xt7pc824bw4k https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7pc824bw4k/data/mets.xml Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander), 1862-1919. 1909  books b92-185-30607277 English Appleton, : New York ; London : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Free rangers  : a story of early days along the Mississippi / by Joseph A. Altsheler. text Free rangers  : a story of early days along the Mississippi / by Joseph A. Altsheler. 1909 2002 true xt7pc824bw4k section xt7pc824bw4k 
THE



FREE RANGERS



JOSEPHI A. ALTSHELER



v
: 4:



X      O

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     The
FREE RANGERS

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lThe



FREE RANGERS



A  ST O RY  OF  EARLY DAYS
AL ONG  T HE  MISS IS SI PP I



            BY
   JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER
AUTHOR OF "THE YOUNG TRAILERS," " THE FOREST RUNNERS," ETC.





           S



APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC.
          NEW YORK

 



















           COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY
   D. APPLETON A       )D COMPANY




All rights reserved. This book, or parts
thereof, must not be reproduced in any
form without permission of the publishers.

















  Copyright, 1936, by Sallie B. Altsheler
  Printed in the United States of America

 





























"THE FREE RANGERS," WHILE AN TNIDEPENDENT
STORY IN ITSELF, CONTINUES THE FORTUNES OF THE
TWO BOYS AND THEIR COMRADES WHO WERE THE
CENTRAL CHARACTERS IN "THE YOUNG TR.ALERS,"
"THE FOREST RUNNERS," "THE KEEPERS OF THE
   TRAIL" AND "THE EYES OF THE WOODS."

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CONTENTS



CHAPTER
    I. THE CALL.  .   .  . .  .
    II. A FOREST ENVOY . . . .
    III. AN INVISIBLE CHASE . . .
    IV. TAKING A "GALLEON"
    V. ON THE GREAT RIVER
    VI. BATTLE AND STORM .
  VII. THE LONG VOYAGER .
  VIII. THE CHATEAU OF BEAULIEU
  IX. PAUL AND THE SPANIARD .
  X. A BARBARIC ORDEAL .
  XI. THE SPANIARD'S OFFER
  XII. THE SHADOW IN THE FOREST
  XIII. THE WVHITE STALLION
  XIV. NEW ORLEANS.
  XV. BEFORE BERNARDO GALVEZ .
  XVI. IN PRISON .
XVII. THE FLAW IN THE ARMOR
XVIII. NORTHWARD WITH THE FLEET
XIX. THE BATTLE OF THE BANK
  XX. THE BATTLE OF THE BAYOU
  XXI. THE DEFENSE OF ThE FIVE
XXII. THE CHOSEN TASK . .



PAGE
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  . 7
  39
  54
  74
  96
  ''5
  133
  153
  171


  196
214
230
._ I7




271
285
302
322
334
349
361

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   THE FREE RANGERS

                 CHAPTER I

                   THE CALL

       HE wilderness rolled away to north and to
       south, and also it rolled away to east and
       to west, an unbroken sweep of dark,
glossy green. Straight up stood the mighty trunks,
but the leaves rippled and sang low when a gentle
south wind breathed upon them. It was the forest
as God made it, the magnificent valley of North
America, upon whose edges the white man had just
begun to nibble.
  A young man, stepping lightly, came into a little
glade. He was white, but he brought with him no
alien air. He was in full harmony with the prime-
val woods, a part of them, one in whose ears the soft
song of the leaves was a familiar and loved tune.
He was lean, but tall, and he walked with a wonder-
ful swinging gait that betokened a frame wrought
to the strength of steel by exercise, wind, weather,
and life always in the open. Though his face was
browned by sun and storm his hair was yellow and
his eyes blue. He was dressed wholly in deerskin
                       I

 


