University of Virginia Library

23. CHAPTER XXIII.
RAINBOW ISLAND.

When the little party had found seats, Johnson hastened to
answer the questions which his children anxiously asked in a half
whisper about the war and its results. It was a painful task to
tell of his new misfortunes, and of the crushing of his high hopes,
yet he spoke of the defeat of the patriots only in general terms,
and hinted at triumphs yet in reserve for them, which should
amply atone for present reverses. The daughter seemed prepared
for sad tidings, which she had long been accustomed to hear, but
she could not grieve violently over any disaster which left her
father unharmed. To his side she clung with an affectionate
interest, which lightened the warrior's heart of its load of grief
and inspired his failing spirits with new hope and resolution.

“Tell me now,” he said, “about yourselves. Your letter hints
of danger and of pursuit, but it has been, doubtless, some childish
alarm. There can be none of our enemies among the islands
now.”

“You are mistaken, father.”

“That you are,” exclaimed the boy. “There's a party of
eight or ten men among the upper islands now, all well armed,
and led by a Canadian officer. I saw them while I was deer
hunting on Fire Island, and they were in two boats, and were not
more than half a mile distant from me. I saw them distinctly.”

“When was this?”

“The day before yesterday. We came down here the same
night; and I advised Ellen to let me take her to old Flynn's, on
the American shore, but she said we must wait first a day or two,
and see if you returned from the fight, which we knew would be
very soon.”

“This is certainly serious, if true, but you may have been misled
by some hunting party.”

“No,” replied the boy, “I saw soldiers with guns and bayonets,
I cannot be mistaken. Besides, I saw a deer within sixty rods of
them, which no one attempted to shoot.”

“Then we must be on the alert, and the first thing to be done
is for you and Ellen to go to Flynn's to-night, and stay there till
you hear from me.”

“Not me, papa; I will return, for you know I can help you if
they should come. I can at least load the guns, if you don't
think I can fire straight enough.”

“No, you must stay with Ellen. I could do nothing with
either of you here. Besides, I shall have help enough now,” and
the speaker glanced at the guests, who might be said each to owe
him a life.

Jones replied very hastily,

“I think I shall have to be going, Mr. Commodore; 'cause
you see, I must be wanted to hum about these days. My folks
didn't know as I was to be gone so long when I left 'em.”

“Where do you think your hum would have been now, if it
had not been for meeting me at Windmill Point last evening! In
a Canadian jail, with a full view of a gallows before you.”

“P'raps so—it's orful to think on, and I'm sure I don't want to
run no more such risks. I think I'll be going when Miss Johnson
and the boy goes. I can help them row the boat, you know.”

“You will not go with me, sir,” replied Ellen, with flushed
cheeks and flashing eyes. “I will not trust myself with a man
who deserts his friend in the hour of danger.”

“Why, bless you, girl, I ain't going to desert nobody. Your
father don't need me here, and I'm in a hurry to get home. I
won't hurt you.”

“Why not go yourself to this Flynn's to-night, and remain
there till the search is over?” asked Tom.

“Because I am no safer on the American shore than I should
be in Canada. Every marshal on the frontier, from Michigan to
Maine, has a warrant for my arrest. No, the children must go
alone, unless you also wish to accompany them.”

“No,” said Tom, to whom the poltroonry of Jones had seemed
so great that he could not make up his mind to imitate it, notwithstanding
his own previous feats in that line. Perhaps his
very regret and shame for the desertion of his brother had influenced
him to a different line of conduct now, for, whatever were
his faults, he did not altogether lack courage. “No, I will
remain, and do what I can,” he said. “I do not think we have
much to fear among these islands against a dozen men.”

“And you?” asked Johnson.

“I rayther think I'd like to go, seeing that 'Im”—

“In a hurry,” added Johnson. “But there don't seem any way
left for you to travel. We have but two boats here—one we must
keep, of course, and the other the children must take.”

“But, as I said, I will go with them.”

“Ellen has made up her mind on that subject. She won't take
you. I saw that in her eye before she spoke, and it is useless to
try to change her mind. But I tell you what, if the enemy
comes, Mr. Jones, I can hide you where you will be as safe as a
toad in a rock.”

“In this place here?” asked Jones, looking about the cavern.

“No—a safer place than this; for there are some signs and
marks hereabouts that a practiced woodsman would soon take
notice of. I have a safer place than this, when worst comes to
worst.”

