"The poison is wonderfully slow," said Buck.
"But not less wonderfully sure," returned Charlie, with a smile.
"As you will," rejoined Buck, rising and going outside with his visitor.
The night was very still and beautiful, and, the clouds having cleared away, the moonbeams struggled through the foliage and revealed the extreme wildness and seclusion of the spot which had been chosen by the outlaws as their fortress.
Charlie now saw that the approach to the entrance of the cave was a narrow neck of rock resembling a natural bridge, with a deep gully on either side, and that the cliff which formed the inner end of the cavern overhung its base, so that if an enemy were to attempt to hurl rocks down from above these would drop beyond the cave altogether. This much he saw at a glance. The minute details and intricacies of the place of course could not be properly seen or understood in the flickering and uncertain light which penetrated the leafy canopy, and, as it were, played with the shadows of the fallen rocks that strewed the ground everywhere, and hung in apparently perilous positions on the mountain slopes.
The manner of the outlaw changed to that of intense earnestness the moment he got out to the open air.
"Charlie Brooke," he said, with more of the tone and air of old familiar friendship than he had yet allowed himself to a.s.sume, "it"s of no use exciting poor Shank unnecessarily, so I brought you out here to tell you that your man d.i.c.k Darvall is in deadly peril, and nothing but immediate action on my part can save him; I must ride without delay to his rescue.
You cannot help me in this. I know what you are going to propose, but you must trust and obey me if you would save your friend"s life. To accompany me would only delay and finally mar my plans. Now, will you--"
A peculiar whistle far down the gorge caused the outlaw to cease abruptly and listen.
The whistle was repeated, and Buck answered it at once with a look of great surprise.
"These are my fellows back already!" he said.
"You seem surprised. Did you, then, not expect them so soon?"
"I certainly did not; something must have gone wrong," replied Buck, with a perplexed look. Then, as if some new idea had flashed upon him, "Now, look here, Brooke, I must ask you to trust me implicitly and to act a part. Your life may depend on your doing this."
"The first I can do with ease, but as to the latter, my agreeing to do so depends on whether the action you require of me is honourable. You must forgive me, Rits--"
"Hush! Don"t forget that there is no such man as Ralph Ritson in these mountains. _My_ life may depend on your remembering that. Of course I don"t expect you to act a dishonourable part,--all I want you to do just now is to lie down and pretend to go to sleep."
"Truly, if that is all, I am ready," said Charlie; "at all events I will shut my eyes and hold my tongue."
"A useful virtue at times, and somewhat rare," said Buck, leading his guest back into the cavern. "Now, then, Brooke, lie down there,"
pointing to a couch of pine-brush in a corner, "and try to sleep if you can."
Our hero at once complied, stretched himself at full length with his face to the light, and apparently went to sleep, but with his left arm thrown over his forehead as if to protect his eyes from the glare of the fire. Thus he was in a position to see as well as hear all that went on. Buck Tom went to the sick man and whispered something to him.
Then, returning to the fire, he continued to stir the big pot, and sniff its savoury contents with much interest.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
FRIENDS AND FOES--PLOTS AND COUNTERPLOTS--THE RANCH IN DANGER.
In a few minutes the sound of heavy feet and gruff voices was heard in the outside pa.s.sage, and next moment ten men filed into the room and saluted their chief heartily.
Charlie felt an almost irresistible tendency to open his eyes, but knew that the risk was too great, and contented himself with his ears. These told him pretty eloquently what was going on, for suddenly, the noise of voices and clattering of footsteps ceased, a dead silence ensued, and Charlie knew that the whole band were gazing at him with wide open eyes and, probably, open mouths. Their attention had been directed to the stranger by the chief. The silence was only momentary, however.
"Now, don"t begin to whisper, pards," said Buck Tom, in a slightly sarcastic tone. "When will ye learn that there is nothing so likely to waken a sleeper as whisperin"? Be natural--be natural, and tell me, as softly as ye can in your natural tones, what has brought you back so soon. Come, Jake, you have got the quietest voice. The poor man is pretty well knocked up and needs rest. I brought him here."
"Has he got much?" the sentence was completed by Jake significantly slapping his pocket.
"A goodish lot. But come, sit down and out wi" the news. Something must be wrong."
"Wall, I guess that somethin" _is_ wrong. Everything"s wrong, as far as I can see. The Redskins are up, an" the troops are out, an" so it seemed o" no use our goin" to bust up the ranch of Roarin" Bull, seein"
that the red devils are likely to be there before us. So we came back here, an" I"m glad you"ve got suthin" in the pot, for we"re about as empty as kettledrums."
