A DISAPPOINTMENT.
You will understand that the pursuit of Deerfoot the Shawanoe was not
confined to the two Pawnees, whom he thwarted in the manner described.
Their superior activity simply brought them to the front and hastened
the collision.
It will be seen, therefore, that the incidents must have taken place in
a brief space of time: had it been otherwise, Deerfoot would have been
engaged with the entire party. No one could have known that better than
he. The whoops, signals and reports of the guns could not fail to tell
the whole story, and to cause the Pawnees to converge toward the spot.
In fact, when Deerfoot lowered his bow and turned his back for the
second time on the warrior, he caught more than one glimpse of other red
men hastening thither.
Dangerous as was the situation of the youth, he did not forget another
incident which was liable to add to the difficulty of extricating
himself. From the moment he began his flight several of the Pawnees gave
utterance to shouts which were clearly meant as signals. These had been
repeated several times, and Deerfoot could form no suspicion of their
full meaning. Had the red men been Shawanoes, Wyandots or almost any
tribe whose hunting grounds were east of the Mississippi, he would have
read their purpose as readily as could those for whose ears they were
intended.
The interpretation, however, came sooner than was expected.
Deerfoot ran a little ways with such swiftness that he left every one
out of sight. Then he slackened his gait, and was going in a leisurely
fashion, when he came upon a narrow creek which ran at right angles to
the course he was following. The current was swift and deep, and the
breadth too great for him to leap over.
He saw that if he ran up or down the bank too far, he was likely to
place himself in peril again. He could have readily swam to the other
side, but preferred some other means, and concluded to take a minute or
two in looking for it.
A whoop to the left and the rear made known that no time was to be lost.
He was about to run in the opposite direction, when he caught sight of
the bridge for which he was hunting. A tree growing on the opposite side
had fallen directly across, so that the top extended several yards from
the shore. The trunk was long, thin, covered with smooth bark, and with
only a few branches near the top, but it was the very thing the fugitive
wanted, and, scarcely checking his gait, he dashed toward it, heedless
of the Pawnees, a number of whom were in sight.
He slowed his pace when about to step on the support, and placing one
foot on the thin bridge, tested it. So far as he could judge it was
satisfactory, and, balancing himself, he began walking toward the other
shore. Only four steps were taken, when a Pawnee stepped upon the
opposite end, and advanced directly toward the Shawanoe.
It began to look, after all, as though Deerfoot had presumed too far on
his own prowess, for his enemies were coming fast after him, and now,
while treading the delicate structure, he was brought face to face with
a warrior as formidable as Lone Bear or Eagle-of-the-Rocks.
But there was no time to hesitate. The Pawnee had caught the signals
from the other side of the stream, and hurried forward to intercept the
enemy making his way in that direction. He advanced far enough from the
spreading base of the tree to render his foothold firm, when he braced
himself with drawn knife, to receive the youth. He had flung his blanket
and rifle aside, before stepping on the trunk, so as not to be hindered
in his movements.
His painted face seemed to gleam with exultation, for, if ever a man was
justified in believing he had a sure thing it was that Pawnee warrior,
and if ever a person made a mistake that Pawnee warrior was the
individual.
[Illustration: A DISPUTED POINT.]
Instead of turning back Deerfoot drew his knife, and grasped it with his
right hand, as though he meant to engage the other in conflict where
both had such unsteady footing. Had the young Shawanoe held such a
purpose, his left hand, but the Pawnee, having never seen him before,
could not know that, and he was confident that the slaying of the youth
was the easiest task he could undertake.
Deerfoot not only continued his advance, but broke into a trot composed
of short, quick steps, such as a leaper takes when gathering on the edge
of a cliff for his final effort. He still held his bow in his left and
his knife in his right hand, and tightly closing his lips, looked into
the eyes of the Pawnee.
Just as the latter drew back his weapon with the intention of making the
decisive blow, and when two paces only separated the enemies, the
Shawanoe dropped his head and drove it with terrific force against the
chest of the Pawnee. The latter was carried off the log as completely as
if he had been smitten with a battering ram.
