Far more acute in hearing are these children of the wilds than any white
man who ever lived, and now, just as hope was beginning to die out of
even Roland's heart, a sudden movement on the part of the savages who
had gained admittance caused him to marvel.
More quickly than they had entered, back they sprang towards the
parapet, and on gazing after them, our heroes found that the hill-sides
were clear.
It was evident, however, that a great battle was going on down beneath
on the prairie.
Explanation is hardly needed.
Rodrigo's men, guided by Benee, had outflanked--nay, even
surrounded--the foe, and with well-aimed volleys had thrust them back
and back towards the river, into which, with wild agonizing shouts, all
that was left of Kaloomah's army was driven.
They were excellent swimmers, the 'gators were absent from this river,
and doubtless hundreds of fugitives would find their way back into their
own dark land to tell how well and bravely the pale-faces can fight.
But Kaloomah, where is he?
Intent on revenge, even while the battle raged the fiercest and the
whites were being driven back, his quick eye caught the glimmer of the
candle-light in the cave.
Leeboo was there, he told himself, and the false witch Weenah.
He shortened his knife, and made a rush for the entrance.
"Hab--a--rabb--rr--rr--ow!" That was the voice of the great wolf-hound,
as he sprang on the would-be assassin and pinned him to the ground.
Kaloomah's knife dropped from his hand as he tried to free himself.
But Brawn had him by the throat now, and had not brave Peggy sprung to
the assistance of the savage, the dog would have torn the windpipe from
his neck.
But Kaloomah was prisoner, and when the fight was all over, the dog was
released from duty, and the chief was bound hand and foot and placed in
the other cave beside Peter.
This cave, which had thus been turned into a prison, possessed an
entrance at the side, a kind of doorway through the dark rocks, and a
great hole at the top, through which daylight, or even moonlight, could
stream. At some not very distant date it had evidently been used as a
hut, and must have been the scene of many a fearful cannibal orgie, for
scores of human skulls were heaped up in corners, and calcined bones
were also found. Altogether, therefore, an unhallowed kind of place,
and eerie beyond conception.
It is as well to tell the truth concerning the battle on the hill-top,
ghastly though it may appear. There were no wounded men there, for even
in the thick of the fight the savages not only slew the white men who
dropped, but their own maimed as well.
So long as the brave fellows under Roland and Dick held the ramparts,
and poured their volleys into the ranks of the enemy beneath, scarcely a
white man was hurt; but when the battlements were carried by storm, then
the havoc of war commenced in earnest; and at daylight a great deep
trench was excavated, and in this no fewer than eleven white men were
placed, side by side.
A simple prayer was said, then a hymn was sung--a sad dirge-like hymn to
that sacred air called "Martyrdom", which has risen in olden times from
many a Scottish battle-field, where the heather was dripping blood. I
take my fiddle and play it now, and that mournful scene rises up before
me, in which the white men crowd around the long quiet grave, where
their late companions lie sleeping in the tomb.
Every head is bared in the morning sunshine, every eye is wet with
tears.
It is Bill himself who leads the melody.
Then clods are gently thrown upon the dead, and soon the grave is
filled.
----
There was not the slightest apprehension now that the battle would be
renewed, and so all the day was spent in getting ready for the long
march back to the spot where, under the charge of one of the captains
and his faithful peons, the great canoes had been left.
Among the stores brought here to camp--the suggestion had emanated from
Roland's mother and Beeboo--was a chest containing many changes of
raiment and dresses belonging to Peggy. In the cave, then, both she and
Weenah conducted their toilet, and when, some time after, and just as
breakfast was about to be served, they both came out, it would have been
difficult, indeed, to keep from exclamations of surprise.
Even Benee gave way to his excitement, and, seizing Weenah, held her for
a moment high in air.
"I rejoice foh true!" he cried. "All ober my heart go flapperty-flap.
Oh, Weenah! you am now all same one red pale-face lady."
Dick thought Peggy, with her bonnie sun-tanned face, more lovely now
than ever he had seen her.
----
But while they are breakfasting, and while the men are quietly but
busily engaged getting the stores down-hill, let us take a peep into the
cave where the prisoners are.
When Kaloomah was thrust into the cave, Peter was fast asleep. Of late
he had become utterly tired and careless of life. Was his not a wrecked
existence from beginning to end? This was a question that he oftentimes
asked himself sadly enough.
During the fight that had raged so long and fiercely he had remained
perfectly passive. What was it to him who won or who lost? If the
Indians won, he would speedily be put out of pain. If the white men
were the victors--well, he would probably die just the same. At all
events, life was not worth having now.
Then, when the lull of battle came, when the wild shrieks and shouting
were over, and when the rattling of musketry was no longer heard, he
felt utterly tired. He would sleep, he told himself, and what cared he
if it should be
"The sleep that knows not breaking,
Morn of toil or night of waking"?
The cords that bound him hurt a little, but he would not feel their
pressure when--he slept.
His was not a dreamless sleep by any means, though a long one.
His old, old life seemed to rise up before him. He was back again in
England--dear old England! He was a clerk, a confidential clerk.
He had no care, no complications, and he was happy. Happy in the love of
a sweet girl who adored him; the girl that he would have made his wife.
Poor? Yes, both were; but oh! when one has innocence and sweet
contentment, love can bloom in a garret.
Yet envy of the rich began to fill his soul. The world was badly
divided. Why had he to tread the streets day after day with muddy boots
to his office, and back to his dingy home after long hours of toil and
drudgery at the desk?
Oh for comfort! Oh for riches!
The girl that was to be his was more beautiful than many who lolled in
cushioned carriages, with liveried servants to attend their beck and
call.
So his dream went on, and dreams are but half-waking thoughts.
But it changes now!
He sees Mary his sweetheart, wan and pale, with tears in her eyes for
him whose voice she may never hear again.
For the tempter has come with gold and with golden promises.
And he has fallen!
Other men have fallen before. Why not he when so much was to be gained?
So much of--nay, not of glory, but of gold. What is it that gold cannot
do?
A conscience? Yes, he had possessed one once. But this tempter had
laughed heartily when he talked of so old-fashioned a possession. It
was all a matter of business.
Behold those wealthy men who glide past in their beautiful landaus. Did
they have consciences? If they did, then, instead of a town and country
house, their home would soon be the garret vile in some back slum in
London.
Again the dream changes. To the fearful and awful now. For, stretched
out before him is Mary, wan and worn--Mary, DEAD!
He awakes with a shriek, and sits up with his back against the black
rock.
His hand touches something cold. It is a skull, and he shudders as he
thrusts it away.
But is he awake? He lifts his fettered hands and rubs his eyes.
He gazes in terror at someone that is sitting, just as he is, with his
back against the wall--and asleep.
The rough dress is all disarranged, and the brown hands are covered with
blood. It is an awful vision.
He shuts his eyes a moment, but when he opens them again the man is
still there! The terror!
The morning sun is glimmering in and falling directly on the awful
sleeping face.
He sits bolt upright now and leans forward.
"Kaloomah!" he cries. "Kaloomah!"
And his own voice seems to belong to some spirit behind those prison
walls.
But the terror awakes.
And the eyes of the two men meet.
"Don Pedro! You here?"
"Kaloomah. I am."