Salute to Adventurers Read online

  CHAPTER IX.

  VARIOUS DOINGS IN THE SAVANNAH.

  I awoke in broad daylight, and when my wits came back to me, I saw Iwas in a tent of skins, with my limbs unbound, and a pitcher of waterbeside me placed by some provident hand. Through the tent door I lookedover a wide space of green savannah. How I had got there I knew not;but, as my memory repeated the events of the night, I knew I hadtravelled far, for the sea showed miles away at a great distancebeneath me. On the water I saw a ship in full sail, diminished to a toysize, careering northward with the wind.

  Outside a man was seated whistling a cheerful tune. I got to my feetand staggered out to clear my head in the air, and found the smilingface of Ringan.

  "Good-morning, Andrew," he cried, as I sat down beside him. "Have youslept well?"

  I rubbed my eyes and took long draughts of the morning breeze.

  "Are you a warlock, Mr. Campbell, that you can spirit folk about thecountry at your pleasure? I have slept sound, but my dreams have beenbad."

  "Yes," he said; "what sort of dreams, maybe?"

  "I dreamed I was in a wild place among wild men, and that I saw murderdone. The look of the man who did it was not unlike your own."

  "You have dreamed true," he said gravely; "but you have the wrong wordfor it. Others would call it justice."

  "What sort of justice?" said I, "when you had no court or law but justwhat you made yourself."

  "Is it not a stiff Whiggamore?" he said, looking skywards. "Why, man,all justice is what men make themselves. What hinders the FreeCompanions from making as honest laws as any cackling Council in thetowns? Did you see the man Cosh? Have you heard anything of his doings,and will you deny that the world was well quit of him? There's adecency in all trades, and Cosh fair stank to heaven. But I'm glad thething ended as it did. I never get to like a cold execution. 'Twasbetter for everybody that he should fly at my face and get six inchesof kindly steel in his throat. He had a gentleman's death, which wasmore than his crimes warranted."

  I was only half convinced. Here was I, a law-abiding merchant,pitchforked suddenly into a world of lawlessness. I could not beexpected to adjust my views in the short space of a night.

  "You gave me a rough handling," I said, "Where was the need of it?"

  "And you showed very little sense in bursting in on us the way you did!Could you not have bided quietly till Shalah gave the word? I had to beharsh with you, or they would have suspected something and cut yourthroat. Yon gentry are not to take liberties with. What made you do it,Andrew?"

  "Just that I was black afraid. That made me more feared of being acoward, so I forced myself to yon folly."

  "A very honourable reason," he said.

  "Are you the leader of those men?" I asked. "They looked a scurvy lot.Do you call that a proper occupation for the best blood inBreadalbane?"

  It was a silly speech, and I could have bitten my tongue out when I haduttered it. But I was in a vile temper, for the dregs of the negro'srum still hummed in my blood. His face grew dark, till he looked likethe man I had seen the night before.

  "I allow no man to slight my race," he said in a harsh voice.

  "It's the truth whether you like it or not. And you that claimed to bea gentleman! What is it they say about the Highlands?" And I quoted aribald Glasgow proverb.

  What moved me to this insolence I cannot say, I was in the wrong, and Iknew it, but I was too much of a child to let go my silly pride.

  Ringan got up very quickly and walked three steps. The blackness hadgone from his face, and it was puzzled and melancholy.

  "There's a precious lot of the bairn in you, Mr. Garvald," he said,"and an ugly spice of the Whiggamore. I would have killed another manfor half your words, and I've got to make you pay for them somehow."And he knit his brow and pondered.

  "I'm ready," said I, with the best bravado I could muster, thoughthe truth is I was sick at heart. I had forced a quarrel like anill-mannered boy on the very man whose help I had come to seek. And Isaw, too, that I had gone just that bit too far for which no recantationwould win pardon.

  "What sort of way are you ready?" he asked politely. "You would fightme with your pistols, but you haven't got them, and this is no a matterthat will wait. I could spit you in a jiffy with my sword, but itwouldna be fair. It strikes me that you and me are ill matched. We'relike a shark and a wolf that cannot meet to fight in the same element."

  Then he ran his finger down the buttons of his coat, and his eyes weresmiling. "We'll try the old way that laddies use on the village green.Man, Andrew, I'm going to skelp you, as your mother skelped you whenyou were a breechless bairn," And he tossed his coat on the grass.

