HAWK EYE"S REVENGE
From the fact that the camp was without tepees or squaws, and the Chippeway"s face was daubed with red paint, Hawk Eye knew that he had fallen in with a small party on the warpath, but he could not account for the Medicine Man"s presence with the Sioux"s hereditary enemy. As he thought over the matter Slow Dog"s detaining hand gripped his shoulder.
"Son of Running Deer," said the Medicine Man, "I have no cause to quarrel with you. But between Black Eagle and me there is much bad blood. You shall return to your village. It is mine no longer. Say to Old Smoky Wolf that I have become a Chippeway; that I and my Chippeway brothers will soon pay a visit to his village to take scalps. Say to Black Eagle that I shall hold his stepson a captive."
As he finished, Ohitika gave a sudden spring, whipping the leash from the hand of the Indian beside the fire. Leaping across the ground, he sprang at Slow Dog"s throat. As the Medicine Man raised his foot and kicked the animal, Hawk Eye dealt him a blow between the eyes and darted off, followed by the faithful dog.
On coming to a tree against which were propped two guns, with powder horns and bullet pouches, he slowed down to pick them up, then dashed ahead. At a distance of fifty feet or more he saw Raven Wing, bound to a tree. One of the guns he had captured carried a ramrod sharpened at one end, and on coming up to Raven Wing, he began to sever the thongs that bound him with the sharpened point. Before he could finish, however, Slow Dog, who had followed, sprang upon him. Staggering forward, Hawk Eye fell to the ground, carrying the Medicine Man with him.
As Slow Dog attempted to rise, Hawk Eye raised his foot and struck him so heavily upon the stomach that he fell with a groan and lay writhing upon the ground. In the meantime, the Chippeway had come up and springing like an infuriated tiger toward Raven Wing, drove a knife at the boy"s throat.
Fortunately, Raven Wing"s arms were tied in front of him, so that by raising them he was enabled to ward off the blow. The knife fortunately merely scratched the fleshy part of his left arm, but in doing so severed the thong that bound them. With a mighty wrench Raven Wing burst the thong that Hawk Eye had all but severed, and slipped around behind the tree. As the Chippeway again rushed after him, Hawk Eye felled him with the b.u.t.t of his gun.
"Follow me!" shouted Hawk Eye, and bounded toward the cave in the bluff, which was not more than fifty yards distant. A couple of arrows from the bows of two Chippeway Indians who were returning to camp from an early hunting trip followed him. The suddenness of his flight, however, had rendered their hasty aim uncertain, and in another moment he was around and behind the sheltering cliff. With wild yells the Indians darted forward in pursuit.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A COUPLE OF ARROWS ... FOLLOWED HIM.]
About thirty paces beyond the point of the cliff that hid him for a few moments from view, was the cave in which he had spent the night. Quick as thought he sprang up the steep trail to its entrance and darted in.
Crouching behind a ledge of rock close to the entrance, he waited for the two Indians to appear. Presently he saw one of them peering around the bend in the cliff wall. Raising his gun to his shoulder, he fired.
The Indian"s face disappeared from sight, but whether the bullet had hit the mark, Hawk Eye could not determine.
In the meantime Raven Wing, not daring to run into range of the arrows from the two Indians, had darted into the bushes and made for the rocky ground in the rear of the camp. In doing so he happened to pa.s.s the tree against which Slow Dog had rested Hawk Eye"s gun, with shot-belt and powder horn. Picking them up, he climbed over the rocks and up to a wooded ridge that overlooked the cave in which Hawk Eye had sought shelter.
From this high point Raven Wing noticed that the bed of dried up water course led through the bushes towards the cave. Without further delay he hurried down to it, and sped swiftly along between its high bush-bordered banks. But, on drawing near to the cave, he was disappointed to find an open s.p.a.ce, without tree or shrub, between it and the edge of the bushes.
[Ill.u.s.tration: {Brave with headdress.}]
CHAPTER XV
TWO GOOD SHOTS
Peering cautiously out between the heavy undergrowth, Raven Wing saw the two Indians, who had pursued Hawk Eye, crouching behind a boulder on the opposite side of the open s.p.a.ce. He realized that it would be impossible for him to cross the open ground without being hit by an arrow, and he also felt reasonably certain that as soon as they were joined by Slow Dog, they would set off to find him, leaving the Medicine Man to prevent Hawk Eye"s escape from the cave.
While debating as to what might be the best thing to do, he looked towards the cave and to his surprise saw Hawk Eye signing to him from behind a ledge of rock that screened him completely from the view of the enemy.
Answering the sign to a.s.sure his friend that he had seen him, Raven Wing made a series of signs which were finally understood by Hawk Eye to mean that he was to come out and expose himself to the view of the Indians.
