MYSTERIOUS SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS
As the Indian youth sped over the trail in the direction of the
rifle-shots he flung his usual caution to the winds. His blood thrilled
with the knowledge that there was not a moment to lose--that even now,
in all probability, he would be too late to assist his friends. This
fear was emphasized by the absolute silence which followed the five
shots. Eagerly, almost prayerfully, he listened as he ran for other
sounds of battle--for the report of Mukoki's revolver, or the whoops of
the victors. If there had been an ambush it was all over now. Each
moment added to his conviction, and as he thrust the muzzle of his gun
ahead of him, his finger hovering near the trigger and his snow-blinded
eyes staring ahead into the storm, something like a sob escaped his
lips.
Ahead of him the stream narrowed until it almost buried itself under a
mass of towering cedars. The closeness of the forest walls now added to
the general gloom, intensified by the first gray pallor of the Northern
dusk, which begins to fall in these regions early in the afternoon of
November days. For a moment, just before plunging into the gloomy trail
between the cedars, Wabi stopped and listened. He heard nothing but the
beating of his own heart, which worked like a trip-hammer within his
breast. The stillness was oppressive. And the longer he listened the
more some invisible power seemed to hold him back. It was not fear, it
was not lack of courage, but--
What was there just beyond those cedars, lurking cautiously in the snow
gloom?
With instinct that was almost animal in its unreasonableness Wabi sank
upon his knees. He had seen nothing, he had heard nothing; but he
crouched close, until he was no larger than a waiting wolf, and there
was a deadly earnestness in the manner in which he turned his rifle into
the deeper gloom of those close-knit walls of forest. Something was
approaching, cautiously, stealthily, and with extreme slowness. The
Indian boy felt that this was so, and yet if his life had depended upon
it he could not have told why. He huddled himself lower in the snow. His
eyes gleamed with excitement. Minute after minute passed, and still
there came no sound. Then, from far up that dusky avenue of cedars,
there came the sudden startled chatter of a moose-bird. It was a warning
which years of experience had taught Wabi always to respect. Perhaps a
roving fox had frightened it, perhaps the bird had taken to noisy flight
at the near tread of a moose, a caribou, or a deer. But--
To Wabi the soft, quick notes of the moose-bird spelled man! In an
instant he was upon his feet, darting quickly into the sheltering cedars
of the shore. Through these he now made his way with extreme caution,
keeping close to the bank of the frozen stream. After a little he paused
again and concealed himself behind the end of a fallen log. Ahead of him
he could look into the snow gloom between the cedars, and whatever was
coming through that gloom would have to pass within a dozen yards of
him. Each moment added to his excitement. He heard the chatter of a red
squirrel, much nearer than the moose-bird. Once he fancied that he heard
the striking of two objects, as though a rifle barrel had accidentally
come into contact with the dead limb of a tree.
Suddenly the Indian youth imagined that he saw something--an indistinct
shadow that came in the snow gloom, then disappeared, and came again. He
brushed the water and snow from his eyes with one of his mittened hands
and stared hard and steadily. Once more the shadow disappeared, then
came again, larger and more distinct than before. There was no doubt
now. Whatever had startled the moose-bird was coming slowly,
noiselessly.
Wabi brought his rifle to his shoulder. Life and death hovered with his
anxious, naked finger over the gun trigger. But he was too well trained
in the ways of the wilderness to fire just yet. Yard by yard the shadow
approached, and divided itself into two shadows. Wabi could now see that
they were men. They were advancing in a cautious, crouching attitude, as
though they expected to meet enemies somewhere ahead of them. Wabi's
heart thumped with joy. There could be no surer sign that Mukoki and Rod
were still among the living, for why should the Woongas employ this
caution if they had already successfully ambushed the hunters? With the
chill of a cold hand at his throat the answer flashed into Wabigoon's
brain. His friends had been ambushed, and these two Woongas were
stealing back over the trail to slay him!
Very slowly, very gently, the young Indian's finger pressed against the
trigger of his rifle. A dozen feet more, and then--
The shadows had stopped, and now drew together as if in consultation.
They were not more than twenty yards away, and for a moment Wabi lowered
his rifle and listened hard. He could hear the low unintelligible
mutterings of their conversation. Then there came to him a single
incautious reply from one of the shadows.
"All right!"
Surely that was not the English of a Woonga! It sounded like--
In a flash Wabi had called softly.
"Ho, Muky--Muky--Rod!"
In another moment the three wolf hunters were together, silently
wringing one another's hands, the death-like pallor of Rod's face and
the tense lines in the bronzed countenances of Mukoki and Wabigoon
plainly showing the tremendous strain they had been under.