  I could only follow suit, though I was black ashamed at the wholebusiness. I felt the disgrace of my conduct, and most bitterly thedisgrace of the penalty.

  My arm was too short to make a fighter of me, and I could only striveto close, that I might get the use of my weight and my great strengthof neck and shoulder. Ringan danced round me, tapping me lightly onnose and cheek, but hard enough to make the blood flow, I defendedmyself as best I could, while my temper rose rapidly and made meforget my penitence. Time and again I looked for a chance to slip in,but he was as wary as a fox, and was a yard off before I could get myarm round him.

  At last in extreme vexation, I lowered my head and rushed blindly forhis chest. Something like the sails of a windmill smote me on the jaw,and I felt myself falling into a pit of great darkness where littlelights twinkled.

  The next I knew I was sitting propped against the tent-pole with a coldbandage round my forehead, and Ringan with a napkin bathing my face.

  "Cheer up, man," he cried; "you've got off light, for there's no ascratch on your lily-white cheek, and the blood-letting from the nosewill clear out the dregs of Moro's hocus."

  I blinked a little, and tried to recall what had happened. All myill-humour had gone, and I was now in a hurry to set myself right withmy conscience. He heard my apology with an embarrassed face.

  "Say no more, Andrew. I was as muckle to blame as you, and I've beengiving myself some ill names for that last trick. It was ower hard,but, man, the temptation was sore."

  He elbowed me to the open air.

  "Now for the questions you've a right to ask. We of the Brethren havenot precisely a chief, as you call it, but there are not many of themwould gainsay my word. Why? you ask. Well, it's not for a modest man tobe sounding his own trumpet. Maybe it's because I'm a gentleman, andthere's that in good blood which awes the commonalty. Maybe it'sbecause I've no fish of my own to fry. I do not rob for greed, likeCalvert and Williams, or kill for lust, like the departed Cosh. To meit's a game, which I play by honest rules. I never laid finger on abodle's worth of English stuff, and if now and then I ease the Dons ofa pickle silver or send a Frenchman or two to purgatory, what worse amI doing than His Majesty's troops in Flanders, or your black frigatesthat lie off Port Royal? If I've a clear conscience I can more easilytake order with those that are less single-minded. But maybe the chiefreason is that I've some little skill of arms, so that the lad thatquestions me is apt to fare like Cosh."

  There was a kind of boastful sincerity about the man which convincedme. But his words put me in mind of my own business.

  "I came seeking you to ask help. Your friends have been making too freewith my belongings. I would never complain if it were the common riskof my trade, but I have a notion that there's some sort of designbehind it." Then I told him of my strife with the English merchants.

  "What are your losses?" he asked.

  "The Ayr brig was taken off Cape Charles, and burned to the water. Godhelp the poor souls in her, for I fear they perished."

  He nodded. "I know. That was one of Cosh's exploits. He has paid by nowfor that and other things."

  "Two of my ships were chased through the Capes and far up the Tidewaterof the James not two months back," I went on.

  He laughed. "I did that myself," he said.

  Astonishment and wrath filled me, but I
finished my tale.

  "A week ago there was a ship ashore on Accomac. Pirates boarded her,but they took nothing away save a sum of gold that was mine. Was thatyour doing also, Mr. Campbell?"

  "Yes," he said; "but the money's safe. I'll give you a line to Mercer,and he'll pay it you."

  "I'm much obliged to you, Mr. Campbell," I said, choking with anger."But who, in Heaven's name, asked you to manage my business? I thoughtyou were my friend, and I came to you as such, and here I find you thechief among my enemies."

  "Patience, Andrew," he said, "and I'll explain everything, for I grantyou it needs some explaining. First, you are right about the Englishmerchants. They and the Free Companions have long had an understanding,and word was sent by them to play tricks on your ships. I was absent atthe time, and though the thing was dirty work, as any one could see,some of the fools thought it a fair ploy, and Cosh was suffered to dohis will. When I got back I heard the story, and was black angry, so Itook the matter into my own keeping. I have ways and means of gettingthe news of Virginia, and I know pretty well what you have been doing,young one. There's spirit in you and some wise notions, but you wanthelp in the game. Besides, there's a bigger thing before you. So I tooksteps to bring you here."

