Part 19 (2/2)

”Do not fire, my friend,” said a voice which I recognised as that of the stranger we had met the previous day. ”I come as I promised, to give you warning should you be in danger. I have discovered that a party of redskins are out on the war-path, and that you are certain to fall in with them should you continue hunting. I would advise you forthwith to saddle your horses and return to the fort.”

I thanked the stranger for his information and instantly aroused my companions; he repeated what he had said to Mr Tidey, advising him to lose no time in starting.

”I will guide you by the shortest cut out of the wood,” he said; ”after that you must push on as fast as your horses can go, and you may keep ahead of the savages, who are now away to the westward, but will soon discover your trail, and seeing that you are a small party, will be certain to follow you up.” The idea for a moment glanced across my mind that perhaps the stranger wished to get rid of us, for the sake of having all the sport to himself, but his frank air and the earnest tone in which he spoke made me banish the suspicion. Without a moment's delay all hands set to work to get ready for starting, our friend energetically a.s.sisting us. Our pack-animals were soon ready and our steeds saddled.

”Now we will be off,” said the stranger, and going ahead he led the way, winding in and out among the trees at so rapid a rate, that we could with difficulty keep him in sight. Every now and then he turned, however, to ascertain that we were following. He evidently seemed to consider that not a moment was to be lost. At length the border of the wood was gained.

”You can make your way now by yourselves,” he said; ”the dawn will soon break, and the rising sun will serve to guide you. Keep slightly to the right, and you will pa.s.s the confines of the next wood. The ground is even for some miles, and if you press forward as fast as your horses can go, I trust that you may keep ahead of your enemies. They are sure to discover your trail, and therefore, although you may not see them, when looking behind, you must not venture to halt. Whether they intend to attack the fort, I cannot say, but it is as well that the garrison should be on the alert.”

We thanked him heartily for the important service he had rendered us.

”But will you not come with us,” said Mr Tidey; ”you yourself may be exposed to danger from the Indians.”

”I have been too long in their territory to have any fear on that score, and know their ways well enough to avoid them,” he answered; ”but time is precious; give your horses the rein. On, on!”

Waving his hand as a farewell, he retreated again into the wood: when I again looked round he was not to be seen. We galloped forward, the Dominie, Martin, and Dio leading the pack-animals, which as they were lightly laden, kept up with us; Dan and I rode alongside each other ahead of the rest.

”This is capital fun!” cried my young brother; ”I would not have missed it on any account. I only wish that fine fellow had been with us, and should we be overtaken by the Indians; we might face about and drive them back.”

”If we are overtaken, we shall have to do that at all events,” I replied; ”but I hope that we may not be compelled to fight them, and I have no wish to hear their war-whoops in our rear.”

I was not at all certain, however, that those unpleasant sounds would not reach our ears before we gained the fort. I knew the rate at which the half-naked savages could scour across the prairie, and when once they got on our trail, they would, I was convinced, press on at their utmost speed. But darkness favoured us for some time, though we ran the risk of one of our horses stepping into a hole or stumbling over the skeleton of a buffalo or deer, numbers of which strewed the plain. At length the first streaks of dawn appeared ahead; the light rapidly increased and the sun which was to guide us rose above the horizon.

Our horses kept up their speed, seeming to be well aware that an enemy was behind them. My eyes being dazzled by the bright beams of the sun, I could scarcely see the way, and had to shade them with my hand, while I bent forward towards my horse's neck.

After a few seconds I made out the wood on our left, and knew that we were pursuing a right course.

Few words were exchanged by any of the party: at last Dan cried out that he was getting very hungry, and proposed to stop for breakfast.

”Our scalps are of more value than the refres.h.i.+ng of our inward man,”

answered the Dominie. ”We must not think of breakfast, dinner, or supper, until we get inside the fort, and then we will take all three in one. Go on, lads, go on.”

Urging on our horses, we had already reached the ground over which we had previously hunted on our first expedition, and knew the way perfectly, but still the fort was far distant, and we could not yet distinguish the flag which waved above it.

”We shall get in safe enough now, and perhaps be laughed at for running away from an imaginary foe,” cried Dan.

I was about to answer, when Dio, who had turned in his saddle to look behind him, exclaimed--

”Dare am de Indians. I see de heads of dem an' de horses 'bove de green gra.s.s far 'way.”

We all looked, to be certain that the black was right. There could be no doubt about the matter. To escape them by concealing ourselves was impossible, even though the sun might have prevented them as yet from seeing us.

They had got hold of our trail and were following that up. All we could do was to trust to the fleetness of our steeds and endeavour to reach the fort before they should overtake us. Martin proposed that we should let go the laden animals as they detained us considerably.

”We will not do that until the enemy are much nearer than they are now,”

answered the Dominie. ”On, boys, on! we will still keep ahead of them.”

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