Wyoming

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

  No doubt he was one of the warriors that had been hunting for Fred, andwho failed to find him.

  The latter was so near his enemies that he could follow the motions ofthe Indian until he joined his comrades, or, rather, went up to Golcher,who straightway began questioning him about the search for the youngpatriot.

  Whatever their answers might have been, it is scarcely to be presumedthey added much to the peace of mind of Mr. Jacob Golcher.

  CHAPTER XLIV.

  After the indignant protest of Mr. Brainerd, Jake Golcher concluded tolet the matter rest for the time.

  "The old fellow is pretty sassy and independent, but I'll take it out ofhim before he's two hours older. I wish Black Turtle would come in."

  He referred to one of the most treacherous and cruel warriors of theSeneca tribe--a savage whose atrocities had given him prominence evenamong a people noted for their cruelty, and the identical redskin whowas in his mind at that moment came out of the wood and approached theTory leader.

  Black Turtle was the warrior who passed under the tree in which FredGodfrey was perched.

  Golcher now believed that he had been lenient, and he resolved to forcethe issue that had already been delayed too long. Without heeding theother warriors, who were laughing and scrambling for the slices of meat,Black Turtle at once went up to the white man, with whom he held a briefbut pointed conversation.

  He first told that they had hunted hard for the Yengese, or Yankee, andhad failed to find him--a piece of superfluous information, and thenBlack Turtle, who seemed to be a subordinate chief, asked in an angryvoice why the whites sitting on the log had been spared so long.

  On the other side the river the Indians allowed few of the Yengese tolive any longer than they could survive the blows of the tomahawk, andthere was no reason why such partiality should be shown these who hadcrossed the Susquehanna.

  This declaration was supplemented by the warrior drawing his tomahawk,and announcing that he meant to finish the job at once.

  But this was a little more than Jake Golcher wished. There was one ofthe captives, at least, whom he desired to protect until certain, oneway or the other, about her disposition toward him.

  If her father were removed, the Tory believed the daughter could bebrought to terms through her affection for her sister and aunt.

  "So long as the old chap is alive," reflected Golcher, "so long will heprevent her consent. But, if he is gone, and she finds that the only wayto save Eva and her aunt is to accept me, she will do it, though therewill be a big lot of blubbering and praying and all that sort of stuff.Therefore, the best thing is to get her father out of her path: she willbe pretty well broke up by that."

  It was now necessary that Black Turtle should be appeased in some way,and Jake Golcher, without hesitation, made known his purpose.

  It was, in short, that Black Turtle should move off in the woods, as ifhe had no thought of evil in his mind, and when beyond sight, make astealthy circuit, so as to get in the rear of the parties sitting on thelog.

  He was then to steal up and drive his tomahawk into the skull of theunsuspecting Mr. Brainerd. The Indian would utter his whoop, if soinclined (the disposition to whoop at such a time is irresistible withhis race), and dart off in the woods.

  He was to stay until matters should become quiet around the camp-fire,when he might come back and play the innocent warrior, or the avenger,as he chose.

  Black Turtle entered upon the dreadful business with the cunningpeculiar to his nature. He sauntered off in another direction, passingby the group of Senecas on the other side of the fire, without so muchas drawing an inquiring look from them.

  Fred Godfrey, from his perch in the tree, saw this action of theredskin, but with no suspicion of its meaning.

  He thought he would probably continue his hunt for the lieutenant, whomhe, and all the others, had not been able to find.

  The conduct of Jake Golcher was as cruel as that of Black Turtle.Without resenting the indignant words of Mr. Brainerd, who seatedhimself beside Maggie and tried to cheer her, the Tory sauntered off andstood grimly watching the curious actions of some of the warriors, whowere still struggling for the crumbs that fell from Aunt Peggy'saboriginal table.

  He thought it best not to say anything more to the fugitives. He hadmade a blunder, and no words of his just then could right it. He haddecided that there had been already too much talk, and it was time foraction to take its place.

