Chapter XIX. An Errand and a Friend

by Joseph A. Altsheler

　　Two stalwart lads were marching steadily, through the deep woods,some months later.

　　They were boys in years, but in size, strength, alertness andknowledge of the forest far beyond their age. One, inparticular, would have drawn the immediate and admiring glance ofevery keen-eyed frontiersman, so powerful was he, and yet solight and quick of movement. His wary glance seemed to readevery secret of tree, bush and grass, and his head, crowned by agreat mass of thick, yellow hair, rose several inches above thatof his comrade, who would have been called by most people a tallboy.

　　The two youths were dressed almost alike. Each wore a cap ofraccoon fur, with the short tail hanging from the back of it as adecoration. Their bodies were clad in hunting shirts, made ofthe skin of the deer, softly and beautifully tanned and dyedgreen. The fine fringe of the shirt hung almost to the knees,and below it were leggings also of deerskin, beaded at the seams.The feet were inclosed in deerskin moccasins, fitting tightly,but very soft and light. A rifle, a tomahawk, and a useful knifeat the belt completed the equipment.

　　They were walking, but each boy led a stout horse, and on theback of this horse was a great brown sack that hung down, puffy,on either side. The sacks were filled with gunpowder made fromcave-dust and the two boys, Henry Ware and Paul Cotter, werecarrying it to a distant village that had exhausted its supply,but which, hearing of the strange new way in which Warevilleobtained it, had sent begging for a loan of this commodity, moreprecious to the pioneer than gold and jewels. The response wasquick and spontaneous, and Henry and Paul had been chosen to takethe powder, an errand in which both rejoiced. Already they hadbeen two days in the great wilderness, now painted in gorgeouscolors by the hand of autumn, and they had not seen a sign of ahuman being, white or red.

　　They walked steadily on, and the trained horses followed, eachjust behind his master, although there was no hand upon thebridle. They stopped presently at the low rounded crest of ahill, where the forest opened out a little, and, as if with thesame impulse, each looked off toward the vast horizon with aglowing eye. The mighty forest, vivid with its gleaming reds andyellows and browns, rolled away for miles, and then died to theeye where the silky blue arch of the sky came down to meet it.Now and then there was a flash of silver, where a brook ranbetween the hills, and the wind brought an air, crisp, fresh andfull of life.

　　It was beautiful, this great wilderness of Kaintuckee, and eachboy saw it according to his nature. Henry, the soul of action,the boy of the keen senses and the mighty physical nature, lovedit for its own sake and for what it was in the present. Hefitted into it and was a part of it. The towns and the oldcivilization in the east never called to him. He had found theplace that nature intended for him. He was here the wildernessrover, hunter and scout, the border champion and defender, theprimitive founder of a state, without whom, and his like, ourUnion could never have been built up. Henry gloried in thewilderness and loved its life which was so easy to him. Paul,the boy of thought, was always looking into the future, andalready he foresaw what would come to pass in a later generation.

　　Neither spoke, and presently, by the same impulse, they startedon again, descending the low hill, and plunging once more intothe forest. When they had gone about half a mile, Henry stoppedsuddenly. His wonderful physical organism, as sensitive as themachinery of a watch, had sounded an alarm. A faint sound, notmuch more than the fall of a dying leaf, came to his ears and heknew at once that it was not a natural noise of the forest. Heheld up his hand and stopped, and Paul, who trusted himimplicitly, stopped also. Henry listened intently with ears thatheard everything, and the sound came to him again. It was afootfall. A human being, besides themselves, was near in theforest!

　　"Come, Paul," he said, and he began to creep toward the sound,the two darting from tree to tree, and making no noise among thefallen leaves, as they brushed past, with their soft moccasins.The trained horses remained where they had been left, silent andmotionless.

　　Henry, as was natural, was in front, and he was the first to seethe object that had caused the noise. A man stepped from theshelter of a tree's great trunk, and, although armed, he held upone hand, in the manner of a friend. He was an Indian of middleage and dignified look, although he was not painted like any ofthe tribes that came down to make war in Kentucky.

　　Henry recognized at once the friendly signal, and he too steppedfrom the cover of the forest, walking slowly toward the warrior,who was undoubtedly a chief and a man of importance. Twenty feetaway, the boy started a little, and a sudden light leaped intohis eyes. Then he strode up rapidly, and took the warrior's handafter the white custom.

　　"Black Cloud! My friend!" he said.

　　"You know me! You have not forgotten?" replied the chief and hiseyes gleamed ever so quickly.

　　"You have come far from your people and among hostile tribes tosee me?" said Henry who instantly divined the truth.

　　"It is so," replied the chief, "and to ask you to go back withme. Our warriors miss you."

　　Henry was moved to the depths of his nature. Black Cloud hadcome a thousand miles to ask him this question, and he had a far,sweet vision of a life utterly wild and free. Again he saw thegreat plains, and again came to his ears, like rolling thunder,the tread of the myriad-footed buffalo herd. He was temptedsorely tempted and he knew it, but, with a mighty effort he putthe temptation away from him and shook his head.

　　"It cannot be, Black Cloud," he said. "My people need me, asyours need you."

　　A shadow passed over the eyes of the chief, but it was gone in amoment. He knew that the answer was final, and he said notanother word on the subject. Black Cloud went on with Henry andPaul half a day, then he bade them farewell. They watched himgo, but it could be only for a minute or two, because his formquickly melted away into the forest. Then the two boys, turningtheir faces steadily toward duty, marched on, and the greatwilderness, gleaming in its reds and yellows and browns curvedabout them.