CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE ALARM AND PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE.
"From what you say I should think that my friend Brooke won't have muchtrouble in findin' Traitor's Trap," remarked Dick Darvall, pausing inthe disposal of a venison steak which had been cooked by the fair bandsof Mary Jackson herself, "but I'm sorely afraid o' the reception he'llmeet with when he gets there, if the men are such awful blackguards asyou describe."
"They're the biggest hounds unhung," growled Roaring Bull, bringing onehand down on the board by way of emphasis, while with the other he heldout his plate for another steak.
"You're too hard on some of them, father," said Mary, in a voice thesoftness of which seemed appropriate to the beauty of her face.
"Always the way wi' you wenches," observed the father. "Some o' thevillains are good-lookin', others are ugly; so, the first are not so badas the second--eh, lass?"
Mary laughed. She was accustomed to her fathers somewhat rough but notill-natured rebuffs.
"Perhaps I may be prejudiced, father," she returned; "but apart fromthat, surely you would never compare Buck Tom with Jake the Flint,though they do belong to the same band."
"You are right, my lass," rejoined her father. "They do say that BuckTom is a gentleman, and often keeps back his boys from devilry--thoughhe can't always manage that, an' no wonder, for Jake the Flint is thecruellest monster 'tween this an' Texas if all that's said of him betrue."
"I wish my comrade was well out o' their clutches," said Dick, with alook of anxiety; "an' it makes me feel very small to be sittin' hereenjoyin' myself when I might be ridin' on to help him if he should needhelp."
"Don't worry yourself on that score," said the host. "You couldn't findyour way without a guide though I was to give ye the best horse in mystable--which I'd do slick off if it was of any use. There's not one o'my boys on the ranch just now, but there'll be four or five of 'em into-morrow by daylight an' I promise you the first that comes in. Theyall know the country for three hundred miles around--every inch--an' youmay ride my best horse till you drop him if ye can. There, now, washdown your victuals an' give us a yarn, or a song."
"I'm quite sure," added Mary, by way of encouragement, "that with one ofthe outlaws for an old friend, Mr Brooke will be quite safe amongthem."
"But he's _not_ an outlaw, Miss Mary," broke in Darvall. "Leastwise wehave the best reason for believin' that he's detained among them againsthis will. Hows'ever, it's of no use cryin' over spilt milk. I'm boundto lay at anchor in this port till mornin', so, as I can't get up steamfor a song in the circumstances, here goes for a yarn."
The yarn to which our handsome seaman treated his audience was nothingmore than an account of one of his numerous experiences on the ocean,but he had such a pleasant, earnest, truth-like, and confidential way ofrelating it and, withal, interlarded his speech with so many littletouches of humour, that the audience became fascinated, and sat inopen-eyed forgetfulness of all else. Buttercup, in particular, becameso engrossed as to forget herself as well as her duties, and stoodbehind her master in an expectant attitude, glaring at the story-teller,with bated breath, profound sympathy, and extreme readiness toappreciate every joke whether good or bad.
In the midst of one of the most telling of his anecdotes the speaker wassuddenly arrested by the quick tramp of a galloping horse, the rider ofwhich, judging from the sound, seemed to be in hot haste.
All eyes were turned inquiringly on the master of the ranch. That coolindividual, rising with quiet yet rapid action, reached down a magazinerepeating rifle that hung ready loaded above the door of the room.
Observing this, Dick Darvall drew a revolver from his coat-pocket andfollowed his host to the outer door of the house. Mary accompaniedthem, and Buttercup retired to the back kitchen as being her appropriatestronghold.
They had hardly reached and flung open the door when Bluefire camefoaming and smoking into the yard with Crux the cow-boy on his back.
"Wall, Roaring Bull," cried Crux, leaping off his horse and comingforward as quietly as if there were nothing the matter. "I'm glad tosee you OK, for the Cheyenne Reds are on the war-path, an' makin' tracksfor your ranch. But as they've not got here yet, they won't likelyattack till the moon goes down. Is there any chuck goin'? I'm halfstarved."
"Ay, Crux, lots o' chuck here. Come in an' let's hear all about it.Where got ye the news?"
"Hunky Ben sent me. He wasn't thinkin' o' you at first but when a boycame in wi' the news that a crowd o' the reds had gone round by PineHollow--just as he was fixin' to pull out for Quester Creek to rouse upthe cavalry--he asked me to come on here an' warn you."
While he was speaking the cow-boy sat down to supper with the air of aman who meant business, while the host and his sailor guest went to lookafter the defences of the place.
"I'm glad you are here, Dick Darvall," said the former, "for it's a badjob to be obliged to fight without help agin a crowd o' yellin' Reds.My boys won't be back till sun-up, an' by that time the game may beplayed out."
"D'ee think the Redskins 'll attack us to-night then?" asked the sailoras he assisted to close the gates of the yard.
"Ay, that they will, lad. They know the value o' time better than mostmen, and, when they see their chance, are not slow to take advantage ofit. As Crux said, they won't attack while the moon shines, so we haveplenty of time to git ready for them. I wish I hadn't sent off my boys,but as bad luck would have it a bunch o' my steers have drifted downsouth, an' I can't afford to lose them--so, you see, there's not a manleft in the place but you an' me an' Crux to defend poor Mary."