  The position of the Tory was such that he could see every one in camp,but he glowered out from his ugly brows on the mournful party that stillsat on the fallen tree, and not only at them, but he was watching thewood immediately behind Mr. Brainerd.

  He knew the point where Black Turtle would be likely to appear, and hedid not wish to miss the tragedy.

  "Things look rather curious there," muttered Lieutenant Godfrey, fromhis perch in the branches of the tree. "Why is Jake Golcher watching thefolks so closely? Is there some mischief afloat?"

  At that instant he detected a movement in the undergrowth behindBrainerd, the position of Fred being the best possible to see what wasgoing on in that spot.

  The firelight was thrown over the fallen tree, and reached some distancebeyond, so that the figure of Black Turtle, as he rose like a shadow tohis feet, was plainly shown.

  One glance at the warrior told the whole truth to the watcher, whose gunwas already cocked and pointed in that direction.

  Black Turtle had selected his own position, and, slowly drawing back hissinewy arm, he aimed straight for him who never dreamed of his peril.

  The savage gathered his strength for the throw that was to inflict deathupon an innocent man.

  But Black Turtle made a slight mistake.

  "But Black Turtle made a slight mistake."]

  Before the weapon could leave his fingers the sharp report of a riflebroke the stillness, followed instantly by the death-shriek of thesavage, as he flung his arms aloft and fell forward, almost against thelog on which the Brainerd family were sitting.

  The scheme of Jake Golcher and Black Turtle was indefinitely postponed.

  CHAPTER XLV.

  The shock terrified the whole camp.

  Aunt Peggy dropped the piece of meat she was cooking, and sprang backwith a gasp. The other Indians, accustomed as they were to violence,stared in blank wonder, while those on the fallen tree leaped to theirfeet and gazed at the figure of the Indian as he lay on his face, withhis tomahawk clenched in his vise-like grip.

  Jake Golcher was dazed, and neither spoke nor stirred until Maggie, inthe very depths of her agony, ran to him and exclaimed:

  "What is the meaning of this? Was he seeking father's life? If he was,it was _you_ who told him to do it!"

  The Tory looked in the white face of the girl, and said, in a surlyvoice:

  "I didn't know anything about it."

  "Oh, Jake," she continued, talking rapidly, and in such mental distressthat every eye was fixed upon her; "if this is _your_ work, a just Godwill punish you for it. Father has never sought to injure you. We areneighbors, and belong to the same race--"

  He attempted to turn away, but she caught his arm, and faced him about.

  "You shall hear me. If you want human lives, take _mine_--take Eva's,but spare his gray hairs; do him a wrong, and as sure as our HeavenlyFather reigns above, a punishment shall come to you. Show him mercy,treat us as human beings, and you will thank Him to your dying day thatHe led you aright, when you went so far astray."

  The father would have gone forward and drawn her away, but he was heldby her soulful eloquence.

  She staggered back and would have fallen, had not Aunt Peggy, who, afterall, was the most cool-headed one in the party, seen what was coming andcaught her in her arms.

  Half-supporting and half-dragging her, she got her back to the tree,where she gently seated her.

  Poor Maggie threw her arms around the good woman's neck and gave way tohysterical sobbing, while her aunt tried to soothe her.

  M
r. Brainerd sat like a statue, but his lips trembled, and it requiredall the power of his will to keep from breaking down as utterly as didMaggie herself, who, flinging one of her arms around weeping Eva,gathered her and their aunt in an embrace, and surrendered to hertempest of grief.

  The Senecas looked on, but if there was any glimmering of tenderness intheir nature it did not struggle to the surface, and the trees aroundthem could not have betrayed less emotion.

  As for Jake Golcher, he scanned the picture with darker passions thanthose of the savages themselves.

  He did not stir, but, when he saw Habakkuk McEwen look inquiringly athim, he beckoned him to approach.

  The frightened fellow sprang to his feet and hurried across the shortspace, eager to do anything to win the favor of the other.

