Billy Topsail & Company: A Story for Boys

  CHAPTER XIII

  _In Which There Are Too Many Knocks At the Gate, a Stratagem Is Successful, Red Feather Draws a Tomahawk, and an Indian Girl Appears On the Scene_

  "McLeod turned on his heel and went to the shop," David continued;"and when he had ordered a watch to be kept on the clearing on allsides, we devoted ourselves to the matter in hand--the preparation ofthe regular quarterly statement for the officials at headquarters. Butas we laboured, hatchets, knives and the cruel, evil faces of thesavages, by whom, as I chose to think, we were threatened, mixedthemselves with the figures, to my bewilderment.

  "Soon the dusk came, and while I trimmed and lighted the candles inthe shadowy outer room there seemed to be shapes in the corners whichI had never seen there in quieter times. McLeod, however, wasunperturbed. He had forgotten all about the numerous band which hestood ready to defy.

  "'Do you think there is danger?' said I.

  "'Danger?' said he. 'From what?'

  "'Buffalo Horn's band,' said I.

  "'Nonsense!' said he. 'What is that last total? There seems to be ashilling and sixpence missing here.'

  "At that moment one of the helpers came in. He was visibly excited--likea man who bears tidings.

  "'Red Feather is at the gate,' he said.

  "'Is he alone?' said McLeod.

  "'Yes, sir. We made sure of that.'

  "'Fetch him here,' said the factor, calmly. 'Take Tom and Tobias tothe gate, and don't let Red Feather hold it open.'

  "Red Feather was soon brought in. He was the chief of the band, anold, crafty Indian, chief in name, but inferior in authority toBuffalo Horn, who was chief in fact. McLeod continued his work.

  "'Let us talk,' said Red Feather, at last.

  "He spoke in his own tongue, which I shall interpret freely for you.McLeod put his pen aside and faced about.

  "'What have we to talk about?' he asked. 'The trading is done. Youhave your supplies. There is no business between us.'

  "'We have the white man to talk about,' said Red Feather. 'He haskilled a child of our tribe, and you have given him refuge here. Hehas killed the son of Buffalo Horn with the evil eye. He must be putto death.'

  "'I know this man,' said McLeod. 'He has not the evil eye. He haskilled no man, and he shall not be given up.'

  "'His life is forfeit to the tribe.'

  "'His life is in my keeping. I have said that he shall not lose it. AmI the man to break my word?'

  "'You have kept your word between us,' said Red Feather. 'You are notthe man to break your word.'

  "'What business, then, lies between us? Our talk is done.'

  "The guard at the gate interrupted. 'There is a man knocking at thegate,' he said.

  "'It is my brother,' said Red Feather. 'He comes to join the talk. Lethim in.'

  "'Open the gate,' said McLeod.

  "It was growing dark. I went with the guard to admit the brother ofRed Feather. Dusk had fallen over the clearing. The sky was overcast;in half an hour it would be deep night, the clearing one with theforest. But we opened the gate. A tall Indian stalked in. He wasalone, and I knew him for the brother of Red Feather. I followed himto the shop, making sure first that the bar was in place.

  "'Let us have the white man,' he said to McLeod. 'Let the peacebetween us continue.'

  "McLeod perceived the threat. He was not a rash man. He had no wish toprovoke a conflict, but he had no thought of surrendering the refugee.As for me, my trust was in the stockade.

  "'I will talk with the white man,' he said.

  "The factor was gone for half an hour. He secreted Landley, inspectedthe defenses, gathered the women and children in the blockhouse, andreturned to the council.

  "'The white man is not blood-guilty,' he said, proudly. 'I havepromised him protection and he shall have it.'

  "Again the helper came. 'There is another knock at the gate,' saidhe.

  "'Who is there?' said McLeod.

  "'It's so dark I can't see,' said the helper.

  "'The man is my cousin,' said Red Feather. 'He has come to talk withus. Let him in, for he is a wise man and may help us.'

  "'Open the gate,' said McLeod.

  "We sat silent, waiting for the cousin of Red Feather, the wise manwho might help us. I heard the rattle of the bar as the helper liftedit, then the creak of the gate. Then a furious outcry, a confusion ofhowls and screams, a war-whoop and a rush of feet. The Indians werewithin the stockade. A moment later they burst into the shop andadvanced upon us, uttering blood-curdling whoops and brandishing theirhatchets and knives. McLeod reached for the musket above the desk, butbefore his fingers touched it Red Feather caught him by the arms, andwith the help of the brother made him prisoner. At the same instant Iwas secured.

