CHAPTER NINETEEN.
THE RESCUE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
The ground in the neighbourhood of the ranch favoured the operations ofan attacking party, for it was so irregular and so cumbered with knollsand clumps of trees that the defenders of the post scarce dared to makea sally, lest their retreat should be cut off by a detached party ofassailants.
Hence Jackson would never have dreamed of quitting his house, or ceasingto act on the defensive, had he not been under the natural impressionthat it was his own returning cow-boys who had been attacked andout-numbered by the Indians. Great, therefore, was his surprise when,on rounding a bluff and coming into view of the battle-field, the partyengaged with the Indians, though evidently white men, were neither hisown men nor those of the US troops.
He had just made the discovery, when a band of about fifty warriorsburst from the woods and rushed upon him.
"Back to back, boys! girls, keep close!" shouted Jackson, as he firedtwo shots and dropped two Indians. He pulled at a third, but there wasno answering report, for the magazine of his repeater was empty.
Crux and Darvall turned their backs towards him and thus formed a sortof triangle, in the midst of which were the two girls. But thisarrangement, which might have enabled them to hold out for some time,was rendered almost abortive by the ammunition having been exhausted.
"So much for bein' in too great a hurry!" growled Jackson between hisclenched teeth, as he clubbed his rifle and made a savage blow at theIndian who first came close to him. It was evident that the Indianswere afraid to fire lest they should wound or kill the women; or,perhaps, understanding how matters stood, they wished to capture thewhite men alive, for, instead of firing at them, they circled swiftlyround, endeavouring to distract their attention so as to rash in onthem.
Bigfoot, who had recovered from his blow and escaped from the ranch,made a sudden dash at Dick when he thought him off his guard, but Dickwas not easily caught off his guard in a fight. While in the act ofmaking a furious demonstration at an Indian in front, which kept thatsavage off, he gave Bigfoot a "back-handed wipe," as he called it, whichtumbled the chief completely off his horse.
Just then a turn of affairs in favour of the whites was taking place onthe battle-field beyond. The party there had attacked the savages withsuch fury as to scatter them right and left and they were now ridingdown at racing speed on the combatants, whose fortunes we have followedthus far.
Two men rode well in advance of the party with a revolver in each hand.
"Why, it's Charlie Brooke! Hurrah!" yelled Darvall with delight.
"An' Buck Tom!" roared Jackson in amazement.
So sudden was the onset that the Indians were for a moment paralysed,and the two horsemen, firing right and left as they rode up, dashedstraight into the very midst of the savages. In a moment they werealongside of their friends, while the rest of the outlaw band werealready engaged on the outskirts of the crowd.
The very danger of the white men constituted to some extent theirsafety; for they were so outnumbered and surrounded that the Indiansseemed afraid to fire lest they should shoot each other. To add to theconfusion, another party of whites suddenly appeared on the scene andattacked the "Reds" with a wild cheer. This was Jackson's little bandof cow-boys. They numbered only eight; but the suddenness of theirappearance tended further to distract the savages.
While the noise was at its height a sound, or rather sensation, of manyfeet beating the earth was felt. Next moment a compact line was seen towheel round the bluff where the fight was going on, and a stentorian"Charge!" was uttered, as the United States cavalry, preceded by HunkyBen, bore down with irresistible impetuosity on the foe.
But the Indians did not await this onset. They turned and fled,scattering as they went, and the fight was quickly turned into a totalrout and hot pursuit, in which troopers, outlaws, travellers, ranch-men,scouts, and cow-boys joined. The cavalry, however, had ridden far andfast, so that the wiry little mustangs of the plains soon left thembehind, and the bugle ere long recalled them all.
It was found on the assembling of the forces that not one of the outlawshad returned. Whether they were bent on wreaking their vengeance stillmore fully on their foes, or had good reason for wishing to avoid ameeting with troops, was uncertain; but it was shrewdly suspected thatthe latter was the true reason.
"But you led the charge with Buck Tom, sir," said Jackson to Charlie, inconsiderable surprise, "though how you came to be in _his_ company ismore than I can understand."
