CHAPTER XII
CRAFTY TACTICS
So unexpected had been Thunder-maker's tactics and so immediate theresponse of his people, that the attack was over before the Englishmenwere well aware that it had begun. Not that any foreknowledge would haveavailed them much. They were unarmed, while the Dacotahs were both armedand numerous. Still, the average Englishman does not like to be trussedup without showing some marked resistance. It makes him feel small to betrapped without dealing a blow in self-defence.
The place was brilliantly lit with burning brands which many of theIndians had brought, and the camp was in an uproar with the volublechatter of the men as they crowded round the captives, whileThunder-maker excitedly cried out his story of the affair.
So well did the Medicine Man concoct his lies so as to work upon thefeelings of his people that meanwhile it seemed as though the Englishmenwere in for a hot time. Indeed, so great was their wrath that kniveswere already reflecting the flames, and fingers were nervously twitchingabout the locks of their guns. And all the time Thunder-maker wasdancing about in a frenzy of passion. He was not brave enough to strikea blow, but he hoped to shift the responsibility upon the shoulders ofhis brethren.
What would have been the termination of the scene it is not difficult todecide, had not the old figure of Swift Arrow pushed a way through theseething multitude and taken a place at Arnold's side, while he facedhis people with burning indignation.
"What is this, brothers?" he exclaimed. "Is this how the Dacotahs treatthe stranger in their tents?"
"They are witches, not men!" came from many throats, and Thunder-makeradded--
"They call me from teepee--call me without words, and fill Thunder-makerwith hot fire!"
"Bah!" ejaculated Swift Arrow with utter contempt, as he turned to thelast speaker. "Is not Thunder-maker great medicine himself? Has he noweapon to protect himself from magic?"
But the Medicine Man had his reply ready.
"Thunder-maker sleep. When Thunder-maker sleep he have no power againstmagic." Then he turned to the surrounding Indians with a wild appeal."Shall it be, brothers, that the great medicine of the Dacotahs diebefore arrows of the evil spirits?"
"Kawin![3] Kawin!" was the general reply, and again the knives glistenedas they were raised in many hands.
Thunder-maker shrieked with triumph.
"Then save our tribe from the magic of the evil ones!" he cried as heflung his arms upwards and turned to the captives with a fiendish grinof exultation.
The Indians were now worked up to a condition of irresponsible madness.Another such impulse from the Medicine Man, and the thirsty knives wouldbe quenched.
"Stay!" commanded Arnold suddenly.
So unexpected was the word from that quarter that for the time curiositysuperseded frenzy, and all paused to hear what the white man might haveto say. And Arnold, seeing the advantage, went on with a calmness thatseemed to act like a spell upon the excited minds. "Stay! My whitebrother and I are not afraid to die, if it be Manito's will that we findthe Happy Hunting-ground this night, and if the Dacotahs have soforgotten the brave name of their tribe that they would slay thestranger who came to their tents in trouble. But first tell me: is itthe way of the redmen to kill a prisoner without the wish of theirchief----"
"Ha!" interrupted Thunder-maker, hissing the exclamation through histeeth, for even now he felt his victims slipping through his hands. "Donot listen, brothers! They are evil spirits--they speak magic wordsagainst which nothing prevails. They have forked tongues that dart asfire. Ugh! I spit upon them--dogs!"
The Englishmen met the verbal onslaught as firmly as a rock resists awave, and Arnold did not so much as look towards the madman, butresumed, in the same even tones as before.
"Who are you, redmen? Are you dogs, to be beaten to obey the first loudvoices? Shall the howling wolf put fear into your hearts, to drag down aprey that he dares not attack alone? Or are you children of yourrightful chief? Who is chief of the Dacotahs--Thunder-maker or MightyHand?"
"The fiery totem is on the breast of Mighty Hand," answered one of thewarriors. The hubbub had fallen, and all were listening intently--partlywith the native courtesy that forbids the rude interruption of speech,and partly because the better self was beginning to replace the moment'sfrenzy.
"Ah," resumed Arnold with a smile, "I see that the understanding of thepale-face was wrong. We thought that the chief was Thunder-maker, as youhastened to obey _his_ words."
"Thunder-maker great medicine----" began Swift Arrow, when the formerspeaker rejoined--
"Then he would make himself great chief. Will you braves suffer thisinsult to the wearer of the fiery totem?"
"Ka--Kawin!" was the chorus that met this question, and the dark looksthat had been directed towards the Englishmen but a little while sincewere now turned towards the defeated Medicine Man, who was standingsullen and silent.
But Thunder-maker was not yet conquered, though he was apparentlyhumbled. To give him his due, he was a man of wonderful resource, andwhen he saw that the tide was turning against him he was quick to meetthe occasion.
"My brothers, listen not to the words of Thunder-maker," he saidquietly, and with a pretence of sad emotion that he had failed toinfluence the other Indians to take the right course. "Did notThunder-maker say that these evil spirits have tongues of magic? Did henot say that no weapon could prevail against those magic words? But letit be as my red brothers wish. Mighty Hand rest in teepee. He not comefrom tent at night, unless the war-cry call him. So let it be asthese--dogs--say. Let them rest in their tent to-night, and at anothersun we will bring them before the great chief Mighty Hand, who is thegreatest of warriors, and chief of the greatest of all tribes, theDacotahs. I have spoken."
