Frank in the Mountains Part 9

Sometimes, when I thought of the scenes I had witnessed during that hand-to-hand fight, and reflected upon my father's chances for escape, I did not care what became of me. Black Bill said I would never see him again, and I believed him; and told myself that, if I must live without my father, I might as well be among savages as anywhere else. But I think differently, now that you have rescued me. I hope to be a man some day, and when that time comes, such fellows as Black Bill and his mates, who are constantly spreading dissatisfaction among the Indians, and urging them on to the war-trail, will have good cause to remember me. To whom are you making signals?" continued Adam, suddenly raising himself on his elbow, and looking earnestly at the outlaw.

Frank had been so intent upon his breakfast, and so deeply interested in his friend's story, that he had not thought of keeping a lookout for enemies; consequently he did not see the figure clad in buckskin, which crept stealthily through the trees on the opposite side of the brook, and took up a position behind a huge bowlder, from which a good view of the camp could be obtained. But the figure was there, and it was that of an outlaw--one of Black Bill's mates. His eyes, which swept rapidly over the camp, were open to their widest extent, and on his face, as he raised it cautiously above the bowlder, was an expression of great astonishment. Black Bill saw him, if the boys did not; and, by turning partly around and showing his confined hands, and by nodding his head, and winking his eyes, and making other mysterious signs, he must have succeeded in making the spy understand the situation, for he disappeared behind the bowlder, and stole back into the woods.

"You were making signals to somebody," exclaimed Adam, catching up the outlaw's rifle, and casting suspicious glances through the trees around him.

"Makin' signals to the air, then," replied Black Bill, sullenly. "Thar aint n.o.body within miles of here that I knows on."

But Adam had lived too long on the frontier, and knew too much about the outlaw to be easily deceived. He had distinctly seen the prisoner nodding his head, and with the quick instinct of one who had pa.s.sed his life surrounded with foes of every sort, he scented danger. Frank might have been satisfied with Black Bill's reply, and the innocent, surprised expression on his face, but Adam was not. He jumped to his feet, and running across the brook, looked up at the top of the cliffs under which they had been sitting. As he did so, he pa.s.sed behind the bowlder where the spy had been concealed but a moment before, and there he stopped, and leaning carelessly upon the rock, said, in a whisper to Frank, who had followed close at his heels:

"Don't exhibit any surprise, but look down at those leaves. Somebody has been here."

Frank looked, but could see nothing suspicious. Adam's trained eye, as keen as an Indian's, had, at a single glance, discovered signs of an enemy that Frank could not have found after an hour's careful search.

"I may have pa.s.sed behind this rock when I first came to the brook,"

said he.

"If you did you never left those tracks," said Adam. "They were made by moccasins; and you've got shoes on. They were made by a white man, too, for the toes point out. If it had been an Indian, the toes would point in. A friend of Black Bill's was here not more than two minutes ago; and the sooner we get away from here the better it will be for us. What shall we do with our prisoner?"

"Let's take him with us, and compel him to show us the way to Fort Benton," replied Frank, astonished at his friend's skill in wood-craft, and at the coolness and deliberation with which he spoke.

"That would never do," said Adam, quickly. "His friends will be after us in less than five minutes, and he would shout to guide them in the pursuit. Besides, we are completely lost, and how could we tell whether or not he was guiding us to the fort? He would take us as straight to the Indian camp as he could go."

"Well, if we leave him here he will call for help the minute we are out of sight."

"Perhaps he will not be able to call for help by the time we are done with him. I'll tell you what we will do," continued Adam, glancing toward the outlaw, who still sat on the ground, closely watching all their movements, "do you get behind him, throw your arm around his neck, and choke him with all your power; and I'll cram my handkerchief into his mouth. Then catch him by the shoulders, and drag him to that sapling and tie him there; and while you are doing that, I will secure his knife and tomahawk, and also his powder-horn and bullet-pouch. After that we'll take to our heels, and do some of the best running we ever did in our lives. There's not a single instant to be lost. Don't flinch, now."

Adam knew that Frank was a remarkably swift runner, an excellent wrestler, and a splendid shot with the rifle; but he had never seen him in a situation like this, and he did not know how cool and determined he could be. If he had, he would not have talked to him about "flinching."

"Wal," exclaimed the outlaw, as the boys sprang across the brook, "seen any thing wuth lookin' at? Didn't diskiver none of my mates hangin'

around in the bushes, did you?"

"We saw all we wanted to see," replied Adam. "We saw foot-prints behind that bowlder, and we know who made them. That's the way to do it! Choke him till he opens his mouth."

