CHAPTER X
THE WARNING
After his return from this hunting trip, Enoch Harding was forced toneglect the training days on several occasions because of the increasedwork at home. The harvest was soon upon them and nobly had the fields ofthe ox-bow farm borne for the widow and her children. While they werehard at work getting under cover, or in stack, the last of their crops,the Manchester Convention was held, from which James Breckenridge andCaptain Jehiel Hawley were sent to London to represent the strugglingsettlers, their former minister to the king, Samuel Robinson, havingdied before accomplishing the work which he had so well begun.
With the discovery that Governor Tryon's declaration of an armistice hadbeen an act of treachery, and that the Yorkers were likely to continuetheir raids and seize the honestly purchased lands of the New Hampshiresettlers, as Colonel Reid had at Vergennes, the Hardings began to fearthe return of Simon Halpen again. But the summer and fall passed withoutthe little family being alarmed. With the snow came hog-killing, andamong pioneer people this season was usually one of rejoicing. In theold times it had been a sort of festival, for with the first fall ofsnow all danger from marauding bands of red men ceased. The Indianswould not send out war parties when every footstep would be plainlyvisible to the white settlers. The pioneers longed for the snow as soonas their scanty crops were out of the field, for they were safe thenuntil the spring. So instead of celebrating "harvest home" they rejoicedat "hog killing time."
The Hardings had quite a drove of hogs which ran wild in the forestduring the summer and fed on the mast in the fall. But every few daysthe widow fed them near the hovel, so as to keep them in the habit ofcoming home, and particularly to teach the youngsters where to come ifthe old swine should be killed by bears or wild-cats. Now the wholedrove was brought up and "folded" and for two weeks every member of thefamily was busy. During that time the bulk of their winter's meat wassalted down, the toothsome sausage made, and all the other delicacieswhich old-fashioned folks knew so well how to prepare from the pig.Somebody has said that at our present day abatoirs they can put to someuse every part of the animal but the pig's squeal; pioneer housewiveswere almost as economical.
When the hard work was over Mistress Harding allowed the children toinvite some of the neighborhood youngsters for an evening frolic andsuch a gathering had not been enjoyed since the famous stump burning.Enoch was nearly sixteen now and although Bryce was almost as tall ashis elder brother, the first named was broadening out wonderfully. Fewyoung men of Bennington under nineteen could have thrown Enoch in amatch of strength, and he had really become the head of the household.But he was still enough of a boy to enjoy the party to the full.
There was an old hovel near the house, but nearer the river bank, whichtheir father had first erected--even before building the houseitself--when he came to the ox-bow, and for years this hovel hadsheltered the cattle. But the fall before he died the pioneer haderected a new and better stable and shed, quite handy to the house. Thechildren, therefore, had long considered this hovel their own especialplayhouse. At spare moments Enoch and Bryce built a stone and claychimney and laid a good hearth in the old structure, and now theyplanned to have the party here, where they could do quite as theypleased.
The girls had scoured the woods for beech, hazel, and hickory nuts, andRobbie Baker came over on his horse with nigh a bushel of peeledchestnuts which his father brought him from Manchester way after thefirst frost. Then, there were potatoes to roast and a wild turkey whichNuck had shot two days before and hung in the smoke-house. The bird wasnot plucked, but after being entrailed was stuffed with chestnuts togive it a flavor and then rolled in the tub of sticky clay brought upfrom the creek bottom. This great ball was put in the fire early so thatby supper-time it would be done to a turn. The pigs' tails had all beensaved and cleaned, too, and being likewise rolled in clay were baked inthe ashes.
The girls had brought flour bread and made Johnny-cake, and althoughthere was no tablecloth, the long board table was roomy and fairlygroaned under the good things heaped upon it. The ball of mud, all hardand red now and cracked like a badly burned brick, was rolled out uponthe hearth and Enoch broke it with one blow of the axe. The hard shellfell apart and to the burned clay adhered every feather and pin-quill ofthe great gobbler which would not have weighed an ounce less thantwenty-five pounds. And the flesh was done to a turn.
In the midst of the good time, while the fun waxed furious, the door ofthe hovel opened and there stood in the opening the tall, slim figure ofCrow Wing. As he had come unbidden to the stump burning, so he came nowunexpectedly to this frolic. The white children welcomed himboisterously, for his people had moved away from the Walloomscoik andfor months he had not been seen near Bennington. But Crow Wing hadevidently not come to join in the merrymaking. His face was impassiveand much older in expression than it had been the year before. And inhis hair was a bunch of eagle feathers which showed that, to his ownpeople even, he was now a brave and no longer a boy.
