GROPING IN THE DARK.
Larry Murphy, after his daring check of the Shawanoes in their attempt
to leap the torrent, was sufficiently wise to see that it would not do
for him to remain where he was. The red men had located the dangerous
marksman, and would soon gain access to him.
If they chose, they could swim the stream below, as he had done, and
there must be other points above where the walls approached near enough
to allow them to jump across. If two or three succeeded in getting to
the rear of his position (and what was to prevent it?) he would be
caught inextricably in a trap.
"I wonder what's become of Whart? What could he do without me? He's
always getting into trouble, and it's the bother of me life getting him
out again. I ought to be with him now."
Nothing was clearer than that before he could do any more service for
his friend, or even learn his situation, he must place himself on the
other side of the torrent. He could do this by swimming, as before, but
he shrank from repeating the performance. The Shawanoes were likely to
watch for such an attempt, and he would be in a bad situation if
discovered in the water.
He believed, too, that at no distant point up stream there was some
place where the passage could be made quickly and without danger; he
decided to find out if such was the case.
"I hope Whart won't do anything rash," he mused, picking his way with no
little skill and with the utmost care, "but he needs me with him all the
time. With all the speed he owns, if he only made a break for the
block-house, he'd be there in an hour or two; but it's just like him not
to think of that, and if he did, mor'n likely the Indians would object."
A hundred yards above the point where young Edwards had leaped the
torrent, Larry began working his way back to it. It would have been a
most fortunate thing had he arrived somewhat sooner, for then he would
have seen his friend starting on his memorable race with Blazing Arrow.
The chance of bringing down the vicious Shawanoe by a shot from the rear
would have been so inviting that it is more than probable that the youth
would have nipped the contest in the bud. But, had he not done so, he
would have gained the information that would have changed his own line
of action, and the whole course of succeeding events.
But the torrent was wider than below, and not even Wharton Edwards would
have been able to leap it. Larry was careful to keep out of sight, and
withdrawing again from the bank, he cautiously made his way up stream,
on the watch for some place to cross.
"I wonder whether any of them have got over yet?" he muttered, feeling
each step of the way; "they're sharp enough to follow me tracks where I
haven't stepped on the stones--whisht!"
He stopped short, for he had heard something moving slowly among the
undergrowth ahead.
"Some of them have come back----"
Instead of a Shawanoe warrior, the bulky form of an immense bear came
into sight.
"And so ye want to mix in this business?" was the thought of the lad on
identifying the animal. "I'm sure neither Whart nor me would have any
objections if you would only turn your attention to them that is making
us so much bother."
He surveyed the lumbering creature a minute or two, strongly tempted to
give him a shot. He would have fired, but the report of the gun would be
heard by the Shawanoes, some of whom could not be far off. The falls
were so distant that the sound was but a faint roar in his ears.
The bear did not seem to be looking for large boys just then, and, after
lumbering into sight, disappeared among the vegetation, which was rank
in that section. He showed no sign of suspecting that one of his natural
enemies was so near. Had he known it, doubtless he would have given him
attention.
In the effort to find a place where the stream could be crossed, Larry
pushed on, never forgetting that he was in continual danger from the
Shawanoes. The day was waning, and night was not far off.
"If I don't strike the right sort of spot," he concluded, "by the time
night is here, I'll find a place where I can swim from one bank to the
other. Halloo!" A dark object on the ground a short distance in advance
caught his eye. Stooping down, he found to his delight it was his lost
cap, doubtless carried thither by this same bear.
It will be remembered that the torrent to which we have made reference
so often was not crossed by the trail leading from the settlement to the
block-house, although the two approached quite closely at several
points. The winding course of the path was mainly with the object of
avoiding a passage over the stream. The boys, therefore, knew little
about it, and the slight journey Larry Murphy was making was in the
nature of an exploration.
When he was about ready to give up hope of finding a method of crossing
other than by swimming, a surprise greeted him. The high banks not only
drew near together, but they were bridged by a fallen tree, whose base
was several feet away from the edge of the other shore. The branches
rested on the ground near the feet of the astonished youth, who felt
like throwing off his hat with delight.
"If I ever meet the gintleman that felled that tree for me, I'll give
him me heartfilt thanks."
Larry would have been pleased had the trunk been larger; not that it
lacked strength, but it would have been much easier to walk it, for it
is no light task to pick one's way along a comparative sapling,
especially when a deep, rapid stream is sweeping beneath.
By this time the sun had set and the light was growing dim in the woods.
He stood back just beyond the dead branches and meditatively scratched
his head. He knew that in all probability the tree had fallen in this
position of its own accord, and perhaps never had served as a bridge;
but, if so, it was because the occasion did not arise, since nothing
could be more opportune.
"I'm wondering whether I'm equal to the job," he added, still scratching
his scrubby hair. "If I step off I'll have to go over the falls, unless
I crawl out at the one spot, and I'm likely to miss that. If the sun was
shining it would be easy enough, and I guess maybe I can do it as it
is."
This was a case where it was idle to delay. He therefore fastened his
rifle in the usual way behind his back, so as to leave his arms free,
for more than likely he would need them before reaching the opposite
side.
