"Enough. I shall soon bring here the three hunters, and him whose scalp they could not save."
So saying the messenger rose and was soon hidden by the fog from the eyes of the Blackbird.
On the island more generous emotions were felt. From the eyes of its occupants sleep had also fled--for if there be a moment in life, when the hearts of the bravest may fail them, it is when danger is terrible and inevitable, and when not even the last consolation of selling life dearly is possible to them. Watched by enemies whom they could not see, the hunters could not satisfy their rage by making their foes fall beneath their bullets as they had done the evening before. Besides, both Bois-Rose and Pepe knew too well the implacable obstinacy of the Indians to suppose that the Blackbird would permit his warriors to reply to their attacks; a soldier"s death would have seemed too easy to him.
Oppressed by these sad thoughts, the three hunters spoke no more, but resigned themselves to their fate, rather than abandon the unlucky stranger by attempting to escape.
Fabian was as determined to die as the others. The habitual sadness of his spirit robbed death of its terrors, but still the ardour of his mind would have caused him to prefer a quicker death, weapon in hand, to the slow and ignominious one reserved for them. He was the first to break silence. The profound tranquillity that reigned on the banks was to the experienced eyes of the Canadian and Pepe only a certain indication of the invincible resolution of their enemies; but to Fabian it appeared rea.s.suring--a blessing by which they ought to profit.
"All sleeps now around us," said he, "not only the Indians on the banks, but all that has life in the woods and in the desert--the river itself seems to be running slower! See! the reflections of the fires die away!
would it not be the time to attempt a descent on the bank?"
"The Indians sleep!" interrupted Pepe, bitterly, "yes, like the water which seems stagnant, but none the less pursues its course. You could not take three steps in the river before the Indians would rush after you as you have often seen wolves rush after a stag. Have _you_ nothing better to propose, Bois-Rose?"
"No," replied he as his hand sought that of Fabian, while with the other he pointed to the sick man, tossing restlessly on his couch of pain.
"But, in default of all other chance," said Fabian, "we should at least have that of dying with honour, side by side as we would wish. If we are victorious, we can then return to the aid of this unfortunate man.
If we fall, G.o.d himself, when we appear before him, cannot reproach us with the sacrifice of his life, since we risked our own for the common good."
"No," replied Bois-Rose; "but let us still hope in that G.o.d, who re-united us by a miracle; what does not happen to-day, may to-morrow; we have time before us before our provisions fail. To attempt to take the bank now, would be to march to certain death. To die would be nothing, and we always hold that last resource in our own hands; but we might perhaps be made prisoners, and then I shudder to think of what would be our fate. Oh! my beloved Fabian, these Indians in their determination to take us alive give me at least the happiness of being yet a few days beside you."
Silence again resumed its reign; but as Bois-Rose thought of the terrible denouement he clutched convulsively at some of the trunks of the dead trees, and under his powerful grasp the islet trembled as though about to be torn from its base.
"Ah! the wretches! the demons!" cried Pepe, with a sudden explosion of rage. "Look yonder!"
A red light was piercing gradually through the veil of vapour which hung over the river, and seemed to advance and grow larger; but, strange to say, the fire floated on the water, and, intense as was the fog, the ma.s.s of flames dissipated it as the sun disperses the clouds. The three hunters had barely time to be astonished at this apparition, before they guessed its cause. A long course of life in the desert and its dangers had imparted to the Canadian a firmness which Pepe had not attained; therefore, instead of giving way to surprise, he remained perfectly calm. He knew that this was the only way to surmount any difficulty.
"Yes," said he, "I understand what it is as well as if the Indians had told me. You spoke once of foxes smoked out of their holes; now they want to burn us in ours."
The globe of fire which floated on the river advanced with alarming rapidity, and confirmed the words of Bois-Rose. Already amidst the water, reddened by the flame, the twigs of the willows were becoming distinct.
"It is a fire-ship," cried Pepe, "with which they want to set fire to our island."
"So much the better," cried Fabian; "better to fight against the fire than wait quietly for death."
"Yes," said Bois-Rose; "but fire is a terrible adversary and it fights for these demons."
The besieged could oppose nothing to the advancing flames; and they would soon devour the little island, leaving to its inmates no other chance of escape but by throwing themselves into the water--where the Indians could either kill them by rifle-shots, or take them alive, as they pleased.
Such had been the idea of the Indian messenger. By his order, the Apaches had cut down a tree with its leaves on, and a thick ma.s.s of wet gra.s.s interlaced in its branches formed a sort of foundation, on which they placed the branches of a pine tree; and after setting fire to this construction, they had sent it floating down the stream. As it approached, the crackling of the wood could be heard; and out of the black smoke which mixed with the fog arose a bright, clear flame.
Not far from the bank they could distinguish the form of an Indian.
