*CHAPTER XXIII*
*The Tiger's Lair*
A Tramp by Night--A Distant View--Across the Ravine--The Cleft in theGully--Scouting--Light and Shadow--Baffled--An Inspiration
Bob and his men still crouched behind their fallen log. Here indeed hadbeen an expressive object-lesson in the methods of the Mountain Tiger.The sight of the dead man gave Bob a sickening sense of horror. Had hisfriend Kobo suffered a similar, perhaps a worse fate? Or was he stillalive, with a more awful fate in store? As these questions suggestedthemselves Bob felt his courage renewed, his determination strengthened.Be the issue what it might, for Kobo he must and would dare all.
The eight men left by Chang-Wo had evidently been ordered to continuethe search. They spread out fan-wise, and began to ride slowly in thedirection in which the three fugitives had been last seen to be going.Bob watched them anxiously. Fortunately they spread from a point almostopposite to the hidden three. It did not occur to them that thefugitives had made a circuit, doubling on their tracks. They tried tofind traces of footsteps on the ground, and drew gradually farther awayfrom the hiding-place. As soon as the last of them had disappeared, Bobscrambled down to the path, followed by his men. He shuddered as hepassed the dead Manchu; Sing-Cheng with no compunction stooped andrifled his clothes; then all three set off in the direction Chang-Wo hadtaken: there would be less danger in following him. Thus, keeping asharp look-out, they retraced their steps for nearly two miles. Then,noting a patch of scrub on the left which offered a resting-placesufficiently secure from observation, Bob plunged into it, found itdeeper than it had appeared, and decided to remain there for the rest ofthe day.
Night fell; the sky was clear and starlit, and taking the stars as theirguide the party of three resumed their journey, following a course duesouth. All through the night they marched, eyes and ears alert, butseeing nothing save rocks and trees and their grim shadows, hearingnothing but the faint calls of wild beasts. At daybreak they were deadbeat; their journey had been arduous, and they knew not whither theirpath would lead. Even Sing-Cheng was unfamiliar with this region.
At dawn they found themselves nearly at the top of a range of hills,which the chief recognized as being near the large village mentioned inthe inn. It was wild desolate country; there were occasional patches ofgrass among the hills; on sheltered slopes mountain trees grew inclumps; but in those latitudes the signs of spring appear late, and theprospect had all the bleak dreariness of winter. Choosing a spotdefended from the cutting morning wind by a wall of rock, they snatcheda few hours' sleep, taking it in turns to keep guard; then after a mealthey pressed on again, bearing to the east with the object of comingupon the fort from the side of the ravine. Bob hoped that Sing-Chengcould have led him direct to this spot, but when Ah-Sam asked him theChunchuse said that he had never approached the place from this quarter,and could only guess at its whereabouts.
By and by they came to a stream of some size, flowing north and south.Bob guessed that this must be the stream that ran through the ravine; itgave him hope that he was on the right track. He looked along thesurface of the water for the roughness that would indicate a ford. Atthat spot they crossed, tying themselves together with the straps oftheir baskets to prevent themselves from being swept away by the rapidcurrent. Having crossed, they pushed on without a halt, up the leftbank, and arrived somewhat late in the afternoon at an elevated spot,where they came suddenly in sight of the fort, a mile or more belowthem.
Sing-Cheng's eyes gleamed as he saw the stronghold of his enemy. Hestretched his right arm towards the place and began to speak excitedly.Bob pulled him behind a rock. It was not unlikely that Chang-Wo amonghis many precautions had set a sentry to watch this part of thesurroundings of the fort, even though the ravine rendered itunassailable from this direction.
Keeping well in cover, Bob himself took a long look at the strongholdthat was now more important to him than anything else in the world.What he saw was an irregular fortress, probably a hundred yards indiameter, built on the edge of the ravine, which appeared a black stripin the distance. There were five flanking towers, two resting on theravine, the other three disposed somewhat irregularly on the outer wall;this was evidently of considerable height. In the whole enceinte therewas, so far as Bob could see, only one gateway, on the farther side.Allowing for his distance from it, and for the slight slope of theintervening country, he estimated that the ravine was wide; and from thegeneral lie of the land, and his own experiences of the lower course ofthe river, he knew that it must be of great depth. On the near side ofthe ravine, almost exactly opposite the fort, he noticed that the edgewas broken by a narrow cleft running at right angles to it. Beyond thefort the country was bare and rolling to the north, but to the west andsouth was much broken up by knolls and plantations of fir.
