The American Indian does not prosecute his warfare in that fashion.
CHAPTER XXIII.
The experience of Gravity Gimp, after reaching the outside of thecavern, was remarkable in more than one respect.
When he found himself creeping up the narrow path, to the high groundabove, and realized that he would make a capital target for one or adozen of the Seneca sharpshooters, his teeth fairly rattled, and hewould have retreated, but for his affection for the members of theBrainerd family.
"'Spect dere's two hundred ob 'em a-settin' in a row on a log up dereand waitin' for me, and when I come along dey'll each one hit me ober dehead wid de butt end ob dere tomahawks, and by de time dey gots froughI'll hab de headache so bad dat I'll be as dizzy as Haberkick downdere."
Gravity paused for a minute, and then resumed creeping forward. Withinthe succeeding ten minutes he had reached the high level ground above,without sight or sound of an Indian.
No wonder he was mystified, for it occurred to him, naturally enough,that if he could pass out unchallenged in that fashion all the othersmight do the same, and what seemed to be a very perilous situation mightthus resolve itself into nothing of the kind.
He came near turning back and inviting his friends to follow him, butfortunately he changed his mind and decided to go farther, beforebelieving that the cloud had lifted.
"Dere don't seem to be anybody loafing 'bout here," he muttered, "andI'll promenade a little further."
He now began cautiously moving over the same ground he and his friendshad hurried along when so hotly chased by the Indians.
Only a short distance was passed in the deep shadows of the trees, whenhe paused, still mystified.
The question presented itself as to how he was to accomplish anythingthat could benefit those whom he had left behind, for if they shouldseek to leave the cavern during the night, there was no other way, sofar as he could judge, excepting that which he himself had taken.
"It must be dat the Injuns are down on de oder side de ravine, and Ithink dere's where I'll take an observation."
No task could be more delicate than this, and Gravity, with all hisshrewdness, was unfitted to undertake it. There were scouts, who underthe circumstances, would have gathered all the knowledge desired, andwould have placed themselves among their enemies without detection, butthe African was a different kind of personage.
He picked his way along the wood above the cavern, and had gone lessthan two rods beyond, when he stopped to gaze about him. The gloom wasso dense that he could see very little, excepting when he looked acrossthe ravine, where the moonlight fell and where the mass of rocks, sodreaded by the fugitives, was in plain sight.
He saw nothing there which could enlighten him, but his heart nearlystood still, when he not only heard a movement behind him near thepoint where the path to the cavern reached the high ground above, butdespite the gloom detected several dark figures moving stealthily about.
That these were Indians there could be no doubt, and the conclusion wasinevitable that they had seen him come out and had allowed him to passby them without molestation.
Being now between him and the shelter, his return was cut off, and nomatter what important discoveries he might make, he had no means oftelling them to his friends.
"I might have knowed dere would be some goings on like dis," he said,with a throb of alarm. "De best thing I kin do is to strike out forStroudsburg alone, widout waitin' for de folks."
Though he might have been justified in this course, yet his consciencewould not permit it, and he started again, with the purpose ofpassing around to the other side of the ravine, and making a closerreconnoissance of the spot where he was certain of finding enemies.
This required a long detour, and a full half-hour passed before he gotacross the short ravine and began climbing up the other side, nearwhere the Indians were known to be only a short time before.
As might have been anticipated, he went wrong, and got into the worsttrouble of his life.
He had seen nothing more of the Senecas, but several faint whistles herecognized as signals passing between them, and he should haveunderstood, from what had already taken place, that his movements werewatched by the wary foe.
He was climbing a narrow passage, and was, perhaps, a dozen feet abovethe bottom of the ravine, when, to his dismay, a sinewy warrior sprangup in front of him, as though leaping out of the ground itself, and withtomahawk raised and a guttural exclamation, made for him.
The assault was so sudden that Gimp had no time to use his rifle, but hewas not taken altogether at fault. Dropping the weapon, he recoiled astep or two and escaped the implement as it came down with a viciouswhiz.
Before the warrior could recover or retreat, the African threw botharms about him, and, lifting him as though he were an infant, flung himheadlong into the ravine below.
"Dere! guess dat'll jar you a little--"
But, to his amazement, a second brawny Indian appeared directly wherethe other had first shown himself, and he was immediately followed byothers, who, it was plain, were pushing up through a narrow passage forthe purpose of capturing the African.
The latter had succeeded so well a minute before, that he again resortedto the same tactics, and, catching hold of the first warrior he couldreach, he hurried him after the first. Then the next was treated in thesame manner, and, for the time, Gravity Gimp became a sort of sablegeyser or miniature volcano, throwing into the air sprawling SenecaIndians with a vehemence that was as picturesque as it was amazing.
The exercise of hurling full-grown men aloft, regardless of how highthey go, and in what posture they strike, is an exhausting diversion, nomatter how powerful the gymnast who engages in it.
