CHAPTER XXIII
THE ESCAPE
"THAT is good news, Dick!" whispered Roger.
"There, did you see him that time?" the other asked, as cautiously asthough he believed every sleeping Indian possessed such keen hearingthat a very small sound would awaken him.
"Yes, and I believe it must be Mayhew. Are you starting to work yourhands free, Dick? Oh! lose no time, I beg!"
"It is nearly done," came in a breath from the other; for all this timeDick had been working his hands as cleverly as he could, consideringthe fact that they had been tied behind him as he stood against thetree.
A slight movement on his part a minute later told the anxious Rogerthat he had finally succeeded in accomplishing his task. His hands werefree, and wrestling with the knots in the thongs that bound his body tothe tree.
When Roger presently saw his companion move, and then slowly sink downto the ground, he held his breath, for he knew that, so far as bondswere concerned, Dick was no longer a prisoner.
His next move would be to reach after that convenient knife, thrustinto the tree close by. Roger turned his eyes in the other direction.His greatest fear now was that one of the sleeping braves might wakeup, and spoil all their plans.
When he saw no sign of such a thing his heart beat a little lesstumultuously, and he breathed freely once more. But it was a period ofsuspense Roger would never forget.
Even the slight sound made by a passing breeze struck a note of deadlyfear in the heart of the waiting lad; it seemed to be a crash ofthunder that would surely arouse the whole camp. Yet no one so much asstirred.
Dick had obtained the knife, it seemed. Roger could feel him at work.How it thrilled him to know that those painful bonds were about to fallaway, leaving him free to stretch his arms, and his lower limbs, sodreadfully cramped during the hours that had passed since they tied himthere.
Dick, crouching behind the tree, had to work in the dark, and mostlythrough instinct, his sense of touch taking the place of sight.
He was succeeding, at any rate, which must be reckoned the main thing.Roger knew when the stout deerskin rope that kept him rigid against thetree had been severed, for a hand instantly steadied him, lest he fallover.
There now remained only the bonds about his wrists, and they were aptto prove the most troublesome of all. What if the steel blade did givehim several scratches and slight cuts? He could stand almost anythingwhile hope of liberty swelled within him.
There, it was done at last! His hands fell limply at his sides, numband almost useless, for they had been tied much tighter than in Dick'scase.
The friendly hand plucked at his sleeve. Dick meant this as a sign thatthey must be getting away without loss of time, since every secondspent there meant additional risk of discovery.
It appeared a simple matter for Roger to copy the example of hiscomrade and drop to the ground, in order to crawl away; and yet, whenhe came to do it, he found that his knees were almost rigid, and couldonly be bent after a violent effort.
Dick must have planned everything beforehand. In times past he hadshown himself to be a master hand at laying out plans to be pursued inemergencies, and while tied to the tree, observing all that went on inthe Indian camp, he surely had had plenty of opportunities to note theconditions surrounding him.
At least he did not seem to be confused but went about the task ofleading his companion to safety as though it were all a part of aschedule.
Dick had not quite understood the mute signals which Mayhew had madewhen moving his hand above the bushes; but it seemed as if he meant tolet them know he was about to make his way to a point in their rear,where he might find a better opportunity to assist them.
Dick hoped they would have the good fortune to run across the guide.Three would be much better than two, surrounded as they were by so manyperils.
When Roger became aware of the fact that his pilot had stoppedabruptly, he felt a cold chill run over him, thinking it could onlymean that the discovery they feared was upon them.
Then he realized that Dick was softly laying hands on some objects thathad rested against a tree-trunk. Like a flash it dawned on Roger thatthey must be their guns, for he recollected it was exactly in thisquarter they had noted the weapons.
What a wonderful fellow Dick was, apparently capable of rememberingeverything, no matter how minute the detail might be! Roger breathedeasy again. He even managed to put out his hand and receive one of theguns from his comrade, accompanied by a low hiss of warning.
Roger knew what was meant by this, and he was very careful that his gunshould not come in violent contact with the tree-trunk or the ground.
At that moment he chanced to look around, and what was his horror ondiscovering that one of the Indians had raised his head! He seemed tobe looking straight at the two boys, and, as the flickering fire stillgave a small amount of light, he must surely have seen them.