While Adam was occupying the outlaw's attention, Frank had stepped behind him, and thrown his arm around his neck. He struggled and tried to shout for help; but the strong grasp on his throat rendered him powerless, and effectually stifled his cries. His under jaw dropped down, and the handkerchief which Adam held ready in his hand, was forced into his mouth. A moment afterward Black Bill was lying flat on his back, held down by Frank's handkerchief, which was pa.s.sed around his neck and tied to the sapling of which Adam had spoken, and the boys, having possessed themselves of their weapons, and the outlaw's ammunition, were scrambling up the cliff like a couple of goats. They looked back now and then to satisfy themselves that their prisoner was still secure, and both told themselves that if they should be so unfortunate as to again fall into his power, their treatment would be very different from that which they had already received at his hands.

Black Bill seemed almost beside himself with rage. He glared up at them like a madman, and made the most desperate attempts to free himself from his bonds; but the boys, although they had done their work quickly, had done it well, and as long as they remained in sight of the outlaw, he had accomplished nothing toward liberating himself.

Arriving at the top of the cliff, Adam shouldered his rifle, and sprang forward at the top of his speed, closely followed by Frank, who stepped as nearly as possible in his tracks. For nearly half an hour they flew along without speaking, turning their heads occasionally to listen for sounds of pursuit, making use of all their skill to render their trail as indistinct as possible, and finally they slackened their pace to a rapid walk, which they kept up for two hours longer without once stopping to rest. At the end of that time, Frank, being satisfied that they were out of danger for the present, proposed "half an hour for refreshments." The half hour was really not more than ten minutes, for the boys were so much afraid of the enemies who they knew were following them, that they regarded every instant spent in needful repose as so much time wasted. Their refreshments consisted of just nothing at all--not even a drop of water to cool their lips. They could not stop to cook a dinner, even if they had had any thing to cook; and after a very short rest, during which they talked over their situation, and tried to determine upon their plans for the future, they sprang up, and resumed their flight, Adam, as before, leading the way.

The outlaw had told his nephew that Fort Benton, which was the nearest trading-post, and the place to which all the trappers and soldiers who escaped the ma.s.sacre would be likely to direct their course, was a hundred miles distant; and the boys had decided, after much debate, that it lay nearly due east of Fort Stockton. A hundred miles from the nearest place of refuge, in the heart of an unbroken wilderness, every step of the way they must travel beset with dangers, and their path waylaid by crafty foes who might spring out on them without an instant's warning! Twenty miles of mountains and ravines to be pa.s.sed over, and eighty miles more of prairie, where there was not even a thicket of bushes to afford them concealment from their enemies, to be traversed on foot! Would they ever succeed in reaching the fort?

"It looks like a slim chance, doesn't it?" said Adam, who easily read the thoughts that were pa.s.sing through Frank's mind. "But father used to tell me that a fellow never knows how much he can accomplish until he tries. We will do the best we can, and if we fail we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that it isn't our fault."

Frank's endurance was severely tested that day. He found that traveling through the mountains on foot was something besides a holiday pastime, especially with such a guide as Adam, who moved along without any apparent effort, threading his way through the thick, tangled bushes with a celerity that was surprising. The afternoon wore slowly away, and just as the sun was sinking out of sight behind the mountains, the boys, weary and footsore, halted in the edge of the willows, and looked out over the prairie which stretched away before them as far as their eyes could reach. Adam stood for a long time with his chin resting on the muzzle of his rifle, and his gaze fixed upon the horizon, thinking of his father and Captain Porter, and wondering if he should meet them if he succeeded in reaching the fort; while Frank, after satisfying himself that there were no Indians in sight, became interested in objects in his immediate vicinity. He thought the place looked familiar. There was a wide, shallow creek flowing through the ravine in which they were standing, and on its left bank arose a rocky cliff, which hung over the bed of the stream. Under the branches of a spreading oak which grew near the foot of the cliff, were the remains of a camp-fire; and a little farther on was a sapling which had been stripped of its bark. Frank remembered that sapling. It was the one to which Roderick had been tied when the trappers first brought him into camp. The horse was wild and vicious then, and after trying in vain to break the la.s.so with which he was confined, he had attacked the tree with his teeth, and peeled off the bark as neatly as it could have been done with a knife.

"We have accomplished the hardest part of our journey," said Adam, his gaze still wandering over the prairie in the direction he supposed the trading-post to be, "and now comes the dangerous part. If what father said about a general rising of the Indians was correct, the savages are scattered all over the plains between here and the fort; and if we get through, it will be more by good luck than good management. Do you see any thing?"

"Yes, I do," said Frank; "I see plenty of old friends. I know every stick of timber about here, for I pa.s.sed three of the pleasantest weeks of my life in this very ravine. You have heard d.i.c.k and Bob speak of the Old Bear's Hole, haven't you? Come with me, and I will show it to you."

Frank crossed the creek and began pulling aside the bushes at the base of the cliff, searching for the entrance to the cave. d.i.c.k had told him that more than one sharp-eyed Comanche had looked for it in vain, and for a long time Frank thought he should meet with no better success; but at last he discovered the entrance by stepping into it accidentally. The mouth of the pa.s.sage was filled with leaves, which had effectually concealed it from his view.

