The Sun Maid: A Story of Fort Dearborn

  CHAPTER XX.

  ENEMIES, SEEN AND UNSEEN.

  But the time passed on and the rumors died away, or ended in nothingmore serious than had always disturbed the dwellers in that lonelyland. Now and again a friendly, peace-loving chief would ride up tothe door of the Sun Maid's home, and, after a brief consultation shewould put on her Indian attire and ride back with him across theprairies. As of old, she went with a heart full of love for her Indianfriends, but it was not the undivided love that she had once been ableto give them.

  Over her beautiful features had settled the brooding look whichwifehood and motherhood gives; and though she listened as attentivelyas of old and counselled as wisely, she could not for one momentforget the little children waiting for her by her own hearthside orthe brave husband who was so often away on his long journeys to thenorth; and the keen intelligence of the red men perceived this.

  "She is ours no longer," said a venerable warrior, after one suchvisit. "She has taken to herself a pale-face, he who met her on theprairie in the morning light, and her heart has gone from her. It isthe way of life. The old passes, the new comes to reign. We are herpast. Her Dark-Eye is her present. Her papooses are her future. Theparting draws near. She is still the Sun Maid, the White Spirit, theUnafraid. As far as the Great Spirit wills, she will be faithful tous; but now when she rides homeward from a visit to our lodge it is nolonger at the easy pace of one whose life is all her own, but wildly,swiftly, following her heart which has leaped before."

  Each morning, nearly, as the Sun Maid ministered to her little ones orbusied herself among the domestic duties of her simple home she wouldjoyfully exclaim to Wahneenah:

  "I don't believe there was ever a woman in the world so happy as Iam!" And the Indian foster-mother would gravely reply:

  "Ask the Great Spirit that the peace may long continue."

  Till, on one especial day, the younger woman demanded:

  "Well, why should it not, my Mother? It is now many weeks since I havebeen called to settle any little quarrel among our people. Surely theyare learning wisdom fast. Do you know something? I intend that some ofthe squaws who are idle shall make my baby, Gaspar the Second, alittle costume of our own tribe. It shall be all complete; as if hewere a tiny chief himself, with his leggings and head-dress, and--yes,even a little bow and quiver. I'll have it finished, maybe, before hisfather comes down from this last trip into the far-away woods. Oh! Ishall be glad when my 'brave' can trust all his business of mining andfur-buying and lumbering to somebody else. I miss him so. But won't hebe pleased with our little lad in feathers and buckskin?"

  Wahneenah's dark eyes looked keenly at her daughter's face.

  "No, beloved; he will not be pleased. In his heart of hearts, thewhite chief was ever the red man's enemy. Me he loves and a few more.But let the White Papoose" (Wahneenah still called her foster-child bythe old love names of her childhood) "let the White Papoose hear andremember: the day is near when the Dark-Eye will choose between hisfriends and the friends of his wife. It is time to prepare. There is adistress coming which shall make of this Chicago a burying-ground. OurDark-Eye has bought much land. He is always, always buying. Some dayhe will sell and the gold in his purse will be too heavy for one man'scarrying. But first the darkness, the blood, the death. Let him choosenow a house of refuge for you and the little children; choose itwhere there are trees to shelter and water to refresh. Let him buildthere a tepee large enough for all your needs,--a wigwam, remember,not a house. Let him stock it well with food and clothing and the gunswhich protect."

  "Why, Other Mother! What has come over you? Such a dismal prophecy asthat is worse than any which old Katasha ever breathed. Are you ill,Wahneenah, dearest?"

  "There is no sickness in my flesh; yet in my heart is a misery thatbows it to the earth. But I warn you. If you would find favor in theeyes of your brave, clothe not his son in the costume of the red man."

  Kitty was unaccountably depressed. Hitherto she had been able to laughaside the sometimes sombre auguries of the chief's sister; but nowsomething in the woman's manner made her believe that she knew morethan she disclosed of some impending disaster. However, it was not inher nature, nor did she believe it right, that she should worry overvague suggestions. So she answered once more before quite dismissingthe subject:

  "Well, we were already discussing the comfort of having another homeout in the forest, and Abel has suggested that we build it on the landwhich was his farm and which Gaspar has bought. We both liked that; tohave our own children play where we played as children. I want mylittle ones to learn about the wild things of the woods, and the dearold Doctor is still alive to teach them. You will like it, too, OtherMother. When the days grow hot and long we will ride to the 'Refuge';and I think the wigwam idea is better, after all, than the house;though I do not know what my husband will decide."