Stepping out of the cave, he uttered a piercing war whoop and darted back. Slow Dog and his comrades answered with a volley of arrows. This was just what Raven Wing had expected, and before they could again fit arrows to their bows, he dashed across the open s.p.a.ce and slipped into the cave, followed by Ohitika.
Angered at being outwitted by a boy, Slow Dog and the Chippeways rushed forward across the open s.p.a.ce, but before they had covered half its distance, a bullet from Hawk Eye"s gun brought one of the Chippeways tumbling to earth. Without waiting to pick him up, Slow Dog and his comrade sought the shelter of the bushes, where they lay concealed. From the mouth of the cave the boys could see four canoes drawn up on the beach. As Hawk Eye reloaded his gun, Raven Wing caught sight of an Indian stealing down towards the canoes. Lifting the gun to his shoulder, Raven Wing fired and the Chippeway fell face downward on the sand.
"Good!" grunted Hawk Eye. "The odds are now with us. However, Slow Dog"s craftiness more than equals ours. If he sees he cannot get us, he will try to make off with our canoes."
"But if he ventures on the beach, he knows he will be shot," remarked Raven Wing.
"He will wait for darkness," said Hawk Eye.
"Darkness protects the rabbit as well as the fox," cried Raven Wing. As he finished, a low exclamation burst from Hawk Eye"s lips. "Look!" he said. "Someone is stealing through the bushes!"
"The bodies of the two braves still lie upon the ground," said Raven Wing. "Perhaps the brave we left for dead in the camp has recovered."
[Ill.u.s.tration: {Brave behind fallen tree.}]
For some time the boys kept their gaze directed toward the canoes, but no second brave dared to venture toward them, although they lay only a few yards distant from the edge of the timber. Slow Dog and his companion were held at bay by the watchful eyes of the two boys. A bullet would be their answer to any attempt to reach the canoes.
The canoes now became the chief object of interest to all concerned.
Slow Dog realized that if the boys should succeed in reaching the canoes they could escape. This, of course, they could not hope to do as long as daylight lasted nor even when night should arrive, unless it were a very dark one, since he and his comrade were armed with bow and arrows. On the other hand, he knew, now that the boys had possession of the guns, that it would be almost certain death to venture on the beach so long as there was sufficient light to enable Hawk Eye to aim with his gun.
"Let them make the first move," thought the crafty Medicine Man.
In the meantime Hawk Eye and Raven Wing were making plans for the coming of darkness. As the sun"s last rays faded away and the night began to deepen, Hawk Eye moved close to the entrance of the cave. Adjusting his gun to his satisfaction, he marked its position exactly on the rock so that, when the canoes should be entirely hidden from sight, he could make reasonably certain of hitting any object directly in front of them. And in order to show Slow Dog that he and Raven Wing were still on the alert, he shortly aimed at the canoes, which were now invisible, and fired.
[Ill.u.s.tration: {Tepee.}]
CHAPTER XVI
OHITIKA IS WOUNDED
Almost instantaneously a death cry rent the air, proving that the bullet had hit either Slow Dog or his companion.
"Ugh!" grunted Hawk Eye. "Slow Dog"s trick has failed him. The odds are two to one in our favor." Hardly had he finished speaking when an arrow struck the ledge of rocks behind which they were crouching.
"Slow Dog is no mean marksman," said Raven Wing. "We must not be careless."
As Hawk Eye reloaded his gun, he noticed, in spite of the gathering gloom, blood stains upon the stock. For several moments he regarded them in silence. Then turned to Raven Wing.
"I think I have a plan that will work well," he said. "Come here, Ohitika," he cried, squatting down on the floor of the cave. The faithful dog came fawning to his feet.
"Smell, smell!" he commanded, placing the blood stained gunstock close to the dog"s nose.
Ohitika answered with a growl. It was enemy smell to him. He had not forgotten that Slow Dog had kicked him.
"Take your gun and hold the dog by the collar," said Hawk Eye to Raven Wing. Again resting his gun on the ledge of rock, he fired. Before the echoes of the report had died away, a second arrow entered the cave"s mouth and struck the rock wall in the rear.
"Come, follow me, before Slow Dog finds time to fit another arrow to his bow," said Hawk Eye.
Raven Wing obeyed. When out of the cave, and to one side of the opening, Hawk Eye seized Raven Wing"s loaded gun and gave him his. "Load it," he said in a low voice, grasping the leather thong about Ohitika"s neck to give Raven Wing the free use of both hands. Then, like three shadows, the two boys and the dog, glided into the dense darkness. Almost immediately Hawk Eye released his hold upon the dog and whispered, "Go get him! Go get him!"
As Ohitika darted off in the murky darkness, Raven Wing all but tripped over the body of the Chippeway he had killed. Forgetting the urgent need to reach the canoes, he felt with his hand for the Chippeway"s scalp lock. Grasping it tightly in his left hand, he deftly circled it at its base with his knife and tore it away.