THE FREE RANGERS



and he carried over his shoulder the long slender
rifle of the border. At his belt swung hatchet and
kn fe.
  There was a touch to the young man that sepa-
rated him from the ordinary woods rover. He
held himself erect with a certain pride of manner.
The stock of his rifle, an unusually fine piece, was
carved in an ornate and beautiful way. The deer-
sk.i of his attire had been tanned with uncommon
care, and his moccasins were sewn thickly with little
beads of yellow and blue and red and green. Every
piece of clothing was scrupulously clean, and his
arms were polished and bright.
  The shiftless one -who so little deserved his
name-paused a moment in the glade and, drop-
ping the stock of his rifle to the ground, leaned upon
the muzzle.  He listened, although he expected to
hear nothing save the song of the leaves, and that
alone he heard.  A faint smile passed over the face
of Shif'less Sol. He was satisfied. All was happen-
ing as he had planned. Then he swung the rifle
back to his shoulder, and walked to the crest of a
hill near by.
  The summit was bare and the shiftless one saw
far.  It was a splendid rolling country, covered
w;,,,ith forests of oak and elm, beech, hickory and
maple. Here and there faint threads of silver
showed where rivers or brooks flowed, and he drew
a long deep breath. The measure of line and verse
lie knew not, but deep in his being Nature had kin-
dled the true fire of poetry, and now his pleasure
                         2

 


THE CALL



was so keen and sharp that a throb of emotion
stirred in his throat.  It was a grand country and,
if reserved for any one, it must be reserved for his
race and his people.  Shif'less Sol was resolved
upon that purpose and to it he was ready to devote
body and life.
  Yet the wilderness seemed to tell only of peace.
The low song of the leaves was soothing and all
innocence. The shiftless one was far beyond the
farthest outpost of his kind, beyond the broad yel-
low current of the Mississippi, deep in the heart of
the primeval forest.  He might travel full three
hundred miles to the eastward and find no white
cabin, while to westward his own kind were almost
a world away.  On all sides stretched the vast maze
of forest and river, through which roamed only wild
animals and wilder man.
  Shif'less Sol, from his post on the hill, examined
the whole circle of the forest long and carefully.
Hie seemed intent upon some unusual object. It
was shown in the concentration of his look and the
thoughtful pucker of his forehead.  It was not
game, because in a glade to windward, at the foot
of the hill, five buffaloes grazed undisturbed and
now and then uttered short, panting grunts to show
their satisfaction. Presently a splendid stag, walk-
ing through the woods as if he were sole proprietor,
scented the strange human odor, and threw up his
head in alarm..4 But the figure on the hill, the like
of which the deer had never seen before, did not
stir or take notice, and His Lordship the Stag raised
                        3

 

THE FREE RANGERS



his head higher to see. The figure still did not stir,
a-d, his alarm dying, the stag walked disdainfully
avway among the trees.
  Pirds, the scarlet tanager, the blue bird, the cat
bira, the jay and others of their kin settled on the
tress near the young man with the yellow hair, and
gazld at him with curiosity and without fear. A
rabbit peeped up now and then, but beyond the new
presence the wilderness was undisturbed, and it be-
came obvious to the animal tribe that the stranger
meant no harm. Nor did the shiftless one him-
self discern any alien note. The sky, a solid curve
of blue, bore nowhere a trace of smoke. It was
undarkened and unstained, the same lonely bright-
ness that had dawned every morning for untold
thousands of years.
  Shif'less Sol showed no disappointment. Again
all seemed to be happening as he wished. Pres-
ently he left the hill and, face toward the south,
began to walk swiftly and silently down the ro Ws of
trees. There was but little undergrowth, nothing
to check his speed, and he strode on and on. After
a while he came to a brook running through low
soft soil and then he did a strange thing, the very
act that a white man travelling through the danger-
ous forest would have avoided. He planted one
foot in the yielding soil near the water's edge, and
then stepping across, planted the other in exactly
the same way on the far side.
  When another yard brought him to hard ground
ht stopped and looked back with satisfaction. On

 

THE CALL



either side of the brook remained the firm deep im-
pression of a human foot, of a white foot, the toes
being turned outward. No wilderness rover could
mistake it, and yet it was hundreds of miles to the
nearest settlement oi Shif'less Sol's kind.
   He took another look at the footsteps, smiled
again and resumed his journey. The character of
the country did not change. Still the low rolling
hills, still the splendid forests of oak and elm, beech,
maple and hickory, and of all their noble kin, still
the little brooks of clear water, still the deer and
the buffalo, grazing in the glades, and taking but
little notice of the strange human figure as it passed.
Presently, the shiftless one stopped again and he did
another thing, yet stranger than the pressing-in of
the foot-prints beside the little stream.  He drew
the hatchet from his belt and cut a chip out of the
bark of a hickory. A hundred yards further on he
did the same thing, and, at three hundred yards or
so, he cut the chip for the third time. He looked
well at the marks, saw that they were clear, distinct
and unmistakable, and then the peculiar little smile
of satisfaction would pass again over his face.
  But these stops were only momentary. Save
for them he never ceased his rapid course, and al-
ways it led straight toward the south.  When the
sun was squarely overhead, pouring down a flood of
golden  beams, he paused in the shade of a
mighty oak, and took food from his belt. He
might hav e eaten there in silence and obscurity, but
once more the shiftless one showed a singular lack
                         5

