To the Far Blue Mountains by Louis L'Amour

Author:Louis L'Amour [L'Amour, Louis]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: ?
ISBN: Lamo_0553900072
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 2003-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

WITH THE COMING of night the great gates to our fort were closed and barred. The smaller gate which opened on the river side was also barred. Two sentries walked the walls at night, and a system of signals was arranged with those men who remained aboard the fluyt, where a watch was also kept.

Nothing in my nature permitted me to trust to fortune, for it was my belief that good luck came to those who work hard and plan well. So far we had remained free from trouble with Indians. Hopefully, it would remain so.

Each night a different man was officer of the watch, a duty I divided with Jublain, Pimmerton Burke, and Sakim. On this night, Pim was on duty, and he awakened me at a few minutes past midnight.

“Barnabas? Can you come?”

“What is it?” As ever, I was immediately awake.

“I don’t know. But you’d better come.”

He disappeared soundlessly. I got up and began quickly dressing.

“What is it, Barnabas?” Abigail was awake.

“I don’t know. But I fear it is trouble, for Pim is not easily alarmed.”

Taking up my pistols, buckling on my sword, and then taking a musket, I slipped out into the night. Behind me I heard Abigail stirring about. I mounted the ladder to the wall.

A guard loomed beside me. It was a man I knew as a Newfoundlander, a good, sturdy man, Ned Tanner. “They’re out there, Cap’n,” he whispered, “and it is I who thinks there’s a-plenty of them.”

“Stand by, then.”

Walking on around the walk below the wall to the other guard, I found Pim Burke.

“Tanner says there’s a lot of them out there. What say you?”

“Aye,” the guard, a swarthy, husky chap from Bristol, spoke softly. “They’ve something in mind, Captain. They’ve been all about below the walls.”

Listening, I could hear the movements of men, but what they planned I could not guess. “Pim,” I said, “do you go below and roust out six good men. Let the others rest, if they’ve the will to. It may be a long day before us.”

Now to take a stockaded position is not an easy thing if the defenders be alert. With cannon, it was a simple thing, without them almost impossible without negligence on the part of the defenders. Yet the very fact they had not yet attacked spoke of some preparation, which implied some knowledge of making war and strong positions. This implied there might be a white man among them. The Spanish, who had settlements in the land of Florida, were not happy with England’s attempts to settle Virginia, and it might be that a small party of Spanish were directing this effort. Of course, that was pure speculation, I had no facts.

A glance at the stars told me almost an hour had gone by since I had first been awakened. The ladder behind me creaked as the men climbed to their positions.

With moving about upon the walkway and listening, much time had passed, yet I had no idea of what they planned.

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