The others had been awakened by the noise and were quickly at his side.
"Chris, give me a hand to lay him on my bed; Captain, replace the post in the doorway," Walter commanded with heartsore calmness.
The wounded man opened his eyes as they laid him gently on the couch.
"It"s no use bothering with me, old chap," he said, quietly. "I"m hit in a dozen places and I"m doctor enough to know that I"m going fast."
Walter buried his head by the dying man"s side and sobbed dryly.
"There, there," the other said, soothingly, "don"t feel bad about it.
It"s just what I wished for. I"m going to die like a gentleman."
Walter hushed his sobs with an effort to catch the feebly spoken words.
The wounded man"s eyes closed, and Walter held his breath for a second thinking him dead, but in a moment he opened them again and smiled faintly, "There"s nothing to a race but the finish," he whispered.
A little longer he lay still breathing heavily. Suddenly by a mighty effort he raised himself on his elbow, his eyes shining with a strange light. "Not guilty, your honor," he said in a firm voice, then sank back still and white.
"He"s dead," said Walter, brokenly. "He had his wish; he died like a hero."
They covered the still form reverently with a blanket, and the silence of bitter grief settled on the little party. The others had not become so intimate with the dead man as Walter, but they had grown to admire him greatly, and the thought that he had given up his life in their service added to their grief.
Walter"s suffering was intense and it was well that his mind was of necessity soon forced into other channels.
The convicts, exasperated at the way they had been outwitted, opened a heavy continuous fire upon the hut, under cover of which several attempts were made to carry the hut by a.s.sault. But the a.s.saulting parties were easily discouraged by the steady fire that met them at each attempt.
"It looks as if they were getting desperate," said the captain. "I reckon they know now that we can hold out for a long time yet, and they are gettin" discouraged," and his companions agreed with him.
Towards morning the convicts" fire slackened and gradually ceased.
Just as day was breaking, the distant report of a rifle was borne to the ears of the besieged.
Charley, who was now able to leave his bed, listened eagerly. "It"s Indian Charley"s rifle. I know the sound," he declared, "ten shots; I wonder what it means."
From the fort, came an answering volley of ten rifle shots.
"It"s a signal," cried Walter. "I wonder what it"s for."
"Hallo there in the but, we want a parley," hailed a rough voice from the fort.
"All right," answered Charley, "send forward one man, unarmed."
A convict emerged from the fort and advanced towards the hut with fearful, hesitating footsteps.
"Don"t be afraid, we won"t hurt you," Walter called to him encouragingly.
CHAPTER x.x.xII.
HELP.
"Say what you want and be quick about it," said Charley sharply, as the convict halted close to the hut.
"Me and my mates want to know if you are ready to call this thing quits," the man growled. "We agree to leave you the island all to yourselves right off if you won"t fire on us while we are leaving."
Charley turned to the others for counsel.
"There"s something in the wind," he declared in a low tone. "This proposal coming so soon after that signal means something. Maybe the Indians are coming."
"We can"t bank on that, it"s hardly time for them yet," observed the captain. "Better agree to their offer, lads. I guess they are just tired of the game."
"We can"t well stop them if they have taken a notion to leave," said Walter. "I agree with the captain. Let them go."
Charley turned to the man. "We agree, provided you leave at once," he said.
The convict, with a surly growl, turned and rapidly retraced his steps to the fort.
The convicts were in evident haste to be gone, for their envoy had hardly got inside before they began to file out, each bearing his gun and other belongings.
Within ten minutes from the envoy"s visit the last of the outlaws had scaled the walls and was lost to sight.
The hunters waited for half an hour before they removed the barricade from the door and let the fresh cool morning breeze into their stuffy prison. Even then they did not venture outside, for they still feared some trick on the part of the convicts. As the moments, pa.s.sed quietly by, however, without any sign of their foes, their fears began to decrease.
"I am going to find out what has become of them," Walter at last declared. "Unless we make certain now of what they are up to, we will be afraid to venture outside for a week to come."
His companions in vain tried to dissuade him from his rash project, his mind was made up and he turned a deaf ear to their words.
Shouldering one of the rifles, he made his way to the wall, clambered over it nimbly and disappeared on the other side.
It was over half an hour before Walter returned. His companions had begun to feel uneasy about him when he appeared on the top of the wall and dropped down inside with a hearty cheer.
"Come out, all of you," he shouted, "there"s nothing more to fear from the convicts."
The little party crowded around him with eager questions.
"I followed them down to the landing," he said. "They had just shoved off in their dugout and were headed back for their old camp and paddling away for dear life.
"I had not long to wait before I discovered the reason for their haste.
Far up the stream was a big fleet of Indian dugouts coming down, there must have been forty of them at least. Then all was as plain as print: the convicts were aiming to get back to their ponies and make their escape on them. Likely they would have done so if Indian Charley had only warned them a little sooner, but they were too late."
"Go on," said Charley, eagerly, as Walter paused in his story.
"They had only got as far as that little island near this one, when another big fleet of canoes appeared just ahead of them. I guess they realized that they stood no show to make a successful fight for it, crowded up as they were in the dugout; anyway, they ran ash.o.r.e on that little island and threw up mounds of sand and are lying behind them."
"Have the Indians attacked them?" Charley demanded.