Thus it came about that the herculean African speedily found that he hadhis hands more than full, and his terrific efforts so told upon him thathe grew more sluggish in his movements, until at last he was fairlysmothered with the crush of warriors, and, despite his fierceresistance, was made prisoner.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Meanwhile the fugitives in the cavern were placed in a situation almostas grave as that of Gravity Gimp himself.
The departure of the latter created a stir that lasted some minutesafter Mr. Brainerd drew back and whispered to his friends the fact thatthe servant had reached the ground above, and was unmolested.
"He must pass over the spot where the man stood who fired the shot,"said Maggie Brainerd, "and he ought to find out who he is."
"Provided the stranger remains there, which isn't likely."
The reader knows that this hope was disappointed, for the negro sawnothing of the man nor did he once think of him, while making thereconnoissance that resulted in his own capture.
"Now," said the father, who felt as though his responsibility hadincreased since the departure of the African, "Aunt Peggy, you must keepyourself and the girls as far back and away from the mouth of the cavernas you can, for there's no telling when a stray bullet may come in."
"I will see that we are all out of harm's way, while we are here," saidHabakkuk McEwen.
"There's no doubt of that as far as yourself is concerned, but yourpersonal safety is not a matter of concern to any of us here."
"But, Richard," ventured Aunt Peggy, coming close to the elbow of herbrother-in-law, "what are _you_ going to do?"
"I shall stay where I am, at the mouth of the cave, watching that pointyonder. It won't do to relax our vigilance, for a single minute of suchneglect may prove fatal."
"But you will be struck, if a shot is sent into this place."
"No one is safer than I; do you see?"
As he spoke he indicated a large, long stone, some twenty or more inchesin length and a third as thick.
"It's a loose piece of the rock, which I chanced upon. I laid it infront of me across my line of vision to rest my gun upon. That gives mean easy position, while I have a good breast-work."
"But don't you have to look over the line of protection, so as to keepgood watch
?" asked Maggie.
"There must be a certain amount of danger, no matter how well we areprotected."
But there was one fact which Mr. Brainerd, with all his forethought,failed to take note of: his anxiety was so great that he believed hecould do without sleep for a week, and yet he should have known that ifhe undertook to lie down on his face and keep watch, no solicitude noreffort of the will could keep him awake.
The only recourse is that of continual motion, as is the case with thesailor on watch or the sentinel on guard at night.
In fact, no posture could have been more wooing to the gentle goddessthat steals away our senses ere we are aware.
The females, as Mr. Brainerd had suggested, withdrew to the rear of thecavern, placing themselves at one side where no bullet could reachthem, unless fired from the mass of rocks that the father was watchingwith such close attention.
Habakkuk McEwen, located near them, attempted a conversation, but no oneshowed any disposition to take part, and Aunt Peggy invited him soenergetically to keep quiet that he complied.
As Mr. Brainerd lay extended on the flat, rocky floor of the cavern,with his gun cocked and pointed outward, he asked himself more than onequestion which he could not answer.
Looking as hopefully as he might at the situation, he saw no ground forencouragement.
Gravity Gimp had departed, and he did not believe he would be able tocome back. In this belief the settler was correct, for the African neverplaced foot in the cavern again.
He had gone, taking one of the guns with him, and so much power ofdefense was abstracted from the little party without any possiblereturn.
Although Habakkuk McEwen seemed at first to be an acquisition, yet thecowardice shown a short time before so displeased Mr. Brainerd that,despite the necessity of union, he forbore almost entirely to have anycommunication with him.
Stretched out thus in the rocky shelter, with his gun thrust forward andhis eyes fixed on the danger-point, the stillness became oppressive.
The deep, hollow roar of the forest, the soft murmur of the river, thedistant crack of a rifle, and the shout of some wild Indian or flyingfugitive--all these came to the listener with impressive distinctness.
But, at the same time, as I have shown, the situation was favorable toslumber, and ere the watcher suspected it, his eyes closed and hissenses floated away.
He breathed so softly that none of his friends suspected he wassleeping. Indeed, almost at the same time, Habakkuk drifted intodreamland, his loud breathing being audible to all who were awake.
Eva Brainerd, with her head resting in the lap of her loved sister,slept like an infant, but Maggie and Aunt Peggy kept as alert as whenthey were in the small boat, pushing across the Susquehanna. No twopersons could realize the peril of their situation more than did thesetwo, who talked in low tones, and speculated as to what was the bestthing to do, if, indeed, they could do anything at all.
Mr. Brainerd did not sleep long, his senses coming back to him as softlyas they had departed. When fully himself, his position was the same astaken at first. His gun was still pointed toward the column of rocks,that was more plainly visible than before, now that the moon was higherin the sky.
He felt as though he had been sleeping for hours, though in reality itwas no more than fifteen minutes, and a shudder passed over him at theconsciousness that a hundred red men might have leaped across the chasmin front without danger to themselves.
