CHAPTER XII.
ADAM BESIEGED.
For a quarter of an hour after Frank left him, Adam workedindustriously, collecting a supply of wood for the fire, which he piledat the entrance to the passage-way. The next thing to be done was toascertain whether or not the cave was a safe place for them to campduring the night. One enemy had been dislodged by the smoke, but theremight be others in there for all he knew. The only way to find out wasto go in and see; and this Adam prepared to do.
Having satisfied himself that his knife and hatchet were safe in hisbelt, he grasped a lighted pine-knot in one hand to serve as a torch,and holding in the other the bow, and half a dozen arrows which he hadselected from the quiver, he crawled down into the passage-way. Thethought that he was about to enter the cave which, but a few minutesbefore, had been the home of a panther, made him tremble so violentlythat the torch shook in his hand. He worked his way along very slowlyand cautiously, stopping every few feet to examine the ground beforehim, and finally reached the foot of the passage-way without havingdiscovered any thing at which to be alarmed. There was the panther's bedon the withered hemlock boughs which, in days gone by, had served Dickand Bill Lawson for a couch; but the panther himself was gone. The caveappeared to be empty, but it was not so in reality. Had Adam raised historch above his head and examined the sides of the cavern closely, hewould have discovered something crouching behind a projecting rock,about ten feet above the floor of the cave, and might have seen the eyeswhich glared down at him through the darkness.
"This will do nicely," said Adam to himself. "There is a little too muchsmoke in here just now for comfort, but that will soon pass out. If theoutlaws track us here, and come in at one of the passage-ways, we cango out at the other; and if they surround us, so that we can't get outat all, we can climb up the sides of the cave and hide among thoserocks."
So saying, Adam began making preparations for the night. He threw downhis weapons, stuck his torch into the ground, and ascended out of thecave to bring down the wood which he had collected. In a few minutes afire was blazing brightly in the center of the Old Bear's Hole (thepassage that led to the top of the hill answered all the purposes of achimney), a quantity of wood sufficient to keep it burning all night waspiled in one corner, and Adam sat on the hemlock boughs whittling outsome spits on which to cook the supper when Frank brought it in. Allthis while that dark object behind the rocks had been looking down athim, closely watching every move he made.
When the spits were finished, Adam went out of the cave to look forFrank. He began to think that if the big-horns were as plenty aboutthere as his friend had represented them to be, he was a long time infinding one. His impatience soon gave way to anxiety; and when at lastit grew quite dark, and Frank did not make his appearance, he becamealarmed. He could not go out to look for him, for he did not know thedirection in which he had gone; and, besides, he might get bewildered inthe darkness, and be unable to find his way back to the cave. For twohours he kept watch at the top of the hill--as Dick, years before, hadkept watch for the return of Bill Lawson--listening in vain for thesound of Frank's footsteps, and then he reluctantly came to theconclusion that he was destined to pass the night alone and supperless.He did not mind the loss of his supper so much, but he knew he would belonesome down there in that gloomy cavern, with no one to talk to. Hefelt the need of companionship; and, more than that, he was harassed bythe fear that Frank had fallen into some danger.
"There is but one thing that I can do," he soliloquized, "and that is towait until daylight and follow his trail. I'll never make another steptoward Fort Benton until I know what has become of him. It would be acowardly piece of business in me to desert him, after what he has donefor me."
Adam's first care was to make his camp secure against any visitors hemight chance to have during the night. The bright fire which was burningin the cave, and which shone out at the mouth of the passage-way,lighting up the bushes all around, was just the thing to keep offfour-footed enemies, but it might serve to guide the outlaws, whom hefeared more than bears or panthers, to his place of retreat. The lightmust be covered; and that could be easily done, for there was the logwhich the trappers had more than once used to conceal this entrance tothe Old Bear's Hole. Adam rolled it close to the opening, and, afterlistening again to make sure that Frank was not approaching, he backeddown into the passage-way and pulled the log over it, leaving only asmall opening for the passage of smoke.