  "Do you know who shot that Indian?" asked the Tory, in an undertone.

  "I haven't the least idea."

  "It was Fred Godfrey; he is somewhere near. The shot sounded outyonder"--pointing in the proper direction--"and, if you want to saveyour life, you must go out and bring him in."

  "I'll do it," said McEwen, catching like a drowning man at a straw.

  He turned about to start upon his strange errand, when Golcher commandedhim to stop.

  "How are you going to do it?"

  "Catch him by the neck and heels, and drag him along."

  "Don't you see the Senecas are starting off to hunt him up?"

  It was true. The red men quickly recovered from the shock, and, knowingwho fired the shot, were stealing off into the woods in search of theyouth, who had given proof of his presence near them.

  Almost every one was able to tell the point whence came the familiarbullet, and it will be understood that Fred Godfrey took his life in hishand when he interposed to save his father.

  "I don't believe they will find him," said Jake Golcher, alluding to theSenecas, who were moving off in the darkness; "but you can join him,because he takes you for a friend; go out in the woods, signal to him,and when you find him, get him to come nigh enough to be catched. Youcan do it, and if you succeed, you shall be spared. Don't think," addedthe Tory, significantly, "that because we let you jine in the hunt youcan slip off in the dark."

  "Oh, I never thought of such a thing," protested the New Englander. "Ialways keep my promise, and I'll bring him back."

  "There isn't one of these folks that can get away, for the Senecas areall around us. Gray Panther will soon be here with twenty more, and thenwe shall have 'em all."

  If this were the case, Habakkuk might well have asked why Golcher wishedhim to join in the search. But if such a question came to the mind ofMcEwen he did not utter it.

  "If you try to run away you'll be brought back here and tomahawkedinside of half an hour; do your duty, and I'll take care of you; afteryou get out there in the dark you can signal to him in such a way thathe'll show himself, and then you must prove your smartness by gettinghim to come with you to some p'int where we can pounce onto him. Do youunderstand?"

  "It's all as plain as the nose on your face," said Habakkuk.

  "Then be off with you!"

  CHAPTER XLVI.

  Habakkuk McEwen entered upon his strange mission with ardor. A fewseconds carried him beyond sight of the fire, and he pushed forwarduntil fully two hundred yards distant, when he paused, and listened.

  He heard nothing of the Iroquois, who could not be far away.

  "Over yonder lies the trail that leads to Stroudsburg," he said tohimself, "and this is the first fair start that I've had since gettinginto this neighborhood. Such a promise as I made ain't binding; the wayFred Godfrey has been going on, I think he's able to take care ofhimself, and it's about time I did the same. I'm off for Stroudsburg,and nothing short of an earthquake shall stop me _this_ time."

  And thereupon he started like a frightened deer through the dark woods,with the resolve that when the morrow's sun should rise he would bemany a mile to the eastward, and far beyond the reach of Jake Golcherand his Senecas.

  Meanwhile, Fred Godfrey, having done such good service for his friend,was equally alert in making the most of it. He did not forget that thesound of his rifle would direct the Senecas to the spot whence it came,and should he remain five minutes in the tree he would be at theirmercy.

  Consequently, the smoke had scarcely risen from the muzzle of hisweapon, and the death-shriek of bloody Black Turtle was yet echoing onthe air, when he came down as nimbly as a monkey and hurried from thespot.

  The shot that he had fired was one of those unexpected things thatstartled the Senecas into temporary inaction, just enough to serve aquick-witted person like Fred Godfrey.

  He was loath to leave the vicinity of the camp, but self-preservationcommanded it, and he did not pause until a safe distance away.

  His dread was that the Senecas would take revenge upon the whites forthe death of their comrade, and the youth meant to return to a positionthat would enable him to interfere again, even though the risk weretenfold greater than before.

  But Fred had not listened more than a couple of minutes when he wasdetected by an Indian, who must have followed him some distance throughthe woods.

  "Ugh! S'render--me kill!" growled the savage, bearing down upon him withupraised tomahawk.