He could only hope that such advantage had not been taken of hisremissness. Hearing the faint murmur of Maggie and Aunt Peggy's voicesas they spoke to each other, he was on the point of turning to ask thema question, when something like a shadow flitted across the space whichhe was guarding.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again; another and then another whiskedby, like the flight of birds, and then he awoke to the fact that, whilehe lay there, with his loaded and aimed rifle, three Indian warriors hadleaped across the opening that separated them from the mass of rockswhich commanded the situation.
Even supposing none had made the leap while the watcher was asleep, itwas certain that the number named had secured the shelter, and now theycould pick off every one in the cavern at their convenience, withoutrisk to themselves.
"I don't see any use of trying to hold out," muttered the watcher, inthe bitterness of spirit; "at such a time as this, when the wretches getstarted, it seems as though everything favors them. I thought since thatshot came so opportunely, that we would receive more help from the samesource, but he, too, has slumbered, and while he slept--"
"Father," broke in Maggie, "I hear some one overhead, just where thatperson was when he fired his gun."
The girl was right, for her parent detected it at the same moment: itwas as if some one were scraping his feet over the upper surface of therocks, though it was impossible to imagine the meaning of his action.
Then as the three listened, they thought he was gradually working towardthe edge of the ravine, until suddenly the sound stopped.
No one spoke, and all were fairly holding their breath, when, to theirdismay, a pair of feet, quickly followed by a pair of shapely legs,appeared in front of the cavern, slowly descending, and bringing more ofthe owner in sight.
Some one was lowering himself from the top of the ravine, with thepurpose of dropping in the path in front and entering the cavern!
"It is an Injin," called out Aunt Peggy; "why don't you shoot him,Richard, before he kills us all?"
At that instant the stranger dropped with a light bound, and, lookingaround in the gloom, asked:
"Are you all here?"
The moment he spoke, the voice was recognized as that of Fred Godfrey.
CHAPTER XXV.
Words cannot picture the amazement and delight of the little company inthe cavern, when their strange visitor, who descended so suddenly uponthem, was recognized as Fred Godfrey.
Mr. Brainerd, when the fortunate shot was fired some time before, feltjust the faintest suspicion that it might be his son; but he saidnothing to the others, through fear of exciting hopes that could only bedisappointed.
Maggie, herself, thought of Fred, and prayed that it might be he; butshe, too, held her peace--and now here, was her daring brother amongthem.
It required but a few minutes, after greeting his relatives, to tell ofhis extraordinary escape from Queen Esther, and his prolonged hunt forhis friends. From what passed between him and Mr. Brainerd while makingtheir way up the western shore, he suspected that when he should joinhis family, some such manner of flight would be adopted.
He knew of this romantic place in the rocks, but it never occurred tohim until after he had wasted considerable time in hunting for traces ofthem.
He had visited the spot more than once in his hunting excursions throughthe Wyoming Valley, and it did not take him long to learn the conditionof affairs.
He conducted this delicate business with such skill that his presencewas never suspected by his enemies, and he did his utmost to keep itconcealed. He ventured on one or two signals, with a view of apprisingMr. Brainerd of his proximity, but, if that gentleman heard him, hesuspected the calls were made by the Indians, and therefore paid noattention to them.
Understanding the peril which threatened his friends, Fred extendedhimself on the rocks above the cavern, and held the gun that he hadtaken from the dead body of a soldier, pointed toward the spot.
Just before he was ready, Mr. Brainerd shot the warrior, and then Fredleveled his piece for the next one. Thus it was that, instead of onerifle, there were two aimed at the second savage, and when the firstflashed in the pan, the other completed the business.
This was providential, but Fred was wise enough to see that nothing likepermanent safety could be gained by that kind of defense.
He ventured on another reconnoissance, and it was while he was thusengaged that Gravity Gimp emerged from the cavern, and walked straightinto the trap set for him.
"How was it you managed to get down here?" asked Mr. Brainerd.
r /> "I used a grape-vine," replied Fred; "it took me a considerable while toarrange it, and I came near slipping my hold and dropping to the bottomof the ravine, as it was."
"Was it a wise proceeding?" continued the father.
"I hope so."
"Why did you not come down the regular path?" inquired Maggie; "Gravityseemed to have no difficulty in going away by it."
"There must be at least half a dozen Indians up there; they could havecaptured him without trouble, but they allowed him to get so far awaythat they calculated you would not suspect the danger, and might try tofollow him, in which case every one of you would be in their hands thisminute."
This information was startling, and the listeners were silent. Fredadded:
"You can understand how great the risk was which I ran, and it is hardto explain why they didn't discover what I was doing."
"Perhaps they did."
"They would have fired on me had they known it; but there is so muchdeep shadow above, and they were so unsuspicious of any such proceeding,that I succeeded."
"It was a daring act, indeed, but what is to be the issue?"
"I saw that it would not do for you to remain until morning. Ifto-morrow's sun finds you here, you are doomed. You have no means ofobtaining any food or water, and they can converge a dozen rifles onyou, for they will gain the position from which we kept them a whileago."
"They have already done so," said Mr. Brainerd. "I saw, and was unableto prevent them."