CHAPTER XVIII
On the Defensive
A strange silence had fallen upon attackers and attacked, once theformer had leaped from their sleighs and had begun to race across thesnow-covered surface of the lake. Not a sound broke from them, thoughnow and then there was a whimper from one of the dogs in the teamsattached to the sleighs; and neither Hank nor Joe or Beaver Jack somuch as uttered a syllable. Perhaps if they had leaped to the summitof the wall they had built, and had shouted and thrown threats at theenemy, it would have had the effect of spurring the latter on; foropposition in any shape or form is apt to stimulate men to courage andexertion, but silence depresses. The attackers seemed to lose heartrapidly; then, as one stopped doubtfully, his comrades slowly copiedhis example. Thereupon a burly figure turned upon them angrily.
"Forward!" he shouted almost incoherently. "Why stop here? The foolscan kill you now as easily as they could if you were closer. Forward!"
"Give 'em a sight of the dummies we've rigged up," whispered Hank atonce. "Jest show the tops o' their heads over the wall; I'll lie hereand give 'em a shot ef they want to come closer."
He spread himself face downward on the snow and pushed his riflethrough one of the apertures which Joe had left. Meanwhile our heroand the Redskin each took one of the dummies which the cunning littletrapper had manufactured during his hours of watching, and slowlyraised that part which was supposed to be the head over the summit ofthe wall. Crouching as low as possible themselves, they moved thedummies slowly to and fro; for they were some three yards from oneanother. At once there came a loud shout from the open, and, staringout through the aperture, Hank saw the same burly figure which he hadobserved before dashing to and fro haranguing his following; but movethem he could not.
A DEFENCE AGAINST ODDS]
"What? You won't come on?" the three defenders heard him bellow."Never did I meet such cowards! Look at the men we've come for. Fire!"
They could do that even if they would not advance, and in a twinklingthe seven half-breeds had thrown themselves into all sorts ofattitudes, and were busy with their weapons. There came an irregularvolley, while the narrow, elongated bullet of the modern weapon, thelarger, squat missile of the rifle somewhat out of date, and even thehuge round leaden ball discharged by a smoothbore came hurtling aboutthe fort. Joe heard again the zip-zip of rapidly-travelling bodiescutting their way through a maze of branches, he felt the hail ofdebris as it fell, while within a foot or more of his head he listenedto the dull thud of a bullet striking the hard-frozen wall, and heardthe queer ripping sound it made as it forced a way through and sped onacross the fort to the far wall. Then there was a pause, during whichthere was deathly silence.
"I ain't in no hurry to fire," said Hank, in low tones, grinning up athis companions, "and I'll tell you for why. Shouts and firing andsichlike would make them critters come on; silence gives 'em the hump.In any case, they ain't bustin' with pluck, and never did I see menshow less dash when attackin'. Say, Joe, ain't I heard that voicebefore? Seems as ef I ought to know it."
Before he could receive an answer, the burly man was again addressinghis men, strutting up and down before them; for though his orders hadbeen that they should divide and approach the island from every pointof the compass, the half-breeds lacking courage had held together, asif the companionship of their fellows helped to hearten them.
"Forward!" Joe heard the command given. "You can see where they arenow. They've rigged up a wall, and any one of us can hop over it in atwinkling. Now, all together!"
But his orders went unheeded. Instead, a second volley spluttered downthe irregular line, while once again a variety of shots swept againstthe fort. Joe could see Beaver Jack's penetrating eyes twinkling. Heeven fancied there was a smile on those lips which were always soimpassive. In any case, the Redskin pointed overhead to the dummy heheld and nodded.
"Fine shooting," he murmured. "Send bullet right through the head;glad Beaver Jack not up there."
Then Hank repeated his question.
"Queer, ain't it, Joe? I'd swear I'd met that chap before. But----"
"I believe--" began our hero doubtfully, "but it can't be."
"Can't be? There's nothing that can't be 'way out here after what'shappened. I tell you, man and boy I've tracked the backwoods, andnever once have I been set on like this. I've heard o' ructions, incourse, but always near the forts and stations, or in the settlements.But right out in the wilds like this--never! I'll eat my boots efthese here critters ain't been set on us. Seems to me that ef we couldget a hold on that big chap as seems to lead 'em, and could make himtalk, there's a heap he could tell us. Who is he, anyway?"
"Hurley!" exclaimed Joe.
"Eh? What? Hurley? That durned murderer! Shucks, lad, that's tootall for anything!"
"I'm dead sure. Hurley's tall; Hurley's a big man; Hurley's voice isthe same as that."
"But--" interrupted Hank hoarsely, keeping his eyes all the while onthe enemy, "but, grant you the voice is the same--now that you've saidit, I 'low that that aer Hurley's voice--he'd be mad to follow likethis. There's a string always round his neck, and he ain't likely tocome close to the men who know it. It ain't reasonable. Why, we couldhang the scoundrel any day we set hands on him!"
