"However, I conclude that they are friends, and should they come near us, I will go forward and meet them. It is always better to show that one wishes to be on good terms with the Redskins, and have no fear of them. You girls, however, keep back. Since the lesson Sybil received, it is as well you should not let them see you pale-faces, if you can help it."
The young ladies laughed, and Norman soon afterwards observing that the hors.e.m.e.n were approaching, dashed forward to meet them as he proposed.
He had got some little way when he saw that the strangers had put their horses to their topmost speed, and he remarked at their head a tall chief who was galloping on, urging his steed by whip and spur.
"I don"t like their looks," he thought. "That fellow is very much like Mysticoose. It will be wiser for the girls to keep clear of them."
Turning round, therefore, he rode back as hard as he could go, and as he rejoined Sybil, and Effie, he advised them to give their horses the whip so that they might not risk an encounter with the strangers. On looking round he saw that the latter were coming directly after them.
"On, girls, on!" he cried out. "I wish that we had turned sooner; but our horses are in good wind and we can keep ahead of these fellows, even should they try to overtake us."
Norman"s horse was a powerful one: the young ladies being light weights, and accustomed to riding, giving the rein to their steeds they flew over the ground.
Their attendants, who did not like the appearance of the strangers, making good use of whip and spur, managed to keep up with them.
"There"s a ford right ahead, across the river; we will make for it,"
shouted Norman. "We can then keep along the northern bank. It will be much safer than attempting to reach the fort by the direct track, which would bring us close to those fellows."
Towards the ford, therefore, they directed their course. Trusting to the fleetness of their steeds, they had reason to hope that they should keep ahead of their pursuers; for the Indians" horses, though strong and possessed of great endurance, were incapable, they knew, of going at any great speed.
Norman, looking back, however, saw with vexation that the Indian chief, spurring on his animal, was fast distancing most of his followers, somewhat scattered, though not far off. There were several other savages endeavouring to keep up with him. Again and again, Norman urged Sybil and his sister to give the rein to their steeds.
"Never fear. Stick on; the animals won"t come down," he shouted.
They both kept up their courage, though fully alive to their dangerous position. Sybil, indeed, suspected that Mysticoose was at the head of the party, and that his object was to capture her. She nerved herself up, however, for whatever might occur.
Though Norman had a.s.sured them that there was no risk of their horses falling, she saw, as she approached the river, that the ground was becoming more uneven. Rocks and the stumps of trees, burnt in a recent fire, cropped up here and there, and fallen logs, some so close together that the horses in leaping might stumble over others further off.
Beyond, the ground appeared marshy, and though it might not be too soft for them to get over, they would be delayed until their pursuers had overtaken them.
Still, the girls holding their reins ready to lift their horses should they stumble, continued urging them on with their whips, and Norman, as he looked at them, wondered at their nerve and apparently calm demeanour.
He carried a brace of pistols in his belt, and the two men had their buffalo guns, short weapons, useful for a close encounter, and he resolved to fight to the last rather than let his sister and Sybil be captured. He knew at the same time, how hopeless it would be to contend with their numerous, well-armed enemies.
The rough ground was crossed, the marshy spot was reached, and the horses dashed on, floundering through it, their feet at times sinking so deep that it appeared impossible to draw them out again, while even Norman had to stick tight to keep his seat. He scarcely dared look round, but he fancied that he could hear the clattering of horses hoofs on the hard ground they had just before pa.s.sed over.
"Hold on!" he shouted, "we shall soon get through the marsh and the savages will find it no easy matter to follow us!"
Though he said this, he knew there was the ford to be crossed, and that could only be done at a walking pace, so that before they could get to the other side, the savages would already have reached the margin of the stream. Once more he turned round.
The chief and half a dozen of his followers were already on the borders of the marsh, some going on one side, some on the other, to find a harder part for crossing.
Happily, however, just then, the young ladies" steeds reached firmer ground, and sprang forward. They were now making directly for the ford, and Norman hoped once more, though almost against hope, that they might get across in time to obtain another good start of their pursuers.
The savages, however, knowing the nature of the ground better than they did, had succeeded in pa.s.sing it much more rapidly, and Norman saw that in a few minutes they would be up to them. He had almost lost all hope of escape when two hors.e.m.e.n, evidently white men, appeared on the brow of the ridge on the opposite side.
A glance must have shown them the state of affairs, and at the risk of breaking their necks, they came rattling down the steep descent, the horses sometimes sliding almost on their haunches, sometimes leaping forward.
"That is Hector!" cried Norman, recognising his brother; and then the thought occurred to him that he and his companion would share the fate to which it appeared likely they were doomed. Hector and his companion, who, as may be supposed, was Loraine, regardless of the danger into which they were running, dashed forward, and without stopping, plunged into the ford to meet the fugitives, who had all by this time began the pa.s.sage.
The appearance of only two white men did not deter the Redskins from continuing the pursuit, and having, their guns in their hands, got within thirty yards or so of the two attendants, they fired. Both shots took effect.