"You shoot?" whispered Mukoki.
"No!" replied Wabi, his eyes widening in surprise. "Didn't _you_ shoot?"
"No!"
Only the one word fell from the old Indian, but it was filled with a new
warning. Who had fired the five shots? The hunters gazed blankly at one
another, mute questioning in their eyes. Without speaking, Mukoki
pointed suggestively to the clearer channel of the river beyond the
cedars. Evidently he thought the shots had come from there. Wabi shook
his head.
"There was no trail," he whispered. "Nobody has crossed the river."
"I thought they were there!" breathed Rod. He pointed into the forest.
"But Mukoki said no."
For a long time the three stood and listened. Half a mile back in the
forest they heard the howl of a single wolf, and Wabi flashed a curious
glance into the eyes of the old Indian.
"That's a man's cry," he whispered. "The wolf has struck a human trail.
It isn't mine!"
"Nor ours," replied Rod.
This one long howl of the wolf was the only sound that broke the
stillness of approaching night. Mukoki turned, and the others followed
in his trail. A quarter of a mile farther on the stream became still
narrower and plunged between great masses of rock which rose into wild
and precipitous hills that were almost mountains a little way back. No
longer could the hunters now follow the channel of the rushing torrent.
Through a break in a gigantic wall of rock and huge boulders led the
trail of Rod and Mukoki. Ten minutes more and the three had clambered to
the top of the ridge where, in the lee of a great rock, the remains of a
fire were still burning. Here the old Indian and his companion had
struck camp and were waiting for Wabigoon when they heard the shots
which they, too, believed were those of an ambush.
A comfortable shelter of balsam had already been erected against the
rock, and close beside the fire, where Mukoki had dropped it at the
sound of the shots, was a large piece of spitted venison. The situation
was ideal for a camp and after the hard day's tramp through the snow the
young wolf hunters regarded it with expressions of pleasure, in spite of
the enemies whom they knew might be lurking near them. Both Wabi and Rod
had accepted the place as their night's home, and were stirring up the
fire, when their attention was drawn to the singular attitude of Mukoki.
The old warrior stood leaning on his rifle, speechless and motionless,
his eyes regarding the process of rekindling the fire with mute
disapprobation. Wabi, poised on one knee, looked at him questioningly.
"No make more fire," said the old Indian, shaking his head. "No dare
stay here. Go on--beyond mountain!"
Mukoki straightened himself and stretched a long arm toward the north.
"River go like much devil 'long edge of mountain," he continued. "Make
heap noise through rock, then make swamp thick for cow moose--then run
through mountain and make wide, smooth river once more. We go over
mountain. Snow all night. Morning come--no trail for Woonga. We stay
here--make big trail in morning. Woonga follow like devil, ver' plain to
see!"
Wabi rose to his feet, his face showing the keenness of his
disappointment. Since early morning he had been traveling, even running
at times, and he was tired enough to risk willingly a few dangers for
the sake of sleep and supper. Rod was in even worse condition, though
his trail had been much shorter. For a few moments the two boys looked
at each other in silence, neither attempting to conceal the lack of
favor with which Mukoki's suggestion was received. But Wabi was too wise
openly to oppose the old pathfinder. If Mukoki said that it was
dangerous for them to remain where they were during the night--well, it
was dangerous, and it would be foolish of him to dispute it. He knew
Mukoki to be the greatest hunter of his tribe, a human bloodhound on the
trail, and what he said was law. So with a cheerful grin at Rod, who
needed all the encouragement that could be given to him, Wabi began the
readjustment of the pack which he had flung from his shoulders a few
minutes before.
"Mountain not ver' far. Two--t'ree mile, then camp," encouraged Mukoki.
"Walk slow--have big supper."
Only a few articles had been taken from the toboggan-sled on which the
hunters were dragging the greater part of their equipment into the
wilderness, and Mukoki soon had these packed again. The three
adventurers now took up the new trail along the top of one of those wild
and picturesque ridges which both the Indians and white hunters of this
great Northland call mountains. Wabigoon led, weighted under his pack,
selecting the clearest road for the toboggan and clipping down
obstructing saplings with his keen-edged belt-ax. A dozen feet behind
him followed Mukoki, dragging the sled; and behind the sled, securely
tied with a thong of babeesh, or moose-skin rope, slunk the wolf. Rod,
less experienced in making a trail and burdened with a lighter pack,
formed the rear of the little cavalcade.
