XXIV
IN DEATH CANYON
Garth crouched at the water's edge, striving to pierce the murk with hiseyes; but the blackness was like a wall. By and by the outlying embersof the fire began to glow faintly; but there was another splash, andevery spark was quenched. Bending his head, he strained his ears. For along time there was no sound from across the river; then little bylittle, and softly, he heard them set to work like mice behind awainscot. There was a singular, measured falling of stones, which atfirst he could not interpret; then it suddenly occurred to him they werebuilding a barricade across their little terrace; and he took heart; forthe act was opposed to any design of immediate flight. But then, hethought, Mary, behind the wall, could easily hold the crossing bydaylight, while the two men escaped with Natalie. Somehow, he must getacross first.
He searched noiselessly among the stones above the water line fordriftwood; and succeeded in picking up a stick here and a branch there.Four of the stouter pieces he tied in a square with the rope that boundhis pack; and upon this frame he piled a crib of sticks, of sufficientbuoyancy to float his clothes, his pack and his gun. He stripped to theskin and waded cautiously into the water. It was of an icy coldness thatbit like a great burn, and forced the breath out of his lungs like asqueezed bellows. But he set his jaws and struck out, towing his littleraft with the end of the rope between his teeth.
He headed straight across, leaving it to the current to carry him safelybelow the camp. Ordinarily, fifty strokes would have carried him over,but the terrible cold congealed the very sap of his body; and the clumsylittle raft offered as much resistance as a log. He could not tell howfar he was carried down. Reaching the other side at last, he couldscarcely crawl out on the stones. He was too stiff to attempt to draw onhis clothes; the best he could do was to roll in his blankets, andwrithe to restore the circulation.
His limbs were rigid; his feet and hands wholly numb--but the will ruleseven bodily exhaustion. He would not tolerate the thought of weakness;he _would_ get warm; and his reluctant blood was forced at last toresume its course through his veins. Warmth returned with excruciatingpain. He conceded his worn body a little rest--for he knew they couldnot get their horses before morning--but in an hour, dressed, and withhis pack and his gun on his back, he was crawling back toward Grylls'scamp.
This shore of the river, like the other, was formed of fragments andmasses of rock, which had fallen from the cliffs above. He made his waywith infinite caution, giving heed to every foothold, and feeling beforehim with his hands. Fortunately there was little snow to obstruct him;for what had descended into the gorge was lodged in the crevices of thestones. He crawled over heaps of rubble, digging his toes in, to keepfrom sliding into the water; and there were great hundred-ton boulders,over which he dragged himself on his stomach. Above the canyon therewere no stars visible; and below, it was wrapped in darkness, thick,velvety, palpable as lamp-black.
After measuring the inches of a long and painful journey over thestones, he sensed at last that he was drawing near the camp again. Heredoubled his caution, hugging close to the wall of rock. Presently itfell away to the right; and before him he distinguished a faint whitishblur that he knew for the tepee. He stretched himself out to listen.Under all was the deadened boom of the falls; below him an indefinablemurmur arose from the smooth river, and an occasional eddy slapped thestones; in front he was vaguely conscious of the three persons moving toand fro, and he heard the dull chink of each stone, as it ground itsedges on the pile. They had relaxed their caution somewhat; once ortwice a stone, rolling out of place, plumped into the water. They wereat work at the other end of their barricade from Garth.
He considered what he should do. His brain was working veryclearly--dragging his exhausted body along after, as it were; forexcitement and over-exertion had produced a curious feeling ofdetachment from it. As he waited there, the work on the barricadeceased; and a whispered consultation was held. If he could only hear!Afterward two figures approached the tepee and entered. InstantlyGarth let himself down over the rocks behind, and snaking his bodythrough the bit of herbage on the flat, applied his ear to thebottom of the canvas.
He heard Mabyn's voice ask querulously: "What was it you said to her?"
"Told her to sit on top of the wall, and watch," Grylls carelesslyanswered. "They can't cross the river until morning, but we're nottaking any chances, just the same. She's to watch, too, that the ladydoesn't try to sneak the raft across to her friends."
"You're going to clear out in the morning?" Mabyn asked anxiously.
"Not on your life!" the other coolly returned. "We got shelter and goodwater here, the horses are safe above; and we command the only crossingof the river. We'll sit right here until their grub runs out. They can'thave brought much!"
"The police may hear," Mabyn murmured.
"Let 'em come and welcome," said Grylls. "They know me! As for you, Iguess a man can take a journey with his lawful wife, can't he?"
There was a pause. A match was struck. Garth guessed that Grylls wasresuming his interrupted smoke.
