REVERSING POSITIONS.
Pausing on the edge of the natural clearing which had been the scene of
the terrific race between himself and Blazing Arrow, Wharton looked
back, and in the gathering darkness saw a flickering figure on the
farther side, where the trail re-entered the wood, and he knew it was
that of the champion runner of his tribe, whom he had not only defeated
in the contest of fleetness, but in the singular battle of wits which
followed.
"I'd wager a good deal, if I had a chance," muttered the lad, "that he
feels just a little impatient with himself. I am quite sure that matters
haven't gone to suit him."
It was in the power of the youth to turn the tables still more
completely on the dusky miscreant. He had but to wait where he was until
he was within easy range, and then shoot him down. It need not be said,
however, after what had taken place a short time before, that this was a
crime which nothing could have induced young Edwards to commit, even
though he knew the Shawanoe was as eager as a tiger to secure his life.
"We're likely to come together again before this business is over," he
reflected, "where I won't feel so much like letting you alone as I do
now."
There was one uncomfortable proceeding which he did not mean to undergo;
that was to have Blazing Arrow dogging at his heels like a sneaking wolf
awaiting the chance to pounce upon him unawares. It is hard to imagine a
more trying situation than that of knowing an enemy is stealing behind
you in the darkness, on the alert to dart forward when your vigilance is
relaxed, and make his attack with the deadly quickness of the
rattlesnake.
Walking but a short way, Wharton stepped aside from the trail and stood
motionless among the trees, where an owl would not have noticed him in
flying along the path. He was not kept waiting many minutes. A soft
tap-tap sounded on the ground as Blazing Arrow, in a loping trot, left
the clearing and plunged into the wood, and then a faint, shadowy figure
was dimly seen moving between the trees.
Directly opposite Wharton it came to a halt. Because of the obscurity he
could not be seen except in motion, but the watcher knew what that
meant. He was listening. He could not be assured what the youth in front
was doing, and since his experience with him, the redskin understood
that he had a young man above the ordinary as his antagonist.
A minute later Wharton saw something flicker in the gloom. The Shawanoe
had started on again. This time he did not trot, for the protruding
limbs interfered and would have made too much rustling. He walked
rapidly enough, however, to overtake any one going at the usual rate.
Waiting until he believed he was at a safe distance in advance, the lad
stepped back upon the trail and continued his journey toward the war
party, where he hoped to be of service to his friend.
Since the white and red men had exchanged situations, Wharton had now to
guard against running into the one in advance. If the Shawanoe should
learn what had been done he would be sure to try some trick on the
youth. By crouching along the path he could leap upon him as he passed
and bear him helplessly to the ground.
It need not be said that young Edwards was on the alert. He could not
have been more so, frequently pausing to listen, or to use his eyes, so
far as possible, in the darkness.
Unable to hear anything through the air, he knelt down and pressed his
ear to the ground. That served him no better, and he slowed his
progress, and stopped more frequently.
"I wonder whether he has any suspicion that I am behind him?" was his
thought. "It may be," he added grimly, "that he is thinking what sort of
yarn to get up to explain why he hasn't brought me with him. If I am not
careful he may nab me after all. I'd like to know whether he still has
the headache, or whether he hasn't set me down as a fool for letting him
off when I had the chance to finish him."
If it should so prove that Blazing Arrow was not aware that, instead of
following the white youth, the reverse was the case, the space between
them was certainly increasing, for one was going slow and the other
fast.
When the distance passed became considerable, Wharton began to feel
hope. They were close to where he had already undergone several stirring
adventures, and he was almost certain the savage runner knew nothing of
his whereabouts. Finally he turned off from the trail almost at the
point where he had started to run away from Blazing Arrow and his
companions.
Attentively listening and watching, he heard nothing, and then began a
guarded examination of the immediate neighborhood. It was there the
Shawanoes had crouched when he bounded across the gorge in quest of his
rifle, but it was not to be expected that they had remained there ever
since. The examination convinced him that all had moved somewhere else.
Wharton's concern being now for Larry Murphy, he did some close
reasoning.
"I know he will, risk his life to help me, whom he naturally thinks is
in a bad way, but how is he going to do it, or how has he got across to
this side of the torrent? He can't make the leap that I did, and I am
quite sure he wouldn't try to swim, because that would compel him to go
below the falls. The chances are that he is on the other side."
This conclusion, it will be perceived, was correct; but had the reasoner
known of that fallen tree spanning the gorge, it is likely his decision
would have been different.
Before repeating the leap he had already made, Wharton spent more time
in what may be called reconnoitering.
It was altogether beyond reason that the Shawanoes should be looking for
any such performance, and with little hesitation, therefore, he walked
out from the shadow, ran across the moonlit space of rocks, and, with
the same ease and grace as before, placed himself on the other bank. He
quickly scurried to cover, and then awaited the result.
It was nothing, so far as he could tell. Still at a loss which way to
turn or what to do, but hoping that Larry might be somewhere within
reach, he made the signal which has been described elsewhere.
"If he hears that he will know what it means. By gracious, he has heard
it!"
From a point close at hand, and directly behind him, came the response,
although, as the reader well knows, it was not the lips of Larry Murphy
that made it.