Through his perfect knowledge of the country, Ebony Jim with his
party succeeded in making about twenty miles the first day. They then
encamped on the edge of a small glade, on three sides of which arose
the dark woods, while on the fourth side a tall, jutting rock, some
fifty feet high, frowned down on the little glade. At the base of this
rock our friends selected their camp, which would not only afford a
shelter from the heavy, chilly dew, but a protection from an Indian
attack in the rear.
Something like an hour had passed, during which time Willis and Ralph
had expressed a wish for a little excitement to keep them awake. In
the mean time the practiced eyes of Ebony had espied several dark forms
moving to and fro along the edge of the timber, but within its shadow.
That they meant harm the negro knew well enough, and he resolved at
once to make them “show their hand.” Saying nothing, he crept out of
the camp, and securing good cover awaited the red-skins’ approach.
Not long did he wait, however, for soon the head and breast of a
red-painted warrior appeared, scanning the glade camp with basilisk
eyes. Ebony was on the alert with a novel weapon--a round stone of the
size of a hen’s egg. Without noise he threw the stone with wonderful
power and precision, striking the savage square in the forehead, and
without a groan the Cheyenne fell forward upon his face--a dead man.
“Hi-hi!” the negro chuckled; “guess dat imp’s squaw’ll be waitin’ a
good while for her next beatin’.”
Not another savage appeared; and Ebony returned to camp to watch and
wait.
Two or three hours passed without any demonstration on the part of
the savages, and the watchful whites began to congratulate themselves
on their enemies’ having withdrawn, when, suddenly, the whole heavens
over them became lit up with the glare of the mid-day sun, and the next
moment a great ball of dry, matted pine brush came rolling over the
edge of the cliff, wrapped in a sheet of red, hissing flame. It fell at
the feet of our friends, lighting up their hiding-place with a blinding
glare, and exposing them to the savages’ aim, while to them all was
inky gloom beyond the radius of light made by the burning brush.
There was no alternative but to take to the woods.
“Foller dis nigga, boys!” exclaimed Ebony, springing from under the
rock and rushing across the opening.
Willis and Ralph did as commanded, and they all would have succeeded
in reaching the shelter of the wood safely, but, unfortunately, Ralph
stumbled, and before he could gain his feet he was seized by a number
of savages that lay in ambush near, and made prisoner.
Ebony and Willis saw their companion captured, but, as they could
render no assistance against such fearful odds, they dashed on and made
good their escape into the woods.
They could hear the yell of the Indians back at the cliff, and to
ascertain what was going on they crept back to a point of observation.
They saw the red-skins, a score in number, grouped around the captive
under the edge of the cliff, but of course they could not tell what
disposition they were going to make of him.
For some time the negro sat in a deep study. Presently he started
up with what he considered a “bright idea,” and which he at once
communicated to Willis.
Ten minutes later, had the savages under the cliff glanced across the
opening, they would have seen the body of their comrade, that was slain
by the negro, dragged from the edge of the glade by some invisible
power, into the clump of shrubbery some ten feet away. This was done by
Ebony fixing the screw of his ramrod in a long pole which he slid along
upon the ground until it came in contact with the savage’s body; he
then twisted the screw into the dead fellow’s garments and dragged him
into the brush--for what purpose will soon be shown.
The savages did not notice the disappearance of their comrade’s body,
so intent were they in the council that was being held to determine
the fate of their captive. Some were in favor of tomahawking him on
the spot, some of burning him, and some one thing and some another.
Finally, it was settled that the captive select his own choice of
death, from burning, the tomahawk, and jumping from the cliff overhead.
The choice was rather a difficult one. Death by the tomahawk and
jumping from the cliff would be instantaneous, while by burning, his
chances of being rescued by Ebony and Willis would be prolonged as well
as his suffering. And so he took his choice of death by burning at the
stake.
The captive’s hands were free, but his legs were bound so tightly that
the bonds cut the flesh, and in this manner he was compelled to stand
perfectly motionless.
In a moment all hands were busied in erecting a stake in the center of
the glade, gathering fuel and making other preparations for the grand
torture; and while thus engaged, a voice suddenly rung out on the night
air, clear and distinct:
“Seize the rope, Rodman; seize the rope!”
All eyes were involuntarily drawn toward the woods across the moonlit
opening, whence the voice had emanated, and at that instant Ralph
Rodman, the doomed captive, _arose from the ground_, floated upward,
upward, upward through the air--up along the face of the cliff; and
when the savages again turned, they found he had vanished from their
midst like mist before the morning sun--gone they knew not where;
but, suddenly, a great black object leaped from the edge of the
cliff overhead, and falling in their midst crushed half their number
to atoms. It was a huge stone, rolled over the cliff by Ebony Jim,
who had also saved Ralph by drawing him up with a rope made of the
dead Indian’s buck-skin garments, and lowered at the moment that the
savages’ attention was drawn toward the woods.
Thus Ebony’s “bright idea” had proved a success. While Willis remained
in the woods to draw the attention of the savages, at the same time
warn Ralph of their presence, the negro had crept around to the top of
the cliff, and at the instant Willis called out he dropped one end of
the rope, and as it fell plump on Ralph’s head, he had his friend’s
command forcibly and instantly impressed upon his mind, and seizing
hold of the rope he was drawn up to the top of the cliff--saved.
Without loss of time they hurried from the place, and two hours’ travel
brought them to the mouth of a large cave, where they at once concluded
to spend the night.
They ventured to strike a fire now, for they were wet and chilly with
the heavy dew. They were just within the mouth of the cavern, and as
the fire lighted up the surrounding gloom it revealed the dark opening
back into the hill.
Ralph and Willis at once determined to explore the cavern. Ebony
remonstrated, but as he could give no reason for his objections, the
young adventurers procured a torch and set out, leaving the negro to
stand guard at the entrance.
Led on by the increasing wonders and magnificence of the place, they
threaded the winding passage for several hundred feet, when they
emerged into a wide, capacious chamber.
Here they halted and held the torch above their heads.
“Hist! didn’t you hear footsteps?” exclaimed Willis, suddenly.
“Fudge! no; you’re getting nervous,” returned Ralph, “and imagine you
hear the footsteps of ghosts. Come, let us look further, old boy. No
superstition--Heavens!”
The last exclamation was caused by a sound in the narrow passage
resembling the rolling of a heavy body on trucks. It came from the
passage behind them, and filled with no little fear and curiosity, they
turned and began to retrace their footsteps.
They had gone but a few steps when they heard the hollow, rumbling
noise again, and what was their surprise and horror to see an immense
rock slide out from the great wall and completely block their passage.
Ralph raised the torch above his head and turned to Willis, speechless
with terror.
At that instant a wild, demoniac laugh of triumph, that seemed to issue
from the lips of a legion of fiends, greeted the young men’s ears as it
echoed through the hollow chambers of the cavern.
_They were entrapped in the den of mountain robbers!_
In the meanwhile Ebony Jim, hearing the yells of laughter proceeding
from the interior, quickly divined the cause, and knowing that he could
be of no assistance to the young men, dashed off at a great speed into
the forest.
For several hours he pursued his way, his intention being to hunt up
Flick O’Flynn, and daylight found him many miles from the robber’s cave.
He had begun to feel satisfied that he had escaped his white enemies
when, as he was passing through a narrow defile, his ear caught the
sound of footsteps, and the next instant he saw three dark figures
coming directly toward him.
Quick as thought he swung himself upward into the branches of a thick
tree, and lying at length upon a large limb, he anxiously awaited the
approach of the party.