CHAPTER XVII.
INTO AND OUT OF THE CANYON.
Jack Dudley's enforced idleness had become intolerable. He could stay nolonger in the place from which Hank Hazletine had departed a half-hourbefore. It was a waste of time to speculate over the intentions of theveteran, and the youth made no attempt to do so. He had set out to seewhether he could act even an insignificant part in the recovery of hisloved comrade.
It has been said that the boy had the advantage over the man in that itwas not to be supposed any importance would be attached to his actions.At the same time he was liable to "put his foot in it" in more ways thanone.
Somehow or other the conviction clung to Jack Dudley that the key to thesituation was in the neighborhood of the canyon. There must be hundredsof places among the mountains where a prisoner could be hidden fromhuman eyes, but Hazletine's interest centred in that wild gorge, andJack was certain he had gone thither.
Then there was the fact of the cowman's visit two days before,concerning which he would have said nothing but for his discovery by theboys. Why Hank should have picked his way up that dangerous place wasknown only to himself. Jack could form no theory to explain it. But hedid not forget the dispute of the three Indians in front of the breakand the start which one of them made to follow the footsteps of thewhite man. There must be some attraction in the canyon for them all.
Jack's dread was that Hazletine, despite his undoubted skill, wouldfrighten Tozer and Motoza by his efforts to defeat their purpose, anddrive them into slaying Fred and making off before they could bepunished. But the cowman had his own views, and it was too late todissuade him.
Keeping in mind the warning of his friend to use all possiblecircumspection in his actions, Jack was so guarded that a full hour hadpassed when he once more reached the break in the canyon, which hadalready afforded them more than one interesting experience.
So far as he could judge, he was the only living person within miles.The two Indians that had flitted across his field of vision were gone,and it was impossible to say what had become of Hazletine. Determined,however, to run no unnecessary risk, Jack remained among the trees androcks on the upper side of the break, where he could not be seen unlesssome one almost stepped upon him. Not satisfied with his first position,he shifted further to the right, and lay down to wait and watch.
A gradual obscuring of the sky caused him to look at his watch. Could itbe possible? The autumn afternoon was almost gone. Night was at hand,whereas he had supposed several hours of daylight remained. Thusvaluable time had slipped past and nothing had been done for FredGreenwood.
From where Jack lay he had a perfect view of the upper gate, as it maybe called, of the canyon. The gorge has already been described as narrowat the point where the foamy waters dashed through and expanded into thebroad pool, after which they flowed a short way and reunited, to maketheir next plunge between the mountain walls on their journey to the seathousands of miles distant. Looking across this break, the boy couldpenetrate with his eye for a dozen yards into the upper canyon. He sawthe dripping rocks upon which the angry buck sprang, only to pause andturn back to join his companions below.
A curious thing happened. Jack was looking in the direction named, when,with startling suddenness, an Indian shot into sight on the furthestrock, beyond which the canyon made a sweeping curve that shut offfurther view. His appearance was like the upleaping of a Jack-in-the-boxat the touch of the spring, but the explanation was evident: he wasmaking his way down the gorge from above, when his leap from one rock toanother brought him thus abruptly into view.
This was interesting of itself, but a still more interesting discoverycame with the second glance at him. He was Motoza, the Sioux!
It looked as if Hank Hazletine, with all his subtlety and woodcraft, hadfailed to do that which came of itself to Jack Dudley.
The actions of the Sioux showed he was unusually careful about beingseen as he emerged from the canyon into fuller view, for, after leapingto the rock which stood at the door of the gorge, he stood a minute,then leaned forward and peered around the sides as far as he couldwithout losing his balance. He next stood erect and looked keenly acrossthe pool, and apparently at the very spot where the boy lay hiding.
"What a face!" muttered Jack; "I never saw one so ugly, with those daubsof paint; and his eyes shine just like that rattlesnake's we killed. Itcan't be he sees me," added the youth in alarm, as he cowered stilllower; "one would think he could look through a stone."
But nothing less than the Roentgen ray would have revealed the youngman, who was stealthily watching the ferocious buck. The latter musthave decided that the coast was clear, for with another bound he landedupon a rock quite a way from the opening of the canyon, and a secondleap placed him on the shore where three of his race had been standingwhen discovered by Jack and Fred.
