"Of course you"re right," said the Maine man. "They may have been there in the woods for an hour spying us out. They"ve dismounted and have left their horses further back among the trees. Suppose you watch to the right while I face to the left. I think the two of us together can cover a whole circle."
Ned felt a singular composure. It seemed to him that he had pa.s.sed through so many emotions that he had none left now but calm and expectancy. As the night was somewhat cold he even remembered to throw one of the blankets over his body, as he lay behind the log. Obed noticed it and his sharp eyes brightened with approval. It was obvious that the Lipans were now in the woods about them, and that the long chase was at an end, but the boy was as steady as a rock.
Ned looked continually for the second appearance of the shadows. Nothing within the range of his half circle escaped him. He saw the wild turkeys unfold their wings, and fly heavily away, which was absolute proof of the presence of the Lipans. He finally saw the shadow for the second time, and, at almost the same moment, a pink dot appeared in the woods.
The crack of a rifle followed, and a bullet knocked up a little dust at least fifty yards short of them. Obed sniffed contemptuously.
"One good bullet wasted," he said, "and one good bullet, I suppose, deserves another, but they won"t fire again--yet. It shows that they know we"re on guard. They won"t rush us. They"ll wait for time, thirst and starvation."
Obed was right. Not another shot was fired, nor did any of the Lipans show themselves. Day came, and the forest was as quiet and peaceful as if it were a park. Some little birds of brilliant plumage sang as heralds of dawn, and sunlight flooded the trees and the opening. Ned and Obed moved themselves into more comfortable positions and waited.
They were to have another terrible trial of Indian patience. No attack was made. The two lay behind the logs and watched the circle of the forest, until their eyes grew weary. The silence and peace that had marked the dawn continued through all the hours of the morning. Although the wild turkeys had flown away, the birds that lived in this forest seemed to take no alarm. They hopped peacefully from bough to bough, and sang their little songs as if there were no alien presence. But Ned and Obed had been through too many dangers to be entrapped into a belief that the Lipans had gone. They matched patience with patience. The sun went slowly up toward the zenith, and the earth grew hot, but they were protected from the fiery rays by the foliage of the trees. Yet Ned grew restless. He was continually poking the muzzle of his rifle over the log and seeking a target, although the forest revealed no human being.
Finally Obed put his hand upon his arm.
"Easy, now, easy, Ned," he said. "Don"t waste your strength and nerves.
They can"t charge us, at least in the daylight, without our seeing them, and, when they come, we want to be as strong of body and brain as possible. We won"t take the fight to them. They must bring it to us."
Ned blushed. Meanwhile the afternoon dragged on, slow and silent, as the morning had been.
CHAPTER XIII
THE TEXANS
Late in the afternoon Ned"s nerves began to affect him again. Once more, the old longing for action took such strong hold upon him that he could not cast it off for a long time. But he hid his face from Obed. He did not want his older comrade to see that he was white and trembling.
Finally, he took some food from his pack and bit fiercely upon it, as he ate. It was not for the food that he cared, but it was a relief to bring his teeth together so hard. Obed looked at him approvingly.
"You"re setting a good example, Ned," he said, "and I"ll follow it."
He too ate, and then took a satisfactory drink from his water bottle.
Meanwhile the sun was setting in a cloudless sky, and both noticed with satisfaction that it would be a clear night. Eyes, trained like theirs, could see even in the dusk an enemy trying to creep upon them.
"Do you think you could sleep a while, Ned?" said Obed, persuasively.
"Of course, I"ll awake you at the first alarm, if the alarm itself doesn"t do it. Sleep knits us up for the fray, and a man always wants to be at his best when he goes into battle."
"How could a fellow sleep now?"
"Only the brave and resolute can do it," replied Obed, cunningly.
"Napoleon slept before Austerlitz, and while no Austerlitz is likely to happen down here in the wilderness of Northern Mexico there is nothing to keep those who are able from copying a great man."
The appeal to Ned"s pride was not lost.
"I think I"ll try it," he said.
