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Show 1 MB MMim M&M . . E.v Hush Pesidstsr - 1 1 N CHAPTER IX Continued 25 Of one tiling I was positive, and J . hold to that opinion today: General Krndilock was convinced tliat whatever what-ever lie won must be achieved by Ills iiersounl efforts. I did talk with Mr. Shirley, the commander's . secretary, who said he would make a verbal re port of what I had learned while In iHiquesne. Whether he ever did sub nilt the information 1 brought. I can nyt s-ay, but I believe that he did he cause of his fear that the campaign was being mismanaged. I can easily imagine tiraddock listening to my I in portaril Information and giving it onlj H passing consideration, or else ignoring ignor-ing tt entirely. That night the army camped at Kush creek, where Scarou tidy once had a village. We were now within three easj marches of Duquesne, even though the army moved sluggishly; and I could not perceive any reason why we should not attain our objective. After all. I told Gift and CromiL sickness and death was ever the price paid when a large body of men, more or less si ran gers to theii environment, pass through a Virgin country. I took it for granled that on every level battlefield ot Eu rope sickness stalked every army. Cromil had nol much to sa.v De-cause De-cause of the bias furnished by his dream. Gist spoke guardedly and mid that while some phases of the cam paign were not to his liking still we ought to take the fort now we were committed to the Turtle creek course. While we were talking Sir John Si Clair and several officers came along and St. l 'lair called out to us: "You men must know this countrj You will come along wilh us to re-ciiimoiier." re-ciiimoiier." We fell In behind them and were 80on descending the steep hank ihai i? a characteristic nf the country's streams. Nor was the opposite bank any more Inviting. St. Clair studied the bank thought fully for a minute and tlier. said to his officers : "This is very bad. The army has lost heart because of rough travel. If the country beyond is as bad us this It will about finish any spirit that's left.' "It will be impossible to take the artillery and wagons uiiy farther than this bank, Sir John, unless we spend much time preparing both hanks," said one of the engineers. "That is very plain." muttered Si Clair. "And that's the devil of it." "If you can get your guns and wagons acro;-s, I can soon take you to a ridge that leads to Duipiesue." spoke up Gist. "Once you are on the ridge, you won't have much trouble; and you'll tind the country open and nol fitted for ambuscades, or surprise at tacks." As he was serving as guide to Gen eral Braddork and was well known in colonial affairs, his words were 11? toned to. St. Clair suggested he try to find a more favorable crossing. He told them there was nol much clink us the batiks continued much the same, but he did lead them to where the up proach lo the creek was less dilhVult nr.d pointed out a thinly timbered ele vation as boin:: the ridge The chief engineering problem was i-cross i-cross the creek and ascend the op posite bank One young lieutenant paid 11 he could have the we ot a hundred soldiers, he could ease the wagons and guns down one slope and haul them up the other by means ol Hie long cables carried by the army Another, who had charge of the ax nidi, guaranteed readily to make run ways of logs and thereby greatly ex pedite the passage of Hie guns and wa-'onttain. Gist called on me to repeat vhat I already bad told Mr. Shirley. I staled If the uriny would cross the creek anil Urike straight for Duquesne II could not lie at lacked with any degree ol success even If r lie Indians could be Induced to altack al all. I quoted Captain I'.eaujeu to thai effect. As they did nol cut me shori I added, for good measure, that there would be great danger fit both crossings of the Monongahela and thai It would be liraeilcnlly Impossible to avoid on am-liunade. am-liunade. thai lleaiijeii already had planned to pi. ml an iihilni'-li along Ihe river road. Sir John seemed to be strongly Irn pressed by my g.'ttenieiits. much more ko than he would have hevn tiad I made a similar talk al Alexandria, or Will's creek When we returned 10 the camp, we fully believed the inor row s march would remove us from all fear of a masked iiltmk. The con versalloti mining IheoUicerH