"See Mass' George put de gun dah!"
"You are sure, Pomp?" I said, as he stood pointing his black finger at
the bush.
"Yes, Pomp ebber so sure."
"Did you find any alligator marks?"
"No, Mass' George, nowhere."
"Then some one must have come and stolen it while we were eating."
"How people come 'teal a gun wif Pomp and Mass' George eatin' um
breakfast here?"
"I don't know. Come and look for footsteps."
"Did; and de 'gator not been."
"No, but perhaps a man has."
"Man? No man lib here."
"Let's look," I whispered--"look for men's footsteps."
The boy glanced at me wonderingly for a moment or two, then nodded his
head and began to search.
Where we stood by the bush, saving that the ground had been trampled by
my feet, the task would have been easy enough, for everything showed in
the soft dry sand; but the bush was at the edge where the sand began
running from the foot of the bluff to the river, and everywhere on the
other side was dense growth; patches of shrubs, grass, dry reed and
rush, where hundreds of feet might have passed, and, save to the
carefully-trained eye of an Indian, nothing would have been seen.
Certainly nothing was visible to me, but the fact that it was quite
possible for a man to have crawled from the forest, keeping the patches
of shrubby growth between him and us, till he reached the bushes,
through which he could have cautiously stolen, and passing a hand over
softly, lifted the gun and its pouches from where I had stood them, and
then stolen away as he had come.
One thing was evident, we had an enemy not far away; and, unarmed as we
were, saving that we had our knives, the sooner we took flight the
better.
All this was plain to me, but as I gazed in Pomp's face I found it was
not so clear to him; there was a strange look in his eyes, his skin did
not seem so black as usual, and he was certainly trembling.
"Why, Pomp," I said, "don't look like that." For though I felt a little
nervous, I saw no cause for the boy's abject dread, having yet to learn
that anything not comprehensible to the savage mind is set down at once
as being the work of some evil spirit.
He caught my arm and looked round, the whites of his eyes showing
strangely, and his thick lips seemed drawn in as if to make a thin line.
"Come 'way," he whispered. "Run, Mass' George, run, 'fore um come and
cotch us."
"Who? What?" I said, half angrily, though amused.
"Hush! Done holler, Mass' George, fear um hear. Come take us bofe,
like um took de gun."
"I have it," I said suddenly. "Your father has come up the river after
us, and he has taken the gun to tease us. Hi! Hannibal--Vanity--Van!"
"Oh, Mass' George! Oh, Mass' George, done, done holler. Not fader.
Oh, no. It somefing dreffle. Let run."
"Why isn't it your father playing a trick?"
"Him couldn't play um trick if him try. No, Mass' George, him nebber
play trick. It somefing dreffle. Come 'way."
"Well, we were going back," I said, feeling rather ashamed of my
eagerness to get away, and still half uneasy about the gun, as I looked
up at the tree where we had slept to see if I had left it there.
No; that was impossible, because I had had it to shoot the ducks. But
still I might have put it somewhere else, and forgotten what I had done.
I turned away unwillingly, and yet glad, if that can be understood, and
with Pomp leading first, we began our retreat as nearly as possible over
the ground by which we had come.
For some little distance we went on in silence, totally forgetting the
object of our journey; but as we got more distant from the scene of our
last adventure, Pomp left off running into bushes and against trees in
spite of my warnings, for he had been progressing with his head screwed
round first on one side then on the other to look behind him, doing so
much to drive away such terror as I felt by his comical aspect, that I
ended by roaring with laughter.
"Oh, Mass' George," he said, reproachfully, "you great big foolish boy,
or you no laugh like dat all. You done know what am after us."
"No," I said; "but I know we lost one of our guns, and father will be
very cross. There, don't walk quite so fast."
"But Pomp want to run," he said, pitifully.
"And we can't run, because of the bushes and trees. I don't think there
was anything to be afraid of, after all."
"Oh! Run, Mass' George, run!" yelled Pomp; and instead of running I
stood paralysed for an instant at the scene before me.