The gray stone walls stood out in clear relief against the background.Within the enclosure scores of figures were moving about between the lowbuildings; it was like an ant-hill for activity; and on the risingground beyond the farther wall Bob descried more than one raggedencampment, confirming what had been told in the inn about the carefulguard maintained on the only practicable line of approach.
As he took in these details, Bob realized with a new clearness howChang-Wo had made himself a power and terror in the land. With such afastness to fall back upon, and supported by a numerous band ofdesperadoes, he could defy Russian and Chinese alike; it was easy tounderstand that neither had been eager to try conclusions with him. Thefort was so situated and so massively constructed that it might mock atany attempt at capture, short of a regular siege enforced by heavyartillery.
Yet it might be in this solitary mountain stronghold, the lair of theMountain Tiger, that, dead or alive, Kobo San lay. As Bob let his eyesdwell on it with anxious care, he felt his heart sink within him. Whathad he come for? What could he do, with two helpers however willing,however earnest, to rescue Kobo if Kobo was indeed immured within thosestrong towers? How could he discover whether his friend was there? Thestrength of Samson could not tear down those massive walls; the wiles ofUlysses could not avail to win entrance through that single gateway;only an eagle could ascend from the depth of the ravine, and even had heeagle's wings he would ascend in vain. Why had he come on this wildenterprise? Now that he had seen with his own eyes, what remained tohim but to acknowledge the hopelessness of his quest, and quit thisregion of tyranny and death?
Long he mused, weighed down by a despair more bitter than had burdenedhim when he lay under sentence of death at Antung. He felt a strangecertainty that Kobo was there a prisoner, and alive; humanity,gratitude, affection combined to produce an intense longing to save hisfriend, yet even his longing was clouded by a sense of powerlessness,his activity seemed paralysed.
Ah-Sam had been watching him out of his slant expressionless eyes. Fora time he stood by his master mutely, noting every shade of feeling thatflitted across his tired face. At last he touched him lightly on thearm.
"Massa no can do not'ing. Allo wailo this-tim'."
Bob started as if stung. The words were but the echo of his owndespair, yet they provoked him to almost violent repudiation.
"Impossible!" he said. "Nothing is impossible. We have ourselves donethings people would have said impossible. At the gully--at the temple!What has been done can be done again. I am going into the fort. Whenit begins to get dark I shall go and find out a way. We haven't come allthis distance to go back without making an effort. We'll have a try,Ah-Sam,--a try, anyhow."
"Allo lightee, massa; tly, no fear."
In his cold unexcitable manner he told Sing-Cheng what his master hadsaid. The man grunted approval; he saw no way of accomplishing theirpurpose; he did not care for that; the Englishman had scatteredChang-Wo's Manchus with curses from a brazen bell, and he was ready tofollow the Englishman anywhere.
"That's right," said Bob heartily. "Please God, we'll find a way."
Ti
ll dusk he waited, thinking, puzzling. The first move must be to spyout the position--the surroundings of the fort, especially the ravine.He resolved that this was a task for himself alone; the risk of beingseen would be trebled if he took his companions. He wondered whetherthe moon would give him light; without it he could discover little ornothing, with it he might himself be discovered. The afternoon had beencloudy; a high wind had swept dense cumulus across the sky; but thecloud mass had been broken, not continuous, and the fitful gleams hemight expect if the moon rose would serve his purpose better than asteady shine.
It was not yet dark when he started, but sufficiently gloomy.
"Wait here till I return," he said to Ah-Sam. "If you are discovered,save yourselves as best you can."
He crept cautiously down the long slope. Shrubs, mounds, irregularitiesin the soil, gave him cover for a considerable distance. A belt of lowtrees apparently fringed the ravine; if he could gain that, he thoughthe would be safe. He came to it, passed through, and found that it didnot extend quite to the edge of the ravine; a space of a few yards hadat some time been cleared, but was now becoming overgrown withbrushwood. He threw himself on his face, crawled behind a thick clump,and found himself on the brink. For a few moments he waited, wonderingwhether, as' he moved, his light-coloured garments had been descriedfrom the fort. He heard the sound of many voices from the other side,the whinny of a horse, the clink of metal; but there was nothing toindicate any unusual circumstance, and drawing himself a little forward,still keeping as much as possible in the shadow of the bush, he peepedover.
