THE TRAIL.
Eagle Head, who wished to be discovered by his enemies, had not taken
any pains to conceal his trail.
It was perfectly visible in the high grass, and if now and then it
appeared to be effaced, the hunters had but slightly to turn to one side
or the other to regain the prints of it.
Never before had a foe been pursued on the prairies in such a fashion.
It must have appeared the more singular to Loyal Heart, who, for a long
time, had been acquainted with the cunning of the Indians, and knew with
what skill, when they judged it necessary, they caused every indication
of their passage to disappear.
This facility gave him reason to reflect. As the Comanches had taken no
more pains to conceal their track, they must either believe themselves
very strong, or else they had prepared an ambush into which they hoped
to make their too confident enemies fall.
The two hunters rode on, casting, from time to time, a look right and
left, in order to be sure they were not deceived; but the track still
continued in a straight line, without turnings or circuits. It was
impossible to meet with greater facilities in a pursuit. Belhumeur
himself began to think this very extraordinary, and to be made seriously
uneasy by it.
But if the Comanches had been unwilling to take the pains of concealing
their trail, the hunters did not follow their example; they did not
advance a step without effacing the trace of their passage.
They arrived thus on the banks of a tolerably broad rivulet, named the
Verdigris, which is a tributary of the great Canadian river.
Before crossing this little stream, on the other side of which the
hunters would no longer be very far from the Indians, Loyal Heart
stopped, making a sign to his companion to do so likewise.
Both dismounted, and leading their horses by the bridle, they sought
the shelter of a clump of trees, in order not to be perceived, if, by
chance, some Indian sentinel should be set to watch their approach.
When they were concealed in the thickness of the wood, Loyal Heart
placed a finger on his lip to recommend prudence to his companion, and,
approaching his lips to his ear, he said, in a voice low as a breath,--
"Before we go any farther, let us consult, in order to ascertain what we
had better do."
Belhumeur bent his head in sign of acquiescence.
"I suspect some treachery," the hunter resumed; "Indians are too
experienced warriors, and too much accustomed to the life of the
prairies, to act in this way without an imperative reason."
"That is true," the Canadian replied, with a tone of conviction; "this
trail is too good and too plainly indicated not to conceal a snare."
"Yes, but they have wished to be too cunning; their craft has overshot
the mark; old hunters, like us, are not to be deceived thus. We must
redouble our prudence, and examine every leaf and blade of grass with
care, before we venture nearer the encampment of the redskins."
"Let us do better," said Belhumeur, casting a glance around him; "let
us conceal our horses in a safe place, where we can find them again at
need, and then go and reconnoitre on foot the position and the number of
those whom we wish to surprise."
"You are right, Belhumeur," said Loyal Heart; "your counsel is
excellent, we will put it in practice."
"I think we had better make haste in that case."
"Why so? On the contrary, do not let us hurry; the Indians, not seeing
us appear, will relax in their watchfulness, and we will profit by their
negligence to attack them, if we should be forced to have recourse to
such extreme measures; besides, it would be better to wait for the night
before we commence our expedition."
"In the first place, let us put our horses in safety. Afterwards, we
shall see what is best to be done."
The hunters left their concealment with the greatest precaution. Instead
of crossing the river, they retraced their road, and for some time
followed the route they had already traversed, then they bent a little
to the left, and entered a ravine, in which they quickly disappeared
among the high grass.
"I leave you to be guide, Belhumeur," said Loyal Heart, "I really do not
know whither you are leading me!"
"Leave it to me, I have by chance discovered, within two gunshots of the
place where we now are, a sort of citadel, where our horses will be as
safe as possible, and in which, if so it should fall out, we should be
able to sustain a regular siege."
"_Caramba!_" the hunter exclaimed, who, by this oath, which was habitual
with him, betrayed his Spanish origin, "how did you make this precious
discovery?"
"Faith!" said Belhumeur, "in the simplest manner possible. I had just
laid my traps, when, in climbing up the mountain before us in order to
shorten my road and rejoin you more quickly, at nearly two-thirds of the
ascent, I saw, protruding from the bushes the velvety muzzle of a superb
bear."
"Ah! ah! I am pretty well acquainted with that adventure. You brought me
that day, if I am not mistaken, not one, but two black bearskins."
"That is the same, my fine fellows were two, one male and the other
female. You may easily suppose that at the sight of them my hunter's
instincts were immediately roused; forgetful of my fatigue, I cocked my
rifle, and set out in pursuit of them. You will see for yourself what
sort of a fortress they had chosen," he added, as he alighted from his
horse, and Loyal Heart followed his example.
Before them rose, in the shape of an amphitheatre, a mass of rocks,
which assumed the most curious and fantastic shapes; thin bushes sprang
here and there from the interstices of the stones, climbing plants
crowned the summits of the rocks, and gave to this mass, which rose more
than six hundred feet above the prairie, the appearance of one of those
ancient feudal ruins which are to be met with occasionally on the banks
of the great rivers of Europe.
This place was named by the hunters of these plains, the White Castle,
from the colour of the blocks of granite which formed it.
"We shall never be able to get up there with our horses," said Loyal
Heart, after carefully surveying for an instant the space they had to
clear.
"Let us try, at all events!" said Belhumeur, pulling his horse by the
bridle.
