into Canada. +There we could be married," replied Mordaunt unsteadily. + +"Then you meant marriage by me, if I could be made to consent?" + +"Of course. I'm not utterly vile," he replied, with face lowered in +shame. + +"Have you any idea what you've done?" + +"Done? I don't understand." + +"You have ruined yourself, lost your manhood, become an outlaw, a +fugitive, made yourself the worst thing on the border--a girl-thief, +and all for nothing." + +"No, I have you. You are more to me than all." + +"But can't you see? You've brought me out here for Brandt!" + +"My God!" exclaimed Mordaunt. He rose slowly to his feet and gazed +around like a man suddenly wakened from a dream. "I see it all now! +Miserable, drunken wretch that I am!" + +Helen saw his face change and lighten as if a cloud of darkness had +passed away from it. She understood that love of liquor had made him a +party to this plot. Brandt had cunningly worked upon his weakness, +proposed a daring scheme; and filled his befogged mind with hopes +that, in a moment of clear-sightedness, he would have seen to be vain +and impossible. And Helen understood also that the sudden shock of +surprise, pain, possible fury, had sobered Mordaunt, probably for the +first time in weeks. + +The Englishman's face became exceedingly pale. Seating himself on a +stone near Case, he bowed his head, remaining silent and motionless. + +The conference between Legget and Brandt lasted for some time. When it +ended the latter strode toward the motionless figure on the rock. + +"Mordaunt, you and Case will do well to follow this Indian at once to +the river, where you can strike the Fort Pitt trail," said Brandt. + +He spoke arrogantly and authoritatively. His keen, hard face, his +steely eyes, bespoke the iron will and purpose of the man. + +Mordaunt rose with cold dignity. If he had been a dupe, he was one no +longer, as could be plainly read on his calm, pale face. The old +listlessness, the unsteadiness had vanished. He wore a manner of +extreme quietude; but his eyes were like balls of blazing blue steel. + +"Mr. Brandt, I seem to have done you a service, and am no longer +required," he said in a courteous tone. + +Brandt eyed his man; but judged him wrongly. An English gentleman was +new to the border-outlaw. + +"I swore the girl should be mine," he hissed. + +"Doomed men cannot be choosers!" cried Helen, who had heard him. Her +dark eyes burned with scorn and hatred. + +All the party heard her passionate outburst. Case arose as if +unconcernedly, and stood by the side of his master. Legget and the +other two outlaws came up. The Indians turned their swarthy faces. + +"Hah! ain't she sassy?" cried Legget. + +Brandt looked at Helen, understood the meaning of her words, and +laughed. But his face paled, and involuntarily his shifty glance +sought the rocks and trees upon the ridge. + +"You played me from the first?" asked Mordaunt quietly. + +"I did," replied Brandt. + +"You meant nothing of your promise to help me across the border?" + +"No." + +"You intended to let me shift for myself out here in this wilderness?" + +"Yes, after this Indian guides you to the river-trail," said Brandt, +indicating with his finger the nearest savage. + +"I get what you frontier men call the double-cross'?" + +"That's it," replied Brandt with a hard laugh, in which Legget joined. + +A short pause ensued. + +"What will you do with the girl?" + +"That's my affair." + +"Marry her?" Mordaunt's voice was low and quiet. + +"No!" cried Brandt. "She flaunted my love in my face, scorned me! She +saw that borderman strike me, and by God! I'll get even. I'll keep her +here in the woods until I'm tired of her, and when her beauty fades +I'll turn her over to Legget." + +Scarcely had the words dropped from his vile lips when Mordaunt moved +with tigerish agility. He seized a knife from the belt of one of +the Indians. + +"Die!" he screamed. + +Brandt grasped his tomahawk. At the same instant the man who had acted +as Mordaunt's guide grasped the Englishman from behind. + +Brandt struck ineffectually at the struggling man. + +"Fair play!" roared Case, leaping at Mordaunt's second assailant. His +long knife sheathed its glittering length in the man's breast. Without +even a groan he dropped. "Clear the decks!" Case yelled, sweeping +round in a circle. All fell back before that whirling knife. + +Several of the Indians started as if to raise their rifles; but +Legget's stern command caused them to desist. + +The Englishman and the outlaw now engaged in a fearful encounter. The +practiced, rugged, frontier desperado apparently had found his match +in this pale-faced, slender man. His border skill with the hatchet +seemed offset by Mordaunt's terrible rage. Brandt whirled and swung +the weapon as he leaped around his antagonist. With his left arm the +Englishman sought only to protect his head, while with his right he +brandished the knife. Whirling here and there they struggled across +the cleared space, plunging out of sight among the willows. During a +moment there was a sound as of breaking branches; then a dull blow, +horrible to hear, followed by a low moan, and then deep silence. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A black weight was seemingly lifted from Helen's weary eyelids. The +sun shone; the golden forest surrounded her; the brook babbled +merrily; but where were the struggling, panting men? She noticed +presently, when her vision had grown more clear, that the scene +differed entirely from the willow-glade where she had closed her eyes +upon the fight. Then came the knowledge that she had fainted, and, +during the time of unconsciousness, been moved. + +She lay upon a mossy mound a few feet higher than a swiftly running +brook. A magnificent chestnut tree spread its leafy branches above +her. Directly opposite, about an hundred feet away, loomed a gray, +ragged, moss-stained cliff. She noted this particularly because the +dense forest encroaching to its very edge excited her admiration. Such +wonderful coloring seemed unreal. Dead gold and bright red foliage +flamed everywhere. + +Two Indians stood near by silent, immovable. No other of Legget's band +was visible. Helen watched the red men. + +Sinewy, muscular warriors they were, with bodies partially painted, +and long, straight hair, black as burnt wood, interwoven with bits of +white bone, and plaited around waving eagle plumes. At first glance +their dark faces and dark eyes were expressive of craft, cunning, +cruelty, courage, all attributes of the savage. + +Yet wild as these savages appeared, Helen did not fear them as she did +the outlaws. Brandt's eyes, and Legget's, too, when turned on her, +emitted a flame that seemed to scorch and shrivel her soul. When the +savages met her gaze, which was but seldom, she imagined she saw +intelligence, even pity, in their dusky eyes. Certain it was she did +not shrink from them as from Brandt. + +Suddenly, with a sensation of relief and joy, she remembered +Mordaunt's terrible onslaught upon Brandt. Although she could not +recollect the termination of that furious struggle, she did recall +Brandt's scream of mortal agony, and the death of the other at Case's +hands. This meant, whether Brandt was dead or not, that the fighting +strength of her captors had been diminished. Surely as the sun had +risen that morning, Helen believed Jonathan and Wetzel lurked on the +trail of these renegades. She prayed that her courage, hope, strength, +might be continued. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed one of the savages, pointing across the open space. +A slight swaying of the bushes told that some living thing was moving +among them, and an instant later the huge frame of the leader came +into view. The other outlaw, and Case, followed closely. Farther down +the margin of the thicket the Indians appeared; but without the +slightest noise or disturbance of the shrubbery. + +It required but a glance to show Helen that Case was in high spirits. +His repulsive face glowed with satisfaction. He carried a bundle, +which Helen saw, with a sickening sense of horror, was made up of +Mordaunt's clothing. Brandt had killed the Englishman. Legget also had +a package under his arm, which he threw down when he reached the +chestnut tree, to draw from his pocket a long, leather belt, such as +travelers use for the carrying of valuables. It was evidently heavy, +and the musical clink which accompanied his motion proclaimed the +contents to be gold. + +Brandt appeared next; he was white and held his hand to his breast. +There were dark stains on his hunting coat, which he removed to expose +a shirt blotched with red. + +"You ain't much hurt, I reckon?" inquired Legget solicitously. + +"No; but I'm bleeding bad," replied Brandt coolly. He then called an +Indian and went among the willows skirting the stream. + +"So I'm to be in this border crew?" asked Case, looking up at Legget. + +"Sure," replied the big outlaw. "You're a handy fellar, Case, an' +after I break you into border ways you will fit in here tip-top. Now +you'd better stick by me. When Eb Zane, his brother Jack, an' Wetzel +find out this here day's work, hell will be a cool place compared with +their whereabouts. You'll be safe with me, an' this is the only place +on the border, I reckon, where you can say your life is your own." + +"I'm yer mate, cap'n. I've sailed with soldiers, pirates, sailors, an' +I guess I can navigate this borderland. Do we mess here? You didn't +come far." + +"Wal, I ain't pertikuler, but I don't like eatin' with buzzards," said +Legget, with a grin. "Thet's why we moved a bit." + +"What's buzzards?" + +"Ho! ho! Mebbe you'll hev 'em closer'n you'd like, some day, if you'd +only know it. Buzzards are fine birds, most particular birds, as won't +eat nothin' but flesh, an' white man or Injun is pie fer 'em." + +"Cap'n, I've seed birds as wouldn't wait till a man was dead," said +Case. + +"Haw! haw! you can't come no sailor yarns on this fellar. Wal, now, +we've got ther Englishman's gold. One or t'other of us might jest as +well hev it all." + +"Right yer are, cap'n. Dice, cards, anyways, so long as I knows the +game." + +"Here, Jenks, hand over yer clickers, an' bring us a flat stone," said +Legget, sitting on the moss and emptying the belt in front of him. +Case took a small bag from the dark blue jacket that had so lately +covered Mordaunt's shoulders, and poured out its bright contents. + +"This coat ain't worth keepin'," he said, holding it up. The garment +was rent and slashed, and under the left sleeve was a small, +blood-stained hole where one of Brandt's blows had fallen. "Hullo, +what's this?" muttered the sailor, feeling in the pocket of the +jacket. "Blast my timbers, hooray!" + +He held up a small, silver-mounted whiskey flask, unscrewed the lid, +and lifted the vessel to his mouth. + +"I'm kinder thirsty myself," suggested Legget. + +"Cap'n, a nip an' no more," Case replied, holding the flask to +Legget's lips. + +The outlaw called Jenks now returned with a flat stone which he placed +between the two men. The Indians gathered around. With greedy eyes +they bent their heads over the gamblers, and watched every movement +with breathless interest. At each click of the dice, or clink of gold, +they uttered deep exclamations. + +"Luck's again' ye, cap'n," said Case, skilfully shaking the ivory +cubes. + +"Hain't I got eyes?" growled the outlaw. + +Steadily his pile of gold diminished, and darker grew his face. + +"Cap'n, I'm a bad wind to draw," Case rejoined, drinking again from +the flask. His naturally red face had become livid, his skin moist, +and his eyes wild with excitement. + +"Hullo! If them dice wasn't Jenks's, an' I hadn't played afore with +him, I'd swear they's loaded." + +"You ain't insinuatin' nothin', cap'n?" inquired Case softly, +hesitating with the dice in his hands, his evil eyes glinting +at Legget. + +"No, you're fair enough," growled the leader. "It's my tough luck." + +The game progressed with infrequent runs of fortune for the outlaw, +and presently every piece of gold lay in a shining heap before +the sailor. + +"Clean busted!" exclaimed Legget in disgust. + +"Can't you find nothin' more?" asked Case. + +The outlaw's bold eyes wandered here and there until they rested upon +the prisoner. + +"I'll play ther lass against yer pile of gold," he growled. "Best two +throws out 'en three. See here, she's as much mine as Brandt's." + +"Make it half my pile an' I'll go you." + +"Nary time. Bet, or give me back what yer win," replied Legget +gruffly. + +"She's a trim little craft, no mistake," said Case, critically +surveying Helen. "All right, cap'n, I've sportin' blood, an' I'll bet. +Yer throw first." + +Legget won the first cast, and Case the second. With deliberation the +outlaw shook the dice in his huge fist, and rattled them out upon the +stone. "Hah!" he cried in delight. He had come within one of the +highest score possible. Case nonchalantly flipped the little white +blocks. The Indians crowded forward, their dusky eyes shining. + +Legget swore in a terrible voice which re-echoed from the stony cliff. +The sailor was victorious. The outlaw got up, kicked the stone and +dice in the brook, and walked away from the group. He strode to and +fro under one of the trees. Gruffly he gave an order to the Indians. +Several of them began at once to kindle a fire. Presently he called +Jenks, who was fishing the dice out of the brook, and began to +converse earnestly with him, making fierce gestures and casting +lowering glances at the sailor. + +Case was too drunk now to see that he had incurred the enmity of the +outlaw leader. He drank the last of the rum, and tossed the silver +flask to an Indian, who received the present with every show +of delight. + +Case then, with the slow, uncertain movements of a man whose mind is +befogged, began to count his gold; but only to gather up a few pieces +when they slipped out of his trembling hands to roll on the moss. +Laboriously, seriously, he kept at it with the doggedness of a drunken +man. Apparently he had forgotten the others. Failing to learn the +value of the coins by taking up each in turn, he arranged them in +several piles, and began to estimate his wealth in sections. + +In the meanwhile Helen, who had not failed to take in the slightest +detail of what was going on, saw that a plot was hatching which boded +ill to the sailor. Moreover, she heard Legget and Jenks whispering. + +"I kin take him from right here 'atwixt his eyes," said Jenks softly, +and tapped his rifle significantly. + +"Wal, go ahead, only I ruther hev it done quieter," answered Legget. +"We're yet a long ways, near thirty miles, from my camp, an' there's +no tellin' who's in ther woods. But we've got ter git rid of ther +fresh sailor, an' there's no surer way." + +Cautiously cocking his rifle, Jenks deliberately raised it to his +shoulder. One of the Indian sentinels who stood near at hand, sprang +forward and struck