CHAPTER X.
A WAR STRATAGEM.
The two men followed her, and the three began crawling through the tallgrass and silently descending the hill. This painful march wasnecessarily slow, owing to the innumerable precautions the fugitiveswere obliged to take so as not to be seen or tracked by the scouts theIndians had scattered all around to watch the movements of the whitemen, and of any relief which might come to them.
White Gazelle walked actively in front of the hunters, lookingcautiously around, stopping to listen anxiously to the slightest soundin the bushes; and when her fears were calmed, she went on giving themen she guided a smile of encouragement.
"Sold!" Valentine said, with a laugh all at once, as he rested his rifleon the ground; "Come, come, the little wench is cleverer than Ifancied."
The two men were surrounded by a numerous party of Apache Indians. DonPablo did not utter a word; he only looked at the girl, who continued tosmile.
"Bah!" the Frenchman muttered philosophically in an aside; "I shall killmy seven or eight of them, and after that, we shall see."
Completely reassured by this consoling reflection, the hunter at onceregained all his clearness of mind, and looked curiously around him.They were in the midst of Black Cat's war party, and that chief nowwalked up to the hunter.
"My brother is welcome among the Buffalo Apaches," he said, nobly.
"Why jest, chief?" Valentine remarked; "I am your prisoner, do with mewhat you think proper."
"Black Cat does not jest; the great pale hunter is not his prisoner, buthis friend; he has but to command and Black Cat will execute hisorders."
"What mean these words?" the Frenchman said, with astonishment; "Are younot here, like all the members of your nation, to seize my friends andmyself?"
"Such was my intention, I allow, when I left my village some days back,but my heart has changed since my brother saved my life, and he may haveperceived it already. If I have come here it is not to fight, but tosave him and his friends; my brother can, therefore, place confidence inmy words--my tribe will obey him as myself."
Valentine reflected for a moment, then he said, as he looked searchinglyat the chief:
"And what does Black Cat ask in return for the help he offers me?"
"Nothing; the pale hunter is my brother; if we succeed he will do as hepleases."
"Come, come, all is for the best," Valentine said, as he turned to thegirl; "I was mistaken, so I will ask you to forgive me."
White Gazelle blushed with delight at these words.
"Then," Valentine continued, addressing the Indian chief, "I canentirely dispose of your young men?"
"Entirely.
"They will be devoted to me?"
"I have said so, as to myself."
"Good!" said the hunter, as his face brightened; "how many warriors haveyou?"
Black Cat held up ten times the fingers of his opened hands.
"One hundred?" Valentine asked.
"Yes," the chief replied, "and eight more."
"But the other tribes are far more numerous than yours?"
"They form a band of warriors twenty-two times and seven times morenumerous than mine."
"Hum! That is a tidy lot, without counting the pirates."
"Wah! There are thrice the number of the fingers of my two hands of theLong-knives of the East."
"I fear," Don Pablo observed, "that we shall be crushed by the number ofour enemies."
"Perhaps so," Valentine, who was reflecting, answered; "where is RedCedar?"
"Red Cedar is with his brothers, the prairie half-breeds; he has joinedStanapat's party."
At this moment the Apache war cry burst forth on the plain, a tremendousdischarge was heard, and the hill of the Mad Buffalo seemed begirt by ahalo of smoke and flashing lightning. The battle had began. The Indiansbravely mounted to the assault. They marched toward the hill,continually discharging their muskets, and firing arrows at theirinvisible enemies.
At the spot where the chain of hills touches the Gila, fresh parties ofApaches could be seen incessantly arriving. They came up at a gallop, bytroops of three to twenty men at a time. Their horses were covered withfoam, leading to the presumption that they had made a long journey. TheApaches were in their war paint, covered with all sorts of ornaments andarms, with their bow and quiver on their back, and their musket in theirhands. Their heads were crowned with feathers, among them being severalmagnificent black and white eagle plumes, with the large falling crest.Seated on handsome saddlecloths of panther skin, lined with red, all hadthe lower part of the body naked, with the exception of a long strip ofwolf skin passed over the shoulder. Their shields were ornamented withfeathers, and party coloured cloth. These men, thus accoutred, hadsomething grand and majestic about them which affected the imaginationand inspired terror.