The ravine was deep, deeper even than he had expected. Even in the gloomhe could see its opposite side and the walls of the fort, but he couldnot see the bottom of the ravine; he only heard the swirl of the waterover the rocks far below, and fancied he could just discern anoccasional dash of white foam. Opposite rose the grim wall of the fort.Bob scanned it anxiously for the sign of a sentry; there was none. Herealized that none was needed. Below the fort the ground shelved rapidlyfor several yards to the edge of the ravine, then bent inwards before itbecame a perpendicular wall to the invisible bottom. Bob looked allalong the space from left to right, and marked one spot where the inwardcurve was broken by what appeared to be a horizontal rocky platform,like those large flat slabs sometimes encountered exceptionally amongjagged rocks on the sea-shore. Beyond this platform, up the shelvingbank, he espied a narrow winding path which was visible for a few yards,then disappeared into the face of the cliff to the left of the fort. Inthe cliff-wall itself, just above the platform, he caught sight of whatappeared to be an iron staple, though this seemed so unlikely that hethought his eyes might have deceived him.
"A sentry's post, I suppose," said Bob to himself, "though it isevidently never required. Only a bird could cross the ravine. I wonderwhat its width is."
It was difficult in the growing darkness to make a guess; still, itcould hardly be less than eighty feet across. The width varied a littleto right and left of his position, but only by a few feet at the most.Bob saw only too well that the fort was indeed, as his informants hadsaid, on this side inaccessible. The question suggested itself: Couldit be reached from the bottom of the ravine at some remote point to leftor right? At the spot where he lay the descent on both sides was tooprecipitous to be scaled even by an expert mountaineer; but it waspossible that at some distance the cliffs would be lower as well as lesssteep. In that case he could descend on one side and ascend on theother. But he might need assistance in his climbing. He rememberedthat Alpine climbers roped themselves together for safety's sake; itwould be a reasonable precaution to return for Ah-Sam and the chief, sothat with their joined straps they might help him in case of need.
It was now so nearly dark that the risk of being discovered was muchlessened. Rising on hands and knees, he prepared to make his way backup the hillside; but he suddenly remembered the cleft he had noticed onthis side of the ravine, at right angles to it, and it occurred to himthat he ought to take a cursory look at this also. Crawling within thebelt of trees, he rose to his feet and walked rapidly as long as it wassafe, then wriggled along from bush to bush till he came to the edge ofthe opening, and looking over found that it was in the shape of a longwedge, like a slice cut out of a large cake. The sides of this alsowere precipitous, and the bottom was out of sight.
He looked along the cleft from the narrow inner end to the wider outerend, and there noticed a long dark object lying transversely across it.He thought at first that it was possibly a sapling which had beenuprooted and fallen, but this idea was negatived on his approaching thespot. The object lay, not on top of the cliff on either side, but afoot or two below. Walking, still with caution, close up to the place,he was surprised to find that the two sides of the cleft were connectedby a stout bar of iron, the nearer end of which he felt was firmlyembedded in the rock, reminding him of similar poles used at home tosupport unsteady arches or prop up tottering houses. Obviously no suchpurpose could have been intended for this bar, and he vaguely wonderedwhy and when it had been placed in position. It had clearly been therea long time; it was much rusted, flakes of rust coming off as he touchedit.
Leaving the cleft, he returned as quickly as possible to the spot wherehe had left Ah-Sam and the chief. The former rose to meet him.
"Well," said Bob, "has all been quiet?"
"Yes, massa; no piecee man come this-side, no bobbely, not'ing."
"I want you to come along with me. Hide your baskets under the shrubs,but bring the straps; we may require them."
