Marching on Niagara/Chapter 23
CHAPTER XXIII
UP THE MOHAWK VALLEY
"Henry! Sam! Schnitzer! Wake up! The camp is surrounded by Indians!"
Dave uttered the cry loudly, and on the instant Barringford leaped to his feet, reaching for his everready gun as he did so. The Dutch trapper was also awake in short order, and Henry followed.
"Injuns?" queried Barringford. "Whar?"
"In those bushes, and behind yonder trees. What shall we do?"
Before the old frontiersman could answer that question, a voice came out of the darkness:
"Are the white men English?"
"Yes, we're English," answered Barringford.
"Then the redmen are glad to meet their brothers. The redmen were afraid the sleeping ones were French."
"Who are you?" asked Henry.
"Arrow Head, of the Miamis. We have joined the great English warrior Johnson, to fight the French. Let us be friends."
A few words more followed, and Barringford told the Indians to come forward. At this eight redmen advanced to the camp-fire, on which the boys threw some extra brushwood, so that they might see the new arrivals. The Indians had slung their weapons over their shoulders, as a sign of peace, and our friends did likewise.
Schnitzer had met Arrow Head before, and said he would vouch for it that the warrior was all right. From the under chief it was learned that General Johnson, with seven hundred Indians, had already marched to meet General Prideaux and that the camp of the army was some forty miles distant, up the river. Arrow Head had been left behind to "drum up" a few stragglers, but was now ready to go forward with the redmen under him.
"The war talk at Canajoharie castle was a great one," said the under warrior. "Your General Johnson has treated us like brothers, and we will fight for him to the bitter end. We have sung our war songs and put on our war paints, and no French soldiers shall stand up against us. Henceforth the English shall be our brothers for evermore."
"Yah, now you vos talkin' common sense," put in Schnitzer. "Ven you fight mid dem Frenchers you vos all fools—for dem Frenchers vill pe licked chust so sure as Henry Hudson discovered New York. I peen a Dutch prophet, und I know," and he said this so earnestly that Arrow Head was duly impressed. Schnitzer, who afterward made himself famous as a pioneer in Ohio, could do a few sleight of hand tricks, and because of these tricks many of the redmen considered him something of a wizard.
All rested until daybreak and then, after a hasty breakfast, in which the Indians joined the whites, the march forward was resumed. Soon it began to rain, but the drops did not come down heavily, and Barringford said the storm had shifted to the westward. In this he was right for by noon the sun was shining as brightly as ever.
As they trudged along, Dave and Henry questioned Arrow Head concerning the French Indians and their captives, and about Jean Bevoir. They could, however, get little satisfaction, excepting that Arrow Head had heard that all the captives had been removed to the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and that a general movement toward Montreal and Quebec was contemplated.
While our friends were trudging through the woods northward, General Prideaux had gone to Schenectady. He had with him his own division of the army consisting of two regiments of English soldiers and twenty-six hundred Americans, principally from New York, although with the New Yorkers were a good sprinkling of rangers from Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, men who roamed from one colony to another, looking for a chance to better themselves and ever ready for a fight, be it with the French or the Indians.
From Schenectady General Prideaux moved up the Mohawk Valley, which was the most direct route to the lakes. This old Indian trail was protected by Fort Herkimer, Fort William, Fort Stanwix, Fort Bull, and other fortifications along the river and Lake Oneida. But this great wilderness was a wilderness still, with stopping places few and far between, and had it not been for the friendliness of the Indians—thanks to the good work done by General Johnson—matters might have gone badly with the English. More than once there was an alarm and at night sentries were posted with as much care as though they were in the very heart of the enemy's country.
It was not until three days after meeting Arrow Head and his followers that our friends came in sight of General Prideaux's command, toiling painfully around some of the rapids in the river. This first sight of the army was a thrilling one, for uniforms and weapons shone brightly in the clear sunlight. Dave's heart gave a bound.
"Puts me in mind of the time I marched with Braddock," he said to Henry. "Indeed, it might almost be the same scene over again."
"Well, let us hope it isn't the same defeat over again," returned his cousin, grimly.
The army came to a halt half an hour later, and then they learned that General Johnson and his Indians were miles away. They talked the matter over and at length concluded to move forward with the soldiers, trusting to luck to interview Johnson later.
It was an easy matter for Barringford and Hans Schnitzer to locate a number of friends among the rangers, and they received a hearty welcome, and Dave and Henry were put at their ease. One old soldier asked Dave if he had seen much of the war, and when the lad told him he had been both with Braddock and with Forbes in the attacks on what was now Fort Pitt the old soldier shook his hand warmly and "reckoned as how" he'd "do fust-rate to fight them Frenchmen at Fort Niagara."
