CHAPTER XVII
A CLOSE CALL
DICK almost held his breath until the last dark figure had flittedpast. His greatest fear had been that in some manner the keen ears ofthe Indians might detect the presence of horses down near the foot ofthe elevation along which they were making their way.
Dick waited a full minute after seeing the party vanish before making amove. He wished to be sure there were no stragglers lingering behind.And when this seemed a certainty he put out his hand, and gently shookhis comrade.
"'Sh!"
Roger, starting up, heard this warning sound, and felt a thrill. Hegroped around until he had laid hands on his gun, placed close besidehim when lying down to sleep.
"What is it, Dick?" he whispered, placing his lips close to the other'sear.
"Danger! We must get out of this right away," replied the sentry, inan equally low tone.
"Indians?" asked Roger, to make sure.
"Yes. A party has just passed along the ridge. It was just our luckthat they took this place to come over the hogback, Roger."
"You saw them, did you?" demanded Roger.
"I did that; and counted seventeen," replied Dick, impressively; "allstepping in each other's tracks. One must have started a stone rollingdown, for its clatter made me look up. They went past like ghosts, andvanished below the rim, still heading that way."
"Ugh! you mean in the direction of our first camp, don't you, Dick?Then that lone hunter must have sighted us, even if he did pretend notto. How wise you were to change camps. Seventeen, you say; what couldtwo boys do against that many braves? What next, Dick? I'm ready to doanything you say. Must we push on again, do you think?"
"Yes, because when they find that the birds have flown they will surelylook this way for us. By that time we ought to be miles off."
They set about making the move without more delay, though not hurryingin such a manner as to invite discovery through neglect of precautions.
The poor horses no doubt thought it pretty hard that they should bemade to start out afresh without even a nap; but they were patientbeasts and had no way of expressing their opinions, or showing signs ofmutiny at being made to work overtime.
Once again did the boys lead the animals, for the darkness was toointense to trust to keeping their eyes so far away from the ground,when there was so much necessity for their discovering the presenceof logs and pitfalls before the horses stumbled. Roger, if left tohimself, would possibly have climbed into his saddle, and trusted tothe instinct of his animal to detect obstacles in the way, but Dick wastoo cautious for that.
So they plodded on. It was weary work, but the knowledge that a deadlyperil lurked near inspired the boys to endure the fatigue bravely.
"You seem to be veering off to the side, Dick; we're getting fartherand farther away from that ridge, back of which lies the river. What isthat for?" asked Roger, after a while.
"In the first place," replied the other, always willing to explain,"when the Indians find out that we've slipped away, they are likely toscatter, and search the woods for miles, believing that they may gettrace of us in that way. Then, Roger, I'm too tired to think of keepingup this walk long. I want to get in the saddle, and ride, which we cando if once we find the open country."
"Good for you, Dick; I'll be glad myself when we can mount, and coaxthe horses to a gait faster than a walk," Roger declared.
Several times Dick had paused. He seemed to be listening, and it wasnot difficult for his companion to guess why.
"Do you expect to hear them give tongue when they find the nest empty?"he asked.
"Perhaps," replied his cousin. "They will be bitterly disappointed,that goes without saying; and when they strike a light, and start tofollowing our tracks, as I'm sure they will do, we will probably hearthem. Listen, Roger. What did I tell you?"
The night wind chanced to be coming from a point almost directly backof them, so that sounds were carried on its breath. First came a longquavering cry that seemed to be filled with bitter disappointment.Then followed a series of quick, angry yelps, that made Roger think ofa pack of fighting dogs.
"They know now that we've given them the slip, don't they, Dick?"chuckled Roger, whom even the recent peril did not seem to have daunted.
"They certainly do," answered the other.
"But here is what seems to be another little rise on our left, Dick,"observed Roger, as what looked like a secondary ridge arose betweenthem and the star-studded heavens.
"Yes, I've been noticing that for some little while now," Dickanswered. "And I'm sure that just on the other side lies the levelprairie that we want to reach soon."