For the first time in his life Dick Darvall felt a distinct tendency torejoice over the fact that he was a young and powerful man! To liveand, if need be, die for Mary was worth living for!
"Are you well supplied with arms an' ammunition?" he asked.
"That am I, and we'll need it all," answered the host as he led Dickround to the back of the yard where another gate required fastening.
"I don't see that it matters much," said Dick in a questioning tone,"whether you shut the gates or not. With so few to defend the place thehouse will be our only chance."
"When you've fought as much wi' Reds as I have, Dick, you'll larn thatdelay, even for five minutes, counts for a good deal."
"Well, there's somethin' in that. It minds me o' what one o' myshipmates, who had bin in the London fire brigade, once said. `Dick,'said he, `never putt off what you've got to do. Sometimes I've bin at afire where the loss of only two minutes caused the destruction of astore worth ten thousand pound, more or less. We all but saved it as itwas--so near were we, that if we had bin _one_ minute sooner I dobelieve we'd have saved it.
"`But when we was makin' for that fire full sail, a deaf old apple-womancame athwart our bows an got such a fright that she went flop down rightin front of us. To steer clear of her we'd got to sheer off so that weall but ran into a big van, and, what wi' our lights an' the yellin',the horses o' the van took fright and backed into us as we flew past, sothat we a'most went down by the starn. One way or another we lost twominutes, as I've said, an' the owners o' that store lost about tenthousand pounds--more or less.'"
"That was a big pile, Dick," observed the ranchman, as they turned fromthe gate towards the house, "not easy to replace."
"True--my shipmate never seemed to be quite sure whether it was more orless that was lost, but he thought the Insurance offices must have foundit out by that time. It's a pity there's only three of us, for thatwill leave one side o' the house undefended."
"All right Dick; you don't trouble your head about that for Buttercupfights like a black tiger. She's a'most as good as a man--only shecan't manage to aim, so it's no use givin' her a rifle. She's gameenough to fire it, but the more she tries to hit, the more she's sure tomiss. However she's got a way of her own that sarves well enough todefend her side o' the house. She always takes charge o' the front. MyMary can't fight, but she's a heroine at loadin'--an' that's somethin
'when you're hard pressed! Come, now, I'll show ye the shootin' ironsan' our plan of campaign."
Roaring Bull led the way back to the room, or central hall, where theyhad supped, and here they found that the debris of their feast hadalready been cleared away, and that arms of various kinds, withammunition, covered the board.
"Hospitable alike to friend and foe," said Jackson gaily. "Here, yousee, Mary has spread supper for the Reds!"
Darvall made no response to this pleasantry, for he observed that poorMary's pretty face was very pale, and that it wore an expression ofmingled sadness and anxiety.
"You won't be exposed to danger, I hope," said Dick, in a low earnesttone, while Jackson was loudly discussing with Crux the merits of one ofthe repeating rifles--of which there were half-a-dozen on the table.
"Oh no! It is not that," returned the girl sadly. "I am troubled tothink that, however the fight goes, some souls, perhaps many, will besent to their account unprepared. For myself, I shall be safe enough aslong as we are able to hold the house, and it may be that God will sendus help before long."
"You may be quite sure," returned Dick, with suppressed emotion, "thatno Redskin shall cross this threshold as long as we three men have aspark o' life left."
A sweet though pitiful smile lighted up Mary's pale face for a moment,as she replied that she was quite sure of that, in a tone which causedDarvall's heart to expand, so that his ribs seemed unable to contain it,while he experienced a sensation of being stronger than Samson andbigger than Goliath!
"And I suppose," continued Dick, "that the troops won't be long ofcoming. Is the man--what's his name, Humpy Ben--trustworthy?"
"Trustworthy!" exclaimed the maiden, with a flush of enthusiasm; "thereis not a more trustworthy man on this side of the Rocky mountains, orthe other side either, I am quite sure."
Poor Darvall's heart seemed suddenly to find plenty of room within theribs at that moment, and his truthful visage must have become somethingof an index to his state of mind; for, to his surprise, Mary laughed.
"It seems to me so funny," she continued, "to hear any one ask ifHunky--not Humpy--Ben is to be trusted."
"Is he, then, such a splendid young fellow!" asked the seaman, with justthe slightest touch of bitterness in his tone, for he felt as if a rocksomething like Gibraltar had been laid on his heart.
"Well, he's not exactly young," answered Mary, with a peculiarexpression that made her questioner feel still more uncomfortable, "yethe is scarcely middle-aged, but he certainly _is_ the most splendidfellow on the frontier; and he saved my life once."
"Indeed! how was that?"
"Well, it was this way. I had been paying a short visit to his wife,who lives on the other side of the--"
"Come along, Darvall," cried Roaring Bull at that moment. "The moon'sabout down, an' we'll have to take our stations. We shall defend theoutworks first to check them a bit and put off some time, then scurryinto the house and be ready for them when they try to clear the fence.Follow me. Out wi' the lights, girls, and away to your posts."
"I'll hear the end of your story another time, Miss Mary," said Dick,looking over his shoulder and following his host and Crux to the outerdoor.
The seaman was conscious of a faint suspicion that Mary was wrestlingwith another laugh as he went off to defend the outworks, but he also,happily, felt that the Rock of Gibraltar had been removed from hisheart!