"Umph!" he grunted, drawing the blanket draped from his shoulders moreclosely around him. "Harding--me talk to you!" He looked boldly atEnoch, and the latter waving the others back, followed the Indian out ofthe hovel. Without speaking or looking behind him Crow Wing led thewhite boy to the riverside, and some distance from the hovel. There hehalted and pointed suddenly across the stream in the direction of thatplace in the forest where Enoch had once seen the mysterious white mansitting beside the campfire.
"'Member?" asked Crow Wing, flashing a keen glance at the white boy.
"The man in the woods!" exclaimed Enoch. "You wish to tell me somethingabout him?"
"Umph! He come again. Look out. Crow Wing tell you, because white boystrong--know how to fight. Watch 'em sharp!" and with this briefdeclaration the Indian youth strode away and the astonished Enochwatched him disappear in the tall brush along the creek bank. He wentback to the merry party at the hovel with a heavy heart and not untilafter the last of the visitors had gone home--the boys swinging pinetorches and giving the warwhoop to scare off any lurking wolves orcatamounts--did Enoch find opportunity to tell his mother of Crow Wing'swarning.
"Simon Halpen is surely coming to evict us," he declared. "I am sure itwas he I saw in the forest last year. And now, taking advantage of ourbeing lulled by hopes of peace, he will try to strike an unexpected blowas Colonel Reid did."
"The neighbors will help us," the widow said.
"But suppose he comes with a big force? And we cannot expect theneighbors to neglect their own homes," said Enoch. "I will try and seeCaptain Baker, if you think it best, mother."
"Captain Baker will help us. He knows how hard it would be if theYorkers stripped us of our all. He is a kind-hearted man, though oftenrude and fretful."
"Well, marm, he has cause to be fretful," said Enoch. "Perhaps we canget a few of the boys to stay with us nights for awhile."
And this they did, for Captain Baker sent three or four sturdy GreenMountain Boys around to the widow's farm every night for a week. But theYorker and his crew did not appear. At this time, when he might havebeen of such assistance to them, 'Siah Bolderwood was away. He hadrecently bought a track of land on the lake shore not far from Old Tiand had gone to look it over and build some sort of a camp there, thusutilizing his time to good advantage before the trapping season began.
Even after their fears were lulled, either Enoch or Bryce remainedalways in sight of the house. But about a fortnight after thehog-killing frolic an incident occurred which served to take both Bryceand Enoch away from the cabin. There had been a second fall of snow andthe nights were becoming very cold. But all the wild animals had not yetsought their winter sleeping quarters, for there descended upon theHardings' hog-pen an old bear who evidently desired one more meal ofsucculent pork before retiring to his burrow. The remaining swine wereshut up now in a close yard of logs; but the bear got over that fencewith ease.
The trouble occurred in the early morning and aroused by the clamorEnoch, despite the inch o
r two of snow on the ground, grabbed the rifleand ran out just as he got out of bed and without shoes or stockings.But when he saw the huge bear seeking to climb out of the enclosure,hugging a lively shote to his furry breast, the boy was not likely tonotice the cold and snow. He climbed the end logs of the hog-pen himselfso as to get a shot at the marauder, and rested the rifle on the toprail; but the logs were slippery and just as he pulled the trigger hewent down himself and the charge flew high over the bear's head, whileEnoch sprawled most ungracefully on the ground.
The old bear uttered a wild "oof-oof!" and without trying to climb thebarrier again, flung his huge body against it and a length of the fencewent down with a crash. By this time Bryce, who had kept the old musketby his side since Crow Wing's warning, and slept in the loft, wasaroused by the disturbance, and he pushed up the corner of the bark roofand blazed away at the beast just as it scrambled through the wreck ofthe hog fence. The bear had continued to cling to the squealing andkicking shote, for bruin is a strangely perverse and obstinate creature,unwilling to give up what he has once set his mind upon. There was awild shriek of agony from the poor pig and when the bear moved clumsilyaway still clinging to the porker there was a broad trail of blood onthe snow.
"I shot him! I shot him!" yelled Bryce, dodging down into the loft andbeginning to hastily pull on his breeches. But when he came down-stairsEnoch had returned to the house and was calmly dressing. "Why didn't yefoller him?" demanded the younger boy. "He's bad wounded. He'd droppedthat shote in a minute."
"You killed the shote all right," said Enoch in disgust. "Neither of theshots touched the bear at all. There's no use chasing after the critternow. We'll wait till after breakfast. He won't go far, lugging thatshote."
The bear was fat and in the best possible condition for salting down forwinter use. So even Mrs. Harding had no objection to make when the boysstarted after breakfast to follow the trail. She herself, with the helpof the younger children, collected the hogs in the pen again and put upthe log fence. Meanwhile Nuck and Bryce found that the bear had made fora piece of swamp about two miles away. The swamp was close grown withsaplings and brush, while here and there a monster tree shot skyward.Some of these big trees were so old that they had become hollow andwithout doubt there was more than one lair of wild creatures in theswamp.