Roger wanted to let Dick know, but his tongue clove to the roof of hismouth, and he could not make a sound. Dick was now moving off again,creeping along more like a great cat than a human being, so there wasnothing left for Roger to do but follow in his wake.
Every moment he expected to hear a yell of alarm from the Indian whohad been watching their movements. As each second passed, Roger wascertain that the cry was bound to break forth with the coming of thenext.
His feet dragged like lead, because he believed the attempt to escapewas bound to be useless, and that they could not possibly get away. Hecounted the passage of time by the throbs of his heart.
Once a twig flew up and struck Roger on the knee. It was a blow aslight as the falling of a leaf, yet to the boy it seemed as though aheavy hand had been suddenly laid upon him.
But, strangely enough, nothing happened! No yell rang out; nor wasthere an uprising of those dusky forms that lay about the smolderingfire. Foot by foot the ground was passed over, and in a brief time theymight hope to gain the shelter of the friendly bushes back of whichMayhew, it was hoped, would be found.
Still Roger dared not believe the escape would be effected without anexplosion of some sort. He knew that the pioneers classed all Indianswith the cat tribe in regard to craftiness and cruelty. How many timeshad he, as a small lad, watched their pet cat catch a mouse, and thenplay with the doomed animal, letting it go just for the pleasure ofpouncing on it afresh.
The conviction that pressed so heavily on his heart now was that thisbrave was simply waiting until the escaping prisoners had gained acertain point, when he would give the cry that would send the redinmates of the camp after them in hot haste.
But now they were at the fringe of bushes, and Dick had even commencedcreeping around one end of the break, afraid to enter lest they cause arustling that would imperil their safety.
Roger summoned all his nerve and looked back. To his amazement he sawthat the watchful brave still had his head partly raised, and was, toall appearances, looking after them.
It was a mystery in the boy's mind that ranked with those strangethings they had continued to discover ever since invading this Landof Wonders. That the warrior saw them making their escape, and stillrefrained from giving the alarm, was a fact beyond his comprehension.
Dick was moving faster now, though still taking pains not to makeany sound that could be possibly avoided. Then Roger caught the low,tremulous note of a bird, hardly more than a chirp. Was that Mayhewtrying to let them know he was close by? Roger hoped so with all hisheart.
He could barely see Dick's bulk just ahead of him, and it was on itthat he fastened his gaze. If the pilot suddenly came to a pause, Rogermeant to be in a condition to instantly follow suit.
Whispering caught his ear. Surely Dick was not talking to himself, butmust have come in contact with the creeping guide. All seemed goingwell, and, so far, there had been no alarm from the camp.
A minute later he knew that Dick was no longer on his hands and knees,but had gained his feet. This meant that the time had come when theymight take more chances, and in
crease the swiftness of their flight.
Roger noted, too, that there was another figure ahead of his cousin,which he knew could be no other than the guide, gallant Mayhew, whohad scorned to seek safety for himself while his young friends were inperil.
Far away could be heard the dismal howling of a wolf pack. An owl sentout a mournful hoot from the depths of the pine woods on the side ofthe mountain. But back there, where the dying camp fire flickered, andthe red men slumbered, not a sound arose. Roger marveled more thanever. He knew that his eyes had not deceived him, and that the Indianhad actually watched them making their escape. But what magic hadrendered his tongue mute the boy could not guess.
When half a mile had been placed between them and the hostile camp Dickbroke the silence.
"Do you think we are safe away, Mayhew?" he asked, cautiously.
"It looks that way," replied the figure plodding ahead of the boys;"and I must say it beats all how you managed to get free from thosedeerskin thongs. There are other things that puzzle me, too; but allthat can keep until later.
"Oh! I am glad to hear you say you believe we are well out of thatfix!" exclaimed Roger, who had looked back nervously over his shouldermany times, and even shuddered at hearing the slightest rustling sound,dreading lest the tricky Indians might be creeping after them, andsuddenly awaken the echoes of the pine forest with their war-whoops.
"It was one of the closest calls we ever had," admitted Dick.
"And we have known a good many of them," added Roger, with a slightreturn of his old feeling of elation, for the reaction was beginningto set in, so that from the depths of despair he would soon findhimself elevated to the heights of exultation.
"One thing that none of us has thought to notice so far," commentedDick, "is that it has at last commenced to snow as though it meantbusiness." When he brought this fact to their attention the othersperceived that it was indeed so, for already the ground had begun toturn white.