We were pretty close to the river-bank, and forcing our way through a
cane brake which looked just as if it must be the home of alligators,
when a man suddenly stood in the boy's path.
Quick as thought the brave little fellow sprang at him, seeing in him an
enemy, and called to me to run, which of course I did not do, but, as
soon as I recovered from my surprise, ran on to his help. As I did so
the path seemed darkened behind me, I heard a quick rustling, my arms
were seized, and the next moment I was thrown down and a knee was on my
chest.
"Oh, Mass' George, why didn't you run?"
Poor Pomp's voice rang out from close beside me in despairing tones, and
I wrenched my head round, just catching a glimpse of him through the
canes. Then I looked up in the stern faces of my captors, thinking that
I had seen them before, though no doubt it was only a similarity of
aspect that struck me, as I realised that we had fallen into the hands
of the Indians once more.
They did not give us much time to think, but after taking away our
knives twisted up some lithe canes and secured our wrists and arms
behind us, two holding each of us upright, while another fastened our
hands.
Then they drew back from us, and stood round looking at us as if we were
two curiosities.
"Well, this is a nice game, Pomp," I said at last.
"Yes, dis nice game, Mass' George. Why you no run away?"
"How could I?"
"How you could? You ought run, jump in libber and go 'cross. Wish I
run and tell de capen an' Mass' Morgan."
"Ah!" I ejaculated.
"You tie too tight, Mass' George?"
"Yes, but I was thinking of something else. Pomp, those Indians are
going to attack our place and the settlement, and no one will know they
are coming."
"Pomp hope so," he said, sulkily, and screwing himself about with the
pain caused by his tight bonds.
"What?"
"Den de capen an' Mass' Morgan shoot um, an' Serb um right."
"But they will take them by surprise."
"Wait bit. We soon get dese off, and go down tell 'em Injum come."
"I'm afraid we shall not have the chance."
Just then a firm brown hand was clapped on my shoulder, and a stalwart
Indian signed to me to go on through the canes.
I obeyed mechanically, seeing the while that the half-dozen Indians who
had captured us had silently increased to over a dozen quietly-moving,
stealthy-looking fellows, who passed through the dense thicket, almost
without a sound, and with their eyes watchfully turned in every
direction, as if they were always on the look-out for danger. And so I
walked awkwardly on, feeling, now that my arms were bound behind me, as
if at any moment I should stumble and fall.
The mystery of the gun's disappearance was clear enough now, without the
proof which came later on. It was quite plain to me that some of these
strange, furtive-looking savages had crawled up behind the bush and
carried off the piece, after which they had lain in ambush waiting for
us to retrace our steps along the track we had broken down the previous
day, and then pounced upon us and made us prisoners.
At my last encounter they had contented themselves with following us
home, but now everything seemed to betoken mischief. They seemed to me
to be better armed, and had begun to treat us roughly by binding our
arms, and this it struck me could only mean one thing--to keep us from
getting away and giving the alarm.
I felt too now--for thoughts came quickly--that the report of the gun
that morning had guided them to our temporary camp, that and the smoke
of the fire; and as I felt how unlucky all this was, I found that we
were getting farther and farther from the river, and in a few minutes
more we were in an open portion of the wood, where about fifty more
Indians were seated about a fire.
A shout from our party made them all start to their feet and come to
meet us, surrounding and staring at us in a fierce, stolid way that sent
a chill through me as the question rose--Would they kill us both?
In a dull, despondent way the answer seemed to me--_yes_; not just then,
for we were both placed back against a young tree, and hide ropes being
produced, we were tightly bound to the trunks and left, while the
Indians all gathered together in a group, squatted down, and sat in
silence for a time smoking.
Then all at once I saw one jump up, axe in hand, to begin talking
loudly, gesticulating, waving his axe, and making quite a long address,
to which the others listened attentively, grunting a little now and
then, and evidently being a good deal influenced by his words.
At last he sat down and another took his place, to dance about, talking
volubly the while, and waving his axe too, and evidently saying
threatening things, which, as he pointed at us now and then, and also in
the direction of the settlement, I felt certain must relate to their
expedition.
