Afar in the Forest Part 23

"That I certainly should," said old Samson, "for I had but a few days before parted from my daughter to proceed eastward. On hearing of the ma.s.sacre, I returned; but finding the whole village a ma.s.s of blackened ashes, and being unable to gain any tidings of the beings I loved best on earth, I had no doubt left on my mind that they had all perished.

Having thus no one to care for, I took to the life I have since led-- which I had before only occasionally followed, after the death of my wife and the marriage of my daughter, for the sake of the sport it afforded me."

From this time forward old Samson constantly spoke about Lily; and, persuaded by his own hopes that she was his grand-daughter, he seemed to be fully convinced that such was the case. His anxiety to see her, and to examine the clothes and ornaments which Aunt Hannah had preserved, increased every day; but how were we to find Lily and Aunt Hannah? Had our friends turned back; or had they pushed forward, fighting their way successfully towards the fertile region to which they were bound?

Neither he nor I could bring ourselves to contemplate what might otherwise have happened--had they been overwhelmed by the hordes of savages, and met the fearful fate which had overtaken the smaller band whose remains we had discovered?

The old trapper went out every day to ascertain if the Indians had moved away from the plain below us--should he find the country open, he intended, he said, to go in search of Sandy, and those he might have rescued--but he as often returned with the information that the Indians still occupied the country. I, of course, greatly hampered him, for he would not leave me in the cavern for long together. Had he been by himself, he could easily have started at night and made his escape.

Gradually my ankle regained strength, and Samson now made me get up and walk about to try it. Unwilling longer to detain him, I at last declared that it was quite well, making light of the pain I still felt when I walked, and begged to accompany him the next time he went out.

He consented. "But you must not go without a weapon; and you can use it well, I know," he observed, as he drew a rifle from under his bunk. He produced also a powder-horn, which I slung over my shoulder, and a bag of bullets. The great drawback to our place of concealment was, that although well hidden from the sight of those in the plain, we had to go some distance before we could obtain a view of the surrounding country.

Leaving the horses in the stable, and the entrance open, we set out.

Then going some distance down the hill, we made our way through the thick wood which covered its sides, and were just emerging into the open s.p.a.ce, when, through the bushes, I caught sight of several hors.e.m.e.n galloping across the country. I made a sign to my companion to keep concealed, and crept forward on my hands and knees. As I looked out, I discovered the object of the Indians. A solitary waggon had just come into view, and they were about to attack it.

I drew cautiously back, for though the Indian warriors were probably intent on the business in hand, their keen eyes might have detected me.

I asked Samson if we could a.s.sist the unfortunate people in the waggon.

"I fear not," he answered. "We might kill a few of the Redskins; but unless the travellers possess a number of rifles, and make a bold stand, we cannot help them. We will, however, be ready to take a part if we have opportunity."

As the hors.e.m.e.n approached, three rifles alone opened fire upon them from behind the waggon. One of their number fell, but several dashed forward; while others, circling round, prepared to attack the devoted emigrants from the opposite side. The affair, which was a short one, was dreadful to witness. We should, I saw well enough, lose our lives did we show ourselves. Indeed, before we could have got up to the waggon, all its defenders were killed by the savages surrounding it; and we knew too well that those inside must, according to their cruel custom, have been put to death, whether women or children. The Indians of the plains have no compa.s.sion either for age or s.e.x. The dreadful thought occurred to me that those we had seen slaughtered might be our own friends. It was evident, however, from his calmness, that the idea of such a thing had not crossed old Samson's mind.

After plundering the waggon of everything they considered of value, the savages set it on fire. While it was burning, and they were still gathered round it, a dreadful explosion took place, scattering destruction among them. Panic-stricken, and not knowing what might next happen, the survivors mounted their horses and galloped off. A keg of powder, which they must have overlooked, had probably exploded.

"They deserve their punishment," said the old man, "and they will not come back again in a hurry; so we may now descend into the plain, and see if we can learn who the unfortunate people were."

This was what I was wis.h.i.+ng to do. We accordingly left the wood and made our way down the hill, towards the remains of the waggon. We had not got far, however, when we caught sight of three hors.e.m.e.n galloping across the plain towards us. My companion scrutinised them narrowly.

"If they are friends, they have reason for their hurry; and if enemies, the sooner we get under cover the better," he observed. "We must not now attempt to reach the waggon. Ah! I understand all about it. See!

out there come a dozen or more hors.e.m.e.n. They must be Indians in pursuit of the first--who, if I mistake not, are our friends. Come on, Roger! they will reach the hill as soon as we do."

As he said this we retreated to the foot of the hill, and began to climb it as rapidly as we could.

"But, if these are our friends, will they find their way to the cave?"

I asked.

"Yes, yes! Sandy knows it as well as I do," he answered, without stopping.

We were just approaching the entrance of the cave, when the war-whoops of the Indians, and their loud cries, as they shouted to each other, reached our ears.

"They are making their way up the hill," said Samson. "Get inside, lad, and prepare to close the entrance when I tell you."

The loud rustling sound of persons making their way through the brushwood was heard, and presently Sandy, accompanied by Reuben and Mike, sprang out from among the trees, and rushed towards the mouth of the cavern.

"No time to be lost," sang out Sandy. "The Redskins are at our heels!"

In a moment they were all three within the cave. Old Samson was still outside, and I saw him lift his rifle and fire. At the same moment two arrows flew past his head--one sticking in the woodwork, the other entering the cavern--and just then I caught sight of the fierce countenances of half-a-dozen red warriors who were making their way between the trees. Their leader, springing forward tomahawk in hand, nearly reached Samson; when, with the agility of a far younger man, he sprang through the opening, and I immediately closed the door--the sharp blade of the weapon burying itself deep in the wood.

