CHAPTER NINETEEN.
THE MYSTERIES OF THE CAVE EXPLAINED--INGENIOUS DEVICES OF THE WILD MAN--MARCH AND MARY BESIEGED--THE REDSKINS PROCEED TO MAKE THEMSELVES AT HOMEIN THE CAVERN.
There are few things in this world which are not somewhat mysterious, orthat cannot be, by a peculiar combination of circumstances, more or lessinvested with mystery; and we hold it to be an unfair and a very paltrydevice on the part of an author to seek to mystify his readers bykeeping them in unnecessary ignorance of that which is in itself simpleand commonplace.
Therefore, we beg leave to state that the apparent mystery with which weconcluded the last chapter was not a mystery at all! The loud reportthere referred to was caused by a savage discharging his gun, and thecry that followed was the result of that same savage opening his uglymouth and giving vent to a tremendous howl.
That this was a howl of triumph was evident to ears accustomed to thewar-whoop of the redman. That it was destined to be succeeded by anexclamation of mingled disappointment and surprise was evident, at leastto Mary, who knew the mysteries of the place.
In order to make this plain without further circumlocution, we may aswell inform the reader at once that the Wild Man of the West (perhaps weshould call him Dick, in deference to March Marston's ignorance of hisreal character at this time) was not only a subject of terror to theIndians inhabiting this region of the earth at that particular era inthe world's history, but also a subject of intense curiosity. Hence,for many years past, it had been an object of ambition, on the part ofthe more courageous of the Indian warriors, to trace this terriblecreature to his familiar haunts, and "beard the lion in his den."
Dick soon became fully aware of this, and, _not_ being a mysteriousmonster or demon, but a mere mortal (although, doubtless, a singularlyhuge and eccentric one), it behoved him to frustrate the amiableintentions of his savage tormentors. In order to effect this, he firstof all selected, as we have seen, a gloomy, secluded, and almostinaccessible spot among the Rocky Mountains as his residence, which hemade a point of quitting and returning to only in the dark hours ofnight or early morning, as far as was practicable.
Still further to bewilder the savages--against whom he bore no grudge,and to avoid encountering whom was his chief desire--Dick varied hiscostume, appearing sometimes in the dress of a Blackfoot chief, or aCree warrior; at other times in the hunting-shirt and cap of a trapper.But, despite his utmost efforts, he occasionally had to face and fightthe redskins--a necessity which so exasperated his naturally fierytemper that, on such occasions, he became utterly regardless of hislife, and rushing upon any odds with a terrific roar of his deep bassvoice, so different from the shrill yell of the Indians--would cleavehis way right through their ranks with his long double-edged sword;then, returning to the charge with increased fury, would so appal andhorrify them that the usual result was a general and precipitate flight.
Perhaps some readers may wonder how it was possible that he could escapebeing killed in these encounters; but it must be remembered that inthose days guns were by no means so plentiful among the Indians as theynow are, and arrows are comparatively harmless missiles. Dick alwayswore under his leather coat, a vest of thick buffalo leather, whichrendered him arrow-proof in the vital regions of his body, unless shotat with a strong bow by a powerful arm from a short distance.
This undercoat or piece of armour added a little to his naturallygigantic proportions, which were still further enhanced by the flyingtags and scalp-locks and fringes of his dress, and the wild masses ofhis long hair. He rode, as we have elsewhere mentioned, a magnificentcharger, which he had purchased in Mexico, and whose sire, no doubt, hadbeen one of those noble barbs which bore the cavaliers of Spain to theconquest of the New World. The mane and tail of this animal, havingnever been cut, were of immense length, and, when violently agitated,seemed to envelop horse and man. Altogether, the _tout ensemble_ ofDick and his charger on any of the rencontres above referred to, wassufficiently awful, and as he was seldom seen near at hand, except in acondition of blazing fury, there is little wonder that, in the processof time, he became celebrated throughout the country as the Wild Man ofthe West. The white trappers, too, were somewhat curious to knowsomething about this mysterious brother; but he shunned them even moredeterminedly than he did the Indians, though, of course, he never foughtwith them, seeing that they did not attempt to murder him or interferewith his movements as the savages did. But there were one or two bolderor more inquisitive than their comrades, who dogged the Wild Man, andtried to force themselves upon him. These he caught and thrashedsoundly, after the fashion of a schoolmaster with a refractory boy, andturned them adrift with a warning thenceforth to mind their ownbusiness. At last the Indians set him down as a "great medicine-man,"or a demon, whom it was impossible to slay; and the trappers shook theirheads and touched their foreheads significantly, as if to indicate thatthey thought him mad.