“Wal, as I said, I'd rayther go,” reiterated Jones, “'cause I'm
in a hurry, and our folks don't know where I am, but if I hef to
stay, p'raps you may as well put me in that place that you speak
of; not but what I would stay and help you fight very willingly,
if I thought it was lawful to shoot them fellows.”

“Lawful?”

“Yes—you see this ain't like killing in war exactly, and these
folks ain't arter me, and if I should shoot any of 'em, or shoot at
'em, and they should capter me, it might be a hanging matter.”

“You may make your mind easy on that score, for if they
catch you, you'll be hung beyond a doubt, though you never fire a
bullet.”

“Do you think so?” asked Jones, really turning pale.

“Of course you will—you, the great orator and agitator, who
went over with the patriot army to Windmill Point.”

“But I didn't mean to go over, Mr. Johnson, you know.”

“No, I know you didn't—I can swear to that.”

“And I don't think I killed anybody.”

“I presume not. By the way, Jones, what division were you
in? I never saw anything of you until I saw you running away.”

“Well, I was in Colonel Smith's party in one of the storehouses.
They fought like bull-dogs there, too; but I wasn't
exactly in the lines, not having listed, you know, and not bein'
obliged to fight.”

“But you gave the affair your countenance?” said Johnson,
suppressing a smile.

“Y-e-s,” answered Barak hesitatingly, as if reflecting how far
the answer might commit him in case of capture.

“But as to running away,” he added, for he did not exactly like
the phrase; “you know when you overtook me, you were doing
the same thing.”

“Of course I was. After our commander, Colonel Van Shoultz,
surrendered, and there was no more chance to fight, I fled, and

took my chance among a dozen bullets which followed me, for I
knew there was no hope for me if taken. A dozen men followed
me, and probably a hundred more would have joined them, if I
had been known.”

“How far did they follow?” asked Jones.

“All but three turned back within five minutes, the rest followed
all their life-time.”

“All their life-time?”

“Yes, and they are now lying unburied on the shore, if they
have not been found by their comrades.”

“Wal, that shows there ain't any harm in running away when
the right time comes.”

“Certainly not, but judging from the place where I found you,
and the time you said you had rested there; you must have taken
a pretty early start, probably rather before the surrender.”

“Yes, rather, I believe. The fact is, I saw how things were
going, and I took a timely start, especially as I didn't know but I
might get home in time to send reinforcements.”

Johnson burst into a loud laugh at this remark, and although
he tried repeatedly to repress it, the ebullitions of his merriment
became more and more violent, until all the cavern reverberated
with the sound, and the whole party were compelled to join in the
contagious mirth. Jones looked a little abashed and was about to
add something further, when the conversation was changed by
Vrail inquiring of Johnson why, if he had so secure a hiding-place,
he did not avail himself of its shelter, and thus avoid all danger.

“Well, sir,” replied the outlaw, “a moment's reflection will convince
you that that would be very poor policy, even if I could
content myself to hide, and inflict no punishment on the men who
are seeking my life for the purpose of obtaining a reward of a few
hundred pounds. Let it but be understood that I can be hunted in
safety, like a deer or a moose, or some tame animal, and in three
weeks these islands would swarm with my pursuers. No, no,

those who come on such an errand must be taught its peril, in
order to proclaim it, if any of them should go back. One man,
the last of his party, who was entirely in my power, I spared, for
that very reason.”

“It's dreadful business though, ain't it commodore?” said
Barak.

“Yes, but those who come on such a chase are presumed to
know something of its danger. They must take their chances,
and I must defend myself.”

“Wal, now about this hiding-place?”

“Oh, there's time enough for that when the enemy comes in
sight. I must go out now and procure a little game of some kind,
for these children have had nothing but dried meat and hard biscuits
for a week, and we ourselves have not been overfed.”

“But how do you know the enemy is not near?”

“We have a watch among the top boughs of the highest tree
that crowns the hill above our heads. Do you not miss my boy
from our circle? Never fear being surprised when George plays
the sentinel.” The lad had slipped out at a signal from his father,
and had taken his post of observation, soon after he had first told
his story of danger.

“But you certainly will not run the risk of betraying your position
by firing guns at game, when your pursuers may be within
hearing?” asked Vrail with much earnestness.

“By no means,” replied Johnson. “I have more silent weapons,
and equally sure at a short distance, both for man and brute.”

