CHASED
The party pressed forward as rapidly as they could. The ground was rough
and at times very steep, and those on foot were able to keep up with the
horses without much difficulty.
"You think the Indians will follow, uncle?" Tom asked.
"They will follow, you may bet your boots, Tom; by this time they have
got to the bottom of the mystery. The first thing this morning some of
them will go up on to the ledge where you were, follow your tracks down
to the cañon where you left the horses, and find that you came up the
valley and not down it. They will have made out that there were two
whites and two red-skins, and that the two red-skins have gone up the
cañon with the horses. Directly the matter is all cleared up, they will
be hotter than ever for our scalps, for there is nothing a red-skin
hates worse than being fooled. Of course, they will know that it is a
good deal harder to wipe out seven men than three, and I don't think
they will attack us openly; they know well enough that in a fair fight
two red-skins, if not three, are likely to go down for each white they
rub out. But they will bide their time: red-skins are a wonderful hand
at that; time is nothing to them, and they would not mind hanging about
us for weeks and weeks if they can but get us at last. However, we will
talk it all over when the Indians join us. I don't think there is any
chance of fighting to-day, but whether we shall get out of these
mountains without having another scrimmage is doubtful."
Tom noticed that in his talk with him his uncle dropped most of the
western expressions which when speaking with the others he used as
freely as they did. He was now able to have a fair look at him, and
found that he agreed pretty closely with the ideas he had formed of him.
There was a strong likeness between him and his brother. They were about
the same height, but Harry was broader and more strongly built. His face
was deeply bronzed by long exposure to the wind and sun. He had a large
tawny beard, while Tom's father had been clean shaved. The sailor was
five years the senior, but the miner looked far younger than Tom could
ever remember his father looking, for the latter had never thoroughly
recovered his, health after having had a long bout of fever on the
Zanzibar station; and the long stride and free carriage of his uncle was
in striking contrast to the walk of his father. Both had keen gray eyes,
the same outline of face, the same pleasant smile.
"Now that I can see you fairly, Tom," the miner said, when they halted
once for the horses to come up to them, "I can make out that you are a
good deal like your father as I can first remember him."
"I was thinking you were very like him, uncle."
"We used to be alike in the old days, but I reckon the different lives
we led must have changed us both a great deal. He sent me once a
photograph four or five years ago, and at first I should not have known
it was he. I could see the likeness after a bit, but he was very much
changed. No doubt I have changed still more; all this hair on my face
makes a lot of difference. You see, it is a very long time since we met.
I was but twenty when I left England, and I had not seen him for two or
three years before that, for he was on the Mediterranean station at the
time. Well, here are the horses again, and as the ground looks flatter
ahead we shall have to push on to keep up with them." They were
presently altogether beyond the forest, and a broad plateau of bare rock
stretched away in front of them for miles.
"There they are," Jerry Curtis shouted. "I was beginning to feel scared
that the 'Rappahoes had got them."
It was a minute or two before Tom could make out the distant figures,
for his eyes were less accustomed to search for moving objects than were
those of his companions.
"They are riding fast," Harry Wade said. "I reckon they have made out
some Indians on their trail."
The little dark mass Tom had first seen soon resolved itself into two
horsemen and two riderless animals. They were still three or four miles
away, but in twenty minutes they reached the party advancing to meet
them. The whites waved their hats and gave them a cheer as they rode up.
"So you have managed to get through them all right, chief?"
"The 'Rappahoes are dogs. They are frightened at shadows; their eyes
were closed. Leaping Horse stood near their fires and saw them go
forward, and knew that his white brothers must have gained the forest
before the 'Rappahoes got to the rock. He found the horses safe, but the
cañon was very dark and in some places very narrow, with many rocks in
the road, so that he had to stop till the moon was high. It was not
until morning came that he reached the head of the cañon, an hour's ride
from here. Half an hour back Leaping Horse went to the edge and looked
down. There were ten 'Rappahoes riding fast up the trail. Has my brother
heard anything of the others?"
"Nothing whatever," Harry said. "I reckon they did not begin to move
until daylight, and as we went on when the moon rose they must be a good
two hours behind us. Which way do you think we had better go, chief?"
"Where does my brother wish to go?"
"It matters mighty little. I should say for a bit we had better travel
along this plateau, keeping about the same distance from the
timber-line. I don't think the 'Rappahoes will venture to attack us in
the open. If we keep on here we can cross the divide and get into the
Shoshones' country, and either go down the Buffalo and then up the Snake
and so work down south, or go east and strike some of the streams
running that way into the Big Horn."