He went over with feet pointing upward, and dropped with a splash into
the stream. The blow was so violent indeed that the breath was knocked
from him, and he emitted a grunt as he toppled off the support. As he
disappeared, Deerfoot, too, lost his balance, but he was so close to
land, that he leaped clear of the water. Then, as if he thought the
Pawnee might need his blanket and rifle, he picked them up and tossed
them into the stream after him.
Incidents followed each other with a rush, and the report of two guns in
quick succession reminded the youth that it would not do to linger any
longer in the vicinity; but assured now of the meaning of the signals
which he had heard, he scanned the woods in front, as much as he did
those in the rear. It was well he did so.
By calling into play his magnificent fleetness, he rapidly increased the
distance between him and his enemies, but was scarcely able to pass
beyond their sight, before, to his astonishment, he found he was
confronted by two other warriors, coming from the opposite direction.
They were doubtless on a hunt when signaled by the large party to
intercept an enemy fleeing from them.
It began to look to Deerfoot as though he had struck either a settlement
of Pawnees, or a very large war party, for, beyond question, the "woods
were full of them". To have continued straight on would have brought
about an encounter with the two, and there was too much risk in that,
though from what the reader learned long ago of Deerfoot, it is
unnecessary to say that he would not have hesitated to make such a
fight, had there been a call to do so.
Truth to tell, the red men were firing off their guns too rapidly to
allow the fugitive to feel comfortable. Thus far, although he had swept
his foes from his path, as may be said, he had refrained from slaying
any one. He would not take life unless necessary, but he began to doubt
whether he had acted wisely in showing mercy. Had he pierced two or
three of his foes through and through, the others would not have been so
enthusiastic in pursuing him across stream and through wood.
At any rate, he decided to be more resolute, and when necessary, drive a
shaft "home".
The moment he observed the two Pawnees advancing from a point in front,
he made another change in his course. This time it was to the right, and
again he put forth a burst of speed the like of which his enemies had
never seen. He passed in and out among the trees, and through the
undergrowth, with such bewildering swiftness, that, though he was within
gunshot, neither would risk firing, where it was more difficult to take
aim than at the bird darting through the tree tops.
The last act of the fugitive had, as he believed, thrown all his
pursuers well to the rear. When he made the turn, the two whom he last
encountered tried to head him off by cutting across, as it may be
called, but they relinquished the effort when they saw how useless it
was.
Thus far, though Deerfoot had been placed in situations of great danger,
he had managed to free himself without any effort that could be deemed
unusual for him, though it would have been remarkable had it been
performed by any one else. But now, when it began to look as if the
worst were over, he was made aware that the most serious crisis of all
had come.
At the moment when he began to lessen his speed, simply because the
intervening limbs annoyed him, he made the discovery that still more of
the Pawnees were in front. He caught the glimmer of their dress between
the trees scarcely, more than a hundred yards in advance, and, instead
of one or two, there were at least five who were drawing near.
These were what may be called strangers, since they and Deerfoot now saw
each other for the first time. Had they known the exact circumstances,
they would have kept out of sight until the fugitive had run, as may be
said, into their arms; but, like the rest, they were moving toward the
camp, in obedience to the signals, keeping a lookout at the same time
for the enemy that they knew was somewhere in the neighborhood. The
reason they had not put in an earlier appearance was because they were
further off than the rest.
At the moment Deerfoot observed them, he was not far off from the
winding stream over which he had passed on the fallen tree. Like a
flash, he turned about and ran with his own extraordinary fleetness,
directly over his own trail.
It will be seen that the peril of this course reached almost a fatal
degree, for the other Pawnees could not be far off, and a very brief run
would take him in full sight of them.
The last comers showed more vigor than the others. The glimpse they
caught of the strange warrior dashing toward them, told the whole truth.
The sight of a man running at full speed with a whooping mob a short
distance behind, is all the evidence needed to prove he is a fugitive.
Besides, when the Pawnees bore down on Deerfoot they knew far more of
the neighborhood than he, and were sure he was entrapped.