 

THE FREE RANGERS



of caution and woodcraft. He drew together dry
sticks, ignited a fire with flint and steel, and cooked
deer meat over it. He let the fire burn high, and a
thin column of dark smoke rose far up into the blue.
Any savage, roaming the wilderness, might see it,
but the shiftless one was reckless. He let the fire
burn on, after his food was cooked, while the col-
umn of smoke grew thicker and mounted higher,
and ate the savory steaks, lying comfortably be-
tween two upthrust roots.   Now and then he ut-
tered a little sigh of satisfaction, because he had
travelled far and hard, and he was hungry. Food
meant new strength.
  But he was not as reckless as he seemed. Noth-
ing that passed in the forest within the range
of eyesight escaped   his notice.  He heard   the
leaf, when it fell close by, and the light tread of
a deer passing. He remained a full hour between
the roots, a long time for one who might have a
purpose, and, after he rose, he did not scatter the
fire and trample upon the brands after the wilder-
ness custom when one was ready to depart. The
flames had died down, but he let the coals smoulder
on, and, hundreds of yards away, he could still see
their smoke.  Now, he sought the softest parts of
the earth and trod there deliberately, leaving many
footprints.  Again he cut little chips from   the
trees as he passed, but never ceased his swift and
Silent journey to the south.  The hours fled by, and
a dark shade appeared in the east.  It deepened into
dusk, and spread steadily toward the zenith. The
                        6

 

THE CALL



sun, a golden ball, sank behind a hill in the west,
and then the shiftless one stopped.
  He ascended a low hill again, and took a long
scrutinizing look around the whole horizon. But
his gaze was not apprehensive.  On the contrary.
it was expectant, and his face seemed to show a
slight disappointment when the wilderness merely
presented its wonted aspect. Then he built an-
other fire, not choosing a secluded glade, but the top
of the hill, the most exposed spot that he could find,
and, after he had eaten his supper, he sat beside it,
the expectant air still on his face.
  Nothing came. But the shiftless one sat long.
He raked up dead leaves of last year's winter and
made a pillow, against which he reclined luxuriously.
Shif'less Sol was one who drew mental and physical
comfort from every favoring circumstance, and the
leaves felt very soft to his head and shoulders. IHle
was not in the least lonesome, although the night
had fully come, and heavy darkness lay like a black
robe over the forest.  He stretched out his mocca-
sined toes to the fire, closed his eyes for a moment
or two, and a dreamy look of satisfaction rested on
his face. It seemed to the shiftless one that he lay
in the very lap of luxury, in the very best of
worlds.
  But when he opened his eyes again he continued
to watch the forest, or rather he watched with his
ears now, as he lay close to the earth, and his hear-
ing, at all times, was so acute that it seemed to bor-
der upon instinct or divination.  But no sound save
                        7

 

THE FREE RANGERS



the usual ones of the forest and the night came to
him, and he remained quite still, thinking
  Shif'less Sol Hyde was in an exalted mood, and
the flickering firelight showed a face refined and en-
nobled by a great purpose. Leading a life that
.mnade him think little of hardship and danger he
thought nothing at all of them now, but he felt in-
stead a great buoyancy, and a hope equally great.
  He lay awake a full three hours after the dark
had come, and he rose only twice from his reclining
position, each time merely to replenish the fire which
remained a red core in the circling blackness. Al-
ways he was listening and always he heard nothing
but the usual sounds of the forest and the night.
The darkness grew denser and heavier, but after a
while it began to thin and lighten. The sky became
clear, and the great stars swam in the dusky blue.
Then Shif'less Sol fell asleep, head on the leaves,
feet to the fire, and slept soundly all through the
night.
  He was up at dawn, cooked his breakfast, and
than, after another long and searching examination
of the surrounding forest, departed, leaving the
coals of the fire to smoulder, and tell as they might
Lhat some one had passed. Shif'less Sol through.
out that morning repeated the tactics of the preced.
ing day, leaving footprints that would last, and cut-
ting pieces of bark from the trees with his sharp
hatchet. At the noon hour he stopped, according
to custom, and, just when he had lighted his fire, he
uttered a low cry of pleasure.
                        8