"Now, we'll give it them!" exclaimed Samson, as he and Sandy opened three of the concealed loopholes, through which we thrust the barrels of our rifles and fired on our a.s.sailants. Their leader fell dead, shot through the heart by Samson. Two others were severely wounded, but numbers were following them, and rus.h.i.+ng forward with their hatchets, dealt desperate blows on the door.

"You may cut away pretty hard, my laddies, before you break that in,"

observed Sandy, as he reloaded his rifle. Samson and I were doing the same, and again we fired; but most of the Indians, knowing the time we should take to do that, sprang aside, and only one of them was. .h.i.t.

"You will find two more rifles in yonder chest," said Samson to Reuben and Mike. "Quick! load them, and we'll astonish the Redskins."

While he was speaking, the blows on the door were redoubled, and in spite of its strength it appeared every instant as if it would give way.

Samson was, in the meantime, ramming down his charge, and again his rifle sent forth its deadly contents. Instead of firing together, we now followed each other, allowing a few seconds to elapse between each shot, thus making our a.s.sailants afraid of approaching the door. We guessed that they were collected on either side, where our rifles could not reach them.

In a couple of minutes or so Reuben and Mike had found the rifles, and loaded them.

"Now!" said Samson, "you two and Roger fire together; and then Sandy and I will take your places, and try what we can do."

We waited till the savages, losing patience, again attacked the door with their axes, in a way which threatened each instant to bring it down, when we all three ran out the muzzles of our rifles and fired.

Another savage was, at all events, hit; but they had been on the watch, and had actively sprung, some on one side and some on the other, so that we could not be certain what execution had been done. The moment, however, that our rifles were withdrawn, as many as could attack the door leaped forward, and began hacking away with greater fury than before. Scarcely had the first strokes been given when Samson and Sandy fired into their midst, killing two of the most determined--the bullets pa.s.sing through the bodies of the first and wounding others behind them.

Five rifles, however, were more than they were prepared to encounter.

They must have guessed that we had increased our number, for, with cries of rage and disappointment, they deserted the door and got under shelter.

"Hurrah! we have beaten them," I cried out, and was turning to Reuben to shake hands, and to ask how he and Mike had escaped, when Samson observed--

"We must not be too sure that they will not make another attempt, for they are up to all sorts of tricks, and will not give in so easily."

"What are they likely to do?" I asked.

"Try to burn us out," answered Samson. "But we must be prepared, and show them that five well-handled rifles can cope with all the arrows and hatchets among them. We do not lack ammunition, and might stand the siege for a month or more."

Samson's surmises were correct. Though we could not see the Indians, we heard their voices, and the sound of chopping, and presently a bundle of f.a.gots was thrown down in front of the door.

"Stand ready," said Samson, "and fire, if we can catch sight of one of them through the loopholes."

Another and another f.a.got followed, but as yet so carefully had they been thrown that we could not get a shot. It appeared to me that they were dropped from above. The pile was increasing, and soon rising higher than the loopholes, prevented us from seeing any one. Presently we heard the sound of crackling, and the flames rapidly caught the pile.

"Close the loopholes," said Samson. "We'll keep out the smoke as long as we can. The door is tough, too, and will stand the flames better than our enemies suppose."

We all stood with our rifles in our hands, ready for any emergency.

"Should the door burn through and the cavern fill with flames, we must rush out, lads, rather than be stifled; and we may be pretty sure of knocking over four or five Redskins, if they stop to give us the chance," said Samson, who had not for a moment lost his calm manner.

"It may be the smoke won't be more than we can bear. See! I am prepared for everything." He pointed to a ma.s.s of woodwork, which leant against the wall of the cavern. It was longer than the width of the door, and of a height which would enable us to fire over it. "This will serve as a barricade," he said. "When the Indians fancy that they are going to get in without difficulty, they will find themselves stopped in a way they little expect."

The crackling sound of the flames increased, and thin wreaths of smoke found their way in through the crevices between the woodwork and the rock; still the stout door resisted the fire, which we began to hope might burn itself out without igniting our defences. We could hear the voices of the Indians outside. They were, we guessed, piling up more f.a.gots, as the others had burned down.

Sandy put his hand to the door. "It's getting very hot," he said.

"Well, then," exclaimed old Samson, "we must get our barricade ready, should the door give way, and then crouch down behind it. The nearer we are to the ground, the less we shall suffer from the smoke."

We accordingly dragged the heavy piece of woodwork from the place where it had been standing, to the position it was to occupy, where we laid it flat on the ground. It was at the proper moment to be lifted up, and supported by stout pieces of timber, serving as props, on the inner side. It would thus shelter us, and prevent our enemies from entering.

The door took even longer than we had expected to burn through; but at last, here and there, the forked flames were seen making their way through it, and after this its complete destruction was rapid. Down the upper part came with a crash, followed by the shouts of the Indians, and a shower of arrows--which, however, flew over our heads. No further attempts were made to increase the pile of f.a.gots; our foes supposing that their work was accomplished, and that, even were we not suffocated by the smoke, we should speedily become their victims. We knew that the Indians were not likely to rush through the flames; we therefore waited concealed on either side, behind the rock, till they had somewhat subsided.

Old Samson listened eagerly for any sounds which might indicate that the attack was about to be recommenced.

"Now, lads! up with the barricade!" he shouted out; and with one united effort we lifted it from the ground, directly across the doorway.