Frank in the Woods

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER XVII.

  The Struggle in the Cave.

  "Me an ole Bill warn't hired to run away, an' we wouldn't need to havedone it if them ar cowards had stood up to the mark like men; but whenI seed them Injuns comin', I knowed that the game war up--it warn't nouse to fight longer. I jest ketched a glimpse of ole Bill makin' forhis hoss, an' I did the same, 'cause I knowed that he would stay aslong as there war any chance o' beatin' back the Injuns.

  "To jump on my hoss, an' cut the lasso with which he war picketed,warn't the work of a minit, an' then, clubbin' my rifle, I laid aboutme right an' left, an' my hoss, knowin' as well as I did what war thematter, carried me safely out o' the camp.

  "As I rode out on to the prairy, the Injuns started up on all sides o'me, but my hoss soon carried me out o' their reach. As soon as Ithought I war safe, I hauled up to load my rifle, an' wait for oleBill. I felt a leetle oneasy about him, 'cause, if the Comanchesshould onct get a good sight at him, they would be sartin to know whohe war, an' wouldn't spare no pains to ketch him; an' if theysucceeded, he couldn't expect nothin' but the stake.

  "Wal, arter I had loaded up my rifle, an' scraped some bullets, Istarted back toward the camp, to see if I could find any thing o'Bill; an' jest at that minit I heered a yell that made my blood runcold. By the glare o' the camp-fires, which the Comanches had startedagin, I seed the cause of the yell, for there war ole Bill on foot,an' makin' tracks for the gully, with a dozen yellin' varlets clost athis heels. In course I couldn't help the old man any; an', besides, Iknowed that they would take him alive at any risk, an' that, if I keptout o' the scrape, I might have a chance to save him. Wal, jest at theedge o' the gully he war ketched, an' arter a hard tussle--for the oleman warn't one of them kind that gives up without a fight--he warbound hand an' foot, an' carried back to the camp.

  "In course the news spread among the Comanches like lightnin', an' ithad the effect o' stoppin' the slaughterin' that war goin' on, for theInjuns all wanted to have a look at the man who had sent so many o'their best warriors to the happy huntin'-grounds.

  "Finally, some o' the varlets yelled out my name--the rest took it up,an' clouds of the warriors went scourin' through the camp an' over theprairy to find me; 'cause they knowed that whenever the ole man war tobe found, I warn't a great way off. It begun to get mighty onhealthyfor me in them diggins, so I turned my hoss, an' made tracks acrostthe prairy. I rid _some_, now, I reckon, an', in a short time, war outo' hearin' o' the yells o' the savages.

  "As soon as I thought I war safe, I camped down on the prairy, an',with my hoss for a sentinel, slept soundly until mornin'. I thenstarted for the camp, or, rather, the place where the camp had been,for when I got there, I found nothin' but its ruins. The Injuns hadburned every thing they did not want or could not carry away, an'made off with their prisoners. Their trail war plain enough, an' I toonct commenced follerin' it up, determined that I would either saveole Bill or die with him; an', on the fourth day, durin' which time Ihad lived on some parched corn I happened to have in the pockets o' myhuntin'-shirt, an' war in constant danger of being ketched bystragglers, I seed the Injuns enter their camp. In course there war abig rejoicin' over the prisoners an' plunder they had brought in, an'it war kept up until long arter dark.

  "The camp, which numbered 'bout fifty lodges, war pitched in a smallprairy, surrounded on three sides by the woods. The nearest I couldget to it without bein' diskivered war half a mile; an' here I tied myhoss in the edge o' the woods, an' lay down to sleep.

  "'Arly the next mornin' I war aroused by a yellin' and the noise o'drums, an' found the hull camp in motion. Near the middle o' thevillage war a small clear spot, where the prisoners war stationed.They war not bound, but a single glance at a dozen armed warriors, whostood at a little distance, showed that escape warn't a thing to bethought of. All except two o' the prisoners sot on the ground, withtheir heads on their hands, as if they wished to shut out all sightsan' sounds o' what war going on around 'em. The two who were standin'seemed to take matters more easy. They stood leanin' against a postwith their arms folded, an' watched the motions o' the Injuns asthough they war used to sich sights. One o' these I picked out as oleBill, but, in course, I couldn't tell sartin which one war him, it warso far off.

  "A little way from the prisoners were the principal chiefs o' thetribe, holdin' a palaver regardin' what should be done, an' a littlefurther off stood the rest o' the tribe--men, women, an'children--waitin' the word to begin their horrid work.

  "It war nigh noon afore the council broke up; then one o' the chiefscommenced shoutin' some orders, an' one o' the prisoners was led outo' the camp by two Injuns, while the rest o' the varlets set up ayell, an' armin' themselves with whatever they could lay their handson, commenced formin' themselves in two lines; the prisoner, whoeverhe was, must run the gauntlet. While the savages war fixin'themselves, the white chap stood between the Injuns who had led himout, watchin' what war goin' on, an' I could easy tell what he warthinkin' of, 'cause I had been in sich scrapes myself. I knowed that,as he looked through them long lines o' screechin' Injuns, an' seedthe tomahawks, clubs, knives, an' whips, all ready to give him a cutas he passed, he thought of every thing he had done durin' his life.But he warn't given much time for thinkin', for, purty quick, thechief set up a yell to let the prisoner know that the time had come.The chap didn't hesitate a minit, but jumped from the place where hewar standin', like a streak o' lightnin'. I see him disappear atweenthe lines, and made up my mind that that chap war a goner, when, allto onct, out he come, all right, and made toward the place where I warstandin'. I guess them Injuns never see any thing done quite so purtyafore, an' I knowed well enough now who the fellow war, 'cause therewarn't but one man livin' that could come through them lines in thatway, an' that war Bill Lawson. In course, the hull tribe, yellin' an'screechin' like a pack o' wolves, war arter him in less nor the shakeof a buck's tail, and tomahawks, bullets, an' arrers whizzed by theprisoner in a mighty onpleasant kind o' way; but Bill kept jumpin'from one side to the other in a way that made him a mighty onhandymark to shoot at, an' the way he did climb over that prairy wassomethin' for owls to look at. But, fast as he run, I could see thatthere war one Injun gainin' on him, an' I made up my mind that if theole man could hold out long enough to fetch him within pluggin'distance o' my shootin'-iron, I would put an end to his jumpin' forawhile. Nearer an' nearer they come, the Injun all the while gainin'purty fast, an' when they got within 'bout forty rod o' me, I couldsee that the varlet war gettin' ready to throw his tomahawk. I watchedhim until he raised his arm, an' sent a bullet plumb atween his eyes.The next minit the ole man jumped into the bushes.

