CHAPTER XII
AMONG THE TREE-TOPS
Jack Carleton was astounded. Up to that moment he was absolutelycertain that the young Shawanoe was on the other side of theMississippi, and would make no attempt to return to the Kentuckyshore until night. Yet he had not only recrossed, but was actuallywithin fifty feet of the enclosure, directly among his fiercestenemies, who were assailing it, and, more remarkable than all, hehad climbed among the limbs of a tree, where he could gain a view ofthe interior.
There was a minute or so during which the Kentuckian actuallydoubted his own senses.
"He must be an enemy who closely resembles Deerfoot," was histhought; "I will shoot him before he shoots me."
The probability of such being the case was increased by the factthat the Indian had a rifle instead of a bow and arrow, and therewere some daubs of paint on his face; but, for all that, the warriorwas Deerfoot, as a second scrutiny convinced Jack and Otto beyondall question.
"It ish Deerhead! I means Deerfoot," whispered the German lad;"dinks a whirlwind lifs him out te boat and drops him in de tree;what don't he vants?"
The young Shawanoe had managed to reach a place amid the foliage,where, if he could be seen at all by those below, the view wasindistinct, while, by pushing the branches carefully aside in frontof his face, he was plainly revealed to his friends.
When Jack Carleton raised his gun and sighted at the object in thetree, the latter swept aside the curtain in front and made a signalwith his hand, which declared his identity. Even though the painthad been plentifully used by him, his regular features wererecognized when he smiled, and kept his hand waving in front of himas though brushing smoke from his eyes.
"Yes, it's Deerfoot!" muttered Jack, lowering his weapon, andstaring with open mouth at the figure; "but things are gettingmixed, and I ain't exactly understand what it is all about." Butthe situation was too critical on every hand for the young friendsto give way to the wonderment caused by the discovery. It speedilybecame clear that while the Shawanoe dare not speak, he was tryingvery hard to convey some message to his friends by means ofpantomime. Holding the gun of the Miami in one hand, he kept theother going energetically, but neither Jack nor Otto could guess hismeaning.
"Speak louder!" called Otto, forgetting himself; "vot vasn't dot dotyou didn't say?"
Instantly Deerfoot drew back his head, allowing the bushes to close,so that he was only partly revealed.
"He is going to shoot!" exclaimed Jack.
Such, it was evident, was the intention of their friend, who broughthis rifle to a level, the black barrel plainly visible as it wasthrust among the branches. Instead of being aimed downwards, it waspointed at a considerable elevation above the defenders at someobject at the other side of the fort.
Turning their beads, the boys saw, from the agitation in thebranches of a tree, almost large as the oak, that something wasmoving among the limbs. The truth flashed upon both. While theywere watching their friend, he had detected an enemy stealing intothe tree behind them, and sought to make known the alarming truth bymeans of gesture. Seeing they failed to catch his meaning, hedecided to attend to the matter himself, though it can be understoodthat the shot would render his own death almost certain.
"That will never do!" exclaimed the young Kentuckian; "Deerfoot istoo valuable to be sacrificed."
The savage, who was climbing, did so with great care. Now a beadedmoccasin would twinkle alongside the trunk, whisking out of sightlike a frolicking squirrel; then a red feather flashed to sight andaway again, the broad, painted face peeped from behind the tree,while glimpses of the clothing here and there showed the rate withwhich the warrior went upward.
Deerfoot must have seen the savage at the moment he began ascendingthe trunk, and could not fail to know his purpose. It wasall-important that the dangerous individual should be "attended to,"and, observing that his friends were too much absorbed in watchinghis movements to remember their own peril, the friendly Shawanoe didnot hesitate to take the frightful risk upon himself.
It may be said that it would be utterly impossible for him todischarge his gun from the elevation without the other warriorsdiscovering the fact, though one or two might suspect the weapon wasfired within the enclosure; yet it was characteristic of the youththat, when the necessity presented itself, he did not hesitate.
But Jack Carleton's presence of mind came to his assistance. Hebegan such vigorous gestures that the attention of Deerfoot wascaught; without lowering his gun, he glanced downward. He saw Jackshaking his head from side to side, swinging his hand back and forthand darting his finger excitedly at the tree on the other side ofthe fort.
The quick-witted Shawanoe caught his meaning, and took his gun fromhis shoulder. Again he pushed the bushes aside, so that his facecame to view, and, looking down on his friends, smiled, nodded, andmade several gestures toward the other redskin, who was stillcautiously climbing the tree. Then the curtain was drawn again, andDeerfoot assumed the part of spectator instead of actor.
It is almost incredible that this performance could have taken placewithout detection from below; but it came about that, while it wasgoing on, the attention of the red men was occupied by anotheroccurrence which will be told at the proper time. The only ones whoshowed any interest in Deerfoot and his enemy, steadily making hisway aloft, were the boys within the enclosure.
Accepting the lesson, Jack told Otto in a low voice to keep theclosest watch on all the tree-tops within sight, for it seemedlikely that still more of their enemies would resort to the samestrategy.