"There won't be much use of saving mesilf without the gun, so we'll hang
together or go down, if we must, with our colors flying."
He placed his foot on the upper part of the trunk, just beyond where the
first branch appeared, and tested it. So far as he could tell, it was
sufficiently strong to bear ten times his weight.
He now advanced inch by inch, but had gone less than a fourth of the
distance when he found that his rifle was balanced in such a way behind
his shoulder that it was unsteady, and liable to throw him at any
moment.
It was delicate and dangerous to retreat, but he did it, slowly
struggling until he was so near the shore from which he started that he
was able to turn quickly and leap to the solid ground.
He took several minutes to adjust his weapon, for the slight trial he
had made taught him it would be exceedingly perilous for him to run any
sort of risk. It would be all he could do to get across under the most
favorable circumstances.
In the gathering gloom, when everything was in readiness, he placed his
foot on the narrow portion of the trunk and prepared to repeat the
attempt, but at the very moment of doing so he made the discovery that
some one else had started to cross from the other side.
Larry Murphy learned the truth in the nick of time. Ten seconds later
and he would have been on the trunk at the same moment as the other, and
an advance by both must have caused them to meet over the middle of the
stream.
As it was, Larry was uncertain whether he had been seen, or whether it
was a man or animal that was approaching. The doubt, however, lasted but
a second, when out from the gloom advanced a Shawanoe warrior, who came
along the narrow bridge with the deliberate certainty of a Blondin. No
fear of _his_ making a misstep.
This of itself told the youth that the Indian had not seen him, for, if
he had, nothing would have been more foolhardy than thus to place
himself at the mercy of the one who a short time before had shown his
nerve and marksmanship under more difficult circumstances.
But for the displacement of his rifle, Larry Murphy would have walked
into the arms of the red man. As it was, he had missed doing so, or at
least had missed discovery, by the narrowest margin conceivable.
With the coolness and cleverness of a veteran the lad moved back among
the denser gloom of the trees, where he was confident no one could see
him unless close enough to touch his person. Then he paused and watched
proceedings. Hardly had the sun sunk below the horizon when the round
full moon gave out its light, flooding wood and stream with radiance. It
was the moonlight that revealed the sinewy figure to the watcher in the
darkness.
Larry could not but admire the surefootedness of the red man, who never
stepped off the trunk until standing over solid earth. Then he turned
about and faced the side from which he had come. He was so close to the
edge of the gorge that he was still revealed in the moonlight.
The temptation was strong to give him a quick shove into the water,
leaving him to get out the best way he could; but before the youth could
act upon his mischievous suggestion a second Indian emerged from the
gloom and carefully crossed the primitive bridge used by his
predecessor.
"What does all this mean?" Larry asked himself. "Is the whole party
coming over one by one? It may be that they will bring Whart with them.
Halloo!"
A third Shawanoe crossed, but no more. The three stood for several
minutes so close to the youth that but for the noise of the torrent he
would have been sure of betrayal through the throbbing of his heart.
There was a moment when he believed they had seen him from the first,
and intended to turn like lightning upon him. In case they did so he
meant to make a rush, with the hope of forcing them into the river.
The red men remained but a few minutes, however, when they disappeared
as silently as phantoms. Whither they had gone, or what their business
was and why three of them had come from the other side, were questions
beyond the solution of the puzzled lad, who was certain that he had
never stumbled into such a mixed condition of affairs.
He waited a long time, fearful of venturing to walk over the trunk, lest
he might meet others. When that did not take place, the likelihood of
there being more of the Shawanoes in the vicinity, who would be quick to
detect his approach, was not lessened.
It looked to Larry as though the three had come over to look for him,
though why they should expect to find him in the darkness was hard to
understand. If the sun were in the sky there would be ground for their
hope of outwitting him. The fact remained that, so far as he knew, young
Edwards was still on the other side of the torrent, and his friend could
not hope to do him any service so long as they were thus separated.
"I must git across and put mesilf in such a position that he can lean on
me, but I'm thinking it won't be the best thing to try it at this place,
where so many may observe me."
It was only ordinary prudence that led Larry Murphy to make this
decision. Brave as he was, and often so to the verge of recklessness, he
was not the sort of person to run into danger unnecessarily. While it
was not to be expected that he would find any more bridges to use in
crossing the stream, there was reason to look for such a narrowing of
the banks that he could make the leap, and he set out once more to find
the spot.
To his disappointment the ground over which he was obliged to make his
way changed for the worse. It became so broken that it was impossible in
some places to progress without making detours that led him a
considerable distance from the stream. As there was no saying whether or
not these diversions were not at the very places where the water could
be leaped, he was in anything but an agreeable frame of mind. This was
not decreased when he suddenly tumbled down a cavity deep enough to
bruise him severely.
His efforts to save himself where his eyes gave no help probably made
the mistake worse.
"I'm thankful that I'm alive," was his honest thought when able to pull
himself together. "I've had the best luck--whisht!"
At that moment he became aware that he was not alone.