The chief shook his head.
"Too far, too many bad Indians; will talk over fire tonight."
"That is it, chief. It is a matter that wants a good deal of talking
over. Anyhow, we had better be moving on at once."
Tom was glad to find himself in the saddle again, and the party rode on
at a steady pace for some hours, then they halted, lit a fire, and
cooked a meal. Tom noticed that the Indians no longer took pains to
gather dry sticks, but took the first that came to hand. He remarked
this to Jerry.
"They know it is no use trying to hide our trail here; the two bands of
Indians will follow, one up and one down, until they meet at the spot
where the chief joined us. From there they can track us easy enough.
Nothing would suit us better than for them to come up to us here, for we
should give them fits, sartin. This is a good place. This little stream
comes down from that snow peak you see over there, and we have got
everything we want, for this patch of bushes will keep us in firing for
a bit. You see, there are some more big hills in front of us, and we are
better here than we should be among them. I expect we shall camp here
for the night."
"Then you don't think the Indians will come up close?"
"Not they. They will send a spy or two to crawl up, you may be sure, but
they will know better than to come within reach of our rifles."
"I am mighty glad to have my teeth into some deer-flesh again," Ben
Gulston said. "We had two or three chances as we came along, but we dare
not fire, and we have just been living on bread and bacon. Where did you
kill these wapiti?"
"At our first halt, near Fremont's Pass. We got two."
"Well, you haven't eaten much, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "I reckon four
men ought pretty well to have finished off two quarters by this time."
"I reckon we should have finished one of the bucks, Sam; but we caught a
grist of fish the same day, dried them in the sun, and I think we mostly
ate them. They would not keep as well as the flesh. That is as good as
the day we shot it, for up here in the dry air meat keeps a sight better
than down in the plains. Give me some more tea, Sam."
"What do you think, mates, of camping here?" Harry Wade said. "The chief
thinks we are better here than we should be if we moved on. He feels
certain the red-skins won't dare attack us."
There was a cordial agreement in favour of a halt, for after the work
they had gone through during the last week they were glad of a rest. No
one would have thought half an hour afterwards that the little party
engaged in washing their shirts at the stream or mending their clothes,
were in the heart of a country unknown to most of them, and menaced by a
savage foe. The horses cropped the scanty tufts of grass or munched the
young tops of the bushes, the rifles stood stacked by the fire, near
which the two Indians sat smoking and talking earnestly together,
Hunting Dog occasionally getting up and taking a long careful look over
the plain. As the men finished their various jobs they came back to the
fire.
"Now, chief," Harry said, "let us hear your ideas as to what we had best
do. We are all pretty old hands at mountaineering, but we reckon you
know a great deal more about it than we do. You don't like the plans I
proposed."
"No can do it," the chief said positively. "In a moon the snow will
fall, and there will be no crossing mountains."
"That is true enough," Jerry said. "An old trapper who had lived among
the Shoshones told me that nine months in the year they were shut up in
the valleys by the snow on the passes."
"Then how can live?" the chief went on. "As long as we stay in this
country the 'Rappahoes will watch us. They will tell the Bannacks and
the Nez Percés, and they too would be on our trail. As long as we keep
together and watch they will not come, they fear the white man's rifle;
but we cannot live without hunting, and then they kill one, two, till
all killed. At night must always watch, at day cannot hunt. How we live?
What good to stay? If we stop all killed sure."
There was silence round the circle. Every one of them felt the truth of
the Indian's words, and yet they hated the thought of abandoning their
search for gold, or, failing that, of a return home with their horses
laden with beaver skins.
Harry was the first to speak. "I am afraid these varmint have interfered
with our plans, mates. If we had had the luck to drop into one of the
upper valleys without being noticed we could have hunted and trapped
there and looked for gold for months without much chance of being
discovered, but this has upset it all. I am afraid that what the chief
says is true. If we keep together we starve, if we break up and hunt we
shall be ambushed and killed. I hate giving up anything I have set my
mind on, but this time I don't see a way out of it. We ain't the first
party that has come up here and had to go back again with empty hands,
and we know what happened to that party of twenty old-time miners from
California two years ago, though none of them ever got back to tell the
tale. We knew when we started, it wur just a chance, and the cards have
gone against us."
