CHAPTER XVI
The Search for Dick
Ben Foster kept struggling on through the woods and darkness for quite awhile, and then, not hearing any sounds of pursuit, he paused andlistened intently for a few moments, after which he gave a low, butpenetrating whistle, the same signal that the three youths often used.If Dick were within two or three hundred yards, he would hear and replyto the signal.
There came no reply, however, and after waiting a few minutes, Benwhistled again, with the same result.
Then he set out through the forest, but did not go far, before stoppingagain.
"I'm not going any farther till I know where Dick is," he murmured, "Hemay have gotten into trouble, may have fallen and knocked his headagainst a tree and fallen into the hands of the redskins again. I'llstay here till morning, and then see if I can find him."
Ben found a place at the foot of a big tree, and lying down, was soonasleep. He slept till morning, and then sat up and looked around him.
All was quiet, and there were neither redskins nor redcoats in sight.
Ben drew a sigh of relief. He had feared that he might see enemies inthe vicinity.
But, what should he do? In which direction should he go? He did not knowwhere to look for Dick, and so he decided to start back in the directionfrom which he had come in escaping from the Indian village. It would besomewhat dangerous to venture back to the vicinity of the village, butBen was determined to find Dick, if possible. He feared his comrade hadbeen recaptured by the redskins, and if this were the case, it should behis business to rescue him.
Ben had taken only a few steps, however, when he caught sight of a partyof patriots coming toward him, as he could tell by their blue uniforms.
"There comes one of the parties sent out by General Greene!" thoughtBen, with a feeling of delight. "Now I can guide them to the Indianvillage, and they can put the redskins to rout and rescue Dick, if he isthere."
He hastened to meet the soldiers, and when he met them, he found thatone was his own company, under the command of Captain Morgan. Thecaptain was naturally somewhat surprised to see Ben, but was glad, andasked if he could give him any news regarding the whereabouts ofIndians.
"Indeed I can," was the reply. "Dick and myself were captured by a partyof redskins, and they were about to burn us at the stake, but somebodyslipped up and cut the ropes binding us to the trees, and we managed toget away. But we got separated in the darkness, and I don't know whereDick is."
"When was that?"
"Last night."
"How far is the Indian village from here?" the captain asked.
"About ten or twelve miles, I should judge, sir."
"You can guide us thither?"
"I am sure that I can, sir."
"Very good, lead the way, and we will get to the village as quickly ascircumstances will permit. If Dick Dare was recaptured and taken back tothe village, he may be in danger, and we will endeavor to rescue him."
"True, sir."
They set out at once, with Ben in the lead, as guide. Captain Morgan wasright behind Ben, and then after them came the soldiers, Tim Murphy andFritz Schmockenburg being close to the captain and Ben. These two likedDick immensely, and were worried for fear something serious had happenedto him.
After a walk of about three and a half or four hours, Ben called a haltand said that the Indian village was within half a mile of the spotwhere they were standing.
"We had better advance slowly and cautiously," he advised, and thecaptain so ordered.
Presently they came in sight of the village, and at the same moment theywere discovered and a wild yell went up from the lips of an Indian bravethat had been standing guard. This was the alarm signal to his fellowbraves in the village, and instantly there was a great skurrying aroundamong the redskins, as they hastened this way and that, trying to gettogether for the purpose of offering battle to the soldiers.
When they saw how large a number they had to contend with, however, theyquickly decided that prudence was the better part of valor, and took totheir heels, and after them went the patriot soldiers, firing as theyran, and dropping quite a number of the savages, dead or wounded.
The soldiers pursued the Indians as long as they could see any of them,and then they returned to the village, and began looking in the variouswigwams, to see if Dick Dare was there, a prisoner.
They did not find him in any of the wigwams, and when Captain Morganmade inquiries of an old Indian, who had remained behind with the squawsand papooses, and who could speak a few words of English, he wasinformed that neither of the white young men who had been at the torturestake the night before, and had escaped, had been recaptured. CaptainMorgan was somewhat relieved to hear this. But he was still anxiousregarding the fate of Dick. He felt that the youth had gotten intodanger of some kind.
The soldiers buried the Indians that had been killed, carried thewounded ones into the wigwams, and left them there for the squaws todoctor up. Then the soldiers again set out, with the intention of tryingto locate Dick Dare, and rescue him, if he had fallen into the hands ofanother party of Indians.
They made their way slowly through the woods, and spread out, fan-shape,so as to cover as large a territory as practical. If Dick were anywherein that part of the country, they would find him, they were certain.
But although they put in the rest of the day, practically searching forDick, they did not find him, nor did they encounter any Indians. It islikely that the redskins had heard about the attack on the village, andkept out of the way.
Ben was greatly worried about their failure to find Dick or learnanything regarding his whereabouts. He was worried, too, about thewhereabouts of Tom. He and Dick had started out to look for Tom, and hadthemselves been made prisoners, had very nearly been burned at thestake, had become separated in their flight from the redskins, and nowDick's whereabouts was not known. Thus both the Dare boys were missing,and their friends feared that both were in serious trouble, somewhere,though where, was the difficulty.
"Perhaps we may find Dick to-morrow," said Ben.
"Sure an' Oi hope thot we may foind 'im, Ben," replied Tim Murphy. "It'sa foine bye Dick is."
"Yah, Dick and Tom are both fine poys, alretty," said FritzSchmockenburg. "Und I hope dot ve find dem to-morrow."
"Oi wish we could foind thim as aisy as ye can foind woildcats whinstandin' guard, Fritz," chuckled Tim, and then he told Ben the story ofhow Fritz had heard a noise, thought the Indians were coming to attackthe camp, and had fired a shot and rushed into the encampment, yellingthat the Indians were coming, and that when they had gone and looked atthe point where Fritz had fired the shot, they had found a dead wildcat.
Ben laughed, and then said: "Well, if it had been an Indian, you wouldhave settled his account, Fritz."
"Yah, dot is so," nodded Fritz, grinning.
Next morning the patriot soldiers again began searching for Dick, at thesame time keeping their eyes open for Indians, but did not find either,and after eating their luncheon at noon, they set out toward the patriotencampment in Peaceful Valley, as they were expected to report therethat evening.
It was almost dark when they arrived at the encampment, and the othertwo companies were already there. They had found two or three Indianvillages, had killed and wounded a number of Indians and put the rest toflight, as Captain Morgan's force had done. They had not seen anythingof Dick or Tom Dare.
General Greene was somewhat worried over the fact that Dick and Tom weremissing, for he liked the youths, and feared that they had met withdeath at the hands of the redskins.
"We will break camp here in the morning, however," he told his officers,"and will march upon Fort Ninety-Six. Possibly we may find the Dare Boyssomewhere in that neighborhood. Dick may have continued onward in thatdirection to look for his brother Tom."
"True," agreed Captain Morgan. "I hope we may find them alive and well."