A NIGHT OF STRANGE HAPPENINGS.
Winn's preparations for the night were of the simplest description,
because he had so little to prepare. The boy tried to console himself
with this thought. "If I had provisions I should have to cook," he
said to himself; "and if there is one thing in this world meaner than
another it is cooking. I never realized before what mother has to go
through with every day. Never complains of it, either. She's a
regular angel, though, and things always seem to go right with her.
Now with boys it's just the other way. See what a fix I've got into
all on account of being a boy, and trying to do things. Seems to me
that Gilder must have been a pretty patient sort of a boy to learn to
cook the way he does. I wonder if he ever gets into scrapes? He'd be
in one if he was in my place now, and I wish I knew how he'd get out of
it."
While thus thinking Winn was by no means idle. He cut a number of
bushes and leaned them against the ridge-pole of the "traders'" tent,
the frame of which they had left standing. This shelter was so
arranged as to form a wind-break on the north side of the fire, the
grateful warmth being thus reflected from its inner surface. An armful
of twigs and another of dry grass formed the boy's bed, and a drink of
river-water his supper. He had thought of passing the night in the
log-hut; but as darkness came on he could not bear the thought of its
lonesomeness. It was bad enough to be alone on the river-bank, with a
broad expanse of star-dotted sky to look at; but that forlorn little
hut, shut in on all sides by the dark forest! Ugh! It made him shiver
to think of it. No; he was decidedly better off where he was, and even
if his father came along during the night, which Winn did not think
probable, he could not fail to see the notice posted beside the
signal-fire. It was important that he should remain near his new raft
too, so that at the first streak of daylight he could board it and be
off.
After a while the lonely lad fell into a sleep filled with troubled
dreams. An owl came and hooted above him; the night wind sighed
weirdly through the tall timber behind him; while queer gurglings,
mysterious splashings, and other strange sounds came from the
swift-flowing river close at hand. Although none of these sounds
wakened the boy, they tinged his dreams with their uncanniness.
For some hours he slept, and then woke with a start. He was sitting
bolt upright, and felt certain that something cold and wet had just
touched his face. He put a hand to his cheek. Yes, there was a wet
spot. What were those two bright points shining in the dim fireglow!
They looked like eyes. Winn sprang to his feet. At his movement the
glowing eyeballs vanished. Some animal uttered an indescribable sound,
something between a bark and a snarl, there was a rustling of dead
leaves, and then all was still.
While the boy stood trembling with the vague fear that always
accompanies a suspected but unknown danger, and staring blankly into
the darkness, there came to his ears from the forest depths a sound
that was almost as terrifying as the recent presence of the unknown
animal. It seemed a mingling of howls, cries, and groanings. It rose
and fell, now loud, and then almost inaudible; but it always came from
the direction of the deserted log-hut. At length it ceased, and now
Winn noticed for the first time that a faint light was beginning to
tinge the eastern sky above the tree-tops.
"Daylight is coming," thought the boy, "and it is high time for me to
be off." He was glad of an excuse for leaving a place that had all at
once become filled with such unexplained terrors. Feeling his way
cautiously to the river-bank, he reached the little raft without
mishap. It took him some time to get it clear of the boom; but at
length he succeeded, and with a very decided feeling of relief he
pushed off into the current, and proceeded on his journey.
Winn's spirits rose as his clumsy craft moved out from the heavy
shadows of the island, and he began to whistle to convince himself that
he had not been afraid of anything after all. Suddenly he heard low
voices close beside him, a dark object dashed up to his raft, and a
dazzling light was flashed full in his face. The next instant two men
sprang to his side, threw him down, searched him for arms, secured his
knife, which was the only thing resembling a weapon that he possessed,
and forced him into a large skiff containing several other men.
"Close the lantern," ordered one of these in a low but stern voice,
"and pull for that fire on shore. No doubt we'll bag some more of them
there." Then to Winn the man said, "So you thought you could give us
the slip, did you, young fellow? Well, you found us up too early,
didn't you? Now the best thing you can do is to afford us all possible
aid in capturing the rest of your gang. It'll count big in your favor
with the Judge, I can tell you. How many are there on the island?"
"I don't know what you mean--" began Winn, indignantly; but a heavy
hand was instantly clapped over his mouth.
