On the Kentucky Frontier Part 21

"So far we seem to be doin' rather better than holdin' our own, an' I reckon we'd best keep up the game. At least three of the painted snakes are feelin' the worse for havin' begun this little chase, an' we're as sound as ever."

It was on my tongue's end to say that we could not hope for the same good fortune during another night of racing through the forest when it was too dark to distinguish anything not directly in our path; but I checked myself in time, for no good could come of speaking dispiriting words while we were in such a desperate situation.

We two lads lay down again to sleep, in accordance with Kenton's command; but were aroused for a few moments when the scout discharged his rifle, and I heard him mutter to himself:

"That makes the fourth to-day, an' if we can keep up this play two nights more, they may come to believe that the game is not worth the candle."

Sleepily I thought we might find before many hours had pa.s.sed that all the shooting was not to be done by us; but the idea was no more than in mind when my eyes closed again, and I was not conscious of the surroundings until Kenton shook me roughly.

"It's time we pushed ahead once more," he said in a whisper as I seized my rifle, believing the savages were about to make a determined attack, and he added with a low laugh, "There's no more danger threatenin' than when you was last awake, lad; but the night is well on us, an' we should be movin'."

He awakened Paul, and the little lad rose to his feet ready for any emergency; but speaking not a word.

We had yet some portion of our meat, and from this a hurried meal was made, after which Simon Kenton showed himself ready to set out once more on what I believed was a fruitless journey, for it did not seem possible we would live to finish it.

It was like a nightmare, that race through the thicket with the murderous fiends close on our trail, shooting now and then when in the gloom the waving branches told of our course.

Kenton kept his word, so far as setting a rapid pace was concerned.

Never before nor since have I strained every muscle and nerve for so many hours on a stretch.

There were times when we pressed on as if running a foot-race, and more than once did one or the other of us come full against a tree with such force that we were hurled backward at full length on the ground.

There was no time to attend to bruises, however severe, for close in our rear came the relentless brutes, hoping, most likely, for just such a mishap when they could lessen our number by one.

I believe they fired at us fifty times before we halted for a day's rest which must be spent in defending ourselves, and by the mercy of G.o.d no bullet came nigh us.

I watched eagerly for the first signs of dawn; my breath was coming thick and fast, and I feared lest I might fall and not find myself able to rise again.

Paul had kept close at Kenton's heels without betraying fatigue or distress; but just at the moment when it seemed as if I must halt, whatever might be the consequences, he cried sharply:

"I can go no further. You two must keep on without me! It is better that I be left behind than for all to perish!"

"We'll all come out of it with whole skins, or fall together," Simon Kenton said sharply. "Try to hold the pace, lad, till we find a place in which we can defend ourselves."

Even as he spoke we had arrived at a spot where half a dozen large trees had been overthrown by the wind, forming exactly the kind of a fortification needed by those sorely beset as were we.

Kenton helped Paul over the logs into the very center, and I followed with many a stumble, falling on my face, utterly blown, when we were in the middle of the timber network.

CHAPTER XII.

A NOVEL BATTLE.

It was yet so dark in the forest that one must needs strain his eyes to distinguish objects ten paces in advance, therefore it can be readily understood how near to us were the howling wolves, when I say that they set up a shout of mingled triumph and menace as we thus brought the race to a close.

It was evident they believed we were now in their power, and indeed there was much the same thought in my mind when I had aroused from the stupor of exhaustion sufficiently to take note of our surroundings.

Simon Kenton had led us into the midst of a pile of fallen timber overgrown with vines and young bushes, which covered a s.p.a.ce of perhaps an hundred square feet. It was a place of refuge which stood in a partially cleared spot, and might readily be surrounded, while, to make our way out, it would be necessary to offer one's body as a target to whomsoever might be on watch.

In the gloom of the morning it had appeared to be a better place for defense than really was the case, and I question if the scout would have halted here had he understood what it really was.

While we remained in the very center of the ma.s.s we were screened from view, and could see a goodly portion of all that might be going on around us; but when that has been said all the advantages of the place have been described.

In order to get out of it, once we were inside, it would be necessary, as I have already said, to expose ourselves to the fire of the enemy, and before many hours should elapse we would be forced to take to our heels unless we were minded to die of hunger or thirst.

We no longer had any food with us, and there was not a drop of water nearer than the river. Already it seemed as if my mouth was parched to the point of swelling, and because it was beyond my reach, I longed most intensely for something to quench thirst.

The knowledge of our situation, as I have set it down here, came upon me immediately after I recovered slightly from the effects of the fatigue caused by the swift race, and, looking into Simon Kenton's face, I knew full well he had become aware of our disagreeable situation.

Little Paul Sampson, plucky lad that he had proven himself to be, was the only one who appeared indifferent to the danger.

When it was possible for him to sit upright, for he had been more nearly exhausted than I was, instead of trying to discover all the disadvantages of the place, he began to do his share toward the defense by crawling beneath the fallen timber until he could command a good view of that portion of the forest from which we had come, and at the same time screen his own body from those who were most likely searching with their keen eyes for a living target.

I believe Simon Kenton read from my face the thoughts which were in my mind, for he said slowly, as if weighing well each word:

"It must be a battle rather than simply a time of defense. We can hold our position without any great sufferin' for four-an'-twenty hours; but at the end of that time there's bound to be a change if we count on seein' Corn Island again."

"How will you bring about a battle unless the savages are disposed to give us the chance?" I asked petulantly. "They can remain under cover any length of time, and yet keep us in view. It isn't a case of starvation with them."

"A man is never beaten until he loses hope," the scout replied cheerily, and the words were no more than spoken before Paul's rifle rang out sharply.

"There's one the less!" the lad cried triumphantly. "They're creeping up to get a shot at us, an' we've only to keep our eyes open in order to lessen their number greatly 'twixt now and sunrise."

These brave words brought me out of my fit of despondency in a twinkling, and with a sense of shame that this lad from the east should show himself more of a man than myself, I crept down to the edge of our barricade.

Now we three lay where could be had a view of all our surroundings, and during the next hour, at the end of which time the sun was sending long shafts of light through the openings in the forest, we succeeded in sending five of the scoundrels to their happy hunting-grounds, or back under cover disabled by serious wounds.

Such a beginning gave me great courage, until I came to realize that it was not probable the reptiles would expose themselves so readily after having received such a sharp lesson.

Simon Kenton had evidently made up his mind to some course of action which promised success, for he said cheerily when it was certain the red snakes had withdrawn to a safe distance:

"You two lads are to bottle up some sleep now, for unless I'm mistaken we shall make a change of quarters by sunset."

"There's little hope they'll let us go out of here with our lives," I replied despondently, and the scout added sharply:

"Thus far we have no reason to complain, an' we won't prove ourselves fools by lookin' into the future for trouble. Get to sleep, lads, for at noon I shall claim the same privilege."

Weary as we were, it was not a difficult task to close our eyes in slumber, and within five minutes from the giving of the order we were sleeping soundly, not to awaken until the sun was directly overhead, when the scout shook us into wakefulness.

"You've had a good six hours of rest, an' I'm countin' on scoopin' in only three. Keep a sharp watch till the afternoon is half spent, an'

then rouse me."

"Why should you not sleep as long as we have?" I asked as Paul crept through the logs to where he could best have a view of our surroundings.

"Because then will have come the time when we must make ready for such a battle as will satisfy yonder brutes that it is not safe to run down three white men with the idea of cornerin' them in a forest like this."