"Seems to me we hold pretty much all the trumps," he went on complacently."My idea is, Pevensey's all alone over there. That was a pretty smart rapon the nut, the boy got. But even if there's two of them, what can theydo? We've got cover, and they've got to show themselves; it's a funnything if we can't pot them easy. We got a right to; they killed our manfirst."
"Hadn't I better ride on with her to the Slavi Indians?" Mabyn suggestedin a tone that he laboured to make sound off-hand.
Grylls chuckled fatly. "What! And deprive me of the pleasure of hercompany!" he said mockingly. "I guess not!"
Mabyn was silent. Garth dimly apprehended what a torment of impotentfear and rage the creature must be enduring. He had delivered himselfhand and foot into Grylls's power; and Grylls no longer even kept up apretense of hiding his own designs on Natalie.
"Better turn in," Grylls said indifferently. "No need for you to watchto-night. I'll have a snooze myself, and go out and relieve Mary beforedawn."
Garth had heard enough; they were all placed for him; and his way wasclear. He softly drew himself around the further side of the tepee,pausing long between every move, to listen. Both their lives depended onhis making no sound now; every faculty he possessed was bent on it; hetook half an hour to make thirty feet. He circled the inside edge of thelittle triangle of flat ground, keeping in the shadow of the piledrocks. Crossing the little stream that issued over the flat was hardest;but he managed it; patiently studying each move in advance. Finally heapproached the tent. Beyond, he fancied he could distinguish the vagueoutline of the wall running across; and upon it a huddled figure, a merehint of substance against the pit of darkness behind.
He felt his way around the tent. He found the canvas of the back wallwas made in one piece. With shaking fingers, he drew his knife out ofits sheath; and inserting the point in the centre of the stuff, softlydrew it back and forth, a stroke at a time. His heart was beating like asteam drill; he swallowed his sobbing breath. Every instant he expectedto hear Natalie scream from within.
He severed the last thread at last; and put up his knife. He parted theflaps; and listened for sounds from within in an agony of indecision. Hecould not tell if she slept or was awake; he dared not so much aswhisper her name; and if he touched her and she slept, how could shehelp but awake with a cry!
But she was not asleep; and she had all her wits about her. Close to hisear, a voice soft as a zephyr in the grass whispered his name. Atrembling breath of relief escaped his lips; and instantly an arm waswreathed about his neck; and a soft cheek pressed against his roughone. He caught her to him; her slim frame quivered through and through.It was his own Natalie; the feel of her! the fragrance of her! Lifeholds but one such moment.
"I knew you'd come! I knew you'd come!" she breathed in his ear.
Her terrible agitation was the means of calming his own. He had to becool for both. He pressed her close to him, stroking her hair.
"Brave, _brave_ Natalie!" he whispered. "Not a sound, till we areclear!"
He gave her a moment to recover herself, letting his encircling armsspeak the comfort and cheer he could not utter. Little by little thepiteous trembling subsided and the rigid form relaxed.
"Ready, now?" he whispered.
She eagerly nodded.
"I lead the way," he breathed in her ear; "and you keep close at myheels. Take it easy. It must be hands and knees, and an inch at a time."
Natalie pressed his hand to her lips.
He crawled through the hole, and waited for her outside. She made nosound. He touched her reassuringly; and realized with a pang how she washandicapped, with one arm in a sling. They crept back around the foot ofthe piled rocks, dragging themselves with tense muscles, a foot at atime and waiting long between. By the touch of her hand on his foot heknew she followed close. Looking over his shoulder, he sensed thehuddled figure still motionless on the wall.
He could not have told what gave the alarm. They had reached therivulet, when suddenly Mary leaped off the wall with a cry that broughtthe two men tumbling out of the tepee.
Garth, springing to his feet, seized Natalie's hand, and pulled herafter him.
"Come on!" he whispered cheerily. "We're safe now!"
They scrambled up over the stones of the watercourse, careless of thenoise they made.
"What is it?" they heard Grylls shout below.
A sentence in Cree explained.
"Watch the raft!" he shouted. "I'll bring her back!"
They heard him run heavily toward them. Hastily unslinging his gun,Garth sent a shot at random through the darkness. They heard the bulletspring off a stone. The steps ceased.
"By God! _he's_ up there!" cried Grylls thickly. "Come back, Mabyn!We'll get 'em easy in the morning!"
There was no further sound of pursuit.
As they climbed, Garth searched from side to side, as well as he couldin the darkness, for a suitable spot to make a stand. High above thelevel of the river, a huge cube of rock resting squarely in the bottomof the ravine, and forcing the stream to travel around it, offered whathe wanted. One side of the boulder lay against a steep rocky wall; andin the angle was a secure niche for Natalie.
Her courage failed a little when she saw he meant to stop. "Not here!Not here!" she protested nervously. "We must put miles between us beforemorning!"
