A DANGEROUS SITUATION
It was a little more than half a mile to the mainland, although the
boys had left their horses at the camp some distance further up the
shore, and twilight was closing in fast, leaving little time for
deliberation. Whitey put it up to Injun: "What shall we do--stay here
or swim for it? It seems to me we better go back to the cabin at the
other end of the lake and make this fellow give up what he has taken,"
said Whitey, tentatively.
Injun shook his head. "Him gone," he said, positively. "Him
cow-puncher," he added, pointing to the heel-marks on the beach. The
marks had undoubtedly been made by boots such as cow-men wear; no
woodsman would ever think of wearing such things in the forest.
"Well," said Whitey, "I guess that means we got to swim! I'm with
you whatever you decide." This would have been a most difficult and
hazardous undertaking, encumbered as they were by rifles and clothes,
and handicapped by the darkness.
Motioning Whitey to follow him, Injun started along the water's edge
and collected several small logs, most of them half rotted and stripped
of their branches, and which, by their combined strength the two boys
were able to move. Then Injun went back into the woods and returned
with an armful of tough, pliant vines and bound the logs together in
the form of a rude raft. It was no easy job, and by the time the raft
was completed, it was pitch dark.
"Not much of a boat," said Whitey, "but it beats swimming in the cold
water all hollow!"
A couple of sticks, to which Injun bound some leafy branches, served as
paddles, and the boys prepared to start.
One trial sufficed to demonstrate that the raft would not carry both
boys, and Injun quickly divested himself of his clothes and rolled
them into a bundle and handed them together with his rifle to Whitey,
who was having his own troubles trying to keep afloat.
"Here," said Whitey, "I don't know why you should do all the hard work!
Maybe we both better swim back of the raft and put our clothes and
rifles on it?"
Injun shook his head, and gently pushed the raft with Whitey on it into
deeper water. Whitey found some difficulty in using the paddle, as the
slightest tip sent the logs awash; but after a few moments, he got the
hang of it, and progress became easier, though by no means very rapid.
"Say, Injun," said Whitey, after they had proceeded for some distance,
"you're headed in the wrong direction! We left the horses up that
way--toward the end of the lake. You're going to land way below."
Injun nodded, as though he knew what he was doing, and made no change
in his course. This he laid by the silhouette of the trees on the
mainland, as the night was almost pitch dark, and only the faint
lighter tint of the sky was visible above the line of their tops.
The ever-cautious Injun seldom believed in going straight to his
objective, but preferred to come to it in a somewhat roundabout way,
and therefore, an unexpected way. If the enemy expects that you will
approach him from the south, and you actually come from the north, you
have just that much advantage. It is he who will be surprised, not you.
Suddenly Injun stopped swimming and listened; but before he could give
a warning signal, a dark object ranged alongside of the raft, and a
light from a quickly uncovered lantern flashed in Whitey's face, and
the boy looked down the muzzle of a Colt forty-five less than six feet
away.
"Poot up ze han's!" said a menacing voice, and Whitey complied without
any objection, though in doing so, the raft tilted alarmingly and
the water swept over it, first this way and then the other; and that
discomfiture might be complete, both the rifles and Injun's clothes
slid from the raft and settled into the depths below! Fortunately, the
clothes and the two rifles were at one side and a little behind Whitey
on the raft, and not in the range of Pedro's vision. If he had seen
them he would have known that he had to deal with two boys instead of
one. But Pedro did see the raft tilt, and he realized that Whitey was
helpless.
A mocking laugh came from the canoe, and the voice continued: "Ah, zis
ees too much lucky! Again I meet my yo'ng frien' what geeve me such
keeck in ze belly an' rap on my haid wiz steek at ze Croix an' Cercl'!
I haf' not forget--no, no! How yo' lik' tak' nize bath wiz ze feesh in
lak'? Huh?" Straining his eyes and peering into the darkness back of
the lantern, Whitey saw the grinning face of Pedro.
Whitey did some rapid thinking. It was evident that Pedro believed him
to be alone, as the latter kept his eyes on him and did not seek to
find his companion. Pedro had evidently found the canoe where Injun
had drawn it up on the bank and for some reason had gone back to his
cabin before starting for the mainland. The southern end of the lake
was somewhat bare of tall timber, and it was probable that Pedro's
attention had been attracted by the splashing of Whitey's improvised
paddle, and had been able to make out his figure against the lighter
background of the sky. At any rate, no matter how Pedro had discovered
the raft, the fact remained that he _had_ discovered it, and now had
both boys in a most precarious situation.
Whitey's only hope lay in the probable overlooking of Injun, and he
felt that this circumstance might, in some way, turn the tables in
their favor, provided Pedro did not make an end of him immediately.
There was no doubt in Whitey's mind that Pedro meant, eventually to
kill him, but seemed to be in no hurry, preferring to taunt the boy
and to gloat over his apprehension, and thus make his revenge as
frightful as possible. He calculated his chances of throwing himself
from the raft, but knew that Pedro would fire before he could possibly
accomplish this. Nor could he make a jump at the menacing muzzle of the
revolver, for the raft afforded a most unstable and slippery take-off
for a leap of any kind.
All these things ran through Whitey's mind with lightning rapidity,
and the boy came to the determination that the best thing he could do,
under all the circumstances, was to sit still and await developments.
He dared not look around for Injun, feeling that it might indicate to
the desperado the presence of a third party; and this would be fatal;
for Pedro would immediately finish him to reduce the odds against him.
He also felt that any parley might either throw Pedro off his guard and
give Injun time to act.
"Hello, Pedro!" said Whitey, summoning all his self-control, and
grinning pleasantly; "I don't think I need any bath to-night, with the
fish! I had one this morning!"