Our four friends were assigned to a company under Captain John Mollett, who was known to Barringford, and inside of a couple of days felt thoroughly at home.
In those days the Mohawk River was navigable with canoes and batteaux to within four miles of Lake Oneida. From this point the boats had to be carried across the watershed, on the backs of horses, Indians, and soldiers to the lake. From Lake Oneida it was clear sailing down the Oswego River to Lake Ontario.
As they had done so many times in the past, some of the English soldiers were apt to sneer at the provincials, and this led to more than one wordy quarrel and not infrequently to blows.
"They make me sick!" declared Henry, one day, after listening to the bluster of several grenadiers. "To hear them talk one would think only they were able to fight. I reckon we can do our full share."
"If they say anything to me I'll tell 'em what happened under Braddock," returned Dave. "And they can take it as they please."
Barringford counseled moderation, but secretly he was as much put out as the boys even though some of the English were his warm friends. He had come near to having a quarrel with an English lieutenant named Naster and he was still much disturbed over this.
That very night Dave, while on picket duty, heard Lieutenant Naster finding fault with an old ranger named Campwell. Campwell was a pioneer over sixty-five years of age, and while a good shot and a good fighter was at times not just right in his mind, although he could by no means be called crazy. The pair came close to where Dave was on guard and the young soldier heard the lieutenant poke all manner of fun at the old man.
"Better go home and mind the babies, Campwell," said the English lieutenant. "It's more in your line of duty, isn't it now?"
"Let me alone!" cried the old man. "If I was to mind babies I'd not mind such a one as you, I'll warrant. 'T would have been better had you remained in England."
"Ha! so you call me' a baby?" roared Lieutenant Naster, sourly. "If I am, how do you like that from me?" And he gave the old pioneer a shove that sent him headlong over the roots of a nearby tree.
The action was so cowardly, and so entirely uncalled for, that it made Dave's temper rise on the instant, and regardless of consequences he leaped to where Lieutenant Naster was standing and caught him by the shoulder.
"Leave him alone, you brute!" he ejaculated. "How dare you treat an old man like that?"
In sudden fear the English lieutenant wheeled around. When he saw it was only a boy who had spoken, and a hated provincial at that, his rage returned.
"What do you mean by placing your dirty hand on me!" he roared. "I'll have you arrested on the spot! This to me—an officer of the King's Guard! Preposterous!"
"It wasn't right to molest old Campwell," returned Dave, sturdily. "He is as brave as any of us, and I have heard tell that he has fought well all through this war. You ought"
"Don't tell me what I ought to do, you dirty little plantation hand! Say another word and I'll report you at headquarters."
"As you please," answered Dave, recklessly. "But if you worry Campwell any more you'll have an account to settle with Colonel Haldimand—and I can tell you that he won't put up with it any more than any of us."
At the mention of the officer in charge of the provincials the English lieutenant was for the moment nonplussed. He knew Colonel Haldimand to be a Swiss-American of stern military bearing and one to whom many of the pioneers were warmly attached.
"You—you threaten me?" he asked, after an ugly pause.
"You can take it as you please."
"My affair with this old man was my own—not yours."
"Yes, but I'm glad he took my part," came from Campwell, as he arose slowly to his feet, for the fall had deprived him of his breath. "You took a mean advantage o' me. I've a good mind to fill ye full o' buckshot!" And he caught hold of his gun threateningly.
It was now that Lieutenant Naster showed his true nature. Much of his color forsook him and he retreated in alarm.
"Don't—don't!" he cried, hurriedly. "I—I didn't mean to be—ah—serious. The whole thing was meant in fun."
"No fun in shoving me down."
"I—ah—I didn't mean to shove you so hard—upon my honor I did not, Campwell. Let us drop it; won't you?"
The old pioneer gave a grunt. He was too open-hearted to understand such a mean, sneaking nature as that of the Englishman.
"We'll drop it—but keep your hands off of me in the future," he said, at last.
"I won't bother you. But you—" The lieutenant turned to Dave. "I'll bear you in mind, my fine young cock-of-the-walk,—and I'll take you down a peg or two ere I'm done with you, remember what I say!" And with a shake of his fist he hurried away in the darkness.
A minute after this Barringford came up, asking what was the matter. When told his brow contracted.
"That lieutenant is a regular sneak," he said. "Keep your eye open fer him, Dave—an' don't trust him a farthing's worth. He is just the kind to play you dirty the first chance he gits."