 

                   THE CALL
   The shiftless one was gazing back upon his own
 trail, and the singular look of exaltation upon his
 face deepened. He rose to his feet and stood, very
 erect, in the attitude of one who welcomes. -No un-
 dergrowth was here. and he could see far down the
 aisles of trunks.
   A figure, so distant that only a keen eye would no-
tice it, was approaching. It came on swiftly and
silently, much after the manner of the shiftless one
himself, elastic, and instinct with strength.
   The figure was that of a boy in years, but of a
man in size, surpassing Shif'less Sol himself in
height, yellow haired, blue-eyed, and dressed, too, in
the neatest of forest garb. His whole appearance
was uncommon, likely anywhere to attract attention
and admiration. The shiftless one drew a long
breath of mingled welcome and approval.
   " I knew that he would be first," he murmured.
   Then he sat down and began to broil a juicy deer
steak on the end of a sharpened stick.
  Henry Ware came into the little glade. He had
seen the fire afar and he knew who waited. All was
plain to him like the print of a book, and, without
a word, he dropped down on the other side of the
fire facing Shif'less Sol. The two nodded, but
their eyes spoke far more. Sol held out the steak,
now crisp and brown and full of savor, and Henry
began to eat. Sol quickly broiled another for him-
self, and joined him in the pleasant task, over which
they were silent for a little while.
    I was on the Ohio," said Henry at last, " when
                        9

 

THE FREE RANGERS



the trapper brought me your message, but I started
at once."
   " O' course," said Shif'less Sol, " I never doubted
it for a minute. I reckon that you've come about
seven hundred miles."
   " Nearer eight," said Henry, " but I'm fresh ar-d
strong, and we need all our strength, Sol, because
it' i a great task that lies before us."
   "It shorely is," said Sol, " an' that's why I sent
the message. I don't want to brag, Henry, but
we've done a big thing or two before, an' maybe we
kin do a bigger now."
  He spoke the dialect of the border, he was not a
man of books, bdt that great look of exaltation came
into his face again, and the boy on the other side of
the fire shared it.
  " It seems to me, Sol," said Henry presently,
" that we've been selected for work of a certain kind.
We finish one job, and then another on the same line
begins."
    Mebbe it's because we like to do it, an' are fit
fur it," said Sol philosophically.  " I've noticed
tl:at a river genially runs in a bed that suits it. I
don't know whether the bed is thar because the river
is, or the river is thar 'cause the bed is, but it's shore
that they're both thar together, an' you can't git
aroun' that."
   'There's something   in what you say," said
Henry.
  T hen they relapsed into silence, and, in a half
hour, as if by mutual consent, they rose, left the fire
                       I0

 

THE CALL



burning, and departed, still walking steadily toward
the south.
   The country grew rougher. The hills were
higher and closer together, and the undergrowth be-
came thick. Neither took any precautions as they
passed among the slender bushes, frequently tramp-
ling them down and leaving signs that the blindest
could not fail to see. Now and then the two looked
back, but they beheld only the forest and the forest
people.
   " I don't think I ever saw the game so tame be-
fore," said Henry.
    "Which means," said Sol, " that the warriors
ain't hunted here fur a long time. I ain't seen a
single sign o' them."
  " Nor I."
  They fell silent and scarcely spoke until the sun
was setting again, when they stopped for the night,
choosing a conspicuous place, as Sol had done the
evening before. After supper, they sought soft
places on the turf, and lay in peace, gazing up at the
great stars. Henry was the first to break the silence.
  " One is coming," he said. " I can hear the foot-
step. Listen! "
  His ear was to the earth, and the shiftless one imi-
tated him. At the end of a minute he spoke.
  " Yes," he said, " I hear him, too. Ve'll make
f im welcome."
  He rose, put a fresh piece of wood on the fire,
and smiled, as he saw the flame leap up and crackle
merrily.

