University of Virginia Library

25. CHAPTER XXV.
THE ENROLLMENT.

When the Governor and his suite had descended once more into the valley,
then about ten o'clock at night, all the young gentry and the officers of

the Rangers were summoned to the Governor's presence. It was a solemn
eonclave in the open forest, without any other lights than those afforded
by the starry firmament above, and the fantastic reflections from the fires
in the mountains, which latter seemed sometimes to hang almost over them.
Every now and then, as they gravely deliberated upon the subjects before
mentioned, they were startled by the ponderous fragments of stone, leaping
and plunging against some old time-honored king of the forest, which would
stagger and quiver for a moment, and then plunge into the dark chaos
beneath, sending up a shower of sparks and fragments of burning branches
and living coals, until the whole scene beneath was as light as day for
an instant, and then covered with a pitchy darkness from the contrast.

The characteristic exclamations of Joe at these occasional interruptions,
as he sat smoking upon an old dead tree near by, would almost upset the
more youthful of the counsellors. Such as “Oh the yaller rascals—old
Saatan never had better journeymen nor them, and the intarpreter he's boss.”

“Oh, if Dr. Blair could only 'a seed this here night's work, he'd never
preach another sarmint to the varmints—no, never—never.” Then he would
break out into his old song again, “Run boys, run boys, fire in the mountains,
&c., &c. Meanwhile the deliberations proceeded. The Governor
laid the case before his youthful counsellors, pointing out to them,
with his sword, the probable route the Indians had taken—where they
would be likely to make a stand—and the difficulties to be encountered.
He then unfolded to them Lee's scheme, and told them that he approved of it
highly, after having maturely examined its feasibility. At the same time he
did not disguise its difficulties, telling them that it would have to be undertaken
on foot, until they joined the main force. He placed Lee's claims to the command,
on the ground of his being the author of the plan. With most of them
this appeared reasonable enough, but there were others who were manifestly
reluctant to march under his orders, and others, perhaps, who preferred the
easier route along the beaten path. The old voteran assured them, that in his
opinion they would have fighting to then heart's content on either route. The
difficulty was soon settled, however, suffering the new scheme to be a voluntary
thing with them. Such as chose to be of the expedition were invited to
step to one side, while those who preferred to remain under his immediate
command, filed to the other. Lee's party happening to place themselves near
the old log where Joe was entertaining Nat Dandridge with his songs and
stories, the scout immediately stood upon the log, intimating thereby that he,
too, intended to accompany the more desperate adventure.

The new expedition was to start within the hour; consequently, all of them
were soon in motion, filling their knapsacks with provisions, and replenishing
their stock of ammunition. Moore gave Lee one hearty grasp of the hand,
ere he entered the Governor's tent for his last instructions.

“Farewell, Lee,” said he, “you, it seems, are going to make an attempt to
outflank the enemy, we will meet you, my fine fellow, more than half way.”

By the time that Lee had received his commander's parting orders, the whole
of the adventurous band was drawn up immediately in front of the latter's quarters.
The old veteran stepped out, bare headed, and told them that he knew perfectly
well that they required no incentive to daring deeds from him; that his object
in having a few parting words was to charge them on the contrary to
caution and prudence in dealing with the wily enemy. “Remember,” continued
he, “that you are all young, and comparatively inexperienced, and that
young blood is proverbially hot. I feel deeply my responsibility to your parents
and friends, now more especially when I am about to trust you to your own
guidance for a short time. Do nothing to shake the confidence which I have
placed in you, or to bring our expedition into discredit. Twenty-four hours
will decide whether we are to become laughing stocks to the whole Colony,
or whether we are to earn glorious names, which shall live long after these

mountains are traversed with the king's high way, I have only to add that I
have the highest confidence in the cool courage and judgment of your commander;
remember that there is no such thing as success in any military enterprise,
without discipline, and consequently without one recognized source of
command. I am the more particular in enforcing this, because each of you is
a gentleman born, and perhaps capable of taking the lead in his own person.
I have designated to your leader his successors in their order, should he
unfortunately fall, or be disabled. May the God of battles watch over you.”

After this each of the young adventurers were permitted to stop in rotation
and shake the old veteran by the hand. Following close in their
wake came Joe, who doffed his coon skin and even took his pipe out of
his mouth. The Governor, unreservedly held out his hand to him too,
which Jarvis seized eagerly, and wrung with the gripe of a vice, and
would have passed on then, but the Governor called out, “Hark ye, Scout,
remember these lads are now greatly dependant for their success on the
manner in which you pilot them!”

