PIERRE AND HIS BAND.
"Halt, I say!" repeated Pierre, riding up beside Frank, and seizing his
horse by the bridle. "Disarm them, men, and shoot down the first one
that resists," he added, as the band closed up around the boys.
Frank, seeing, at a glance, that it was useless to think of escape, sat
quietly in his saddle, and allowed Pierre to take possession of his
rifle, pistols, and lasso.
Johnny and Archie also surrendered at discretion; but Arthur, believing
that the time had come to retrieve the reputation he had lost so
ingloriously a few days before, determined that he would not surrender
without a fight. It was a part of his contract with the robber chief,
that he should be allowed to resist as desperately as he pleased, and he
took advantage of it. He gazed at the Rancheros for a moment with
well-assumed astonishment, and then, appearing to comprehend the
situation, he shouted:
"Stick together, fellows, and fight for your liberties! Don't give up,
like a pack of cowards! Knock 'em down! Shoot 'em! Take your hand off
that bridle, you villain!"
As Arthur spoke, he dashed his spurs into the flanks of his horse, which
bounded forward so suddenly, that he jerked the bridle from the grasp of
the Ranchero who was holding him.
"Hurrah! I'm free, boys!" he shouted, clubbing his gun, and swinging it
around his head. "Follow me, and I'll show you how we used to clean out
the Indians."
Arthur's triumph was of short duration. The Ranchero, from whom he had
escaped, was at his side in an instant, and, again seizing his bridle
with one hand, he leveled a pistol full at his prisoner's head with the
other, while Pierre caught his gun from behind, and wrested it from his
grasp. At the same moment, a lasso, thrown by the Ranchero who had taken
charge of Archie, settled down over his shoulders, and was drawn tight.
Pierre and his band were obeying their instructions to the very letter,
indeed, they were altogether too zealous in their efforts to appear
"natural," and Arthur began to be suspicious that they were in sober
earnest with him, as well as with the others. He looked up into Pierre's
face, in the hope of receiving from him some friendly token--a sly wink
or a nod, which would satisfy him that he was "all right," and in no
danger of receiving bodily injury; but he saw nothing of the kind. The
chieftain's face wore a terrible scowl, and he even lifted Arthur's gun
above his head, as if he had half a mind to knock him out of his saddle.
"Quarter! quarter!" gasped Arthur, striving, with nervous fingers, to
pull the lasso from his neck, and beginning to be thoroughly alarmed. "I
surrender."
"Well, let that be your last attempt at escape," said Pierre, in a very
savage tone of voice, "or you will find, to your cost, that we are not
to be trifled with."
In the meantime, the other Rancheros, while holding fast to their
prisoners, had relieved them of their weapons; and, as soon as Pierre
had seen Arthur conquered, he seized the bridle of the pack-horse,
while each of the other members of the band took charge of one of the
boys, and the cavalcade started down the ravine at a rapid gallop.
All this happened in much less time than we have taken to describe it.
Before the young hunters had fairly recovered from the astonishment
caused by the sudden appearance of Pierre and his band, they had been
disarmed, and were being led captive into the mountains.
Frank and his two friends were more bewildered than alarmed. The whole
thing was so unexpected, and had been accomplished so quickly and
quietly! Remembering the particulars of Frank's previous encounter with
Pierre Costello, they did not stand in fear of bodily harm. Although
they had not the slightest suspicion that their capture was the result
of treachery on the part of Arthur Vane, they well understood the
motives of the robbers, and knew, as well as if Pierre had explained the
matter to them, that they were to be used as a means to extort money
from their relatives, and that they had nothing to fear, so long as
they submitted quietly to their enemies. But this was something that one
of the three boys, at least, had no intention of doing. Frank's brain
was already busy with plans for escape. He had twice beaten Pierre at
his own game, and, if the robber did not keep his wits about him, he
would do it again. As for Arthur, although his plans were, thus far, as
successful as he could have desired, he was very much disappointed. The
three boys, who had dared to hold him up to the people of the settlement
in his true character, were prisoners, and he had Pierre's assurance
that they would remain such until the demands he intended to make upon
their relatives should be complied with. But, after all, Arthur did not
experience the satisfaction he had hoped he would, for the robbers had
treated him very roughly. The chief had raised his own gun over his
head; another had choked him with his lasso, and a third had pointed a
loaded pistol at him. That was a nice way to treat a visitor! Arthur
began to wish that he had never had any thing to do with Pierre and his
band.
The chief, who rode in advance with the pack-horse, led the way at a
break-neck pace, and the boys, being one behind the other, each in
company with the Ranchero who had him in charge, were allowed no
opportunity to converse with one another, even had they desired it.
Frank, for want of something better to do, began to make an examination
of the members of the band. Like their leader, they were full-blooded
Mexicans, with enormous mustaches, and long, tangled hair, which looked
as though it had never seen a comb. They were dressed in gay-colored
clothes--blue jackets, buckskin pants, very wide at the knee, and
covered with buttons, ribbons, and gold lace. They wore long sashes
around their waists, which were thrust full of bowie-knives and
revolvers. They carried short, heavy rifles, slung over their shoulders
by leather bands, and behind their saddles were their ponchos, which did
duty both as overcoats and beds. Taken altogether, they were a
hard-looking set, and seemed capable of any atrocity. The man who had
charge of Frank was particularly noticeable in this respect, and our
hero thought that all he needed were the leggins, and high-pointed hat,
to make him a first-class brigand. This man kept a sharp eye upon his
prisoner, and scowled at him, as if he regarded him as his most
implacable foe.