Motoza did not linger, but moved with a very rapid stride across theopen space, where he was in full view of anyone in the vicinity.
"If I were sure you had done any harm to Fred," muttered Jack, neverremoving his eyes from the repellant countenance, "I believe I couldtreat you as we did the grizzly bear without a sting of conscience. Theidea of your harming a hair of the head of Fred Greenwood, who showedyou tenfold more mercy than you deserved--my gracious! he must have seenme."
This involuntary exclamation was caused by the fact that the Sioux wasfollowing a bee-line for the spot where Jack lay. Believing a meetinginevitable, the youth placed his hand on his revolver, the preferableweapon in the event of coming to close quarters.
But at the last moment Motoza turned to the left and passed among therocks within a couple of paces of the youth, who held his breath untilhe was gone.
For some reasons Jack Dudley would have welcomed a meeting with thismiscreant, for he held him in no fear. For one moment he meditated"holding him up," with the threat of death unless he produced FredGreenwood; but fortunately the youth had time in which to see the wildabsurdity of the thing, which could have done no possible good andprobably would have brought great harm. So it was that Motoza passed outof sight and the youth was once more left alone.
But Jack's thoughts had taken a new turn. Hazletine had expressed thebelief that in the interval between the first and second meeting withTozer either he or Motoza would hold communication with their prisoner;consequently, if the Sioux could be kept under surveillance withoutexciting his suspicion, he was likely to give some involuntary anduseful information.
"I wonder where Hank is; can it be that he, too, is watching in theneighborhood and has seen Motoza come out as I saw him? If so, the nextfellow to pass in review before me will be my esteemed friend."
When, however, a half-hour had gone by without anything being seen ofthe cowman, Jack was warranted in believing that he was the only one whowas aware of the coming and going of the red man.
Following out Hazletine's theory, it would seem that the prison of FredGreenwood, instead of being among the mountains, was within the gorge.This was a startling conclusion, but the more Jack reflected upon it themore strongly did he believe it.
"At any rate, I mean to find out whether it is so."
But on the verge of setting out he hesitated. There was more than onereason why he should do so. In the first place, it was exceedinglydangerous to attempt to make his way up the canyon even by daylight, andthe sun had already disappeared. He was totally unfamiliar with thewindings and would be in constant danger of drowning. Moreover, he wasliable, in the event of Fred being held a prisoner in the gorge, toplace himself with him, or to defeat the negotiations for restoring himto liberty.
And yet, in the face of these and other obstacles, the youth decided tomake the foolhardy attempt.
First of all he fastened his Winchester to his back, both he and hiscomrade having made provision for doing that before leaving Bowman'sranch. Then he thrust his revolver more firmly into its resting-place.This left his hands free, in case a sudden emergency should call fortheir use, and gave him an opportunity of savin
g the more importantweapon. Then, night being fully come, he stepped into the open spacewhich marked the bank at the break of the canyon. The stars wereshining, but it would be a long time before the moon rose.
A quick glance to the right and left revealed nothing to cause alarm,and Jack pressed on until he stood on the spot where the Sioux hadlanded when making his last leap. There was enough star-gleam to showthe black mass of stone, like a crouching monster gathering to springupon him. It will not be forgotten that the youth was an exceptionallyfine athlete, and, pausing but a moment, he easily made the leap thatcarried him to the rock. In fact the task was easy, and he would nothave hesitated to follow in the footsteps of the white man and Indian,could he have had the twilight of mid-day to assist him.
The next bound placed him within the walls of the canyon, where hepaused with the question whether it would do to venture further. Therushing waters were on all sides of him, and the cool spray was dashedin his face and over his clothing. It was to be supposed that where thisfurious current was compressed into such a narrow compass its depth wasconsiderable, and within its grasp the most powerful swimmer would behelpless.
Peering into the gloom, the youth saw the top of the next rock which wasused as a stepping-stone by other visitors. If he were mistaken it wouldbe bad for him, but, with only a few minutes' pause, he gathered hismuscles and proved he was right. He was now fairly within the canyon andstill standing on solid support, while there had been no trouble tomaintain his foothold from the moment he made the first leap.