up the weapon. He spoke a single word to Legget, +pointed to the woods above the cliff, and then resumed his +statue-like attitude. + +"I told yer, Jenks, that it wouldn't do. The redskin scents somethin' +in the woods, an' ther's an Injun I never seed fooled. We mustn't make +a noise. Take yer knife an' tomahawk, crawl down below the edge o' the +bank an' slip up on him. I'll give half ther gold fer ther job." + +Jenks buckled his belt more tightly, gave one threatening glance at +the sailor, and slipped over the bank. The bed of the brook lay about +six feet below the level of the ground. This afforded an opportunity +for the outlaw to get behind Case without being observed. A moment +passed. Jenks disappeared round a bend of the stream. Presently his +grizzled head appeared above the bank. He was immediately behind the +sailor; but still some thirty feet away. This ground must be covered +quickly and noiselessly. The outlaw began to crawl. In his right hand +he grasped a tomahawk, and between his teeth was a long knife. He +looked like a huge, yellow bear. + +The savages, with the exception of the sentinel who seemed absorbed in +the dense thicket on the cliff, sat with their knees between their +hands, watching the impending tragedy. + +Nothing but the merest chance, or some extraordinary intervention, +could avert Case's doom. He was gloating over his gold. The creeping +outlaw made no more noise than a snake. Nearer and nearer he came; his +sweaty face shining in the sun; his eyes tigerish; his long body +slipping silently over the grass. At length he was within five feet of +the sailor. His knotty hands were dug into the sward as he gathered +energy for a sudden spring. + +At that very moment Case, with his hand on his knife, rose quickly and +turned round. + +The outlaw, discovered in the act of leaping, had no alternative, and +spring he did, like a panther. + +The little sailor stepped out of line with remarkable quickness, and +as the yellow body whirled past him, his knife flashed blue-bright in +the sunshine. + +Jenks fell forward, his knife buried in the grass beneath him, and his +outstretched hand still holding the tomahawk. + +"Tryin' ter double-cross me fer my gold," muttered the sailor, +sheathing his weapon. He never looked to see whether or no his blow +had been fatal. "These border fellars might think a man as sails the +seas can't handle a knife." He calmly began gathering up his gold, +evidently indifferent to further attack. + +Helen saw Legget raise his own rifle, but only to have it struck aside +as had Jenks's. This time the savage whispered earnestly to Legget, +who called the other Indians around him. The sentinel's low throaty +tones mingled with the soft babbling of the stream. No sooner had he +ceased speaking than the effect of his words showed how serious had +been the information, warning or advice. The Indians cast furtive +glances toward the woods. Two of them melted like shadows into the red +and gold thicket. Another stealthily slipped from tree to tree until +he reached the open ground, then dropped into the grass, and was seen +no more until his dark body rose under the cliff. He stole along the +green-stained wall, climbed a rugged corner, and vanished amid the +dense foliage. + +Helen felt that she was almost past discernment or thought. The events +of the day succeeding one another so swiftly, and fraught with panic, +had, despite her hope and fortitude, reduced her to a helpless +condition of piteous fear. She understood that the savages scented +danger, or had, in their mysterious way, received intelligence such as +rendered them wary and watchful. + +"Come on, now, an' make no noise," said Legget to Case. "Bring the +girl, an' see that she steps light." + +"Ay, ay, cap'n," replied the sailor. "Where's Brandt?" + +"He'll be comin' soon's his cut stops bleedin'. I reckon he's weak +yet." + +Case gathered up his goods, and, tucking it under his arm, grasped +Helen's arm. She was leaning against the tree, and when he pulled her, +she wrenched herself free, rising with difficulty. His disgusting +touch and revolting face had revived her sensibilities. + +"Yer kin begin duty by carryin' thet," said Case, thrusting the +package into Helen's arms. She let it drop without moving a hand. + +"I'm runnin' this ship. Yer belong to me," hissed Case, and then he +struck her on the head. Helen uttered a low cry of distress, and half +staggered against the tree. The sailor picked up the package. This +time she took it, trembling with horror. + +"Thet's right. Now, give ther cap'n a kiss," he leered, and jostled +against her. + +Helen pushed him violently. With agonized eyes she appealed to the +Indians. They were engaged tying up their packs. Legget looked on with +a lazy grin. + +"Oh! oh!" breathed Helen as Case seized her again. She tried to +scream, but could not make a sound. The evil eyes, the beastly face, +transfixed her with terror. + +Case struck her twice, then roughly pulled her toward him. + +Half-fainting, unable to move, Helen gazed at the heated, bloated face +approaching hers. + +When his coarse lips were within a few inches of her lips something +hot hissed across her brow. Following so closely as to be an +accompaniment, rang out with singular clearness the sharp crack of +a rifle. + +Case's face changed. The hot, surging flush faded; the expression +became shaded, dulled into vacant emptiness; his eyes rolled wildly, +then remained fixed, with a look of dark surprise. He stood upright an +instant, swayed with the regular poise of a falling oak, and then +plunged backward to the ground. His face, ghastly and livid, took on +the awful calm of death. + +A very small hole, reddish-blue round the edges, dotted the center of +his temple. + +Legget stared aghast at the dead sailor; then he possessed himself of +the bag of gold. + +"Saved me ther trouble," he muttered, giving Case a kick. + +The Indians glanced at the little figure, then out into the flaming +thickets. Each savage sprang behind a tree with incredible quickness. +Legget saw this, and grasping Helen, he quickly led her within cover +of the chestnut. + +Brandt appeared with his Indian companion, and both leaped to shelter +behind a clump of birches near where Legget stood. Brandt's hawk eyes +flashed upon the dead Jenks and Case. Without asking a question he +seemed to take in the situation. He stepped over and grasped Helen +by the arm. + +"Who killed Case?" he asked in a whisper, staring at the little blue +hole in the sailor's temple. + +No one answered. + +The two Indians who had gone into the woods to the right of the +stream, now returned. Hardly were they under the trees with their +party, when the savage who had gone off alone arose out of the grass +in the left of the brook, took it with a flying leap, and darted into +their midst. He was the sentinel who had knocked up the weapons, +thereby saving Case's life twice. He was lithe and supple, but not +young. His grave, shadowy-lined, iron visage showed the traces of time +and experience. All gazed at him as at one whose wisdom was greater +than theirs. + +"Old Horse," said Brandt in English. "Haven't I seen bullet holes like +this?" + +The Chippewa bent over Case, and then slowly straightened his tall +form. + +"_Deathwind!_" he replied, answering in the white man's language. + +His Indian companions uttered low, plaintive murmurs, not signifying +fear so much as respect. + +Brandt turned as pale as the clean birch-bark on the tree near him. +The gray flare of his eyes gave out a terrible light of certainty +and terror. + +"Legget, you needn't try to hide your trail," he hissed, and it +seemed as if there was a bitter, reckless pleasure in these words. + +Then the Chippewa glided into the low bushes bordering the creek. +Legget followed him, with Brandt leading Helen, and the other Indians +brought up the rear, each one sending wild, savage glances into the +dark, surrounding forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A dense white fog rose from the river, obscuring all objects, when the +bordermen rolled out of their snug bed of leaves. The air was cool and +bracing, faintly fragrant with dying foliage and the damp, dewy +luxuriance of the ripened season. Wetzel pulled from under the +protecting ledge a bundle of bark and sticks he had put there to keep +dry, and built a fire, while Jonathan fashioned a cup from a green +fruit resembling a gourd, filling it at a spring near by. + +"Lew, there's a frosty nip in the water this mornin'," said Jonathan. + +"I reckon. It's gettin' along into fall now. Any clear, still night'll +fetch all the leaves, an' strip the trees bare as burned timber," +answered Wetzel, brushing the ashes off the strip of meat he had +roasted. "Get a stick, an' help me cook the rest of this chunk of +bison. The sun'll be an hour breakin' up thet mist, an' we can't clear +out till then. Mebbe we won't have no chance to light another +fire soon." + +With these bordermen everything pertaining to their lonely lives, from +the lighting of a fire to the trailing of a redskin, was singularly +serious. No gladsome song ever came from their lips; there was no +jollity around their camp-fire. Hunters had their moments of rapturous +delight; bordermen knew the peace, the content of the wilderness, but +their pursuits racked nerve and heart. Wetzel had his moments of +frenzied joy, but they passed with the echo of his vengeful yell. +Jonathan's happiness, such as it was, had been to roam the forests. +That, before a woman's eyes had dispelled it, had been enough, and +compensated him for the gloomy, bloody phantoms which haunted him. + +The bordermen, having partaken of the frugal breakfast, stowed in +their spacious pockets all the meat that was left, and were ready for +the day's march. They sat silent for a time waiting for the mist to +lift. It broke in places, rolled in huge billows, sailed aloft like +great white clouds, and again hung tenaciously to the river and the +plain. Away in the west blue patches of sky shone through the rifts, +and eastward banks of misty vapor reddened beneath the rising sun. +Suddenly from beneath the silver edge of the rising pall the sun burst +gleaming gold, disclosing the winding valley with its steaming river. + +"We'll make up stream fer Two Islands, an' cross there if so be we've +reason," Wetzel had said. + +Through the dewy dells, avoiding the wet grass and bushes, along the +dark, damp glades with their yellow carpets, under the thinning arches +of the trees, down the gentle slopes of the ridges, rich with green +moss, the bordermen glided like gray shadows. The forest was yet +asleep. A squirrel frisked up an oak and barked quarrelsomely at these +strange, noiseless visitors. A crow cawed from somewhere overhead. +These were the only sounds disturbing the quiet early hour. + +As the bordermen advanced the woods lightened and awoke to life and +joy. Birds sang, trilled, warbled, or whistled their plaintive songs, +peculiar to the dying season, and in harmony with the glory of the +earth. Birds that in earlier seasons would have screeched and fought, +now sang and fluttered side by side, in fraternal parade on their slow +pilgrimage to the far south. + +"Bad time fer us, when the birds are so tame, an' chipper. We can't +put faith in them these days," said Wetzel. "Seems like they never was +wild. I can tell, 'cept at this season, by the way they whistle an' +act in the woods, if there's been any Injuns along the trails." + +The greater part of the morning passed thus with the bordermen +steadily traversing the forest; here, through a spare and gloomy wood, +blasted by fire, worn by age, with many a dethroned monarch of bygone +times rotting to punk and duff under the ferns, with many a dark, +seamed and ragged king still standing, but gray and bald of head and +almost ready to take his place in the forest of the past; there, +through a maze of young saplings where each ash, maple, hickory and +oak added some new and beautiful hue to the riot of color. + +"I just had a glimpse of the lower island, as we passed an opening in +the thicket," said Jonathan. + +"We ain't far away," replied Wetzel. + +The bordermen walked less rapidly in order to proceed with more +watchfulness. Every rod or two they stopped to listen. + +"You think Legget's across the river?" asked Jonathan. + +"He was two days back, an' had his gang with him. He's up to some bad +work, but I can't make out what. One thing, I never seen his trail so +near Fort Henry." + +They emerged at length into a more open forest which skirted the +river. At a point still some distance ahead, but plainly in sight, two +small islands rose out of the water. + +"Hist! What's that?" whispered Wetzel, slipping his hand in Jonathan's +arm. + +A hundred yards beyond lay a long, dark figure stretched at full +length under one of the trees close to the bank. + +"Looks like a man," said Jonathan. + +"You've hit the mark. Take a good peep roun' now, Jack, fer we're +comin' somewhere near the trail we want." + +Minutes passed while the patient bordermen searched the forest with +their eyes, seeking out every tree within rifle range, or surveyed the +level glades, scrutinized the hollows, and bent piercing eyes upon the +patches of ferns. + +"If there's a redskin around he ain't big enough to hold a gun," said +Wetzel, moving forward again, yet still with that same stealthy step +and keen caution. + +Finally they were gazing down upon the object which had attracted +Wetzel's attention. + +"Will Sheppard!" cried Jonathan. "Is he dead? What's this mean?" + +Wetzel leaned over the prostrate lad, and then quickly turned to his +companion. + +"Get some water. Take his cap. No, he ain't even hurt bad, unless he's +got some wound as don't show." + +Jonathan returned with the water, and Wetzel bathed the bloody face. +When the gash on Will's forehead was clean, it told the +bordermen much. + +"Not an hour old, that blow," muttered Wetzel. + +"He's comin' to," said Jonathan as Will stirred uneasily and moaned. +Presently the lad opened his eyes and sat bolt upright. He looked +bewildered for a moment, and felt of his head while gazing vaguely at +the bordermen. Suddenly he cried: + +"I remember! We were captured, brought here, and I was struck down by +that villain Case." + +"We? Who was with you?" asked Jonathan slowly. + +"Helen. We came after flowers and leaves. While in full sight of the +fort I saw an Indian. We hurried back," he cried, and proceeded with +broken, panting voice to tell his story. + +Jonathan Zane leaped to his feet with face deathly white and eyes +blue-black, like burning stars. + +"Jack, study the trail while I get the lad acrost the river, an' +steered fer home," said Wetzel, and then he asked Will if he +could swim. + +"Yes; but you will find a canoe there in those willows." + +"Come, lad, we've no time to spare," added Wetzel, sliding down the +bank and entering the willows. He