"Bees? Strawberries?" repeated I.
"Yes, bees, which live in the hollow trees. Out of twenty trees there"s sure to be one full of honey. So you saw no bees, eh? Perhaps you don"t know the creturs when you see "em? Ain"t altogether so big as wild-geese or turkeys. But you must know what strawberries are, and that they don"t grow upon the trees."
All this was spoken in the same sneering, savage manner as before, with the speaker"s head half turned over his shoulder, while his features were distorted into a contemptuous grin.
"And if I had seen the bees, how was I to get at the honey without an axe?"
"How did you lose yourself?"
"My mustang--ran away--"
"I see. And you after him. You"d have done better to let him run. But what d"ye mean to do now?"
"I am weak--sick to death. I wish to get to the nearest house--an inn--anywhere where men are."
"Where men are," repeated the stranger, with his scornful smile. "Where men are," he muttered again, taking a few steps on one side.
I was hardly able to turn my head, but there was something strange in the man"s movement that alarmed me; and, making a violent effort, I changed my position sufficiently to get him in sight again. He had drawn a long knife from his girdle, which he clutched in one hand, whilst he ran the forefinger of the other along its edge. I now for the first time got a full view of his face, and the impression it made upon me was anything but favourable. His countenance was the wildest I had ever seen; his blood-shot eyes rolled like b.a.l.l.s of fire in their sockets; his movements and manner were indicative of a violent inward struggle.
He did not stand still for three seconds together, but paced backwards and forwards with hurried, irregular steps, casting wild glances over his shoulder, his fingers playing all the while with the knife, with the rapid and objectless movements of a maniac.
I felt convinced that I was the cause of the struggle visibly going on within him--that my life or death was what he was deciding upon. But, in the state I then was, death had no terrors for me. The image of my mother, sisters, and father, pa.s.sed before my eyes. I gave one thought to my peaceful, happy home, and then looked upwards and prayed.
The man had walked off to some distance. I turned myself a little more round, and, as I did so, I caught sight of the same magnificent phenomenon which I had met with on the second day of my wanderings. The colossal live oak rose in all its silvery splendour, at the distance of a couple of miles. Whilst I was gazing at it, and reflecting on the strange ill-luck that had made me pa.s.s within so short a distance of the river without finding it, I saw my new acquaintance approach a neighbouring cl.u.s.ter of trees, amongst which he disappeared.
After a short time I again perceived him coming towards me with a slow and staggering step. As he drew near, I had an opportunity of examining his whole appearance. He was very tall and lean, but large-boned, and apparently of great strength. His face, which had not been shaved for several weeks, was so tanned by sun and weather, that he might have been taken for an Indian, had not the beard proved his claim to white blood. But his eyes were what most struck me. There was something so frightfully wild in their expression, a look of terror and desperation, like that of a man whom all the furies of h.e.l.l were hunting and persecuting. His hair hung in long ragged locks over his forehead, cheeks, and neck, and round his head was bound a handkerchief, on which were several stains of a brownish-black colour. Spots of the same kind were visible upon his leathern jacket, breeches, and moca.s.sins; they were evidently blood stains. His hunting-knife, which was nearly two feet long, with a rude wooden handle, was now replaced in his girdle, but in its stead he grasped a Kentucky rifle.
Although I did my utmost to a.s.sume an indifferent countenance, my features doubtless expressed something of the repugnance and horror with which the man inspired me. He looked loweringly at me for a moment from under his s.h.a.ggy eyebrows.
"You don"t seem to like the company you"ve got into," said he. "Do I look so very desperate, then? Is it written so plainly on my face?"
"What should there be written upon your face?"
"What? What? Them questions are for fools and children."
"I will ask you none; but as a Christian, as a countryman, I beseech you----"
"Christian?" interrupted he, with a hollow laugh. "Countryman!" He struck the b.u.t.t of his rifle hard upon the ground. "That is my countryman--my only friend!" he continued, as he examined the flint and lock of his weapon. "That releases from all troubles: that"s a true friend. Pooh! perhaps it"ll release you too--put you to rest."
These last words were uttered aside, and musingly.
"Put him to rest, as well as----. Pooh! One more or less--Perhaps it would drive away that cursed spectre."
All this seemed to be spoken to his rifle.
"Will you swear not to betray me?" cried he to me. "Else, one touch----"
As he spoke, he brought the gun to his shoulder, the muzzle pointed full at my breast.
I felt no fear. I am sure my pulse did not give a throb the more for this menace. So deadly weak and helpless as I lay, it was unnecessary to shoot me. The slightest blow from the b.u.t.t of the rifle would have driven the last faint spark of life out of my exhausted body. I looked calmly, indifferently even, into the muzzle of the piece.
"If you can answer it to your G.o.d, to your and my Judge and Creator, do your will."
My words, which from faintness I could scarcely render audible, had, nevertheless, a sudden and startling effect upon the man. He trembled from head to foot, let the b.u.t.t of his gun fall heavily to the ground, and gazed at me with open mouth and staring eyes.
"This one, too, comes with his G.o.d!" muttered he. "G.o.d! and your and my Creator--and--Judge."
He seemed hardly able to articulate these words, which were uttered by gasps and efforts, as though something had choked him.
"His and my--Judge"--groaned he again. "Can there be a G.o.d, a Creator and Judge?"
As he stood thus muttering to himself, his eyes suddenly became fixed, and his features horribly distorted.
"Do it not!" cried he, in a shrill tone of horror, that rang through my head. "It will bring no blessin" with it. I am a dead man! G.o.d be merciful to me! My poor wife! my poor children!"
The rifle fell from his hands, and he smote his breast and forehead in a paroxysm of the wildest fury and despair. It was frightful to behold the conscience-stricken wretch, stamping madly about, and casting glances of terror behind him, as though demons had been hunting him down. The foam flew from his mouth, and I expected each moment to see him fall to the ground in a fit of epilepsy. Gradually, however, he grew more tranquil.
"D"ye see nothin" in my face?" said he in a hoa.r.s.e whisper, suddenly pausing close to where I lay.
"What should I see?"
He came yet nearer.
"Look well at me--_through_ me, if you can. D"ye see nothin" now?"
"I see nothing," replied I.
"Ah! I understand; you can see nothin". Ain"t in a spyin" humour, I calkilate. No, no, that you ain"t. After four days and nights fastin", one loses the fancy for many things. I"ve tried it for two days myself.
So, you are weak and faint, eh? But I needn"t ask that, I reckon. You look bad enough. Take another drop of whisky; it"ll strengthen you. But wait till I mix it."
As he spoke, he stepped down to the edge of the river, and scooping up the water in the hollow of his hand, filled up his flask with it. Then returning to me, he poured a little into my mouth.
Even the bloodthirsty Indian appears less of a savage when engaged in a compa.s.sionate act, and the wild desperado I had fallen in with seemed softened and humanised by the service he was rendering me. His voice sounded less harsh; his manner was calmer and milder.
"You wish to go to an inn?"
"For Heaven"s sake, yes. These four days I have tasted nothing but a bit of tobacco."
"Can you spare a bit of that?"
"All I have."
I handed him my cigar-case, and the roll of _dulcissimus_. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the latter from me, and bit into it with the furious eagerness of a wolf.
"Ah! the right sort this!" muttered he to himself. "Ah, young man, or old man--you"re an old man, ain"t you? How old are you?"
"Two-and-twenty."
He shook his head doubtingly.