CHAPTER XXVII
WHICH CONTAINS THE ADVENTURES OF SOLOMON IN THE TIMBER SACK AND ON THE"HAND-MADE RIVER"
In the spring of 1779, there were scarcely sixteen thousand men in theAmerican army, of which three thousand were under Gates at Providence;five thousand in the Highlands under McDougall, who was building newdefenses at West Point, and on the east shore of the Hudson underPutnam; seven thousand were with Washington at Middlebrook where he hadspent a quiet winter; a few were in the south. The British,discouraged in their efforts to conquer the northern and middlecolonies, sent a force of seven thousand men to take Georgia and SouthCarolina. They hoped that Washington, who could not be induced to riskhis army in decisive action against superior numbers, would thus becompelled to scatter and weaken it. But the Commander-in-Chief,knowing how seriously Nature, his great ally, was gnawing at the vitalsof the British, bided his time and kept his tried regiments around him.Now and then, a staggering blow filled his enemies with a wholesomefear of him. His sallies were as swift and unexpected as the rush of apanther with the way of retreat always open. Meanwhile a cry ofaffliction and alarm had arisen in England. Its manufacturers were onthe verge of bankruptcy, its people out of patience.
As soon as the ice was out of the lakes and rivers, Jack and Solomonjoined an expedition under Sullivan against the Six Nations, who hadbeen wreaking bloody vengeance on the frontiers of Pennsylvania and NewYork. The Senecas had been the worst offenders, having spilled theblood of every white family in their reach. Sullivan's expeditionascended the Chemung branch of the Susquehanna and routed a great forceof Indians under Brant and Johnson at Newtown and crossed to the Valleyof the Genessee, destroying orchards, crops and villages. The red menwere slain and scattered. The fertile valley was turned into aflaming, smoking hell. Simultaneously a force went up the Alleghanyand swept its shores with the besom of destruction.
Remembrance of the bold and growing iniquities of the savage was like afire in the heart of the white man. His blood boiled with anger. Hewas without mercy. Like every reaping of the whirlwind this one hadbeen far more plentiful than the seed from which it sprang. ThoseApril days the power of the Indian was forever broken and his cupfilled with bitterness. Solomon had spoken the truth when he left theCouncil Fire in the land of Kiodote:
"Hereafter the Injun will be a brother to the snake."
Jack and Solomon put their lives in danger by entering the last villageahead of the army and warning its people to flee. The killing had madethem heart-sick, although they had ample reason for hating the red men.
In the absence of these able helpers Washington had moved to theHighlands. This led the British General, Sir Henry Clinton, to decideto block his return. So he sent a large force up the river andcaptured the fort at Stony Point and King's Ferry connecting the greatroad from the east with the middle states. The fort and ferry had tobe retaken, and, early in July, Jack and Solomon were sent to look theground over.
In the second day of their reconnoitering above Stony Point they camesuddenly upon a British outpost. They were discovered and pursued butsucceeded in eluding the enemy. Soon a large party began beating thebush with hounds. Jack escaped by hiding behind a waterfall. Solomonhad a most remarkable adventure in making his way northward. Hearingthe dogs behind him he ran to the shore of a bay, where a big drive oflogs had been boomed in, and ran over them a good distance and droppedout of sight. He lay between two big sections of a great pine with hisnose above water for an hour or so. A band of British came down to theshore and tried to run the logs but, being unaccustomed to that kind ofwork, were soon rolled under and floundering to their necks.
"I hadn't na skeer o' their findin' me," Solomon said to Jack. "'Causethey was a hundred acres o' floatin' timber in that 'ere bay. I heard'em slippin' an' sloshin' eround nigh shore a few minutes an' then theygive up an' went back in the bush. They were a strip o' open water'twixt the logs an' the shore an' I clumb on to the timber twenty roder more from whar I waded in so's to fool the dogs."
"What did you do with your rifle an' powder?" Jack inquired.
"Wal, ye see, they wuz some leetle logs beyond me that made a kind o' aholler an' I jest put ol' Marier 'crost 'em an' wound the string o' mypowder-horn on her bar'l. I lay thar a while an' purty soon I heard afeller comin' on the timber. He were clus up to me when he hit a logwrong an' it rolled him under. I dim' up an' grabbed my rifle an' tharwere 'nother cuss out on the logs not more'n ten rod erway. He took ashot at me, but the bullet didn't come nigh 'nough so's I could hear itwhisper he were bobbin' eround so. I lifted my gun an' says I:
"'Boy, you come here to me.'
"But he thought he'd ruther go somewhar else an' he did--poor, ignorantdevil! I went to t' other feller that was rasslin' with a log tryin'to git it under him. He'd flop the log an' then it would flop him.He'd throwed his rifle 'crost the timber. I goes over an' picks it upan' says I:
"'Take it easy, my son. I'll help ye in a minute.'
"His answer wa'n't none too p'lite. He were a leetle runt of asergeant. I jest laughed at him an' went to t' other feller an' tookthe papers out o' his pockets. I see then a number o' British boys wasmakin' fer me on the wobbly top o' the river. They'd see me goin' aseasy as a hoss on a turnpike an' they was tryin' fer to git the knacko' it. In a minute they begun poppin' at me. But shootin' on logs islike tryin' to walk a line on a wet deck in a hurricane. Ye got toknow how to offset the wobble. They didn't skeer me. I went an'hauled that runt out o' the water an' with him under my right arm an'the two rifles under the left un I started treadin' logs headin' ferthe north shore. They quit shootin' but come on a'ter me pell-mell.They got to comin' too fast an' I heard 'em goin' down through the roofo' the bay behind me an' rasslin' with the logs. That put meat on mybones! I could 'a' gone back an' made a mess o' the hull party withthe toe o' my boot but I ain't overly fond o' killin'. Never havebeen. I took my time an' slopped erlong toward shore with the runtunder my arm cussin' like a wildcat. We got ashore an' I made theleetle sergeant empty his pockets an' give me all the papers he had. Itook the strip o' rawhide from round my belt an' put a noose above hisknees an' 'nother on my wrist an' sot down to wait fer dark which thesun were then below the tree-tops. I looked with my spy-glass 'crostthe bay an' could see the heads bobbin' up an' down an' a dozen mencomin' out with poles to help the log rasslers. Fer some time they had'nough to do an' I wouldn't be supprised. If we had the hull Britisharmy on floatin' timber the logs would lick 'em in a few minutes."
Solomon came in with his prisoner and accurate information as to theforce of British in the Highlands.
On the night of the fifteenth of July, a detachment of Washington'stroops under Wayne, preceded by the two scouts, descended upon StonyPoint and King's Ferry and routed the enemy, capturing five hundred andfifty men and killing sixty. Within a few days the British came up theriver in great force and Washington, unwilling to risk a battle,quietly withdrew and let them have the fort and ferry and their laborfor their pains. It was a bitter disappointment to Sir Henry Clinton.The whole British empire clamored for decisive action and their greatCommander was unable to bring it about and meanwhile the French werepreparing to send a heavy force against them.