Part 25 (1/2)
”You must be _very_ careful, b.u.t.tercup,” said Mary in a low voice, ”_not_ to fire till I tell you, and to point only _where_ I tell you, else you'll shoot father. And _do_ keep your finger off the trigger!
By the way, have you c.o.c.ked it?”
”O missy, I forgit dat,” answered the damsel with a self-condemned look, as she corrected the error. ”But don' you fear, Missy Mary. I's use'
to dis yar blunn'erbus. Last time I fire 'im was at a raven. Down hoed de raven, blow'd to atims, an' down hoed me too--cause de drefful t'ing kicks like a Texas mule. But bress you, I don' mind dat. I's used to it!”
b.u.t.tercup gave a little sniff of grave scorn with her flat nose, as though to intimate that the ordinary ills of life were beneath _her_ notice.
We have said that all fires had been extinguished, but this is not strictly correct, for in the room where the two maidens watched there was an iron stove so enclosed that the fire inside did not show, and as it was fed with charcoal there were neither flames nor sparks to betray its presence. On this there stood a large cast-iron pot full of water, the bubbling of which was the only sound that broke the profound stillness of the night, while the watchers scarcely breathed, so intently did they listen.
At last the patient and self-restraining d.i.c.k saw a dark object moving towards his side of the stockade, which he felt was much too real to be cla.s.sed with the creatures of his imagination which had previously given him so much trouble. Without a moment's hesitation the rifle flew to his shoulder, and the prolonged silence was broken by the sharp report, while an involuntary half-suppressed cry proved that he had not missed his mark. The dark object hastily retreated. A neighbouring cliff echoed the sounds, and two shots from his comrades told the sailor that they also were on the alert.
Instantly the night was rendered hideous by a series of wild yells and whoops, while, for a moment, the darkness gave place to a glare of light as a hundred rifles vomited their deadly contents, and the sound of many rus.h.i.+ng feet was heard upon the open sward in front of the ranch.
The three male defenders had ducked their heads below the protecting breast-work when the volley was fired, and then, discarding all idea of further care, they skipped along their respective lines, yelling and firing the repeaters so rapidly, that, to any one ignorant of the true state of things, it must have seemed as if the place were defended by a legion of demons. To add to the hullabaloo b.u.t.tercup's blunderbuss poured forth its contents upon a group of red warriors who were rus.h.i.+ng towards the front gate, with such a cannon-like sound and such wonderful effect, that the rush was turned into a sudden and limping retreat. The effect indeed, was more severe even than b.u.t.tercup had intended, for a stray buckshot had actually taken a direction which had been feared, and grazed her master's left arm! Happily the wound was very slight, and, to do the poor damsel justice, she could not see that her master was jumping from one place to another like a caged lion. Like the same animal, however, he gave her to understand what she had done, by shouting in a thunderous ba.s.s roar that fully justified his sobriquet--
”Mind your eye, b.u.t.tercup! Not so low next time!”
The immediate result of this vigorous defence was to make the Indians draw off and retire to the woods--presumably for consultation. By previous arrangement the negro girl issued from the house with three fresh repeaters in her arms, ran round to the combatants with them and returned with their almost empty rifles. These she and Mary proceeded to reload in the hall, and then returned to their post at the upper front window.
The morning was by this time pretty well advanced, and Jackson felt a little uncertain as to what he should now do. It was still rather dark; but in a very short time, he knew, dawn would spread over the east, when it would, of course, be quite impossible to defend the walls of the little fort without revealing the small number of its defenders. On the other hand, if they should retire at once the enemy might find a lodgement within, among the outbuildings, before there was light enough to prevent them by picking off the leaders; in which case the a.s.sailants would be able to apply fire to the wooden wails of the house without much risk.
”If they manage to pile up enough o' brush to clap a light to,” he grumbled to himself in an undertone, ”it's all up wi' us.”
The thought had barely pa.s.sed through his brain, when a leaden messenger, intended to pa.s.s through it, carried his cap off his head, and the fire that had discharged it almost blinded him. Bigfoot, the chief of the savages, had wriggled himself, snake-fas.h.i.+on, up to the stockade unseen, and while Roaring Bull was meditating what was best to be done, he had nearly succeeded in rendering him unable to do anything at all.
The shot was the signal for another onslaught. Once more the woods rang with fiendish yells and rattling volleys. Bigfoot, with the agility and strength of a gorilla, leaped up and over the stockade and sprung down into Jackson's arms, while Darvall and Crux resumed their almost ubiquitous process of defence, and b.u.t.tercup's weapon again thundered forth its defiance.
This time the fight was more protracted. Bigfoot's career was indeed stopped for the time being, for Jackson not only crushed the life almost out of him by an unloving embrace, but dealt him a prize-fighter's blow which effectually stretched him on the ground. Not a moment too soon, however, for the white man had barely got rid of the red one, when another savage managed to scale the wall. A blow from the b.u.t.t of Jackson's rifle dropped him, and then the victor fired so rapidly, and with such effect, that a second time the Reds were repulsed.
Jackson did not again indulge in meditation, but blew a shrill blast on a dog-whistle--a preconcerted signal--on hearing which his two comrades made for the house door at full speed.
Only one other of the Indians, besides the two already mentioned, had succeeded in getting over the stockade. This man was creeping up to the open door of the house, and, tomahawk in hand, had almost reached it when d.i.c.k Darvall came tearing round the corner.
”Hallo! Crux,” cried d.i.c.k, ”that you?”
The fact that he received no reply was sufficient for d.i.c.k, who was too close to do more than drive the point of his rifle against the chest of the Indian, who went down as if he had been shot, while d.i.c.k sprang in and held open the door. A word from Jackson and Crux as they ran forward sufficed. They pa.s.sed in and the ma.s.sive door was shut and barred, while an instant later at least half-a-dozen savages ran up against it and began to thunder on it with their rifle-b.u.t.ts and tomahawks.
”To your windows!” shouted Jackson, as he sprang up the wooden stair-case, three steps at a time. ”Fresh rifles here, Mary!”
”Yes, father,” came in a silvery and most unwarlike voice from the hall below.
Another moment and three shots rang from the three sides of the house, and of the three Indians who were at the moment in the act of clambering over the stockade, one fell inside and two out. Happily, daylight soon began to make objects distinctly visible, and the Indians were well aware that it would now be almost certain death to any one who should attempt to climb over.
It is well known that, as a rule, savages do not throw away their lives recklessly. The moment it became evident that darkness would no longer serve them, those who were in the open retired to the woods, and potted at the windows of the ranch, but, as the openings from which the besieged fired were mere loop-holes made for the purpose of defence, they had little hope of hitting them at long range except by chance.
Those of the besiegers who happened to be near the stockade took shelter behind the breast-work, and awaited further orders from their chief-- ignorant of the fact that he had already fallen.
From the loop-holes of the room which Jackson had selected to defend, the shed with the saddled horses was visible, so that no one could reach it without coming under the fire of his deadly weapon. There was also a window in this room opening upon the back of the house and commanding the field which we have before mentioned as being undefended while the battle was waged outside. By casting a glance now and then through this window he could see any foe who might show himself in that direction.
The only part of the fort that seemed exposed to great danger now was the front door, where the half-dozen savages, with a few others who had joined them, were still battering away at the impregnable door.