"That is so," Ben agreed; "if it had turned out well we might have made
a good strike. It ain't turned out well, and as every day we stay here
there will be more of those varmint swarming round us, I say the sooner
we get out of this dog-goned country the better."
"You can count me in with you, Ben," Sam Hicks said. "We have gone in
for the game and we don't hold hands, and it ain't no use bluffing
against them red-skins. We sha'n't have lost much time arter all, and I
reckon we have all learned something. Some day when the railroad goes
right across, Uncle Sam will have to send a grist of troops to reckon up
with the red-skins in these hills, and arter that it may be a good
country for mining and trapping, but for the present we are a darned
sight more likely to lose our scalps than to get skins."
"Well, Leaping Horse, which way would you advise us to take, then?"
"Go straight back to cañon, ride down there, cross river, go up
mountains other side, pass them north of Union Peak, come down on upper
water Big Wind River. From there little way on to Green River. Leaping
Horse never been there, but has heard. One long day's ride from here, go
to upper waters of Green River."
"That sounds good," Jerry Curtis said. "If we could once strike the
Green we should be out of the 'Rappahoe country altogether. I have known
two or three men who have been up the Green nearly to its head, and
there is good hunting and a good many beaver in the side streams. I
should not have thought it would have come anywhere like as near as
this, but I don't doubt the chief is right."
"Union Peak," the chief said, pointing to a crag rising among a tumble
of hills to the south.
"Are you sure, chief?"
The Indian nodded. "Forty, fifty miles away," he said. "Leaping Horse
has been to upper waters of Green River, seen the peak from other side."
"That settles it, then," Harry said. "That is our course, there cannot
be a doubt. I should never have proposed the other if I had had an idea
that we were within sixty or seventy miles of the Green River. And you
think we had better take the cañon you came up by, chief?"
The Indian nodded. "If go down through forest may be ambushed. Open
ground from here back to cañon. 'Rappahoes most in front. Think we go
that way, not think we go back. Get good start. Once across river follow
up little stream among hills other side, that the way to pass. If
'Rappahoes follow us we fight them."
"Yes, we shall have them at an advantage there, for they would have to
come up under our fire, and there are sure to be places where half a
dozen men could keep fifty at bay. Very well, chief, that is settled.
When do you think we had better start?"
"When gets dark," the chief replied. "No lose time, more Indian come
every hour. Keep fire burning well, 'Rappahoes think we camp here. Take
horses a little way off and mount beyond light of fire."
"You think they will be watching us?"
"Sure to watch. First ride north half an hour, then turn and ride to
cañon. If spies see us go off take word to friends we gone north. Too
dark to follow trail. They think they catch us easy to-morrow, and take
up trail in morning; but too late then, we cross river before that."
There was a general murmur of assent. The thought of being constantly
watched, and suddenly attacked when least expecting it, made them feel
restless, and the thought of early action was pleasant to them.
"You don't think that there are any spies watching us now, uncle, do
you?"
"Not close, Tom; they would know better than that. They could see us
miles away if we were to mount and ride off, and it is only when it gets
dark that they would venture to crawl up, for if one were sighted in the
daytime he would not have a ghost of a chance of getting away, for we
could ride him down sartin."
"Well, I reckon we may as well take a sleep," Sam Hicks said. "You lie
down for one, anyhow, Harry, for you watched last evening. We will toss
up which of us keeps awake."
"Leaping Horse will keep watch," the chief said quietly. "No fear of
Indians, but better to watch."
Knowing the power of the red-skins to keep awake for an almost unlimited
time, none of the others thought of refusing the offer, and in a few
minutes all were sound asleep. Towards sunset they were on their feet
again. Another meal was cooked and eaten, then as it became dusk the
horses were gathered fifty yards away, and Hunting Dog and Tom took
their places beside them.
"Keep your eyes open and your rifle handy, Tom," his uncle said. "It is
like enough that some young brave, anxious to distinguish himself, may
crawl up with the intention of stampeding the ponies, though I don't
think he would attempt it till he thought most of us were asleep. Still,
there is no saying."
The watch was undisturbed, and soon it became so dark that objects could
no longer be seen fifty yards away. Tom began to feel nervous. Every
tuft of ground, every little bush seemed to him to take the form of a
crawling Indian, and he felt a great sense of relief when he saw the
figures round the fire rise and walk towards him.
"I am glad you have come, uncle," he said frankly; "I began to feel very
uncomfortable several times. It seemed to me that some of the bushes
moved."
