CHAPTER XXIV.
THE SKIRMISH IN THE BRUSH.
Up to the time the panther had turned upon him, the young officer hadthought but little of his own safety, being concerned chiefly aboutCarwell, who was flat on his back, and who looked as if he as going tobe chewed up by this wild, lean, and hungry beast of the forest.
But now Captain Moore found himself attacked, and as he went over intothe brook he realized that he was in the most perilous position he hadyet encountered. Facing Indians and desperadoes was nothing compared tofacing this beast, that seemed bent upon his destruction.
The spot where the young officer struck the brook was five or six feetdeep, and as the panther came down on top of him he went straight to thebottom.
The beast was also submerged, but not for long. Panthers, although theycan swim, do not like the water, and this one lost no time in coming tothe surface to get air. Then it let out another scream of pain, whilethe bullet wound in its side dyed the brook red.
As the panther came up the young captain tried to do the same. But thefirst thing he encountered was the beast's fierce claws, and he receiveda deep and painful scratch in his left shoulder. Then he went downagain, and tried to come up further down the stream. But unfortunatelythe panther moved in the same direction.
In the meantime the other soldiers came up to the edge of the brook.They realized their captain's peril, and as soon as the panther showeditself two of them blazed away, one hitting the beast in the back andthe other landing a bullet in the panther's neck.
The fury of the animal was now intense, and whirling around it lashedthe water of the brook into a perfect foam. Then it leaped for theopposite shore, and made a break for the underbrush. Before anybodycould fire again it was gone.
When Captain Moore regained the surface of the brook willing handshelped him out.
"Hurt?" questioned Peck anxiously.
"A little--on the shoulder," was the answer, with a gasp. "Where is thebeast?"
"Got away in yonder bushes, sir. That's a nasty dig. You had better letme bind it up."
"Carwell, how are you?"
"The beast nipped me in the arm," answered the private, trying tosuppress a groan. "By George, but he was an ugly one!"
"That's right," put in another soldier. "You can be thankful you wasn'tchewed up."
A brief search revealed the fact that the panther had left the vicinity,and then the others set to work to bind up the wounds the captain andCarwell had sustained.
"We had better move on now," said the young officer, when the hurts hadbeen attended to. "If there are Indians or desperadoes around they mustcertainly have heard those shots, and they will be wondering what theymean."
They marched on in the gloom, and did not halt until the sun was showingitself over the hills to the eastward. They had now gained a rise ofground from which with a field-glass the fort might have been seen. Butthe young captain's glass was gone--confiscated, as already told, bythose who had first attacked him.
"We will draw closer with caution," said the young officer. "We don'twant to walk into any trap."
Less than a mile was covered, when Peck, who had been sent out inadvance, came back and called for silence.
"Some Indians are ahead," he said.
"How many of them?" questioned Captain Moore.
"Not less than a dozen or fifteen, captain. I counted eleven, and heardsome talking that I couldn't see."
"Where are they?"
"Down behind where the brook flows over those sawtooth rocks. We wereout there fishing last summer."
"I know the spot you mean. What are the redskins doing?"
"Nothing in particular. I overheard one say to another that he expectedWhite Ox along before sundown."
"They must be an advance guard of the tribe, then," returned the youngofficer thoughtfully. "Did any of them see you?"
"I don't think they did."
But in this Peck was mistaken, for scarcely had the soldiers started towalk around the spot where the Indians were encamped, when a savagewar-whoop rang out, followed by half a dozen shots.
The first round was a deadly one, killing two of the men and woundingPeck in the side. A bullet likewise grazed Captain Moore's shoulder.
"To cover!" shouted the young officer, as soon as he could speak. "TheIndians are on us!"
He had a gun in his hand, and as he gave the command he leveled it atthe leader of the party, he who had killed one of the soldiers. CaptainMoore's aim was true, and the Indian fell lifeless over the very body ofthe man he had slain.
By this time the other Indians were coming up, and all the soldierscould do was to take to the nearest cover, as the captain had ordered.The warwhoops continued, and shots were fired from several directions.
Scarcely knowing whether he was hit or not, Captain Moore dashed intothe midst of some brushwood, and not far away from him came Peck. Thelatter had broken his rifle over the head of one of the red men, and nowadvanced with the hunting-knife which was still in his possession. Theyoung captain held a rifle, but just now had no time in which to reloadthe weapon.
"They are after us hot-like!" cried Peck, after several hundred feet hadbeen covered.
The private's breath came short and sharp, and now for the first CaptainMoore saw how he was suffering.
"You are wounded, Peck."
"That's right, captain."
"You can't run any more."
"I've got to run," muttered Peck, between his set teeth. "They'll beon--oh!--on us in another minute."
"Give me your arm--I'll help you along."
The private held out his hand, then gave a pitch, and, before the youngofficer could catch him, sank on the grass insensible.
Captain Moore's heart leaped into his throat, for he had known Peck foryears, and the two were very friendly. He listened, and heard a distantshot. Evidently the Indians were not yet coming in that direction. Theywould first hunt down the others, providing they were not already slain.
Bending down, the young officer took Peck in his strong arms and threwthe private over his shoulder. The weight was considerable, and made himstagger.
"I've got to carry him, somehow!" he muttered. "Heaven give me strengthto do it!"
The brushwood was thick ahead, but there was a sort of trail, made bywild animals, and he pursued this until he came to a brook. Then to keepthe Indians from following them, should they come in that direction, hefollowed the brook for a hundred yards or more. At last he reached apoint where the banks of the brook were rocky, and here he came out, andcrawled over the rocks. Not far off was an opening between two largebowlders, and here he sank down, too exhausted to take another step.
It was half an hour before Peck came to his senses. In the meantime thecaptain had obtained some water, washed the private's wound and bound itup in bandages torn from his shirt. The loss of blood had made Pecklight-headed.
"Keep them off!" he murmured. "Keep them off! They want to bore a holein my side. Keep them off!"
"Be quiet, Peck, you are safe," answered the young captain soothingly."You've been wounded, that's the trouble," but the private continued torave for some time, when he relaxed into a stupor.
With strained ears Captain Moore waited for the appearance of friends orenemies, but nobody came up the brook. Once he heard two shots far tothe northward, but whether fired by the soldiers or the Indians he couldnot tell.
"I'm afraid it's been a regular slaughter," he mused sadly. "And ourgetting away was a miracle," and this surmise proved correct, for, aswas afterward proven, all the others of the party were slain within anhour after the surprise occurred.