came out almost immediately with the +canoe which he launched. + +Will turned that he might make a parting appeal to Jonathan to save +Helen; but could not speak. The expression on the borderman's face +frightened him. + +Motionless and erect Jonathan stood, his arms folded and his white, +stern face distorted with the agony of remorse, fear, and anguish, +which, even as Will gazed, froze into an awful, deadly look of +fateful purpose. + +Wetzel pushed the canoe off, and paddled with powerful strokes; he +left Will on the opposite bank, and returned as swiftly as he could +propel the light craft. + +The bordermen met each other's glance, and had little need of words. +Wetzel's great shoulders began to sag slightly, and his head lowered +as his eyes sought the grass; a dark and gloomy shade overcast his +features. Thus he passed from borderman to Deathwind. The sough of the +wind overhead among the almost naked branches might well have warned +Indians and renegades that Deathwind was on the trail! + +"Brandt's had a hand in this, an' the Englishman's a fool!" said +Wetzel. + +"An hour ahead; can we come up with them before they join Brandt an' +Legget?" + +"We can try, but like as not we'll fail. Legget's gang is thirteen +strong by now. I said it! Somethin' told me--a hard trail, a long +trail, an' our last trail." + +"It's over thirty miles to Legget's camp. We know the woods, an' every +stream, an' every cover," hissed Jonathan Zane. + +With no further words Wetzel took the trail on the run, and so plain +was it to his keen eyes that he did not relax his steady lope except +to stop and listen at regular intervals. Jonathan followed with easy +swing. Through forest and meadow, over hill and valley, they ran, +fleet and tireless. Once, with unerring instinct, they abruptly left +the broad trail and cut far across a wide and rugged ridge to come +again upon the tracks of the marching band. Then, in open country they +reduced their speed to a walk. Ahead, in a narrow valley, rose a +thicket of willows, yellow in the sunlight, and impenetrable to human +vision. Like huge snakes the bordermen crept into this copse, over the +sand, under the low branches, hard on the trail. Finally, in a light, +open space, where the sun shone through a network of yellow branches +and foliage, Wetzel's hand was laid upon Jonathan's shoulder. + +"Listen! Hear that!" he whispered. + +Jonathan heard the flapping of wings, and a low, hissing sound, not +unlike that made by a goose. + +"Buzzards!" he said, with a dark, grim smile. "Mebbe Brandt has begun +our work. Come." + +Out into the open they crawled to put to flight a flock of huge black +birds with grisly, naked necks, hooked beaks, and long, yellow claws. +Upon the green grass lay three half-naked men, ghastly, bloody, in +terribly limp and lifeless positions. + +"Metzar's man Smith, Jenks, the outlaw, and Mordaunt!" + +Jonathan Zane gazed darkly into the steely, sightless eyes of the +traitor. Death's awful calm had set the expression; but the man's +whole life was there, its better part sadly shining forth among the +cruel shadows. + +His body was mutilated in a frightful manner. Cuts, stabs, and slashes +told the tale of a long encounter, brought to an end by one +clean stroke. + +"Come here, Lew. You've seen men chopped up; but look at this dead +Englishman," called Zane. + +Mordaunt lay weltering in a crimson tide. Strangely though, his face +was uninjured. A black bruise showed under his fair hair. The ghost of +a smile seemed to hover around his set lips, yet almost intangible +though it was, it showed that at last he had died a man. His left +shoulder, side and arm showed where the brunt of Brandt's attack +had fallen. + +"How'd he ever fight so?" mused Jonathan. + +"You never can tell," replied Wetzel. "Mebbe he killed this other +fellar, too; but I reckon not. Come, we must go slow now, fer Legget +is near at hand." + +Jonathan brought huge, flat stones from the brook, and laid them over +Mordaunt; then, cautiously he left the glade on Wetzel's trail. + +Five hundred yards farther on Wetzel had ceased following the outlaw's +tracks to cross the creek and climb a ridge. He was beginning his +favorite trick of making a wide detour. Jonathan hurried forward, +feeling he was safe from observation. Soon he distinguished the tall, +brown figure of his comrade gliding ahead from tree to tree, from +bush to bush. + +"See them maples an' chestnuts down thar," said Wetzel when Jonathan +had come up, pointing through an opening in the foliage. "They've +stopped fer some reason." + +On through the forest the bordermen glided. They kept near the summit +of the ridge, under the best cover they could find, and passed swiftly +over this half-circle. When beginning once more to draw toward the +open grove in the valley, they saw a long, irregular cliff, densely +wooded. They swerved a little, and made for this excellent covert. + +They crawled the last hundred yards and never shook a fern, moved a +leaf, or broke a twig. Having reached the brink of the low precipice, +they saw the grassy meadow below, the straggling trees, the brook, the +group of Indians crowding round the white men. + +"See that point of rock thar? It's better cover," whispered Wetzel. + +Patiently, with no hurry or excitement, they slowly made their +difficult way among the rocks and ferns to the vantage point desired. +Taking a position like this was one the bordermen strongly favored. +They could see everywhere in front, and had the thick woods at +their backs. + +"What are they up to?" whispered Jonathan, as he and Wetzel lay close +together under a mass of grapevine still tenacious of its +broad leaves. + +"Dicin'," answered Wetzel. "I can see 'em throw; anyways, nothin' but +bettin' ever makes redskins act like that." + +"Who's playin'? Where's Brandt?" + +"I can make out Legget; see his shaggy head. The other must be Case. +Brandt ain't in sight. Nursin' a hurt perhaps. Ah! See thar! Over +under the big tree as stands dark-like agin the thicket. Thet's an +Injun, an' he looks too quiet an' keen to suit me. We'll have a +care of him." + +"Must be playin' fer Mordaunt's gold." + +"Like as not, for where'd them ruffians get any 'cept they stole it." + +"Aha! They're gettin' up! See Legget walk away shakin' his big head. +He's mad. Mebbe he'll be madder presently," growled Jonathan. + +"Case's left alone. He's countin' his winnin's. Jack, look out fer +more work took off our hands." + +"By gum! See that Injun knock up a leveled rifle." + +"I told you, an' thet redskin has his suspicions. He's seen us down +along ther ridge. There's Helen, sittin' behind the biggest tree. Thet +Injun guard, 'afore he moved, kept us from seein' her." + +Jonathan made no answer to this; but his breath literally hissed +through his clenched teeth. + +"Thar goes the other outlaw," whispered Wetzel, as if his comrade +could not see. "It's all up with Case. See the sneak bendin' down the +bank. Now, thet's a poor way. It'd better be done from the front, +walkin' up natural-like, instead of tryin' to cover thet wide stretch. +Case'll see him or hear him sure. Thar, he's up now, an' crawlin'. +He's too slow, too slow. Aha! I knew it--Case turns. Look at the +outlaw spring! Well, did you see thet little cuss whip his knife? One +more less fer us to quiet. Thet makes four, Jack, an' mebbe, soon, +it'll be five." + +"They're holdin' a council," said Jonathan. + +"I see two Injuns sneakin' off into the woods, an' here comes thet +guard. He's a keen redskin, Jack, fer we did come light through the +brush. Mebbe it'd be well to stop his scoutin'." + +"Lew, that villain Case is bullyin' Helen!" cried Jonathan. + +"Sh-sh-h," whispered Wetzel. + +"See! He's pulled her to her feet. Oh! He struck her! Oh!" + +Jonathan leveled his rifle and would have fired, but for the iron +grasp on his wrist. + +"Hev you lost yer senses? It's full two hundred paces, an' too far fer +your piece," said Wetzel in a whisper. "An' it ain't sense to try +from here." + +"Lend me your gun! Lend me your gun!" + +Silently Wetzel handed him the long, black rifle. + +Jonathan raised it, but trembled so violently that the barrel wavered +like a leaf in the breeze, + +"Take it, I can't cover him," groaned Jonathan. "This is new to me. I +ain't myself. God! Lew, he struck her again! _Again!_ He's tryin' to +kiss her! Wetzel, if you're my friend, kill him!" + +"Jack, it'd be better to wait, an'----" + +"I love her," breathed Jonathan. + +The long, black barrel swept up to a level and stopped. White smoke +belched from among the green leaves; the report rang throughout +the forest. + +"Ah! I saw him stop an' pause," hissed Jonathan. "He stands, he sways, +he falls! Death for yours, you sailor-beast!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +The bordermen watched Legget and his band disappear into the thicket +adjoining the grove. When the last dark, lithe form glided out of +sight among the yellowing copse, Jonathan leaped from the low cliff, +and had hardly reached the ground before Wetzel dashed down to the +grassy turf. + +Again they followed the outlaw's trail darker-faced, fiercer-visaged +than ever, with cocked, tightly-gripped rifles thrust well before +them, and light feet that scarcely brushed the leaves. + +Wetzel halted after a long tramp up and down the ridges, and surveyed +with keen intent the lay of the land ahead. + +"Sooner or later we'll hear from that redskin as discovered us a ways +back," whispered he. "I wish we might get a crack at him afore he +hinders us bad. I ain't seen many keener Injuns. It's lucky we fixed +ther arrow-shootin' Shawnee. We'd never hev beat thet combination. An' +fer all of thet I'm worrin' some about the goin' ahead." + +"Ambush?" Jonathan asked. + +"Like as not. Legget'll send thet Injun back, an' mebbe more'n him. +Jack, see them little footprints? They're Helen's. Look how she's +draggin' along. Almost tuckered out. Legget can't travel many more +miles to-day. He'll make a stand somewheres, an' lose all his redskins +afore he gives up the lass." + +"I'll never live through to-night with her in that gang. She'll be +saved, or dead, before the stars pale in the light of the moon." + +"I reckon we're nigh the end for some of us. It'll be moonlight an +hour arter dusk, an' now it's only the middle of the arternoon; we've +time enough fer anythin'. Now, Jack, let's not tackle the trail +straight. We'll split, an' go round to head 'em off. See thet dead +white oak standin' high over thar?" + +Jonathan looked out between the spreading branches of a beech, and +saw, far over a low meadow, luxuriant with grasses and rushes and +bright with sparkling ponds and streams, a dense wood out of which +towered a bare, bleached tree-top. + +"You slip around along the right side of this meader, an' I'll take +the left side. Go slow, an' hev yer eyes open. We'll meet under thet +big dead tree. I allow we can see it from anywhere around. We'll leave +the trail here, an' take it up farther on. Legget's goin' straight +for his camp; he ain't losin' an inch. He wants to get in that rocky +hole of his'n." + +Wetzel stepped off the trail, glided into the woods, and vanished. + +Jonathan turned to the right, traversed the summit of the ridge, +softly traveled down its slope, and, after crossing a slow, eddying, +quiet stream, gained the edge of the forest on that side of the swamp. +A fringe of briars and prickly thorns bordered this wood affording an +excellent cover. On the right the land rose rather abruptly. He saw +that by walking up a few paces he could command a view of the entire +swamp, as well as the ridge beyond, which contained Wetzel, and, +probably, the outlaw and his band. + +Remembering his comrade's admonition, Jonathan curbed his unusual +impatience and moved slowly. The wind swayed the tree-tops, and +rustled the fallen leaves. Birds sang as if thinking the warm, soft +weather was summer come again. Squirrels dropped heavy nuts that +cracked on the limbs, or fell with a thud to the ground, and they +scampered over the dry earth, scratching up the leaves as they barked +and scolded. Crows cawed clamorously after a hawk that had darted +under the tree-tops to escape them; deer loped swiftly up the hill, +and a lordly elk rose from a wallow in the grassy swamp, crashing into +the thicket. + +When two-thirds around this oval plain, which was a mile long and +perhaps one-fourth as wide, Jonathan ascended the hill to make a +survey. The grass waved bright brown and golden in the sunshine, +swished in the wind, and swept like a choppy sea to the opposite +ridge. The hill was not densely wooded. In many places the red-brown +foliage opened upon irregular patches, some black, as if having been +burned over, others showing the yellow and purple colors of the low +thickets and the gray, barren stones. + +Suddenly Jonathan saw something darken one of these sunlit plots. It +might have been a deer. He studied the rolling, rounded tree-tops, the +narrow strips between the black trunks, and the open places that were +clear in the sunshine. He had nearly come to believe he had seen a +small animal or bird flit across the white of the sky far in the +background, when he distinctly saw dark figures stealing along past a +green-gray rock, only to disappear under colored banks of foliage. +Presently, lower down, they reappeared and crossed an open patch of +yellow fern. Jonathan counted them. Two were rather yellow in color, +the hue of buckskin; another, slight of stature as compared with the +first, and light gray by contrast. Then six black, slender, gliding +forms crossed the space. Jonathan then lost sight of them, and did not +get another glimpse. He knew them to be Legget and his band. The +slight figure was Helen. + +Jonathan broke into a run, completed the circle around the swamp, and +slowed into a walk when approaching the big dead tree where he was to +wait for Wetzel. + +Several rods beyond the lowland he came to a wood of white oaks, all +giants rugged and old, with scarcely a sapling intermingled with them. +Although he could not see the objective point, he knew from his +accurate sense of distance that he was near it. As he entered the wood +he swept its whole length and width with his eyes, he darted forward +twenty paces to halt suddenly behind a tree. He knew full well that a +sharply moving object was more difficult to see in the woods, than one +stationary. Again he ran, fleet and light, a few paces ahead to take +up a position as before behind a tree. Thus he traversed the forest. +On the other side he found the dead oak of which Wetzel had spoken. + +Its trunk was hollow. Jonathan squeezed himself into the blackened +space, with his head in a favorable position behind a projecting knot, +where he could see what might occur near at hand. + +He waited for what seemed to him a long while, during which he neither +saw nor heard anything, and then, suddenly, the report of a rifle rang +out. A single, piercing scream followed. Hardly had the echo ceased +when three hollow reports, distinctly different in tone from the +first, could be heard from the same direction. In quick succession +short, fierce yells attended rather than succeeded, the reports. + +Jonathan stepped out of the hiding-place, cocked his rifle, and fixed +a sharp eye on the ridge before him whence those startling cries had +come. The first rifle-shot, unlike any other in its short, spiteful, +stinging quality, was unmistakably Wetzel's. Zane had heard it, +followed many times, as now, by the wild death-cry of a savage. The +other reports were of Indian guns, and the yells were the clamoring, +exultant cries of Indians in pursuit. + +Far down where the open forest met the gloom of the thickets, a brown +figure flashed across the yellow ground. Darting among the trees, +across the glades, it moved so swiftly that Jonathan knew it was +Wetzel. In another instant a chorus of yelps resounded from the +foliage, and three savages burst through the thicket almost at right +angles with the fleeing borderman, running to intercept him. The +borderman did not swerve from his course; but came on straight toward +the dead tree, with the wonderful fleetness that so often had +served him well. + +Even in that moment Jonathan thought of what desperate chances his +comrade had taken. The trick was plain. Wetzel had, most likely, shot +the dangerous scout, and, taking to his heels, raced past the others, +trusting to his speed and their poor marksmanship to escape with a +whole skin. + +When within a hundred yards of the oak Wetzel's strength apparently +gave out. His speed deserted him; he ran awkwardly, and limped. The +savages burst out into full cry like a pack of hungry wolves. They had +already emptied their rifles at him, and now, supposing one of the +shots had taken effect, redoubled their efforts, making the forest +ring with their short, savage yells. One gaunt, dark-bodied Indian +with a long, powerful, springy stride easily distanced his companions, +and, evidently sure of gaining the coveted scalp of the borderman, +rapidly closed the gap between them as he swung aloft his tomahawk, +yelling the war-cry. + +The sight on Jonathan's rifle had several times covered this savage's +dark face; but when he was about to press the trigger Wetzel's +fleeting form, also in line with the savage, made it extremely +hazardous to take a shot. + +Jonathan stepped from his place of concealment, and let out a yell +that pealed high over the cries of the savages. + +Wetzel suddenly dropped flat on the ground. + +With a whipping crack of Jonathan's rifle, the big Indian plunged +forward on his face. + +The other Indians, not fifty yards away, stopped aghast at the fate of +their comrade, and were about to seek the shelter of trees when, with +his terrible yell, Wetzel sprang up and charged upon them. He had left +his rifle where he fell; but his tomahawk glittered as he ran. The +lameness had been a trick, for now he covered ground with a swiftness +which caused his former progress to seem slow. + +The Indians, matured and seasoned warriors though they were, gave but +one glance at this huge, brown figure bearing down upon them like a +fiend, and, uttering the Indian name of _Deathwind_, wavered, broke +and ran. + +One, not so fleet as his companion, Wetzel overtook and cut down with +a single stroke. The other gained an hundred-yard start in the slight +interval of Wetzel's attack, and, spurred on by a pealing, awful cry +in the rear, sped swiftly in and out among the trees until he was +lost to view. + +Wetzel scalped the two dead savages, and, after returning to regain +his rifle, joined Jonathan at the dead oak. + +"Jack, you can never tell how things is comin' out. Thet redskin I +allowed might worry us a bit, fooled me as slick as you ever saw, an' +I hed to shoot him. Knowin' it was a case of runnin', I just cut fer +this oak, drew the redskins' fire, an' hed 'em arter me quicker 'n +you'd say Jack Robinson. I was hopin' you'd be here; but wasn't sure +till I'd seen your rifle. Then I kinder got a kink in my leg jest to +coax the brutes on." + +"Three more quiet," said Jonathan Zane. "What now?" + +"We've headed Legget, an' we'll keep nosin' him off his course. +Already he's lookin' fer a safe campin' place for the night." + +"There is none in these woods, fer him." + +"We didn't plan this gettin' between him an' his camp; but couldn't be +better fixed. A mile farther along the ridge, is a campin' place, with +a spring in a little dell close under a big stone, an' well wooded. +Legget's headin' straight fer it. With a couple of Injuns guardin' +thet spot, he'll think he's safe. But I know the place, an' can crawl +to thet rock the darkest night thet ever was an' never crack a stick." + + * * * * * + +In the gray of the deepening twilight Jonathan Zane sat alone. An owl +hooted dismally in the dark woods beyond the thicket where the +borderman crouched waiting for Wetzel. His listening ear detected a +soft, rustling sound like the play of a mole under the leaves. A +branch trembled and swung back; a soft footstep followed and Wetzel +came into the retreat. + +"Well?" asked Jonathan impatiently, as Wetzel deliberately sat down +and laid his rifle across his knees. + +"Easy, Jack, easy. We've an hour to wait." + +"The time I've already waited has been long for me." + +"They're thar," said Wetzel grimly. + +"How far from here?" + +"A half-hour's slow crawl." + +"Close by?" hissed Jonathan. + +"Too near fer you to get excited." + +"Let us go; it's as light now as in the gray of mornin'." + +"Mornin' would be best. Injuns get sleepy along towards day. I've ever +found thet time the best. But we'll be lucky if we ketch these +redskins asleep." + +"Lew, I can't wait here all night. I won't leave her longer with that +renegade. I've got to free or kill her." + +"Most likely it'll be the last," said Wetzel simply. + +"Well, so be it then," and the borderman hung his head. + +"You needn't worry none, 'bout Helen. I jest had a good look at her, +not half an hour back. She's fagged out; but full of spunk yet. I seen +thet when Brandt went near her. Legget's got his hands full jest now +with the redskins. He's hevin' trouble keepin' them on this slow +trail. I ain't sayin' they're skeered; but they're mighty restless." + +"Will you take the chance now?" + +"I reckon you needn't hev asked thet." + +"Tell me the lay of the land." + +"Wai, if we get to this rock I spoke 'bout, we'll be right over 'em. +It's ten feet high, an' we can jump straight amongst 'em. Most likely +two or three'll be guardin' the openin' which is a little ways to the +right. Ther's a big tree, the only one, low down by the spring. +Helen's under it, half-sittin', half-leanin' against the roots. When I +first looked, her hands were free; but I saw Brandt bind her feet. An' +he had to get an Injun to help him, fer she kicked like a spirited +little filly. There's moss under the tree an' there's where the +redskins'll lay down to rest." + +"I've got that; now out with your plan." + +"Wal, I calkilate it's this. The moon'll be up in about an hour. We'll +crawl as we've never crawled afore, because Helen's life depends as +much on our not makin' a noise, as it does on fightin' when the time +comes. If they hear us afore we're ready to shoot, the lass'll be +tomahawked quicker'n lightnin'. If they don't suspicion us, when the +right moment comes you shoot Brandt, yell louder'n you ever did afore, +leap amongst 'em, an' cut down the first Injun thet's near you on your +way to Helen. Swing her over your arm, an' dig into the woods." + +"Well?" asked Jonathan when Wetzel finished. + +"That's all," the borderman replied grimly. + +"An' leave you all alone to fight Legget an' the rest of 'em?" + +"I reckon." + +"Not to be thought of." + +"Ther's no other way." + +"There must be! Let me think; I can't, I'm not myself." + +"No other way," repeated Wetzel curtly. + +Jonathan's broad hand fastened on Wetzel's shoulder and wheeled him +around. + +"Have I ever left you alone?" + +"This's different," and Wetzel turned away again. His voice was cold +and hard. + +"How is it different? We've had the same thing to do, almost, more +than once." + +"We've never had as bad a bunch to handle as Legget's. They're lookin' +fer us, an' will be hard to beat." + +"That's no reason." + +"We never had to save a girl one of us loved." + +Jonathan was silent. + +"I said this'd be my last trail," continued Wetzel. "I felt it, an' I +know it'll be yours." + +"Why?" + +"If you get away with the girl she'll keep you at home, an' it'll be +well. If you don't succeed, you'll die tryin', so it's sure your +last trail." + +Wetzel's deep, cold voice rang with truth. + +"Lew, I can't run away an' leave you to fight those devils alone, +after all these years we've been together, I can't." + +"No other chance to save the lass." + +Jonathan quivered with the force of his emotion. His black eyes +glittered; his hands grasped at nothing. Once more he was between love +and duty. Again he fought over the old battle, but this time it +left him weak. + +"You love the big-eyed lass, don't you?" asked Wetzel, turning with +softened face and voice. + +"I have gone mad!" cried Jonathan, tortured by the simple question of +his friend. Those big, dear, wonderful eyes he loved so well, looked +at him now from the gloom of the thicket. The old, beautiful, soft +glow, the tender light, was there, and more, a beseeching prayer +to save her. + +Jonathan bowed his head, ashamed to let his friend see the tears that +dimmed his eyes. + +"Jack, we've follered the trail fer years together. Always you've +been true an' staunch. This is our last, but whatever bides we'll +break up Legget's band to-night, an' the border'll be cleared, mebbe, +for always. At least his race is run. Let thet content you. Our time'd +have to come, sooner or later, so why not now? I know how it is, that +you want to stick by me; but the lass draws you to her. I understand, +an' want you to save her. Mebbe you never dreamed it; but I can tell +jest how you feel. All the tremblin', an' softness, an' sweetness, an' +delight you've got for thet girl, is no mystery to Lew Wetzel." + +"You loved a lass?" + +Wetzel bowed his head, as perhaps he had never before in all his life. + +"Betty--always," he answered softly. + +"My sister!" exclaimed Jonathan, and then his hand closed hard on his +comrade's, his mind going back to many things, strange in the past, +but now explained. Wetzel had revealed his secret. + +"An' it's been all my life, since she wasn't higher 'n my knee. There +was a time when I might hev been closer to you than I am now. But I +was a mad an' bloody Injun hater, so I never let her know till I seen +it was too late. Wal, wal, no more of me. I only told it fer you." + +Jonathan was silent. + +"An' now to come back where we left off," continued Wetzel. "Let's +take a more hopeful look at this comin' fight. Sure I said it was my +last trail, but mebbe it's not. You can never tell. Feelin' as we do, +I imagine they've no odds on us. Never in my life did I say to you, +least of all to any one else, what I was goin' to do; but I'll tell it +now. If I land uninjured amongst thet bunch, I'll kill them all." + +The giant borderman's low voice hissed, and stung. His eyes glittered +with unearthly fire. His face was cold and gray. He spread out his +brawny arms and clenched his huge fists, making the muscles of his +broad shoulders roll and bulge. + +"I hate the thought, Lew, I hate the thought. Ain't there no other +way?" + +"No other way." + +"I'll do it, Lew, because I'd do the same for you; because I have to, +because I love her; but God! it hurts." + +"Thet's right," answered Wetzel, his deep voice softening until it was +singularly low and rich. "I'm glad you've come to it. An' sure it +hurts. I want you to feel so at leavin' me to go it alone. If we both +get out alive, I'll come many times to see you an' Helen. If you live +an' I don't, think of me sometimes, think of the trails we've crossed +together. When the fall comes with its soft, cool air, an' smoky +mornin's an' starry nights, when the wind's sad among the bare +branches, an' the leaves drop down, remember they're fallin' on +my grave." + +Twilight darkened into gloom; the red tinge in the west changed to +opal light; through the trees over a dark ridge a rim of silver +glinted and moved. + +The moon had risen; the hour was come. + +The bordermen tightened their belts, replaced their leggings, tied +their hunting coats, loosened their hatchets, looked to the priming of +their rifles, and were ready. + +Wetzel walked twenty paces and turned. His face was white in the +moonlight; his dark eyes softened into a look of love as he gripped +his comrade's outstretched hand. + +Then he dropped flat on the ground, carefully saw to the position of +his rifle, and began to creep. Jonathan kept close at his heels. + +Slowly but steadily they crawled, minute after minute. The hazel-nut +bushes above them had not yet shed their leaves; the ground was clean +and hard, and the course fatefully perfect for their deadly purpose. + +A slight rustling of their buckskin garments sounded like the rustling +of leaves in a faint breeze. + +The moon came out above the trees and still Wetzel advanced softly, +steadily, surely. + +The owl, lonely sentinel of that wood, hooted dismally. Even his night +eyes, which made the darkness seem clear as day, missed those gliding +figures. Even he, sure guardian of the wilderness, failed the savages. + +Jonathan felt soft moss beneath him; he was now in the woods under the +trees. The thicket had been passed. + +Wetzel's moccasin pressed softly against Jonathan's head. The first +signal! + +Jonathan crawled forward, and slightly raised himself. + +He was on a rock. The trees were thick and gloomy. Below, the little +hollow was almost in the wan moonbeams. Dark figures lay close +together. Two savages paced noiselessly to and fro. A slight form +rolled in a blanket lay against a tree. + +Jonathan felt his arm gently squeezed. + +The second signal! + +Slowly he thrust forward his rifle, and raised it in unison with +Wetzel's. Slowly he rose to his feet as if the same muscles guided +them both. + +Over his head a twig snapped. In the darkness he had not seen a low +branch. + +The Indian guards stopped suddenly, and became motionless as stone. + +They had heard; but too late. + +With the blended roar of the rifles both dropped, lifeless. + +Almost under the spouting flame and white cloud of smoke, Jonathan +leaped behind Wetzel, over the bank. His yells were mingled with +Wetzel's vengeful cry. Like leaping shadows the bordermen were upon +their foes. + +An Indian sprang up, raised a weapon, and fell beneath Jonathan's +savage blow, to rise no more. Over his prostrate body the borderman +bounded. A dark, nimble form darted upon the captive. He swung high a +blade that shone like silver in the moonlight. His shrill war-cry of +death rang out with Helen's scream of despair. Even as he swung back +her head with one hand in her long hair, his arm descended; but it +fell upon the borderman's body. Jonathan and the Indian rolled upon +the moss. There was a terrific struggle, a whirling blade, a dull blow +which silenced the yell, and the borderman rose alone. + +He lifted Helen as if she were a child, leaped the brook, and plunged +into the thicket. + +The noise of the fearful conflict he left behind, swelled high and +hideously on the night air. Above the shrill cries of the Indians, and +the furious yells of Legget, rose the mad, booming roar of Wetzel. No +rifle cracked; but sodden blows, the clash of steel, the threshing of +struggling men, told of the dreadful strife. + +Jonathan gained the woods, sped through the moonlit glades, and far on +under light and shadow. + +The shrill cries ceased; only the hoarse yells and the mad roar could +be heard. Gradually these also died away, and the forest was still. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +Next morning, when the mist was breaking and rolling away under the +warm rays of the Indian-summer sun, Jonathan Zane beached his canoe on +the steep bank before Fort Henry. A pioneer, attracted by the +borderman's halloo, ran to the bluff and sounded the alarm with shrill +whoops. Among the hurrying, brown-clad figures that answered this +summons, was Colonel Zane. + +"It's Jack, kurnel, an' he's got her!" cried one. + +The doughty colonel gained the bluff to see his brother climbing the +bank with a white-faced girl in his arms. + +"Well?" he asked, looking darkly at Jonathan. Nothing kindly or genial +was visible in his manner now; rather grim and forbidding he seemed, +thus showing he had the same blood in his veins as the borderman. + +"Lend a hand," said Jonathan. "As far as I know she's not hurt." + +They carried Helen toward Colonel Zane's cabin. Many women of the +settlement saw them as they passed, and looked gravely at one another, +but none spoke. This return of an abducted girl was by no means a +strange event. + +"Somebody run for Sheppard," ordered Colonel Zane, as they entered his +cabin. + +Betty, who was in the sitting-room, sprang up and cried: "Oh! Eb! Eb! +Don't say she's----" + +"No, no, Betts, she's all right. Where's my wife? Ah! Bess, here, get +to work." + +The colonel left Helen in the tender, skilful hands of his wife and +sister, and followed Jonathan into the kitchen. + +"I was just ready for breakfast when I heard some one yell," said he. +"Come, Jack, eat something." + +They ate in silence. From the sitting-room came excited whispers, a +joyous cry from Betty, and a faint voice. Then heavy, hurrying +footsteps, followed by Sheppard's words of thanks-giving. + +"Where's Wetzel?" began Colonel Zane. + +The borderman shook his head gloomily. + +"Where did you leave him?" + +"We jumped Legget's bunch last night, when the moon was about an hour +high. I reckon about fifteen miles northeast. I got away with +the lass." + +"Ah! Left Lew fighting?" + +The borderman answered the question with bowed head. + +"You got off well. Not a hurt that I can see, and more than lucky to +save Helen. Well, Jack, what do you think about Lew?" + +"I'm goin' back," replied Jonathan. + +"No! no!" + +The door opened to admit Mrs. Zane. She looked bright and cheerful, +"Hello, Jack; glad you're home. Helen's all right, only faint from +hunger and over-exertion. I want something for her to eat--well! you +men didn't leave much." + +Colonel Zane went into the sitting-room. Sheppard sat beside the couch +where Helen lay, white and wan. Betty and Nell were looking on with +their hearts in their eyes. Silas Zane was there, and his wife, with +several women neighbors. + +"Betty, go fetch Jack in here," whispered the colonel in his sister's +ear. "Drag him, if you have to," he added fiercely. + +The young woman left the room, to reappear directly with her brother. +He came in reluctantly. + +As the stern-faced borderman crossed the threshold a smile, beautiful +to see, dawned in Helen's eyes. + +"I'm glad to see you're comin' round," said Jonathan, but he spoke +dully as if his mind was on other things. + +"She's a little flighty; but a night's sleep will cure that," cried +Mrs. Zane from the kitchen. + +"What do you think?" interrupted the colonel. "Jack's not satisfied to +get back with Helen unharmed, and a whole skin himself; but he's going +on the trail again." + +"No, Jack, no, no!" cried Betty. + +"What's that I hear?" asked Mrs. Zane as she came in. "Jack's going +out again? Well, all I want to say is that he's as mad as a +March hare." + +"Jonathan, look here," said Silas seriously. "Can't you stay home +now?" + +"Jack, listen," whispered Betty, going close to him. "Not one of us +ever expected to see either you or Helen again, and oh! we are so +happy. Do not go away again. You are a man; you do not know, you +cannot understand all a woman feels. She must sit and wait, and hope, +and pray for the safe return of husband or brother or sweetheart. The +long days! Oh, the long sleepless nights, with the wail of the wind in +the pines, and the rain on the roof! It is maddening. Do not leave us! +Do not leave me! Do not leave Helen! Say you will not, Jack." + +To these entreaties the borderman remained silent. He stood leaning on +his rifle, a tall, dark, strangely sad and stern man. + +"Helen, beg him to stay!" implored Betty. + +Colonel Zane took Helen's hand, and stroked it. "Yes," he said, "you +ask him, lass. I'm sure you can persuade him to stay." + +Helen raised her head. "Is Brandt dead?" she whispered faintly. + +Still the borderman failed to speak, but his silence was not an +affirmative. + +"You said you loved me," she cried wildly. "You said you loved me, yet +you didn't kill that monster!" + +The borderman, moving quickly like a startled Indian, went out of the +door. + + * * * * * + +Once more Jonathan Zane entered the gloomy, quiet aisles of the forest +with his soft, tireless tread hardly stirring the leaves. + +It was late in the afternoon when he had long left Two Islands behind, +and arrived at the scene of Mordaunt's death. Satisfied with the +distance he had traversed, he crawled into a thicket to rest. + +Daybreak found him again on the trail. He made a short cut over the +ridges and by the time the mist had lifted from the valley he was +within stalking distance of the glade. He approached this in the +familiar, slow, cautious manner, and halted behind the big rock from +which he and Wetzel had leaped. The wood was solemnly quiet. No +twittering of birds could be heard. The only sign of life was a gaunt +timber-wolf slinking away amid the foliage. Under the big tree the +savage who had been killed as he would have murdered Helen, lay a +crumpled mass where he had fallen. Two dead Indians were in the center +of the glade, and on the other side were three more bloody, lifeless +forms. Wetzel was not there, nor Legget, nor Brandt. + +"I reckoned so," muttered Jonathan as he studied the scene. The grass +had been trampled, the trees barked, the bushes crushed aside. + +Jonathan went out of the glade a short distance, and, circling it, +began to look for Wetzel's trail. He found it, and near the light +footprints of his comrade were the great, broad moccasin tracks of +the outlaw. Further searching disclosed the fact that Brandt must have +traveled in line with the others. + +With the certainty that Wetzel had killed three of the Indians, and, +in some wonderful manner characteristic of him, routed the outlaws of +whom he was now in pursuit, Jonathan's smoldering emotion burst forth +into full flame. Love for his old comrade, deadly hatred of the +outlaws, and passionate thirst for their blood, rioted in his heart. + +Like a lynx scenting its quarry, the borderman started on the trail, +tireless and unswervable. The traces left by the fleeing outlaws and +their pursuer were plain to Jonathan. It was not necessary for him to +stop. Legget and Brandt, seeking to escape the implacable Nemesis, +were traveling with all possible speed, regardless of the broad trail +such hurried movements left behind. They knew full well it would be +difficult to throw this wolf off the scent; understood that if any +attempt was made to ambush the trail, they must cope with woodcraft +keener than an Indian's. Flying in desperation, they hoped to reach +the rocky retreat, where, like foxes in their burrows, they believed +themselves safe. + +When the sun sloped low toward the western horizon, lengthening +Jonathan's shadow, he slackened pace. He was entering the rocky, +rugged country which marked the approach to the distant Alleghenies. +From the top of a ridge he took his bearings, deciding that he was +within a few miles of Legget's hiding-place. + +At the foot of this ridge, where a murmuring brook sped softly over +its bed, he halted. Here a number of horses had forded the brook. They +were iron-shod, which indicated almost to a certainty, that they were +stolen horses, and in the hands of Indians. + +Jonathan saw where the trail of the steeds was merged into that of +the outlaws. He suspected that the Indians and Legget had held a short +council. As he advanced the borderman found only the faintest +impression of Wetzel's trail. Legget and Brandt no longer left any +token of their course. They were riding the horses. + +All the borderman cared to know was if Wetzel still pursued. He passed +on swiftly up a hill, through a wood of birches where the trail showed +on a line of broken ferns, then out upon a low ridge where patches of +grass grew sparsely. Here he saw in this last ground no indication of +his comrade's trail; nothing was to be seen save the imprints of the +horses' hoofs. Jonathan halted behind the nearest underbrush. This +sudden move on the part of Wetzel was token that, suspecting an +ambush, he had made a detour somewhere, probably in the grove +of birches. + +All the while his eyes searched the long, barren reach ahead. No +thicket, fallen tree, or splintered rocks, such as Indians utilized +for an ambush, could be seen. Indians always sought the densely matted +underbrush, a windfall, or rocky retreat and there awaited a pursuer. +It was one of the borderman's tricks of woodcraft that he could +recognize such places. + +Far beyond the sandy ridge Jonathan came to a sloping, wooded +hillside, upon which were scattered big rocks, some mossy and +lichen-covered, and one, a giant boulder, with a crown of ferns and +laurel gracing its flat surface. It was such a place as the savages +would select for ambush. He knew, however, that if an Indian had +hidden himself there Wetzel would have discovered him. When opposite +the rock Jonathan saw a broken fern hanging over the edge. The heavy +trail of the horses ran close beside it. + +Then with that thoroughness of search which made the borderman what +he was, Jonathan leaped upon the rock. There, lying in the midst of +the ferns, lay an Indian with sullen, somber face set in the repose of +death. In his side was a small bullet hole. + +Jonathan examined the savage's rifle. It had been discharged. The +rock, the broken fern, the dead Indian, the discharged rifle, told the +story of that woodland tragedy. + +Wetzel had discovered the ambush. Leaving the trail, he had tricked +the redskin into firing, then getting a glimpse of the Indian's red +body through the sights of his fatal weapon, the deed was done. + +With greater caution Jonathan advanced once more. Not far beyond the +rock he found Wetzel's trail. The afternoon was drawing to a close. He +could not travel much farther, yet he kept on, hoping to overtake his +comrade before darkness set in. From time to time he whistled; but got +no answering signal. + +When the tracks of the horses were nearly hidden by the gathering +dusk, Jonathan decided to halt for the night. He whistled one more +note, louder and clearer, and awaited the result with strained ears. +The deep silence of the wilderness prevailed, suddenly to be broken by +a faint, far-away, melancholy call of the hermit-thrush. It was the +answering signal the borderman had hoped to hear. + +Not many moments elapsed before he heard another call, low, and near +at hand, to which he replied. The bushes parted noiselessly on his +left, and the tall form of Wetzel appeared silently out of the gloom. + +The two gripped hands in silence. + +"Hev you any meat?" Wetzel asked, and as Jonathan handed him his +knapsack, he continued, "I was kinder lookin' fer you. Did you get out +all right with the lass?" + +"Nary a scratch." + +The giant borderman grunted his satisfaction. + +"How'd Legget and Brandt get away?" asked Jonathan. + +"Cut an' run like scared bucks. Never got a hand on either of 'em." + +"How many redskins did they meet back here a spell?" + +"They was seven; but now there are only six, an' all snug in Legget's +place by this time." + +"I reckon we're near his den." + +"We're not far off." + +Night soon closing down upon the bordermen found them wrapped in +slumber, as if no deadly foes were near at hand. The soft night wind +sighed dismally among the bare trees. A few bright stars twinkled +overhead. In the darkness of the forest the bordermen were at home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +In Legget's rude log cabin a fire burned low, lightening the forms of +the two border outlaws, and showing in the background the dark forms +of Indians sitting motionless on the floor. Their dusky eyes emitted a +baleful glint, seemingly a reflection of their savage souls caught by +the firelight. Legget wore a look of ferocity and sullen fear +strangely blended. Brandt's face was hard and haggard, his lips set, +his gray eyes smoldering. + +"Safe?" he hissed. "Safe you say? You'll see that it's the same now as +on the other night, when those border-tigers jumped us and we ran +like cowards. I'd have fought it out here, but for you." + +"Thet man Wetzel is ravin' mad, I tell you," growled Legget. "I reckon +I've stood my ground enough to know I ain't no coward. But this +fellar's crazy. He hed the Injuns slashin' each other like a pack of +wolves round a buck." + +"He's no more mad than you or I," declared Brandt. "I know all about +him. His moaning in the woods, and wild yells are only tricks. He +knows the Indian nature, and he makes their very superstition and +religion aid him in his fighting. I told you what he'd do. Didn't I +beg you to kill Zane when we had a chance? Wetzel would never have +taken our trail alone. Now they've beat me out of the girl, and as +sure as death will round us up here." + +"You don't believe they'll rush us here?" asked Legget. + +"They're too keen to take foolish chances, but something will be done +we don't expect. Zane was a prisoner here; he had a good look at this +place, and you can gamble he'll remember." + +"Zane must hev gone back to Fort Henry