all polnieil lo li l wl e maneuver, anil out spirit greatly Improved After Sir John had talked wilh I'.radd'X-k. Gl-t was seiil for. (,'romil iind I left limind I'aw holding n pow wow with Ihe Tew Delaware while we went lo find Hie I Unwold girl Wagoner Morgan was one ol the' Ural teamsters to arrive, (lesplle Ihe mid coiidlllon of bin horses, lie In formed its thai our llllle friend wa' cliiirlng a ketlle wilh two soldiers wives. We soon located her. She had made her si'i known to Hie women bin tiill wore tier masculine ginh, which va very ix-iislhle of her I took her aside for a little talk and al once oh imti ihe was In a soIh i mood. In fill. i.,e veenied lo be more ilowin asl than when we were lllillnii for oar llc in II, e I rnlil cabin I endeiiv end in i -1 1 -e i fur no and polnieil out 9 - Illustrations by Irwin Myers Copyrlaht by Hrnrh Pondeztor. W.N'U Servtca how thankful ' we should be for our deliverance from Pontiuc's savages. "That was the frying-pan," she sighed. "I tell you I feel bad luck, mister. They'll jump on us when we pass through the thick woods. Them soldiers don't know any more ahotii Injuns than as if they was so many cows." "You shouldn't say such things. You II lake the heart out of the men If they hear you." "1 ain't u fool even If I collie from a tatnily of witches." she angrily retorted. re-torted. "I'm talking to you. not to the soldiers." Then wilh Instant repentance: re-pentance: "1 didn't go for to speak to you like this, mister But these women here ure scared. And yet all they talk about Is the s-ilks and tine clothes they'll have when we march into Duquesne You'll come and talk again witli me fomorrer, mister? You've done so much for me." "I'll talk with you I've done notli ing. You're hitching the carl ahead of the horse. If nol for you. I nevei could have left the Duquesne slock ade." "I tell you It was the Injun who done all that." "Aftet you had told him ol my dan jer and had planned for us to scale the Watergate and tin I you waiting with a canoe. I'll see you tomorrow and Ihe next day; and on rhe third day I'll see lhal you gel some ot i Inline In-line cloth it the Kretch don't burn everything before leaving the fort." "1 feel had luck, hut ''II hope foi the best." she muttered. "Ami don : go Into danger, mister." The last was so Incongruous aftei what we had lieco through together and in view of the pari I musl play as scout, thai I laughed and even she smiled, albeit a bit wistfully She gave me hei small hand and eyed me with strange steadiness ; rhen disconcerted me by gravely saying: "There aln'l no shroud around you yet. I'm thinking you'll live through IL' Cromit came up In time to hear the uisl and anxiously Inquired: "What about me. missy?" His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were uneasy. She hesitated, then told him: "Anyone you come to grips with will die." With this she abruptly left us and busied herself at the lire. We went to where (lie rangers were camping and looked for Colonel Wash Ington, but he had not yet reported to Braddock. I did meet Captain Bus by. however. He had lost much of his stoutuei-s and was as lean and hard as a hound. "Webster Brond, by all that's quaint !" he cried on recognizing me. And this time he was eager to clasp my hand. "I've looked for you all -along this cursed march and through all the cursed days we've crawled and fiddled away the time. Lord! but I'm glad the Alexandria folks can't see what a rough-looking lot we are. Where have you been and what do you think we'll do next?" I explained, and he declared my Du quesne trip displayed "damned" rare sportsmanship. I told til in the worst of Ihe campaign was over and lhal we would be free from Indian attacks after we had crossed Ihe creek and taken to the ridge. "A fight would be welcome," he testily replied. "It's this d d crawl ing ulong. like a worm on a leaf, lhal lakes the gimp out of the men. if you'd stayed with us from the lime we quit Will's creek, you'd understand how I rifles can eat the heart mil o a man. Wood ticks annoy more people than tigers do. Benlly. we olhiers ol the Virginians have given up our lug gage animals until w-e scarcely have anything left except what we have on 1 hope there'll be some clean linen al Duqiie-ne. If there Isn't. I'll . nevei forgive the Krencli. I suppose Ihe folks hack home are thinking lonlgln that we're