His success thus far gave him renewed courage.
"What one person has done another can do," was his thought. "Fred and Iagreed that there is a good deal of risk in this, but if I had a littlemore light nothing could be easier. These rocks seem to be placed at theright intervals, and so long as I can locate them I'll go ahead."
The belief of Jack was that somewhere in the side of the canyon was acave in which his comrade was held captive. The sight that the two boyshad obtained of Hank Hazletine, when he disappeared so suddenly fromsight, lent strength to the theory. If the youth was right, the time ofhis attempt to ascend the gorge, with the exception of the darkness,could not have been more favorable, for Motoza was absent, and it washardly to be supposed that his place had been taken by Tozer or anyoneelse. What a happy meeting it would be if the elder could find theyounger!
The natural reasoning was that, if one boy was able to ascend the canyonto where the other was imprisoned, the latter ought to be able to leavehis prison when the gaoler was absent. Jack's explanation was probablythe right one--either that Fred did not know how readily the thing couldbe done, or Jack was soon to find himself unable to complete hisjourney.
Spurred on by the hope of doing so much for the one he loved, Jackpaused only long enough to locate the next rock, when he again leapedwith the easy strength and grace that were natural to him. His successdid not render him careless. He was almost in utter darkness, and wassurprised that the way proved so easy. By leaning forward and peeringinto the gloom he could generally distinguish the most shadowy outlinesof the nearest part of the support, which, had it been slightly furtherremoved, would have been altogether beyond his reach.
It was unreasonable to expect the favorable conditions to continue, andthey did not. The time came very soon when, after one of his leaps, theyouth paused to collect himself, and was unable to distinguish the nextrock projecting above the roaring current. The canyon just there waswider than usual, and he stooped over and gazed to the right and left inturn, hoping to discover the indispensable support.
"It must be somewhere near," he reflected, "else Hank and the rest ofthem could have ascended no further; perhaps they did not do so."
He gazed up the walls of darkness, but saw nothing that could help solvethe question. If there was a cave near at hand its presence was betrayedby no friendly light. Although the tumult of the current was almostdeafening, he shouted the name of Fred and listened for the responsewhich came not.
It was not difficult for Jack Dudley to form the explanation of why hefailed to discern the next support. Hitherto his leaps had beencomparatively trifling. It would have been no trouble to make themseveral feet longer. This was a spot where such a jump was necessary,and therefore he could not discern the rock which would have beenvisible with the help of the sun or moon.
What should he do? Turn back or keep on? It was a most serious question,and he debated it a long time before forming a conclusion.
It is remarkable how readily, at times, we can convince ourselves of thetruth of that which we wish to believe. By and by Jack Dudley was surehe made out the dim outlines of the lower point of a huge rock, justwhere it ought to have been.
"I can't be mistaken, so here goes!"
And go he did, with a vengeance. It was the finest leap yet made, but,unfortunately, the support upon which he so confidently counted had noexistence. Instead of landing on solid stone, he dropped into the ragingtorrent and went spinning down stream like a cork in a whirlpool.
He kept his presence of mind, and did not exhaust his strength by tryingto stem the current. His great peril was in being hurled against some ofthe rocks and killed or having a limb broken. Throwing out his arms justin time he averted this calamity, and feeling himself scraping swiftlypast one of the masses of stone that had served him as a support, hedesperately gripped it and drew himself out of the water.
He was uninjured, but became immediately conscious of a greatmisfortune. In the flurry his Winchester had become displaced and wasirrecoverably gone. It was with an exclamation of relief that he foundhis revolver in place at his hip.
"This expedition of mine, considered strictly _as_ an expedition, is afailure," he grimly muttered, thankful for his own escape, and stillconvinced that it was not as bad as it might have been with his friend."It won't do to try it again, and it remains for me to get out of thecanyon altogether."
He had landed upon the extreme upper end of the most immense rock of allthat had been used to help in the ascent. He remembered it well. Theupper portion was depressed and sloping, being three or four feet abovethe current. Thus it happened that the point to which he was clingingallowed him to be deluged with spray, and he strove to climb to thehigher part.