"The cave must be a mile or two below, isn't it?" asked Adam, gazing dubiously at the dark opening.

"No; it is above ground altogether, and is inside this rock," replied Frank, pointing to the cliff. "But the question is, Shall we use it, now that we have found it? Do you suppose that Black Bill and his friends are in pursuit of us?"

"Of course they are. They won't give us up so easily."

"But we have taken a great deal of pains to conceal our trail, and they may not be able to follow it."

"Don't you believe it," replied Adam, with a laugh. "Those men's eyes are as sharp as a hound's nose. If they can track an Indian when he is doing his best to cover up his trail, they can surely follow us. We are not done with them yet."

"Then I propose that we sleep in the Old Bear's Hole. I can't travel any farther to-night, and I should feel much safer in the cave than I should if we camped in the open air. We can't get along without some supper, and we must have a fire to cook it; and that might attract the attention of the outlaws if they should happen to be in the neighborhood."

The matter was settled without any further debate, and the boys began to busy themselves in collecting a supply of pine-knots to serve as torches. This done, Adam lighted one of them with his flint and steel, and handed it to Frank, who backed down into the opening; but, to his friend's surprise, he came out of it again much more quickly than he had gone in.

"I have just thought of something," said he, in reply to Adam's inquiring look. "The first night we camped here, while we were on our way to California, d.i.c.k Lewis went into the cave and found that a grizzly bear had taken possession of it. He had a terrible fight with the animal, and was so badly clawed up that his most intimate friend would not have recognized him. There may be a bear in there now for all we know."

"That's so," said Adam. "Must we give up the idea of sleeping in the cave?"

"Not yet. d.i.c.k and Bob, who spent many a day here hiding from the Indians, were old foxes, and had two holes to their burrow. Come with me, and I will show you the other."

Frank led the way to the top of the cliff, and, after a short search, discovered the entrance to the upper pa.s.sage-way. He was not greatly encouraged when he found it, for he saw that a path, hard and well beaten as any road, led from it down the side of the cliff. Then he blessed his lucky stars that he had not gone into the cave. It had an occupant, the character of which was proved by the bones that lay scattered about on both sides of the path. It was some ravenous beast of prey, which probably would not feel disposed to abandon his snug quarters without a fight. Adam kneeled down beside the pa.s.sage-way, and, after a single glance into the cave, sprang up and threw his rifle forward in readiness to shoot. Frank looked in and saw a pair of eyes, which shone like coals of fire, glaring at him through the darkness.

"It isn't a grizzly," said Adam, "but something almost as bad. It's a panther. He must come out of there, too," he added, pulling off his hat and digging his fingers into his head to stir up his ideas. "That cave is the only safe place we can find, and we must have it, whether he is willing or not."

"Hand me your rifle," said Frank; "I'll fix him."

"Not for the world," replied Adam, quickly. "You must remember that we have enemies not a great way off, and that it stands us well in hand to be quiet about what we do. Besides, there may be a whole family of panthers in there, and if you should wound one of them, we'd have a fight on our hands directly. I know how to manage him. Take this rifle and climb up into that tree, and when he comes out tell me."

Frank did as his companion requested. He mounted into the topmost branches of the tree, and, after settling himself into a comfortable position, from which he could watch the mouth of the pa.s.sage-way, he turned to observe Adam's movements. He saw him, with a long stick in his hand, kneeling before the opening at the foot of the cliff, engaged in pushing a quant.i.ty of dried leaves and pine-knots into the pa.s.sage-way.

Then his plan was clear enough to Frank: he was going to smoke the panther out.

Adam worked steadily for half an hour, and then Frank, seeing him take his flint and steel from his pocket, turned his attention to the pa.s.sage-way at the top of the hill. There was draught sufficient to make the fire burn well, and presently Frank heard a great roaring and crackling in the cave, and a thin wreath of smoke came curling out. With the smoke came the panther, which was evidently very much alarmed by this unexpected a.s.sault upon his home, for he flew down the path like a flash of light, and speedily disappeared in the bushes. Adam's plan had worked to perfection. The Old Bear's Hole had been cleared of its dangerous occupant, and the boys were at liberty to take possession of it.

CHAPTER XI.

FRANK IN SEARCH OF HIS SUPPER.

"He's out!" shouted Frank, scrambling down out of his tree.

"I thought I could manage him," said Adam. "Don't you think my plan was the best? But I say, Frank," he added, as he joined our hero at the top of the hill, "we must fire the rifle once, at least, for we want some supper."

"If we could use a bow and arrow as well as the Black Fox, we would not need the rifle. Now, one of us had better stay here, and build a fire in the cave, and gather a supply of wood for the night, while the other goes out and knocks over a big-horn. The mountains about here are full of them."

"Well, seeing that you are the best shot, perhaps you had better go to market. By the time you get back, I will have every thing ready. You are not afraid to go?"