Indian and Scout: A Tale of the Gold Rush to California

by F. S. Brereton

  CHAPTER XII

  A Tight Corner

  "Jack, Jack. Aer yer there? aer yer there?"

  The words came from Steve in an eager whisper, and, though repeated timeand again, received no answer. Instead, the disabled hunter heard onlythe dull sound of blows, the hiss of sharply-indrawn breaths, and thesnap of breaking twigs. He ground his teeth in his vexation and anxiety,but as he could not rise to his feet and walk, for his legs stillrefused to carry him, the gallant little fellow rolled on to his sideand dragged himself towards the combatants. Very soon his eager fingersfell upon one of them.

  "Injun!" he exclaimed, running his hand down the man's back anddiscovering the shoulders bare. "Then it are time I lent a hand."

  Swiftly his fingers sought for his own hunting-knife, for Steve realizedthat the Indian was kneeling upon Jack, who lay beneath him, and arguedfrom that fact that our hero was getting the worst of the conflict.Dragging his weapon from its sheath, he raised himself on one elbow, andmade ready to strike. And to make sure that he had made no error, andthat his blade was thrust in the right direction, he again groped forthe shoulders he had felt a moment before. There they were, lean andmuscular, and at once up went the knife, while Steve braced himself forthe stroke. But he never delivered it; for of a sudden the strainingmuscles beneath his finger tips relaxed, the heaving, sinuous movementsof the Indian's shoulders ceased, while the man seemed to become in oneinstant limp and helpless. He subsided on to his opponent, and thenrolled heavily to the ground. The silence which followed was broken bythe laboured breathing of one man only.

  "Jack, Jack," whispered Steve again, his note more eager and anxiousthan before.

  "Here," came the answer. "Here, safe and sound."

  "Yer killed him?"

  "Yes," gasped Jack.

  "Gee! How?"

  Jack sat beside his comrade for a minute and more before he venturedupon an answer. All the while he breathed deeply, in jerky spasms, as aman does who has been sorely tried, and who has striven to the lastpoint of endurance. His whole frame was trembling with the intensity ofthe struggle, while his fingers were crooked and rigid with the strainof prolonged gripping. Then, getting his breath again, and the use ofhis fingers by gentle movements, he crept closer to Steve and whisperedhis answer.

  "I had luck," he said. "He took me by surprise at first, and I wonder hedidn't send his knife through me. But he missed his stroke, and beforehe could make another I had a grip of his wrist. At the same time myother hand got a hold on to his neck."

  "Gee!" The scout gave vent to a low exclamation. "Yes?" he asked.

  "I knew that was my only chance, so I hung on like a bull dog. He'sdead, the life choked out of him."

  "Sure? Sartin' he ain't foxin'. There never was any ter play possum likean Injun. Ye're dead sure he's done?"

  Jack moved from the side of the hunter for one moment, and ran his handover his late antagonist. There was not a doubt but that he was dead.The chest was motionless, and not a breath left the lips.

  "He'll never fight again," he said sternly, creeping back to Steve. "Doyou think they'll come to find him?"

  There was a low growl from the hunter. "Think!" he whispered scornfully."In course they will. But his absence'll make 'em mighty careful. I'vetold yer an Injun don't like to get beat. His game's always to kill, andgo scot free himself. But they'll search this here group of trees tillthey find him, and then----"

  He ended suddenly, and propped himself up to listen; for there was noneed to explain what would happen. Even to Jack's inexperienced mind theending was only too obvious. The horses had been found, and nowthemselves. Of that the Indians would have not the smallest doubt oncetheir comrade failed to return, and failed also to answer their signals.

  "Huh! There they go barkin' As ef any fool couldn't tell as it warn't afox. That'll tell 'em right enough that something's happened," whisperedSteve, "It ain't o' no use fer me to send 'em back the call, 'cos I cantell yer no white man can manage it proper. Them Injuns get practisingwhen they're no higher than a dozen dollars piled one on t'other, andthere ain't a one as tries it later on as kin git quite at the rightsound. H-h-hish! Ain't that someone movin'?"

  Intense silence fell upon them again, while Jack raised himself on hisknees, so as to prepare for a second struggle. Yes, somewhere directlyin front of him, and perhaps four yards away, a twig had stirred, whilethe gentle rustle of a leaf had reached him. He stooped, pressed Steve'shand to show him that he was ready, and then silently gripped a riflewhich lay beside the hunter. To raise himself to his feet was the workof half a minute, for deathly silence was essential. But once upon them,he stood in a tense attitude, bending slightly, both hands gripping thebarrel of his weapon, while the stock was raised above his head.

