Show imam v 10 ID aa T A alf f 1 this chis is a story of pioneer days ays in TIT II 11 P lr IF I 1 ji L A jl N II 11 1 J I 1 ji indiana when courageous frontiers e r s taa aja SSU y s 9 ca da j s men fought i L the redskins red skins and J the tl by SAMUEL mccoy 7 wilderness and won vast territory to copyright 1816 1916 t bobbs merrill co CHAPTER XV continued 9 with a bound he reached the bank of the stream leaped down beneath its friendly shelter and ran on noiseless moccasins along tho the shelving edge back toward the quarter from which the shot had come if he were pursued it would be better to lot let the chase pass him than to try to outdistance the indian runners at last lie stopped and inch by inch craNy crawled lerl up tip to the top of tho the bank until lie he could lift lift ills his head with infinite caution and peer through the tufts of weeds no sound broke the stillness for an eternity of time he lay clutching hla his rifle in readiness but the only pound wits ft as tile the querulous calling of the little woodpecker high overhead ile ho waited waited waited F fifty efty yards away a twig snapped under a slow moving foot david scarcely breathed A head rose above a fallen giant of the forest and a crouching shadow flitted flirted frain tree trpo td tree nearer nearer IX i david raised ills rifle ever so title ile iio saw the face of the the dread hunter peering with quick motions of the head from side to side watchful as the brown water snake nearer he be came the garb was that of an indian the face a white manst mans I 1 david was about to iry cry out with relief when the glittering eyes were turned full toward him though they tailed failed to pierce the sheltering covert and with a sickening horror david recognized tho the face of simon girty the renegade I 1 on the instant david lifted his rifle and fired full at the crouching figure from glatys girtys lips broke the roar of an infuriated animal he staggered st back with the impact of the shot but he did not fall nor yet did he lift his weapon to his shoulder and david saw that his shot had struck only the lock of glatys girtys rendering it useless but leaving the man unharmed with it bellow of rage girty bounded y toward him swinging the broken weapon like a club there was w as no time to reload david leaped to the top of the bank and braced himself for the onset As the clubbed rifle of the out law rose above his head david swu swung his own upward to meet it T Y crashed together and splintered r aith ith a shock and in the same second I 1 na 41 ing tho the broken stock away th the mighty arms of simon girty flung t themselves irese ves around david 2 j matr mt Tr thy or 0 desperation david strove to oppose the terrible sinews back and forth over the frozen grass the two men fought like beasts heaving struggling stumbling over roots locked in an embrace as deadly as that of the cougar but it could not last long david felt his strength ebbing under the terrific train and his breath grew short and jg gasping asping when suddenly the earth gave way beneath their feet find and with n last despairing effort david twisted him self above its as they toppled over the low bluff and the fight was over girty falling underneath had struck his head upon a stone and his arms relaxed theli their hold david stood up panting girty lay very still but david knew thadlie must make sure that the man was vas dead before he could be safe himself he felt in his bis girdle for his bis till they crashed together and splintered witha with a shook shock knife but it had fallen out during tho the struggle clambering up the bank again he saw lit it lying on the ground and as ills his fingers closed upon the handle he thought he heard beard a sob ho he turned his licad head quickly 10 11 I 1 V ue e name burst from him in tho the completeness c eness of his astonishment in I 1 the revulsion of his despair in his mighty joy like the cry of the soul itself toinette was leaning against the log from behind which girty had biad risen exhausted li by the effort she had made to free herself from the thongs that tha t bound her feet and fia hands adi A sob had bad acome come from lips drawn in utter nearl less and despair I 1 ile was beside hir hap save yourself sho she murmured VZ faintly aint there are indians coming co I 1 ile ho kneeled and cut the thon S that flint bound her ankles and then of her wrists As she tried to sta d she swayed weakly find and fainted there was no time to lose lie he lift edher her limp imp form upon his shoulders alq and ran staggeringly gerin gly in the direction odthe of 1 tho troops lie ile could never overtake overtake them the in arching column and slow moving wagons must be a n mile away mi ay by now lie ile stumbled on with d I 1 es exertion ile he reached tho the winding creel cieck again laid down hla his unconscious burden and dashed the I 1 icy y water in tol areat bettes face her F great blue eyes exes shadowed by dark circles of exhaustion opened savl slowly looked at him blankly Fat father hert belp livla me I 1 she cried lie he shook liep hep by the shoulders stand cupl tr trl the light of consciousness ness cati cane e back into her eyes she rose find and tried to walk they found a place where the water gurgled over a stony bar ankle deep crossed it find and