In a few moments he was leading the way in a direction at an angle tothe path he had taken, past the narrow end of the cleft, and then on aline parallel with the edge of the ravine. He walked for nearly a mile,finding as he proceeded that the ground, while undulating, was ingeneral on almost the same level as his starting-place. Suddenly,however, it made a sharp dip, and going to the edge of the ravine he sawthat the cliffs on both sides were less precipitous and less lofty. Thesky had for some time been growing lighter, indicating the rising of themoon; and peering over the edge he saw the water of the torrent sweepingalong in foamy current below. The sides of the ravine were covered withstunted trees, by means of which he saw that descent or ascent might befacilitated. Telling Ah-Sam to join the three straps together, he tookone end and climbed down the rocky slope, carefully placing his feet,and stopping at intervals to allow the men to make sure their footingbehind him. Having reached the brink of the stream, he bade hisfollowers remain hidden among the trees; then he waded into the water,and began to ascend the opposite side, carrying the strap with him toassist in his descent by and by.
The moon, emerging now and then from among the flying clouds, threw afitful radiance over the scene as Bob scrambled up the steep acclivity.Stepping with great care, pulling himself up by overhanging branchesafter he had tested them, endeavouring not to displace loose stones, heat last with one final heave gained the top, where he sat down torecover breath and look around him. The white moonlight clothed theneighbourhood with a ghostly glamour, throwing up in bold relief thegrim outlines of the fort far up the ravine. No tree or other obstacleinterposed between it and him; the ground for some distance from theedge had probably been kept bare purposely. But some hundred and fiftyyards to his left there stood a dark patch of firs, he could not tell ofwhat extent; to gain that would at any rate bring him a little nearer tothe fort. Throwing himself on his face, he crawled towards it, pausingevery few moments to listen. It seemed a long time before he reachedthe firs: it was really only a few minutes; but at last he gained theirshelter, and stood erect, stretching himself in relief.
A light wind sighed in notes of gentle melancholy among the branches,though above his head he saw between the tree-tops the heavy cloudsdrifting rapidly across the sky. He moved carefully among the firs,pausing now and then to listen and to take his bearings, for he wasanxious to avoid the risk of losing his way as he returned. The treesat the edge of the clump were set far apart, and
between their trunks hesaw three firs forming a group on the other side of the ravine. Thesehe took as his landmark. Then he walked into the heart of the patch,where the trees grew thicker, treading lightly on the deep compost offir cones, wondering whither his steps were leading him.
Suddenly he halted. A faint sound had touched his ears from a pointahead--a sound like the clink of steel. He listened, his body bentforward resting on his right foot, his left foot raised upon its toes.The sound had ceased; he now heard nothing but the rustle of the wind.He went on again, but after a few steps he was again arrested by thesame sound, the same slight clink. Again he waited, for a longer time.Hearing nothing, he took a few more steps, and emerged almost unawaresupon a small clear space. Instantly he darted on tiptoe behind thenearest trunk. In the centre of the clearing a figure had caught hiseye, a motionless form whose outlines in the suddenness of its discoveryhe had had no time to distinguish. He waited, scarcely daring tobreathe; his heart thumped against his ribs, he heard its thuds. Butthere was no sound from before him--yes, he caught again theclink-clink, louder, more prolonged.
He waited, then ventured to peep out from behind the trunk. The figurewas still there, in the same spot, in the same attitude, motionless.Strain his eyes as he might, Bob could detect, in the darkness of anovershadowing cloud, no sign of movement. A gust of wind came sighingthrough the copse; yes, the figure does move, and as it moves therecomes again the clink-clink. Then all is still again. A namelessuneasiness seized upon Bob; a cold, clammy perspiration broke from everypore; he watched the figure as if fascinated. Again a gust of wind;again the slight swaying movement; again the soft clink-clink; again theperfect stillness.
Bob could bear the suspense no longer. Between himself and the figurestood one slender sapling, an accident of growth. With heart wildlybeating, he stole out and tiptoed towards this fragile cover. Hereached it just as a stronger gust swept through the plantation, and atthe same moment a sudden beam shot from beneath a cloud and filteredwanly through the tree-tops. The figure swayed more violently; theclink-clink became the rattle of chains; and in the moonlight Bob sawwith horror, but at the same time with unspeakable relief, that the formwas a human skeleton, chained upright to a post.
He remembered what Ah-Sam had learnt in the inn. This no doubt was somehapless wretch who had been caught wandering on the spot and chainedthere, with who could tell what accompaniment of cruelty, to die ofstarvation or exhaustion. Grim reminder to Bob of what his own fatewould be if he fell into the hands of this Wild Man of the Hills; ofwhat perhaps Kobo's fate had already been! For a moment he paused,surveying the grisly object. "Poor wretch!" he murmured. Then withlips resolutely set he pursued his way.