He lay down behind the log with his rifle by his side, and closed his eyes. He had no idea that he could go to sleep, but he wished to show Obed his calmness in face of danger. Yet he did sleep, and he did not awaken until Obed"s hand fell upon his shoulder. He would have sprung up, all his faculties not yet regained, but Obed"s hand pressed him down.
"Don"t forget where you are, Ned," said the Maine man, "and that we are still besieged."
Yet the night was absolutely still and Ned, from his rec.u.mbent position, looked up at a clear sky and many glittering stars.
"Has anything happened?" he asked.
"Not a thing. No Lipan has shown himself even among the trees."
"About what time do you think it is?"
"Two or three hours after midnight, and now I"m going to take a nap while you watch. Ned, do you know, I"ve an idea those fellows are going to sit in the woods indefinitely, safe, beyond range, and wait for us to come out. Doesn"t it make you angry?"
"It does, and it makes me angry also to think that they have our horses.
Those were good horses."
Obed slept until day, and Ned watched with a vigilance that no creeping enemy could pa.s.s. The Lipans made no movement, but the siege, silent and invisible, went on. Ned had another attack of the nerves, but, as his comrade was sleeping soundly, he took no trouble to hide it, and let the spell shake itself out.
The day was bright, burning and hot, and it threatened to pa.s.s like its predecessor, in silence and inaction. Ned and Obed had been lying down or sitting down so long that they had grown stiff, and now, knowing that they were out of range they stood up and walked boldly about, tensing and flexing their muscles, and relieving the bodily strain. Ned thought that their appearance might tempt the Lipans to a shot or some other demonstration, but no sound came from the woods, and they could not see any human presence there. "Maybe they have gone away after all," said Ned hopefully.
"If you went over there to the woods you"d soon find out that they hadn"t."
"Suppose they really went away. We"d have no way of knowing it and then we"d have to sit here forever all the same."
Obed laughed, despite the grimness of their situation.
"That is a problem," he said, "but if you can"t work a problem it will work itself if you only give it enough time."
The morning was without result, but in the afternoon they saw figures stirring in the wood and concluded that some movement was at hand.
"Ned," said Obed, "I think we"ve either won in the contest of patience, or that something else has occurred to disturb the Lipans. Don"t you see horses as well as Indians there among the trees?"
"I can count at least five horses, and I"ve no doubt there are others."
"All of which to my mind indicates a rush on horseback. Perhaps they think they can gallop over us. We"d better lay our pistols on the logs, where we can get at "em quick, and be ready."
Ned"s sharp eye caught sight of more horses at another point.
"They"re coming from all sides," he said.
"You face to the right and I"ll face to the left," said Obed, "and be sure your bullet counts. If we bring down a couple of them they will stop. Indians are not fond of charging in the open, and, besides, it will be hard for them to force their horses in among these logs and trees of ours."
Ned did not answer, but he had listened attentively. The muzzle of his rifle rested upon the log beside his pistol, and, with his eye looking down the sights, he was watching for whatever might come.
A sharp whistle sounded from the wood. At the same instant, three bands of Lipans galloped from the trees at different points, and converged upon the little fortress. They were all naked to the waist, and the sun blazed down upon their painted bodies, lighting up their lean faces and fierce eyes. They uttered shout after shout, as they advanced, and as they came closer, bent down behind the shoulders of their ponies or clung to their sides.
The tremor of the nerves seized Ned again, but it was gone in a moment.
Then a fierce pa.s.sion turned the blood in his veins to fire. Why were these savages seeking his life? Why had they hung upon his trail for days and days? And why had they kept up that silent and invincible siege so long? Yet he did not forget his earlier resolution to watch for a good shot, knowing that his life hung upon it. But it was hard to hold one"s fire when the thud of those charging hoofs was coming closer.
The hors.e.m.e.n in front of him were four in number, and the leader who wore a brilliant feathered headdress, seemed to be a chief. Ned chose him for his target, but for a few moments the Lipan made his pony bound from side to side in such a manner that he could not secure a good aim.
But his chance came. The Lipan raised his head and opened his mouth to utter a great shout of encouragement to his followers. The shout did not pa.s.s his lips, because Ned"s bullet struck him squarely in the forehead, and he fell backward from his horse, dead before he touched the ground.