  "Before the days grow long, the 'Refuge' must be finished, and theearlier the better. It is rightly named, my daughter, and the time isripe."

  Ere many hours had passed, and most unexpectedly to his wife, Gasparreturned. In the first happiness of welcoming him she did not observethat his face was stern and troubled; but she did notice, when bedtimecame, that he did what had never before been done in their home: helocked or bolted the doors and stoutly barred the heavy woodenshutters. He had also brought Osceolo with him, from Abel's tavern,and had peremptorily bidden the Indian to "Lie there!" pointing to aheap of skins on the floor beside the fire.

  Toward morning Kitty woke. To her utter amazement, she saw in herliving room her Gaspar and Osceolo engaged in what seemed a battle tothe death. Then she sprang up and ran toward them, but her husbandmotioned her back.

  OSCEOLO AND GASPAR. _Page 276_.]

  "Leave him to me. I'll fix him so that he'll do no more mischief forthe present."

  "But, Gaspar! What is it?"

  "Treachery, as usual. Get into your clothes, my girl, and callWahneenah. Let the children be dressed,--warmly, for the air is cooland we may have to leave suddenly."

  "_What_ is it?"

  "An outbreak! The settlers are flocking into the Fort in droves. BlackHawk and his followers have come too close for comfort. This miserablefellow has been tampering with the stores. He couldn't get at theammunition, but he's done all the evil he could. I caught himhobnobbing with a low Sac; a spy, I think. There. He's bound, and nowI'll fasten him in the wood-shed. He knows too much about this town tobe left in freedom."

  Yet, after all, they did not have to flee from home, as Gaspar hadfeared, though the Sun Maid put on her peace dress and unbound herglorious hair, ready at any moment to ride forth and meet the Indiansand to try her powers of promoting good-feeling. The Snowbird stoodsaddled for many days: yet it was only upon errands of hospitality andcharity that he was needed.

  Gaspar, however, was always in the saddle. When he was not riding farafield, scouting the movements of the Black Hawk forces, he wassearching the countryside for provisions and himself guiding thewagons that brought in the scant supplies. One evening he returnedmore cheerful than he had seemed for many days and exclaimed as hetossed aside his cap:

  "This has been a good trip, for two reasons."

  "What are they, dear?"

  "Starvation is staved off for a while and the Indians are evidently ingrave doubts of their own success in this horrid war."

  "Starvation, Gaspar? Has it been as bad as that?"

  "Pretty close to it. But I've found a couple of men who had about ahundred and fifty head of cattle, and they've driven them here intothe stockade. As long as they last, we shall manage. The other goodthing is--that the Black Hawks are sacrificing to the Evil Spirit."

  "They are! That shows they are hopeless of their own success."

  "Certainly very doubtful of it. It is the dog immolation. I saw oneinstance myself and met a man who had come from the southwest. He haspassed them at intervals of a day's journey; always the same sort. Thewretched little dog, fastened just above the ground, the nose pointingstraight this
way and the fire beneath."

  "Oh, Gaspar, it's dreadful!"

  "That they are discouraged? Kit, you don't mean that?"

  "No. No, no! You know better. But that they are such--such heathen!"

  Another voice broke in upon them:

  "Heathen! Heathen, you say? Well, if ever you was right in your life,you're right now. I never saw such folks. Here I've been cookin' andcooking till I'm done clean through myself; and in there's comeanother lot, just as hungry as t'others. Dear me, dear me! Why in thename of common sense couldn't I have stayed back there in the woods,and not come trapesing to Chicago to turn head slave for a lot offolks that act as if I'd ought to be grateful for the chance to killmyself a-waitin' on them. And say, Gaspar Keith, have you heard thenews? When did you get home?"

  It was Mercy, of course, who had rushed excitedly into the house, yethad been able to rattle off a string of sentences that fairly took herhearers' breath away, if not her own.