Thus Dick, in course of years, freed himself in a great measure fromannoyance, and many good and kind actions which he did both to Indiansand trappers began to be circulated and exaggerated, so that he became agreater mystery than ever, especially to the savages, who naturallymisconstrued the spirit in which he made his furious attacks, inself-defence, just as much as they misunderstood his motives inperforming deeds of kindness. He was a monstrous mystery! the greatestmystery that had ever been seen or heard of in the Rocky Mountains sincethe beginning of time, and no doubt a greater mystery than will ever beheard of there again.
Having traversed this roundabout pathway, we now come to the explanationwhich we intended to have given much earlier in this chapter. But it isreally wonderful how natural it is for the human mind to prose and todiverge, and how very difficult it is, at any time, to come to thepoint! Public speakers know this well. Perhaps their hearers know itbetter!
Well, although Dick was thus feared, yet he was not entirely unmolested.Wandering tribes from distant hunting grounds used to go there, and,not knowing much about the Wild Man of the West, did not believe in him;even ventured to go in search of him, and on more than one occasionalmost caught him asleep in his cave. Having an ingenious turn of mind,and being somewhat fanciful, he devised a curious plan to deceive thesavages and warn him of their approach.
By means of an axe and a knife, he carved a representation of his ownhead, and covered it with hair by means of the tail of one of hislight-coloured horses, which he docked for the purpose. (His steeds, bythe way, occupied another chamber of the cavern in which he dwelt.) Thehead thus formed, he planted behind a bush that grew on a ledge of rockabout two yards from the bottom of the cliff of the amphitheatreoutside, and directly opposite to the entrance to it. The cave, it willbe remembered, was on the right of that entrance. Thus, the first thingthe savage beheld, on prowling up to the opening of the amphitheatre,was Dick's image peeping at him over the bush opposite. Of course theinstantaneous result was the firing of a shot or the discharge of anarrow, which, the Indians being excellent marksmen, invariably alightedon the bridge of Dick's nose, or in the centre of his forehead, or inone or other of his eyes. As the head was balanced on the front edge ofa deep narrow hole which happened to be there, it was invariably knockedinto that hole by the blow, and disappeared.
This was the supposed fall of the famous Wild Man that caused the yellwhich has taken so long to account for, and the discovery of nothingbehind that bush except a small deep hole, much too small to secreteeven a little man's body in, was the cause of the explanation ofsurprise which we asserted would certainly follow.
When an event of this kind happened, Dick had a large blunderbuss inreadiness. It was loaded with a tremendous charge of small shot, and asmall charge of powder, for he did not want to kill. His object wassimply to punish and to terrify. He also had in readiness a curiousmachine which we find it rather difficult to describe. Every one hasheard, no doubt, of the wooden wheels, with wooden axles, attached tothe carts in some eastern countries, which groan, and creak, and yell,and shriek for wan
t of grease, in a manner that is almost maddening toall but native ears. Dick's invention was founded partly on theprinciple of these eastern carts, only it was worked by turning ahandle, and its sounds were much more excruciatingly intense.
On being startled, then, Dick was wont to seize his blunderbuss, rushinto the outer cave where the shrieking-machine was, give the handlehalf a dozen turns, and thus awaken, as it were, all the demons of theRocky Mountains. Dick came at last to know exactly what state of thingshe would find outside. At the first burst of discord the savages,however numerous, took to their heels, and when Dick emerged from hiscave, they were always within a yard or two of the entrance to theamphitheatre, every man with outstretched arms, sloped forward at theacutest possible angle with the ground, rushing on the wings of terrorin a flight of unparalleled precipitancy.
To pour the charge of small shot down into the centre of the flying masswas the work of a moment; to mount his unsaddled charger, and dash downthe steep rugged path with a clatter equal to that of half a squadron ofdragoons, was the work of two minutes more. To pull up suddenly, whenhe had terrified the spirits of the intruders wellnigh out of theirbodies, return slowly to his rude domicile, reload his blunderbuss, andretire to rest with a grim smile on his bearded mouth, and a lurkingexpression of fun in his big blue eyes, as he drew his blanket over him,was the usual termination of such scenes.
But this was not all. Dick, like a wise man, had prepared for theworst. In the event of the Indians ever getting the length of theinterior of his den, there were other contrivances ready for them; chiefamong which was a large cistern or tank of water, directly over thefireplace, the front of which was movable, and could be pulled down bymeans of a cord passing into the innermost cave of all--namely, thethird cavern which we have alluded to as being Mary's dormitory. Bypulling this cord, the result--instantaneous and hideous--would be, thata deluge of water would drown the fire black out, fill the cavern withhot suffocating steam and ashes, and flood the floor.