"Then we must cross over that divide; is that the way, Dick?"
"When we come to a place where we can do it without exposing ourselvestoo much. Remember how I happened to discover the seventeen braves,Roger; though they would be too far away, perhaps, to see us crossingover. And here seems to be the right spot to make the attempt. I hopewe find a trail for the horses, because they are not able to climbrocks as we can."
A short time later they were slowly but steadily passing up from thelittle valley that lay like a swale between the two slight ridges.
"This is all right, Dick," remarked Roger, when, after some toil, theymanaged to reach what seemed to be the pinnacle of the "hogback," asthe border boys called such a ridge.
"Yes, and if the going down is as easy, we can thank our stars,"answered Dick.
Before starting the descent he turned and looked long and earnestly inthe direction whence those cries of disappointment had arisen a shorttime before.
"There, what did I tell you?" he exclaimed; "look yonder, Roger, andyou will see something queer."
"Are they fireflies, Dick?" questioned the other; "they seem to looklike it at this distance; and yet I can see that they do not come andgo, but keep up a steady light."
"If you were closer, Roger, you would see that they were strangelightning-bugs; for each one is a torch gripped in the hand of ared-skinned warrior, who bends over and follows the trail we made!"
"Oh! then we didn't start away from our second camp any too soon, didwe, Dick?" exclaimed the younger lad, breathlessly, as he watched thelights that really did look like flickering fireflies in the distance.
"No; and now we'd better be getting off this high ground before theycome close enough to discover us," Dick remarked.
"But what is going to be the end of all this running about?" askedRoger. "Do we have to keep on the jump all night? See, the stars tellus it is even now close on midnight, for there is that other bright onejust going to set. I've had two hours or more of sleep, but you haven'tyet closed your eyes, Dick."
"Oh! there's time enough for that after we've left these red rascalsmiles behind, Roger. Once we strike the level prairie it's going to bea job urging our horses on by digging heels into their sides, much as Ihate to do it. There is a limit to the distance even hardy braves canwalk, following a trail by torchlight; and we'll put a lot of groundbetween us before we rest."
They found that it was not very difficult to pass down the other sideof the slope, for their horses were sure-footed, and the way far frombeing impassable. And presently the bottom was gained.
Here there were a few scattered trees, that gradually the boys leftbehind, until presently the open prairie lay before them.
"Now to mount!" declared Dick, suiting the action to the word.
Roger was not a whit behind him in climbing into his saddle. It wasno easy job doing this on account of the many bundles with which bothhorses were burdened, so that "climbing" would seem to cover the casevery well.
When the horses were urged to start off on a gentle gallop Rogerdeclared he felt very much like giving a whoop, to signify his delightat having so cleverly outwitted the red foe; but his cousin advised himto hold his breath.
"You know, Roger," Dick said, in his quiet but convincing way, "thatold Pat O'Mara, our father's best friend, used to say an Indian hadno business to crow until he
was in the woods, and by the same tokena white was a fool to shout till he was well out of them. And thoughwe're over the divide, and riding on level country, we are not beyondthe danger line yet. So, if you're wise, you'll bottle up that cheeruntil we see the expedition of Captain Lewis, boats and horses, aheadof us."
And of course Roger held his peace, for he had considerable respect forthe opinions of his older companion.
They must have covered at least six or eight miles before the horsesshowed unwillingness to go farther without a rest. Dick then announcedthat they had come far enough.
And so once more, for the third time that night, the lads staked theanimals out, and lay down on their blankets under the twinkling stars.
Roger insisted on his cousin taking a turn at sleeping, while he satthere and kept vigil; which Dick finally did, though a little loath toshut his eyes. However, he secured quite a few hours' nap; and thenRoger awakened him, so that he might in turn get a little more sleepbefore the coming of another dawn warned them that it was time toproceed.