Pepe could not resist a sudden temptation. "Yon demon," cried he, "shall at least not live to exult over our death."
So saying, he fired and the plume of the Indian was seen to go down.
"Sad and tardy vengeance," remarked Bois-Rose; and as if, indeed, the Apaches disdained the efforts of a vanquished foe, the sh.o.r.e preserved its gloomy solitude, and not a single howl accompanied the last groans of the warrior.
"Never mind," cried Pepe, stamping his foot in his impotent fury; "I shall die more calmly, the greater number of those demons I have sent before me." And he looked round for some other victim.
Meanwhile Bois-Rose was calmly reconnoitring the burning ma.s.s, which, if it touched the island, would set fire to the dried trees which composed it.
"Well," cried Pepe, whose rage blinded his judgment, "it is useless to look at the fire; have you any method of making it deviate from its course?"
"Perhaps," replied the Canadian. Pepe began to whistle with an affected indifference.
"I see something that proves to me that the reasonings of the Indians are not always infallible; and if it were not that we shall receive a shower of b.a.l.l.s, to force us to stay hidden while the islet takes fire, I should care as little for that burning raft as for a fire-fly in the air."
In constructing the floating fire, the Indians had calculated its thickness, so that the wet gra.s.s might be dried by the fire and become kindled about the time when it should touch the island. But the gra.s.s had been soaked in the water, and this had r.e.t.a.r.ded its combustion; besides the large branches had not had time to inflame; it was only the smaller boughs and the leaves that were burning. This had not escaped the quick eye of the Canadian, who, advancing with a long stick in his hand, resolved to push it underwater; but just as he was about to risk this attempt, what he had predicted took place. A shower of b.a.l.l.s and arrows flew towards them; though these shots seemed rather intended to terrify than to kill them.
"They are determined," said Bois-Rose, "only to take us alive!"
The fire almost touched the island, a few minutes and it would be alight, when with the rapidity of lightning, Bois-Rose glided into the water and disappeared. Shouts rose from each side of the river, when the Indians, as well as Fabian and Pepe, saw the floating ma.s.s tremble under his powerful grasp. The fire blazed up brightly for a moment, then the water hissed and the ma.s.s of flame was extinguished in foam, until darkness and fog once more spread their sombre covering over the river. The blackened tree, turned from its course, pa.s.sed by the island, while, amidst the howls of the Indians Bois-Rose rejoined his friends. The whole island shook under his efforts to get back upon it.
"Howl at your ease," cried he, "you have not captured as yet; but," he added, in a more serious tone, "shall we be always as lucky?"
Indeed, although this danger was surmounted, how many remained to be conquered! Who could foresee what new stratagems the Indians might employ against them? These reflections damped their first feeling of triumph. All at once Pepe started up, crying out as he did so:
"Bois-Rose, Fabian, we are saved!"
"Saved!" said Bois-Rose, "what do you mean?"
"Did you not remark how a few hours ago the whole islet trembled under our hands when we tore away some branches to fortify ourselves with, and how you yourself made it shake just now? well, I thought once of making a raft, but now I believe we three can uproot the whole island and set it floating. The fog is thick, the night dark and to-morrow--"
"We shall be far from here!" cried Bois-Rose. "To work! to work! we have no time to spare, for the rising wind indicates the approach of morning, and the river does not run more than three knots an hour."
"So much the better, the movement will be less visible."
The brave Canadian grasped the hands of his comrades as he rose to his feet.
"What are you going to do?" said Fabian, "cannot we three uproot the island, as Pepe said?"
"Doubtless, Fabian, but we risk breaking, it in pieces, and our safety depends upon keeping it together. It is, perhaps, some large branch or root which holds it in its place. Many years must have elapsed since these trees were first driven here, and the water has probably rendered this branch or root very rotten--that is what I wish to find out."
At that moment the doleful screech of an owl interrupted them, and those plaintive cries troubling the silence of night, just as they were about to entertain some hope, sounded ominous in the ears of Pepe.
"Ah!" said he, sadly, all his superst.i.tion reviving, "the voice of the owl at this moment seems to me to announce no good fortune to us."
"The imitation is perfect, I allow," said Bois-Rose, "but you must not be thus deceived. It is an Indian sentinel who calls to his companions either to warn them to be watchful, or what is more like their diabolical spirit, to remind us that they are watching us. It is a kind of death-song with which they wish to regale us."
As he spoke, the same sound was repeated from the opposite bank with different modulations, confirming his words, but it sounded none the less terrible as it revealed all the perils and ambushes hidden by the darkness of the night.
"I have a great mind to call to them to roar more like tigers that they are."
"Do not; it would only enable them to know our exact position."
So saying, the Canadian entered the water with extreme care, while his comrades followed his movements with anxious eyes.