"True enough," agreed Joe, "but--wait, they're moving. That rascal isgetting them to their feet; we'd better be ready for trouble."
Joe had managed to squat down close to one of the openings, and as heconversed with Hank had wriggled himself into a position which enabledhim to look out. Everything outside on the moonlit snow was visible.Indeed, the white background showed up every detail, though, as ithappened that the enemy had their backs to the moon, their featureswere indistinguishable. But features are of no account when bulletsare flying, or when an attack is about to be launched. The enemy hadgathered into a bunch, in spite of the shouts of their leader, and now,fortified by even closer companionship, and goaded by the burly brutewho stood at their head, they poured in another volley, then, trailingtheir weapons, dashed toward the fort. Joe jerked his dummy on to thetop of the wall and left it there; then his hand sought for his rifle,and in a trice he had the muzzle grinning at the enemy. He jerked backthe bolt--for he always kept the weapon at safety--took a rapid aim atone of the charging figures, and pulled the trigger. To his amazement,the man at whom he aimed doubled up into a neat round ball and,tumbling on the snow, rolled rapidly forward. But it was not for long.He straightened himself suddenly, stood erect, and then threw his armsoverhead. A penetrating shriek came from him, and a moment later hebounded into the air and fell face downward. Hank's rifle spat forth abullet in the interval and sent a second man rocking from side to side.Long before Beaver Jack could get to one of the apertures, or Hank pushin a fresh cartridge, the enemy were in wild retreat, separating widelyand racing away as fast as their snowshoes would take them. As forJoe, numbed fingers do not readily operate the bolt of even a modernweapon, while, for the same reason, cartridges are hard to grip; sothat he had not even reloaded. But numbed fingers were not the onlyreason for such delay; he was watching the man at whom he had fired. Afeeling of elation possessed him for one brief second as the rascaldoubled up and rolled forward, and then one of terror, of keen remorse.
"I--I killed him," he cried, a waver in his voice.
Hank looked up quickly, his lips moving.
"Eh?" he asked shortly.
"I killed him," declared Joe again, almost plaintively.
"Ah, so you did, young 'un, and a mighty fine shot it war. But youain't going to tell me that you're sorry? In course in a way one issorry when one wipes a critter out, but----"
"It's awful!" groaned Joe, huge depression upon him.
Hank scrambled to his feet, dragged our hero to his, and took him awayfrom the wall where the moon's rays fell brightly upon both of them.
"See here," he cried angrily, though those who knew the little man bestwould have declared that his anger was artificial,
"see here, youngfeller; am I less valuable to you than that 'ere cuss? Eh? You ain'tgot an answer. You don't seem to reckon that ef you wasn't to shoot,the critter would come right in and kill me or you. Ef it's like that,and you value him higher, why, I'm for moving."
Very slowly he began to clamber on to the top of the wall. He droppedhis legs over to the far side, and seemed to be in the act of departingfrom the fort. Then Joe came to his senses; he caught the littletrapper by the fringed sleeve and dragged him back. Indeed, using hisstrength and height, he gripped the little man and lifted him bodily.He was smiling when Hank at length broke free.
"It's over," he said; "I'm sorry."
"No harm done, lad," came the hearty answer. "No one was ever the wussfor havin' a soft heart. But this here aer war, war to the knife, and,what's more, that aer Hurley. Would a skunk same as him leave us aliveef the call was with him? Huh!"
That was the most expressive sound he could make. It betokened theutmost scorn; it showed Hank when most emphatic.
"It aer Hurley, fer sure," he declared. "But why? Aer he mad?"
"Not mad, but hoping to make something out of us or out of me," saidJoe. "At least that is the idea I have, though it seems to be stupid,and there is no apparent reason for my saying so. But what does itmatter what the cause of the attack may be? It's Hurley."
"Dead sartin--the skunk!" growled Hank.
"And he means business."
"He aer goin' to wipe the hull lot of us out ef he's able. But he aercome up agin a crowd that's got its dander up, so I tells him. He aeryet to larn what backwoods chaps and others kin do. Next time I makesa particular point o' puttin' my sights on him, and ef I get thechance, I'll roll him over. Let's see what they're doing."
For the next ten minutes the trio sat on the summit of the wall in thefull glare of the moonlight, for there was now no object inconcealment, and watched the enemy. They had retired as far as theirsleighs, and it looked for a little while as if they were about tomount and drive away. But the burly figure of the rascal who ledthem--now admittedly Hurley, the murderer, the escapedcriminal--tramped up and down near them, and though only a faintwhisper of his voice could be heard every now and again, when the windbore it in the direction of the island, it was perfectly evident thathe was again using all his persuasive eloquence to induce his followersto repeat the attack. They saw him swing round more than once andpoint towards the fort. They watched as the enemy actually advancedagain; but a shot from Hank surging between them seemed to put theircourage to flight, for they went again to the sledges. Then there wasa different scene.