But it was easy enough to follow the early morning visitor to the cabin.After carrying the shote into the edge of the swamp, bruin had stoppedand made a hasty meal upon the porker. Indeed the boys, who started onhis trail scarcely two hours after the raid had been committed,undoubtedly disturbed him at his repast. The shote was not completelyeaten when they found the bear's breakfast-table. "It is a mighty bigbear anyway," Bryce declared, looking at the marks of the marauder'sfeet. "He couldn't have brought that pig so far if he hadn't been."
"He warn't big enough for you to hit," said Nuck, slyly.
"Huh! guess you can't crow any," responded the younger boy. "You missedhim good and wide, too."
They hurried on then, easily tracking the big, human-like spoor of thebear in the soil which here was not frozen. Indeed, in some places they"slumped in" rather deeply. The bear seemed to have picked out his pathby instinct. But he could not hide his trail and before long the hunterscame to a huge tree standing amid a clump of brush on the top of ahillock. The high ground was surrounded by water and rather hard to comeat; but the boys were determined to get the bear after chasing it sofar. They approached with caution, however, Enoch making Bryce remain inthe rear.
"If I fire and don't kill him you must be in reserve with your gun," hewhispered cautiously. "He'd be an ugly customer if he turned on us. He'sas big as a steer."
"Huh! who's afraid?" demanded Bryce.
"Jest you remember how father was killed," Enoch said, gravely. "Who'dha' believed a bull-deer could kill an old hunter like him? You do as Isay!"
So Bryce dropped behind and watched his brother crawl up the side of thehummock with infinite caution, parting the brush with the barrel of hisrifle, which he held in readiness to use at any instant. Suddenly, fromthe heart of the brush clump, there sounded an angry growl. The bear wasnot to be taken unawares. And when a big bear growls in anger the soundis hair-raising to the uninitiated. Bryce felt a chill in the region ofhis spine and if his old cap did not actually rise off his head, itcertainly felt as though it would. He was to one side of Nuck's positionso as not to get his brother between him and the bear should thecreature come forth, and suddenly he saw the shaggy head and shouldersof the beast rise up over the brush. It looked enormous and when thebear opened its jaws, and displayed its great teeth and blood-red gums,it was indeed a fearsome spectacle.
"Shoot him! shoot him!" exclaimed Bryce, excitedly. But Nuck remainedcomparatively cool--at least, to all appearance. He stood up, too, withthe rifle at his shoulder. The bear stretched wide his great fore-pawsand plunged forward to seize the boy; but the rifle spoke and the smokeof the piece hid the creature for a moment.
When the cloud passed there was a great commotion in the brush, andBryce saw that Nuck had darted back several paces and was rapidlyloading his gun again. The younger boy could not see the bear; but itwas badly wounded without doubt. The thrashing in the brush told that.Recovering his courage he pushed forward and finally saw the huge brownbody on the ground, writhing in the muscular activity which followsdeath. The charge of Nuck's rifle had reached a vital spot.
But something more Bryce saw. A second bear had followed the dead onefrom the hollow tree, and the boy observed this one whisk back into thedark opening between two roots. The tree was all of a dozen feet incircumference and there was doubtless a good-sized cavity in the talltrunk. "Come on! come on!" cried Bryce, excitedly. "Here's another,Nuck."
"Have a care, boy!" responded the older lad. "Don't go too near. It mayturn on us." He hastily finished the loading of his rifle and came upthe hill again. They could see the entrance to the lair plainly; but nosight could they get of the second bear. Bryce brought a handful ofclods and flung one after another into the hole in the tree. The beardid not even growl, so they were pretty sure that the missiles had notreached it. "He's climbed up inside," declared Nuck. "I warrant thattree's holler up to the first crotch."
"What'll we do?" demanded Bryce. "You shot that one, Nuck. Now I wantergit the other, before we go home."
"We'll smoke him out," declared the elder brother. "You stay right hereand watch, and I'll get some wood." Nuck had brought a tomahawk which,with his skinning knife, was thrust into his belt. With the hatchet heobtained dry branches from the lower limbs of some spruce-trees whichgrew near, and packed a big fagot through the mire to the hillock whereBryce stood guard. This wood he flung into the mouth of the lair,started the fire with his flint and steel, and when the flames began towreathe the branches hungrily, he flung on leaves and grass to make a"smudge." His suspicions regarding the hollowness of the tree provedtrue, for the draft through the hollow hole acted like a chimney andsucked the smoke upward. It began to wreathe out between the firstlimbs, some thirty feet or more from the ground.