Keeping as nearly as he could judge a course parallel with the edge ofthe ravine, he crossed the clearing and plunged into the firs on theother side. In a few minutes the copse thinned, then came to an end;there was nothing but open country, rough, but clear of trees, betweenhim and the fort. The ravine, he thought, must be about five hundredyards on his right. In that direction, where the ground sloped down tothe edge, he saw a low hut; a similar building lay at almost equaldistance on his left. Were they the huts of sentries? he wondered. Hewaited at the edge of the copse. From the hut on the right came nosign, but on the left he saw in the moonlight a figure emerge frombehind the building and walk slowly towards him. Bob stood motionless.Surely he had not been seen? No, the man approached but a few steps,then returned and disappeared.
Bob's pulse had resumed its natural beat; he felt cold and strangelytired, but the suspense, the uncertainty, the eeriness of waiting for heknew not what, had gone. All his senses, all his intelligence, werebent towards the fulfilment of his purpose. He must go on, whatever therisk. Waiting for the moon once more to ride behind a cloud, he stoleforward between the huts. For a quarter of a mile all was dark, then agleam shot forth; he dropped to the ground and lay still. He waitedlong, turning on his side to watch the black clouds scudding overhead.At last the moon was again obscured; again he stole forward, and he hadcome within an arrow's flight of the fort, and was hidden from the hutsby a dip in the ground, before the moon reappeared.
He could now take a leisurely view of this face of the stronghold,bathed and blanched as it was by the moonbeams. Two figures were movingup and down upon the wall, two others on the top of the flanking towerto his left. He saw the opening, black and ominous, of the fort's onlygateway. Here and there around him the grass was blackened as if by atemporary encampment. If he moved, his light clothes would show againstthese dark patches. He wondered whether it would not almost be saferif, avoiding them, he should continue his progress only when the moonshone.
He still lay watching, vainly trying to imagine some means of enteringthe fort, when he heard the clang of arms, then a great creaking andgroaning. Hardly daring to peer over the brim of the hollow in which helay, he saw the huge gate swung open outwards. Even as the thoughtstruck him that this was surely an unusual incident at such a time ofnight, a man on horseback came out, set his horse to a fast trot, andclattered by within a hundred yards of Bob's position. He flattenedhimself against the ground and held his breath; he felt the tremor ofthe earth under the horses' hoofs; he heard his heart beating. But thehorseman did not slacken his pace; the clatter became fainter. Againthere was a groaning and creaking, and the great gate clanged to. Allwas silent.
For a full hour Bob lay there, while the light of the moon came andwent, vainly endeavouring to think out a means of accomplishing hisends. It seemed to him that he had come in truth on a wild-goose chase.The walls of the fort rose sheer from the ground to a height of at leasttwenty feet, smooth, regular, with not a foothold from base to crown.He could not hope to scale them. Even if he could do so, what chancehad he of finding Kobo? He must himself be instantly discovered. Thewalls were out of the question. What of the gateway? As he had justseen, the massive gate was shut at night; no doubt it was closelyguarded by day. Supposing an opportunity offered of slipping in indisguise, how could he make use of it? He knew nothing of the language.He would gain admittance only to be detected, arrested, and despatched.
Thus all his puzzling was in vain. At length, with a feeling ofdespair, he rose during a temporary darkening of the moon, and made hisstealthy way back towards the patch of firs. He groped his way through,shuddering as he heard the clinking of the chained figure, emerged onthe opposite side, and finding the three trees he had chosen as hislandmark, safely reached the edge of the ravine. There he waited. Themoon had sunk behind the distant hills; in the darkness he would run therisk of alarming his enemies if he attempted to descend, for this sideof the ravine was steep, as he knew, and he could not get down withoutmaking some noise. So, crouched under the edge out of sight from above,he waited, cold, tired, and heavy of heart, through the night till thechill dawn. Then with infinite care he let himself down from tree totree, passing the strap round a trunk and holding firmly to it until hisfeet were secure below. He reached the stream, waded through, and foundhis two companions waiting with oriental patience where he had leftthem.