For the next half hour Adam was miserable enough. He lay upon theboughs, gazing into the fire and thinking over his adventures, now andthen raising his head to listen for Frank's footsteps--once or twicealmost certain that he heard his voice--and finally he fell into anuneasy slumber. When he awoke, it was with a start and a presentimentof evil. He knew he heard a voice now, but it was not Frank's voice.Starting up in alarm, he grasped the bow which lay close at his side,and looked up the passage-way in the direction from which the voicecame. A cold sweat started out all over him, and he trembled in everylimb when he saw that the log which he had placed over the opening hadbeen removed, and that two men were leaning over it, peering down intothe cave. The fire had burned out, leaving only a bed of smolderingcoals; consequently it was dark in the Old Bear's Hole, and Adam wassure the men could not see him, although he could observe every movethey made, and could even distinguish their features. The men were BlackBill and his friends.
"Wal, I reckon we've run yer cubs to earth at last," said a gruff voice."They're thar easy enough, 'cause I can see a fire an' smell smoke."
"Yes," assented Black Bill, "they're thar, an' we'll jest go down an'fetch 'em out."
"Mebbe it aint them at all," said another of the outlaws. "P'raps it'sDick Lewis and Bob Kelly."
"No, I reckon it aint nobody but the boys," replied Black Bill. "Haintwe follered their trail all the way, an' did we see any signs of Dickand Bob? Say, you, Adam, an' you other feller!" he shouted, "we've gotyou, an' you can jest give up without any fussin' or foolin'. Hear me,don't you?"
Adam did hear him. He thought he could have heard that stentorian voicevery distinctly if he had been half a mile distant; but he did not makeany reply. He was well satisfied of one thing, and that was that BlackBill, boldly as he spoke, was in no hurry to enter the cave. The lattercould not forget that the boys had possession of his rifle andammunition; and, from what he had seen of them, he did not think itlikely that they would hesitate to use the weapon in an emergency. Thisview of the case was confirmed by the next words the outlaw uttered.
"You needn't keep so still down thar!" he shouted. "We've got you fastenough, an' if you don't hand up that rifle an' come up out o' that,it'll be wuss fur you."
If the outlaws had known that Adam was alone in the cave, and that therifle they so much dreaded was a long way from there, they would nothave spent many minutes in settling matters. They waited and listenedfor a reply, and then Adam saw Black Bill's burly form darken theopening. He was tired of waiting for Adam; and since the latter wouldnot come up, he had decided to go down after him. The boy saw that itwas high time he was doing something.
"Hallo, up there!" he exclaimed, as if he had just awakened from a soundsleep; "who's that? Frank, Dick, Bob, wake up! There's somebody comingdown the passage-way."
By the time these words were spoken, there was no one in thepassage-way, or even in sight. Black Bill had crawled back to the top ofthe hill with all possible speed. He believed now that his man was rightin his conjectures--that the trappers, of whom he stood so much in fear,were in the cave with the boys, and that it would not be quite safe forhim to go among them. He said nothing until he had rolled the log overthe opening, thus putting it out of the power of his enemies to ascendout of the cave to attack him, even should they feel so disposed, andthen he exclaimed, in an exultant tone:
"We've got you all jest where we want you. It wont take us long tosettle up our accounts. Thar won't be enough of you left to go onanother tradin' expedition by the time we are done with you."
; During the next ten minutes Adam sat on his bed of boughs, listeningintently, and wondering what would come next. The outlaws were holding aconsultation. He could hear them conversing in low tones, but could notunderstand what they said. After a long and earnest debate, they seemedto have come to some decision, for the sound of their voices ceased, andAdam heard them moving down the hill. The next sound that reached hisears came through the lower passage-way--a rustling sound, as if someone was crawling toward the cave; but Adam knew it was not that. He waswell aware that the outlaws could not be induced to enter the Old Bear'sHole as long as they supposed that Dick and Bob were there, for therewas not one among them who was brave enough to meet either of thetrappers in a fair contest. They had determined to compel them to comeout of their hiding-place, so that they could overpower them by theirsuperior numbers. In order to accomplish this, they adopted the sameplan to which the boys had resorted to drive out the panther. But Adamwas not a wild animal, to be frightened out of his snug harboring-placeby a little smoke. He thought he knew how to beat the outlaws at theirown game; and, while they were employed in filling the passage-way withleaves and pine-knots, he went to work to stop the draft so that thefire would not burn. The lower passage-way, where it entered the cave,was about two feet square; and it was a matter of but little difficultyfor him to close the opening by cramming the hemlock boughs into it.When the work was done, he surveyed it with a smile of satisfaction, andtold himself that the outlaws would have a fine time smoking him out.