  Click! The tip of a brier, or of one of the smaller branches of a bush,swished as it was released by some unseen hand. In that intense silenceit sounded to our hero almost as loud as the report of a pistol. And ittold him as clearly as possible that this new antagonist stealing uptowards him was directly in front, and already somewhat nearer. He heldhis breath, and waited, his eyes staring into the darkness. Click! Thesound was repeated.

  And then, for one brief second, an uncanny sensation came over him. Forsomething touched his boot, and that something ran nimbly up to hisknees. Was it a forest mouse, scared by the intruder creeping towardsJack with murderous intent? Or was it the man himself?

  Quick as a flash Jack decided the matter. A few weeks before he wouldhave waited a little longer to make sure. But he had already had morethan one lesson teaching him that indecision is often fatal. Besides,he knew now what he had never guessed before. He had already, this veryevening, had an object lesson of the craft and stealth of the Indian,and realized that where a silent and unexpected attack was necessarytheir skill was phenomenal. Knowing that, Jack struck with all hisstrength. He struck blindly at the darkness, till the heavy butt of hisrifle was stayed in its course by some unseen obstacle. Then he swung itup again, and sent it crashing through the air till once more its coursewas arrested.

  "Gee! That are a blow. H-h-hist!"

  It was Steve's voice, low and cautious, and with just the faintest traceof exultation in the note. For Steve was no craven, and even if he werepowerless to defend himself, he could yet appreciate that power inothers. And the hunter had been in so many engagements and had comesuccessfully out of them, that now that the tables seemed turning alittle in their favour, and the outlook did not appear quite so bad asit had done a little while ago, he could not help a feeling ofexultation.

  "Ef he ain't the boy, this here Carrots!" he murmured to himself, as hepeered up in the direction in which he knew Jack stood. "Ef he ain'tshowing an old hand how these here things should be done. He jestcotched that feller an almighty whack on the head, and guess that's anend of him. Jack," he said a little louder.

  "Well," came back the laconic answer.

  "How'd yer come out of that 'ere business? Yer ketched him a whop? Eh?"

  "Dead," said Jack curtly. "I felt his fingers on my leg. He didn't knowexactly where I was till then. I struck out with the rifle, and----"

  "Gee! Ef you ain't fine! But hist a moment. Them varmint'll besomewhares about."

  It seemed indeed more than likely that the Indians who had entered thetrees, and of whom three still remained, would endeavour to follow theircomrades. Although Jack's rifle butt had slain the second man inabsolute silence, his struggle with the first had produced sufficientnoise to attract attention, and without a doubt the enemy were fullyaware of the fact that the men they sought were amongst the trees. Nodoubt they were still uncertain of their exact position. But that was adifficulty which these crafty men would soon overcome.

  "They'll send more of the young chaps in," whispered Steve, "and thistime they'll hunt in couples. Jack, lad, ye've got ter do a bit morefightin' ef yer want ter keep yer haar."

  "You think they will soon find us, now they know we are in the wood?"asked our hero suddenly, kneeling close
to his comrade.

  "Think!" At any other time Jack would have roared with laughing, for thelittle hunter's tones were full of indignation and contempt. "It don'twant no thinkin'. A baby could tell yer that them critters would findus, and quick, too. That ain't what's worryin'. It's the fact thatthey'll come along in a bunch, and sence there's you alone to fight,why, in course, it don't leave us a dog's chance."

  "And supposing they don't come along?" asked our hero. "Supposing theydecide to leave the matter for a while."

  "'Tain't likely. But ef they do, the end's jest the same. They'll set aclose watch right round the place, and not one of them varmint'll closean eyelid till the light comes. Droppin' asleep when he's watchin' is athing an Injun can't do. It's clean right up agin his nature."

  "Then, that being the case, we'll not wait here either for them toattack us in a bunch or for them to find us in the morning."

  Jack spoke quietly, and cautiously raised himself on to his feet. "I'mgoing to carry you to the edge of the trees, Steve," he whispered. "Itell you, if they're bound to find us in any case, so long as we staywhere we are, why, I ain't going to stay to be butchered, and I ain'tgoing to leave you, either. Just take a grip round my neck, and holdtight if we meet anything. That'll leave me with my hands free. Now."

