CHAPTER XVIII. SOMETHING LIKE A WHITE ELEPHANT.
Only a lad, slight-limbed and slenderly framed to the eye, yet for allthat gifted with a gallant heart, else he surely must have been cowed toterror by the huge bulk of such a dire adversary at close quarters.
Instead of trying to find safety in headlong flight, the Indian stoodat bay, with both hands firmly gripping the shaft of his copper-bladedspear, at far too close quarters for employing bow and arrows, while thecopper knife in his sash was held in reserve for still closer work.
Snarling, growling, displaying its great teeth while clumsily wavingenormous paws which bore talons of more than a finger-length, thebear was balanced upon its hindquarters, evidently just ready to lurchforward with striking paws and gnashing teeth.
Its enormous weight would prove more than sufficient to end the contestere it fairly began, while a slight stroke from those taloned paws wouldboth slay and mutilate.
No one was better aware of all this than the Indian lad himself, yet hetook the initiative, swiftly darting his spear forward, lending toits keen point all the power of both arms and body. A suicidal act itcertainly appeared, yet one which could scarcely make his position moreperilous.
An awful roar burst from bruin as he felt that thrust, the blade sinkingdeep and biting shrewdly; but then he plunged forward, striking savagelyas he dropped.
The Indian strove to leap backward an instant after delivering hisstroke, but still clung to the spear-shaft. This hampered his actionto a certain degree, yet in all probability that stout ashen shaftpreserved his life, which that wound would otherwise have forfeited.
The stroke but brushed a shoulder, nor did a claw take fair effect, yetthe stripling was felled to earth as though smitten by a thunderbolt.
All this before the brothers could solve the enigma thus offered them sounexpectedly; but that fall, and the awful rage displayed by the woundedgrizzly as he briefly reared erect to grind asunder the spearshaft,decided the white lads, and, temporarily forgetting how dangerously nighwere yonder Aztecan hosts, both Bruno and Waldo opened fire with theirWinchester rifles, sending shot after shot in swift succession into thebulky brute, fairly beating him backward under their storm of lead.
Victory came right speedily, but its finale was thrilling, if not fatal,the huge beast toppling forward to drop heavily upon the young savage,just as he was recovering sufficiently from shock and surprise to begina struggle for his footing.
Firing another couple of shots while rifle-muzzle almost touched an ear,the brothers quickly turned attention towards the fallen Indian,more than half believing him a corpse, crushed out of shape upon theunderlying rocks by that enormous carcass.
Fortunately for all concerned, the young Aztec was lying in a naturaldepression between two firm rocks, and while his extrication provedto be a matter of both time and difficulty, saying nothing of mainstrength, success finally rewarded the efforts of our young Samaritans.
The grizzly was stone-dead. The Indian seemed but a trifle better,though that came through compression rather than any actual wounds fromtooth or talon. And the brothers themselves were fairly dismayed.
Not until that rescue was finally accomplished did either ladgive thought to what might follow; but now they drew back a bit,interchanging looks of puzzled doubt and worry.
"Right in it, up to our necks, old man! And we can't very well kill thecritter, can we?"
"Of course not; but it may cause us sore trouble if--"
Just then the young Aztec rallied sufficiently to move, drawing a stepnearer the brothers, right hand coming out in greeting, while left palmwas pressed close above his heart. And--still greater marvel!
"Much obliged--me, you, brother!"
If yonder bleeding grizzly had risen erect and made just such asalutation as this, it could scarcely have caused greater surprise toeither Bruno or Waldo, looking upon this being, as they quite naturallydid, in the light of a genuine "heathen," hence incapable of speakingany known tongue, much less the glorious Americanese.
True, there was a certain odd accent, a curious dwelling upon eachsyllable, but the words themselves were distinctly pronounced and beyondmisapprehension.
"Why, I took you for a howling Injun!" fairly exploded Waldo, thenstepping forward to clasp the proffered member, giving it a regular"pump-handle shake" by way of emphasis. "And here you are, slinging thepure United States around just as though it didn't cost a cent, and youheld a mortgage on the whole dictionary! Why, I can't--well, well, now!"
For once in a way the glib-tongued lad was at a loss just what to sayand how to say it. For, after all, this surely was a redskin, and theprofessor had explicitly warned them against--oh, dear!
Was it all a dizzy dream? For the Aztec drew back, speaking rapidly inan unknown tongue, then sinking to earth like one overpowered by suddenphysical weakness.