"My say no can do not'ing," said Ah-Sam, glancing at his master's drawn,pale features.
Bob was too tired to reply. Under cover of the trees the three threadedtheir way back to the spot where they had left their provisionsconcealed, and there, making sure that no alarm had been raised in thefort, they sat down to their breakfast. Bob had no appetite. He forcedhimself to eat, for he knew not what further trial of endurance might bebefore him; then, feeling the need of sleep, he lay down behind aspreading bush, and bade the other two keep watch in turn.
The day passed alternately in sleeping and in discussing the situation.Neither Ah-Sam nor Sing-Cheng had any suggestion to offer. The formerstolidly adhered to his opinion that nothing was possible. The lattersaid in effect, "Don't ask me to plan. Tell me what to do, and I willdo it."
Bob got neither help nor comfort from them. The stock of food wasrapidly diminishing.
The two Chinamen ate without sparing; and if onlyfor this reason, either something must be done at once or they must allreturn on their tracks. The sense of his powerlessness stung Bob like agoad. At one moment he was on the point of giving up; then with thethought of Kobo in the power of Chang-Wo came a fresh spurt ofdetermination. All through the day fits of despair alternated withrenewed efforts to solve the difficulty, until his mood of nervousirritability was almost past enduring. Ah-Sam and the chief talkedconstantly in low whispers, and with such solemn looks of concern thatBob felt they would help him if they could. It occurred to him once toask them what point they were discussing so gravely, and he could haveknocked their heads together in sheer vexation when Ah-Sam replied:
"My tellum Sing-Cheng littee pussy boilum stew, makee numpa one topsidechow-chow. Hai yah!"
At last, thoroughly worn out with the strain, as darkness sank over thehills Bob fell into an uneasy sleep. It was crowded with dreams--ofrecent happenings, of his school-days, of his childhood among theCumbrian dales. He turned restlessly from side to side, sometimesmuttering, sometimes calling to his friends, giving his two companions,as they in turn took watch, matter for wonder and concern. At last hefound himself on his back, with eyes wide open, staring up into thestarlit void, his pulse beating furiously, his nerves aquiver. He hadawoke at a moment when in his dream a terrible accident was on the pointof happening. The scene was the school gymnasium. He was swinging onone of the ropes of the giant-stride, and seemed to have worked up avelocity only to be obtained in dreamland. On the next rope before himswung his chum, and he felt that some demon of speed was whirling himdown upon the boy, with such force that he must inevitably do himserious hurt. Only by his own agility and muscular strength was theinjury averted; and he woke trembling from the nightmare--to a scene ofabsolute peace beneath the clear cold stars.
Suddenly he sat bolt upright, uttering a low exclamation that caught theear of Ah-Sam, taking his turn of duty.
"I have it! I have it!" he cried. "Ah-Sam, wake the chief. There is along journey before you."
Sing-Cheng was soon roused from his snoring slumbers. Then Bob, hisnerves still quivering with excitement, told Ah-Sam what he must do.With the chief he was to set off at once for the large village of whichthey had heard. It lay probably about sixteen miles away over thehills. They were to enter the village and explain that their master'smule-cart had broken down several miles away through the snapping of thetraces. They required ten yards of new rope. When they had bought thisthey were to say, as by an after-thought, that, rope being very dear intheir village far to the north, they would like to purchase a largerquantity to have a stock always in reserve, and to sell again toneighbouring farmers. They were to ask for at least one hundred yards.Further, they must procure more food, and return with their loads assoon as possible.
The chief looked discontented when this errand was explained to him. Hehad evidently expected some scheme for the instant conquest of the fort.But Ah-Sam reminded him of his promise to do anything he was bidden, andhe assented with a shrug.
The moon was up.
"If you start at once," said Bob, "you will cover several miles beforethe moon sets. When it is too dark to see your way, rest. On yourreturn, don't come within five miles of the fort by daylight. Waituntil dusk, then hurry back to me with all speed. Ah-Sam, I trust toyou; be careful, be quick."
The men took the money he gave them, and with the customary lowobeisance marched away. At the same time Bob stole down to thewedge-shaped cleft in the side of the ravine, and, keeping under cover,spent some time in looking up and down it, and across to the fort. Themoon was disappearing when he returned and threw himself down again torest and think.