THE August night was close and still as Alagwa and Peter Bondie stole out of the hotel to make their way to Major Stickney’s. The moon had not yet risen but the great stars that blazed across the immeasurable vault1 of the sky diffused2 almost as great a light. Fire-flies sparkled and pale-winged moths3, white blots4 amid the shadows, fluttered over the dried grass and dusty trails that crossed the prairie. The hum of mosquitoes and the ceaseless rune of locusts5 filled the air. In the distance the unruffled waters of the Maumee reflected the stars and the blue-black interstices of the sky.
Neither Alagwa nor Bondie, however, was thinking of the beauty of the night. Carefully they stole along, moving like dark shadows, every nerve tense, every faculty6 of body and mind concentrated, watching every bush lest it might hide some of the savages7 of whom Metea had spoken. Foot by foot they crept along, using every artifice9 that years upon the frontier had taught to Bondie and that life among the Shawnees had taught to Alagwa.
Nothing happened, however. Either Metea had lied about his men or else had not thought it worth while to set a guard on the hotel, well knowing[233] that escape was hopeless and not dreaming that ether Bondie or Alagwa would take the extreme step of warning the fort.
Beside the walls of the fort, close to the ford10 across the shrunken waters of the Maumee, stood the United States factory. At one side of it, beneath a tree, Captain Wells’s Miami wife and his three children were laughing softly, not knowing that far to the west their husband and father was lying dead amid a ring of blood-stained bodies. In front of the door itself Major Stickney was sitting, striving to get a breath of fresh air to cool the fever that racked his body.
When he saw Alagwa and Bondie his face lighted up. “Come and sit down,” he called, eagerly, scrambling11 to his feet. “Is it hot enough for you?”
Neither visitor answered the question. Alagwa glanced at Bondie, and the Frenchman stepped closer. “Captain Wells is kill,” he whispered. “Captain Heald and all the garrison12 at Fort Dearborn are kill. Winnemac and his Pottawatomies have kill them. Perhaps some are prisoners, but I think it not.”
Stickney’s fever-flushed face suddenly paled. “Good God!” he cried. Then with sudden recollection he gestured toward the woman and children beneath the tree. “Careful! Careful!” he begged,[234] tense and low. Then again: “Good God! it can’t be true. Are you sure?”
Bondie nodded. “It is true. The news have just come. Tomorrow Otucka, who lead the Miamis who went with Captain Wells, will take the news to the fort. But that is not all. There is worse to come.”
Stickney caught at the log wall of the building before which he stood. “Worse?” he echoed. “Worse? What worse can there be?”
Bondie shook his head. “There is much worse,” he said. “General Hull13 have play the coward. He have surrender Detroit and all his men.”
Stickney stared. Then an expression of relief came over his face and he laughed. “Oh! Nonsense!” he exclaimed. “That’s foolishness. Hull surrender! I guess not. Captain Wells and the Fort Dearborn garrison might be cut off, but Hull couldn’t surrender. If the same man told you about Wells, perhaps he’s safe too. Of course you did right to bring me the news and I’m grateful. But it’s all foolishness—just a rumor14. Tomorrow we’ll laugh at it.”
“It is no rumor. It is all true. Tomorrow it will be confirm. And even yet that is not all.” Bondie spoke8 gravely, apparently15 minding not at all Mr. Stickney’s disbelief in his news. “It was Metea who bring the news from Detroit. It was Winnemac and the Pottawatomies who have kill[235] Captain Wells. Now Winnemac comes to this place with his warriors16. Some are here now. In two days the rest will be here. They will attack the fort. In a month the British will come with the big guns to help them. It is true, Monsieur, all true! Sacre nom! Am I one to tell lies? It is all true.”
Stickney dropped weakly into his chair. Bondie’s earnestness and the confirmation17 which Alagwa’s silence lent had its weight with him. Almost he believed. Shuddering18, half from horror and half from illness, he lay silent for a moment.
Then he raised his head. “Have you told Lieutenant19 Hibbs?” he asked.
Bondie shrugged20 his shoulders. “Lieutenant Hibbs is a fool,” he said, not angrily, but as one who states a well-known fact. “He speaks with a loud voice, cursing everyone. He will not believe me, no matter what I say. So I come to you.”
Stickney got up. “We must go to him at once,” he said. “Come.” He started down the path toward the fort, then paused and hesitated, glancing at the woman and children beneath the tree. Then he went on. “Poor woman,” he murmured. “Let her be happy a little longer.”
At the gate of the fort the three were compelled to wait while a messenger went to notify Mr. Hibbs that Major Stickney wished to see him on a matter of grave importance. Plainly the captain was not anxious to receive visitors, for it was long[236] before the messenger came back, bringing grudging21 permission for the three to enter. “The lieutenant’s in the messhall,” he said, carelessly. “He’ll see you there!”