Having finished the task of blocking up the passage-way, Adam spread hishunting-shirt upon the ground, and began cutting the garment intostrips with his knife. The pieces, when tied together, formed a ropeabout fifteen feet in length; and in one end of it was a running noose.Adam then threw a pine-knot upon the fire, and when it blazed up so thathe could distinguish objects in the cave, he coiled the rope in hishand, and, after one or two failures, succeeded in throwing the noosearound a projecting point of rock about ten feet above his head. As thenoose settled down over the rock, something glided from behind it, andstole noiselessly up the side of the cave; but Adam did not see it. Itwas dark up there, and he was too deeply interested in his work tonotice any thing. In order to make sure that the rope was strong enoughto sustain his weight, he ascended it hand-over-hand, and climbed uponthe rock.
"This is just the place," said he, to himself. "Black Bill will not belong in finding out that I am alone here, and then, of course, he willcome in. I can't whip him and his three mates, so when I see him coming,I will climb up the rope, and hide behind this rock. He'll neverdiscover me, unless he comes up here; and if he tries that I'll beginto fight. I'll show him that he's got a nephew who isn't afraid of him,if he is an outlaw and a desperado."
Adam slid down the rope again, and busied himself in collecting hisweapons, and getting every thing in readiness, so that when the timecame for him to retreat, he could ascend to his hiding-place without aninstant's delay. Then, for the first time, he discovered that Frank hadgone off without any ammunition for his rifle. The powder-horn andbullet-pouch were still hanging over his shoulder, where they had beenever since he and Frank escaped from the outlaws. How careless they hadboth been! What a reckless piece of business it was for a hunter to gooff alone in the mountains, with only one load in his rifle! Frank mighthave run into some danger from which a single extra charge of powderwould have saved him. But no amount of regrets could now place theammunition in his friend's hands; and after a few seconds reflection,Adam thought that perhaps what had been Frank's loss might be hisgain--that the powder, at least, might be made to serve him a goodturn. An idea came into his head, and no sooner was it conceived than heset about putting it into execution. Stepping to the place where theupper passage-way opened into the cave, he pulled the stopper from thepowder-horn, and poured nearly all its contents in a pile upon therocks. With that which was left in the horn, he laid a train from thepile to the middle of the cave. When he had done this, he felt greatlyencouraged. He believed that if he had a few more pounds of powder, anda supply of provisions and water, he could hold the Old Bear's Holeagainst all the enemies Black Bill could bring against it.
While Adam was thus employed on the inside of the cave, the outlaws wereequally busy on the outside. They had filled the passage-way withleaves, and after a fire had been started in them, Black Bill and two ofhis men went up the hill to tell the occupants of the cave what they haddone, and to demand their surrender. The outlaws had left some one atthe upper passage-way to watch it during their absence. It was the BlackFox, who, shortly after his fight with Frank, had found and joinedBlack Bill's party. He had a piece of news to communicate to theoutlaws, and that was that Adam was alone in the cave. He had kept aclose watch down the passage-way, and had seen Adam moving about--it wasso dark that he could not tell what he was doing--and he had seen no oneelse. He did not believe that Dick and Bob were down there, and, afterBlack Bill had listened to his story, he did not believe it either. Withangry haste he pulled away the log which he had rolled over the mouth ofthe passage-way, and shouted:
"You Adam Brent! You can't fool me no longer. I know jest how the matterstands; you're alone down thar. Pass up that rifle an' come out, or I'llbe down arter you."
Adam, as before, had nothing to say until the outlaw, enraged at hissilence, began making preparations to descend into the cave; and then hecalled out:
"Black Bill, can you hear what I say?"
"Do you hear what _I_ say?" asked the outlaw, in reply. "Come up out o'that."
"Listen to me," said Adam. "We are not going up there----"
"_We!_" interrupted the outlaw; "thar aint nobody down thar but you. IfDick an' Bob are in the cave, why don't they speak?"
"Their rifles will speak sooner than you care to hear them. We are allready for you, and the first man who comes down here will be blown inpieces. We've got something that you don't know any thing about."