In spite of my anxiety about my fate, I could not help feeling
interested in these people, for everything was so new and strange. But
other thoughts soon forced themselves upon me. They must, I felt, be
going on to the settlement, and it was my duty at any cost to get away,
and give the alarm. But how?
"Pomp," I said, after a time, "do you think we could get loose and run
back home?"
The boy looked at me with his face screwed up.
"Pomp done know," he said.
"Could you get the knots undone?"
"Pomp 'fraid try. Come and hit um. Going to kill us, Mass' George?"
"Oh, no; I don't think there's any fear of that."
"Then why they tie us up?"
"Don't talk so loud. It makes them look round."
"Look dah!"
"What at?"
"Dah de gun. Dat big ugly Injum got um. Him fief."
"Never mind the gun," I said. "Let's think about getting away."
"Yes; dat's what Pomp do fink about, Mass' George."
"If they had not taken our knives, I might perhaps have cut ourselves
free. Oh, I'd give anything to let them know at home. Look here; if
you can get loose, never mind about me; run back home, and warn my
father to escape to the settlement."
"You tell um," said Pomp, shortly.
"But I mean if you can get free without me."
"What, you fink Pomp run 'way and leab Mass' George all 'lone?"
"Yes; it is to save those at home."
"Capen flog um for going."
"No, no; he would not."
"Fader knock um down an' kick um."
"I tell you he would not. Try all you can to get loose and creep away
when they are not looking."
"Always looking," said Pomp, shortly; and it was quite true, for some
one or other of the Indians always seemed to be on the watch, and after
trying to wrench myself clear, I stood resting my aching legs by hanging
a little on the rope, for the hours were slowly gliding by, and
afternoon came without relief.
At last a couple of the men brought us some water and a piece each of
badly-roasted and burned deer-flesh, setting our hands at liberty so
that we could eat and drink, but leaving the hide ropes holding us
tightly to the trees, and sitting down to watch us, listening intently
as we spoke, but evidently not understanding a word.
"Well," I said, after a few minutes, during which I had been eating with
very poor appetite, "why don't you eat, Pomp?"
"Done like um. 'Mell nasty."
"It's only burnt," I said.
"How Mass' George know what um eat?"
"What?" I said, looking curiously at the meat.
"Pomp fink it poor lil nigger been kill and cook um."
"Nonsense; it's deer's flesh."
"Mass' George sewer?"
"Yes, quite."
"Oh!"
That was all the boy said, for he set to work directly and soon finished
his portion, taking a good deep drink afterward; and as soon as he had
done one of the Indians secured his hands again, a task which
necessitated a loosening of the hide rope, Pomp submitting with a very
good grace.
Then came my turn, and as soon as I was secured, the Indians went slowly
back to where the others were grouped, and squatted down to listen to
the talking going on.
It was a weary, weary time; the sun was getting lower, and birds came
and chirped about in the dense branches of the trees to which we were
bound, and I felt a strange feeling of envy as I looked up from time to
time and thought of their being at liberty to come and go. And all
through those painfully long hours the talking went on constantly about
the fire, which one or the other of the Indians made up by throwing on
some branches of wood.
As I watched them, I saw that they kept going and coming in different
directions, so that the number in the camp did not vary much, and though
the day wore on, there was no cessation of the talking, for there was
always a fresh Indian ready to leap to his feet, and begin relating
something with the greatest vehemence, to which the rest listened
attentively.
"They must be going on to the settlement to-night," I thought; and as I
noted their bows, arrows, axes, and knives, I conjured up horrors that I
felt would be sure to take place if we could not get free and give the
alarm.
All sorts of plans occurred to me. The forest would, I felt, be full of
the enemy, and if we could get loose there would be no chance of our
stealing away without being captured. But could we get across the river
in safety, and make our way along the farther bank; or could we swim
down? I shuddered as I thought of what would be the consequences of
trying such a feat.
Then my ponderings were interrupted by the coming of a couple more of
the Indians, who examined our fastenings and then went back.
"Mass' George 'leep?" said Pomp suddenly, in a low voice.
"Asleep? No. Who could go to sleep like this?"
