Part 12 (2/2)
We rode forward as fast as the rugged nature of the ground would allow, prepared at any moment to wheel round and gallop back should we catch sight of the savages.
We hoped, however, as the dogs did not return, that we should have no trouble on that account. We were still at some distance from the waggons, when we heard a loud yelping and barking.
”Those sounds came from a pack of wolves,” exclaimed Mr Tidey; ”I see the brutes, they are calling to each other, expecting to enjoy a banquet on the dead bodies of the slain.”
Directly afterwards we caught sight of the animals making their way through the brushwood and trees which surrounded the waggons. Above their hideous yelps we could distinguish the deep honest bark of our own dogs. Forgetting for the moment the risk we ran of being surprised, we put spurs to our horses, and galloping over the uneven ground soon got up to the spot. Neither cattle nor horses were visible, they had evidently been carried off. The scene which soon met our eyes filled us with horror.
On the ground lay half-a-dozen men, each of whom had been scalped and their bodies partly stripped. Farther on were two or three more, who had fallen between the waggons. Some of the wolves, more daring than their companions, had advanced at the head of the pack, and would already have commenced the horrible repast had not our two n.o.ble dogs, barking furiously, kept them at bay.
”I am afraid we are too late here to be of any use except to bury the dead,” observed Mr Tidey as we surveyed the melancholy scene. ”But holloa! what is that among the bushes? A woman,--I see her moving.
Perhaps we may be in time to save her.”
Forgetting that the Indians might still be at hand, we dismounted, and fastening our horses to the wheels of one of the waggons, made our way through the brushwood. As we did so, a couple of wolves approached from an opposite direction, and were on the point of seizing the woman's body, when Boxer and his companion springing forward, they took to flight. We hurried to the a.s.sistance of the poor woman. We now saw that it was not she who had moved, but a little girl whose arms were thrown round her.
”Oh! come help Lily!” exclaimed the child, at once recognising us as white men: ”look up mother! oh, mother, mother! speak to Lily, one word.
White man come to help you, no fear now.”
In vain, however, Lily called to her mother. While I took the child in my arms, Mr Tidey knelt down by the side of the poor lady. The blood which flowed from her breast, and dyed the ground on which she lay, too plainly told that she had received a mortal wound.
”She is beyond our help,” he said; ”but I would prevent her body being devoured by these abominable brutes. Do you carry the child, and I will convey the poor mother into the nearest waggon. We can cover her up sufficiently to prevent the wolves getting at her until we return, when we can bury her decently, as well as the rest of the murdered people.”
I did as he advised, and was making my way to where we had left the horses, when I heard a loud explosion, and fragments of all sorts came whizzing through the air: mercifully none of them struck me. I looked round, and was thankful to see Mr Tidey safe. I had forgotten the waggon which we had seen burning. The horses, terrified by the sound, reared and plunged, and broke their bridles. The Dominie, letting the body fall, rushed after his horse; fortunately catching it, he galloped after mine in the direction from which we had come, and I found myself standing alone in the midst of the blackened train, with the little girl clinging to my neck and crying bitterly for her mother to speak to her, while the wolves, driven to a distance by the explosion, howled and yelped around me, though kept from again approaching by the gallant dogs and the shouts I raised for the purpose of keeping them at bay.
I felt that I was in a fearful position. At any moment the savages might return, in the hopes of obtaining more plunder. I had my rifle, and I determined to defend the little girl and myself to the last. A new danger arose: the waggon was burning furiously; the flames might ignite the others, which in all probability also contained kegs of powder, and it was more than likely that the gra.s.s would be set on fire and the whole prairie would be in a blaze. Not only should I and my young companion lose our lives, but my friends would be exposed to the most fearful danger. I must endeavour, I saw, to make some effort to prevent the catastrophe; but I had not the heart to force the little girl's arms from around my neck, and to place her on the ground. I endeavoured to tranquillise her by every means I could think of. At last I bethought me of placing her in the only waggon which remained upright.
”Stay quiet there, Lily,” I observed; ”no one will hurt you, and I will come back as soon as possible. I want to try and put out that fire, or it will do us harm.”
”Don't leave me, don't leave me,” cried Lily; but as she did not resist.
I placed her in the waggon, and begged her to be quiet, while I seized a long stick which lay on the ground, and rus.h.i.+ng up to the fire, beat out the flames which already rose from the gra.s.s. Mercifully it was not so thick there as in other places a short distance off. I rushed round and round the burning ma.s.s, now and then being just in time to reach a snake-like line of flame which was extending towards the brushwood or in the direction of the tall gra.s.s, which, had it gained, nothing could have stopped the dreaded catastrophe. I was thus engaged when I heard a loud holloa! For a moment I thought the Indians were upon me, but on looking up, I saw Mr Tidey, leading my horse and followed by Uncle Denis. They were soon up to me, and leaping from their steeds, without stopping to ask questions, commenced stamping out the smouldering fire, which a sudden puff of wind might soon have raised again into a flame.
Not until they had succeeded in overcoming the threatened danger did they speak a word. Uncle Denis then told me that they had heard the report; and fearing that we might be exposed to danger, he had galloped forward to ascertain the cause, leaving the waggons under the command of my father, who had made every preparation for resistance in case they should be attacked by the Indians. He had seen Mr Tidey catch my horse, and had been very anxious lest some accident should have befallen me. A few words served to explain what had happened, and I then hurried back to poor little Lily.
”We are safe now, Lily,” I said, ”and you must come with me. Do you think you could sit on my horse, while we gallop over the ground?”
”Oh yes, Lily often used to sit on Uncle John's horse. I not afraid,”
she answered. ”But mother, where is mother?”
”That other man will take care of her,” I answered evasively. ”Come, I want to carry you to friends; I've got a little sister, who would be so glad to see you, and so will my mother. She, I know, will take care of you.”
”Lily will go with you,” she answered.
Mounting my horse, I called to Uncle Denis to place Lily in front of me on the saddle.
”Go on, Mike,” he said; ”we will do as Mr Tidey proposed with the poor lady, and follow close behind you. The sooner we rejoin the waggons the better, for one can never tell what tricks the redskins may play us.
Tell your father that I think he had better camp as soon as he can find a suitable spot.”
I did not stop for further directions, but rode off as fast as I could venture to go, holding Lily tightly with my right arm round her waist before me. I very naturally, as I rode along, kept a look-out on either side, half expecting to see a party of Indians creeping forward to cut me off. I was thankful when I caught sight of the waggons approaching with my father at their head. His astonishment at beholding my young companion was very great. I stopped but for a moment to tell him what had occurred. He ordered the waggons to halt, that I might give Lily over to my mother. She and Kathleen uttered exclamations of surprise at seeing the little girl, while Dio, who was on foot, ran forward and lifted her into the waggon.
<script>