After a short interval it began afresh, this time still clearer; then came the yelp, loud, sharp, and vengeful. There was no mistaking that sound. _It was the bark of the Spanish bloodhound_.
We sprang up simultaneously, looking around for weapons, and then staring at each other with an expression of despair.
The rifle and two case-knives were all the weapons we had.
"What"s to be done!" cried one, and all eyes were turned upon Lincoln.
The hunter stood motionless, clutching his rifle and looking to the ground.
"How fur"s the crik, Rowl?" he asked after a pause.
"Not two hundred yards; this way it lies."
"I kin see no other chance, Cap"n, than ter take the water: we may bamfoozle the houn"s a bit, if thar"s good wadin"."
"Nor I." I had thought of the same plan.
"If we hed hed bowies, we mouter fit the dogs whar we air, but yer see we hain"t; an" I kin tell by thar growl thar ain"t less nor a dozen on "em."
"It"s no use to remain here; lead us to the creek, Raoul;" and, following the Frenchman, we dashed recklessly through the thicket.
On reaching the stream we plunged in. It was one of those mountain torrents common in Mexico--spots of still water alternating with cascades, that dash, and foam over shapeless ma.s.ses of amygdaloidal basalt. We waded through the first pool, and then, clambering among the rocks, entered a second. This was a good stretch, a hundred yards or more of still, crystal water, in which we were waist-deep.
We took the bank at the lower, and on the same side, and, striking back into the timber, kept on parallel to the course of the stream. We did not go far away from the water, lest we might be pushed again to repeat the _ruse_.
All this time the yelping of the bloodhounds had been ringing in our ears. Suddenly it ceased.
"They have reached the water," said Clayley.
"No," rejoined Lincoln, stopping a moment to listen: "they"re chawin"
the bones of the varmint."
"There again!" cried one, as their deep voices rang down the glen in the chorus of the whole pack. The next minute the dogs were mute a second time, speaking at intervals in a fierce growl that told us they were at fault.
Beyond an occasional bark we heard nothing of the bloodhounds until we had gained at least two miles down the stream. We began to think we had baffled them in earnest, when Lincoln, who had kept in the rear, was seen to throw himself flat upon the gra.s.s. We all stopped, looking at him with breathless anxiety. It was but a minute. Rising up with a reckless air, he struck his rifle fiercely upon the ground, exclaiming:
"They"re arter us agin!"
By one impulse we all rushed back to the creek, and, scrambling over the rocks, plunged into the water and commenced wading down.
A sudden exclamation burst from Raoul in the advance. We soon learnt the cause, and to our dismay. We had struck the water at a point where the stream canoned.
On each side rose a frowning precipice, straight as a wall. Between these the black torrent rushed through a channel only a few feet in width so swiftly that, had we attempted to descend by swimming, we should have been dashed to death against the rocks below.
To reach the stream farther down it would be necessary to make a circuit of miles; and the hounds would be on our heels before we could gain three hundred yards.
We looked at each other and at Lincoln, all panting and pale.
"Stumped at last!" cried the hunter, gritting his teeth with fury.
"No!" I shouted, a thought at that moment flashing upon me. "Follow me, comrades! We"ll fight the bloodhounds upon the cliff."
I pointed upward. A yell from Lincoln announced his approval.
"Hooray!" he cried, leaping on the bank; "that idee"s jest like yer, Cap. Hooray! Now, boys, for the bluff!"
Next moment we were straining up the gorge that led to the precipice; and the next we had reached the highest point, where the cliff, by a bold projection, b.u.t.ted over the stream. There was a level platform covered with tufted gra.s.s, and upon this we took our stand.
CHAPTER FORTY THREE.
A BATTLE WITH BLOODHOUNDS.
We stood for some moments gathering breath and nerving ourselves for the desperate struggle. I could not help looking over the precipice. It was a fearful sight. In a vertical line two hundred feet below, the stream rushing through the canon broke upon a bed of sharp, jagged rocks, and then glided on in seething, snow-white foam. There was no object between the eye and the water; no jutting ledge, not even a tree, to break the fall--nothing but the spiky boulders below, and the foaming torrent that washed them.
It was some minutes before our unnatural enemies made their appearance, but every howl sounded nearer and nearer. Our trail was warm, and we knew they were scenting it on a run. At length the bushes crackled, and we could see their white b.r.e.a.s.t.s gleaming through the leaves. A few more springs, and the foremost bloodhound bounded out upon the bank, and, throwing up his broad jaw, uttered a hideous "growl."
He was at fault where we had entered the water. His comrades now dashed out of the thicket, and, joining in a chorus of disappointment, scattered among the stones.
An old dog, scarred and cunning, kept along the bank until he had reached the top of the canon. This was where we had made our crossing.
Here the hound entered the channel, and, springing from rock to rock, reached the point where we had dragged ourselves out of the water. A short yelp announced to his comrades that he had lifted the scent, and they all threw up their noses and came galloping down.
There was a swift current between two large boulders of basalt. We had leaped this. The old dog reached it, and stood straining upon the spring, when Lincoln fired, and the hound, with a short "wough", dropped in upon his head, and was carried off like a flash.
"Counts one less to pitch over," said the hunter, hastily reloading his rifle.
Without appearing to notice the strange conduct of their leader, the others crossed in a string, and, striking the warm trail, came yelling up the pa.s.s. It was a gra.s.sy slope, such as is often seen between two tables of a cliff; and as the dogs strained upward we could see their white fangs and the red blood that had baited them clotted along their jaws. Another crack from Lincoln"s rifle, and the foremost hound tumbled back down the gorge.
"Two rubbed out!" cried the hunter; and at the same moment I saw him fling his rifle to the ground.
The hounds kept the trail no longer. Their quarry was before them; their howling ended, and they sprang upon us with the silence of the a.s.sa.s.sin. The next moment we were mingled together, dogs and men, in the fearful struggle of life and death!
I know not how long this strange encounter lasted. I felt myself grappling with the tawny monsters, and hurling them over the cliff. Now they sprang at my throat, and I threw out my arms, thrusting them fearlessly between the shining rows of teeth. Then I was free again, and, seizing a leg, or a tail, or the loose flaps of the neck, I dragged a savage brute towards the brink, and, summoning all my strength, dashed him against its brow, and saw him tumble howling over.
Once I lost my balance and nearly staggered over the precipice, and at length, panting, bleeding, and exhausted, I fell to the earth. I could struggle no longer.
I looked around for my comrades. Clayley and Raoul had sunk upon the gra.s.s, and lay torn and bleeding. Lincoln and Chane, holding a hound between them, were balancing him over the bluff.
"Now, Murter," cried the hunter, "giv" him a good heist, and see if we kin pitch him cl"ar on t"other side; hee-woop!--hoo!"
And with this e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n the kicking animal was launched into the air.
I could not resist looking after. The yellow body bounded from the face of the opposite cliff, and fell with a heavy plash upon the water below.
He was the last of the pack!
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.