already In Duquesne." There was no "back home" foi me no folks to learn how I had fared ; and 1 had nothing to Nay. He ran on: "I've sent word lo Josephine by every express, but probably she fiasn t received one out of live of my lei ters. I told her I hadn't seen you. So yon dori'i expect we'll be attacked by Ihe red devils on our way lo Hie fort ?" ; . . "Not If we follow the ridge road. Yes, if we follow the river road." "Then I'm glad it's the ridge. lie-meniber, lie-meniber, Web, how we used to play at fighting Indians and always planned to run Into au ambuscade aud make a i very narrow escape? Lord, that seems a million years ago. We didn't want any open ridge marching In those days. Nothing but bloody lighting in the shrubbery at the fool of the Carlyle gardens. And how we used to rescue fair maidens I How Joe would squeal, she was that nervous; and how cool and collected the Haze girls always were I Joe was more fun she fell her part more. Web, our hearts were higher then than now. Time has made cowards of lis of me, anyway. And who would have believed thai we would be here together like this on the shore of the d d creek I Thank God thai Joe Isn't here co be rescued res-cued I" "Amen to that!" And 1 wished and wished that the witch-girl wus as safe as Josephine ol old Alexandria. He urged me to s-hnre mess with lilm and several others from the home town, but I was uneasy and preferred to take a piece of meat from the rangers' tire and to prowl deep In the woods for fresh signs until Ihe darkness dark-ness drove me In. When the drums beat the long inarch on the morning of the seventh I turned oui to assist in getting the wagons across the creek. But what was my amazement to learn that Ihe course had been changed during the night's council, and that St Clair had finally decided It would be best for the army to swing clear of Ihe rugged country entirely and lo march direct for the Monongahela. This would necessitate crossing at a point where the river bends to the north, and aftet marching across the bend, to recross- Just below the month of Turtle creek This shift In plan? was due lo the excellent fords, and their gently sloping banks There would be no dltlicultj In crossing the guns and wagons. Destiny was lak Ing the Dinwohl girl and me back to the Krazier cabin. I hunted up t he Onondaga and found lilm freshly painted for war and softly reminding his orvnda that he was a man of the Wolf clan After finishing his chanting he cried out to me: "Yo-hahl They say some very brae men will die before two more sleeps white brother. They s.-iy It Is not L-ood for men to grow old until they Iind all meal tough." "The French will die bravely If thej fight," I agreed. "They say the French will not die alone, it will be a very strong light." I "There will be no light unless Beau Jeu can drive Ids Indians Into making a surprise attack." "There will be a tight," he gravel j assured me. "Many axes will be covered cov-ered with new paint (blood). They rtiy the F.nglish from over the stinking water do not know how to fight." "The Delawaros have told you that I'hey talk like old women." "A wolt howled In (he night lo the Wolf man," he correcetd "The talk of our nephews, Ihe I.etil l.enapes. goei-by goei-by Bound i'aw's ears without enter Ing. Let Ihe wilch woman change her self Into a bird ami fly away." "Let my red brother keep that talk shut up In his bug." I warned, sccni ly alarmed by bis reference lo Ihe Din weld girl For should there be a light with Ihe fori Indians I (oared she would refuse to hide In a wagon until II was over; and II did seem a cruel shame that alter c-vailiig from Fra ziei's cabin she should run the risk ol being hideously killed wllhln gun shot of It. 1 Let her turn herself Into n lilril ami My back to Hie Susquehanna," he called iifler me. I hastened on. cagel In Mini the girl anil persuade her lo slay well back among the wagons. Kveii II we were ambushed anil well blooded she would be safe al the real of Ihe line. The savages could never break through even though ihey should punish the head of Ihe army. She greeted me shyly and was strangely willing lo do as I asked. I was surprised and pleased with hei acquiescence; for I knew she had but llllle thought for her own safely There was, however, a small couill lion attached to her promise; and she expressed II thus1. (TO IK CONTINUKD.I |