The Pioneer Boys of the Mississippi; or, The Homestead in the Wilderness

by St. George Rathborne

  CHAPTER XVII

  SIGNAL SHOTS

  HOW those seconds dragged, to the two impatient boys! They seemed, eachone, to be hours in length, so eager were the lads to send the warning.

  But Pat, who kept quite cool, knew what he was doing. He was also wellaware of the fact that, in their eagerness to save the others, the boyswould not take any precaution with reference to themselves; and, as aconsequence, must fall victims to the fury of the baffled savages.

  Pat's idea was to save both parties; and this was why he meant to allowa certain amount of time to elapse before informing those at the boatof the impending peril, which they could only avoid by immediate flight.

  "Come, lit us be thryin' to cross the ridge, me byes," said Pat,picking up his bundle of meat with the old-time obstinacy that wouldnot give in.

  "The ridge!" echoed Sandy, in dismay, as he fell in behind, when theyhad started.

  "Sure, we have to git beyant the same, av we hope to make the river,"the Irish trapper went on to say.

  "Then do you hope to follow up the water, and get there ahead of them?"gasped the boy, in sore distress, as he contemplated the slow progressthe limping man was making at the time.

  "I do not, be the same token," answered Pat; "but the closer we areto the river, the better for us, when we do be thryin' to work downstrame, afther warrnin' the camp, d'ye mind."

  "Oh! I see now what you mean," Sandy whispered, keeping close behindthe other. "After we've sent the signal, we must hurry as fast as wecan down the river, so as to put a lot of distance between us. Then,when the boat comes along, we have to hail them, and wade out to getaboard. Is that what you figure on, Pat?"

  "Yees have hit the tarrget in the bull's-eye, Sandy; and now, arrah,please close up shop; it do be harrd climbin' the ridge, and we nadeivery bit av breath to kerry us over the same."

  Under ordinary conditions the task would not have given them muchtrouble; but bearing such heavy burdens, and with Pat able to make suchpoor headway, it took them some little time to gain the top of theridge.

  Bob fancied that they must be about in the same spot as where they hadseen the grim line of fighting men outlined against the sky. He hopedthere would be no one below to notice their passage at the time.

  "Do we fire the shots from here!" asked Sandy.

  "Not yit," replied the trapper; "we must git down near the river first.Depind on it, there do be plenty av time yit. The hathen wud crapealong, afther gettin' above, and I'm thinkin' it might be all av halfan hour afore they could rach the camp. Long afore thin we'll have ourfrinds a-sailin' down the river as nice as pie. Lave it to me, byes,and I do promise ye all will be well."

  And so Sandy had to repress his desire to yell, or fire his gun, or dosomething rash, in the hope of sending the alarm all the way over thatmile of territory, so as to start the people on the flatboat down theriver.

  They had less trouble in descending, though Pat grunted considerablyas he frequently wrenched that lame ankle, in his efforts to walk. Theycould see the river shining in the light of the moon, when openingsoccurred in the trees. It seemed to have the appearance of an oldfriend. And how glad they would be when they glimpsed the boat movingalong with the current, and a safe distance from the dangerous shore.

  "Now, I think it be time," said Pat, presently, when they had gained aspot at least half-way down the side of the bluff.

  "Tell us what we are to do, Pat," remarked Bob, as he deposited hisshare of the venison on the ground, and took his gun in both hands.

  Sandy was already prepared to carry out his share of the programme; forhe always did things with great rapidity.

  "The arrangemint was this," said the trapper, impressively. "Threeshots, aich about five seconds afther the wan afoore. Thin wait aminute or so, till we could reload our guns, whin the same thing was tobe done agin. That winds up the performance. Are yees riddy?"

  Both boys answered in the affirmative.

  "Thin, Sandy, do ye fire first; and Bob, whin I say the worrd, lit fly.As for mesilf, I'll wind up the first relay in great style. Go it,Sandy!"

  Instantly the boy raised his gun, and pulled the trigger. There was aloud report, for those old-fashioned flint-lock muskets held a largecharge of powder, and the wad was usually well rammed before the bulletfollowed it home.

  "Now, Bob!" and hardly had the words been spoken by the trapper thanthe second report rang out.

  Sandy was already feverishly reloading, when Pat followed with a thirdshot.