  "There warn't no time for talkin' or sayin' how de do?' for the resto' the Injuns war comin' up, an' we must put a good stretch o' prairyatween us an' them afore we war safe.

  "'Bill, says I, there's my hoss. I'm younger nor you be, so jump onhim, and be off in a hurry; I'll meet you at the ole bar's hole,Good-by.'

  "I didn't wait to give the ole man a chance to say a word, 'cause Iknowed that he didn't like to take that hoss; but I made off throughthe bushes. Ole Bill seed that I war gone, an' jumpin' on the hoss, herode out on the prairy in plain sight, to get the Comanches to follerhim, which some of 'em did; but the ole braves, who had heered myshot, an', in course, knowed that there war more'n one feller 'bout,couldn't be fooled easy, an' thinkin' they could ketch a man on footsooner nor a man on hossback, they kept on arter me. But I war freshfor a long run--a week's travelin' acrost the prairy on foot warn't nonew thing for me--an' as I never see the Injun yet that could beat mein a fair race, I felt safe, an' knowed that I should come out allright. I didn't waste time in tryin' to throw 'em off my trail, butkept straight ahead at a steady pace, an' whenever an Injun come insight, me an' my rifle settled things with him in a tarnal hurry. Thismade 'em kind o' keerful, an' afore sundown I war out o' hearin o'their yells, an' a greenhorn wouldn't have thought that there war anInjun in them woods. But I war too ole a coon to believe that they hadgive up
the chase, an' it warn't until the next mornin' that I campedto take a leetle sleep, an' eat a squirrel I had shot.

  "Wal, I traveled for 'bout ten days, durin' which time I didn't see abit o' Injun sign, an' finally found myself gettin' purty nigh the olebar's hole. As soon as I come to the woods that run down from themountain, I tuk to a creek that run clost by the cave, an' walkedalong in the water, all the while keepin' a good look-out for Injunsign an' for ole Bill. Arter I had gone 'bout a mile, I come to themouth o' the cave. It war a hole jest large enough for a man tosqueeze himself through, an' so covered up with bushes that a fellermight hunt a week without findin' it. The cave itself war 'bout aslarge as this yere cabin; an' right acrost from the entrance war apassage which led up to the top o' the hill. Me an' ole Bill had madethis ourselves, so that, in case our harborin' place should bediskivered, we would have a chance for escape.

  "When I come to the cave it war purty dark; so, arter listenin' awhilefor signs of Injuns, if there war any around, I crawled along into thehole, which war, in course, as dark as pitch, an' commenced fumblin'around for a torch that I had left stuck into the wall o' the cave,all ready to be lighted. Arter searchin' 'bout for a long time I foundit--not where I had left it, but lyin' on the ground in the middle o'the cave. This seemed suspicious, an' I begun to be afraid thatsomething war wrong. I hadn't seed no Injun sign near the cave,neither had I seed any thing of ole Bill, an' I knowed that that torchcouldn't get moved clear acrost that cave without somebody had beenfoolin' with it. I reckon my hand war none o' the steadiest, as Ilifted the torch an' commenced feelin' in my possible-sack for myflint an' steel, thinkin' that as soon as I could strike a light, Iwould jest examine into things a leetle.

  "Wal, I hadn't made more 'n one blow at my flint, when the cave echoedwith the war-whoop, an' the next minit I found myself lyin' flat on myback, with a big Comanche on top o' me.

  "When I first heered the yell, I thought the cave war full of Injuns,an' I'll allow it made me feel a heap easier when I found that thefeller that clinched me war alone, for I knowed that if any one Injuncould master my scalp, he must be a tarnal sight smarter nor anyred-skin I had ever met; an', without waitin' to ask no questions, Imade a grab at the varmint, an', by good luck, ketched the hand thatheld his knife; an' then commenced one o' the liveliest little fightsI war ever in.

  "The Injun war mighty strong, an' as wiry as an eel, an', although Icould keep him from usin' his knife, I could not get him off me,neither could I get my left arm free, which, in fallin', he had pinnedto my side; but I kept thrashin' about in a way that made it mightyonhandy for him to hold me. But findin' that I could do nothin' inthat way, I all to onct let go the hand that held the knife, an' givehim a clip 'side the head that would have knocked down a buck. Itkinder staggered his daylight some, I reckon', for I made out to getmy arm free, an', ketchin' the varlet by the scalp-lock, I had him onhis back in a minit. He yelled an' kicked wusser nor I I did when hehad me down, an' slashed right an' left with his scalpin'-knife; butit didn't take long to settle matters, an' all fears that ourharborin' place had been broke up war put at rest by the death o' theComanche."