Adam knew, by the silence which followed, that his words had not beenwithout their effect upon the outlaws. They were cowards at heart, andthey dreaded to face an unknown danger. They talked together in a lowtone for a few minutes, and then Black Bill began to descend into thecave, his actions indicating that he was thoroughly in earnest thistime, and that there was to be no backing out, no matter what perils hemight encounter.
"Stop!" shouted Adam, who plainly saw that something was going tohappen. He was standing near the fire, holding in his hand one of thespits on which he had intended to cook his supper. He was ready to putit to a different use now, for one end of it was blazing, and he stoodwithin reach of the train of powder. "Stop!" he repeated, in a stilllouder tone. "I am not going to be captured again, and I give you fairwarning that, if you come into this cave, I will blow you up. Don't comea step nearer."
Black Bill was too angry to heed the warning. He growled out a savagereply, and came on down the passage-way, followed by both hiscompanions. It required the exercise of all the courage Adam possessedto stand there and await their approach, but he did it; and when BlackBill was directly over the pile of powder, he threw his burning spitupon the train. There was a quick flash which lighted up the interior ofthe Old Bear's Hole as bright as noon-day, and a great volume of smokearose and filled the cavern. For an instant there was silence in thecave; then a frightful yell rang through the passage-way, followed by avolley of oaths, and threats of vengeance that made Adam's blood runcold. He had all the while been aware that the powder was not sufficientin quantity to do the outlaws any great damage. He had hoped that itwould frighten them, but it had a directly opposite effect. They werealmost beside themselves with rage now, especially Black Bill, who hadsuffered more severely than either of his companions. When he came intothe cave he carried his knife in his hand, and was in just the humor touse it upon something.
"Start up this fire, one of you, an' give us a light here," said he, ina voice choked with passion. "Jack, watch that hole, an' be sure that hedon't slip by you."
The smoke which filled th
e cave soon passed out; and when the wood,which had been thrown upon the fire, blazed up so that the outlaws coulddistinguish objects about them, they were not a little amazed to findthat the Old Bear's Hole was empty. Their plucky enemy, who, alone andunaided, had held them at bay for more than an hour, had disappeared.Adam was where he could see them, however, and he took particular noticeof the outlaws' faces. Black Bill's eye-brows had disappearedaltogether, and so had his whiskers and moustache. His 'coon-skin capand hunting-shirt were badly burned, and his face was blacker than everfrom the effects of the powder. His two companions had also sufferedseverely, and Adam did not wonder that they were angry.
"Where is he?" exclaimed Black Bill, in great perplexity. "He couldn'thave gone out through this other hole, 'cause it's stopped up. Ah! I seewhere he is. Come down out o' that."
The outlaw was looking straight at the bowlder behind which Adam wasconcealed; but the latter, knowing that he had not discovered him, keptperfectly quiet. He had made up his mind to fight in earnest now, andwas ready to give his enemies a warm reception, if they attempted todrag him from his hiding-place.
"I haint agoin' to waste no more words with you," said Black Bill,savagely. "I'll snake you down from thar, an' split your wizzen fur you;that's what I'll do."
The outlaw placed his knife between his teeth, and snatching one of thepine knots from the fire, began the ascent of the rocks. As they werealmost perpendicular, that was a task of some difficulty; but, with theassistance of his men, he was at last able to grasp the bowlder, anddraw himself up until he could look over it. Adam was there. He waslying flat on his back with his bow drawn, and the moment the outlaw'shead appeared in view, he discharged an arrow at him. The missile passedthrough his cap, and sent it whirling to the floor.
"Here you are!" shouted Black Bill. "You'll never have a chance to drawan arrer or any thing else on me agin."
Adam knew by the expression he saw on the outlaw's face, that he hadsomething worse than captivity to fear now. His enemy swung himself overthe bowlder, and was on the point of springing down upon the boy, whenhis movements were arrested by a savage growl which seemed to come fromthe rocks directly over his head. The next instant a dark object boundedthrough the air, and alighting on Black Bill's shoulders, fastened itsteeth in his throat, and fell with him headlong to the ground. Adam sawit as it passed over him, and knew that it was a panther--the mate tothe one he had smoked out of the cave.