 

THE FREE RANGERS



  " Here he is," said Henry.
  The figure that emerged from the bushes was
thick-set and powerful, the strong face seamed and
tanned by the wind, rain and sun of years. The
man stepped into the circle of the firelight, and held
out his hand. Each shook it with a firm and hearty
clasp, and Tom Ross took his seat with them beside
the fire. They handed him food first, and then he
said:
  " I was away up in the Miami country, huntin'
buffalo, when the word came to me, Sol, but I quit
on the minute an' started."
    "i was shore you would," said the shiftless one
quietly. " Buffaloes are big game, but we're huntin'
bigger now."
  ;' I was never in this part of the country before,"
said Tom Ross, looking around curiously at the
ghostly tree trunks.
  " I've been through here," said Henry, " and it
runs on in the same way for hundreds of miles in
every direction."
  " Bigger an' finer than any o' them old empires
that Paul used to tell us about," said Shif'less Sol.
  " Yes," said Henry.
  The three looked at one another significantly.
  They wrapped themselves in their blankets by
and by, and went to sleep on the soft turf. Henry
was the first to awake, just when the dawn was
turning from pink to red, and a single glance re-
vealed to him an object on the horizon that had not
been there the night before. A man stood on the
                       I2

 

THE CALL



crest of a low hill, and even at the distance, Henry
recognized him. His comrades were awaking and
he turned to them.
   " See ! " he said, pointing with a long forefinger.
   Their eyes followed, and they too recognized the
man.
   " He'll be here in a minute," said Shif'less Sol.
   He jest eats up space."
   He spoke the truth, as it seemed scarcely a minute
before Long Jim Hart entered the camp, showing
no sign of fatigue. The three welcomed him and
gave him a place at their breakfast fire.
   " I wuz at Marlowe," he said, " when the word
reached me, but I started just an hour later.  I
struck your trail, Sol, two days back, an' I traveled
nearly all last night. I saw Henry join you an' then
Tom."
  Shif'less Sol laughed.  He had a soft, mellow
laugh that crinkled up the corners of his mouth, and
made his eyes shine. There was no doubt that a man
who laughed such a laugh was enjoying himself.
  " I reckon you didn't have much trouble follerin'
that trail o' ourn," he said.
  Jim Hart answered the laugh with a grin.
  " Not much," he replied. " It was like a wagon
road through the wilderness.  The ashes uv your last
camp fire weren't sca'cely cold when I passed by."
  " We're all here 'cept the fifth feller," said Tom
Ross.
  " The fifth will come," said Henry emphatically.
  " Uv course," said Tom Ross with equal emphasis.
                       I3

 

THE FREE RANGERS



   "And when he comes," said Shif'less Sol, " we
 take right hold o' the big job."
   They lingered awhile over their breakfast, but saw
no one approaching. Then they took up the march
again, going steadily southward in single file, talking
little, but leaving a distinct trail. They were only
four, but they were a formidable party, all strong of
arm, keen of eye and ear, skilled in the lore of the
forest, and every one bore the best weapons that the
time could furnish.
   Toward noon the day grew very warm and clouds
gathered in the sky. The wind became damp.
   " Rain," said Henry. " I'm sorry of that. I wish
Ft wouldn't break before he overtook us."
   " S'pose we stop an' make ready," said Shif'less
Sol. " You know we ain't bound to be in a big hurry,
an' it won't help any o' us to get a soakin'."
   " You're shorely right, Sol," said Jim Hart.
" We're bound to take the best uv care uv ourselves."
  They looked around with expert eyes, and quickly
chose a stony outcrop or hollow in the side of a hill,
just above which grew two gigantic beeches very close
together. Then it was wonderful to see them work,
so swift and skillful were they. They cut small sap-
lings with their hatchets, and, with the little poles
and fallen bark of last year, made a rude thatch
which helped out the thick branches of the beeches
overhead. They also built up the sides of the hollow
with the same materials, and the whole was done in
less than ten minutes. Then they raked in heaps of
dead leaves and sat down upon them comfortably.
                       I4

 