As he spoke he rose and went to a dark corner of his room,
whence he soon returned, bringing a large ashen bow, which
might have done honor to the woodcraft of Robin Hood himself,
and a bundle of arrows fully fitted for the formidable weapon
which accompanied them.

“I bought this bow,” he said, “of an Indian chief, who said it
had belonged to a famous hunter in his grandfather's time, and

had long been preserved in the tribe with a sort of religious veneration,
and that for many years, one of the tests of all candidates
for the degree of a Brave, was their ability to wield this weapon
with effect. The tribe had dwindled nearly away, and of the few
who remained none could even spring the bow sufficiently to string
it.”

“Not the chief?”

“No, for he was generally too much sprung himself for any
such feats,” said Johnson laughing.

“And did these arrows descend from his great grandfather
too?” asked Barak, who had been handling a bunch of them, and
examining their black, hardened points.

“No, but the chief taught me how to make them, and the
secret is really very valuable. George prepared these, and they
are every one as good as a bullet. Come with me, and I will
show you how they work, and you may as well bring the guns in
case of surprise.”

There was one case of surprise already, for Barak's eyes opened
very wide at this invitation, and his head presently began shaking
like a mandarin's.

“No, I thank you. I see how they work already, and as I'm
rather tired, I think I'll stay here.”

“Very true, I forgot,” replied the outlaw, laughing. “Nell,
you may accompany us, and carry one of the guns, if you choose;
but remember, if you hear the crow-call, you must start back to
cover.”

The maiden sprang with alacrity to avail herself of the permission,
which was accorded more to shame Jones than for any
other reason, yet her father scarcely apprehended the least immediate
danger, or he would not have subjected one so dear to him
to any unnecessary exposure.

Vrail was too polite to allow his fair companion to carry a
heavy weapon, and he insisted on taking the burden of both guns,

and the little party went forth, leaving Jones in a very uncomfortable
state of mind in the cave.

“This is a pokerish kind of place to be left alone in,” he said
as they went out. “There's no telling what will come. Don't be
gone long, and don't forget to come back.”

“Oh, we shall come back,” replied Johnson, still disposed to
play upon the fears of his pusillanimous guest, “unless we get
hard pressed, you know, and have to take to the boat.”

“Oh, mercy on us!” exclaimed the terror-stricken man, half
emerging from his hole. “What shall I do then? I guess I'd
rather go with you, after all.”

“Just as you please.”

The agitator, now the agitated, in fact, followed his companions
at a considerable distance, looking warily and rapidly on all sides,
now starting violently at the sound of the rattling shells which
the squirrel dropped from his feast of nuts, and now nearly fainting
at the whir of the frightened partridge, as she darted from
her covert at his side.

Johnson led the way over the hill to the southern part of the
island, and soon came upon the traces of deer; but it was so easy
a matter for these animals to pass from island to island, and their
range was over so wide a territory, that he felt far from sanguine
of catching a glimpse of one. There was abundance of smaller
game, and he soon bagged a brace of partridges, a hare, and some
large squirrels, with which trophies he was about to return, when
his daughter called his attention to some fresh tracks of the
nobler prey of which he had been in pursuit, and revived his
sporting spirit. He followed the trail cautiously, and to his great
delight he soon came in view of a herd of five deer, quietly
browsing among some shrubbery near the water's edge. Making
signs to his companions to remain stationary, he advanced cautiously
to a favorable position, and selecting a fine stag for his victim,
let fly his unerring missile.

The wounded animal bounded forward, and bearing the weapon
plainly visible in his side, immediately took to the water, while
the rest of the herd dashed off in another direction, with the
speed of the wind. The hunter hurried eagerly to the beach, and
fitting another shaft to his bow, waited for an opportunity to discharge
it with effect, at the moment when the stag should rise
from the water on the opposite side of the narrow channel which
he was crossing. But the moment the animal's shoulders became
visible, and while Johnson's fingers lingered upon the fatal string,
he was startled by the report of a gun from a neighboring island,
and he saw the deer fall mortally wounded. At the same instant,
a signal from his son in the tree-top gave warning of danger, and
the hunter drew back a little into the woods, where, without
exposure, he could keep his eye on the opposite shore. Here he
was at once joined by the rest of his party, all greatly alarmed,
and anxious to know the nature of the danger which threatened
them, but he replied to their inquiries only in pantomime, enjoining
silence, and pointing to the body of the deer. It was
observed, however, that he kept his arrow fitted to the string, and
held the bow in position for immediate use, and Vrail did not
doubt that if an enemy should appear to claim the carcass, he
would share the fate of his prey.