  "You took a roundabout road," said I, by no means appeased.

  "It had to be. D'you think I could come marching into James Town andcollogue with you in your counting-house? Now that you're here, youhave my sworn word that the Free Companions will never lay hand againon your ventures. Will that content you?"

  "It will," I said; "but you spoke of a bigger thing before me."

  "Yes, and that's the price you are going to pay me for my goodwill.It's what the lawyers call _consideratio_ for our bargain, and it's thereason I brought you here. Tell me, Andrew, d'you ken a man Frew wholives on the South Fork River?" "A North Ireland fellow, with a hatchetface and a big scar? I saw him a year ago."

  "It stuck in my mind that you had. And d'you mind the advice he gaveyou?"

  I remembered it very well, for it was Frew who had clinched my views onthe defencelessness of our West. "He spoke God's truth," I said, "but Icannot get a Virginian to believe it."

  "They'll believe in time," he said, "though maybe too late to save someof their scalps. Come to this hillock, and I will show you something."

  From the low swell of ground we looked west to some little hills, andin the hollow of them a spire of smoke rose into the blue.

  "I'm going to take you there, that you may hear and see something toyour profit. Quick, Moro," he cried to a servant. "Bring food, and havethe horses saddled."

  We breakfasted on some very good beefsteaks, and started at a canterfor the hills. My headache had gone, and I was now in a contented frameof mind; for I saw the purpose of my errand accomplished, and I had ayoung man's eagerness to know what lay before me. As we rode Ringantalked.

  "You'll have heard tell of Bacon's rising in '76? Governor Berkeley hadridden the dominion with too harsh a hand, and in the matter of itsdefence against the Indians he was slack when he should have beentight. The upshot was that Nathaniel Bacon took up the job himself, andafter giving the Indians their lesson, turned his mind to thegovernment of Virginia. He drove Berkeley into Accomac, and would haveturned the whole place tapsalteery if he had not suddenly died of abowel complaint. After that Berkeley and his tame planters got theupper hand, and there were some pretty homings and hangings. There weretwo men that were lieutenants to Bacon, and maybe put the notion intohis head. One was James Drummond, a cousin of my own mother's, and hegot the gallows for his trouble. The other was a man Richard Lawrence,a fine scholar, and a grand hand at planning, though a little slow in afight. He kept the ordinary at James Town, and was the one thatcollected the powder and kindled the fuse. Governor Berkeley had a longscore to settle with him, but he never got him, for when the thing waspast hope Mr. Richard rode west one snowy night to the hills, andVirginia saw him no more. They think he starved in the wilderness, orgot into the hands of the wild Indians, and is long ago dead."

  I knew all about Dick Lawrence, for I had heard the tale twenty times."But surely they're right," I said, "It's fifteen years since any manhad word of him."

  "Well, you'll see him within an hour," said Ringan, "It's a queerstory, but it seems he fell in with a Monacan war party, and since heand Bacon had been fighting their deadly foes, the Susquehannocks, theytreated him well, and brought him south into Carolina. You must know,Andrew, that all this land hereaways, except for the little Algonquinvillages on the shore, is Sioux country, with as many tribes as thereare houses in Clan Campbell. But cheek by jowl is a long strip held bythe Tuscaroras, a murdering lot of devils, of whom you and I'll getnews sooner than we want. The Tuscaroras are bad enough in themselves,but the worst part is that all the back country in the hills belongs totheir cousins the Cherokees, and God knows how far north their swayholds. The Long House of the Iroquois controls everything west of thecoast land from Carolina away up through Virginia to New York and theCanadas. That means that Virginia has on two sides the most powerfultribes of savages in the world, and if ever the Iroquois found ageneral and made a common attack things would go ill with theTidewater. I tell you that so that you can understand Lawrence'sdoings. He hates the Iroquois like hell, and so he likes their enemies.He has lived for fifteen years among the Sioux, whiles with theCatawbas, whiles with the Manahoacs, but mostly with the Monacans. Weof the Free Companions see him pretty often, and bring him the news andlittle comforts, like good tobacco and _eau de vie_, that he cannot getamong savages. And we carry messages between him and the Tidewater, forhe has many friends still alive there. There's no man ever had hisknowledge of Indians, and I'm taking you to him, for he has somethingto tell you."