"You needn't look so mad," said Frank, at length. "I don't remember that
I ever did you any harm, and I certainly am not foolish enough to try to
escape, as long as you keep hold of my bridle."
"You had better not," said the Ranchero, smiling grimly, and shaking his
head in a very threatening manner.
"I don't know that you can frighten me," returned Frank, coolly. "I wish
I was a man for about five minutes."
"What would you do?" asked the Ranchero, who seemed to be pleased, as
well as astonished, at the boy's courage and independence.
"I'd make your head and your heels change places in a great hurry. In
other words, I'd knock you out of your saddle. Then I'd say: 'Good-by,
Mr.--Mr.'--what's your name?"
"Mercedes--Antoine Mercedes."
"Well, Mr. Mercedes, I'll never forget that benevolent-looking face of
yours. As I was saying, I would bid you good-by, and leave. I'd pass
those fellows," he added, jerking his thumb over his shoulder toward the
robbers in the rear, "before they could say 'General Jackson' with their
mouth's open. You haven't got a horse, in this party, that can catch
Roderick."
The Ranchero smiled again, and tapped the butt of one of his revolvers
with his finger.
"Oh, you wouldn't have a chance to fire a pistol at me," said Frank,
quickly. "By the time you could get on your feet again, after I had
knocked you down, I would be a mile from here. Did Pierre ever tell you
how nicely I fooled him?" he continued, noticing that the chief was
turned half around in his saddle, listening to what he had to say. "Well
I am not surprised that he never mentioned it, for he ought to feel
ashamed of himself."
"Ay; but I have got you fast this time," said Pierre, with a laugh. "Let
us see how nicely you will fool me now. One at a time here, men," he
added, in a louder tone, "and keep close watch of those prisoners."
As Pierre spoke, the cavalcade emerged from the woods, and Frank found
himself on the brink of a rocky chasm, which stretched away to the
right as far as his eye could reach, and seemed to extend down into the
very bowels of the earth. It was so deep that his head grew dizzy, as he
looked into it. On his left, and directly in front of him, was a
precipitous mountain, the top of which hung threateningly over the gorge
below. It seemed to Frank that they could go no farther in this
direction, until Pierre urged his horse upon a narrow ledge that ran
around the base of the cliff. Antoine followed after the pack-horse, and
Frank came next. Roderick pricked up his ears, looked over into the
gorge, and snorted loudly. He moved very slowly and carefully, and well
he might: for a single misstep on his part would have sent both him and
his rider to destruction. The path was so narrow that, although Roderick
walked on the extreme outer edge, Frank's feet now and then brushed
against the rock on the opposite side. Our hero felt his sombrero rise
on his head, whenever he looked into the chasm, or allowed himself to
reflect how slight an accident might launch him into eternity. But there
was no backing out. Once on that ledge, a person must go forward; for
there was no room to turn around.
After Frank came another of the band, and Johnny followed at his heels.
Archie and his keeper came next, and Arthur and _his_ keeper brought up
the rear. They all rode fearlessly upon the ledge, until it came
Arthur's turn, and then was heard a cry of remonstrance. The young
gentleman, who had been brave enough to fill the perilous office of
scout among the Indians of the plains, did not possess the courage
necessary to carry him through this ordeal. He turned as pale as death,
and stopped his horse.
"Go on," sternly commanded his keeper.
"Oh, it's dangerous," returned Arthur, in pitiful tones. "What if my
horse should slip off? That gully must be a thousand feet deep!"
"More than that," said Archie, who, although very far from being pleased
at his own situation, could not resist the inclination to torment
Arthur. "It reaches clear through to India, where you used to hunt polar
bears."
"That's so," said Johnny; "for just now, as I looked over into the
gorge, I saw a lot of half naked Hindoos tumbling about among the
icebergs."
"And I heard them yelling," chimed in Frank; "and saw one of those big
white bears after them."
"Go on!" repeated the Ranchero, impatiently.
"O, now, see here!" exclaimed Arthur, in a trembling voice, trying to
turn his horse's head away from the pass, "I believe, I'll"--
He was about to say, that he believed he would not go any further, but
that he would return home and leave Pierre and his band to take care of
his three enemies; but his keeper did not give him time to finish the
sentence. Seeing that Arthur had no intention of following the rest of
the party, the robber took his lasso from the pommel of his saddle, and
with it struck his prisoner's horse a blow that caused the fiery animal
to give one tremendous spring, which brought him to the very brink of
the precipice. In his efforts to stop himself, a portion of the earth
was detached by his hoofs and fell with a loud noise into the abyss,
bounding down its rocky sides, and crashing through bushes and branches
of trees in its rapid descent to the bottom. The horse, frightened by
the sound, and smarting under the blow of the lasso, reared so straight
upon his hind legs that he seemed in imminent danger of toppling over
into the chasm; and then, for the first time in his life, Arthur found
himself in real peril. He screamed loudly, clung to the horn of his
saddle with a death grip, and closed his eyes, expecting every instant
to find himself whirling through the air toward the bottom of the gorge.
But help was near: the strong hand of his keeper grasped the bridle, and
brought the horse back upon firm ground.
"Now, then, go on!" commanded the Ranchero, without giving his prisoner
time to recover from his fright.
Arthur was powerless to obey, for so great was his terror that he could
not move a muscle; but his horse, being left to himself, stepped boldly
upon the ledge, and followed after the rest of the party, who had, by
this time, disappeared around the base of the mountain.