Many of them at once climbed the heights, lashing their wearied horses,so to arrive sooner at the battlefield, while singing and uttering theirwar cry.
The contest seemed most obstinate in the neighbourhood of thepalisades; the two Mexicans and Curumilla, protected behind theirentrenchments, replied to the Apaches with a deadly fire, bravelyexciting each other to die weapons in hand. Several corpses already layon the plain; riderless horses galloped in every direction, and thecries of the wounded were mingled with the yells of defiance of theassailants.
What we have described in so many words, Valentine and Don Pabloperceived in a few seconds, with the infallible glance of men longaccustomed to prairie life.
"Come, chief," the hunter said, quickly, "we must rejoin our friends;help us; if not, they are lost."
"Good," Black Cat answered; "the pale hunter will place himself, withhis friend, in the midst of my detachment; in a few minutes he will beon the hill. Above all, the pale chief must leave me to act."
"Do so; I trust entirely to you."
Black Cat said a few words in a low voice to the warriors whoaccompanied him; they at once collected round the two hunters, whoentirely disappeared in their midst.
"Oh, oh," Don Pablo said, anxiously, "just look at this, my friend."
Valentine smiled as he took his arm.
"I have read the chief's intention," he said, "he is employing the onlyway possible. Do not be alarmed, all is for the best."
Black Cat placed himself at the head of his detachment, and gave asignal. A fearful yell burst through the air--the Buffalo tribe hadsounded its war cry. The Apaches, carrying the two men with them, rushedfuriously toward the hill, and ere Valentine and Don Pablo knew what washappening, they had rejoined their friends, and Black Cat's warriorsfled in every direction, as if a fearful panic had seized on them.
Still the fight was not over; Stanapat's Indians rushed like tigers onthe palisades, and let themselves be killed without recoiling an inch.The fight, if prolonged, must end fatally to the whites, whose strengthwas becoming exhausted. Stanapat and Red Cedar understood this, andhence redoubled their efforts to crush the enemy.
Suddenly, at the moment when the Apaches rushed furiously against thewhites to attempt a final assault; the war cry of the Coras was heard,mingled with the discharge of firearms. The Apaches were surprised, andhesitated; Red Cedar looked around, and uttered a curse; the war cry ofthe Comanches rose behind the camp.
"Forward! Forward at all risks!" the squatter howled, as, followed byhis sons and some of his men, he rushed by toward the hill.
But the scene had changed as if by enchantment. Black Cat, on seeing thehelp that had arrived for his friends, effected a junction with Unicorn;the united bands attacked the Apaches on the flank, while Moukapec, atthe head of two hundred picked warriors of his nation, rushed on theirrear.
The flight began, and soon changed into a rout; Red Cedar, and a smallparty of pirates collected around him, alone offered any resistance.From assailants they had become assailed, and there must be an end toit, or in a few minutes all would be over, as their retreat would be cutoff.
"Hurrah!" Red Cedar shouted, as he waved his rifle o
ver his head like amace; "Down with the dogs! Take their scalps!"
"Take their scalps!" his companions exclaimed, imitating his movements,and massacring all that opposed their passage.
They had managed to clear a bloody way, and were slowly moving towardthe river, when a man boldly threw himself before Red Cedar--it wasMoukapec.
"I bring you my scalp, dog of the palefaces!" he shouted, as he dealt ablow at him with his tomahawk.
"Thanks," the bandit answered, as he parried the blow.
Eagle-wing bounded forward like a hyena, and before his enemy couldprevent it, buried his knife in his thigh. Red Cedar uttered a yell ofrage on feeling himself wounded, and drew his knife with one hand, whilewith the other he seized the Indian by the throat. The latter felt thathe was lost; the blade flashed above his head, and was buried to thehilt in his chest.
"Ah! Ah!" Red Cedar grinned, as he let down his enemy who rolled on theground, "I fancy our accounts are settled this time."
"Not yet," the Coras said, with a triumphant smile, and with a dyingeffort he fired his rifle at the squatter.