  By this time we had come to a place where a fair-sized burn issued froma shallow glen in the savannah. There was a peeled wand stuck in aburnt tree above the water, and this Ringan took and broke verycarefully into two equal pieces, and put them back in the hole. Fromthis point onwards I had the feeling that the long grass and the clumpsof bushes held watchers. They made no noise, but I could have sworn tothe truth of my notion. Ringan, whose senses were keener than mine,would stop every now and again and raise his hand as if in signal. Atone place we halted dead for five minutes, and at another he dismountedand cut a tuft of sumach, which he laid over his saddle. Then at theedge of a thicket he stopped again, and held up both hands above hishead. Instantly a tall Indian stepped from the cover, saluted, andwalked by our side. In five minutes more we rounded a creek of the burnand were at the encampment.

  'Twas the first time I had ever seen an Indian village. The tents, orteepees, were of skins stretched over poles, and not of bark, likethose of the woodland tribes. At a great fire in the centre women weregrilling deer's flesh, while little brown children strove andquarrelled for scraps, I saw few men, for the braves were out huntingor keeping watch at the approaches. One young lad took the horses, andled us to a teepee bigger than the others, outside of which stood afinely-made savage, with heron's feathers in his hair, and a necklaceof polished shells. On his Iron face there was no flicker of welcome orrecognition, but he shook hands silently with the two of us, and strucka blow on a dry gourd. Instantly three warriors appeared, and tooktheir place by his side. Then all of us sat down and a pipe was lit andhanded by the chief to Ringan. He took a puff and gave it to one of theother Indians, who handed it to me. With that ceremony over, the tongueof the chief seemed to be unloosed. "The Sachem comes," he said, and anold man sat himself down beside us.

  He was a strange figure to meet in an Indian camp. A long white beardhung down to his middle, and his unshorn hair draped his shoulders likea fleece. His clothing was of tanned skin, save that he had a belt ofSpanish leather, and on his feet he wore country shoes and not theIndian moccasins. The eyes in his head were keen and youthful, andthough he could not have been less than sixty he carried himself withthe vigour of a man in his prime. Below his shaggy locks was a high,broad forehead, such as some c
ollege professor might have borne who hadgiven all his days to the philosophies. He seemed to have beendisturbed in reading, for he carried in his hand a little book with afinger marking his place. I caught a glimpse of the title, and saw thatit was Mr. Locke's new "Essay on the Human Understanding."

  Ringan spoke to the chief in his own tongue, but the Sioux language wasbeyond me. Mr. Lawrence joined in, and I saw the Indian's eyes kindle.He shook his head, and seemed to deny something. Then he poured forth aflood of talk, and when he had finished Ringan spoke to me.

  "He says that the Tuscaroras are stirring. Word has come down from thehills to be ready for a great ride between the Moon of Stags and theCorngathering."

  Lawrence nodded. "That's an old Tuscarora habit; but somehow theseridings never happen." He said something in Sioux to one of thewarriors, and got an emphatic answer, which he translated to me. "Hethinks that the Cherokees have had word from farther north. It lookslike a general stirring of the Long House."

  "Is it the fighting in Canada?" I asked.

  "God knows," he said, "but I don't think so. If that were the cause weshould have the Iroquois pushed down on the top of the Cherokees. Butmy information is that the Cherokees are to move north themselves, andthen down to the Tidewater. It is not likely that the Five Nations haveany plan of conquering the lowlands. They're a hill people, and theyknow the white man's mettle too well. My notion is that some devilry isgoing on in the West, and I might guess that there's a white man init." He spoke to the chief, who spoke again to his companion, andLawrence listened with contracting brows, while Ringan whistled betweenhis teeth.

  "They've got a queer story," said Lawrence at last. "They say that whenlast they hunted on the Roanoke their young men brought a tale that atribe of Cherokees, who lived six days' journey into the hills, hadfound a great Sachem who had the white man's magic, and that God wasmoving him to drive out the palefaces and hold his hunting lodge intheir dwellings. That is not like an ordinary Indian lie. What do youmake of it, Mr. Campbell?"

