Spots

Spotted by Indian spies, rangers delay their march until nightfall.

Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton recognize that secret bird calls from Shawanoe scouts signal an imminent ambush at Rattlesnake Gulch. The Panther has abandoned his personal duel with Kenton to lead a broader war party against the migrating Ashbridge and Altman families. To protect the settlers bound for Captain Bushwick's block-house, the rangers calculate that their best defense is stalling until total darkness obscures their movement through the Kentucky woods.

CHAPTER I. → CHAPTER VI.

Settlers fake an emergency to control the timing of their march.

Simon Kenton stealthily navigates the Ohio shore to retrieve a vital canoe, leaving the main group of pioneers to advance along the Kentucky bank. Knowing they will walk straight into an ambush if they reach Rattlesnake Gulch before dusk, the frontier escort stages a frantic rattlesnake attack. Ranger Jim Deane pretends to be bitten, creating a chaotic delay that allows the settlers to consume time and whiskey while keeping to Kenton's precise schedule.

CHAPTER VII. → CHAPTER XII.

Compromised river transports force the fugitives into immediate defensive posture.

Jethro Juggens wraps himself in linen sheets to slip past hostiles near the abandoned cabin. Simon Kenton suffers a severe setback when Shawanoe scouts steal both of his concealed canoes, destroying his plan to ferry the families across the Ohio River. At the same time, near the riverbank, Agnes Altman discovers a Shawanoe warrior silently scaling a boulder at her elbow, warning George Ashbridge as hostiles close in on their temporary refuge.

CHAPTER XIII. → CHAPTER XVII.

An improvised sail transforms an abandoned flatboat into an upstream vessel.

Jethro Juggens ties bedsheets between rigged poles on the flatboat, turning a strong western wind into upstream propulsion. The unexpected sight of a heavy flatboat sailing against the current startles Shawanoe scouts along the riverbank. When combat breaks out at Rattlesnake Gulch, the moving craft becomes the primary vehicle of retreat, carrying the frontier families onto the water while under heavy fire from The Panther's war party.

CHAPTER XVIII. → CHAPTER XXII.

A stolen child drives a preacher directly into the enemy camp.

During the chaos of the night skirmish, Mabel Ashbridge is seized by Wa-on-mon and dragged away to the Shawanoe camp beyond Rattlesnake Gulch. Simon Kenton pursues the abductor into the dark forest, locating the firelight where the little girl sits guarded by warriors. Rather than launching a hopeless armed assault that would prompt her execution, Missionary Finley enters the hostile camp unarmed, relying on his spiritual standing among the tribes to negotiate for her release.

CHAPTER XXIII. → CHAPTER XXVII.

Single combat on a river rock decides a captive child's fate.

Missionary Finley secures an agreement that the fate of Mabel Ashbridge will be settled by a knife duel between Simon Kenton and Wa-on-mon at sunrise. The two mortal enemies meet alone on a flat rock beside the Ohio River, stripped of rifles and companions. After resting through the night, Kenton faces the frantic leap of The Panther, engaging in a decisive clash that breaks the Shawanoe threat and secures the frontier families' passage to the block-house.

CHAPTER XXVIII. → CONCLUSION.

Book

The Phantom of the River

A frontier survival tale following settlers and rangers navigating Indian threats along the Ohio River.

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