The Riflemen of the Ohio: A Story of the Early Days along "The Beautiful River"

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Altsheler Joseph Alexander. The Riflemen of the Ohio: A Story of the Early Days along "The Beautiful River"

CHAPTER I. THE EYE OF THE FLEET

CHAPTER II. THE WYANDOT CHIEF

CHAPTER III. THE SONG OF THE LEAVES

CHAPTER IV. THE FOREST VILLAGE

CHAPTER V. PLAY AND COUNCIL

CHAPTER VI. THE GANTLET

CHAPTER VII. ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS

CHAPTER VIII. THE SHADOW IN THE WATER

CHAPTER IX. THE GATHERING OF THE FIVE

CHAPTER X. THE GREAT BORDERER

CHAPTER XI. THE RACE OF THE FIVE

CHAPTER XII. THE ONE WHO ARRIVED

CHAPTER XIII. AT THE FORT

CHAPTER XIV. SIX FIGURES IN THE DUSK

CHAPTER XV. THE DEED IN THE DARK

CHAPTER XVI. THE RETURN TRAIL

CHAPTER XVII. PICKING UP THE STRANDS

CHAPTER XVIII. THE HALTING OF THE FLEET

CHAPTER XIX. THE WATERY PASS

CHAPTER XX. THE TRUMPET'S PEAL

CHAPTER XXI. FORCES MEET

CHAPTER XXII. THE SPEECH OF TIMMENDIQUAS

CHAPTER XXIII. ON THE OFFENSIVE

CHAPTER XXIV. THE DECISIVE BATTLE

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Henry rose quickly from the noonday refreshment and, with a nod to his comrades, entered the forest at the head of the little band of hunters. Shif'less Sol and Tom Ross would have gone, too, but Adam Colfax wanted them to keep watch about the camp, and they were too loyal to insist upon having their own way when it was opposed to that of the leader.

Five men were with Henry, fairly good hunters on the whole, but more at home in the far south than in the woods of the Ohio. One, a big fellow named Larkin, had an undue pride in his skill, and another, a Frenchman, Pierre Cazotte, was a brave fellow, but uncommonly reckless. The remaining three were not of marked individuality.

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Henry watched the proceeding with interested eyes. He knew the Indian way. In his early captivity he had seen the entire rite, which was practically sacred. He knew that before these Wyandots had started on the war-path every man had put his totem in the bag, and then White Lightning had carried it bound securely to his body. Whenever they halted the bag was laid down in front, and no one might pass it. The warriors, now on the war-path, were not allowed to talk of home, wife, or sweetheart, lest it weaken their hearts and turn them to water. When they camped at night the heart of whatever animal they had killed in the course of the day was cut into small pieces and burned. During the burning no man was allowed to step across the fire, but must walk around it in the direction of the sun. When they laid the ambush, and the enemy came into sight, the chief gave back his totem to every man, and he wore it on his body in the conflict as a protection given by Manitou.

Henry noticed the rapt, worshipful air with which every man regarded his totem before it was replaced in the medicine bag. He was a child of the forest and the wilderness himself, and, while he knew that this was superstition, he could not find it in his heart to criticize it. It was their simple belief, the best that they knew, and here was the proof of its power. They had suffered no loss in the ambush, while they had slain two and taken one.

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