"That is just what I thought you would be feeling, Tom. But it was just
as well that your first watch should be a short one, without much chance
of an ambush being on foot; and I knew that if your eyes deceived you,
Hunting Dog was there. Next time you won't feel so nervous; that sort of
thing soon passes off."
A fresh armful of brushwood had been thrown on to the fire before the
men left it, and long after they had ridden away they could see the
flames mounting high. After riding north for a quarter of an hour they
changed their route and passed round, leaving the fire half a mile on
their right. The light of the stars was quite sufficient for them to
travel by, and after four hours' journey the chief, who was riding
ahead, halted.
"Not far from cañon now. Listen."
A very faint murmur came to their ears, so faint that had not his
attention been drawn to it Tom would not have noticed it at all.
"What is that noise?" he asked.
"That is the stream down in the cañon," his uncle replied. "How far are
we from the head, chief?"
"Not far, must ride slow."
They proceeded at a walk, changing their course a little towards the
east. Hunting Dog went on ahead, and in a quarter of an hour they heard
his signal, the cry of an owl. It arose from a point still further east,
and quickening their pace, in a few minutes they came up to the young
Indian, who was standing by his horse at the edge of a steep descent, at
the bottom of which Tom could see a stream of water.
"It looks very steep," Jerry said.
"Steep, but smooth," the Indian replied. "Came up here with horses this
morning."
All dismounted, and Tom went up to his horse's head. "That won't do,
Tom. Never go before a horse down a steep place where you can't see your
way, always drive it before you."
There was some trouble in getting the horses to commence the descent,
but after a short time the chief's pony set the example; and tucking its
hind legs under it until it sat down on its haunches, began to slide
down, while the other animals, after staring into the darkness with ears
laid back and snorting with fear, were half-persuaded, half-forced to
follow its example, and the men went down after them. The descent was
not so steep as in the darkness it looked, and the depth was not over
fifty feet. As soon as they reached the bottom they mounted again, and
the chief leading the way, they rode down the cañon. At first they were
able to proceed at a fair pace, but as the sides grew higher and more
precipitous the darkness became more dense, and they were obliged to
pick their way with great caution among the boulders that strewed the
bottom of the ravine. Several times they had to dismount in order to get
the horses over heavy falls, and it was four hours from the time they
entered the cañon before they approached its mouth. When they entered
the little wood where they had first left the horses, the chief said,
"Make fire, cook food here. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog go on and
scout, maybe 'Rappahoes left watch in valley."
"Very well, chief. It is seven hours since we started; I think the
horses will be all the better for an hour's rest, and I am sure we shall
be the better of a feed. Besides, when we are once out of this hole we
may have to travel fast."
"You don't think it likely that the 'Rappahoes are on the look-out for
us at the entrance?" Tom asked, as the Indians moved away.
"Not likely at all, Tom. Still, as they might reckon that if we gave
their searching party the slip we must come down again by the river or
through this cañon, they may have left a party or sent down word to some
of their villages to keep a watch in the valley."
It was more than an hour before the Indians returned.
"No 'Rappahoes in valley," the chief said, as he seated himself by the
fire and began without loss of time to eat the meat they had cooked in
readiness. "Better be going soon, must cross river and get on before
light come; have seen fires, Indian villages up on hillsides. When light
comes and 'Rappahoes find trail they come back quick."
"You may bet your boots they will, chief," Sam Hicks said. "They will be
a pretty mad crowd when they make out that we have come down again by
the cañon. As soon as they see which way we have headed some of them
will make a bee-line down here in hopes of cutting us off at the mouth,
but by the time they are here we shall be half-way up the hill."
The Indian made no reply, but he and Hunting Dog ate their meal
steadily, and as soon as they had finished rose to their feet, and
saying "Time to go" went out to fetch in their horses.
"I don't think the chief is as confident we shall get off without a
fight as Sam seemed to be," Tom said to his uncle.
"There is never any saying what an Indian thinks, Tom, even when he has
fallen into white man's ways, as Leaping Horse has done. It may be that
the sight of the fires he made out on the opposite hills has troubled
him. It will be light before we are far up on the side, and we may be
made out by some of the varmint there. They are always restless. Go into
an Indian village when you will, you will find some of them smoking by
the fire. Their ears are so 'tarnal sharp, they can hear sounds that
would never catch our ears, not at half the distance. The clink of a
couple of pans together, or a stone set rolling by a horse's tread, were
it ever so faint, would bring them on their feet directly, especially
now they know that a war-party is out."