                    THE CALL
 Many drops of water would come through the leaves
 and thatch, but such as they, hardened to the wil-
 derness, would not notice them.
   Meanwhile the storm was gathering v .1= the ra-
pidity so frequent in the great valley. All the little
clouds swung together and made a big one that cov-
ered nearly the whole sky. The air darkened rap-
idly. Thunder began to growl and mutter and now
and then emitted a sharp crash. Lightning cut the
heavens from zenith to horizon, and the forest would
leap into the light, standing there a moment, vivid,
like tracery.
   A blaze more brilliant than all the rest cleft wide
the sky and, as they looked toward the North, they
saw directly in the middle of the flame a black dot
that had not been there before.
    He's coming," said Henry in the quiet tone that
indicated nothing more than a certainty fulfilled.
   "Just in time to take a seat in our house," said
the shiftless one.
  Sol ran out and gave utterance to a long echoing
cry that sounded like a call. It was answered at
once by the new black dot under the Northern hori-
zon, which was now growing fast in size, as it came
on rapidly. It took a human shape, and, thirty yards
away, a fine, delicately-chiselled face, the face-of a
scholar and dreamer, remarkable in the wilderness,
was revealed. The face belonged to a youth, tall
and strong, but not so tall and large as Henry.
  " Here we are, Paul," said Shif'less Sol. " We've
fixed fur you."
                        Is

 

THE FREE RANGERS



   " And mighty glad I am to overtake you fellows,"
said Paul Cotter, " particularly at this tirne."
  He ran for the shelter just as the forest began to
rrmoan, and great drops of rain rushed down upon
them. He was inside in a moment, and each gave his
hand a firm grasp.
  " Xe're all here now," said Henry.
  "All here and ready for the great Work," said
Shif'less Sol, his tranquil face illumined again with
that look of supreme exaltation.
  Then the storm  burst.  The skies opened and
dropped down floods of water. They heard it beat-
ing on the leaves and thatch overhead, and some came
through, falling upon them but they paid no heed.
They sat placidly until the rush and roar passed, and
then Henry said to the others:
  " We're to stick to the task that we've set our-
selves through thick and through thin, through every-
thing "
  "Yes! Yes!"
    If one falls, the four that are left keep on"
  " Yes ! yes! "
  "If three fall and only two are left, these must
not flinch."
   ' Yes! yes ! "
   " If four go down and only one is left, then he
whoever he may be, must go on and win alone "
  " Yes! yes! " came forth with deep emphasis.


 







CHAPTER II



                A FOREST ENVOY

A      GROUP of men were seated in a pleasant
        valley, where the golden beams of the sun
        sifted in myriads through the green leaves.
They were about fifty in number and all were white.
Most of them were dressed in Old World fashion,
doublets, knee breeches, hose, and cocked hats.
Nearly all were dark; olive faces, black hair, and
black pointed beards, but now and then one had fair
hair, and eyes of a cold, pale blue. Manner, speech,
looks, and dress, alike differentiated them from the
borderers. They were not the kind of men whom
one would expect to find in these lonely woods in the
heart of Noirth America.
  The leader of the company - and obviously he
was such    was one of the few who belonged to
the blonde type. His eyes were of the chilly, metallic
blue, and his hair, long and fair, curled at the ends.
His dress, of some fine, black cloth, was scrupulously
neat and clean, and a silver-hilted small sword swung
at his belt. He was not more than thirty.
  The fair man was leaning lazily but gracefully
against the trunk of a tree, and he talked in a manner
that seemed indolent and careless, but which was
neither to a youth in buckskins who sat opposite him,
                        /,

 

THE FREE RANGERS



 striking contrast in appearance. This youth was
undeniably of the Anglo-Saxon type, large and well-
built, with a broad, full forehead, but with eyes set
too close together.  He was tanned almost to the
darkness of an Indian.
   " You tell me, Sefior WVyatt," said Don Francisco
Alvarez, the leader of the Spanish band, " that the
new settlers in Kaintock have twice driven off the
allied tribes, and that, if they are left alone another
wear or two, they will go down so deep in the soil
that they can never be uprooted. Is it not so
  " It is so," replied Braxton WVyatt, the renegade.
The tribes have failed twice in a great effort. Every
man among these settlers is a daring and skillful
fighter, and many of the boys - and many of the
wome n, too. But if white troops and cannon are
sent against them their forts must fall."
  The Spaniard was idly whipping the grass stems
with a little switch. Now he narrowed his metallic,
blue eyes, and gazed directly into those of Braxton
VWyatt.
    And you, Sefior Wyatt " he said, speaking his
slow, precise English.  " Nothing premeditated is
done without a motive. You are of these people
who live in Kaintock, their blood is your blood; why
then do you wish to have them destroyed "
  A deep flush broke its way through the brown tan
on the face of Braxton WVyatt, and his eyes fell before
the cold gaze of the Spaniard. But he raised them
again in a moment. Braxton Wyatt was not a cow-
 An early French and Spanish name for Kentucky.
                        Is