In a whisper he expostulated with Johnson upon the rashness of
thus disclosing his retreat, and courting an immediate attack
from superior numbers, and that too while his children were yet
with him.

“They saw the deer swim from the shore,” was the reply, “and
they will see the fresh wound and the arrow yet sticking in its
side. How long can I remain unsought here, if I do not frighten
them off. The boats are ready on the other side of the island,
for instant flight, if flight becomes necessary.”

“Oh, don't shoot, for mercy's sake, good Mr. Johnson,”
exclaimed a trembling voice, with a running accompaniment of

chattering teeth, “for they can cross over here in half a minute,
and shoot us all down.”

The individual from whom this protest proceeded was not
easily discerned at first, but on minuter examination, his pallid
face was discovered peering down from an adjacent tree, among
the boughs of which he was snugly ensconced.

“Can you see or hear anything of an enemy from where you
are, Jones?” asked Johnson, after glancing contemptuously at
him.

“I—I don't know, I have not looked; but there is a strange
noise off in this direction, and oh, bless me! Yes, I certainly see
somebody now peeping around a tree at us. There, there, Mr.
Johnson.”

“What! on this island, Jones?” asked the other earnestly, at
the same time levelling his huge bow as near as possible in the
direction indicated.

“Yes, right off here; I just saw his red cap, and listen now to
that voice, he is going to shoot.”

“Blast the fool!” exclaimed Johnson, catching a sight of the
object which had excited the coward's fears. “He is frightened
by a woodpecker!”

Scarcely, however, had the hunter resumed his watch, when a
small boat hove in view, containing six armed men, and almost at
the same moment the lad George came running up to announce
that there was still another boat-load visible from the tree, and
that the whole party were at least a dozen in number, and were
the same which he had seen farther west a few days previous.

Imminent danger was evidently at hand, and the alarm was
general.

“Is it certain they are in pursuit of you?” asked Vrail.

“Yes, what else could they seek here? They have supposed it
a good time to watch for and intercept me on my return from
Prescott.”

“What will you do?”

“I cannot decide,” replied the outlaw, manifesting an agitation
and doubt entirely unusual for him. “I would fire upon them
without a moment's hesitation, if these children were not here. I
must wait a moment. Possibly we may not be discovered.”

While he spoke, the boat had landed on the opposite island,
immediately beside the fallen deer, and several of the party had
leaped ashore and gathered around the carcass. The distance was
so slight that all their movements were plainly visible, and
although their conversation could not be distinguished, the sound
of their voices was at times audible. The discovery of the arrow
led, as had been anticipated, to a scene of excitement, and to much
discussion. Gestures were made towards Rainbow Island, indicating
that it must have come from there, and the weapon was
finally held up and waved in the air as a signal for the approach
of the other boat, which proved to be near at hand, and in which
was the leader of the expedition.

“Let us fly,” said Vrail; “we can do nothing against so many.”

“It is too late,” replied Johnson, for at that moment the other
skiff came in view, and still nearer to the fugitives than were the
party on shore, and the energetic commander, seeming fully to
understand the gestures of his comrades, steered at once towards
Rainbow Island, signalling the other vessel to follow.

Johnson had hesitated until this moment; but there was no
longer time for indecision, for the direction of the enemy was one
which would bring them to the beach almost at their very side.

“To the cave! to the cave!” he said, seizing his daughter by
the arm, and springing forward. “Don't be alarmed Nell; we
are safe enough, and I would not run from such an enemy as that
but for thee.”

Vrail and the lad George started with the guns at the moment
that Johnson gave the order for flight, and simultaneously with
him, and all four had proceeded well on their way before it was

remembered that the half-dead Jones was left behind in the tree
where he had taken refuge. Whether his alarm had so far stupefied
him that he had not seen the flight of his companions, or
whether he had thought his position safter than their companionship,
they could not tell, but it was too late to return for him
without the almost certainty of encountering the enemy.

With many vituperations upon their craven comrade, yet not
without sympathy for his probable fate, Johnson hurried forward,
and with his little party soon arrived at the cave, without being
able to perceive any signs of pursuit, and not without hope that
his hiding place might remain undisturbed until the shades of
night should afford an opportunity for a safe retreat.