  Steve gaped at the words, and more at the tone of them than anything.Little by little as the moments had passed he had seen something in ourhero which he had never detected before. He was wont to look upon Jackas a lad who, by accident perhaps, had been enabled to come between aband of train robbers and their victims. He did not deny that he hadshown pluck. But that this young fellow was a fire eater, that he couldon occasion become a stern, commanding man, and could coolly face adifficulty such as this one, had never occurred to him. More than that,Steve, with all his age and experience, had always been the one to leadand to guide, to give hints as to the manner of doing this, and timelywarnings and advice as to the methods to be employed in some othersudden difficulty. Now, suddenly to find the position reversed, to knowthat Jack was giving orders, and was about to act as seemed best tohimself, wholly regardless of his own inexperience, why, it took Steve'sbreath away.

  "Gee! Ef he don't beat everything!" he murmured. "He jest treats me asef I war a kid, and--and----"

  "Hold fast, and don't worry if I have to drop you suddenly. I'll standby you whatever happens. There! Up you come."

  It was all done without hesitation, and in absolute silence. No onecould have admonished Jack for lack of caution. His orders werewhispered into Steve's ear, and every movement was slow and gradual. Hestood, at length, to his full height, Steve gripping him round the neck,while with one arm he held the scout's useless legs suspended. The otherhand gripped the haft of his formidable hunting-knife. Then he began aslow and stealthy progress towards the edge of the wood.

  "Take yer time, take yer time," whispered Steve. "It would be fatal termake so much as a sound."

  Advancing inches only at a time, placing each foot cautiously in frontof the other, and carefully avoiding branches which grew in the way, ourhero at length reached the very edge of the trees. Once there he setdown his burden for a few minutes, while he lay at full length, andplacing his ear to the ground listened for sounds made by the enemy.

  "Hist! Did yer hear that?" asked Steve, when some minutes had passed."Them chaps is startin' in at the far side of the wood, and I shouldreckon as thar's a heap of 'em. Do yer hear 'em?"

  Jack fancied he had heard some sounds, but was not at all certain. Butto Steve there was not the smallest doubt.

  "They're over yonder," he whispered, a note of conviction in his voice,"and I tell yer there's a good twenty of 'em, else there wouldn't be somuch noise. It stands to reason that an Injun kin creep through a woodsame as this silenter than a snake. But ef he's got a crowd of comradeswith him, some of 'em's bound to be less careful. Yer kin take it fromme, them critters has got it fixed in their minds that we're trying tomake out over in that direction."

  "Then all the better. Let 'em continue to think that," whispered Jackhoarsely. "We ain't going in that direction, but just clear out here infront of us, and if we meet one of their men, well----"

  He came to an abrupt halt, leaving Steve to guess his meaning. But ifever determination were conveyed by the tones of a whisper, why, Jack'sshowed without a shadow of doubt that he was resolute. Indeed, those twodeath struggles in the wood had hardened him. A little while ago histhoughts had been entirely engaged with the task of escaping the enemyand rescuing his comrade. Now, however, added to that endeavour was astubborn resolution to punish these men who had wantonly attacked him.He argued that if he with a number of friends had come upon a couple ofharmless Indians, he would have shown them kindness, and would not haveinstantly sought their lives. Why, therefore, should these natives ofthe plain so diligently seek to kill him and Steve? What right had theyto interfere with them? As they had dared to do so, why, they must bemade to pay the penalty. In one brief hour, in fact, Jack, who hithertohad had no great dislike of the Indians, for the simple reason that hehad never come across them, was possessed of an intense hatred for them,a burning animosity, a desire to come to hand grips with them, and afierce determination to fight any who crossed his path. Nor in that washe different to the old hunters of the plains, men like Steve and Tom.

  "I can see what they mean now," he thought, as he and Steve lay on theoutskirts of the wood. "They've told me time and again how the peoplecrossing over to California, to the diggin's, have scoffed at all fearof Indians, have imagined that they would become friendly with themwithout meeting with unusual difficulties. But those who have lived toreach the diggings have done so with a different understanding of theIndian. They know him by then to be a fierce and relentless enemy, a manwho will butcher for the sake of butchering, and who will spare neithera sick white man nor a woman nor a child."

