It was an uncanny rehearsal, this imitating the voices of those whom we should have made forever silent, but if there existed anywhere on earth a justification for the taking of human life it rested with Smilax and me. We were not killers, but defenders; we did not go so much to destroy as to save. Our way was the only way to rescue a helpless girl and a faithful old woman from destruction. Two men, or two hundred, made no difference now; I would kill all, or any number, who stood in the way of that beloved girl"s safety.
We looked over our firearms. I had given him Tommy"s "l"il crack-crack"
which, with my own, were the only weapons we intended to take--I mean the only explosive weapons, for Smilax carried his long, keen-edged hunting knife, a thing he was never without; and I, likewise, strapped on my own. After this we went about putting the camp in order; building a shelter tent by the spring for Sylvia and an adjacent lean-to for Echochee. Joyfully I robbed myself of bedding, arranged comfortable shake-downs with moss and leaves of the cabbage palm, and did everything conceivable to make the place attractive.
I had demurred at first about coming back here for a day or two; wanting, instead, to travel as speedily as possible to Big Cove, where the _Whim_--and if not the _Whim_, at least the _Orchid_--would be at our disposal. But he showed me the futility of this. In the first place, that was exactly what Efaw Kotee would be suspecting when the escape became known. The dead sentries, certain to be discovered when they failed to call the next half hour, would reveal the story of outside help, so the pursuit would be swift and directly up the coast--swifter, indeed, than she might be able to travel.
"Why shouldn"t they think we"d taken her off in a small boat," I asked, "and escaped through the islands?"
"Then Efaw Kotee want to know why kill guard on mainland."
"That"s so. But, Smilax, suppose we hide the guards?"
He thought a moment over this, but finally shook his head.
"No good. Then Efaw Kotee say guard run off with Lady, so he come back "cross prairie same as up and down sh.o.r.e. That make our chance ve"y bad.
No. They find men dead, then hunt quick through forest up beach; maybe down beach. After "while, maybe they find sign where me and you camp in L"il Cove; then they know small boat been there and gone. Then they come home mad, and when all quiet we make big circle to _Whim_. Some day we come back; maybe kill "em all. Me want Jess; him crack Smilax head. That good plan; you smoke."
I lay on the ground and smiled. Kill "em all! G.o.ds, but I was going back into the primitive by leaps and bounds! I wondered if that girl would trust herself to me, were she to know!
"Me big fool," Smilax suddenly cried, smashing a fist into the palm of his hand.
"What"s the matter?" I sat up, asking.
"Me ought to be in L"il Cove and make fresh signs. Me big fool!"
It would have been a cute move, but now too late, and I told him so.
"No too late," he sprang up. "Three hour more sun."
"But, Smilax, it took us the best part of a day to come here! You can"t do it!"
"Me go short way back, and fast." He pointed to the western sky, at an angle of about twenty degrees above the horizon, asking: "When night come you see big star there?"
I nodded. It was Jupiter or Venus, I didn"t know which; but it was large and beautiful, and I had seen it many evenings.
"When um touch top of trees you start. Me meet you on far side of prairie."
Feeling to see if his weapons were securely holstered he was off without another word to make signs in the sand at Little Cove that would look as though this very afternoon a landing party had been there, and I wondered if real Indians could possess the foresight of this big negro.
In amazement I watched him growing smaller and smaller across the sea of gra.s.s; going north-by-northwest now, and not the way we came. The prairie in this direction must have extended five miles before it met the forest, and as long as my eyes could follow him he was jogging at a good free trot. By this more direct route he had perhaps ten or twelve miles to go each way; and his return would be at night, lighted by a partial moon. I knew that he would make it, and be at our meeting place when I arrived, but how he could possibly do so was in a realm beyond my comprehension.
When the evening star sank and touched the forest I quietly left our camp. The night air was delightfully mellow, but my soul, my nerves, my determination were as cold as the long blade of my knife. In our present days of railroads, telegraphs and inst.i.tutions of learning I was merely a chap setting out to take a girl from a den of rogues; but in this night-bathed Florida wilderness civilization had been stripped to the bone. I was a man going forth to steal a female--I had come from my lair at dusk, set off with a snarl on my lips and a firm grip upon my stone axe; so completely dominated by this feeling that human p.a.w.ns who might stand in the way would be of no more consequence than ants.
From the lighter prairie I cautiously approached the black shadows of the forest, made impenetrably dark by a network of branches and a mat of leaves which no ray from the half grown moon could pierce. As I was about to enter Smilax arose from the ground in front of me.
"Good," he whispered. "We rest li"l while; then go fix "em."
CHAPTER XVII
THE RESCUE
We lay in silence till at last, faintly, came the call of post one. I listened, trying to catch the quality of his voice, knowing I soon should have to imitate it. To the call of the next man I also listened.
The third did not concern us more than to know he was on duty. No others called, so the guard had not been strengthened. These voices seemed to arouse Smilax, for he raised himself up on one elbow, whispering:
"What time they say?"
"Ten o"clock," I answered.
"Good. We fix "em "leven; come."
So the game was on! I followed silently--and savagely; for, as I have said, the human p.a.w.ns who stood between me and my maid held no more value than the ants.
For about ten minutes our progress went reasonably well, then Smilax slowed to a pace of extreme caution and finally sank to his hands and knees. In this manner we crawled a few hundred yards farther.
"Here your place," he put his lips close to my ear and whispered. "First man not ve"y far; straight. You find out when he call once more, or flash light. Watch when Two man call so you know where go next. No let "em call "leven. Good. Me go now." And he was off like a snake to take up a position behind post two.