"Yo' go 'n haf nize, long bath, jes' ze sam'! Yo' go'n' mak' nize
dinner fo' ze feeshes--whan Pedro get fro' wiz yo'! Yo' haf planty fun
wiz Pedro, one time! Now Pedro's turn haf planty fun wiz yo'! Feeshes
haf planty fun, too! Yes! Yo' fodder come hunt an' don't nevaire fin'
yo' someplace nowhere! Zen mebbe Pedro get heem, too! Mebbe Mistaire
Beeg Beel Jordan--Pedro get heem, too! By gar! An' yo' nize, leetle
frien' Injun-boy--Pedro cut heem een leetle pieces--mebbe cook heem an'
roas' heem by fire! How yo' lik', huh?"
"What'll they all be doing when you are pulling this off?" asked
Whitey, grinning, in respite of his desperate situation.
"Nev' min'--zey do sam' lik' yo' go'n' do! Yo' lik' say yo' prayer?
Le's hear yo' say yo' prayer, 'fore yo' go down see feeshes!" taunted
Pedro. "Mebbe yo' lik' sen' som' message far'well to yo' fodder?"
Whitey made no answer, but he kept up considerable thinking. There
did not seem to be any opportunity for him to make a move with the
slightest chance of success, and the horror of the thing was beginning
to get on his nerves. Whitey was a very brave boy, but it would try
any one's courage to face this sort of a situation. Pedro saw that his
taunts and frightful threats were having some effect, and he started
to apply himself to the torture with glee.
"Ah Haaah!" he gloated, with a savage leer. "Mebbe yo' lik'----"
Whatever it was that Pedro thought Whitey would like will never be
known, for a most surprising thing happened; probably more surprising
to Mr. Pedro than even to Whitey. His canoe gave a sudden and violent
turn, and Pedro, who was crouched in the bow in a half standing
position, holding the lantern in front of him with one hand, and the
revolver in the other, was pitched head-over-heels into the water, but
not before the pistol had been discharged. The bullet went wide, and
probably the firing of the revolver was involuntary and caused by the
sudden upsetting of the man when he had his finger on the trigger.
"Good old Injun!" yelled Whitey, exultantly, and he leaped from the
raft at the spot where Pedro had gone down.
The keen sense of hearing that Injun possessed had warned him of the
approach of the canoe in the darkness, but before he had a chance to
warn Whitey or to take any measures himself, the canoe was upon them;
and Injun loosed his hold of the raft and sank silently beneath the
surface of the water and swam a short distance away before coming to
the top toward the stern of the canoe. He kept his eyes and ears above
the surface by treading water, and heard the conversation; and aided
by the fact that Pedro prolonged it for the purpose of torturing his
victim, he was able to form his plan.
Sinking again below the water, he swam to the left side of the canoe,
and at the moment he believed Pedro to be in the most unfavorable
position and off his guard, he clutched the side of the canoe and gave
it a violent tug. It is not much of a trick to upset a canoe--Whitey
always claimed that he had to part his hair in the middle to keep one
balanced--and the yank that Injun gave the canoe would have upset a
good sized yawl.
Pedro, taken entirely unawares, let go of the lantern and revolver,
and both went to the bottom. He was a most indifferent swimmer, and
instead of swimming under water and trying to avoid the two boys, he
strove to come to the top as quickly as he could and get rid of a large
portion of the lake that he had involuntarily swallowed. But in this
he was not altogether successful. The moment he had gone over-board,
Injun had gone under after him, and Whitey's leap had landed the boy
directly on top of him just as he got his head partially out of the
water and before he had time to take a breath, and under he went,
spluttering and gasping and in a panic. Against two such swimmers as
Injun and Whitey, the man did not have a Chinaman's chance. Injun had
him by the legs, and Whitey had his arms about his neck, with a grip on
his wind-pipe; and the more he struggled and struck and kicked at the
boys, the more exhausted he became and the weaker was his resistance.
It is probable that he would have been glad to surrender, but was in no
position to say so. And it is doubtful if the boys would have listened
to any proposition in regard to an "armistice." They had him, and they
knew it! If anybody was going to furnish a "nize, leetle dinner for ze
feeshes," it would be Pedro!
Soon, his struggles grew weaker and weaker, and, finally, relaxed
altogether; and it was a pretty thoroughly drowned Pedro that they held
up in the water at last.
"See if you can find the canoe and the raft," said Whitey, when he had
got his breath. "I'll hold him up while you get them."
"Whaffor?" asked Injun. "You swim, me swim, him swim! Him feed feeshes!"
"Nothing doing!" said Whitey. "This is too good a chance--we'll bring
him back to the ranch!"
Whitey was "the boss," as Injun had declared long ago; and Injun swam
about in widening circles until he came upon the raft. The canoe had
either sunk or had drifted away.
Injun pushed the raft back to where Whitey held the unconscious man up
and between them, they managed to slide him onto it, although it was
considerable of a job, handicapped as they were by the darkness. But,
at last, it was accomplished, and although Pedro was plainly "all in,"
Whitey took the precaution of tieing his hands with a belt which the
man wore.
The weight of the fellow made the frail raft more unstable and
"unseaworthy" than ever, and it required a good deal of management to
keep him on it.
"Look out!" said Whitey, as the raft tilted at a dangerous angle, "he's
sliding off!" And by a desperate effort, Whitey righted the logs and
kept Pedro on it.
"Me should worry!" said Injun, who was becoming educated. In fact,
the whole proceeding was entirely foreign to Injun's ideas of how to
treat an enemy, and if it had been left to him, he would have tied
a rock around Pedro's neck to insure that he went straight down to
"Davey Jones' Locker." Injun could not see any reason for taking so
much trouble to save the life of a man who would inevitably be hung or
lynched. And, for the matter of that, other people than Injun have had
the same feeling!