The messhall was a log cabin, long and low, that paralleled the southern wall of the fort. As the three approached it their ears were saluted22 with loud laughter and clinking of glasses. Clearly, it was the scene of high revelry.
Inside, at the head of the table, sat Lieutenant Hibbs, goblet23 in hand, flanked by Williams, murderer of Wilwiloway and half a dozen others, all traders or petty officers. Half a dozen smoky tallow dips threw a flaring24 light on the flushed faces of the revellers, but did not dispel25 the dim shadows that crept about the walls.
Hibbs glanced at Stickney with a flicker26 of irritation27 in his eyes. He made no attempt to rise, nor did he invite his visitors to sit down.
“What the devil’s the matter, Stickney?” he growled28. “What do you want here at this time of the night. Can’t you let a man have a minute to himself?”
Stickney’s face was grim. “I have just received very serious news,” he said; “and I have brought it to you. It is very serious—more serious than I can say.”
Hibbs glared at Stickney; then he glanced at Alagwa and his eyes grew scornful. “News!” he[237] growled. “I suppose you got it from that worthless scamp”—he gestured at Bondie—“and from that d—d Indian-bred cub29. To h—l with such news. I wouldn’t believe such dogs on oath.”
“You’ve got to believe them this time. I doubted the news myself at first, but now I am convinced that it is true. Send away your boon30 companions and listen.”
Captain Hibbs threw himself back in his chair. In the flickering31 candle light his blotched features writhed32 and twisted. “I haven’t any secrets from my friends,” he growled. “Spit out your news, or get out of here yourself. Likely it’s some cock and bull story.”
Stickney shrugged his shoulders. After all, why should he care who heard what he had to say? The news could not be suppressed. On the morrow it would be known to all, and it might as well be told at once. With a tense energy, born perhaps of the ague that was racking his body and of the weakness that he realized was fast overcoming him, he spoke.
“Spit it out?” he echoed. “By God! I will spit it out! Do you know that while you are revelling33 here the Pottawatomies are dancing over the dead bodies of Captain Wells, Captain Heald, and all the men, women, and children who were at Fort Dearborn? Do you know that General Hull has surrendered Detroit and twenty-five hundred[238] men to the British? Do you know that in two days this fort will be surrounded by redskins and all communication between it and the outside world will be cut off. Do you know that the British are preparing to bring cannon34 up the Maumee to batter35 down your walls? Do you know this, Lieutenant Hibbs, you to whose care this fort and the honor of the country have been committed?”
Stickney staggered and clutched at the edge of the table for support. His strength was failing him.
But his work was done. As he spoke the jeers36 of his auditors37 died away and silence fell. Alagwa, watching, could see the drink dying out of the faces of the listeners.
Suddenly Mr. Hibbs staggered to his feet. His atramentous face had grown pale; his nostrils38 twitched39; his chin sagged40. “It’s a lie!” he blustered41; “a lie cooked up by yonder dog and by that half-breed cub. It’s a lie.”
Stickney’s fever had come upon him and he was shaking in its grip. “It’s no lie,” he gasped42. “It’s the truth! And there’s no time to lose. Preparations must be made this very night to send away the women and children, and to make the fort ready for a siege.”
Hibbs’s eyes widened. “Tonight?” he gasped. “You’re mad, Stickney, mad.” His voice came[239] clearer. The news had well-nigh sobered him. “If this news is confirmed——”
“Confirm it now. Send men to the Miami village across the river and see what word they bring back. Don’t lose a moment. But let them be careful. Twenty Pottawatomies are here already and others are coming. Your scouts43 may be cut off. And hurry, hurry, hurry! Tonight you can do many things that will be impossible tomorrow. For God’s sake, Mr. Hibbs! For God’s sake——” Stickney’s voice failed him, and he staggered. Alagwa pushed a stool forward and he sank upon it and leaned forward upon the table, panting.
Mr. Hibbs was recovering himself. He glanced at the faces of his boon companions and saw that Stickney’s words had carried conviction. The necessity of asserting himself came strong upon him. “Damnation!” he roared, drawing himself up. “I know my duty and I’ll attend to it without advice from you or anybody else. But I won’t be stampeded. I’ll send out and inquire among the Miamis. When I get confirmation I’ll act. But I’m not going to act on the say-so of two worthless half-Injun curs and of a greenhorn out of his head with fever. Now get out and take that scum with you.” He jerked his head at Peter and Alagwa.
The listeners nodded. There was sense in the captain’s decision. After all, the reports might not be true. Stickney believed them, but he was an[240] ill man, fever racked, likely to see things deceptively. It would be folly44 to break up existing conditions on his single word.
