A DESPERATE VENTURE.
The family of Texans were not the ones to indulge in sentimentality or
useless speculations when action was demanded. The first feeling of
amazement following Avon's announcement of his resolution quickly
passed, but his uncle deemed it his duty to impress upon him the
desperate nature of his scheme.
"I don't see one chance in twenty of your succeeding," said he.
"And if I stay what are the chances for us all?"
"Possibly one in a hundred."
"Then I shall go," he quietly replied, compressing his lips as his fine
eyes kindled.
"There is hope, if you can reach the bush, but the rub will be to do
_that_."
"They grow close to the house, and the Comanches will not be looking
for any attempt of that kind."
"Is it not best to wait until later?" asked Mrs. Shirril.
"No," was the sensible response of her nephew; "the prospect of success
will decrease with every passing minute. They will think, and with
reason, that we have repelled their first attack so sharply that we are
confident of beating them off altogether. After a time, when things
begin to look bad for us, they will look for something of that nature,
and be so well prepared for it that it will be hopeless."
"He is right," assented the captain. "I don't ask you to try it, Avon,
but, if you are determined to do so, now is the time."
"My sentiments exactly, and I'm going."
He dreaded anything in the nature of a scene, one reason for his moving
so promptly being his desire to avert such a trial.
But now that the momentous step was decided upon, the all-important
question remained as to the best means of making the start.
The whole interior of the lower story was so brightly illuminated by the
blaze on the hearth that the moment the door was opened, even for only a
few inches, it would show from the outside. Anxious as Avon was to be
off, he knew better than to start under such conditions.
"The sooner that fire goes out, the better for all of us," said the
captain; "it is too tempting to the scamps."
On the row of pegs near him hung several heavy blankets, such as are
used by all plainsmen and cowboys. Those which the captain and his
nephew meant to take on their journey northward were in camp five miles
away.
Setting down his gun, he lifted one of the heavy pieces of cloth, whose
texture, like the celebrated blankets of the Navajoe Indians, was almost
close enough to be waterproof. He paused for a minute to adjust the
folds, and then, forgetful of the danger he had run a short time before,
he stepped hastily across the room, and stooping down flung the blanket
over the blaze so as to enclose it entirely.
The effect was instantaneous. The room was wrapped in darkness as dense
as that outside, though the consequences of the act promised to be
anything but pleasant in the course of a few minutes.
"Now, Avon, is your time!" called the captain in an undertone.
"I'm off; good-by," came from the gloom near the door, where the sounds
showed that he was engaged in raising the ponderous bar from its
sockets.
Captain Shirril stepped hurriedly to the spot, and found the door closed
but unfastened. Even in his haste the youth did not forget to shut it
behind him, leaving to his friends the duty of securing it in place.
"He is gone; God be with him!" he whispered to his wife and servant, who
with painfully throbbing hearts had stepped to his side.
While speaking, he refastened the structure, and in less time than it
has taken to tell it everything inside was as before, with the exception
that where there had been four persons, there were now only three.
All forgot their own danger for the moment in their anxiety for the
youth, who had so eagerly risked his own life to save them from death.
Bending his head, the captain held his ear against the tiny opening
through which the latchkey had been drawn earlier in the evening, when
the heavy bar was put in place. The Texan was listening with all the
intentness possible.
"It seems impossible that he should get away," was his thought, "and yet
the very boldness of his plan may give it success."
The shot from within the cabin, followed so soon by the complete
darkening of the interior, must have caused some confusion among the
Comanches, for otherwise Avon would have been shot or captured the
moment he stepped outside of the cabin.
For the space of two or three seconds Captain Shirril absolutely heard
nothing, except the soft sighing of the night wind among the mesquite
bushes near at hand. The stillness could not have been more profound had
every living thing been moved to a distance of a hundred miles.
He had listened only a minute or two, however, when he heard a warrior
run rapidly around the building, coming to an abrupt stop directly in
front of the door. Thus he and the Texan stood within a few inches of
each other, separated only by the heavy structure, which, for the time,
barred all entrance.
Captain Shirril even fancied that the eye of the redskin was pressed
against the opening, in the vain effort to gain sight of the interior.
Had the Comanche chosen to place his lips there, how readily he could
have whispered into the ear of his enemy!
That the Texan was right in suspecting one of the warriors was so very
near was proven a moment later, when a second Indian approached with his
mustang on the walk, dropped lightly to the ground, and coming forward,
halted so close to the door that he almost touched it.
The captain knew this because he heard the two talking in low tones. He
understood the tongue of the dusky miscreants, but though he listened
closely, could not catch the meaning of a word that passed between
them. Their sentences were of the short, jerky character common to all
American Indians, accompanied by a peculiar grunting, which helped to
obscure their meaning.
The unspeakable relief of the listener was caused by the awakening of
hope for his nephew. He was certainly some way from the cabin, for had
he stayed near the door, discovery was inevitable by the two warriors
now standing there. Indeed, they must almost have stumbled over him.
But he might be still within a few paces, unable to stir through fear of
detection. Extended flat on the ground, on the alert for the first
possible opening, he was liable to discovery at every moment.
In fact, so far as Avon was concerned, he had crossed the Rubicon; for,
if seen, it was impossible to re-enter the cabin, the door of which had
been shut and barred.
The warriors who had paused in front of Captain Shirril kept their
places but a brief while, when they moved off so silently that he could
not tell the direction they took. Everything remained still for several
minutes, when the listener once more fancied he heard something
unusual.
It was a stir among the mesquite bushes, such as might be caused by a
puff or eddy in the wind, which blew quite steadily, though with
moderate force.
He was listening with all his senses strung to the highest point, when
the stillness was broken by the report of a rifle, accompanied by a
ringing shriek, both coming from a point within a few rods of the cabin.
The hearts of the inmates stood still, the wife alone finding voice to
exclaim in horrified tones:
"Poor Avon! he has fallen! he has given his life for us!"