"Let there be no mistake about this," he said to his companion; "ifyou catch sight of any one else, give him a shot, but I'm to settlethe question with this particular gentleman."
"Dot ish all right," assented Otto; "dot ish, it will be all rightif he ain't all wrong when you hits him."
Jack Carleton made no reply. He was standing with his left footthrown slightly forward, his rifle, at his right shoulder, his headinclined and his left eye, closed. He was following the movementsof the Miami (as he judged him to be), who was seeking a perch fromwhich to fire down on the defenders of the primitive fort.
It would have been the easiest thing in the world for our friends toplace themselves beyond danger from that particular warrior; theyhad only to step a little nearer the eastern wall, when it wouldintervene between them and the savage; but Jack grasped thesituation well enough to understand the advantage of impressingtheir assailants with the danger of any kind of attack. If thedefenders should busy themselves with dodging the aim of their foes,the trees were likely to swarm with them, and it would becomeimpossible to elude their aim.
As before, the climbing Miami afforded occasional glimpses ofhimself. Now a moccasin, then a hand, his gun, the blackhorse-hair-like covering for his crown, with the painted eaglefeathers, then an instant gleam of the eyes, and then nothing atall.
Remembering that a wound would be as effective its death itself,Jack coolly waited the opportune moment. Suddenly he saw the rifle,arm and shoulder of the warrior, as he flung them partly over a limbto help draw himself upward. Without a second's delay the youthfired, his view being much less obstructed than was the care withhis friend in the other tree.
An ear-splitting screech broke the stillness, and the wounded Miamicame tumbling downward as though every possible support had givenway beneath him. To the watchful lads it looked as if he strucknothing at all in his descent, but fell with the swiftness of acannon-ball, until the intervening logs shut him from sight.
"I dinks some dings dropped," said Otto, with a grin; "mebbe hedon't try to fool us some more agin, don't it?"
Jack made no comment, but, as was his rule, reloaded his gun withutmost haste, dreading all the time a rush from their enemies. Itmay be set down as singular that something of the kind did not takeplace, since the assailants must have known it could not fail to beeffective.
The sagacious Deerfoot seemed to believe that his position was nolonger tenable, for, in
stead of staying where he was, he begandescending, apparently in panic of fear, lest he should share thefate of the other red man. So far as he could, he kept the trunk ofthe tree between him and the youthful marksmen until beyond alldanger of being harmed.
Jack saw just enough of the movement to understand its meaning, andhe smiled grimly.
"After doing what you have done, you ought to take the part ofleader and draw off the warriors."
The young Kentuckian stood near the middle of the enclosure glancingupward in different directions while reloading his piece, for heunderstood too well the necessity of unremitting vigilance wheneverthe American Indian takes a hand in proceedings.
Otto was not behind him in that respect. He walked softly aroundthe fort close to the walls, attentively listening for sounds thatwould give some knowledge of what was going on outside. Atintervals he stopped and with his knife gouged the wood, where itseemed thinner than usual, but in every case found the thickness toogreat to be pierced.
Just beneath the spot where the butt of the tree rested on the upperedge of the wall, he stopped Once more and pressed his ear againstthe logs. He stood fully a minute, when, without moving his head,he looked sideways at his friend, who was watching him. Theexpression of his face was so significant that Jack knew he had madea discovery of importance.
"What is it?" he asked.
Otto motioned for him to keep quiet. Jack stepped forward in frontof him.
As Otto was looked at him without speaking, he also pressed his earagainst the logs, with a view of learning what was going on.
Every one knows that wood is a good conductor of sound, and, thoughin this case there were several layers of logs through which thenoise passed, the second listener at once suspected the truth.
The scratching of the bark indicated that some one was carefullyclimbing up the inclined tree.
"That is to be their next move," muttered. Jack, hastily steppingback to the centre of the space; "if they make a rush over thatbridge they will be down in a twinkling--"
Otto kept his position, with his ear still glued to the logs, andnot yet certain what the noise meant.
Just as Jack looked upward he saw, to his amazement, the head andfront of the huge black bear coming up the inclined tree with theintent purpose of entering the interior. It instantly occurred tothe youth that it was the same daring bruin that came so nearattacking them a short while before.
He has used this place as his den and means to return to it; theIndians have seen him prowling around, and placed the tree so as totemp him to climb upward on it.
The beast advanced until he could look downward on the couple, andthen, gazing only a second or two, he backed out of sight anddropped to the ground with a strange, chuckling growl.
At the same instant a feeling of unutterable chagrin came over thelad who witnessed the maneuver, for, just a breath too late, hecomprehended the shrewd trick by which he had been outwitted.Confused by the unexpected sight, he failed to note that thecreature was not a bear at all, but a Shawanoe warrior skillfullydisguised as much.
With the skin of one of the beasts gathered over his head andshoulders, he had made his way up the support, peered at thedefenders, and then withdrawn before the watchful Jack could tumblehim to the earth with the bullet that would have pierced his bodyhad five seconds more been given in which to aim and fire.