with the girl." + +"Mark what I say, he'll come back!" + +"Wal, we kin hold this place against all the men Eb Zane may put out." + +"He won't send a man," snapped Brandt passionately. "Remember this, +Legget, we're not to fight against soldiers, settlers, or hunters; but +bordermen--understand--bordermen! Such as have been developed right +here on this bloody frontier, and nowhere else on earth. They haven't +fear in them. Both are fleet as deer in the woods. They can't be seen +or trailed. They can snuff a candle with a rifle ball in the dark. +I've seen Zane do it three times at a hundred yards. And Wetzel! He +wouldn't waste powder on practicing. They can't be ambushed, or shaken +off a track; they take the scent like buzzards, and have eyes +like eagles." + +"We kin slip out of here under cover of night," suggested Legget. + +"Well, what then? That's all they want. They'd be on us again by +sunset. No! we've got to stand our ground and fight. We'll stay as +long as we can; but they'll rout us out somehow, be sure of that. And +if one of us pokes his nose out to the daylight, it will be shot off." + +"You're sore, an' you've lost your nerve," said Legget harshly. "Sore +at me 'cause I got sweet on the girl. Ho! ho!" + +Brandt shot a glance at Legget which boded no good. His strong hands +clenched in an action betraying the reckless rage in his heart. Then +he carefully removed his hunting coat, and examined his wound. He +retied the bandage, muttering gloomily, "I'm so weak as to be +light-headed. If this cut opens again, it's all day for me." + +After that the inmates of the hut were quiet. The huge outlaw bowed +his shaggy head for a while, and then threw himself on a pile of +hemlock boughs. Brandt was not long in seeking rest. Soon both were +fast asleep. Two of the savages passed out with cat-like step, leaving +the door open. The fire had burned low, leaving a bed of dead coals. +Outside in the dark a waterfall splashed softly. + +The darkest hour came, and passed, and paled slowly to gray. Birds +began to twitter. Through the door of the cabin the light of day +streamed in. The two Indian sentinels were building a fire on the +stone hearth. One by one the other savages got up, stretched and +yawned, and began the business of the day by cooking their breakfast. +It was, apparently, every one for himself. + +Legget arose, shook himself like a shaggy dog, and was starting for +the door when one of the sentinels stopped him. Brandt, who was now +awake, saw the action, and smiled. + +In a few moments Indians and outlaws were eating for breakfast roasted +strips of venison, with corn meal baked brown, which served as bread. +It was a somber, silent group. + +Presently the shrill neigh of a horse startled them. Following it, the +whip-like crack of a rifle stung and split the morning air. Hard on +this came an Indian's long, wailing death-cry. + +"Hah!" exclaimed Brandt. + +Legget remained immovable. One of the savages peered out through a +little port-hole at the rear of the hut. The others continued +their meal. + +"Whistler'll come in presently to tell us who's doin' thet shootin'," +said Legget. "He's a keen Injun." + +"He's not very keen now," replied Brandt, with bitter certainty. "He's +what the settlers call a good Indian, which is to say, dead!" + +Legget scowled at his lieutenant. + +"I'll go an' see," he replied and seized his rifle. + +He opened the door, when another rifle-shot rang out. A bullet +whistled in the air, grazing the outlaw's shoulder, and imbedded +itself in the heavy door-frame. + +Legget leaped back with a curse. + +"Close shave!" said Brandt coolly. "That bullet came, probably, +straight down from the top of the cliff. Jack Zane's there. Wetzel is +lower down watching the outlet. We're trapped." + +"Trapped," shouted Legget with an angry leer. "We kin live here +longer'n the bordermen kin. We've meat on hand, an' a good spring in +the back of the hut. How'er we trapped?" + +"We won't live twenty-four hours," declared Brandt. + +"Why?" + +"Because we'll be routed out. They'll find some way to do it, and +we'll never have another chance to fight in the open, as we had the +other night when they came after the girl. From now on there'll be no +sleep, no time to eat, the nameless fear of an unseen foe who can't be +shaken off, marching by night, hiding and starving by day, until----! +I'd rather be back in Fort Henry at Colonel Zane's mercy." + +Legget turned a ghastly face toward Brandt. "Look a here. You're +takin' a lot of glee in sayin' these things. I believe you've lost +your nerve, or the lettin' out of a little blood hes made you wobbly. +We've Injuns here, an' ought to be a match fer two men." + +Brandt gazed at him with a derisive smile. + +"We kin go out an' fight these fellars," continued Legget. "We might +try their own game, hidin' an' crawlin' through the woods." + +"We two would have to go it alone. If you still had your trusty, +trained band of experienced Indians, I'd say that would be just the +thing. But Ashbow and the Chippewa are dead; so are the others. This +bunch of redskins here may do to steal a few horses; but they don't +amount to much against Zane and Wetzel. Besides, they'll cut and run +presently, for they're scared and suspicious. Look at the chief; +ask him." + +The savage Brandt indicated was a big Indian just coming into manhood. +His swarthy face still retained some of the frankness and +simplicity of youth. + +"Chief," said Legget in the Indian tongue. "The great paleface hunter, +Deathwind, lies hid in the woods." + +"Last night the Shawnee heard the wind of death mourn through the +trees," replied the chief gloomily. + +"See! What did I say?" cried Brandt. "The superstitious fool! He +would begin his death-chant almost without a fight. We can't count on +the redskins. What's to be done?" + +The outlaw threw himself upon the bed of boughs, and Legget sat down +with his rifle across his knees. The Indians maintained the same +stoical composure. The moments dragged by into hours. + +"Ugh!" suddenly exclaimed the Indian at the end of the hut. + +Legget ran to him, and acting upon a motion of the Indian's hand, +looked out through the little port-hole. + +The sun was high. He saw four of the horses grazing by the brook; then +gazed scrutinizingly from the steep waterfall, along the green-stained +cliff to the dark narrow cleft in the rocks. Here was the only outlet +from the inclosure. He failed to discover anything unusual. + +The Indian grunted again, and pointed upward. + +"Smoke! There's smoke risin' above the trees," cried Legget. "Brandt, +come here. What's thet mean?" + +Brandt hurried, looked out. His face paled, his lower jaw protruded, +quivered, and then was shut hard. He walked away, put his foot on a +bench and began to lace his leggings. + +"Wal?" demanded Legget. + +"The game's up! Get ready to run and be shot at," cried Brandt with a +hiss of passion. + +Almost as he spoke the roof of the hut shook under a heavy blow. + +"What's thet?" No one replied. Legget glanced from Brandt's cold, +determined face to the uneasy savages. They were restless, and +handling their weapons. The chief strode across the floor with +stealthy steps. + +"Thud!" + +A repetition of the first blow caused the Indians to jump, and drew a +fierce imprecation from their outlaw leader. + +Brandt eyed him narrowly. "It's coming to you, Legget. They are +shooting arrows of fire into the roof from the cliff. Zane is doin' +that. He can make a bow and draw one, too. We're to be burned out. +Now, damn you! take your medicine! I wanted you to kill him when you +had the chance. If you had done so we'd never have come to this. +Burned out, do you get that? Burned out!" + +"Fire!" exclaimed Legget. He sat down as if the strength had left his +legs. + +The Indians circled around the room like caged tigers. + +"Ugh!" The chief suddenly reached up and touched the birch-bark roof +of the hut. + +His action brought the attention of all to a faint crackling of +burning wood. + +"It's caught all right," cried Brandt in a voice which cut the air +like a blow from a knife. + +"I'll not be smoked like a ham, fer all these tricky bordermen," +roared Legget. Drawing his knife he hacked at the heavy buckskin +hinges of the rude door. When it dropped free he measured it against +the open space. Sheathing the blade, he grasped his rifle in his right +hand and swung the door on his left arm. Heavy though it was he +carried it easily. The roughly hewn planks afforded a capital shield +for all except the lower portion of his legs and feet. He went out of +the hut with the screen of wood between himself and the cliff, calling +for the Indians to follow. They gathered behind him, breathing hard, +clutching their weapons, and seemingly almost crazed by excitement. + +Brandt, with no thought of joining this foolhardy attempt to escape +from the inclosure, ran to the little port-hole that he might see the +outcome. Legget and his five redskins were running toward the narrow +outlet in the gorge. The awkward and futile efforts of the Indians to +remain behind the shield were almost pitiful. They crowded each other +for favorable positions, but, struggle as they might, one or two were +always exposed to the cliff. Suddenly one, pushed to the rear, stopped +simultaneously with the crack of a rifle, threw up his arms and fell. +Another report, differing from the first, rang out. A savage staggered +from behind the speeding group with his hand at his side. Then he +dropped into the brook. + +Evidently Legget grasped this as a golden opportunity, for he threw +aside the heavy shield and sprang forward, closely followed by his +red-skinned allies. Immediately they came near the cliff, where the +trail ran into the gorge, a violent shaking of the dry ferns overhead +made manifest the activity of some heavy body. Next instant a huge +yellow figure, not unlike a leaping catamount, plunged down with a +roar so terrible as to sound inhuman. Legget, Indians, and newcomer +rolled along the declivity toward the brook in an indistinguishable +mass. + +Two of the savages shook themselves free, and bounded to their feet +nimbly as cats, but Legget and the other redskin became engaged in a +terrific combat. It was a wrestling whirl, so fierce and rapid as to +render blows ineffectual. The leaves scattered as if in a whirlwind. +Legget's fury must have been awful, to judge from his hoarse screams; +the Indians' fear maddening, as could be told by their shrieks. The +two savages ran wildly about the combatants, one trying to level a +rifle, the other to get in a blow with a tomahawk. But the movements +of the trio, locked in deadly embrace, were too swift. + +Above all the noise of the contest rose that strange, thrilling roar. + +"Wetzel!" muttered Brandt, with a chill, creeping shudder as he gazed +upon the strife with fascinated eyes. + +"Bang!" Again from the cliff came that heavy bellow. + +The savage with the rifle shrunk back as if stung, and without a cry +fell limply in a heap. His companion, uttering a frightened cry, fled +from the glen. + +The struggle seemed too deadly, too terrible, to last long. The Indian +and the outlaw were at a disadvantage. They could not strike freely. +The whirling conflict grew more fearful. During one second the huge, +brown, bearish figure of Legget appeared on top; then the dark-bodied, +half-naked savage, spotted like a hyena, and finally the lithe, +powerful, tiger-shape of the borderman. + +Finally Legget wrenched himself free at the same instant that the +bloody-stained Indian rolled, writhing in convulsions, away from +Wetzel. The outlaw dashed with desperate speed up the trail, and +disappeared in the gorge. The borderman sped toward the cliff, leaped +on a projecting ledge, grasped an overhanging branch, and pulled +himself up. He was out of sight almost as quickly as Legget. + +"After his rifle," Brandt muttered, and then realized that he had +watched the encounter without any idea of aiding his comrade. He +consoled himself with the knowledge that such an attempt would have +been useless. From the moment the borderman sprang upon Legget, until +he scaled the cliff, his movements had been incredibly swift. It would +have been hardly possible to cover him with a rifle, and the outlaw +grimly understood that he needed to be careful of that charge in +his weapon. + +"By Heavens, Wetzel's a wonder!" cried Brandt in unwilling admiration. +"Now he'll go after Legget and the redskin, while Zane stays here to +get me. Well, he'll succeed, most likely, but I'll never quit. +What's this?" + +He felt something slippery and warm on his hand. It was blood running +from the inside of his sleeve. A slight pain made itself felt in his +side. Upon examination he found, to his dismay, that his wound had +reopened. With a desperate curse he pulled a linsey jacket off a peg, +tore it into strips, and bound up the injury as tightly as possible. + +Then he grasped his rifle, and watched the cliff and the gorge with +flaring eyes. Suddenly he found it difficult to breathe; his throat +was parched, his eyes smarted. Then the odor of wood-smoke brought him +to a realization that the cabin was burning. It was only now he +understood that the room was full of blue clouds. He sank into the +corner, a wolf at bay. + +Not many moments passed before the outlaw understood that he could not +withstand the increasing heat and stifling vapor of the room. Pieces +of burning birch dropped from the roof. The crackling above grew into +a steady roar. + +"I've got to run for it," he gasped. Death awaited him outside the +door, but that was more acceptable than death by fire. Yet to face the +final moment when he desired with all his soul to live, required +almost super-human courage. Sweating, panting, he glared around. "God! +Is there no other way?" he cried in agony. At this moment he saw an ax +on the floor. + +Seizing it he attacked the wall of the cabin. Beyond this partition +was a hut which had been used for a stable. Half a dozen strokes of +the ax opened a hole large enough for him to pass through. With his +rifle, and a piece of venison which hung near, he literally fell +through the hole, where he lay choking, almost fainting. After a time +he crawled across the floor to a door. Outside was a dense laurel +thicket, into which he crawled. + +The crackling and roaring of the fire grew louder. He could see the +column of yellow and black smoke. Once fairly under way, the flames +rapidly consumed the pitch-pine logs. In an hour Legget's cabins were +a heap of ashes. + +The afternoon waned. Brandt lay watchful, slowly recovering his +strength. He felt secure under this cover, and only prayed for night +to come. As the shadows began to creep down the sides of the cliffs, +he indulged in hope. If he could slip out in the dark he had a good +chance to elude the borderman. In the passionate desire to escape, he +had forgotten his fatalistic words to