The march was again resumed. Passing through the narrowest part of the
cañon they issued out into the valley and made for the river. Some time
was lost here, for Sam Hicks, who was leading one of the pack-ponies,
was carried down several hundred yards by the stream, and with
difficulty effected his landing. The horse's load shifted and had to be
repacked. As soon as this was done they followed the river down for two
miles till they came upon a stream running into it from the southwest.
"You think this is the stream we have to follow, chief?"
"Must be him, no other came in on this side for a long way; right line
for peak."
They turned up by the stream, and after riding a mile found themselves
entering a mountain gorge. It was not a cañon but a steep, narrow
valley. They picked their way with the greatest caution for some time,
then the two Indians stopped simultaneously.
"What is the matter, chief?" Harry, who was riding next to them,
whispered.
"Smell smoke."
Harry sniffed the air.
"I can't say I smell it, chief, but if you say you do that settles it.
Where do you think it comes from?"
"Up valley; wind light, but comes that way. Indian village up here."
"Well, so much the worse for the Indian village if it interferes with
us," Harry said grimly; "there is one thing certain, we have got to go
through. Probably most of the braves are away up in the hills."
They now went on with redoubled caution. The chief gave his bridle to
Hunting Dog and went forward on foot. A hundred yards farther the valley
made a sharp turn and then widened out considerably, and the glow of a
fire was visible among some trees standing on the hillside some fifty
feet above the level of the stream. The chief looked at the sky; a faint
light was breaking, and without pausing he continued to lead the way.
They passed under the Indian encampment, and had got a few yards higher
when the pony Sam Hicks was leading gave a sharp neigh.
"Darn its old ears!" Tom heard Jerry growl. Harry at the same moment put
his horse to a trot, and the others following clattered up the valley,
knowing that concealment was no longer of any use; indeed, an answering
neigh from above and hurried shouts were heard, followed a moment
afterwards by a loud yell as an Indian running through the trees caught
sight of them in the moonlight.
"We are in for it now, Tom; that is, if there are men enough in the
village to attack us."
The horses broke into a gallop. They had gone but fifty yards when a
rifle-shot was heard from behind, and Tom felt a shock as the ball
struck his saddle. Almost immediately another shot was fired abreast of
him, and an Indian yell rose loudly behind them. A moment later Leaping
Horse with a shout of triumph bounded down the rocks and leapt on to his
horse. Four or five more shots were fired from behind, but none of them
were hit. A hundred yards farther they were in shelter of a belt of
trees that extended down to the stream. As they entered it Harry looked
back. He could now see the hills beyond the main valley.
"Look, chief!" he exclaimed. "The varmint up there are signalling far
off above the timber-line."
Bright tongues of fire could be seen, two close together and one a short
distance to the left.
"What does that mean, uncle?" Tom asked, as the chief gave a short
exclamation of surprise and anger.
"It means, lad, that the red-skins have been sharper than we gave them
credit for. When their spies brought them news that we had started they
must have come down to the fire and followed our trail at once with
torches, before we had got above an hour or two away. No doubt it was
slow work, but they must have found where we changed our course, and
made out that we were making for the head of the cañon. I expect most of
them lost no time in following the trail farther, but rode straight for
the head of the cañon, and like enough they weren't half an hour behind
us when we came out. The others rode to the edge of the plateau and set
those fires alight."
"But what do they mean, uncle?"
"They are a warning to all the villages that we have headed back, you
may be sure of that, though I can't say what the message is, for every
tribe has its own signals, but it will have set them on the watch up and
down the valley; and like enough the signal has been repeated somewhere
at a point where it can be seen straight down the Big Wind Valley. The
shooting will tell them all which way we are making, and if the
'Rappahoes have come out of the cañon, as I reckon they have, they need
lose no more time in looking for our trail. I reckon in half an hour we
shall have a hundred or so of the varmint after us. I only hope there are
no more villages upon this line. I don't so much care about the fellows
who are following us, we are sure to find some place where we can make a
stand, but it would be awkward if we find our way barred."
"But if there is no one in front, uncle, I should think we might be able
to keep ahead. Our horses are as good as they are likely to have."
"You and Jerry might be able to, Tom, for you have got hold of two
first-rate ponies; but the Indians' are nothing out of the way, and our
ponies ain't in it with you; besides, they and the pack-horses have all
been doing hard work for the last week with none too much food, and many
of the 'Rappahoes will be on fresh horses. I expect we have got some
very tall climbing to do before we get up to the pass, and we have got
to do our fighting before we get there."