Suddenly there was a great clatter and scraping of claws inside the treeand then there popped out between the branches the head and shoulders ofa smaller bear than the one which now lay still in the bushes. "Waittill he gits out!" shouted Nuck, as the excited Bryce raised his musket."If you shoot him there he'll tumble back into the hole."
Bryce was cool enough to see the wisdom of this advice and stay hishand. But in a moment the bear was completely out and then he fired. Thebullet struck home and the bear lost its hold upon the limbs and droppedto the ground, landing with fearful force at the roots of the tree. Butit was not dead and after a moment's struggle, got upon its feet again.But the shock had dazed it and for a little it could neither see itsassailants nor find any means of escape. Nuck ran in, placed the muzzleof his rifle within a foot of the creature, and finished it off withdespatch.
Bryce was dancing about and yelling like a wild Indian; but it was notfor joy over the death of
this second bear. He was pointing on high andNuck looked upward to see a third bear in the tree-top. This one hadfollowed the second out of the hollow trunk and was mounting among thebranches with great agility. The smoke pouring up through the hollow haddriven the whole family into the open air. The Hardings reloaded theirguns with despatch and then, on either side of the tree, fired at theremaining bear. Both bullets went true, but in falling the bear becamewedged in the crotch of a big limb and Nuck, throwing aside his shoesand stockings, essayed to climb the trunk to push the dead beast off tothe ground.
This was no simple matter, for all he had to cling to were the knots and"warts" on the side of the trunk. It was almost like climbing up thewall of a house. But he reached the first crotch finally and afterresting a spell, found the remainder of the climb easy enough. Before hepushed the carcass of the bear out of its resting-place he took anobservation of the forest, for he was high above the swamp here andcould see beyond the creek. In some way they would have to get thecarcasses to the creek bank and transport them to the cabin by canoe. Itwould be no easy task.
And as he scanned the stretch of river which he could see from his highperch he suddenly observed something which almost caused him to lose hishold upon the tree and fall, like the bear, to the ground. Coming up thestream were two canoes, each paddled by a couple of Indians, and withthree white men in each craft. Even at that distance Enoch knew them tobe strangers, and they were not a hunting party. Naturally his mindreverted to the warning Crow Wing had brought him a fortnight before,and without stopping to dislodge the dead bear, he descended the tree inutmost haste.
"Why don't you push the bear off?" shouted Bryce from below.
Nuck leaned over and placed his finger on his lips, shaking his headwarningly. Then he slid down the remainder of the way, falling in a heapon the carcass of the second bear. "Quick!" he gasped, seizing his shoesand stockings. "They're coming."
"What's coming?"
"The Yorkers. I seen 'em on the river. Two canoes full."
"Simon Halpen!" exclaimed the younger boy, his face blanching.
"I don't know. Couldn't tell any of 'em so far away. But they be'n'tBennington men, that's sure." Nuck was hastily pulling on his stockings."You run back and tell mother. I'll watch 'em till they land and seewhat they intend to do."
"But the bears----" began Bryce.
"We'll have to leave 'em. That one in the tree will be all right for awhile for sure. Now hurry."
Bryce obeyed at once and a moment later the elder boy started off in theother direction for the bank of the creek. He ran carefully, however, soas not to make any noise and thus warn the canoe party of his presence.In half an hour he was abreast of the boats, for they progressed butslowly up the stream. Here he had a good view of the men. In the firstcanoe he saw Crow Wing and another young Indian of his tribe, while thepaddlers in the second were likewise Iroquois. The white men wereYorkers he was sure, and all were heavily armed.
As he scrutinized the whites his eyes rested finally on one man in theleading canoe whom he was sure he had seen before. He could not mistakethat lean, dark face and hooked nose. Whether or not it was the personhe had seen in the wood the day of Sheriff Ten Eyck's fiasco at theBreckenridge farm, he was certain of the man's identity. It was SimonHalpen who, under a New York patent, claimed territory on theWalloomscoik, a part of which the Harding farm was.
Dodging from tree to tree, the boy followed the canoes and finally,before they came in sight of the Harding house, saw the party land. TheIndians remained with the canoes; but the white men disembarked withconsiderable baggage. One of the men carried a surveyor's instrument,while a second bore a chain. Halpen led them and when he had seen theparty strike into the forest in the direction of the house, Enoch spedaway on a parallel trail and headed them off, arriving first at thedestination.
He found that his mother and the children had already put up theshutters and made ready to receive the Yorkers. The cattle were shut inthe yard surrounding the barn and the smaller children were put in theirmother's bed to be out of the way. Bryce went into the loft where hecould watch for the appearance of the enemy; but Enoch remained outsidethe door, his rifle in the hollow of his arm, ready to parley with theYorkers who soon were reported by Bryce as coming through the lowerfields.