I felt about me and, finding the ground clear of any growth that might produce a noise, moved stealthily forward, still on my hands and knees; but, after each step, pausing and feeling ahead until my fingers seemed to have grown as long and sensitive as antennae. In this way I must have gone another two hundred feet when I saw a glimmer of white light. It was the electric torch, and I knew the sentry must be looking at his watch.
Fleeting as it had been it showed me that between us lay a patch of saw-palmetto, and this was awkward as I could get no idea of its depth.
But since he did not call the post I knew that he would soon be taking another look at the time, and kept warily on, my eyes alert to ascertain the dimensions of that patch the instant his torch should flare. For I must crawl around it; to go through would be impossible. Smilax could have achieved it, but Smilax was a wonder.
The light showed again. I was within fifty feet of the patch now and saw with a feeling of relief that it ended almost at the spot where my man stood, or sat, or whatever he was doing. Still, the time had not come for him to call the half hour, when I should be able to advance more rapidly during the few seconds that his voice would make him insensible to other slight sounds. Inch by inch, almost holding my breath, I crawled. The pine needles let me slide along as though on a greased floor. My left hand touched a saw-toothed stem, so I veered slightly to the right, getting closer, all the while closer.
At the next flash I heard him clear his throat--that had ever been his prelude to a call--and by the time his sing-song "Post-one-half-past-ten-and-all"s-well" ended I had made good progress. Now, close up behind the point of palmettoes which acted as a screen but was too spa.r.s.e to offer interference, I realized that he could be not more than ten feet away; and this was the best I could hope to do, surely as close as I dared get.
But ten feet was too great a s.p.a.ce to be crossed at a bound before he might utter one cry that would alarm the camp. One cry, even half a cry, meant ruin to us. It was not enough that this sentry die; he must die without having uttered the merest sound. I determined, therefore, to wait until his senses became focused, his breathing centered, on the eleven o"clock call; for, so occupied, his mind would be a fraction of a second slower in responding to an outside thought which came unawares to him than if he were standing on the alert for sounds. This seemed to be good psychology. When he cleared his throat to call eleven, therefore, I would spring--and the G.o.ds be with me!
I own that for a little while my heart did pound unmercifully, but with even less mercy I willed it to be calm. For the moment I almost regretted having come so near, because it seemed preposterous to suppose that he would not discover me. I could distinctly hear the slightest move he made--but it must be remembered that I was listening to him, whereas he did not suspect my existence. Once he knocked the dead ashes from his pipe against the heel of his boot; then I thought he was getting ready for a smoke, and soon after this he struck a match.
As the flame, sheltered by his two hands held cup-wise, flickered above the bowl I got a look at him. He impressed me as being a well put up fellow of considerable strength, who would not be conquered without trouble. But never have I seen a face present a pantomime of more brutal indifference. It was seamed with lines of cruelty; the coa.r.s.e lips were hideously puckered about the pipe stem; his eyes drooped in b.e.s.t.i.a.l satisfaction as he sucked at it. While he was getting the light, thus creating a noise in his own ears that would drown a slighter noise from me, I took the opportunity to arrange my position somewhat, and now felt satisfied. With clean ground beneath me, with only a thin screen of palmetto leaves between us, how better could I have planned!
Minutes sped, and my senses seemed to have acc.u.mulated into a little ball between my eyes. I may have trembled; I know that my nerves were stretched to the very highest fighting pitch, they were in tune with my determination. The next half hour would decide the salvation or destruction of the girl I loved.
The electric torch flashed on a silver watch in his huge, dirty hand. I held my breath, ready--but he did not call. Again I had to will my heart to stop its sudden thumping; again I settled down to wait--though with my legs crouched and my fingers resting on the sand, as I had "set" many a time for a hundred yard dash. All I needed now was the word "Go!"
More minutes sped. At last he moved, and I guessed that he was reaching into his pocket for the torch. It flashed, shining on the silver watch as before. I heard the cover snap to with a click of finality; he cleared his throat--and I bounded into the air.
He had no time to cry out before my fingers locked upon his throat as jaws of iron. He staggered and caught my wrists, but did not immediately begin the frantic struggle I expected. His rifle fell to the soft earth with hardly a sound and, like a dead weight, he crumpled up; falling so quickly that I nearly came down on top of him.
At first, suspecting this might be a ruse to break my grip, I squeezed the tighter, holding his head up as far as my knees and shaking it with the savageness that a terrier would shake a rat. There was no room for compromises here. Grimly believing him to be beyond the point of giving an alarm, I was not prepared for an attack when he came to life with an energy born of desperation, wrapped his arms about my legs and with tremendous strength jerked me forward, at the same instant striking me in the back with his knee. Thus, to keep from pitching over his head, I involuntarily lost my hold--the last of all things I would have done!
Yet the effect to so violent a choking seemed for the moment to have paralyzed his power to call, and swiftly, as a darting hawk, I made another grab for the throat that must at all costs be silenced. He had covered it with his own hands and I could not pry away his fingers.
Again and again I tried, and now, with growing strength, he caught my wrists and held them. Maddened by the specter of failure, I heard him drawing in a labored breath that I knew would come out in a hideous yell.
Success lay upon the fraction of a second. In a frenzy jerking one of my hands free, and throwing the full weight of my body across his face to momentarily smother the outcry, I twisted around, drew my knife, and plunged it deep into his side. There was a convulsive tremor, and silence. Yet, as the king snake had done, I also drew back warily, listening. It had been enough.