The ground rose steeply, and was encumbered by fallen stones and
boulders, and it was not long before the pack-horses began to show signs
of distress, while those ridden by Harry and his two comrades were
drawing their breath in short gasps. After emerging from the trees the
ravine had run in almost a straight line for more than half a mile, and
just as they reached the end of this stretch a yell was heard down the
valley. Looking back they saw eight or ten mounted Indians emerging from
the wood at the lower end.
"That is a signal," Harry exclaimed, as four rifles were fired in quick
succession. "Well, we have got a bit of a start of them, and they won't
venture to attack us until some more come up. We had better take it a
bit quietly, chief, or our horses will give out. I expect we sha'n't be
long before we come upon a place where we can make a stand."
The Seneca looked round at the horses. "You, Sam, Ben and pack-horses go
on till you get to place where can fight. We four wait here; got good
horses, and can ride on. We stop them here for a bit."
"That would be best. I don't like being out of it, but we will do our
share presently."
No more words were necessary. Harry and his two mates rode on at a
slower pace than before, while the two Indians, Jerry, and Tom
dismounted, left their horses beyond the turn, and then coming back took
up their positions behind four large boulders. The Indians had noticed
their returning figures, for they suddenly drew up their horses and
gathered together in consultation.
"Draw your bullet, Tom," Jerry said, "and drop in half a charge more
powder; I reckon that piece of yours will send a bullet among them with
the help of a good charge. Allow a bit above that top notch for extra,
elevation. It's a good big mark, and you ought to be able to plump a
bullet among them."
Tom followed the instructions, and then resting the barrel on the top of
the boulder took a steady aim and fired. There was a sudden stir among
the group of Indians. A horse reared high in the air, almost unseating
its rider, and then they all rode off at the top of their speed, and
halted two or three hundred yards lower down the valley. The Senecas
uttered a grunt of approval.
"That was a good shot, Tom, though I wish you had hit one of the
red-skins instead of his critter. Still, it will give them a good
lesson, and make them mighty keerful. They won't care about showing
their ugly heads within range of a piece that will carry five hundred
yards."
A quarter of an hour passed without any movement on the part of the
Indians. Then a large party of horsemen appeared from the trees below,
and were greeted by them with a yell of satisfaction.
"There must be well-nigh fifty of them," Jerry said. "I reckon it's the
party that came down the hill. They must have picked up a good many
others by the way. Now the fun is going to begin."
After five minutes' consultation some twenty of the Indians dismounted,
and dividing into two parties ascended the slopes of the valley and
began to move forward, taking advantage of every stone and bush, so that
it was but occasionally that a glimpse of one of their bodies was
obtained.
"They are going to skirmish up to us," Jerry said, "till they are near
enough to make it hot for us if we show a head above the rocks to fire.
As soon as they can do that, the others will charge. I think they are
not more than four hundred yards off now, Tom. That is within your
range, so you may as well begin to show them that we are awake. If you
can bring one down it will check their pace."
Tom had just noticed three Indians run behind a clump of bushes, and he
now levelled his rifle so that it bore on a spot a foot on one side of
it. Half a minute later an Indian appeared at the bush and began to run
forward. Tom pressed the trigger. The Indian ran a few steps, and then
fell forward on his face.
"Bravo, Plumb-centre!" Jerry shouted. "We said that you would do the
rifle credit, Tom, and Billy the Scout could not have done better
himself."
"Young white man make great hunter," the chief remarked approvingly.
"Got good eye and steady hand."
The lesson had its effect. The Indian advance was no longer rapid, but
was conducted with the greatest caution, and it was only occasionally
that a glimpse could be caught of a dusky figure passing from rock to
rock. When they came within three hundred yards the two Indians and
Jerry also opened fire. One fell to a shot from the chief, but neither
of the others hit their marks. Tom indeed did not fire again, the
movements of the Indians being so rapid that they were gone before he
could bring his sight to bear upon any of them.
"Go now," the chief said. "'Rappahoes fire soon; run quick."
It was but a few yards to shelter. As they dashed across the intervening
space two or three Indian rifles rang out, but the rest of the
assailants had been too much occupied in sheltering themselves and
looking for the next spot to make for, to keep an eye upon the
defenders, and the hastily-fired shots all missed. A moment later the
party mounted their horses and rode up the ravine, the yells of the
Indians ringing in their ears.
[Illustration: "A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face."]