“Aye, aye, your honor, I'll lead 'em right on the tip-top of yon yaller
camp, depend upon it; they shall have their bellies full of fightin' for once
in their lives, or you may call Joe Jarvis a liar at sight.”

“I shall draw no such drafts on you, Scout. I depend upon you fully.”

Only picked men, of course, were taken by each of the young gentlemen who
had volunteered, because if each had taken his fifty men, the party would have
been entirely too unwieldy—besides weakening too much the main body, upon
whom, in any event, much the heaviest part of the fighting would in all probability
fall. They numbered something less than a hundred and fifty, all told.
The foremost of these were already, ascending, by a winding path, the spur
beneath which the main army were encamped, and in an opposite direction,
as it seemed, to that route in which the Governor contemplated marching at
daylight. Simply, one party purposed marching up the ravine on one side of
the mountain, and the other party were to encircle it until they should meet
the first, near the head of the gap. To one accustomed to the mountains, in
our day, this would seem no very difficult undertaking, but it must be remembered
that this sort of travelling was wholly new to every one, except the
scout, and even he had never been tried upon such a gigantic scale. Any one
who has ascended a mountain for the first time, through a trackless forest,
may form some idea of the excessive toil and fatigue which our luxurious
youths endured that night. Often and often did Lee and his inseparable companion,
the scout, seat themselves upon some flat rock, or piece of table land,
and wait for their wearied and straggling companions. For more than half a
mile beneath, they could distinguish the sounds of the rolling stones, as they
were precipitated beneath the tread of their followers, and every now and then
the shrill whistle of some straggler, who had wandered from the main body.
This last device was one of Jarvis's suggesting, in order to exclude the possibility
of alarming the savage camp on the other face of the mountain, or, perchance
of arresting the attention of some straggling party of hunters, who
might be out on that side, for the purpose of supplying the camp. The latter
danger was the scout's whole dread, and therefore he pushed so far ahead of
the main body. His gun he kept constantly ready for use, not for game, for
every one had been charged not to fire upon any sort of animal short of a two
legged one, as Joe expressed it, and even the noise of this he deprecated, if
the flight of such an one could be arrested by any other means.

When they had ascended about half way up the mountain, (on the opposite
side from the encampment,[8] ) about the first hour after midnight. the scout
(who was now some hundred or two yards ahead even of Lee,) suddenly

pounced upon a fire between two projecting rocks; and before the bright red
coals of which some fine venison steaks were even then broiling, suspended
upon sharpened sticks, after the Indian fashion. The fine buck, from whose
loins the meat had been taken, was also found neatly suspended on a stick in
the crotch of a small tree. The scout was very much alarmed at these indubitable
signs of the near neighborhood of an Indian hunting party, not that he
feared anything such a party could do of themselves—but he feared that the
whole plan of the attack would be blown by the hunter's running in and sounding
the alarm, and thus bring down the whole force of the savages upon their
small party. Joe's dog immediately commenced running about and whining,
and snuffing the ground in the most unusual manner, until at length he struck
a trail and followed it to the foot of a large and thickly leaved black jack. There
he commenced barking furiously until the scout was compelled to choke him
off, and even then he would return to the charge. Jarvis took up his station
at this tree, and here also Lee followed him with many others, when they arrived
at the same level. The young commander now despatched his fleetest
men up the sides of the mountain, to intercept any of the hunters who might
have escaped.

“As for this varmint,” said Joe, “I guess he's treed as snug as any coon.”

And yet no one could see him except the scout, and Lee even doubted
whether the scout and his dog had not both been mistaken. Joe rose up from
the stone on which he had seated himself, with his gun cocked and ready to
fire in case the savage should make a spring, and poking the end of it among
the leaves pulling them to one side, “There Capting, don't you see his red
breeches now?”

“Yes,” said Lee. “I see what you mean, but they are no breeches, Joe.”

“Well, the old coon's there any how, and if his breeches aint long, his leggins
makes up for 'em. We've got the longest end of ours fastened to our
waistbands, and he's got his'n fastened to his moccasins. I reckon if he could
get out of this tree, he would run leggins and breeches and all off, to let the
yaller niggers on tother side of the mountains know we're a commin.”

