Part 31 (1/2)
They were joined at that moment by Reed, the long mountaineer, who had also been listening to the big horns.
”That means them gorillers, sh.o.r.e,” he said. ”We've got some p'ison people uv our own, an' when the gorillers come in here they j'ined 'em, and knowin' ev'ry inch uv the country, they kin guide the gorillers wharever they please.”
”You agree then with Mr. Shepard that these signals are made by Slade and Skelly's men?” asked d.i.c.k.
”Sh.o.r.ely,” replied the mountaineer, ”an' I think they're up to some sort uv trick. It pesters me too, 'cause I can't guess it nohow. I done told the colonel that we'd better look out.”
Colonel Winchester joined them as he was speaking, and listened to the double signal which was repeated later. But it did not come again, although they waited some time. Instead they heard, as they had heard all through the night, the occasional swish of the soft snow sliding down the slopes. But d.i.c.k saw that the colonel was uneasy, and that his apprehensions were shared both by Shepard and the mountaineer.
”Do you know how many men these brigands have?” Colonel Winchester asked of Reed.
”I reckon thar are five hundred uv them gorillers,” replied the mountaineer. ”Some uv our people spied on 'em in Burton's Cove an' counted 'bout that number.”
Colonel Winchester glanced at his sleeping camp.
”I have three hundred,” he said, ”but they're the very flower of our youth. In the open they could take care of a thousand guerrillas and have something to spare. Still in here-”
He stopped short, but the shrewd mountaineer read his meaning.
”In the mountings it ain't sech plain sailin',” he said, ”an' you've got to watch fur tricks. I reckon that when it comes to fightin' here, it's somethin' like the old Injun days.”
”I can't see how they can get at us here,” said Colonel Winchester, more to himself than to the others. ”A dozen men could hold the exit by the creek, and fifty could hold the entrance.”
Despite his words, his uneasiness continued and he sent for the sergeant, upon whose knowledge and instincts he relied greatly in such a situation. The sergeant, who had been watching at the other end of the valley, came quickly and, when the colonel looked at him with eyes of inquiry, he said promptly:
”Yes, sir; I think there's mischief a-foot. I can't rightly make out where it's going to be started, but I can hear it, smell it an' feel it. It's like waitin' in a dip on the prairies for a rush by the wild Sioux or Cheyenne hors.e.m.e.n. The signs seem to come through the air.”
d.i.c.k's oppression increased. A mysterious danger was the worst of all, and his nerves were on edge. Think as he might, he could not conceive how or where the attack would be made. The only sound in the valley was the occasional stamp of the horses in the woods and behind the windrows. The soldiers themselves made no noise. The steps of the sentinels were softened in the snow, and the fires, having sunk to beds of coals, gave forth no crackling sounds.
He stared down the gap, and then up at the white world of walls circling them about. The sky seemed to have become a more dazzling blue than ever, and the great stars with the hosts of their smaller brethren around them gleamed and quivered. The stamp of a horse came again, and then a loud shrill neigh, a piercing sound and full of menace in the still night.
”What was that?” exclaimed the sergeant in alarm. ”A horse does not neigh at such a time without good reason!”
And then the storm broke loose in the valley. There was a series of short, fierce shouts. Torches were suddenly waved in the air. Many horses neighed in the wildest terror and, all of them breaking through the forest and windrows, poured in a confused and frightened stream toward the entrance of the valley.
Then the experience of the sergeant in wild Indian warfare was worth more than gold and diamonds. He knew at once what was occurring and he shouted:
”It's a stampede! There have been traitors here, and they've driven the horses with fire!”
”And maybe some of them have managed to slip down the mountain side!” said Shepard.
It was well for them all that they were men of decision and supreme courage. The terrible tumult in the valley was increasing. The horses, a stampeded ma.s.s, were driving directly for the entrance. Only one thing could stop them and that the guards then did. They s.n.a.t.c.hed many burning brands from the nearest fire and waved them furiously in the face of the frightened herd, which turned and ran back the other way, only to be confronted by other waving brands that filled them with terror. Then the horses, instinctively following some leader, turned again and ran back to their old places among the trees and behind the windrows, where they stood, quivering with terror.
A crackling of rifles had begun before the horses were driven back, and bullets pattered in the valley. Dark figures appeared crouched against the slopes, and jets of fire ran like a red ribbon upon the white of the snow.
”The gorillers!” cried Reed. ”They've crep' over the ridges, spite uv all our watchin'.”
Colonel Winchester did not lose his head for an instant, nor did any of his young soldiers, who had been trained to think as well as obey. Without waiting for orders they had already won an important victory by turning the horses back with fire, and the colonel, with the help of his officers, formed them rapidly to meet the attack. The house, the stable and the corn crib were filled with sharpshooters and others lay down among the trees or behind any shelter they could find. A number were detailed rapidly to tether the horses, and make them secure against a second fright. Warner was sent to the men guarding the entrance, Pennington to those at the exit, while d.i.c.k was kept with the colonel, who crouched, after his arrangements were made, in a little clump of trees near the center of the valley.
Colonel Winchester was willing enough to risk his life but knowing that it was of the highest importance now to preserve it he did not take any risks through false pride. Besides d.i.c.k he kept Reed, Shepard and the sergeant with him.