Legget. He reasoned that he +could not be trailed until daylight; that a long night's march would +put him far in the lead, and there was just a possibility of Zane's +having gone away with Wetzel. + +When darkness had set in he slipped out of the covert and began his +journey for life. Within a few yards he reached the brook. He had only +to follow its course in order to find the outlet to the glen. +Moreover, its rush and gurgle over the stones would drown any slight +noise he might make. + +Slowly, patiently he crawled, stopping every moment to listen. What a +long time he was in coming to the mossy stones over which the brook +dashed through the gorge! But he reached them at last. Here if +anywhere Zane would wait for him. + +With teeth clenched desperately, and an inward tightening of his +chest, for at any moment he expected to see the red flame of a rifle, +he slipped cautiously over the mossy stones. Finally his hands touched +the dewy grass, and a breath of cool wind fanned his hot cheek. He had +succeeded in reaching the open. Crawling some rods farther on, he lay +still a while and listened. The solemn wilderness calm was unbroken. +Rising, he peered about. Behind loomed the black hill with its narrow +cleft just discernible. Facing the north star, he went silently out +into the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +At daylight Jonathan Zane rolled from his snug bed of leaves under the +side of a log, and with the flint, steel and punk he always carried, +began building a fire. His actions were far from being hurried. They +were deliberate, and seemed strange on the part of a man whose stern +face suggested some dark business to be done. When his little fire had +been made, he warmed some slices of venison which had already been +cooked, and thus satisfied his hunger. Carefully extinguishing the +fire and looking to the priming of his rifle, he was ready for +the trail. + +He stood near the edge of the cliff from which he could command a view +of the glen. The black, smoldering ruins of the burned cabins defaced +a picturesque scene. + +"Brandt must have lit out last night, for I could have seen even a +rabbit hidin' in that laurel patch. He's gone, an' it's what I +wanted," thought the borderman. + +He made his way slowly around the edge of the inclosure and clambered +down on the splintered cliff at the end of the gorge. A wide, +well-trodden trail extended into the forest below. Jonathan gave +scarcely a glance to the beaten path before him; but bent keen eyes to +the north, and carefully scrutinized the mossy stones along the brook. +Upon a little sand bar running out from the bank he found the light +imprint of a hand. + +"It was a black night. He'd have to travel by the stars, an' north's +the only safe direction for him," muttered the borderman. + +On the bank above he found oblong indentations in the grass, barely +perceptible, but owing to the peculiar position of the blades of +grass, easy for him to follow. + +"He'd better have learned to walk light as an Injun before he took to +outlawin'," said the borderman in disdain. Then he returned to the +gorge and entered the inclosure. At the foot of the little rise of +ground where Wetzel had leaped upon his quarry, was one of the dead +Indians. Another lay partly submerged in the brown water. + +Jonathan carried the weapons of the savages to a dry place under a +projecting ledge in the cliff. Passing on down the glen, he stopped a +moment where the cabins had stood. Not a log remained. The horses, +with the exception of two, were tethered in the copse of laurel. He +recognized Colonel Zane's thoroughbred, and Betty's pony. He cut them +loose, positive they would not stray from the glen, and might easily +be secured at another time. + +He set out upon the trail of Brandt with a long, swinging stride. To +him the outcome of that pursuit was but a question of time. The +consciousness of superior endurance, speed, and craft, spoke in his +every movement. The consciousness of being in right, a factor so +powerfully potent for victory, spoke in the intrepid front with which +he faced the north. + +It was a gloomy November day. Gray, steely clouds drifted overhead. +The wind wailed through the bare trees, sending dead leaves scurrying +and rustling over the brown earth. + +The borderman advanced with a step that covered glade and glen, forest +and field, with astonishing swiftness. Long since he had seen that +Brandt was holding to the lowland. This did not strike him as singular +until for the third time he found the trail lead a short distance up +the side of a ridge, then descend, seeking a level. With this +discovery came the certainty that Brandt's pace was lessening. He had +set out with a hunter's stride, but it had begun to shorten. The +outlaw had shirked the hills, and shifted from his northern course. +Why? The man was weakening; he could not climb; he was favoring +a wound. + +What seemed more serious for the outlaw, was the fact that he had left +a good trail, and entered the low, wild land north of the Ohio. Even +the Indians seldom penetrated this tangled belt of laurel and thorn. +Owing to the dry season the swamps were shallow, which was another +factor against Brandt. No doubt he had hoped to hide his trail by +wading, and here it showed up like the track of a bison. + +Jonathan kept steadily on, knowing the farther Brandt penetrated into +this wilderness the worse off he would be. The outlaw dared not take +to the river until below Fort Henry, which was distant many a weary +mile. The trail grew more ragged as the afternoon wore away. When +twilight rendered further tracking impossible, the borderman built a +fire in a sheltered place, ate his supper, and went to sleep. + +In the dim, gray morning light he awoke, fancying he had been startled +by a distant rifle shot. He roasted his strips of venison carefully, +and ate with a hungry hunter's appreciation, yet sparingly, as +befitted a borderman who knew how to keep up his strength upon a +long trail. + +Hardly had he traveled a mile when Brandt's footprints covered +another's. Nothing surprised the borderman; but he had expected this +least of all. A hasty examination convinced him that Legget and his +Indian ally had fled this way with Wetzel in pursuit. + +The morning passed slowly. The borderman kept to the trail like a +hound. The afternoon wore on. Over sandy reaches thick with willows, +and through long, matted, dried-out cranberry marshes and copses of +prickly thorn, the borderman hung to his purpose. His legs seemed +never to lose their spring, but his chest began to heave, his head +bent, and his face shone with sweat. + +At dusk he tired. Crawling into a dry thicket, he ate his scanty meal +and fell asleep. When he awoke it was gray daylight. He was wet and +chilled. Again he kindled a fire, and sat over it while cooking +breakfast. + +Suddenly he was brought to his feet by the sound of a rifle shot; then +two others followed in rapid succession. Though they were faint, and +far away to the west, Jonathan recognized the first, which could have +come only from Wetzel's weapon, and he felt reasonably certain of the +third, which was Brandt's. There might have been, he reflected grimly, +a good reason for Legget's not shooting. However, he knew that Wetzel +had rounded up the fugitives, and again he set out. + +It was another dismal day, such a one as would be fitting for a dark +deed of border justice. A cold, drizzly rain blew from the northwest. +Jonathan wrapped a piece of oil-skin around his rifle-breech, and +faced the downfall. Soon he was wet to the skin. He kept on, but his +free stride had shortened. Even upon his iron muscles this soggy, +sticky ground had begun to tell. + +The morning passed but the storm did not; the air grew colder and +darker. The short afternoon would afford him little time, especially +as the rain and running rills of water were obliterating the trail. + +In the midst of a dense forest of great cottonwoods and sycamores he +came upon a little pond, hidden among the bushes, and shrouded in a +windy, wet gloom. Jonathan recognized the place. He had been there in +winter hunting bears when all the swampland was locked by ice. + +The borderman searched along the banks for a time, then went back to +the trail, patiently following it. Around the pond it led to the side +of a great, shelving rock. He saw an Indian leaning against this, and +was about to throw forward his rifle when the strange, fixed, position +of the savage told of the tragedy. A wound extended from his shoulder +to his waist. Near by on the ground lay Legget. He, too, was dead. His +gigantic frame weltered in blood. His big feet were wide apart; his +arms spread, and from the middle of his chest protruded the haft of +a knife. + +The level space surrounding the bodies showed evidence of a desperate +struggle. A bush had been rolled upon and crushed by heavy bodies. On +the ground was blood as on the stones and leaves. The blade Legget +still clutched was red, and the wrist of the hand which held it showed +a dark, discolored band, where it had felt the relentless grasp of +Wetzel's steel grip. The dead man's buckskin coat was cut into +ribbons. On his broad face a demoniacal expression had set in eternal +rigidity; the animal terror of death was frozen in his wide staring +eyes. The outlaw chief had died as he had lived, desperately. + +Jonathan found Wetzel's trail leading directly toward the river, and +soon understood that the borderman was on the track of Brandt. The +borderman had surprised the worn, starved, sleepy fugitives in the +gray, misty dawn. The Indian, doubtless, was the sentinel, and had +fallen asleep at his post never to awaken. Legget and Brandt must have +discharged their weapons ineffectually. Zane could not understand why +his comrade had missed Brandt at a few rods' distance. Perhaps he had +wounded the younger outlaw; but certainly he had escaped while Wetzel +had closed in on Legget to meet the hardest battle of his career. + +While going over his version of the attack, Jonathan followed Brandt's +trail, as had Wetzel, to where it ended in the river. The old +borderman had continued on down stream along the sandy shore. The +outlaw remained in the water to hide his trail. + +At one point Wetzel turned north. This move puzzled Jonathan, as did +also the peculiar tracks. It was more perplexing because not far below +Zane discovered where the fugitive had left the water to get around a +ledge of rock. + +The trail was approaching Fort Henry. Jonathan kept on down the river +until arriving at the head of the island which lay opposite the +settlement. Still no traces of Wetzel! Here Zane lost Brandt's trail +completely. He waded the first channel, which was shallow and narrow, +and hurried across the island. Walking out upon a sand-bar he signaled +with his well-known Indian cry. Almost immediately came an +answering shout. + +While waiting he glanced at the sand, and there, pointing straight +toward the fort, he found Brandt's straggling trail! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +Colonel Zane paced to and fro on the porch. His genial smile had not +returned; he was grave and somber. Information had just reached him +that Jonathan had hailed from the island, and that one of the settlers +had started across the river in a boat. + +Betty came out accompanied by Mrs. Zane. + +"What's this I hear?" asked Betty, flashing an anxious glance toward +the river. "Has Jack really come in?" + +"Yes," replied the colonel, pointing to a throng of men on the river +bank. + +"Now there'll be trouble," said Mrs. Zane nervously. "I wish with all +my heart Brandt had not thrown himself, as he called it, on +your mercy." + +"So do I," declared Colonel Zane. + +"What will be done?" she asked. "There! that's Jack! Silas has hold of +his arm." + +"He's lame. He has been hurt," replied her husband. + +A little procession of men and boys followed the borderman from the +river, and from the cabins appeared the settlers and their wives. But +there was no excitement except among the children. The crowd filed +into the colonel's yard behind Jonathan and Silas. + +Colonel Zane silently greeted his brother with an iron grip of the +hand which was more expressive than words. No unusual sight was it to +see the borderman wet, ragged, bloody, worn with long marches, +hollow-eyed and gloomy; yet he had never before presented such an +appearance at Fort Henry. Betty ran forward, and, though she clasped +his arm, shrank back. There was that in the borderman's presence to +cause fear. + +"Wetzel?" Jonathan cried sharply. + +The colonel raised both hands, palms open, and returned his brother's +keen glance. Then he spoke. "Lew hasn't come in. He chased Brandt +across the river. That's all I know." + +"Brandt's here, then?" hissed the borderman. + +The colonel nodded gloomily. + +"Where?" + +"In the long room over the fort. I locked him in there." + +"Why did he come here?" + +Colonel Zane shrugged his shoulders. "It's beyond me. He said he'd +rather place himself in my hands than be run down by Wetzel or you. He +didn't crawl; I'll say that for him. He just said, 'I'm your +prisoner.' He's in pretty bad shape; barked over the temple, lame in +one foot, cut under the arm, starved and worn out." + +"Take me to him," said the borderman, and he threw his rifle on a +bench. + +"Very well. Come along," replied the colonel. He frowned at those +following them. "Here, you women, clear out!" But they did not +obey him. + +It was a sober-faced group that marched in through the big stockade +gate, under the huge, bulging front of the fort, and up the rough +stairway. Colonel Zane removed a heavy bar from before a door, and +thrust it open with his foot. The long guardroom brilliantly lighted +by sunshine coming through the portholes, was empty save for a ragged +man lying on a bench. + +The noise aroused him; he sat up, and then slowly labored to his feet. +It was the same flaring, wild-eyed Brandt, only fiercer and more +haggard. He wore a bloody bandage round his head. When he saw the +borderman he backed, with involuntary, instinctive action, against the +wall, yet showed no fear. + +In the dark glance Jonathan shot at Brandt shone a pitiless +implacability; no scorn, nor hate, nor passion, but something which, +had it not been so terrible, might have been justice. + +"I think Wetzel was hurt in the fight with Legget," said Jonathan +deliberately, "an' ask if you know?" + +"I believe he was," replied Brandt readily. "I was asleep when he +jumped us, and was awakened by the Indian's yell. Wetzel must have +taken a snap shot at me as I was getting up, which accounts, probably, +for my being alive. I fell, but did not lose consciousness. I heard +Wetzel and Legget fighting, and at last struggled to my feet. Although +dizzy and bewildered, I could see to shoot; but missed. For a long +time, it seemed to me, I watched that terrible