THROUGH THE FOREST.
Jack Carleton occasionally gave his eyes fitful rest by holding them
closed for a few moments, but the tantalizing visions did not leave him
even then. His arm became so painfully cramped under his head that he
was compelled to shift his position; and he seized the occasion to
readjust his limbs, which were also becoming wearied because of the long
time he had held them motionless. He was prudent enough, however, to
give the whole movement the seeming of a natural action done in sleep.
He flung himself about for a few seconds, and then rolled back almost in
the same posture, apparently resuming his heavy slumber.
But through the half closed eyelids, on which the dull glow of the
camp-fire fell, he was peering at the faint outlines of the figure
against the oak. He was sure Ogallah would start and rise to his feet,
ready to check any steps on the part of the captive looking toward
flight.
But not the slightest stir was made, and the astonished lad, with a
painful throb of his heart, said to himself:
"He is asleep! Now is my chance!"
It seemed to be too good to be true, and yet it certainly had that
appearance. For some time past, Jack had known from the regular
breathing of the figures near him that the couples wrapped up in their
blankets were unconscious. Certainly there could be no doubt about the
one who had been burned by the spark of fire, for he snored amain, like
the "seven sleepers."
It is at such times that one's senses are wonderfully acute, and Jack
Carleton not only saw but heard with unusual keenness. With his ear
close to, but not touching the ground, he distinctly caught a rippling
sound in the streamlet which flowed so near. The fact that he heard it
was proof that it was caused by some "foreign interference," since it
was entirely different from the slight rippling noise along the banks.
The first thought of Jack was that it was Deerfoot come to his rescue,
and he could not but think how completely he would be master of the
situation, should he suddenly rise to his feet in front of Ogallah and
give him to understand he was not to move or speak; but a second thought
destroyed the hope. It was exceedingly improbable that the young
Shawanoe was within a score of miles, but while it was possible that he
might be hunting somewhere in the forest, it was incredible that he
would have betrayed his presence near camp in the manner named.
Jack had barely reached this correct conclusion, when, peering at the
figure of Ogallah, as it was faintly shown, he caught the gleam of the
eyes of a wild beast just beyond, and in a direct line with the chief.
The eyes were large, round and quite close together, with that
phosphorescent, flickering glow often shown by animals when the light is
faint.
"_That_ will settle the question whether Ogallah is asleep or not," said
the boy, watching with an intensity of interest which cannot be
described.
Whatever the nature of the animal, he was evidently on a reconnaissance,
and had no purpose of venturing closer until satisfied the path was
clear to do so. It must have been that he cared very little one way or
the other, for while the two orbs were glaring upon Jack, they vanished
with a suddenness that suggested that some one had seized his tail and
flung him back into the gloom from which he first emerged.
It was incredible, too, that the chief should have sat quiet and
motionless with a wild beast so near him, unless he was asleep, but the
possibility of being mistaken after all, kept Jack from stirring for
fully a half hour longer.
The time seemed much later than it really was, when the boy rose on his
elbow and hesitated, while he looked intently around and listened for
the slightest sound. He glanced right and left at the figures shrouded
in the blankets, but they might have been so many dead men. He could
barely discern their outlines in the gloom, for the fire was slowly, but
steadily, sinking. Several times he had asked himself whether it would
not be wise to wait until it died out altogether, but he was too
strongly convinced that the night was nearly gone, and he would need
every minute in which to widen the distance between him and his
pursuers.
"No," he murmured, "it won't do to wait another second."
He was on one knee, with his hand pressing the ground, when the largest
stick on the fire burned in two in the middle, and the larger portion
rolled back and in front of the chief. The disturbance caused it to
flare up for the moment with a glare which revealed the figure of
Ogallah more distinctly than at any time since he had taken his
position.
Jack Carleton paused in his painful movement and became like a figure
cut in marble, staring straight at the warrior brought into such
unexpected prominence. As he did so, he saw that Ogallah was not only
wide awake, but had turned his head, and was looking straight at him.
The cunning fellow had not slept a wink from the moment he took his
singular position. He had noted the wolf which ventured close enough to
take a peep into camp, but, well aware that there was no danger, and
convinced also that his captive was awaiting the chance to steal away,
he held himself as rigid as iron until such an attempt should be made.
Poor Jack almost fainted in a collapse of despair. He saw that his
captors had trifled with him from the beginning, and with a sigh of
utter wretchedness, he dropped back on the ground, feeling that it was
worse than useless for him to expect or hope to outwit those cunning
children of the forest.
Reaction followed, and the lad speedily sank into a deep slumber which
lasted until the sun had risen and the party had broken camp and were
ready to resume their journey. Even then it was necessary for Ogallah to
thrust his moccasin against him before he opened his eyes and stared
confusedly around. The sight of the warriors who stood ready to move,
recalled Jack to his hapless situation. He rubbed his eyes, and sprang
to his feet, and walking to the streamlet lay down, took a draught of
the cool, refreshing water in which he bathed his face, wiping it off
with his handkerchief, and then turned about to signify that he awaited
orders.
