THE RESCUE.
The next moment a strange, wild yell broke the stillness, or rather
sounded above the thunder of the horses’ hoofs, and the two men,
standing sullenly by the wagon in the center of the encampment, and
awaiting their doom, like those who, having done all that was possible,
could now do nothing else.
Again that indescribable yell rung out over the prairie, and Captain
Shields straightened himself like a flash, and gave a gasp of amazement
if not terror.
“Did you hear that, Egbert?” he demanded, clutching the arm of the
half-stupefied man at his side. “By heavens! they are not Indians, but
Lightning Jo and his men from Fort Adams!”
The next minute the clearing within the encampment was filled by a
score of men, who, leaping from their horses, and leaving them outside
of the circle of wagons, came rushing in upon the little party from
every direction.
“Helloa! here, where are you?” shouted the famous scout, “this ain’t a
game of hide and seek. Come out and show yourselves.”
This was uttered in a cheery, hearty way, but mingled with the voice
could have been detected a tone of awe and dread, like one who in
reality was afraid to hear the same answer which he had demanded.
“Here we are,” replied Captain Shields, as he and Rodman walked forward
to meet their deliverers.
“But the rest of you--where are they? Speak quick, old fellow,” added
Jo, taking the hand of the two, both of whom were his acquaintances;
“we are in a hurry, and want to hear all that is to be heard.”
“There they are,” returned Egbert, pointing to the wagons; “some are
beneath them, and some are within them, but every one is dead!”
“What!” exclaimed Lightning Jo; “you had women and children with
you--they are not all gone? I heard that Lizzie Manning, the sweetest
little girl in Santa Fe, or anywhere else, was with you. Where is
_she_?”
“Oh, she is all right,” returned Captain Shields, who had misunderstood
the full import of the question; “they are unharmed.”
But by this time Gibbons, who knew just where to look for them, called
out that they were safe, and he and many of the soldiers gathered about
the wagon to congratulate and give them what assistance was in their
power.
Their kindnesses were needed, for during the latter portion of this
day all had suffered the most agonizing thirst, the scant supply which
had been furnished them so unexpectedly lasting them but a short time,
and then seeming to intensify that intolerable craving that drives the
strongest man mad, until all were overcome by a sort of stupor, in
which they were sensible only of dull, yearning pain, that could not be
quieted.
Expecting as much, the soldiers were prepared, and more than one
canteen of cool, refreshing, delicious and reviving water was offered
to the suffering women and children, and almost instantly new life was
imparted to all, and they awoke to a realizing sense of their position,
and to the fact that they had been rescued.
“Are you there, Lizzie?” asked Lightning Jo, crowding forward, and
peering among the group, who were dismounting from the vehicle that had
proven such a friendly shelter and fort to them. “Helloa! I see you!
Thank the good Lord! I was very much afeard I’d be too late to save
your sweet self.”
And taking the half-fainting girl in his long, brawny arms, he pressed
her to his heart and kissed her cheek, just as affectionately and
gratefully as he would have done had she been his only daughter
restored to life.
And poor Lizzie, now that she saw that the awful danger had passed,
could not prevent her woman’s nature from asserting itself. Resting her
head upon the bosom of the brave-hearted scout, she could only sob in
the utter abandonment of feeling. She knew that so long as Lightning Jo
stood near her there was nothing to be feared from any mortal danger
that walked this earth; and the tense point to which her mind had
been strung for so long a time, now fully reacted, and she became as
weak and helpless as the youngest of the children, who were beginning
to awake from their stupor. And so, without attempting to speak, she
simply sobbed, and allowed her friend to support her in his arms.
The rest of the cavalry were not idle. They made a circuit of the
wagons, and, as they learned the dreadful truth, something like a
heart-sickness and awe quieted their boisterous voices, and they
conversed in low tones, some muttering curses against the red scourges
of the plains, while others expressed their sympathy for the brave men
who had perished before relief came.
The life of the soldiers on the frontier is such as to accustom them to
the most revolting evidences of the cruelty of the Indians; but there
were thoughts that were suggested to the cavalry, by the sight in Dead
Man’s Gulch, such as did not often come to them.
The long-continued and heroic defense of the little party, the torment
of thirst, the vain attacks of the ferocious Comanches, the unflinching
bravery of men and women, the steady dropping of the scouts until only
ten were left, the total giving out of the ammunition, and then the
sullen despair, in which the last defenders awaited the last charge:
these pictures came to the minds of the cavalrymen in more vivid colors
than they can to the reader who has seen nothing of the wild, daring
life of the frontier.
Gibbons quickly told his story to his friends. After the diversion
created by Lightning Jo’s scrimmage with the Comanches among the hills,
he and his men had put their horses to the full run, and reached the
neighborhood of Dead Man’s Gulch just as the lull in the conflict
occurred. It was their purpose to charge down upon the red-skins, and
give them a taste of vengeance, such as they had not yet encountered;
but the cautious Swico had his scouts out, and the approach of the
cavalry was signaled to him while they were yet a long way off.
In the hope of still accomplishing something, the majority of the
cavalry started in pursuit of the Comanches, while Lightning Jo and a
score of his friends hurried on to Dead Man’s Gulch, where the chief
interest now lay.
The horses of the soldiers were already exhausted, and they were
speedily compelled to return, after having exchanged a few shots with
the band of Swico-Cheque, as they skurried away in the darkness.