  Ringan looked grave, "It's possible enough. There's a heap ofrenegades among the tribes, men that have made the Tidewater and eventhe Free Companies too warm for them. There's no knowing the mischief astrong-minded rascal might work. I mind a man at Norfolk, a Scotsredemptioner, who had the tongue of a devil and the strength of a wolf.He broke out one night and got clear into the wilderness."

  Lawrence turned to me briskly. "You see the case, sir. There's troublebrewing in the hills, black trouble for Virginia, but we've somemonths' breathing space. For Nat Bacon's sake, I'm loath to see the warpaint at James Town. The question is, are you willing to do yourshare?"

  "I'm willing enough," I said, "but what can I do? I'm not exactly apopular character in the Tidewater. If you want me to hammer sense intothe planters, you could not get a worse man for the job. I have toldGovernor Nicholson my fears, and he is of my opinion, but his hands aretied by a penurious Council. If he cannot screw money for troops out ofthe Virginians, it's not likely that I could do much."

  Lawrence nodded his wise head. "All you say is true, but I want adifferent kind of service from you. You may have noticed in yourtravels, Mr. Garvald--for they tell me you are not often out of thesaddle--that up and down the land there's a good few folk that are notvery easy in their minds. Many of these are former troopers of Bacon,some are new men who have eyes in their heads, some are old settlerswho have been soured by the folly of the Government. With such poormeans as I possess I keep in touch with these gentlemen, and in them wehave the rudiments of a frontier army. I don't say they are many; butfive hundred resolute fellows, well horsed and well armed, and led bysome man who knows the Indian ways, might be a stumbling-block in theway of an Iroquois raid. But to perfect this force needs time, and,above all, it needs a man on the spot; for Virginia is not a healthyplace for me, and these savannahs are a trifle distant, I want a man inJames Town who will receive word when I send it, and pass it onto thosewho should hear it, I want a discreet man, whose trade takes him aboutthe country. Mr. Campbell tells me you are such an one. Will you acceptthe charge?"

  I was greatly flattered, but a little perplexed. "I'm a law-abidingcitizen," I said, "and I can have no hand in rebellions. I've noambition to play Bacon's part."

  Lawrence smiled. "A proof of your discretion, sir. But believe me,there is no thought of rebellion. We have no quarrel with the Counciland less with His Majesty's Governor. We but seek to set the house inorder against perils which we alone know fully, I approve of yourscruples, and I give you my word they shall not be violated."

  "So be it," I said, "I will do what I can."

  "God be praised," said Mr. Lawrence, "I have here certain secret paperswhich Will give you the names of the men we can trust. Messages willcome to you, which I trust you to find the means of sending on. Mercerhas our confidence, and will arrange with you certain matters of arms.He will also supply you with what money is needed. There are many inthe Tidewater who would look askance at this business, so it must bedone in desperate secrecy; but if there should be trouble I counsel youto play a bold hand with the Governor. They tell me that you and he arefriendly, and, unless I mistake the man, he can see reason if he iswisely handled. If the worst comes to the worst, you can take Nicholsoninto your confidence."

  "How long have we to prepare?" I asked.

  "The summer months, according to my forecast. It may be shorter orlonger, but I will know better when I get nearer the hills."

  "And what about the Carolina tribes?" I asked. "If we are to hold thewestern marches of Virginia, we cannot risk being caught on the flank."

  "That can be arranged," he said. "Our friends the Sioux are notover-fond of the Long House. If the Tuscaroras ride, I do not think theywill ever reach the James."

  The afternoon was now ending, and we were given a meal of corn-cakesand roast deer's flesh. Then we took our leave, and Mr. Lawrence's lastword to me was to send him any English books of a serious cast whichcame under my eye. This request he made with so much hesitation, butwith so hungry a desire in his face, that I was moved to pity thisill-fated scholar, wandering in Indian lodges, and famished for lack ofthe society of his kind.

  Ringan took me by a new way which bore north of that we had ridden, andthough the dusk began soon to fall, he never faltered in his guiding.Presently we left the savannah for the woods of the coast, and,dropping down hill by a very meagre path, we came in three hours to acreek of the sea. There by a little fire we found Shalah, and the sloopriding at anchor below a thick covert of trees.

  "Good-bye to you, Andrew," cried Ringan. "You'll be getting news of mesoon, and maybe see me in the flesh on the Tidewater. Remember the wordI told you in the Saltmarket, for I never mention names when I take theroad."