Alagwa had not opened her mouth. Silently she had waited and listened. She herself was so sure of the truth of the tale that she and Bondie had brought that she had not doubted that it would bring conviction to others. And now Mr. Hibbs refused to believe it or to act upon it without delay.
And delay would be fatal to herself and perhaps to Jack45. Metea would come for her at dawn. Before then she must make sure of Jack’s safety. Despairingly she looked to Stickney for help, only to find him half-unconscious, shaking with fever. Clearly he was incapable46 of doing more. If she was to gain immediate47 refuge she must gain it by her own efforts.
She looked at the captain and fury swelled48 in her bosom49. Alagwa hated and loved with equal intensity50, and she had hated Hibbs since the day she first saw him—the day he had scoffed51 at Jack. Now—now——
Recklessly she sprang forward and thumped52 with her clenched53 fist upon the table. The subservience54 to authority ingrained in her as in every Indian woman had vanished. Her white blood was in the ascendency.
“Listen!” she flamed. “Listen while I speak. I bring you news that the tomahawks are up against[241] you. In return you call me scum. It is well. I want not your good will. Think you I bring you news because I love you? Not so! I hate you! I hate you all, dogs and murderers that you are. Gladly would I see you all at the stake. My heart is not white, it is red. Why, then, do I warn you? I warn you because my friend, Jack Telfair, one of your own blood, one of a family high in the councils of the great white father at Washington—because he is ill and unprotected. I ask not your help for myself. I ask it for him and for Peter Bondie and his sister, who at my bidding took their lives in their hands to bring you warning. Metea and the Pottawatomies keep watch upon us. At dawn they will come. Are we to be murdered because we warn you?”
Hibbs glared at the girl. But he was plainly uneasy. He had forgotten about Jack. Now he remembered. He remembered, too, that information had come to him lately that the young fellow’s family was of importance. Still he blustered. “Hear the young cockerel crow!” he jeered55. “What’s this Metea fellow coming to you at dawn for?”
As she hesitated Williams burst in. “What’s he coming for?” he jeered. “What you reckon he’s coming for? These Injun-bred cubs57 are always[242] snakes in the grass. I’ll bet this boy’s been playing spy for the Britishers and the Shawnees ever since he’s been here.”
Alagwa gasped. Williams had hit upon the truth. That he did not know that he had hit upon it made his words little less appalling58 to the girl. After all she was only a girl, a child in years, trying desperately59 hard to play the man. Stickney was ill and Bondie incapable. She was practically alone against a dozen men. The fury that had sustained her went out of her, and she shrank back.
Williams saw her terror and jeered at her. “What’d I tell you,” he cried. “The cub’s a liar60 and a spy. He ought to be shot, d— him!”
For a moment more the girl faced the mocking men. Her lips quivered; her breast heaved. Desperately she fought for self control. Then all at once she gave way. Across her face she flung her arm, and bent61 forward, her whole body shaking with wild hysterical62 sobs63.
Instantly Williams sprang forward, crying out in evil triumph. “I knowed it!” he yelled. “I knowed it. Look at him. Look at his figger. He ain’t no boy. He’s a girl. I’d a guessed it long ago, but she was so d— slim and straight. But she’s been a-growing and developing. Look at her now. She’s a girl, a girl, a girl, an’ she’s been travelling around with that Jack Telfair. The hussy! The baggage!”
[243]Like molten lead Williams’s words fell on the girl’s consciousness. She attempted no denial; denial would be useless. Blindly she turned toward the door. As she did so it opened and three figures pushed through it. One, a huge woman, caught her in her arms. The other sprang past her. The sound of a blow—a clear, clean blow—came to her ears, followed by the crash of benches and table. Then Jack’s voice rose, chill with death.
“Gentlemen,” he said. “I learned for the first time a few minutes ago that this lady was not a boy. Within the hour, if she will do me the honor to accept me, she will be my wife. In any event, you will remember that henceforth her honor is mine and you will address her accordingly.”
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1
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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3
moths
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| n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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4
blots
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| 污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点 | |
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locusts
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| n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树 | |
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6
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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7
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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8
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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9
artifice
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| n.妙计，高明的手段；狡诈，诡计 | |
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10
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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11
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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12
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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13
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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14
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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15
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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17
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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18
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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grudging
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| adj.勉强的，吝啬的 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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23
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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26
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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27
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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revelling
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| v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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jeers
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| n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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auditors
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| n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生 | |
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38
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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sagged
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| 下垂的 | |
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41
blustered
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| v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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42
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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43
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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44
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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45
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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46
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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47
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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48
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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49
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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50
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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51
scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
subservience
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| n.有利，有益；从属（地位），附属性；屈从，恭顺；媚态 | |
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55
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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57
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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60
liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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61
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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62
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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63
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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