He wondered that no signs of breakfast were to be seen, and at first
suspected that his captors had partaken while he slept, but afterward
concluded that like all their people they were anything but regular in
their meals, especially when on the tramp.
Without any ceremony, the journey was taken up, Ogallah again walking at
the head, with the other four at the rear of the boy. They adopted their
favorite custom of walking in Indian file, each warrior stepping in the
tracks of the one in front. Jack was wise enough to adhere to the
practice, so that had any one sought to follow the party, he would have
noted but the single trail, though a skilled red or white man would have
been quick to discover the precise number of the company.
"We have traveled a good many miles since yesterday noon," thought Jack,
"and it must be that we are not far from the Indian village. If that is
so, it won't do for me to make any other attempt to run away. Ogallah
knows I am anxious to go, for he saw me try it twice, and he will take
good care that I don't try it again."
Still, while taking this sensible view of the matter, Jack Carleton
compressed his lips with the resolution that he would not throw away a
single chance. If it should prove that many miles still lay before them
and that several nights were to be spent on the road, he meant to do his
utmost to give his captors the slip.
The journey assumed the most monotonous character. It was simply tramp,
tramp, without the least rest or variation. Jack was sure he had never
seen such sameness in the forest, lasting mile after mile. There were
the towering trees, their leafy branches interlocked overhead, the same
array of shaggy columns of bark, spreading limbs and sparse undergrowth.
Sometimes Ogallah would step so rapidly that a branch which he brushed
from his path would swing back and switch the lad in the face, and once
or twice a running vine would be uprooted by a vigorous fling or kick of
the foot.
But all this time the squat figure of the chief advanced like a machine.
Jack noticed the swing of the muscular arms, the play of the legs and
the occasional slight turning or ducking of the head. The straggling
black hair, with the painted eagle feathers drooping like the plume of a
lady's hat, the blanket slung loosely over the shoulders, the fringed
hunting shirt and leggings, the faded moccasins, so soft that they
spread out of all manner of shape when the weight of the body rested on
them:--all these and much more were impressed upon the mind of the boy
with a distinctness that he was certain would last him all through life.
"My gracious!" thought he, "they have come from a long distance; what
could have taken them down near Martinsville and so near the
Mississippi? I wonder whether it is possible the tribes who live on this
side the river ever cross over to look at the country on the other
shore. It would not be strange if they did so, but it don't seem like an
Indian to do that sort of thing. Can it be these warriors have their
hunting grounds away out toward the Rocky Mountains? If so, I shall have
a fine time in finding my way back home."
The youth did not allow himself to consider the possibility that he
would never have the chance to attempt the journey. The shuddering fear
which first took hold of him was gone. Closely as the captors guarded
him, he was persuaded they meant to inflict no personal harm--at least
while on their way through the woods.
It was a serious question indeed as to what would be his treatment after
reaching the Indian settlement. The American race is cruel, treacherous,
and revengeful, and though the red men frequently hold prisoners for
months and years, they more frequently subject them to torture and
death. It will be understood, therefore, why Jack Carleton was so
anxious to make his escape from the party before they could arrive home.
Present discomforts often drive away future horrors, and, by the time
the sun was overhead, Jack gave his principal thought to one thing--the
question of food. He was a-hungered, and viewed with a mental groan the
prospect of keeping on the march until sunset, before securing anything
to eat.
"I have gone a full day many a time without food," he said, as he
tramped along, "but it seems to me I never was as ravenous as now. I
believe I could eat a pair of boiled moccasins, that is, if they had
never been in use."
He was ashamed of his weakness, and resolutely refrained from giving any
evidence of his suffering, but when he detected the pale green foliage
of the fragrant birch, he ventured to step out of the trail, break off a
branch and chew the bark, thus securing temporary relief from the
gnawing discomfort.
High noon came, but no halt had been made. The lad had left the trail
several times, and the warriors themselves were more careless about
their own footsteps, but seemed to have no desire to partake of food.
The first shock of surprise came when the party suddenly emerged from
the woods and paused on the bank of a deep, swift stream, fully a
hundred yards wide. The current, like the smaller one, was yellow and
roiled, and the boy looked upon it with a feeling akin to dismay.
Recalling the indignity to which he had been subjected earlier in the
day, he dreaded trusting himself in the water again.
"_This_ time they may take it into their heads to drown me," was his
thought.
But his nerves were not subjected to the trial. Nothing showed more
clearly the wonderful woodcraft of the Indians than the fact that, after
journeying many long leagues through the wilderness, without the
slightest trail to guide them, they struck the stream within a hundred
yards of the point at which they aimed from the first.
This was proven by the action of the warriors themselves. After talking
together for a few minutes, two of them walked a short distance up the
bank and drew a large canoe from under the shore, where they had left it
when journeying in the other direction.