struggled up the bank on oil the farther side As they reached the top there cattle came to their ears cars tile the dreadful die adful exultant yells of the indians three hundred yards yarda behind david put ills arms around the girls gills shoulders deis and they ran on with palsied limbs they seemed to be struggling on in that nightmare night maie where the feet no are leaden find and the pursuers fleet nearer find and nearer camu came the fierce yelping at last david end and toinette Tol nette stood still and looked at each other david drew his knife she nodded silently pi praying ax ing him to deliver her with vuth that swift sift death from the tortures of the savages dav ages oh god not yet I 1 he cried and drew her on in blind haste twice tico lie he shouted with all the strength of tits his gasping lungs was it an cc echo or an answering shout that cat came back and then there came a burst or of te bilto sweetest music in the world the cheers of a score of harrisons men crashing through the woods a hill hundred red yards away falie he chase was suddenly reversed at tue first shout of the backwoodsmen backwoods men he baffled indians turned and fled alie ie res rescuing ailing party pursued them but a little way firing bring vainly at the fleeing forms dodging among the tree trunks young georgae croghan harrisons Harrl sons aid was in command of the little squad they had heard glatys girtys shot fired at david and a little later davids shot and had come back from th the troops with all speed Tol toinette tobnette nette had sunk to the ground laughing and sobbing robbing they gathered around her with wild hurrahs hur a torrent of eager questions they bore her on their shoulders back to the marching men how the cheering ran along the line as the men caught sight of lierl her general harrlson harrison and his staff galloped up one by one and shouted sli like boys old wash johnston leaned over and kissed her face stained with happy tears im old enough my dear he said and the men cheered again A dozen times she was obliged to tell the segry ot oilier her captivity a dozen times the men lifted david on their shoulders and cheered him to the echo but through all the rejoicing and the thanksgiving davids heart remained heavy for the breach still seemed impossible to bridge she too suffered I 1 tormented by a debt of gratitude due I 1 one whose treason to his country must forever bar him from her love treason why was it then that david seemed such a hero here to all his comrades among the militiamen why hall till all of them ed him into their hearts like a brother tobnette Tol nette struggled all through the day with the secret which she thought so horrible little by little she bailie to the conclusion that david had manage managed a in some way to win a pardon from governor harrison before the trip to the prophets camp had been begun she went back over the circumstances of that tragic meeting in corydon when slie she find ike had confronted david lind and found the proofs of ery cry upon him what had happened after she had left that scene perhaps ike bad prevailed on david to renounce tits his allegiance to england perhaps then lie he had interceded intercedes Inter ceded with governor harridon Harr Har lon in his friends behalf she pictured the stern young governor as saying that davids life must depend on his falth faithful ful service to the territory in the future ike had never spoken one word to her about david from that day on little by little as she went over each point in her heart a sense that she had been tricked out of her love grew on oil her it sense that somehow she had cheated herself Iier self inthe sleepless hours of tile the night that followed she felt her eyes smarting with tears what could she do what could she do tho the whole world seemed against nerl herl she could not bring herself to voice her inward trouble to anyone least of all io to david she watched him striding along among his comrades comrade jesting with them as only men who have passed through death together er can jest and her torment almost maddened her whitt what a sorry tangle she had got herself into I 1 what a little fool she had been beell I 1 but david too she told herself had been just as aa unreasonable she caught glimpses glImpse of him when ho be thought himself unseen by her and the set of his jaws convinced her that lie be was unendurable la in ills his fixed resolve not to forget what lind had gone before why lie he be sensible find and talk to her us if nothing had happened As tor for herself she phe would die before she begged ills his forgiveness gi veness and so matters stood when they reached fort harrison on the homeward journey at port fort son they found ike blackford sound find and strong again Tol tobnette nette lind had dreaded meeting him ile he came toward her ter ills faco face bright with joy but clouded when lie he realized that david and sho she had not yet settled their silly quarrel ike was miserable 1 but lie ho kept silence lie he knew better than to thrust ills his paw into that lire the wounded were transferred to tile boats tit at fort and the journey to was soon accomplished plis shed lied there they found the lady mule priscilla find who alioa ja the march to to i corydon was resumed resume tobnette Tol nette