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When Shif'less Sol learned that the fort was to be given up, he said: "It looks ez ef we had escaped from the Iroquois jest in time to beg 'em to take us back." "I reckon I ain't goin' to stay 'roun' here while things are bein' surrendered," said Long Jim Hart.
Oh-h-h, Henry!" Henry looked up he had recognized instantly the voice of Shif'less Sol, and there he was, standing on the bluff of the far shore. "Swim over!" he called, "and visit me in my house!" Henry looked down toward the end of the lake. It would be a half mile walk around it, and he decided in favor of swimming.
"Nothing, Tom," replied Henry, "and it seems strange to me. So great a chief as Timmendiquas would foresee such an attempt as this of ours, at such a time." "We ain't goin' to git through without a fight, rain or no rain, night or no night," said Shif'less Sol in a tone of finality, and Henry silently, but in his heart, agreed with him.
Braxton Wyatt will hev to work hard ag'in to prove to them savages that he's real smart," said Shif'less Sol. "This is another time that he's led 'em right out o' the little end o' the horn." They luxuriated that day, resting most of the time In the hut, but on the following day Henry and Ross went on a longer scouting expedition than usual, this time in the direction of the Shawnee villages.
This satisfied Paul and Jim, and soon they were asleep in one of the tents, but Henry, Shif'less Sol, and Tom Ross were in the dripping forest outside Adam Colfax's own line of sentinels, seeking the hidden danger. The three remained together, and they looked everywhere. They were on the east bank and there was nothing but forest.
Their weariness after so much exertion made them all susceptible to the rain and cold. Finally Henry called a halt. "We must find shelter somewhere," he said. "If we don't, we'll be so stiff in the morning we can't walk, and we'll be lucky to escape chills and pneumonia, or something of that kind." "That's right," said Shif'less Sol.
The shiftless one looked at Henry, and the boy grew uncomfortable, blushing through his tan. Shif'less Sol laughed. "Ef them cannon wuz blowed up an' they shorely wuz ef you say so," he said, "it's mighty likely that you, Henry Ware, had a lot to do with it. Now, don't be bashful. Jest up an' tell me the hull tale, or I'll drag it out o' you."
They saw it presently moving in single file down the Mississippi, and showing, so far as they could judge, no signs of damage. "Twas ez we guessed last night it would be, a dogfall," said Shif'less Sol, "lots o' noise and not much done.
That thar Shif'less Sol is one uv the smartest men the world hez ever seed, an' while part uv our band is inside a big part uv it is outside, a-helpin' us." "Wake up Paul and Tom and tell 'em the time has come." In an instant all four were crouching beside the opening, their rifles ready.
The three coupled caution with boldness. If they met a Tory they merely exchanged a word or two, and passed swiftly on. Henry, although he had seen enough to know that the army could advance without hesitation, still pursued the quest. Shif'less Sol was right.
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