The next moment a piercing yell rang through the night, and the Delawares heard their foes rushing forward on all sides of them. For an instant they stood there, filled with panic. Then Running Fox recovered his wits, and took command.
“Come, we must fight our way to the water!” he cried.
Fitting arrows to their bows they hurried toward the river. They had not covered half of the distance, when two stalwart figures rose out of the darkness to oppose them. An arrow sped close to Running Fox, and the next instant his own arrow dropped his enemy to the ground. Turning to call Spotted Deer, he heard him thrashing about in the undergrowth. Rushing to his assistance, Running Fox found him fighting valiantly for his life. Running Fox drove an arrow between the shoulders of his assailant, and as the warrior rolled over the young Delaware stooped and peered eagerly into his face. He felt sure that he was not a Mohawk, but he was unable to identify him. Running Fox noted, however, that the warrior’s face was streaked with charcoal, in token of war. Then the lads heard their foes closing in upon them, and they realized that they must be off. As they sped toward the river they heard some one behind them shouting, “Mengwe! Mengwe!” at the top of his voice.
“Now I know who these people are,” cried Running Fox. “That person behind us is shouting the Shawnee name for the Mohawks. Yes, this is a Shawnee war-party. They take us for Mohawks. It is good.”
The Delawares reached the edge of the water in safety, and had waded in knee-deep when the first Shawnees appeared on the shore. Then, as an arrow hummed ominously above their heads, the lads plunged forward and swam furiously to escape from bow-shot. They heard the Shawnees rushing into the river in pursuit of them, and as soon as they reached deeper water the Delawares dove from sight. They rose to the surface within several bow-lengths of each other, far out in the river. They listened a moment to make sure that none of their foes were within reach of them, and then they turned and swam toward the opposite shore. They passed through the water as silently as Winingus, the mink, for they knew that sharp-eared foes were listening to catch the faintest sound. They heard a number of signals from the shore they had left, and once they thought they heard voices within bow-shot of them. It drove them to greater efforts, and they raced through the water at top speed. However, as they drew near the shore and found themselves in shallow water they moved more cautiously. They believed that, having lost sight of them in the darkness, their crafty foes were listening to hear them leave the water, and they determined to take every precaution against giving a clue.
“We will swim ahead until we are a long ways above this place,” proposed Spotted Deer.
“No, that would be a bad thing to do,” Running Fox told him. “If the Shawnees reach land they will travel faster than we can move through the water. Perhaps they will send scouts along the edge of the water. Then it would be hard to get into the woods. We will swim ahead a little ways, and then we will walk out.”
They swam some distance farther, and then waded ashore. They waited a moment at the edge of the forest to listen for the Shawnees. The fire was still burning brightly on the opposite shore, and the Delawares smiled grimly as they realized how easily they had blundered into the trap that had been set for their enemies, the Mohawks. Then, as they feared that the Shawnee swimmers had reached land and begun to search for them, they turned and sped away into the night.
CHAPTER XII—SMOKE
Running Fox immediately took the lead, and turned toward the north. He believed that the Shawnees would hesitate to follow them far in that direction for fear of being led into an ambush. Besides, it was the only direction in which the Delawares could go without sacrificing their lead. It was not long, however, before they heard signals ringing through the night a short distance behind them.