The latter let go his reins, and fell by the side of the Indian.
"I die avenged," Eagle-wing said, as he writhed in a last convulsion.
"Oh, I am not dead yet," Red Cedar replied, as he rose on one knee andcleft the Indian's skull; "I shall escape, never fear."
Red Cedar's shoulder was broken, still, thanks to the help of hiscomrades, who did not give ground an inch, he was able to get on hishorse again, and Sutter and Nathan fastened him to the saddle.
"Back! Back!" he shouted, "Else we are lost! Each man for himself!"
The pirates obeyed him, and began flying in various directions, closelyfollowed by the Comanches and Coras. Still some managed to reach thevirgin forest, where they disappeared, others the river, which theyswam, Red Cedar being one of the former. Valentine and his friends, assoon as they saw the issue of the fight, hastened to leave the hill ofthe Mad Buffalo, and went down into the plain with the intention ofcapturing Red Cedar; unfortunately they only arrived in time to see himdisappear in the distance; still, the unexpected result of the fight haddone them an immense service, not only by rescuing them from the falseposition in which they were, but also by breaking up the league of theIndian tribes, who, startled by the immense losses they had suffered,would doubtless retire and leave the white men to settle their disputeswithout interfering further in the quarrel.
As for Red Cedar, his band was annihilated or, dispersed, while himself,seriously wounded, was no longer to be feared. The capture of this man,forced to wander like a wild beast over the prairie, only became aquestion of time. Stanapat had also escaped with a few warriors, no oneknowing in what direction he had gone.
The three united parties camped on the battlefield, according to theircustom. The Indians first occupied themselves with scalping the corpsesof their enemies. Singular to say, the victors had made no prisoners;the fight had been so obstinate, that every man had only thought ofkilling his enemy, instead of seizing him. Moukapec's body was raisedrespectfully, and interred on the hill of Mad Buffalo, by the side ofthe terrible chief who had first chosen the sepulchre. The sun set atthe moment when the last duties had been paid to the fallen warrior, andthe council fires were lighted. When all had taken their seats, and thecalumet had gone the round, Valentine rose.
"Chiefs," he said, "my friends and I thank you for your generous effortsin trying to deliver the prairies of the Far West from the bandit whohas so long desolated them; we are not merely pursuing an idlevengeance, but a work of humanity; this villain dishonours the name ofman, and the race to which he belongs. At the present moment, of thenumerous bandits who accompanied him, few are left him. The band of themalefactors, which was the terror of the prairies, no longer exists; andtheir chief himself, I feel convinced, will soon fall into our power.Be ready, when necessary, to help us, as you have done today; untilthen, return to your villages, and believe that, far or near, we shallretain the recollection of the services you have rendered us, and that,in case of need, you can count on us as we have ever done on you."
After uttering these words which the Indians applauded, Valentine satdown again. There was a lengthened silence, employed by the Indians inconscientiously smoking their calumets. Black Cat was the first to breakthe silence.
"Let my brothers listen," he said; "the words I utter are inspired bythe Master of Life; the cloud that obscured my mind has passed awaysince my Coras and Comanche brothers, those two brave nations, haverestored me the place, to which I had a right, at their council fires.Unicorn is a wise chief, his friendship is precious to me. I hope thatthe Wacondah will never allow between him and me, or between my youngmen and his, during the next thousand and fifty moons, the slightestmisunderstanding which may rupture the friendship existing at thismoment."
Unicorn removed his pipe from his lips, bowed to Black Cat with a smile,and answered--
"My brother Black Cat has spoken well; my heart quivered with joy onhearing him. Why should we not be friends? Is not the prairie largeenough and wide enough for us? Are not the buffaloes sufficientlynumerous? Let my brothers listen: I seek around me in vain the warhatchet; it is buried so deeply, that the sons and the grandsons of ourchildren will never succeed in digging it up."
Other speeches were made by several chiefs, and the best intelligencedid not cease to reign between the allies. At daybreak, they separatedin the most cordial manner, each returning to his village. Valentine andhis party remained alone. White Gazelle was leaning pensively againstthe trunk of a tree a few paces from them.