"Humph!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Buck, "didn"t I tell you not to trouble Roarin"
Bull--that he and his boys could lick you if you had been twenty instead of ten. But how came ye to hear o" this c.o.c.k-and-bull story about the Redskins?"
"We got it from Hunky Ben, an" he"s not the boy to go spreadin" false reports."
Charlie Brooke ventured at this point to open his eye-lids the smallest possible bit, so that any one looking at him would have failed to observe any motion in them. The little slit however, admitted the whole scene to the retina, and he perceived that ten of the most cut-throat-looking men conceivable were seated in a semicircle in the act of receiving portions from the big pot into tin plates. Most of them were clothed in hunters" leathern costume, wore long boots with spurs, and were more or less bronzed and bearded.
Buck Tom, _alias_ Ralph Ritson, although as tall and strong as any of them, seemed a being of quite angelic gentleness beside them. Yet Buck was their acknowledged chief. No doubt it was due to the superiority of mind over matter, for those out-laws were grossly material and matter-of-fact!
"There must be some truth in the report if Hunky Ben carried it," said Buck, looking up quickly, "but I left Ben sitting quietly in David"s store not many hours ago."
"No doubt that"s true, Captain," said Jake, as he ladled the soup into his capacious mouth; "nevertheless we met Hunky Ben on the pine-river prairie scourin" over the turf like all possessed on Black Polly. We stopped him of course an" asked the news."
"`News!" cried he, `why, the Redskins have dug up the hatchet an" riz like one man. They"ve clar"d out Yellow Bluff, an" are pourin" like Niagara down upon Rasper"s Creek. It"s said that they"ll visit Roarin"
Bull"s ranch to-morrow. No time for more talk, boys. Oratin" ain"t in my line. I"m off to Quester Creek to rouse up the troops." Wi" that Hunky wheeled round an" went off like a runaway streak o" lightnin". I sent a couple o" shots after him, for I"d took a fancy to Black Polly-- but them bullets didn"t seem to hit somehow."
"Boys," cried Buck Tom, jumping up when he heard this, "if Hunky Ben said all that, you may depend on"t it"s true, an" we won"t have to waste time this night if we"re to save the ranch of Roarin" Bull."
"But we don"t want to save the ranch of Roarin" Bull, as far as I"m consarned," said Jake rather sulkily.
Buck wheeled round on the man with a fierce glare, but, as if suddenly changing his mind, he said in a tone of well-feigned surprise--
"What! _you_, Jake, of all men--such a noted lady-killer--indifferent about the fate of the ranch of Roaring Bull, and pretty Miss Mary Jackson in it at the mercy of the Redskins!"
"Well, if it comes to that, Captain, I"ll ride as far and as fast as any man to rescue a girl, pretty or plain, from the Redskins," said Jake, recovering his good-humour.
"Well, then, cram as much grub as you can into you in five minutes, for we must be off by that time. Rise, sir," said Buck, shaking Charlie with some violence. "We ride on a matter of life an" death--to save women. Will you join us?"
"Of course I will!" cried Charlie, starting up with a degree of alacrity and vigour that favourably impressed the outlaws, and shaking off his simulated sleep with wonderful facility.
"Follow me, then," cried Buck, hastening out of the cave.
"But what of Shank?" asked Charlie, in some anxiety, when they got outside. "He cannot accompany us; may we safely leave him behind?"
"Quite safely. This place is not known to the savages who are on the warpath, and there is nothing to tempt them this way even if it were.
Besides, Shank is well enough to get up and gather firewood, kindle his fire, and boil the kettle for himself. He is used to being left alone.
See, here is our stable under the cliff, and yonder stands your horse.
Saddle him. The boys will be at our heels in a moment. Some of them are only too glad to have a brush wi" the Redskins, for they killed two of our band lately."
This last remark raised an uncomfortable feeling in the mind of Charlie, for was he not virtually allying himself with a band of outlaws, with intent to attack a band of Indians of whom he knew little or nothing, and with whom he had no quarrel? There was no time, however, to weigh the case critically. The fact that savages were about to attack the ranch in which his comrade d.i.c.k Darvall was staying, and that there were females in the place, was enough to settle the question. In a minute or two he had saddled his horse, which he led out and fastened to a tree, and, while the outlaws were busy making preparations for a start, he ran back to the cave.
"Shank," said he, sitting down beside his friend and taking his hand, "you have heard the news. My comrade Darvall is in great danger. I must away to his rescue. But be sure, old fellow, that I will return to you soon."