CHAPTER XXIX.
A YOUNG HUNTER'S STRATEGY.
Fred Linden walked rapidly forward until he reached the middle of theprairie, when he paused and bent his eyes on the swiftly vanishing droveof buffaloes. They were speeding at right angles to the course he hadbeen following, and, so far as he could judge at the distance, were onthe same dead run with which they started.
He was convinced that he was mistaken a brief while before, when, for amoment, he thought he caught a glimpse of Terry on the back of theterrified bull. He was unable to distinguish any thing that looked likehim. He might--and it was not at all improbable--be still clinging tohis steed, but he was too far off and too mixed up with the others foreven the keen eyes of Fred Linden to identify him.
There seemed but the one thing to do: that was to follow the droveuntil he learned the fate of his friend. Certain that he would find himsooner or later, Fred resorted again to his loping trot, which he couldkeep up for several hours without great fatigue.
But he had not gone twenty steps at this gait, when, to his astonishmentand alarm, he observed three Indian warriors, each mounted on a horse,issue from the wood at the point where the buffaloes would have enteredit had they not turned to the left. The red men headed their animalsdirectly toward Fred, and advanced at a moderate gallop.
The sight was enough to make the bravest person thoughtful; for you willreadily see the critical situation of the boy. It was useless to turnand run, for they would overhaul him before he could get half way tocover. He was in the middle of a grassy prairie, where there was not theslightest object which could be used as a screen in a fight with them.He glanced quickly about, but did not see a stone as large as his hand.Except so far as his weapons were concerned, he was absolutelyhelpless.
Never did Fred Linden display more coolness and knowledge of Indiancharacter than he did at this time when caught at such fearfuldisadvantage. He knew that if he showed any timidity, the red men wouldattack him at once, while, if he could deceive them, as he hoped, therewas a possibility that he would escape.
Two hundred yards away, the Indians drew their cantering horses down toa walk: they evidently saw there was no call for haste and they couldafford to take all the time they wished. They were riding beside eachother, instead of in Indian file, and being nigh enough to be observeddistinctly, showed that they were dressed precisely like the Winnebagoswhom he had noticed the night before around their camp-fire. This mighthave been, had they belonged to another totem, for there is a similarityin the dress of different tribes, but Fred had no doubt that these wereWinnebagos. It began to look indeed as if there was an irruption of theminto that section of the Louisiana Territory.
During those trying moments, when Fred calmly watched the approach ofthe dusky horsemen, he was observant of the smallest things. He recalledthat they were the same in number as the party which he and Terry sonarrowly missed the night before on the edge of the stream and he halfsuspected they were the same, though such supposition did not correspondwith the theories formed and accepted at the time.
He saw the middle horse, which was darker in color than the others,slightly stumble; then the rider turned his head and said something tothe warrior on his left, who made answer without taking his eyes fromFred; then the one on the right said something, his painted featuresrelaxing into a frightful grin, the guttural words being plainlyaudible: all these points being noticed, as I have said, by the younghunter who had so much more important matters to engage his thoughts.
He recalled with relief that on picking up the gun of Terry he hadreloaded it, so that he now had two weapons ready for use. With these hecould make a brave resistance, and you may depend upon it that the lastthing he thought of doing was to surrender. He might easily be shotdown where he stood, but he would die fighting.
The three horsemen advanced with the same deliberate pace, their blackeyes fixed upon Fred, who stood erect, looking straight at them. Whenthey were within twenty yards, he quietly turned so as to face the otherway, and waved his cap several times over his head. At the same momenthe uttered a resounding whoop, replaced his cap, laid Terry's rifle athis feet and leveled his own at the amazed savages, who could not havesuspected what was coming.
You understand that the purpose of Fred was to make the Winnebagosbelieve that he had friends on the edge of the wood behind him to whomhe had signaled. The act of laying down his gun was to give theimpression that he was so sure of support that he was ready to fightuntil it should appear.
Now, the red men might have been deceived by this to as full an extentas the youth desired, but the fact remained that, even if there werere-enforcements on the margin of the prairie, they were so far off thatthey could give no help if the Indians chose to assail the boy. I aminclined to think that had the Winnebagos believed that a dozen whitehunters were encamped there, they would not have been restrained fromcarrying out their design by such fact: but when the cool defiance ofthe youth was added to the same, there was enough to make them pause.
They might shoot him down, wheel and dash for the woods from which theyhad emerged but a short time before; but they would be liable topursuit, and, when a white borderer takes to the trail, he can be aspersistent as the red man himself, though, as I have said, had they beeneager to shoot the boy, they would not have been stopped by thatknowledge. But they saw that he had his loaded rifle leveled at them:each Winnebago probably imagined he would be the special target. Theirguns were still in their hands and no doubt the moment any one attemptedto raise his weapon the white boy would fire.
The distance was so short that there could be no miss. It followedtherefore that the cost of an assault upon the lad would be the deathof one of the Winnebagos, and none of the three could know that he wouldnot be the victim.