How the cavern was to be defended when he himself was not there was aproblem which Dick, being a mere man and not a demon, had utterly failedto solve. Of course, he could easily have set all manner of man-trapsand spring-guns, but as these might have taken effect upon some poorwretch who had no design upon his life, he could not venture to run therisk.
On the present occasion--Dick being absent, March being prostrated andall but helpless, and Mary being unable to turn the handle of theshrieking-machine or to fire the blunderbuss, which kicked like a smallcannon--the case of the romantic pair was desperate, and their only hopeseemed to be that the savages would go away without examining thecavern. Vain hope!
But Dick had not left them to take their chance in that way. He hadwarned Mary long ago how to act in such circumstances, and she soonreturned to March with the news that there were four Indian warriorsoutside, examining the bush behind which the head had disappeared, andthat they would very soon find out the cave.
"That's not pleasant news, Mary," said March, starting up in spite ofpain and giddiness; "you seem to take it very easy!"
"Com, quick," said she, seizing March by the hand; "com with me."
March said, mentally, that he would go with her into the jaws of death,if need be; but he followed up the mental speech with the audible remarkthat he had better take some weapon with him.
"No, no; com! Me git you spear, hatchet very quick; but com."
So saying, she dragged rather than conducted March to the little openingwhich led into her dormitory. He had to stoop on entering; and greatwas his amazement on finding himself on the brink of a black yawninggulf, that seemed to descend into the bowels of the earth. The end of anarrow plank rested on the edge of this gulf, and appeared to bridge itover, but the other end of the plank, and all beyond, were lost inimpenetrable darkness.
"Com after me," said Mary, passing rapidly across the gulf, anddisappearing--absolutely like a vision.
March hesitated. He tried to steady his somewhat giddy head, but thesingle word "Com" issuing from darkness in a very commanding tonesettled the point. He staggered across, held out his hands, and almosttumbled over his fair guide, on reaching the other end of the plank muchsooner than he had expected.
"Now, wait. I will com agin," said Mary, recrossing.
The view back was a very different thing from the view forward. As hestood there, on the brink of the yawning gulf, March could see rightthrough into the cavern he had just left, and could observe everythingthat took place there. Mary hastily loaded herself with a rifle and theblunderbuss, also with powder-horn, bullet-pouch, and a bag containingbuffalo tongues. With these she returned quickly, and, brushing pasther companion, carried them farther into the cave.
"Now, help me pull," she said, laying hold of the end of the plank.
March obeyed; and obedience cost him much, poor fellow, for it seemed asif, in the act, he had rent asunder every muscle in his right shoulder.The plank being thus drawn away, an impassable gulf was left between theinner and middle cavern, which, even in the event of its beingdiscovered, presented no particular temptation to induce any one toexplore farther. Mary drew the plank into the long natural passagewhich led to her private apartment; and as this passage turned abruptlyto the right, there was no possibility of any one on the other side ofthe gulf being able to see into it. Indeed, a light in it was notvisible from that point of view, and their voices could not be heardunless they spoke loudly.
Just as the plank was withdrawn, the Indians discovered the mouth of thecavern, and in a few minutes the two watchers beheld a painted savagepeep in at the opening of the centre cave. Seeing that it was empty,and observing at a glance the opening into the inner cave, he drew backquickly. A minute after, the four Indians darted across, and got out ofrange of that opening--evidently fearing that some one was there. Theyflitted past so quickly, yet noiselessly, that they appeared more likeshadows than real men.
Presently one of them stepped full in front of the opening with a bowand arrow in his hand. The light of the fire was strong. March saw himraise the bow, and had just time to draw back when an arrow whizzed pasthim, and was broken to pieces on the rock behind his back. Instantlyafter the echoes of the place burst forth as a shot was fired in thesame direction. Having thus made sure that the way was clear, theboldest of the savages entered with a blazing pine-knot held high abovehis head--the others following with bows ready, and arrows fitted to thestring.
On reaching the edge of the yawning chasm, the foremost savage held thetorch over it, and they all gazed in silence into its unfathomabledepths. Satisfied that it was impassable, they consulted for a fewminutes, and then, apparently coming to the conclusion that the placewas untenanted, they returned to the middle cave, and began to rummageand toss about the things they found there.
"Bring the rifle," whispered March. "I can floor two at a shot as theynow sit."
"No," Mary replied firmly. "Why make blood? They will go 'way soon."
Mary was right; but a circumstance occurred which caused them to go awaysooner than either she or they had anticipated.