fight, and then ran, +finally reaching the river, where I recovered somewhat." + +"Did you see Wetzel again?" + +"Once, about a quarter of a mile behind me. He was staggering along on +my trail." + +At this juncture there was a commotion among the settlers crowding +behind Colonel Zane and Jonathan, and Helen Sheppard appeared, white, +with her big eyes strangely dilated. + +"Oh!" she cried breathlessly, clasping both hands around Jonathan's +arm. "I'm not too late? You're not going to----" + +"Helen, this is no place for you," said Colonel Zane sternly. "This is +business for men. You must not interfere." + +Helen gazed at him, at Brandt, and then up at the borderman. She did +not loose his arm. + +"Outside some one told me you intended to shoot him. Is it true?" + +Colonel Zane evaded the searching gaze of those strained, brilliant +eyes. Nor did he answer. + +As Helen stepped slowly back a hush fell upon the crowd. The +whispering, the nervous coughing, and shuffling of feet, ceased. + +In those around her Helen saw the spirit of the border. Colonel Zane +and Silas wore the same look, cold, hard, almost brutal. The women +were strangely grave. Nellie Douns' sweet face seemed changed; there +was pity, even suffering on it, but no relenting. Even Betty's face, +always so warm, piquant, and wholesome, had taken on a shade of doubt, +of gloom, of something almost sullen, which blighted its dark beauty. +What hurt Helen most cruelly was the borderman's glittering eyes. + +She fought against a shuddering weakness which threatened to overcome +her. + +"Whose prisoner is Brandt?" she asked of Colonel Zane. + +"He gave himself up to me, naturally, as I am in authority here," +replied the colonel. "But that signifies little. I can do no less than +abide by Jonathan's decree, which, after all, is the decree of +the border." + +"And that is?" + +"Death to outlaws and renegades." + +"But cannot you spare him?" implored Helen. "I know he is a bad man; +but he might become a better one. It seems like murder to me. To kill +him in cold blood, wounded, suffering as he is, when he claimed your +mercy. Oh! it is dreadful!" + +The usually kind-hearted colonel, soft as wax in the hands of a girl, +was now colder and harder than flint. + +"It is useless," he replied curtly. "I am sorry for you. We all +understand your feelings, that yours are not the principles of the +border. If you had lived long here you could appreciate what these +outlaws and renegades have done to us. This man is a hardened +criminal; he is a thief, a murderer." + +"He did not kill Mordaunt," replied Helen quickly. "I saw him draw +first and attack Brandt." + +"No matter. Come, Helen, cease. No more of this," Colonel Zane cried +with impatience. + +"But I will not!" exclaimed Helen, with ringing voice and flashing +eye. She turned to her girl friends and besought them to intercede for +the outlaw. But Nell only looked sorrowfully on, while Betty met her +appealing glance with a fire in her eyes that was no dim reflection of +her brother's. + +"Then I must make my appeal to you," said Helen, facing the borderman. +There could be no mistaking how she regarded him. Respect, honor and +love breathed from every line of her beautiful face. + +"Why do you want him to go free?" demanded Jonathan. "You told me to +kill him." + +"Oh, I know. But I was not in my right mind. Listen to me, please. He +must have been very different once; perhaps had sisters. For their +sake give him another chance. I know he has a better nature. I feared +him, hated him, scorned him, as if he were a snake, yet he saved me +from that monster Legget!" + +"For himself!" + +"Well, yes, I can't deny that. But he could have ruined me, wrecked +me, yet he did not. At least, he meant marriage by me. He said if I +would marry him he would flee over the border and be an honest man." + +"Have you no other reason?" + +"Yes." Helen's bosom swelled and a glory shone in her splendid eyes. +"The other reason is, my own happiness!" + +Plain to all, if not through her words, from the light in her eyes, +that she could not love a man who was a party to what she considered +injustice. + +The borderman's white face became flaming red. + +It was difficult to refuse this glorious girl any sacrifice she +demanded for the sake of the love so openly avowed. + +Sweetly and pityingly she turned to Brandt: "Will not you help me?" + +"Lass, if it were for me you were asking my life I'd swear it yours +for always, and I'd be a man," he replied with bitterness; "but not to +save my soul would I ask anything of him." + +The giant passions, hate and jealousy, flamed in his gray eyes. + +"If I persuade them to release you, will you go away, leave this +country, and never come back?" + +"I'll promise that, lass, and honestly," he replied. + +She wheeled toward Jonathan, and now the rosy color chased the pallor +from her cheeks. + +"Jack, do you remember when we parted at my home; when you left on +this terrible trail, now ended, thank God! Do you remember what an +ordeal that was for me? Must I go through it again?" + +Bewitchingly sweet she was then, with the girlish charm of coquetry +almost lost in the deeper, stranger power of the woman. + +The borderman drew his breath sharply; then he wrapped his long arms +closely round her. She, understanding that victory was hers, sank +weeping upon his breast. For a moment he bowed his face over her, and +when he lifted it the dark and terrible gloom had gone. + +"Eb, let him go, an' at once," ordered Jonathan. "Give him a rifle, +some meat, an' a canoe, for he can't travel, an' turn him loose. Only +be quick about it, because if Wetzel comes in, God himself couldn't +save the outlaw." + +It was an indescribable glance that Brandt cast upon the tearful face +of the girl who had saved his life. But without a word he followed +Colonel Zane from the room. + +The crowd slowly filed down the steps. Betty and Nell lingered behind, +their eyes beaming through happy tears. Jonathan, long so cold, showed +evidence of becoming as quick and passionate a lover as he had been a +borderman. At least, Helen had to release herself from his embrace, +and it was a blushing, tear-stained face she turned to her friends. + +When they reached the stockade gate Colonel Zane was hurrying toward +the river with a bag in one hand, and a rifle and a paddle in the +other. Brandt limped along after him, the two disappearing over the +river bank. + +Betty, Nell, and the lovers went to the edge of the bluff. + +They saw Colonel Zane choose a canoe from among a number on the beach. +He launched it, deposited the bag in the bottom, handed the rifle and +paddle to Brandt, and wheeled about. + +The outlaw stepped aboard, and, pushing off slowly, drifted down and +out toward mid-stream. When about fifty yards from shore he gave a +quick glance around, and ceased paddling. His face gleamed white, and +his eyes glinted like bits of steel in the sun. + +Suddenly he grasped the rifle, and, leveling it with the swiftness of +thought, fired at Jonathan. + +The borderman saw the act, even from the beginning, and must have read +the outlaw's motive, for as the weapon flashed he dropped flat on the +bank. The bullet sang harmlessly over him, imbedding itself in the +stockade fence with a distinct thud. + +The girls were so numb with horror that they could not even scream. + +Colonel Zane swore lustily. "Where's my gun? Get me a gun. Oh! What +did I tell you?" + +"Look!" cried Jonathan as he rose to his feet. + +Upon the sand-bar opposite stood a tall, dark, familiar figure. + +"By all that's holy, Wetzel!" exclaimed Colonel Zane. + +They saw the giant borderman raise a long, black rifle, which wavered +and fell, and rose again. A little puff of white smoke leaped out, +accompanied by a clear, stinging report. + +Brandt dropped the paddle he had hurriedly begun plying after his +traitor's act. His white face was turned toward the shore as it sank +forward to rest at last upon the gunwale of the canoe. Then his body +slowly settled, as if seeking repose. His hand trailed outside in the +water, drooping inert and lifeless. The little craft drifted +down stream. + +"You see, Helen, it had to be," said Colonel Zane gently. "What a +dastard! A long shot, Jack! Fate itself must have glanced down the +sights of Wetzel's rifle." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A year rolled round; once again Indian summer veiled the golden fields +and forests in a soft, smoky haze. Once more from the opal-blue sky of +autumn nights, shone the great white stars, and nature seemed wrapped +in a melancholy hush. + +November the third was the anniversary of a memorable event on the +frontier--the marriage of the younger borderman. + +Colonel Zane gave it the name of "Independence Day," and arranged a +holiday, a feast and dance where all the settlement might meet in +joyful thankfulness for the first year of freedom on the border. + +With the wiping out of Legget's fierce band, the yoke of the renegades +and outlaws was thrown off forever. Simon Girty migrated to Canada and +lived with a few Indians who remained true to him. His confederates +slowly sank into oblivion. The Shawnee tribe sullenly retreated +westward, far into the interior of Ohio; the Delawares buried the war +hatchet, and smoked the pipe of peace they had ever before refused. +For them the dark, mysterious, fatal wind had ceased to moan along the +trails, or sigh through tree-tops over lonely Indian camp-fires. + +The beautiful Ohio valley had been wrested from the savages and from +those parasites who for years had hung around the necks of the +red men. + +This day was the happiest of Colonel Zane's life. The task he had set +himself, and which he had hardly ever hoped to see completed, was +ended. The West had been won. What Boone achieved in Kentucky he had +accomplished in Ohio and West Virginia. + +The feast was spread on the colonel's lawn. Every man, woman and child +in the settlement was there. Isaac Zane, with his Indian wife and +child, had come from the far-off Huron town. Pioneers from Yellow +Creek and eastward to Fort Pitt attended. The spirit of the occasion +manifested itself in such joyousness as had never before been +experienced in Fort Henry. The great feast was equal to the event. +Choice cuts of beef and venison, savory viands, wonderful loaves of +bread and great plump pies, sweet cider and old wine, delighted the +merry party. + +"Friends, neighbors, dear ones," said Colonel Zane, "my heart is +almost too full for speech. This occasion, commemorating the day of +our freedom on the border, is the beginning of the reward for stern +labor, hardship, silenced hearths of long, relentless years. I did not +think I'd live to see it. The seed we have sown has taken root; in +years to come, perhaps, a great people will grow up on these farms we +call our homes. And as we hope those coming afterward will remember +us, we should stop a moment to think of the heroes who have gone +before. Many there are whose names will never be written on the roll +of fame, whose graves will be unmarked in history. But we who worked, +fought, bled beside them, who saw them die for those they left behind, +will render them all justice, honor and love. To them we give the +victory. They were true; then let us, who begin to enjoy the freedom, +happiness and prosperity they won with their lives, likewise be true +in memory of them, in deed to ourselves, and in grace to God." + +By no means the least of the pleasant features of this pleasant day +was the fact that three couples blushingly presented themselves before +the colonel, and confided to him their sudden conclusions in regard +to the felicitousness of the moment. The happy colonel raced around +until he discovered Jim Douns, the minister, and there amid the merry +throng he gave the brides away, being the first to kiss them. + +It was late in the afternoon when the villagers dispersed to their +homes and left the colonel to his own circle. With his strong, dark +face beaming, he mounted the old porch step. + +"Where are my Zane babies?" he asked. "Ah! here you are! Did anybody +ever see anything to beat that? Four wonderful babies! Mother, here's +your Daniel--if you'd only named him Eb! Silas, come for Silas junior, +bad boy that he is. Isaac, take your Indian princess; ah! little +Myeerah with the dusky face. Woe be to him who looks into those eyes +when you come to age. Jack, here's little Jonathan, the last of the +bordermen; he, too, has beautiful eyes, big like his mother's. Ah! +well, I don't believe I have left a wish, unless----" + +"Unless?" suggested Betty with her sweet smile. + +"It might be----" he said and looked at her. + +Betty's warm cheek was close to his as she whispered: "Dear Eb!" The +rest only the colonel heard. + +"Well! By all that's glorious!" he exclaimed, and attempted to seize +her; but with burning face Betty fled. + + * * * * * + +"Jack, dear, how the leaves are falling!" exclaimed Helen. "See them +floating and whirling. It reminds me of the day I lay a prisoner in +the forest glade praying, waiting for you." + +The borderman was silent. + +They passed down the sandy lane under the colored maple trees, to a +new cottage on the hillside. + +"I am perfectly happy to-day," continued Helen. "Everybody seems to be +content, except you. For the first time in weeks I see that shade on +your face, that look in your eyes. Jack, you do not regret the +new life?" + +"My love, no, a thousand times no," he answered, smiling down into her +eyes. They were changing, shadowing with thought; bright as in other +days, and with an added beauty. The wilful spirit had been softened +by love. + +"Ah, I know, you miss the old friend." + +The yellow thicket on the slope opened to let out a tall, dark man who +came down with lithe and springy stride. + +"Jack, it's Wetzel!" said Helen softly. + +No words were spoken as the comrades gripped hands. + +"Let me see the boy?" asked Wetzel, turning to Helen. + +Little Jonathan blinked up at the grave borderman with great round +eyes, and pulled with friendly, chubby fingers at the fringed +buckskin coat. + +"When you're a man the forest trails will be corn fields," muttered +Wetzel. + +The bordermen strolled together up the brown hillside, and wandered +along the river bluff. The air was cool; in the west the ruddy light +darkened behind bold hills; a blue mist streaming in the valley shaded +into gray as twilight fell. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last Trail, by Zane Grey + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST TRAIL *** + +This file should be named lsttr10.txt or lsttr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, lsttr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lsttr10a.txt + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Audrey Longhurst, Tom Allen +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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