The cost was more than they were willing to pay, for it must be borne inmind that not only was the death of one of their number consideredassured, but it was not at all unlikely that such a daring youngsterwould be able to do something with the gun at his feet beforesuccumbing.
But it is not to be supposed that three mounted Indians woulddeliberately ride away from a single youth through fear alone,--that is,not until they had tried to circumvent him by strategy. And so it cameto pass that within the same minute that Fred raised his rifle, theWinnebago who sat in the middle waved his hand toward him as a sign ofcomity. At the same time he called out: "Yenghese! Long Knife!Friend--friend--friend!"
But Fred knew too much to be deceived. He was the master of morevigorous English, and, without lowering his gun, he called out:
"Keep off or I'll fire! If you ride another step, I'll let daylightthrough you!"
As if to add emphasis to his words, he gently swayed his rifle fromright to left, so that it covered each warrior in turn. There was aninvoluntary ducking of the heads, and the Indians, seeing that nothingwas to be done without large risk, opened out--two riding to the rightand one to the left. Thus they passed by Fred without lessening thespace between him and them.
After all, this was the most trying moment to the youth, for it divertedhis attention in the most exasperating manner. The three horsemen werein his field of vision, but it was hard to keep watch upon each. Hesuspected the maneuver was for the purpose of taking him off his guard,but it is doubtful whether such was the case, for there was something inthe grim pose of the youthful hunter which warned them that it wasunsafe to trifle with him.
When the horsemen were opposite each other and on a line with Fred, hesuddenly wheeled with great quickness and held his piece still leveledso that he could shift it from one to the other the moment needed. Ontheir part, the Winnebagos watched him with cat-like vigilance, keepingtheir heads turned until they came together a hundred feet beyond, andbetween him and the wood which he had just left. There they stopped,their position such that the sides of their animals were turned towardthe lad, whom they continued to view with an interest that it is safe tosay they had never felt in any other of his race.
It was tiresome to hol
d his heavy rifle leveled, but Fred stuck to it,for he knew how much depended on the next minute or two.
It looked for a time as though the Winnebagos had decided not to leavewithout a demonstration, but finally they moved off with their backstoward Fred, and their horses on a walk.
"How nicely I could pick one of them off," said he to himself, as thebroad shoulders, with the black hair streaming over them, moved gentlyup and down with the motion of the animals, and ranged themselves besideeach other like three dusky targets. "I could hit _him_ or _him_ or_him_" he added, shifting his aim from one to the other in turn, "andit's because they know it that they are afraid to risk a shot. If oneof them had made a motion to take aim, I would have let fly, and Iwouldn't have missed either. Then I would have done something withTerry's gun."
These thoughts had hardly found expression, when the middle Winnebagosuddenly turned on his horse, raised his gun and discharged it at FredLinden. The instant he did so, he and his two companions threwthemselves forward on their animals and dashed off on a dead run for thewood.
Had the warrior been less hurried, it is probable he would have struckthe astonished youth, who plainly heard the _pinge_ of the bullet as italmost touched his ear. His own arms were beginning to ache because oftheir constrained position, but he took as careful aim as possible andfired at the savage who fired at him.
More than that, he hit him. A screeching yawp broke the stillness, thewarrior half straightened up on his steed, seemed to sway, and wouldhave fallen had not one of his companions caught his shoulder andsupported him for a minute or two. The horses were brought down to awalk, and finally came to a standstill, though they halted at a pointbeyond rifle shot.
"I hope I finished him," muttered Fred Linden, with a snap of his eyes;"they are seeking my life, and, if I could have my way, I would tumbleevery one of them off his horse."
Never was the value of two rifles shown more strikingly than at thistime. The moment his gun was discharged--had he possessed no other--Fredwould have been helpless, and the Winnebagos would have been upon himbefore he could reload his piece; for that was in the days offlint-locks, when the charge had to be rammed down and the powder pouredinto the pan before the weapon was ready for use. It may be said,however, that under such circumstances he would not have fired.
But before the horsemen could wheel about, they would have found theyouth standing at "present arms" precisely as before, and the situationunchanged, except that one of their own number had been disabled, and tothat extent (which was considerable) the gain was on the side of thelad.
There could be little doubt that the stricken Winnebago was hit hard,though after some attention from his companions, he was able to sit hishorse. The three warriors seemed to have lost all interest in Fred, fora few minutes later they rode off at a walk, without, so far as he couldjudge, once bestowing a look upon him.
It struck him as singular that after his stratagem, by which he believedhe gave the impression that he had a party of friends on the margin ofthe wood, that the Winnebagos should guide their horses to the verypoint. After all, it began to look as though he was not so successful inthat respect as he imagined, and that it was his own courageous demeanorthat for the time had saved his life.
"I am glad they have ridden off in that direction," said the youth tohimself, as he saw them carefully enter the wood, where they were lostfrom sight; "for if they had ridden the other way they would havebothered me in my hunt for Terry."