Friends in Need
Dick Dare and Ben Foster were never nearer death’s door than at the
moment when the flames of the fires built around them, as they stood
tied to trees, began to scorch their clothing.
Both youths were very brave, but there was something so terrible about
being burned at the stake, that a feeling of horror took hold upon them.
The Indians now leaped to their feet and began jumping about, and
uttering cries, evidently of enjoyment at the spectacle that they were
about to witness.
Then, just as the flames were about to begin burning the clothing of the
youths, they felt the ropes that bound them to the trees loosen, and to
the ears of each came the words: “When I say, ‘now,’ leap away from the
tree and run for your life.”
The voices were strange to the youths, but they realized that the words
were uttered by friends, and each replied, cautiously:
“All right.”
Smoke was going up from the fires, and when there came a moment that a
thick sheet of smoke lay for a few moments between the youths and the
redskins, they heard the word, “Now!”
The youths acted instantly. They leaped out from the midst of the piles
of wood, and turned and ran with the swiftness of the wind in the
opposite directions from where the Indians were dancing and singing.
Then the smoke lifted and the redskins caught sight of the vacant
positions so recently occupied by their intended victims. Instantly
their singing changed to wild yells of rage and chagrin, followed by
war-whoops, and then the braves dashed in among the trees, in pursuit of
the fugitives.
Dick and Tom did not see anything of their rescuers. In fact, it was so
dark, in the midst of the timber, now that they were away from the light
of the fires, that they could not see anything, and they had to run at
random. In so doing, they ran against trees, through clumps of bushes,
and stumbled over fallen trees, but managed to make pretty good headway,
even under such circumstances. And they were urged on by the wild yells
of the pursuing redskins, who were wild with rage because of the
inexplicable escape of their intended victims.
The youths kept together, and plunged recklessly onward. They were
determined to escape, if possible, for they realized that to be
recaptured would be to be again fastened to the trees and burned to
death. The Indians would keep them surrounded, next time, likely, and
thus prevent them from escaping again.
On the two youths dashed, through the underbrush, and suddenly Dick felt
emptiness beneath his feet, and went plunging downward, alighting on
hard ground with a thump, his head struck something hard, causing him to
see a lot of stars and flashing meteors, and then he knew nothing. He
had been knocked senseless by the fall.
Ben, running swiftly, did not miss his comrade at once, but when he had
gone perhaps fifty or seventy-five yards farther, and no sound of Dick
running near him came to his hearing, he stopped, listened a few
moments, and then called out, cautiously:
“Dick! Oh, Dick! Where are you?”
The sound of the shouting of the pursuing Indians came to his hearing,
but although he listened intently, he did not hear any reply from Dick.
“Where can he be?” Ben murmured, anxiously. “Can anything have happened
to him?”
Ben stood there a brief moment, called again, and then, not receiving
any response, he set out through the forest as fast as his legs could
carry him, and that, with a pursuing foe of savages determined upon his
life, was pretty fast. His idea and hope was, that Dick was still
hastening onward, and that he would escape from the disappointed
redskins.
And Dick was lying senseless in a pit that had been made by hunters, for
the purpose of trapping wild animals, for food and skins.
When Dick regained consciousness, he could not think for a few moments
what had happened to him. Then he remembered being tied to the trees in
the Indian village, with the fire burning about him, remembered having
been freed by somebody, and that he and Ben had been running for their
lives through the underbrush, pursued by the Indians, when he had taken
a tumble and had got a bump on the head that had rendered him
insensible, and the question now was: Where was he?
And then the thought came to him: Where was Ben?
He listened intently, but heard no sound to indicate Ben’s presence, nor
did he hear the yells of the Indians. He judged, from this, that he had
been in his present situation some time.
He rose to a sitting posture, and reached out and felt around him. He
made out what seemed to be a solid wall of earth, at his back. Then he
rose to his feet, and reached upward, trying to stretch to the top of
the wall, but could not. Then he started to make his way along the wall,
feeling with his hand, for guidance, and he had taken only five or six
steps when he heard a low, menacing growl right in front of him.
Dick paused and gazed ahead, trying to penetrate the darkness, and then
he saw what looked like two gleaming balls of fire, and then as another
low, fierce growl came to his hearing, he realized the truth--that he
was confronted by a wild animal of some kind, and from the sound of the
growl he judged that the animal was likely a panther.
Dick had had considerable experience in hunting and trapping, and knew
that pits were often dug for the purpose of trapping wild animals, and
he guessed that he was in one of those old pits, and that he had for a
companion a wildcat or panther!
Dick Dare realized that his situation was indeed a dangerous one. True,
he had the use of his hands and feet, but what could he hope to do
against the animal without weapons of any kind?
He felt that his danger was great, that his situation was indeed
desperate, and he stood there, almost frozen to the spot, trying his
best to think what he should do. Truly he had fled one danger but to
encounter another. “From the frying pan into the fire.”
Again the low, but fierce and threatening growl came to Dick’s ears.