 


A FOREST ENVOY



ard, and he never permitted a guilty conscience to
last longer than a throb or two.
   " I did belong to them," he replied, " but my tastes
led me away. I have felt that all this mighty valley
should belong to the Indians who have inhabited it
so long, but, if the white people come, it should be
those who are true and loyal to their kings, not these
rebels of the colonies."
  Francisco Alvarez smiled cynically, and once more
surveyed Braxton Wyatt, with a rapid, measuring
glance.
  " You speak my sentiments, Sefior Wyatt," he
said, " and you speak them in a language that I
scarcely expected."
  " I had a schoolmaster even in the wilderness,"
said Braxton WVyatt. " And I may tell you, too, as
proof of my faith that I would be hanged at once
should I return to the settlements."
  " I do not doubt your faith. I was merely curious
about your motives. I am sure also that you can be
of great help to us."
  lHe spoke in a patronizing manner, and Braxton
Wyatt moved slightly in anger, but restrained his
speech.
  " I may say," continued the Spaniard, " that His
Excellency Bernardo Galvez, His Most Catholic
Majesty's Governor of his loyal province of Louis-
iana, has been stirred by the word that comes to
him of these new settlements of the rebel Americans
in the land of the Ohio. The province of Louisiana
is vast, and it may be that it includes the country on
                        J9

 

THE FREE RANGERS



either side of the Ohio. The French, our predeces-
sors, claimed it, and now that all the colonists east
of the mountains are busy fighting their king, it may
be easy to take it from them, as one would snip off
a skirt with a pair of scissors. That is why I and this
faithful band are so far north in these woods."
  Braxton Wyatt nodded.
  "And a wise thing, too," he said. " I am strong
with the tribes. The great chief, Yellow Panther,
of the Miamis and the great chief, Red Eagle, of
the Shawnees are both my friends.    I know how
they feel.  The Spanish in New Orleans are far
away. Their settlements do not spread. They come
rather to hunt and trade.  But the Americans push
farther and farther. They build their homes and
they never go back. Do you wonder then that the
warriors wish your help "
  Francisco Alvarez smiled again.  It was a cold
but satisfied smile and he rubbed one white hand over
the other.
    Your logic is good," he said, " and these reasons
have occurred to me, also, but my master, Bernardo
Galvez, the Governor, is troubled.  We love not
England and there is a party among us -a party at
present in power -which wishes to help the Amer-
icans in order that we may damage England, but I,
if I could choose the way would have no part in it.
As surely as we help the rebels we will also create
rebels against ourselves."
  " You are far from New Orleans," said Braxton
Wyatt.   " It would take long for a messenger to
                       20

 

A FOREST ENVOY



go and come, and meanwhile you could act as you
think best."
  " It is so," said the Spaniard.  " Our presence
here is unknown to all save the chiefs and yourself.
In this wilderness, a thousand miles from his su-
perior, one must act according to his judgment, and I
should like to see these rebel settlements crushed."
  He spoke to himself rather than to WAyatt, and
again his eyes narrowed.  Blue eyes are generally
warm and sympathetic, but his were of the cold, me-
tallic shade that can express cruelty so well. He
plucked, too, at his short, light beard, and Braxton
Wyatt read his thoughts. The renegade felt a thrill
of satisfaction. Here was a man who could be useful.
  " How far is it from this place to the land of the
IMfiamis and the Shawnees" asked Alvarez.
  " It must be six or seven hundred miles, but bands
of both tribes are now hunting much farther west.
One Shawnee party that I know of is even now west
of the Mississippi."
  Francisco Alvarez frowned slightly.
  " It is a huge country," he said. " These great
distances annoy me. Still, one must travel them.
Ah, what is it now "
  He was looking at Braxton Wyatt, as he spoke,
and he saw a sudden change appear upon his face, a
look of recognition and then of mingled hate and
rage. The renegade was staring Northward, and
the eyes of Alvarez followed his.
  The Spaniard saw a man or