Darkness was now falling rapidly. Though Wabigoon was not more than a
dozen yards ahead, Rod could only now and then catch a fleeting vision
of him through the gloom. Mukoki, doubled over in his harness, was
hardly more than a blotch in the early night. Only the wolf was near
enough to offer companionship to the tired and down-spirited youth.
Rod's enthusiasm was not easily cooled, but just now he mentally wished
that, for this one night at least, he was back at the Post, with the
lovely little Minnetaki relating to him some legend of bird or beast
they had encountered that day. How much pleasanter that would be! The
vision of the bewitching little maiden was suddenly knocked out of his
head in a most unexpected and startling way. Mukoki had paused for a
moment and Rod, unconscious of the fact, continued on his journey until
he tumbled in a sprawling heap over the sled, knocking Mukoki's legs
completely from under him in his fall. When Wabi ran back he found Rod
flattened out, face downward, and Mukoki entangled in his site harness
on top of him.
In a way this accident was fortunate. Wabi, who possessed a Caucasian
sense of humor, shook with merriment as he gave his assistance, and Rod,
after he had dug the snow from his eyes and ears and had emptied a
handful of it from his neck, joined with him.
The ridge now became narrower as the trio advanced. On one side, far
down, could be heard the thunderous rush of the river, and from the
direction of the sound Rod knew they were near a precipice. Great beds
of boulders and broken rock, thrown there by some tumultuous upheaval of
past ages, now impeded their progress, and every step was taken with
extreme caution. The noise of the torrent became louder and louder as
they advanced and on one side of him Rod now thought that he could
distinguish a dim massive shadow towering above them, like the
precipitous side of a mountain. A few steps farther and Mukoki exchanged
places with Wabigoon.
"Muky has been here before," cried Wabi close up to Rod's ear. His voice
was almost drowned by the tumult below. "That's where the river rushes
through the mountain!"
Rod forgot his fatigue in the new excitement. Never in his wildest
dreams of adventure had he foreseen an hour like this. Each step seemed
to bring them nearer the edge of the vast chasm through which the river
plunged, and yet not a sign of it could he see. He strained his eyes and
ears, each moment expecting to hear the warning voice of the old
warrior. With a suddenness that chilled him he saw the great shadow
close in upon them from the opposite side, and for the first time he
realized their position. On their left was the precipice--on their right
the sheer wall of the mountain! How wide was the ledge along which they
were traveling? His foot struck a stick under the snow. Catching it up
he flung it out into space. For a single instant he paused to listen,
but there came no sound of the falling object. The precipice was very
near--a little chill ran up his spine. It was a sensation he had never
experienced in walking the streets of a city!
Though he could not see, he knew that the ledge was now leading them up.
He could hear Wabigoon straining ahead of the toboggan and he began to
assist by pushing on the rear of the loaded sled. For half an hour this
upward climb continued, until the sound of the river had entirely died
away. No longer was the mountain on the right. Five minutes later Mukoki
called a halt.
"On top mountain," he said briefly. "Camp here!"
Rod could not repress an exclamation of joy, and Wabigoon, as he threw
off his harness, gave a suppressed whoop. Mukoki, who seemed tireless,
began an immediate search for a site for their camp and after a short
breathing-spell Rod and Wabi joined him. The spot chosen was in the
shelter of a huge rock, and while Mukoki cleaned away the snow the young
hunters set to work with their axes in a near growth of balsam, cutting
armful after armful of the soft odorous boughs. Inside of an hour a
comfortable camp was completed, with an exhilarating fire throwing its
crackling flames high up into the night before it.
For the first time since leaving the abandoned camp at the other end of
the ridge the hunters fully realized how famished they were, and Mukoki
was at once delegated to prepare supper while Wabi and Rod searched in
the darkness for their night's supply of wood. Fortunately quite near at
hand they discovered several dead poplars, the best fuel in the world
for a camp-fire, and by the time the venison and coffee were ready they
had collected a huge pile of this, together with several good-sized
backlogs.
Mukoki had spread the feast in the opening of the shelter where the heat
of the fire, reflected from the face of the rock, fell upon them in
genial warmth, suffusing their faces with a most comfortable glow. The
heat, together with the feast, were almost overpowering in their
effects, and hardly was his supper completed when Rod felt creeping over
him a drowsiness which he attempted in vain to fight off a little
longer. Dragging himself back in the shelter he wrapped himself in his
blanket, burrowed into the mass of balsam boughs, and passed quickly
into oblivion. His last intelligible vision was Mukoki piling logs upon
the fire, while the flames shot up a dozen feet into the air, illumining
to his drowsy eyes for an instant a wild chaos of rock, beyond which lay
the mysterious and impenetrable blackness of the wilderness.