  "I wonder what the Indians will think when they hear that volley?" Bobremarked.

  "It's going to puzzle them a lot to make it out," Sandy declared. "Butwhat if those at the boat shouldn't hear our signal, Pat?"

  "There do be no danger at all av that, son," replied the trapper,readily. "Becase we did not turrn up be darrk, they are likelylistenin' for signs. And, av yees notice, the night wind is crapin'up the river, comin' from the west; so that the sound av the guns waskerried straight away to the camp. Ready, Sandy? Thin let fly!"

  Once again was the programme carried out as before, the three shotspunctuating the stillness of the night.

  "And now 'tis away we go, headin' for the idge av the river," said Pat,again shouldering that prized venison, which, if once taken safely onboard the boat, would be well earned, indeed.

  They soon came to the bank of the river, and just as had been expected,found that the walking was better if they kept close to the water'sedge. In places they might have to push through some dense copse thatpersisted in growing to the water's edge; but, on the whole, it provedto be a wise move.

  Of course they headed down-stream. This was done in order to put asgreat a distance as possible between the Indians and themselves; forlater on they hoped to have an opportunity to get aboard the flatboat;and it meant a good deal to them all if the enemy at that time happenedto be some distance away.

  All the while the boys were anxiously listening for sounds from therear. Naturally they were picturing all sorts of terrible things ashappening to the crew and passengers of the floating home on the water.

  And, when suddenly a series of fierce yells broke out, Sandy and Bobstopped in their tracks, shivering with fear.

  Pat, however, only chuckled. He could read between the lines, and henceknew the true meaning of those loud cries.

  "Sure they do be as mad as a wit hin," he remarked, as a number ofgunshots came to their ears, still accompanied by those shouts.

  "Then you think our friends have escaped, do you, Pat?" inquired Sandy,eagerly.

  "I do be sure av the same," was the prompt answer.

  "But listen to the firing that is going on!" Sandy continued.

  "It is all on the wan side, I warrant ye, lad," the trapper declared,with firm conviction in his manner.

  "Yes, for I know the sound of those hateful French guns. They do notmake the same kind of report as our own weapons," Bob ventured to say."And that means the Indians are just firing away at the floating boat,to give vent to their fury because their prey has escaped."

  "What if they follow the boat down the river, and come on us when weare trying to get aboard?" his brother asked, still seeing troubleahead.

  "To be sure, there might be a chanct av the same happenin'," Patadmitted; "but we'll have to risk it, I fear, lads. Av we can only getto that point av land ye say below there, it would be a great place tostep aboord, becase the boat must pass close by it."

  "And for the same reason the Indians are likely to think of it, andhurry here, in hopes of getting the same chance," remarked Bob.

  But all the same, he knew that Pat had planned wisely. There wasreally nothing else for them to do, unless they wished to allow theboat to pass on down-stream, and wait for them far below. That wouldnecessitate the making of a temporary raft out of some big log, andfloating down to rejoin their friends.

  The lame trapper hurried as much as he could, utterly regardless of thepain the effort caused him, and in this way they presently reached thepoint of land that thru
st out into the river.

  "Perhaps they've already gone by?" suggested Sandy, when they failed tosee anything of the floating house above their hiding-place.

  "I hardly think there's been time for that," Bob replied. "The currentis only about four miles an hour, Pat told us; and, unless my figuringis wrong, it would take them nearly half an hour to get past here. Andwe have been no such time making this point; have we, Pat?"

  "'Tis right yees are, me bye," replied the trapper; and he did not saymore, for he was scanning the surface of the river as well as he wasable.

  "But it seems to me there's a river fog coming up from below," declaredSandy.

  "Yes, that's a fact," admitted Bob; "I noticed that myself; but itisn't going to be so thick we couldn't see the flatboat passinganywhere this side of the middle of the stream."

  All relapsed into silence. The deepest anxiety prevailed, for itmeant a tremendous lot to the three wanderers if they should be sounfortunate as to miss the boat, and be thrown on their own resources,with a lame comrade on their hands in the bargain.

  "Do you see anything, Bob?" whispered Sandy, presently, when thesilence began to seem unbearable.

  "I believe I do," came the reply. "There, Pat has caught it, too; forI can tell from his actions. Yes, it's a moving object away up yonder;and I do believe, Sandy, it is the boat, coming at last!"