The scout now addressed him in one of the abosiginal languages and ordered
him down, but he either would not or could not understand, more probably,
the latter. “You don't understand that, hey? Well, here's talk I reckon's as
good Shawnese as 'tis English,” and with that he unslung an axe from his
back and commenced cutting down the tree. He had not made a dozen
strokes, however, before the savage commenced sliding down like a bear.
“Ho! ho! ho! ha! ha! ha!” screeched Joe, “there's no mistakin' that
ere kind of talk. Oh, Squire, if we had nothin' else to do, what fun we mont
a had a smokin' of this feller down.” The scout, after he was down, again
attempted to make him understand, but he received nothing but guttural answers
unintelligible to him. The parties which had been sent up the mountain
now returned without any tidings of others of the hunting party, if such
there had been, and the scout was of opinion, after a careful examination of
the sticks of meat, the foot marks, or the trail, as Joe expressed it more
technically, that he was alone. He was, therefore, speedily bound, with his
hands behind him, and marched immediately in front. Too much time had
already been lost with this unexpected interruption. However the scout was
now in fine spirits, as he supposed they had encountered the only difficulty of
that sort which they were likely to meet. They were drawing towards
the summit of the first half of the gap. We say first half, for they discovered,
even before the dawn of day, that there was an intervening piece of table land,
between the spur and the mountain, and upon this the savages had encamped.
The fires could occasionally be seen by our company, as they wound round the
mountain. It was, therefore, necessary for Lee and his party to make a detour
still farther round this table land, in order to be above the Indians, as
agreed upon with the old chief. This was accomplished with as much secrecy

and celerity as possible, Joe took the precaution, however of gagging his
prisoner, while they were circum venting the hostile encampment. A single
war-whoop, or the accidental discharge of a gun, would have been instant
destruction. The whole of the little band of adventurers now trod as lightly
as veteran scouts, for each one could see for himself the hazard. For more
than an hour they were winding round the hostile encampment, and every
moment dreading some momentary surprise. Jarvis even tied a withe round
his faithful dog's throat and held it in his hand, so that by a single twist he
could throttle him and stop his wind. He said he had two dogs in his charge
and both on 'em gagged, but that the four legged one was much the more to
be depended on of the two. Several times he raised the glittering blade of
his huge knife; and made a sign of drawing it across the Indian's wind pipe, and
pointing at the same time to his mouth, as much as to say that if he so
much as screeched through the gag, he would stop hiswar whoop forever.
It was a truly trying and perilous undertaking to conduct so many men
almost entirely round and above an Indian encampment, and within rifle
shot, sometimes, and not rouse those ever watchful sons of theforest. They
could see the smouldering fire beneath them, now that they were ascending
the main mountain, and occasionally the parties engaged in hurling
stones upon the white encampment beneath. It was fortunate for our
party that the Indians were so engaged, else they might not have passed so
easily. By the dawn of day the whole party was snugly stowed away behind
projecting rocks, trees, and undergrowth, so that not a glimpse of them could
be obtained by any eye in the savage encampment. Indeed the Indians seemed
wholly engrossed with the movements of the Governor's party below, which
Lee judged to be already in motion, from the great stir among their enemies.
The latter were, all hands, engaged with renewed energy hurling fragments
down the mountain. This, Lee and the scout, could distinctly see from their
well chosen retreat. The latter had placed a sentinel over the captive and the
dog, while his services were in requisition by his youthful commander.

As soon as Lee discovered the exact position of the enemy's encampment
he had despatched a trusty messenger to the Governor, informing him of
every important particular.

By the time this messenger reached the foot of the mountain, the Governor's
party was already under way, threading their tedious and winding path,
far remote from the buffalo track across which the savages were hurling
their missiles; but the old veteran very soon perceived that it would be
entirely impracticable to convey his horses and sumpter mules by this route,
in time to co-operate with his aid. By the time, therefore, that Lee's messenger
overtook him, he had already called a halt, and was detailing a small
party to return with the horses, mules and baggage, back to their late encampment.
He was delighted to hear of the admirable manner in which his
youthful adjunct had thus far conducted his secret and dangerous adventure,
and not less so to hear of the exact position of the enemy. This last information
enabled him to lay down his own route definitely. He determined
to abandon the path entirely, and to strike higher up the mountain,
still winding round it, so as to avoid the point, where the savages were hurling
their new and formidable artillery. We shall leave them to plod their
way up the sides of the mountain, and in the next chapter relate the result of
the adventure.