"Here's somebody that can explain, maybe," said one of the cow-boys,leading forward a wounded man whose face was covered with blood, whilehe limped as if hurt in the legs. "I found him tryin' to crawl into thebrush. D'ye know him, boys?"
"Why, it's Jake the Flint!" exclaimed several voices simultaneously;while more than one hand was laid on a revolver, as if to inflictsummary punishment.
"I claim this man as my prisoner," said the commander of the troops,with a stern look that prevented any attempt at violence.
"Ay, you've got me at last," said the outlaw, with a look of scorn."You've bin a precious long time about it too."
"Secure him," said the officer, deigning no reply to these remarks.
Two troopers dismounted, and with a piece of rope began to tie theoutlaw's hands behind him.
"I arrest you also," said the commander to Charlie, who suddenly found atrooper on each side of him. These took him lightly by each arm, whilea third seized his bridle.
"Sir!" exclaimed our hero, while the blood rushed to his forehead, "I am_not_ an outlaw!"
"Excuse me," returned the officer politely, "but my duty is plain.There are a good many gentlemanly outlaws about at present. You arefound joining in fight with a notorious band. Until you can clearyourself you must consider yourself my prisoner.--Disarm and bind him."
For one moment Charlie felt an almost irresistible impulse to fell themen who held him, but fortunately the absurdity of his position forceditself on him, and he submitted, well knowing that his innocence wouldbe established immediately.
"Is not this man one of your band, Jake?" asked the officer quietly.
"Yes, he is," replied the man with a malevolent grin. "He's not longjoined. This is his first scrimmage with us."
Charlie was so thunderstruck at this speech that he was led back to theranch in a sort of dazed condition. As for Dick Darvall, he wasrendered speechless, and felt disposed to regard the whole thing as asort of dream, for his attempted explanations were totally disregarded.
Arrived at the house, Charlie and Jake were locked up in separate rooms,and sentries placed beneath their windows--this in addition to thesecurity of hand-cuffs and roped arms. Then breakfast was prepared forthe entire company, and those who had been wounded in the fight wereattended to by Hunky Ben--a self-taught surgeon--with Mary and Buttercupto act as dressers.
"I say, Jackson," observed Darvall, when the worthy ranch-man foundleisure to attend to him, "of course _you_ know that this is allnonsense--an abominable lie about my friend Brooke being an outlaw?"
"Of course I do, Dick," said Jackson, in a tone of sympathy; "an' youmay be cock-sure I'll do what I can to help 'im. But he'll have toprove himself a true man, an' there _are_ some mysteries about him thatit puzzles me to think how he'll clear 'em up."
"Mysteries?" echoed Dick.
"Ay, mysteries. I've had some talk wi' Hunky Ben, an' he's as muchpuzzled as myself, if not more."
"Well, then, I'm puzzled more than either of ye," returned Dick, "for myfriend and mate is as true a man--all straight an' aboveboard--as ever Imet with on sea or land."
"That may be, boy, but there's some mystery about him, somehow."
"Can ye explain what the mystery is, Jackson?"
"Well, this is what Hunky Ben says. He saw your friend go off the othernight alone to Traitor's Trap, following in the footsteps o' thatnotorious outlaw Buck Tom. Feelin' sure that Buck meant to waylay yourfriend, Hunky followed him up and o
vershot him to a place where hethought it likely the outlaw would lay in wait. Sure enough, when hegot there he found Buck squattin' behind a big rock. So he waited tosee what would turn up and be ready to rescue your friend. An' whatd'ye think did turn up?"
"Don' know," said Dick, with a look of solemn wonder.
"Why, when Buck stepped out an' bid him throw up his hands, your friendmerely looked at Buck and said somethin' that Hunky couldn't hear, anthen Buck dropped his pistol, and your friend got off his horse, andthey shook hands and went off as thick as thieves together. An' now, asyou've seen an' heard, your friend turns up headin' a charge of theoutlaws--an' a most notable charge it was--alongside o' Buck Tom. Jakethe Flint too claims him for a comrade. Pretty mysterious all that,ain't it?"