"Shut up!" whispered the man, hoarsely, but with terrible distinctness.
"If you speak another loud word I'll brain you. You'll find out what I
mean when we've landed you safely in Dubuque jail. Now answer me in a
whisper. How many of your pals are on the island?"
"I haven't any pals," replied Winn, putting as much force into his
whisper as he dared, "and there isn't any one on the island. This is
an outrage, and--"
"That will do," answered the man, sternly. "If that's the tone you are
going to take, we don't want to hear any more of it."
Just then the bow of the skiff was run on the bank, and the man,
grasping Winn's arm, stepped ashore, saying, "Now make yourself useful,
young fellow, and lead us to your mint or den or whatever you call it.
If you don't want to I'll find a way to compel you, and if you try any
low-down tricks, I'll make you wish you'd never been born."
"Do you mean the log-hut?" asked Winn.
"Yes, if that's what you call it; but you want to get a move onto you
in a hurry."
Bewildered and indignant as he was, Winn was yet cool enough to realize
the folly of resistance. He also reflected that when these men found
the hut deserted, and that there was no one besides themselves on the
island, they would be willing to listen to his story. At any rate, so
long as he was in their power it was best to do as they directed. So,
with the leader's hand still grasping his arm, the boy led the way into
the narrow trail that he had already traversed so often.
Proceeding slowly, and with such extreme caution that not a sound
betrayed their presence, the men followed in single file. At the edge
of the little clearing Winn halted, and was about to speak, when a hand
was again clapped over his mouth with the force of a blow.
"Whisper!" came the order.
"Well there's your hut," whispered the boy, as soon as he was given the
chance, "and if you find any one in it, then I'm a liar, that's all."
The hut was plainly visible by the firelight that streamed from its
open window. Winn wondered at the brightness of this light, for it
seemed as though the fire he had left there the evening before ought to
have burned out long ago. He also wondered that he did not remember
having closed the door. As no light came from its direction, it
certainly appeared to be closed now. As these thoughts flashed through
the boy's mind, the man who held him, and who was evidently the leader
of the party, whispered,
"You say there isn't anybody in there, but it looks to me as if there
was. Anyhow, we'll find out in another minute, and if you've led us
into a trap or played us false, I'll see that you swing for it, or my
name's not Riley. Bill, you stay here and see that this chap doesn't
put up any game on us while we surround that den of thieves. Have your
guns ready for use, men."
Although all this was spoken in a whisper, inaudible beyond its
immediate group of hearers, there was no mistaking the man's stern
meaning, and Winn experienced an uneasy dread such as he had not
heretofore felt throughout this strange adventure.
Suppose there should be some one in the hut? Suppose the
"river-traders" had returned to the island and should resent this
intrusion even to the point of resisting it? In such a case what would
happen to him? If his captors were triumphant they would declare he
had led them into a trap, for doing which they had promised to hang
him. If, on the other hand, the "river-traders" had returned and
should make a successful fight, would not their wrath also be directed
towards him for leading their assailants to the hut? In either case,
it seemed to the bewildered boy that his position was decidedly
unpleasant, and he awaited the immediate developments of the situation
with no little anxiety.
Those who had followed him had disappeared like shadows, and Winn could
not detect a sound save the suppressed breathing of the man who had
been detailed to guard him, and who now held his arm.
Suddenly a dog's bark broke the stillness, and a loud challenge,
followed by a pistol shot, rang out through the night air. There was a
confused trampling; the forest echoed with a roar of guns; the door of
the hut was burst open, and a furious rush was made for the interior.
In his excitement Winn's guard loosed his hold of the boy's arm and
took a step forward, the better to distinguish what was going on.
Winn was free, and acting upon the impulse of the moment, he slipped
behind a great tree-trunk, stole noiselessly a few paces farther, and
then dashed away with the speed of a deer back over the trail leading
to the river. He did not pause when he reached the camp in which he
had passed the night so unhappily, but bounded down the bank to the
water's edge. Here he cast loose the painter of the skiff that had
brought Mr. Riley and his men to the island, and, with a mighty shove
towards the channel, gave a spring that landed him at full length in
its bottom. Here he lay breathless and almost motionless for the next
thirty minutes, or until his craft had drifted below the tail of the
island, and was spinning down the main channel of the great river.