"And spoken well," said Holden, thinking that it might be well topropitiate the Medicine Man for the time. But Thunder-maker, stoopingforward with a pretence of picking up something from the ground, cameclose enough to whisper, so that only the Englishmen could hear him--
"By another sun, when Mighty Hand looks upon the pale-faces, it may bethat the friends of Thunder-maker have looked first!"
The words were spoken with all the venom of a savage threat, and beforeHolden could make reply the Medicine Man was speaking loudly to SwiftArrow.
"The Dacotahs shall see great medicine when the fiery totem again turneyes upon the evil water-spirits. Thunder-maker will now go to histeepee. He would speak with his little children that they show muchmagic."
But Swift Arrow did not deign to reply. He turned to the Englishmen, andwith a few movements of his hunting-knife severed the cords that boundthem.
"The stranger who has raised no arm against the redmen may not be boundin the camp of the Dacotahs. My brothers did wrong. The pale-faces willforgive my foolish people."
"We do not blame you. You are a good man, and Manito smiles upon thekind heart," returned Arnold quietly.
Thoroughly worn out with the events of the previous day as well as theexciting incidents of the night, the two friends were glad to be atliberty to return to their tent and stretch their tired limbs upon therobes that had been provided for them. The Indians had quickly dispersedat the bidding of old Swift Arrow, and soon the camp was once more inpeace.
Little was said by either of the men as they lay down at opposite partsof the teepee, and it was not long before sleep came to the relief ofweariness.
For a couple of hours or more the Englishmen were wrapt in deep slumber.Then, just as the grey dawn was beginning to chase the shadows from theforest, Holden suddenly awoke. It was not the calm awakening thatfollows refreshing rest, but that sudden return of the senses that onesometimes experiences accompanied by a horrible instinct of danger.
Holden sat up and looked round. Nothing strange was to be seen withinthe tent, and when he looked through the entrance all seemed peacefulwithout. The brown teepees were not even stirred by a morning breeze.Not a soul was to be seen, and it was too early even for the birds tosing their morning anthems.
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He looked at Arnold, and saw that his friend was still enjoying profoundrest. So, laughing at his own weakness, Holden returned to his robesand was soon dozing again.
Then a second time he wakened with the former conviction even strongerthan before.
He raised himself on his right elbow, and as he did so was startled by asound that is calculated to strike terror into the hearts of men quickerthan the most formidable of human foes.
It was the danger-signal of a rattlesnake--the harsh alarm that isunmistakable even when heard for the first time, and the sinuous greenthing was poised in the centre of the tent, with head thrown back in theattitude to strike. It had been startled by Holden's sudden movement onawakening, and now was armed to repel its supposed enemy.
The man dared not move, for the least motion of a muscle might besufficient to frighten the deadly little rope of flesh, and then----?
The continued sound of the rattle had roused Arnold by this time; but athis first stirring Holden spoke, though he managed to do so withoutmoving his lips.
"Keep still. There's a rattlesnake in the tent. It's got an eye on me,and----"
But the rest of the sentence was choked, for the man's blood suddenlyran cold as another serpent came from among the fur robes, writhing itscold chill body across his bare hand as it lay at his side, and thenmoving towards its companion.
"There's another--just crawled over my hand," whispered Holden hoarsely.
"And I see a third--over there just beyond my feet!" said Arnold. "Whaton earth are we to do?"
"Lie still. We can do no more, unless we get a chance to make a bolt forit. But they are between us and the door."
The men waited in tense silence, preserving the immovable attitudes ofstatues until, as time passed, other serpents made their appearance andthe teepee was swarming with a dozen at least. They seemed to beeverywhere. They crawled over the robes and peered into the men's faces,they wriggled beneath the covering and even passed across Holden's baredthroat. But they were no longer aggressive. They were more of anexploring than an antagonistic bent.
"I wonder where they have come from and why they have congregated inthis particular tent?" Arnold questioned in a whisper, and, with thequestion, the explanation seemed to flash into Holden's mind like aflame of fire.
"Thunder-maker!" he exclaimed. "The treacherous hound! This is his work.I was wakened by something before. He must have been letting loose hisvile creatures."
Just then the snakes returned unpleasantly near to the men's headsagain, so further conversation was impossible, for it is remarkable whatlittle sound will attract a serpent's attention, and the nature of arattler is to regard every sound and movement as something dangerous tobe fought.
For more than an hour the men lay in strained positions, watching thewrithing movements of the ugly creatures, and wondering how long theposition could be sustained.
And then, just when it seemed that the situation could not be supportedanother minute, they became aware of a sound of soft whistling at nogreat distance from the rear of the tent. At first the sound was quitelow, and barely audible, but gradually it increased in volume until ittook the form of a sort of minor tune of barbaric rhythm played on somesort of reed instrument.
At the beginning the music was unheeded by the serpents, but as itbecame more distinct it was observable that the creatures becamerestless and uneasy. Now and then one would raise its head and begin tosway gently to and fro, in agreement with the rhythm. But gradually eachseemed to be irresistibly drawn towards the back of the tent, as thespell of their master's music fascinated them. One by one they passed inone direction--moving slowly yet steadily in obedience to the call.
And as the last of the reptiles passed beneath the edge of thetent-cloth both men sprang from their couches and rushed round to theteepee that was pitched a little way behind their own.
But they found Thunder-maker reclining on a heap of robes and apparentlyasleep; and not a sign was seen to suggest the presence of a "rattler."
So much for the art of the snake-charmer and the craft of an evil man.
[3] No.