"May I ask," said Dick, with some scorn in his tone, "who is this HunkyBen, that his word should be considered as good as a bank-note?"
"He's the greatest scout an' the best an' truest man on the frontier,"replied Jackson.
"H'm! so Miss Mary seems to think too."
"An' Mary thinks right."
"An' who may this Jake the Flint be?" asked the sailor.
"The greatest scoundrel, cattle and horse stealer, and cut-throat on thefrontier."
"So then," rejoined Dick, with some bitterness, "it would seem that myfriend and mate is taken up for an outlaw on the word o' the twogreatest men on the frontier!"
"It looks like it, Dick, coupled, of course, wi' your friend's ownactions. But never you fear, man. There must be a mistake o' somesort, somewhere, an' it's sure to come out, for I'd as soon believe myMary to be an outlaw as your friend--though I never set eyes on himbefore the other day. The fact is, Dick, that I've learned physiognomysince--"
"Fizzi-what-umy?" interrupted Dick.
"Physiognomy--the study o' faces--since I came to live on the frontier,an' I'm pretty sure to know an honest man from a rogue as soon as I seehim an' hear him speak--though I can't always prove myself right."
Dick and his host were thus conversing, and the soldiers were regalingthemselves in the hall, the commander of the troops and Hunky Ben wereengaged in earnest conversation with Charlie Brooke, who gave an accountof himself that quite cleared up the mystery of his meeting, andafterwards being found associated with, the outlaws.
"It's a queer story," said Hunky Ben, who, besides being what hisfriends called a philosopher, was prone at times to moralise. "It's aqueer story, an' shows that a man shouldn't bounce at a conclusion tillhe's larned all the ins an' outs of a matter."
"Of course, Mr Brooke," said the officer, when Dick had finished hisnarration, "your companion knows all this and can corroborate what youhave said?"
"Not all," replied Charlie. "He is an old shipmate whom I picked up onarriving at New York, and only knows that I am in search of an oldschool-fellow who has given way to dissipation and got into troublehere. Of my private and family affairs he knows nothing."
"Well, you have cleared yourself, Mr Brooke," continued the Captain,whose name was Wilmot, "but I'm sorry to have to add that you have notcleared the character of your friend Leather, whose name has for aconsiderable time been associated with the notorious band led by yourold school-fellow Ritson, who is known in this part of the country asBuck Tom. One of the worst of this gang of highwaymen, Jake the Flint,has, as you know, fallen into my hands, and will soon receive hisdeserts as a black-hearted murderer. I have recently obtainedtrustworthy information as to the whereabouts of the gang, and I amsorry to say that I shall have to ask you to guide me to their den inTraitor's Trap."
"Is it my duty to do this?" asked Charlie, with a troubled look at theofficer.
"It is the duty of every honest man to facilitate the bringing ofcriminals to justice."
"But I have strong reason for believing that my friend Leather, althoughreckless and dissipated, joined these men unwillingly--was forced to doit in fact--and has been suffering from the result of a severe injuryever since joining, so that he has not assisted them at all in theirnefarious work. Then, as to Ritson, I am convinced that he repents ofhis course of conduct. Indeed, I know that his men have been rebelliousof late, and this very Jake has been aspiring to the leadership of thegang."
"Your feelings regarding these men may be natural," returned thecaptain, "but my duty is to use you in this matter. Believing what yousay of yourself I will treat you as a gentleman, but if you decline toguide me to the nest of this gang I must treat you still as a prisoner."
"May I have a little time to think over the matter before answering?"
"So that you may have a chance of escaping me?" replied the Captain.
"Nothing was further from my thoughts," said Charlie, with a flush ofindignation.
"I believe you, Mr Brooke," rejoined the Captain with gravity. "Let meknow any time before twelve to-day what course you deem it right totake. By noon I shall sound boot and saddle, when you will be ready tostart. Your nautical friend here may join us if he chooses."
Now, while this investigation into the affairs of one prisoner was goingon, the other prisoner, Jake, was busily employed investigating his ownaffairs with a view to escape.
How he fared in this investigation we reserve for another chapter.