Bruno Gillespie, too, was recalling his uncle's earnest cautions, andnow took prompt action. He quickly secured the weapons which had beenscattered as the Indian fell before the grizzly's paw, then the brothersdrew a little apart to consult together.
"What'll we do about it?" whisperingly demanded Waldo, keeping a waryeye upon yonder redskin. "You tell, for blamed if I know how!"
"We daren't let him go free, else he might fetch the whole tribe uponour track," said Bruno, in the same low tones, no whit less sorelyperplexed as to their wisest course.
"No, and yet we can't very well kill him, either! If we hadn't comealong just as we did, or if--but he's a man, after all! Who could standby and see that ugly brute make a meal off even an Injun?"
Bruno cast an uneasy look around, at the same time deftly refilling thepartly exhausted magazine of his Winchester.
"Load up, Waldo. Burning powder reaches mighty far, even here in thehills; and who knows,--the whole tribe may come helter-skelter this way,to see what has broken loose! And we can't fight 'em all!"
"Not unless we just have to," agreed the younger Gillespie, placing afew shells where they would be handiest in case of another emergency."But what's the use of running, if we're to leave this fellow behind toblaze our trail? If he is our enemy--"
"No en'my; Ixtli friend,--heart-brother," eagerly vowed the youngAztec, once again startling the lads by his strange command of a foreigntongue.
He rose to his feet, though plainly suffering in some slight degree fromthat brief collision with the huge beast, and smiling frankly into firstone face, then the other, took Bruno's hand, touched it with his lips,then bowed his head and placed the whiter palm upon his now uncoveredcrown.
In like manner he saluted Waldo, after which he drew back a bit, stillsmiling genially, to add, in slowly spoken words:
"You save Ixtli. Bear kill--no; you kill--yes! Ixtli glad. Sun Childrengreat--big heart full of love. So--Ixtli never do hurt, never do wrong;die for white brother--so!"
More through gesticulation than by speech, the young Indian brave madehis sentiments clearly understood, and if they could have placed fulldependence in that pledge, the brothers would have felt vastly relievedin mind.
But they only too clearly recalled numerous instances of cunningill-faith, and, in despite of all, they could not well avoid thinkingthat this was really something like a white elephant thrown upon theirhands.
"All right. Play we swallow it all, but keep your best eye peeled, oldman," guardedly whispered Waldo. "Fetch him along, yes or no, for it maybe growing worse than dangerous right here, after so much shooting."
"You mean for us to--"
"Take the fellow along, and keep him with us, until uncle Phaeton comesback to finally decide upon his case," promptly explained Waldo. "Ofcourse we ought to've let him die; ought, but didn't! We couldn't then,wouldn't now, if it was all to do over. So watch him so closely that hecan't play tricks even if he wishes."
There was nothing better to propose, and though the job promised to bean awkward one to manage, Ixtli himself rendered it more easy.
Past all doubt he could understand, as wel
l as speak, the Englishlanguage, for he took a step in evident submission, speaking gently:
"Ixtli ready; heart-brother say where go, now."
Again the brothers felt startled by that quaintly correct accent, andalmost involuntarily Bruno spoke in turn:
"You can talk English? When did you learn? And from whom?"
A still brighter smile irradiated the Aztec's face, and turning hiseyes towards the secluded valley, he bowed his head as though in deepreverence, then softly, lovingly, almost adoringly, responded:
"SHE tell me how. Victo,--Glady, too. Ixtli know little, not much;his heart feel big for Sun Children, all time. So YOU, too, for killbear,--like dat!"
Bruno turned a bit paler than usual, catching his breath sharply, as herepeated those names:
"Victo,--Glady,--Wasn't it by those names, Victoria, Gladys, that Mr.Edgecombe called his lost ones, Waldo?"
"I can't remember; but get a move on, old man. The sooner we're backwhere uncle Phaeton left us, where we can see a bit more of what may becoming, the safer my precious scalp will feel. This Injun--"
"No scalp," quickly interposed the Aztec, with a deprecatory gesture tomatch his words. "You save Ixtli. Ixtli say no hurt white brothers. Datso,--dat sure for truth!"
Only partially satisfied by this earnest disclaimer of evil intentions,Waldo gripped an arm and hurried the Aztec along, leaving the bear whereit had fallen, intent solely upon reaching a comparatively safe outlookere worse could follow upon the heels of their latest adventure.
And Bruno brought up the rear as guard, eyes and rifle ready.
The Lost City Page 18