Morning found them fairly rested after their hard night, and so far asthey could tell there was no sign of the Indians. Evidently the huntingparty had given up all hope of overtaking the fugitives when they foundthat the horses had climbed the ridge and struck the level countrybeyond.
Another day and still others followed, during which the boys keptsturdily heading into the northwest. It seemed so strange to themthat, on account of the many hindrances, they could not overtake theexplorers, who were always just a few days' journey ahead of them.
Of course this was caused by the fact that the boys had frequently tomake detours in order to avoid Indian villages that they discovered onthe river bank; and in more than a few cases these circuits were thecause of their losing the river entirely, so that they wasted one ormore days hunting for it again.
But their dogged determination to attain the object which had causedthem to start on their undertaking never flagged. No matter whatdifficulties beset them, they would keep everlastingly at it until theyhad met with disaster, or else succeeded in their quest.
It was this spirit of never-say-die that made frontier boys developinto the resolute men they afterwards became; and which caused them tocontinually push out farther and farther into the unknown land untilfinally they had conquered the whole West, to transform the wildernessinto one vast fertile region, where the grain to feed the nations ofthe world was to be grown later on; and the vast herds of long hornedcattle were to graze by hundreds of thousands, taking the place of thevanishing bison.
Of course they met with many sights which were novel to their eyes, andwould always remain fresh in their memories. But after all these weeksof journeying over the prairie, they were by degrees becoming quitefamiliar with the conditions connected with this new life; and as theybecame accustomed to them the boys grew more adept in accepting chancesto creep up on antelope and scattered bison, so as to secure a shot andthus provide themselves with fresh meat.
On one occasion Dick had found an opportunity to try a clever expedientthat he had heard spoken of by other hunters, but never beforepractised himself.
It happened that several antelope were feeding at some little distancefrom a hunch of grass in which the hunter had ensconced himself, in thehope that they would wander that way.
He had his rifle, since on that level stretch of ground it was notlikely that any Indians might hear the report, or if they did, attachany special meaning to it.
Since the shy little animals did not seem to be feeding that way, Dickrealized that if he hoped to get any fresh meat that day he must resortto some ruse. Having a red handkerchief with him, he conceived the ideaof attempting the trick those old hunters had spoken about.
The antelope seems to have more than average curiosity, and will allowthis failing to have full sway even when its instincts give warning ofdanger.
So Dick, fastening this red kerchief to the muzzle of his gun, waved itabove the tuft of grass behind which he lay concealed.
The timid animals soon noted the strange bright object that waved inthe breeze and at first started to run away; then, halting, they staredlong and eagerly, by slow degrees coming back, only to turn and runagain. But there seemed to be a fatal fascination in that queer redbanner which they found utterly impossible to resist; and so closer andcloser they drew, quivering with suspense, and apparently ready to flyif it should turn out to be an enemy, relying on the speed of theirheels to carry them to safety.
But alas! they knew nothing of the "stick-that-spoke," and sent out adeath-dealing pellet of lead.
Dick had watched their coming and going, and noted that each time theyadvanced just a little farther than before. He believed that he wasgoing to be given the chance he craved for a shot. This pleased him,for they had been without fresh meat for three days.
Finally the young hunter believed the antelope had come close enough,and that it would be folly for him to wait any longer.
Accordingly he selected the one he thought best suited for theirpurpose as food, and, having disengaged the red handkerchief from theend of his rifle, so that it might not interfere with his aim, hequickly covered the body of his intended victim with the white beadthat he used for an end-sight, and pulled the trigger.
At that the herd of antelope sped away like the wind; but one did notkeep company with its mates, for the bullet of the hunter had laid itlow.
Dick felt more or less compassion for the little animal when he sawhow delicately it was fashioned, and how innocent it appeared; butthen he had been a hunter ever since he could lift his father's rifle,and would not allow this feeling to have dominion over him, especiallywhen they were in such need of fresh meat. So he was cutting up thegame when Roger, who had kept the horses far away, came hurrying to thespot.