Part 45 (2/2)
Though at nearly equal distances apart while making the pa.s.sage of the prairie, not one of the three hors.e.m.e.n was within sight of either of the others. The second, half-way between the other two, was beyond reach of the vision of either, as they were beyond his.
At the same glance no eye could have taken in all three, or any two of them; unless it had been that of the great Texan owl perched upon the summit of some high eminence, or the ”whip-poor-will” soaring still higher in pursuit of the moon-loving moth.
An hour later, and at a point of the prairie ten miles farther from Fort Inge, the relative positions of the three travellers had undergone a considerable change.
The foremost was just entering into a sort of alley or gap in the chapparal forest; which here extended right and left across the plain, far as the eye could trace it. The alley might have been likened to a strait in the sea: its smooth turfed surface contrasting with the darker foliage of the bordering thickets; as water with dry land. It was illumined throughout a part of its length--a half mile or so--the moon showing at its opposite extremity. Beyond this the dark tree line closed it in, where it angled round into sombre shadow.
Before entering the alley the foremost of the trio of travellers, and for the first time, exhibited signs of hesitation. He reined up; and for a second or two sate in his saddle regarding the ground before him.
His attention was altogether directed to the opening through the trees in his front. He made no attempt at reconnoitring his rear.
His scrutiny, from whatever cause, was of short continuance.
Seemingly satisfied, he muttered an injunction to his horse, and rode onward into the gap.
Though he saw not him, he was seen by the cavalier in the cloak, following upon the same track, and now scarce half a mile behind.
The latter, on beholding him, gave utterance to a slight exclamation.
It was joyful, nevertheless; as if he was gratified by the prospect of at length overtaking the individual whom he had been for ten miles so earnestly pursuing.
Spurring his horse to a still more rapid pace, he also entered the opening; but only in time to get a glimpse of the other, just pa.s.sing under the shadow of the trees, at the point where the avenue angled.
Without hesitation, he rode after; soon disappearing at the same place, and in a similar manner.
It was a longer interval before the third and hindmost of the hors.e.m.e.n approached the pa.s.s that led through the chapparal.
He did approach it, however; but instead of riding into it, as the others had done, he turned off at an angle towards the edge of the timber; and, after leaving his horse among the trees, crossed a corner of the thicket, and came out into the opening on foot.
Keeping along it--to all appearance still more solicitous about something that might be in his rear than anything that was in front of him--he at length arrived at the shadowy turning; where, like the two others, he abruptly disappeared in the darkness.
An hour elapsed, during which the nocturnal voices of the chapparal-- that had been twice temporarily silenced by the hoofstroke of a horse, and once by the footsteps of a man--had kept up their choral cries by a thousand stereotyped repet.i.tions.
Then there came a further interruption; more abrupt in its commencement, and of longer continuance. It was caused by a sound, very different from that made by the pa.s.sage of either horseman or pedestrian over the prairie turf.
It was the report of a gun, quick, sharp, and clear--the ”spang” that denotes the discharge of a rifle.
As to the authoritative wave of the conductor's baton the orchestra yields instant obedience, so did the prairie minstrels simultaneously take their cue from that abrupt detonation, that inspired one and all of them with a peculiar awe.
The tiger cat miaulling in the midst of the chapparal, the coyote howling along its skirts; even the jaguar who need not fear any forest foe that might approach him, acknowledged his dread of that quick, sharp explosion--to him unexplainable--by instantly discontinuing his cries.
As no other sound succeeded the shot--neither the groan of a wounded man, nor the scream of a stricken animal--the jaguar soon recovered confidence, and once more essayed to frighten the denizens of the thicket with his hoa.r.s.e growling.
Friends and enemies--birds, beasts, insects, and reptiles--disregarding his voice in the distance, rea.s.sumed the thread of their choral strain; until the chapparal was restored to its normal noisy condition, when two individuals standing close together, can only hold converse by speaking in the highest pitch of their voices!
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
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