One poor fellow fell from his horse; the other, though wounded, clung on still, endeavouring to escape. The Indians came pressing on. One of them, who had got abreast of his chief, attempted to grapple with Hector, and Mysticoose himself was about to seize Sybil, when Loraine, dashing forward and levelling a pistol, shot him in the arm. The limb hung powerless at his side. But notwithstanding, taking the reins in his teeth, the savage chief again attempted with his other hand to take hold of her, while, fearing that she would escape him, he shouted to his followers, who, with fearful shrieks, were pressing on. Her horse, terrified by the sound, bounding forward, she escaped him. Enraged at his failure, he lifted his tomahawk to hurl it at her head, when Loraine with the b.u.t.t of a pistol struck down his arm; and at that instant a horseman was seen on the top of the ridge. The stranger was old Sa.s.s.
At a glance he took in the state of affairs. Instead of descending, however, he turned round and shouted loudly in Cree--
"Come on, come on! Here are your enemies, here are your enemies! We"ve a fine band of them in our power. Quick, quick, or they will escape us!"
Then, as if his followers were close behind, he began to descend almost as rapidly as had the younger men. The Blackfeet, evidently believing that in another minute a large body of their foes would be upon them, turned their horses" heads, and without looking again at the top of the ridge, began a rapid retreat, carrying Mysticoose along with them, their flight hastened by the loud shout which, Hector and Norman setting the example, was raised by the white men.
Norman had not forgotten the poor fellow who had fallen in his defence, and succeeded in catching him as he came to the surface, and dragging him to the sh.o.r.e.
"We must get to the top of the hill and show ourselves, or the Blackfeet may suspect the trick we played them," said old Sa.s.s. "That done, we"ll ride as fast as our horses" legs can carry us to Fort Duncan. I"ll help you with that poor fellow," he added, addressing Norman. "Here, friend, mount your horse; many a man has ridden a score of miles with a worse wound."
The half-breed, knowing that his life depended upon his following the advice, succeeded in getting into his saddle, when the whole party, winding their way up the height, which was of no great elevation, showed themselves on the summit, appearing as if they were the front rank of a body of hors.e.m.e.n about to descend to the river. Such was the idea, in all probability, that the Blackfeet entertained as they were seen in the distance galloping off to the south-west.
The party had to make a considerable circuit, and notwithstanding their wish to hurry forward were compelled frequently to proceed at a foot pace, although they pushed on whenever the ground would allow.
On reaching the top of the hill overlooking the prairie on the southern side of the river, they caught sight of the Blackfeet band in the distance, galloping, it appeared, towards the fort. Whether they themselves were perceived, they could not tell; but Norman fancied that he saw a band separate from the rest, and direct their course towards the river. It would have answered no purpose to stop and ascertain this, though, should such be the case, it was more necessary than ever to gain the fort without delay.
Descending the hill, they pushed forward as before; but Norman cast many an uneasy glance to the left, fearing that the savages might, having swam their horses across the river, pounce suddenly out upon them.
They had got about half-way, when the sound of distant firing reached their ears.
"Where can that come from?" asked Hector, who was riding with his brother.
"From the fort, I am afraid," answered Norman. "The Blackfeet must have attacked it, hoping to get in while some of the garrison are away; but my father will, I trust, have been prepared for them, though I am afraid that some traders, who arrived just before we set off, must have come with treacherous designs, and will try to help their friends outside."
"I thought before this that a fine fellow who came with us--Allan Keith, one of your clerks--would have arrived with a party of half-breeds, whom he expected to enlist," said Hector. "We calculated that he would have been here, as we were greatly delayed on our journey," and he briefly related the adventures Loraine and he had met with.
"Hurrah! Here"s a level place. We can push on," cried Norman; and the party, putting their horses into a gallop, dashed forward. As they did so, rapid firing, echoing among the hills, was again and again heard, evidently coming from the direction of the fort.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
The glowing sun was touching the line where the blue sky and prairie met, his rays casting a ruddy hue over the calm surface of the river, when the party, conducted by Norman, reached the northern bank opposite the fort, they having been delayed by attending to the wounded man, who could with difficulty be brought along. As they descended the slope to the river they caught sight of a body of hors.e.m.e.n galloping away across the prairie. Norman, as he watched them, was certain that they were the savages who had pursued his party.
"Thank Heaven, the Redskins have been defeated!" exclaimed Hector; "but had it not been for the warning you sent my father, friend Sa.s.s, the case might have been very different."
Norman now hailed at the top of his voice for a boat.
In a short time two men were seen launching one from a shed close to the water. They quickly brought her across. As she would not carry the whole of the party, the two young ladies, and, at their request, the wounded men, were first ferried over.
Captain Mackintosh stood on the bank to receive them, and, as Sybil and Effie threw themselves into his arms, their feelings at length giving way, they burst into tears.
"There is nothing more to fear; we have driven off the Blackfeet, and they have received a lesson which they will not soon forget, I trust,"
he said.
He then inquired how they had been preserved. They were both eloquent in describing the way Hector and Loraine, with their old companion, had rescued them; but there was no time to say much just then. While some of the garrison, who had come down for the purpose, carried the wounded men into the fort, the rest of the party were ferried across the river.