"The way home lies back across the river," Garth said gently.
"Then why did you come up here?" she said a little wildly. "They'llnever let us back!"
His heart ached for her, at the thought of what she must still gothrough. "Courage! for one more day, my Natalie!" he urged, drawing herto him. "We can't start without horses and food, and those I have to winfor you!"
"You make me ashamed!" she whispered.
He heard no more whimpering.
Garth, appreciating the vital necessity of sleep, if he was to keep hiswits about him next day, lay down in his blankets while Natalie keptwatch. With the first tinge of gray overhead, she woke him, as he hadbidden her.
"If we only had a good breakfast to begin on!" were his waking words;"and there's nothing but raw flour and water."
Natalie, in answer to this prayer, produced a flat package from herdress which proved to contain bread and meat. "I always kept something,in case I should be able to get away," she explained.
They ate, sitting quietly side by side in the darkness--they could evenlaugh a little together now--and they arose vastly refreshed.
Garth climbed the big rock to wait for daylight to reveal the strengthand the weakness of the position he had chosen. The top of the rockformed a flat plane slightly inclined toward their rear; and, lying atfull length upon it, he could shoot over the edge without exposing morethan the top of his head. He lifted up a heavy stone or two; and stoodthem along the edge for further protection. Then he waited--waited forhours it seemed to him; looking and looking down the ravine until hiseyes were fit to start out of his head; and he could see nothing; butlo! when he looked again the light was there!
On the whole he was satisfied. His rock commanded the entire ravinebelow; it was as steep as a pair of stairs. There was not a stick ofherbage below; only a trough of heaped and broken rock masses. On eitherhand they were shut in by straight lead-coloured walls of rock; and atthe bottom of the ravine, the forbidding, mist-gray wall of the maingorge cut off the view. In front and on the left they were amplyprotected; their right flank was the weak spot. Above them on this side,part of the wall of the ravine had given way some ages past; and a bitof the plain had sunk down. The hollow thus formed contained a grove ofgaunt trees and underbrush. If their assailants, under cover of therocks on the way, ever climbed to it, Garth and Natalie would be badlyoff indeed.
It was a grim figure that the first rays of light revealed sitting onthe big rock. Garth had lost his hat long ago; and he was both unshavenand unshorn. He crouched, hugging his knees, with his rifle across histhighs; and his sheepskin coat hung over his shoulders ready to flingoff, when he needed to act. The flannel shirt beneath was in rags; andhis moccasins, mere apologies for foot-coverings. But to Natalie,regarding the cool, bright shine of his eyes, as he smiled down on her,he was wholly beautiful. She was scarcely better off; her pale face wasenframed in a sad wreck of a limp, stained felt hat; but she could smiletoo; and Garth had never found her lovelier in her bravery.
The suspense was well-nigh intolerable--and so they fell to chaffing.
"If mother could only see us now!" said Garth with a grin.
"I feel like a white cat coming out of a coal-bin," said Natalie."'What's the use!' she says, looking round at herself. 'The job is toobig to tackle. If I was only a black cat it wouldn't show!'"
"You could walk right on as Liz, the girl bandit of the Rockies," saidGarth.
"Don't you talk!" she retorted. "You look as if Liz had missed her cue,and you'd been through the sawmill!"
And then Garth saw a black sleeve sticking out from behind a rock inthe ravine below; and he got down to business. A little sigh of reliefescaped him at the sight of his enemies at last. He fired. The shot wentwide.
Natalie sank back in her corner, deathly pale; and with a hand over herlips, to keep from crying out. Her part was harder than his.
He called down to her reassuringly. "All right! Only a try-out!"
Further down, a second figure showed briefly, scrambling up theright-hand side of the trough. Garth fired--a fraction of a second toolate. He could scarcely credit such nimble agility in a figure so gross.It was Grylls. Thus two of them were accounted for. Searching for thethird, he saw the black crown of a hat projecting above a stone on theother side of the ravine. This was an easy shot; he aimed and fired witha savage satisfaction. The hat disappeared; but again he knew, somehow,that his bullet had not found its mark.
At the same moment Grylls won a rock a yard higher up. He was not comingup the bottom of the ravine, but aiming obliquely up the side for thetrees high above. Garth, grimly covering his shelter, saw him bob hishead around; a bare, cropped, tousled head, like a hiding schoolboy's.Quick as he was with the trigger, Grylls was quicker. The bulletflattened itself harmlessly beyond.
As he shot there was a scramble across the ravine; and he saw the otherfigure had mounted. The hat, Mabyn's hat, again showed; and he tookanother shot at it. This time the bullet knocked it spinning off therifle barrel which upheld it; and in a flash Garth understood how neatlythey were fooling him. Each in turn drew his fire, while the other madean advance. He resolved to shoot no more.