The ascent was rough, and any other horses than those of hunters,
accustomed to the most difficult roads, would have been unable to
accomplish it, but would have rolled from the top to the bottom.
It was necessary to choose with care the spot on which the foot must
be placed, and then to spring forward at a bound, and all this with
turnings and twisting enough to produce a dizziness.
After half an hour of extraordinary difficulties they arrived at a sort
of platform, ten yards broad at most.
"This is it!" said Belhumeur, stopping.
"How this?" Loyal Heart replied, looking around on all sides without
perceiving an opening.
"Come this way!" said Belhumeur, smiling.
And still dragging his horse after him, he passed behind a block of the
rock, the hunter following him with awakened curiosity.
After walking for five minutes in a sort of trench, at most three feet
wide, which seemed to wind round upon itself, the adventurers found
themselves suddenly before the yawning mouth of a deep cavern.
This road, formed by one of those terrible convulsions of nature so
frequent in these regions, was so well concealed behind the rocks and
stones which masked it, that it was impossible to discover it except by
a providential chance.
The hunters entered.
Before ascending the mountain, Belhumeur had collected a large provision
of candlewood; he lit two torches, keeping one for himself, and giving
the other to his companion.
Then the grotto appeared to them in all its wild majesty.
Its walls were high and covered with brilliant stalactites, which
reflected back the light, multiplying it, and forming a fairy-like
illumination.
"This cavern," said Belhumeur, after he had given his friend time to
examine it in all its details, "is, I have no doubt, one of the wonders
of the prairies; this gallery, which descends in a gentle declivity
before us, passes under the Verdigris, and debouches on the other side
of the river, at a distance of more than a mile, into the plain. In
addition to the gallery by which we entered, and that which is before
us, there exist four others, all of which have issues at different
places. You see that here we are in no risk of being surrounded, and
that these spacious chambers offer us a suite of apartments splendid
enough to make the president of the United States himself jealous."
Loyal Heart, enchanted with the discovery of this refuge, wished to
examine it perfectly, and although he was naturally very silent, the
hunter could not always withhold his admiration.
"Why have you never told me of this place before?" he said to Belhumeur.
"I waited for the opportunity," the latter replied.
The hunters secured their horses, with abundance of provender, in one
of the compartments of the grotto, into which the light penetrated by
imperceptible fissures; and then, when they were satisfied that the
noble animals; could want for nothing during their absence, and could
not escape, they threw their rifles over their shoulders, whistled to
their dogs, and, descended with hasty steps the gallery which passed
under the river.
Soon the air became moist around them, a dull, continuous noise was
heard above their heads,--they were passing under the Verdigris. Thanks
to a species of lantern, formed by a hollow rock rising in the middle
of the river's course, there was light sufficient to guide them.
After half an hour's walk they debouched in the prairie by an entrance
masked by bushes and creeping plants.
They had remained a long time in the grotto. In the first place, they
had examined it minutely, like men who foresaw that some day or other
they should stand in need of seeking a shelter there; next they had
made a kind of stable for their horses; and lastly, they had snatched a
hasty morsel of food, so that the sun was on the point of setting at the
moment when they set off again upon the track of the Comanches.
Then commenced the true Indian pursuit. The two hunters, after having
laid on their bloodhounds, glided silently in their traces, creeping on
their hands and knees through the high grass, the eye on the watch, the
ear on the listen, holding their breath, and stopping at intervals to
inhale the air, and interrogate those thousand sounds of the prairies
which hunters notice with incredible facility, and which they explain
without hesitation.
The desert was plunged in a death-like silence.
At the approach of night in these immense solitudes, nature seems to
collect herself, and prepare, by a religious devotion, for the mysteries
of darkness.
The hunters continued advancing, redoubling their precautions, and
creeping along in parallel lines.
All at once the dogs came silently to a stop. The brave animals seemed
to comprehend the value of silence in these parts, and that a single cry
would cost their masters their lives.
Belhumeur cast a piercing glance around him. His eye flashed, he
gathered himself up, and bounding like a panther, he sprang upon an
Indian warrior, who, with his body bent forward, and his head down,
seemed to be sensible of the approach of an enemy.
The Indian was roughly thrown upon his back, and before he could utter a
cry of distress or for help, Belhumeur had his throat in his grasp and
his knee on his breast.
Then, with the greatest coolness, the hunter unsheathed his knife, and
plunged it up to the hilt in the heart of his enemy.
When the savage saw that he was lost, he disdained to attempt any
useless resistance, but fixing upon the Canadian a look of hatred and
contempt, an ironical smile curled his lips, and he awaited death with a
calm face.
Belhumeur replaced his knife in his belt, and pushing the body on one
side, said imperturbably,--
"One!"
And he crept on again.
Loyal Heart had watched the movements of his friend with the greatest
attention, ready to succour him if it were necessary; when the Indian
was dead, he calmly took up the trail again.
Ere long the light of a fire gleamed between the trees and an odour of
roasted flesh struck the keen smell of the hunters.
They drew themselves up like two phantoms along an enormous cork tree,
which was within a few paces of them, and embracing the gnarled trunk,
concealed themselves among the tufted branches.
Then they looked out, and found that they were, it might be said,
soaring over the camp of the Comanches, situated within ten yards of
them, at most.