  But Kitty was at her side at once, tenderly removing the greatsun-bonnet from the hot gray head and offering a fan of turkey wings,gayly decorated with Indian embroideries of beads and weavings.

  "No, Kit. No, you needn't. Not while I know myself; there ain't neverno more red man's tomfoolery going to be around me! Take that thereIndian contraption away. I'd rather have a decent, honest cabbage-leafany day. I'm beat out. My, ain't it hot!"

  "Yes, dear, it is awfully hot. Sit here in the doorway, in this bigchair, and get what little breeze there is. Here's another fan, whichI made myself; plain, good Yankee manufacture. Try that. Then, whenyou get cooled off, tell us your 'news.'"

  "Cooled off? That I sha'n't never be no more; not while I've got tocook for all creation."

  "Mother Mercy, Mother Mercy! You are a puzzler. You won't let thepeople go anywhere else than to your house as long as there's room tosqueeze another body in; and----"

  "Ain't it the tavern?"

  "Of course. But people who keep taverns usually take pay forentertaining their guests."

  "Gaspar Keith! You say that to me, after the raisin' I gave you? Theidee! When not a blessed soul of the lot has got a cent to blesshimself with."

  "But I have cents, plenty of them; and I want you to let me bear thisexpense for you. I insist upon it."

  "Well, lad, I always did think you was a little too sharp after themoney. But I didn't 'low you'd begrudge folks their _blessings_, too."

  "Blessings? Aren't you complaining about so much hard work, andhaven't you the right? I know that no private family has cared for somany as you have, and----"

  "Oh, do drop that! I tell you _I_ ain't a private family; I'm atavern. Oh! I don't know what I am nor what I'm sayin'. I--I reckonI'm clean beat and tuckered out."

  "So you are, dear. But rest and I'll make you a cup of tea. If youleave those people to themselves and they get hungry again they'llcook _for_ themselves. They'll have to. But to a good many of theserefugees this is a sort of picnic business. They have left theirhomes, it's true; but they haven't seen so many human faces in yearsand----"

  "They haven't had such a good time! I noticed that. They seemed asbright as children at a frolic. Well, we ought to help them get whatfun they can out of so serious a matter," commented Gaspar.

  "Serious! I should say so. That's what sent me here. Abel, he was onthe wharf, and he says the ships are coming down the lake full ofsoldiers; and what with them and the folks already here and only ahundred and fifty head to feed 'em with, and some of these refugeeseat as much as ary parson I ever saw, and the old Doctor trying topreach to 'em, sayin' it's the best opportunity--my land! The waysome folks can get sweet out of bitter is a disgrace, I declare. Andas for that Ossy, the dirty scamp, he's broke more dishes, washingthem, than I've got left. And I run over to see if you'd let me haveary dish you've got, or shall I give 'em their stuff right in theirhands? And how long have I got to go on watchin' that wild Osceolo? Iwish you'd take him back and shut him up in your wood-shed again."

  "But, Mother Mercy, it was you who begged his release. And I'm sureit's better for him in your kitchen, working, than lying idle in anempty building, plotting mischief. Hello, here's Abel. And he seems asexcited as--as you were," said Gaspar.

  "Glory to government, youngsters! The military is coming! TheGeneral's in sight! Now hooray! We'll show them pesky red-skins athing or two. If they ain't wiped clean out of existence this time myname's Jack Robinson. Say, Kit, don't look so solemn. Likely they'llknow enough to give up licked without getting shot; and they'renothin' but Indians, any how."

  The Sun Maid came softly across and held up her little son to beadmired. Her face was grave and her lips silent. All this talk of warand bloodshed was awful to her gentle heart, that was torn anddistracted with grief for both her white and her red-faced friends.

  But there was only grim satisfaction on the countenance of her younghusband; and he turned to Abel, demanding:

  "Are you sure that this good news is true? Are the soldiers coming?Who saw them?"

  "I myself, through the commandant's spy-glass. They're aboard theships, and I could almost hear the tune of _Yankee Doodle_. They'rebound to rout the enemy like chain lightning. Hooray!"

  The soldiers were coming indeed; but alas! an enemy was coming withthem far more deadly than the Indians they meant to conquer.