  "Jest listen to 'em!" suddenly whispered Steve, interrupting Jack'sthoughts. "Ef I ain't right I'll eat me boots. Them critters think we'remakin' for the far side. They heard the ruction you had with them twovarmint, and though they guess that something bad's happened to 'em,they aer wondering whether the noises ain't caused by us. Yer see, it'sright up agin Injun nature and cunnin' ter make a sound. So, ef themnoises wasn't caused by fightin', they was caused by us. Reckon a mousecouldn't get through on the far side."

  "But a man can on this. Get a grip of my neck again," commanded Jack."Now, I'm going to strike clear away into the open. If you hear or seeanything, jest give my neck a squeeze. That'll stop me, and give me awarning."

  It was lucky for our hero that he had such a crafty fellow as the littlehunter with him, even if he happened to be helpless. But for Steve Jackwould have blundered into one of the Indian sentries. As it was, Stevearrested him with a gentle squeeze of his arms within five minutes oftheir setting out.

  "S-s-sh!" he whispered. "I seed something direct ahead, standin' up aginthe white fringe of the clouds. It's an Injun, sure. He'll be shoutin'in a jiffy."

  "Then we will turn and make along till we can pass him," suggested Jack.

  "Yer might," came the cautious answer. "But I think as you'd be sartinto run up agin another of the varmint. Twenty yards is as much space asthey'd dare allow between each man on a night same as this, and ef yertried to pass between them it means you'd be within ten yards or so.That ain't enough. They'd be sartin ter spot yer. Let's lie down aspell. There ain't no sayin' what the critters aer doin'."

  Jack took his advice promptly, for there was not a doubt but that theutmost caution was necessary. Steve might or might not have seen one ofthe Indian sentries, but it would be madness to attempt a forwardmovement till they were certain that the road was clear. So for a longquarter of an hour the two lay stretched side by side, the cunninglittle hunter with his ear glued to the ground, while Jack peered intothe darkness ahead. Then, suddenly, a commotion was heard from thedirection of the wood. A shrill call awoke the echoes, while instantlyfollowing it came that well-known signal, cris
p and clearly, now fromthe centre of the wood, later from one end, and immediately afterwardsfrom the far side.

  "Them critters has lit upon the men as attacked you," said Stevehoarsely. "Reckon when the hull lot gets to know that two of their palsis dead there'll be a bit of a bother. It'll make 'em downright mad. Butthey ain't goin' ter take us, Jack. Somehow, after all that's happened,I feel as ef we was bound to come through, ef only to give me a chanceof talkin' ter the boys. But it ain't goin' ter be done easy. Ye've gotter--hist!--That 'ere chap's movin'."

  Keen and ever watchful, Steve detected a movement in front instantly,and in a moment he had gripped Jack by the arm, and was directing hisattention in that direction.

  "He's riding this way. See him? Gee! ef he ain't comin' right on top ofus."

  "Lie still. Leave him to me," said Jack, peering ahead of him. "Do youthink he'll see us easy as we lie here?"

  "Might--mightn't," came the curt answer. "Jest depends. Ef he'slistenin' to them critters over thar in the wood, why, maybe his eyes'llnot happen to spot us. But, as a gineral rule, there ain't no sayin'what an Injun won't see. A needle ain't much too small for the varmint.Ef he comes close, what'll you do?"

  "S-s-sh! He's coming quick. Lie still."

  Pressing the hunter down with one hand, Jack lay himself full length,his body squeezed as close to the ground as possible, and in thatposition he had no difficulty in detecting a figure riding towards him.The man was urging his horse on, for there came the dull sound of amoccasined heel applied to the side of the animal. And then followed themuffled thud of the footfalls. Yes, the Indian was riding in a linewhich would take him almost over the bodies of those he sought, and inthat event, even if he himself failed to detect the two figures prone inthe grass, the animal would not miss them. Jack braced himself on handsand knees, his feet drawn up beneath him as a panther gathers its limbspreparatory to a spring, and there, hardly daring to breathe, he waited,while the footfalls came nearer. A moment or two later the animal wasalmost over him. Then it suddenly drew to one side, shying sounexpectedly that the rider was almost thrown. But, gripping the saddlewith his knees, the Indian retained his seat, and at the same momentpulled at his reins, for he as yet had seen nothing. It was anopportunity not to be missed, and promptly Jack launched himself at theman. With one bound he was beside him, then, quick as lightning, hegripped him by arm and leg, and, tearing him from his seat, threw himheavily to the ground.