He was thus engaged, conscious of a number of severe bruises, when anobject whisked past his shoulder, taking a direction up the gorge. Hefelt it graze his face, and detected something that can only bedescribed as a deepening of the dense gloom as it shot over his head. Itcame and vanished like the flitting of a bird's wing.
The youth for the moment was amazed beyond expression, and was at a lossto explain what it could be. Then the truth flashed upon him. Some oneelse was also going up the canyon, and had leaped from the rock to whichJack was clinging, on his way to the next one. He strove to pierce thedarkness, but the effort was useless.
"I would give a good deal to know who he was; I couldn't make outwhether it was a white man or an Indian. It may have been Motoza, Tozer,Hank, or a stranger; but whoever he was, he has no use for me."
Half suspecting a third party might put in an appearance, Jack waited onthe rock for some minutes, but nothing of the kind occurred, and heprepared to continue his retreat.
The water was almost icy cold, the temperature being perceptibly lowerbetween the walls of the canyon and the clear air outside. With hissaturated garments, the youth was chilled and anxious to reach a pointwhere he could start a fire and obtain warmth for his body. He had givenover the expectation of seeing any more persons in the gorge and wishedto look after his own comfort.
To this haste was to be attributed the second accident that overtook theyoung man. He had no difficulty in locating the place to land, but heput too much vigor in the effort, so that when he struck the slipperyrock his momentum carried him forward, and despite his resistance hetook another plunge into the raging current before he could checkhimself.
The place was preferable to the previous one, for it was almost at themouth of the canyon.
He was guiding himself as best he could, and on thealert to grasp something to check his swift progress, when he debouchedinto the broad, open pool or miniature lake at the break in the banks,where the current became so sluggish that he swam with ease.
"This is growing monotonous," he muttered, as, after a few strokes, hisfeet touched bottom and he walked out on dry land. "My rifle is gone,but luckily I have kept my revolver for emergencies----"
He got no further with the remark, for his hand had gone back to his hipwith the result of discovering that the smaller weapon had been lostduring his last bath. But it was impossible wholly to lose his goodspirits.
"Whew! but that puts me in a fine condition to hunt grizzly bears andmeet bad Indians; I'm not so anxious to see Motoza as I was."
His teeth were chattering, and to start his blood in circulation hebegan climbing the sloping bank, at the top of which, as will beremembered, he had remained hidden with Fred Greenwood when looking downupon the three Indians.
It was a laborious task, and he was panting when he reached the summit,where he paused for a few minutes' rest. The prudent course was toreturn as speedily as he could to the cavern by the plateau and start afire. His blanket had been left there, and would be of great use in hispresent condition.
"I wonder, now, if somebody has been there and stolen them?" hemuttered, resuming his homeward tramp; "this thing ought not to stop,and it seems to me Hank takes big chances in leaving the blankets andponies where some of these Indians can steal them."
Jack had still to leap the canyon in order to reach his destination, butthe task had become an easy one and caused him no anxiety. All was goingwell, when his first shock of alarm came with the discovery that a wildanimal was following him. His first thought was that it was one of theIndians, but a glimpse, on the edge of a slight clearing, showed that itwas a quadruped.
Jack paused and looked intently at the creature. He could see it onlydimly, but sufficiently so to identify it as a wolf of unusually largesize. He suspected it was of the black species, one of those savagebrutes to be dreaded tenfold more than the ordinary grey kind.
"I wonder whether he knows I haven't got a firearm about me? Ah, oldfellow, if I had my Winchester it wouldn't take me long to settle you."
It was no jesting matter, and Jack kept close watch of him whilethreading his way to camp, as their headquarters were called. Severaltimes, when he turned quickly, he was startled to observe that theanimal had stolen quite close to him, as if to leap upon his shoulders;but he showed his cowardly nature by darting back, only to return themoment the youth turned his face away.
The question with Jack was whether he should stop and kindle a fire, orwait until he reached the cavern. He preferred to do the latter, but itlooked unsafe to defer the precaution. The distance, however, was short,and he hurried on until he clambered over to the plateau and was greetedby a whinny from his pony, Dick, who was quick to recognize him. Insteadof keeping up the pursuit, or attacking one of the horses, the wolfseemed to conclude it best to turn his attention elsewhere. He slunkoff, and was seen no more.