  "Surrender, eh? That's the way I surrender!"

  And, to the terror of the red man, he found the muzzle of a pistolplaced against his nose.

  "Ugh! no shoot--me good Injun--ugh! Good Yengese!"

  And the valiant fellow, ducking his head, and dodging from side to side,like the Digger Indians of California, in the vain effort to distractthe aim of his enemy, went threshing through the wood without any regardto noise or dignity.

  Lieutenant Godfrey could have stopped his career without trouble, merelyby pressing the trigger; but he did not do so. He was a civilizedsoldier.

  "Go in peace," laughed Fred, putting his weapon away. "Heaven knows I donot wish to take human life!"

  As the youth had now reached a point where he could feel safe from hispursuers, he proceeded to reload his rifle.

  In the darkness it required care, and was a task compared to which thatof breech-loading of to-day is nothing. The few beams of moonlight thathad disclosed him and the Seneca to each other helped him to pour outthe powder from the horn around his waist, and to adjust the quantity inthe pan of his flintlock.

  "If I continue this picking off of warriors, one at a time," mutteredFred, "I will be able to thin them out before morning."

  He was reminded of the delicacy of his position, by hearing lowwhistling on his right.

  "Doubtless that is the one I drove away," was his reflection. "He wantsto call some of his brothers before I leave, so he can reward me as anIndian likes to reward one who shows him mercy. But, hello!"

  Like a flash came the thought that the peculiar signals that had beengoing on for some minutes were not those of an Indian, but of hisfriend, Gravity Gimp.

  "I do believe it is he, calling to me," said the lieutenant, as hestationed himself in the shadow of a tree, and, holding his weapon readyfor use, cautiously answered the hail, which sounded clear and distincton the still summer night.

  Instantly came the reply, and then he replied in turn, so thatcommunication was established, and whether the other was a friend orfoe, it became evident that he was approaching.

  The lieutenant did not feel free from fear, for he was aware of thesubtlety of the foes against whom he was contending, and nothing wasmore natural than that they should resort to such a simple artifice tomislead him.

  He therefore ceased answering the call when it came close, but heldhimself ready to fire and withdraw the instant he should detect thedeception.

  A figure was dimly seen in a small, moonlit space in front, advancingupon him in a crouching posture. Fred fastened his eyes on the shadowyoutlines, and he grasped his gun with both hands.

  Just then the half-bent man straightened up, and, with a relief that wasdelightful, Fred recognized the form of Gravity Gi
mp, who had beenhunting and signaling so industriously for the last fifteen minutes.

  CHAPTER XLVII.

  Lieutenant Godfrey and Gravity Gimp shook hands warmly, for they wereoverjoyed to meet in this manner, after their enforced parting a briefwhile before.

  "It's a wonder that your signaling did not bring some of the Senecas toyou," said the young officer.

  "Dat's jist what it done."

  "And how did you manage it?"

  "When dey come I left, and I took such a path dat if dey tried tofoller, dey run agin de trees, or fell ober de rocks and broke darnecks."

  "Well, Gravity, you heard my gun, and I'll tell you how it was."

  Thereupon the lieutenant gave the particulars of the taking off of thevengeful warrior known as Black Turtle, the Seneca, the Africanlistening, meanwhile, with open mouth and staring eyes.

  "Dat's wery cheerin'," said he. "Some ob dem Senekers am so stupid datyou've got to knock dere heads off afore dey knows anything; but,leftenant, I's got 'portant news to tell you."

  "What is it?"

  "Dar's somebody out in de woods dat ain't Injuns."

  "Explain what you mean?" said Godfrey, with a thrill of hope.

  "Afore you fired dat gun, and when eberyting was still, I heerd somebodytalking out dare; dey kind ob whistled, like I's been doing, den I heerdwhispers, and den de sound ob feet."

  This was stirring news, indeed, to Fred. If it so proved that thesestrangers were white men, he might be able to rally them to the attackof Golcher and his Indian allies.