Meanwhile the first one he had glimpsed, which must be Mary, had notmoved from the middle of the ravine. Some of the stones were moved, andhe guessed she had made a permanent shelter there. There was a shot frombelow, and the bullet spattered itself on the heavy base of rock.Holding his hand, Garth awaited a second shot. He saw a tiny white puffat last, and marked the aperture whence it issued. The bullet hurtledwhiningly overhead. Steadying his gun on the edge of the rock, he took
careful aim--but the other spoke first. It was a marvellous shot--or achance one. The bullet splintered the edge of the stone protectingGarth's head, and sang off. A jagged sliver of stone ploughed across theback of his extended hand. He exclaimed as in casual surprise, and hisgun exploded harmlessly in the air. He looked at his hand stupidly as atan alien member; then suddenly he understood; and whipping out hishandkerchief, bound up the wound, knotting the linen with teeth andfingers.
Up to this moment Garth had been playing a dispassionate game; but hereturned to his loophole conscious of a great surge of cold rage againstthose below. He yearned to get even; but he could wait for it. Mabynexposed his hat tantalizingly; Grylls shot out a foot, or bobbed up hishead--but Garth saved his bullets. He would not even try to pierce thesharpshooters' defenses again. An occasional shot came from there; butnever such another as the last.
Finally Grylls changed his tactics. From behind his rock he tauntedGarth vilely. The walls of the ravine reverberated horridly with thesound of the sudden human voice.
But Garth still bided his time; merely adding the insult of the words toNatalie's ears, to the score of his rage.
Natalie in the meantime, thankful to have something to do, had beenpiling stones as heavy as she could lift, on the rock behind him. Shehad torn the sling from her arm; and was using the weaker member tosteady the other.
Garth, fearful that Grylls might succeed in flanking them at last,ordered her to climb up behind him; and without turning his head, toldher how to make a little parapet along the top of the rock on theexposed side.
Garth finally got his chance. A little stone rolled down from Mabyn'shiding-place; and he instantly trained his gun on the spot. Mabyn,miscalculating, or losing his head, suddenly scurried for the next rock.Garth had marked it. Mabyn gained it, but before he could pull his legsafter him the rifle spoke. There was a scream of pain; and Mabyn'sbody, sliding from behind the rock, rolled and dropped heavily fromstone to stone. A leg caught in a fissure and stayed him; he hung headdownward, writhing in hideous, theatrical postures of agony, andscreaming like a woman. Garth, thinking of Natalie, longed to send ashot to still the noise; but his hand was held by his promise to Rina.
It was all over in a minute after that. Grylls, careless of the other'sfate, scrambled up from stone to stone. Garth peppered his course withbullets; but the rocks were scattered so thickly, Grylls needed toexpose himself for scarcely a second at a time. He gained the trees atlast.
An instant of terrible suspense succeeded. Garth made Natalie lie closeunder the little wall she had been building. He crouched over her,himself fully exposed, searching the hillside with strained eyes.Suddenly he saw the bloated face not thirty yards away. Grylls hadpartly stepped from behind a tree and was deliberately taking aim. Garthsprang to his knees. The two guns spoke at once. Grylls pitchedheadfirst down the steep slope into view; and rolled down the bare rocksinto the tiny stream.
"I've got him!" shouted Garth triumphantly.
Even as he spoke he toppled over sideways. Natalie clutched at himwildly; but his coat was pulled out of her grasp. He slid off the rockand dropped on the stones behind. In an instant she was at his side. Hewas already struggling to rise--his teeth pressed into his lip until theblood oozed between.
"Only my left shoulder," he muttered. "I can still shoot. There's Mary,yet. Help me up."
Somehow, with her aid, he managed to pull himself back on the rock, onearm dangling useless. Through his loophole, he saw Mary toiling openlyup the ravine. He showed himself. At the sight of him the old womanpaused and held out her hands as if inviting him to shoot. She had lefther gun. When he made no offer to fire, she quietly continued her climb.Garth watched her grimly.
Reaching Grylls's body, she unwound a woollen scarf from about herwaist; and passing it under his shoulders, partly hoisted his great bulkon her back with an incredible effort; and started down again. Gryllswas quite dead; his heels thudded limply from stone to stone.
Long before she reached the bottom, Garth lost interest in her progress.He had fainted.
Natalie, working to restore him, distracted, hopeless, crazed, suddenlyheard a distant shout; and looking up distinguished a little cavalcadewinding down the face of the great gorge. There was a red coat amongthem.
"Garth! We're saved! We're _saved_!" she cried to his unhearing ears.