waa ferried on the lie jerin jennys ys patient back willie ike strode beside lier her arid and ike laughed striving to make her forget but strove in batill on the twenty fifth of november they reached corydon had gone on before with the news of victory find the whole village came out to moot meet them as they neared tit the town women ran among the men even its as they marched and flung their arms around the necks of brothers fathers father husbands though somo some sought in vain for those who would never return or threw thein themselves selves with weeping beside the bodies of those who lay upon the litters put but a hundred hearts were happy find and thanked god and happiest happ I 1 e t of all was a little old alf man Iati fee obannon alil who strained ills his daughter to tits his breast break and kissed her ber again and again with tears mingling tin with ills its kissea for she had been brought back to him a as from the grave grae CHAPTER XVI the poison lingers david stayed behind lit in vincenne s going back to tits ills work at the trading house of francois vigo but he stayed there only a week or two before his loneliness made existence with outi a sight of Tol toinette nette an existence not to be endured lie ile hated the sight of the ill smelling store with its heaps of green skins its crackling bundles of furs hated the alie sight of the cheerful Hoo hoosiers and french who thronged thron ged the streets of the old capital and loathed tho the wretched Plank eshaw indians who slept in the doorway suddenly une one morning lie he told old vigo that he must leave and the next day found him once more in corydon where ike welcomed him with beaming face still the breach was open I 1 it Is so hard for young men and maidens to lay down their pride 1 to tobnette Tol nette the days were almost unbearable david acted like a bear with a sore bore head she thought it was just what she might have expected she told herself it Is perfectly silly to be so big and flinty she was sure david had never spoken ten words to her at tiny any one time thile since the day lie he had knocked everything into a cocked lint hat by telling her lie he loved her people who loved each other net act as they did she knew why whenever they had been together she felt fis as though something tremendous something bigger than she was was in the very air around and on the point of exploding site she approve of explosions plo lons still less of things nameless forces that were bigger than she wits was when she had talked to david in the old flays it was like talking to tile the heart of one of those terrible creatures of steel about which mr livingston had written her father that great throb being caldron which they fed with logs and which palpitated with fury find and drove a boat from pittsburgh to now new orleans in a month it was bigger than she was and unmanageable find and it was not at nit all her idea of love whenever she thought about it that Is to say about the atmosphere which was immediately and mysteriously evolved out of common day whenever david and she encountered her eyes filled with tears of vexation As for being sorry that fiat was another matter if david wished to be flint she was perfectly capable of being steel yet she thought about him every day her father for the first time in her experience failed to be of any help to her ter at home in new orleans she had gone to him with the story of each boy who had danced attendance upon her and lie ho had seen them as she did find and together they had laughed each cavalier into oblivion but she found it impossible possible 1111 to discuss this new problem with him it was no use telling her father that she was afraid of some home thing she name if it was true that she had trembled from head to toot foot when she felt that the sparks which flashed back and forth from her steel and davids flent were dangerously near a powder wine mine somewhere inside her that was her affair and she would have to drown tt it with her own contempt as best bes t she might accordingly the little old gentleman who was sincerely troubled by the evl evi dent breach beeich between his daughter and I 1 david got small satisfaction from tobnette Tol nette when be stuck a cau cautious ilous aln finger into the difficulty there was nothing wrong tind ab she was perfectly happy and if david chose to be a i bear with a S sore oie head bead that was his concern and not theirs and mr oban not nori wisely forbore further attempts to effect it reconciliation ike blackford Blae kford who remained a stanch friend to each was likewise constrained to remain in troubled silence lence Bl lie he had opened a well ell meaning caning mouth month to each in turn and find biad got no cakes to fill it at either fajr fair and fit at last her happiness was so perfect flint sit she resolved to endure it no lunger longer slie she w baited alted until she found him alone in ili the shop the little room which w alch had once meant to ill him tit the beginning of lifes joyousness and lifes hopes and which alch wits was now a prison house whence ghosts of yesterdays vester davs mocked him with their memories me moiles it air was about to close its abo doors rs for tit the day fly Tol tobnette nette summoned till nil hoi her strength the tower of pride was |