  "'Let us strike! Let us strike!' the Indians kept shouting, all thewhile dancing about us, flourishing their weapons.

  "The danger was real and terrible. We were at the mercy of the band,and at that moment I did not doubt that they were bent on murder andpillage. There had been a cruel massacre at Fort Pine but a few monthsbefore. The story was fresh in my mind. That crime had goneunpunished; nor was it likely that a sufficient force would be sentwest to give the band their due. There was nothing now to deter RedFeather's men from committing a similar outrage. We were remote fromour kind, on the edge of a wilderness into which escape was a simplematter. Our guns, as I have said, had been our law and defense, and wewere now utterly in the power of our enemies.

  "'Let us strike! Let us strike!' was the cry.

  "Buffalo Horn had come in with the band. It was soon evident that tothe restraining influence of his presence was due our respite. Hewaved his braves back. They withdrew and became quiet.

  "'Will you give the murderer of my child to our tribe?' the chief saidto McLeod.

  "'He is no longer mine to give,' said the factor.

  "'Will you give him to us in peace and forget that he has gone withus?'

  "McLeod was still in the grasp of Red Feather and his brother. BuffaloHorn was facing him. Behind the chief, awaiting his signal, was theband, with knives and hatchets in hand.

  "'No,' said McLeod.

  "The tumult was renewed. The Indians advanced, threatening the factorwith their weapons and crying out for his death. But McLeod was not tobe terrified.

  _Courtesy of "The Youth's Companion"_BUFFALO HORN LOOKED STEADILY INTO McLEOD'S EYES.]

  "'Let us take the white man,' said Buffalo Horn, lifting his hand forsilence. 'We have no quarrel with you. Let all be as it was.'

  "'No,' said McLeod. 'I will never consent to his murder.'

  "'Let us take him.'

  "'I said I wouldn't,' said McLeod, 'and I won't.'

  "It seemed to me that the end had come. Buffalo Horn looked steadilyinto McLeod's eyes. McLeod gave him glance for glance. He was ready todie for the word he had passed. The Indian hesitated. It may be thathe did not want to precipitate the slaughter. Then he turned, as if togive the signal. Before his hand was raised, however, the daughter ofthe Indian interpreter of the post pushed her way through the band ofbraves and stood before their chief.

  "'Listen,' said she. 'Have you come to rob the great company of itsgoods?'

  "'No,' said Buffalo Horn. 'We have no quarrel with the greatcompany.'

  "She was a slip of a girl, to whom, in sickness and in health, McLeodhad been unfailingly kind. She knew no fear, and in intelligence shewas superior to all the other women of her race I have known.

  "'Have you come to take the life of this man?' she went on, movingcloser to Buffalo Horn, and looking deep into his eyes.

  "'No,' said the chief, 'we have no quarrel with this man. He is a goodman, but he will not deliver the murderer of my child.'

  "'Will you take his life because of that?'

  "'No; we will take his life because he will betray our part in thedeath of the white man whom he has tried to shelter.'

  "'There are others who might betray you.'

  "'And their lives, also,' said Buffalo Horn,
composedly.

  "All that had been implied was now expressed. He was to massacre usall to shield his tribe from the punishment that might follow thediscovery of his revenge.

  "'You will lay waste the fort,' said the interpreter's daughter, 'butwill the ruins not accuse you to the great company which this manserves?'

  "'We will be far away.'

  "'And will you never care to return to the grounds you have huntedfrom childhood?'

  "To this Buffalo Horn made no reply. He looked at the floor, his armsfolded, and he was silent for a long time.

  "'This man,' said the girl, touching McLeod on the shoulder, 'hasdealt fairly by you. He has kept his faith with you. He said that hewould provide you with food through the hard seasons. Has he not doneso?'

  "'He has kept faith with us,' said the chief. 'Therefore he is a goodman.'

  "'He is a good man because he has kept faith with you,' the girl said,eagerly. 'Would you, then, have him break faith with some other? Hehas said to the white man, "I will not give you up." Would you havehim break the word he has passed? For if he breaks it once, will henot break it again? If he should yield up the white man, what securitywould you have that he would provide for you through the next hardseason?'

  "'He keeps his word,' said Buffalo Horn. 'He is a good man.'

  "He made a sign to Red Feather to release McLeod. Then he gatheredhis braves about him, and stalking solemnly at their head, led themout of the shop, over the courtyard and through the gate. We were leftalone.

  "'Leave the gate open, Tobias,' said McLeod. 'Come, boy,' to me, 'letus get to work on the quarterly statement again. This interruptioncame at an awkward time. We'll have to make up for it.'"

  That was the end of David's story.