The purpose of the Shawanoe was to put forth his utmost swiftness,
hoping to place himself, if only for part of a minute, beyond sight of
his enemies. Though he made the closest kind of calculation,
circumstances were against him, and he not only failed to disappear from
the last two, but, short as was the distance he doubled on his own
trail, it took him into the field of vision of the parties whom he had
eluded but a few minutes before. So it came about that he was in full
view of a number of enemies, rapidly converging toward him, while a
deep, swift stream was flowing across his line of flight.
The success of the pursuers now looked so certain that their leader
emitted several whoops, a couple of which were meant as a command for
none to fire: the Shawanoe was cornered and they meant to make him
prisoner.
It need not be said that under the worst conditions the capture of the
young warrior would have been no easy matter. He could fight like a
tiger when driven into corner, and his great quickness availed him
against superior strength. He had bounded out of more desperate
situations than any person of double his years, and, knowing that no
mercy was to be expected from the warlike Pawnees, it must have been a
strange conjunction of disasters that could compel him to throw up his
hands and yield.
Deerfoot had crossed one stream on his way to the Pawnee camp, and it
was no task to swim one of double the width; but the skillful swimmer
can advance only at a slow rate through the water, and, before he could
reach the other shore, a half dozen Pawnees would be on the bank in the
rear, waiting for him to reappear. He was a master of the natatorial
art, but he was not amphibious, and soon would have to come to the
surface or die. The watchers would be quick to detect him, and their
position was so much the superior of the fugitive that his capture was
inevitable.
Suddenly Deerfoot seemed to see that there was but the one thing to do;
turning again, he faced the stream which was but a few rods distant, and
ran toward it. The undergrowth was abundant, but his head and shoulders
were seen, as under the swift doublings of his limbs, they shot forward
as if borne on the back of an invisible express engine.
The thrilling run lasted but a second or two; then, having reached the
margin of the stream, the fugitive was seen to gather himself and rise
like a bird on the wing. He had made a prodigious leap toward the other
shore.
The Pawnees uttered several cries of exultation, for no doubt remained
of their success. For one instant the figure was suspended in mid air,
and then it descended. The pursuers heard the loud splash, and were on
the spot before the most skillful swimmer could have taken three strokes
or forced his body an arm's length through the water.
The leading Pawnee saw the ripples made in the swift current by the
Shawanoe, whose body was out of sight, for he had not been given time in
which to rise. As the current was too powerful to permit any one to swim
against it (besides which such an expenditure of strength could gain
nothing), it followed that the youth must either come up near the spot
where he went down, or some distance below it.
The supposition would be that, helped by the momentum of his own body,
Deerfoot would aim for the other shore. Fearful of attempting to climb
the opposite bank with a half dozen standing just behind him with loaded
guns, he would try to keep out of sight by thrusting just the point of
his nose above the water, so as to gain a breath of the indispensable
air.
But two facts rendered this impossible. In the first place, the water
was remarkably clear, so that a body only a fractional part of the size
of the youth, could not come within a foot of the surface without being
seen. Besides, the vegetation on the other side did not overhang the
current (as it did in one or two instances which perhaps my readers will
recall), so nothing there could serve to screen such a movement. A third
obstacle to such strategy may be mentioned: the stream along shore was
shallow, while with the two conditions first mentioned in his favor,
water to permit the most absolute freedom of movement was indispensable.
Enough has been said, however, to prove that the feat was beyond the
reach even of such a marvel as Deerfoot the Shawanoe.
The leader of the Pawnees repeated his warning against shooting the
fugitive--that is, against killing him. If there seemed to be danger of
his getting away, they were to fire so as to disable without slaying
him. It would be an easy matter to bring him down without endangering
his life.
As if to shut out all hope for the Shawanoe, three of the warriors who
seemed to be wandering everywhere through the woods appeared at this
moment on the other shore. They were given to understand the situation,
and joined the parties that waited for the reappearance of the youth,
who seemed to have disported himself like a very demon since coming into
that vicinity.
The Pawnees were so distributed along the bank that the very instant a
swimmer should approach the surface from below, he would be observed by
several spectators. And thus stood and waited the swarthy warriors for
the sight which was never to come to them.