"No, not nice go 'leep 'tanning up," said Pomp, coolly; and there was a
long pause, with the monotonous talking of the Indians still going on.
All at once one of the Indians who had last examined our bonds came
back, peeping about him inquiringly, examining our ropes, and looking
about our feet for some minutes before going back, carefully scanning
the ground and bushes as he went, and after a good deal of hesitation
reseating himself.
By this time I was utterly wearied out, and hung forward from the rope
with my head upon my chest, gazing down hopelessly at the thick moss and
other growth at our feet.
"Mass' George 'leep?" whispered Pomp again.
"No, no," I said, sadly; "I could not sleep at a time like this."
"'Cause Mass' George no go to sleep."
I looked at him despondently, and saw that he was amusing himself by
picking the moss and leaves with his toes, getting a tuft together,
snatching it off, and dropping it again, almost as cleverly as a monkey
would have done the same thing.
Then I ceased to notice it, for I saw a couple of the Indians get up
from the fireside, and come to examine us again. They felt all the
knots, and appeared satisfied, going back to the fire as before, while
others threw on fresh sticks. Then the smoking and talking went on, and
the flames cast their shadows about, and on the trees now in a
peculiarly weird way.
We were almost in darkness, but they were in what seemed to be a circle
or great halo of red light, which shone upon their copper-coloured
skins, and from the axes and the hilts of the knives they had stuck in
the bands of their deer-skin leggings.
"Soon be quite dark now, Mass' George," whispered Pomp; "den you see."
"See? See what? Their fire?"
"Wait bit--you see."
My heart gave a great throb, and I wanted to speak, but the words in my
agitation would not come. It was evident that the boy had some plan
afoot, and as I waited for him to speak again, feeling ashamed that this
poor black savage lad should be keener of intellect than I, he suddenly
began to laugh.
"Pomp," I whispered, "what is it?"
"You mose ready, Mass' George?"
"Ready? What for?"
"You see dreckerly. You know what dat Injum look about for?"
"No."
"Lose um knife."
"Well?"
"Pomp got um."
"You have? Where?"
"Down dah," he said, making a sign with one foot toward the loose moss
and leaves he had picked.
"Why, Pomp," I whispered, joyfully, "how did you manage that?"
"Ciss! Coming."
Two of the Indians had risen again from the fire, and once more
approached, feeling the knots, and to my despair, binding us more
securely with a couple of fresh ropes of hide.
Then I saw their dark figures go half way to the fire, return and pass
near us, and out along the banks of the river toward the settlement.
Then six more rose and went slowly out of sight among the trees, and I
felt that these must be going to form outposts to guard the little camp
from attack.
"Now, Mass' George," whispered Pomp--"ah, look dah."
I was already looking, and saw that about a dozen more left the fireside
to go out in different directions, their tall dark figures passing out
of sight among the trees.
"What are you going to do with the knife?" I whispered softly.
"'Top; you see," said the boy.
"But how did you get it?"
"You see dat Injum come feel de rope. He 'tuck Pomp head down under um
arm while he tie de knot hurt um, so Pomp mean to bite um; but Pomp see
de handle ob de knife 'tick up close to um mouf, and um take hold wid um
teef, pull um out, and let um fall and put um foot ober um."
"Oh, Pomp!" I said.
"Den he gone, Pomp push um out ob sight and put um foot ober um again,
and now I juss pick um up wid Pomp toe."
I heard a faint rustle, and then he whispered after a faint grunting
sound--
"Got um."
I stared sidewise at where he was--only about six feet away--and half
fancied that I could see him pick up the knife with his toes, and bend
his foot up till he could pass the blade into his hand.
"Hff!"
"What's the matter?" I whispered, as I heard a faint ejaculation.
"Pomp cut umself."
Then I heard a curious sawing sound, which seemed to be loud enough to
reach the Indians' ears, but as I looked, they were all talking, and I
turned my eyes again in the direction of my companion, whose black body
and light drawers had stood out plainly in the faint glow of the fire a
minute before, and I could only just restrain an exclamation, for he was
not there.