It was the intention of the Irishman, when he had ascended as far as he durst, to sheer the canoe under the right bank, which, fortunately for him, was protected by dense, overhanging undergrowth, and concealing his vessel as well as circumstances would permit, to hurry into the woods; but at the moment he dipped his paddle for the purpose of doing so, he made a discovery which induced him to change his mind.
But a comparatively short distance from the Ohio, the creek divided into four narrow branches, scarcely more than three or four yards in width. Believing that the Indians would have no means of learning the course he had followed, he shot the canoe into the lower one of these, and the next minute had disappeared from view.
The fugitives ascended this branch of the creek for a furlong, when it became so narrow and rapid, that the expenditure of labor was too great to pay them for going further by this means of locomotion. Touching the shore, Virginia sprang out, the Irishman followed, pulling the canoe after him, and rearranging the bushes behind, so as to disarm their pursuers of any suspicion, should they follow as high up the branch as this point.
Determined that the canoe, if discovered, should afford them no good, Pat Mulroony turned it over, and springing upon the bottom, inflicted an irreparable injury, by staving it in.
"Come on, me leddy," said he to Virginia, "and when ye mates Mister Waring, ye can tell him that Pat Mulroony hails from Tipperary, and can taach him how to use the shillaleh."
An hour or so later, they reached a spot in the forest, which, pleasing the fancy of the Irishman, he ordered a halt, for the purpose of resting themselves. Declaring that Virginia must be cold, in spite of her protestations to the contrary, he persisted in kindling a fire, which had been burning but a short time, when Waring made his appearance, as we have already related.
"And now, about how far off is that settlement?" asked Pat Mulroony, at the conclusion of his narration.
"It cannot certainly be over eight or ten miles, at the most, as we have been proceeding toward it all the while. We surely ought to be able to reach it in a few hours."
"And what is there to hinder us from starting this minute? The owld man is dead—hoping the leddy will excuse me—and that long-legged Hezekiah has give up the ghost, and we're all that is left of the party which was on the flat-boat a few days since. Bein' we're all here, I makes the move that we starts at once, and have this blatherin' matter done wid at once."
"There is only one thing that troubles me," said Waring. "I am afraid that a number of those Shawanoes are in the vicinity, and if we venture out, we run too great a risk of being seen."