"Threatening them," remarked Joe. "Hurley is shaking his fist at us,and pointing his gun at his own people. I begin to believe that weshall win out all right. Say, Hank, how many men can go on a sleigh asa rule?"
"Depends on the teams, lad. Some'll have only a small team, and thenone man are a load; some'll take four, same as those, and move sharpishover the snow. Then agin, it depends a heap on the ground. Ef it'ssmooth and level, the work aer easy; ef there's a hill, folks has todismount; and ef there's a thaw--shucks! you can't get along nohow."
"But just now, after the 'silver thaw' we've had, the snow isbeautifully hard, and if those beggars went the opposite way, the waywe'd go if we were making back towards the Fennicks, they'd move."
"Fly," came crisply from the hunter. "It aer a trifle downhill, andsince this keen frost set in, the snow aer hard and smooth. Yes,they'd fly. But don't you reckon on that; Hurley'll work themhalf-breeds up to attack again. They'll wait perhaps till morning, ortill it's darker. It'll be that any time now, and I ain't so certainthat we ain't in for a little snow. It won't be much, anyway, forthere's only a few clouds about; but the wind's got up a little, andclouds have come into sight that wasn't there when we came to theisland."
"Ah!" Joe gave vent to the short expression in such a tone of voicethat Hank stared at him. It was just as if he had said "Thanksawfully; you've just given me the information I wanted."
"What's that?" demanded the hunter.
"Nothing," answered Joe briskly.
"You ain't goin' to flummox me! You was thinkin' something jest then;you're up to some game and ain't let on yet."
The little fellow was gifted with wonderful intelligence, and picked upJoe's unspoken thoughts with the same intuition with which he wouldhave ferreted out the tracks of an enemy, or guessed at their possiblemovements. He shook Joe angrily, staring into his face.
"What aer it?" he demanded. "This ain't the time for playing games.But I guess you've something at the back of that head of yours. Now,I've caught you out---what's the move?"
Joe told him in a very few words; for he had of a sudden come to thedetermination to move against the enemy.
"I'm going to do a little bit of scouting, Hank," he said. "I'm goingacross to their camp to see what's happening. What I want to know isthis: will those dogs they have set up a racket and fly at me?"
"You bet! In course they will. Only there's snow everywhere now, andef you're careful--and I've larned ye to be--then you'd be able tomanage without rousing the critters."
"And if I took a hunk of meat with me I might manage to quiet them inany case, eh?" asked our hero.
"Might, mightn't; can't say. Jest a toss up--what then?"
"That's telling," smiled Joe. "But you and Beaver Jack be ready. Ifyou see a sleigh coming along quick, with one man aboard it, put itdown that it's me. I'm going to make a move to get possession of oneof them, and once I have got it, why, we'll make tracks for theFennicks."
The little hunter regarded his pupil in open-mouthed amazement. Hestepped a pace away, held Joe at arm's length, then brought one handwith a bang down on to his shoulder; only, as this young friend of hishad grown so prodigiously of late, Hank had to stand on tiptoe.
"Of all the mad ideas that ever was, this is it!" he cried. "But itaer fine, and I'll say more, it aer the only way to pull us out of thisbusiness, mad though it does appear. Ef you hadn't wanted to go, I'dhave gone. But you suggested, and so you shall make the attempt. Andef they spot you, jest run for your life out on to the lake. BeaverJack and me'll follow you across and build up a bit of a breastworkclose by the shore. That'll give us a sorter place to hold 'em from,and there you could join us. If you succeed, why, off we goes, incourse; and, now that I thinks of it more, ef you ain't too proud, I'dlike to come with you. Why? I'll tell you. The dogs are bound to bea bother. You ain't never handled the critters, while I have, many atime, and dogs, like hosses, soon gets to know when they're dealingwith a green 'un. How's that?"
"Agreed!" cried Joe, delighted to have a companion. "Ask Jack what hethinks of the affair."
Half an hour later there was quite a stir amongst the garrison of theisland, for the enemy had disappeared, having returned downheartened totheir own encampment. Beaver Jack and Joe were bearing along betweenthem the light sleigh upon which the Redskin's pelts were stacked, andon which their own traps would find a place. They lifted it to the topof the wall they had built and, leaping to the outside, lowered itcarefully. Hank then handed down rifles and ammunition, the former ofwhich they slung over their shoulders.
"If the wust comes to the wust, we makes back here agin," he said. "Itaer been a proper tight little island; now we kin move. Them cloudshas smothered the moon nicely, and it aer snowing enough to hide a manat fifty yards. Guess we'll cross, throw up a wall of snow, making asorter nest in case we want it, and then get away on to the camp themhalf-breeds is occupying."
He took the end of the tow-rope, while Beaver Jack went immediatelybehind him. Joe fell in in rear, and in that order they strode onacross the snow towards the shore which harboured the enemy. Theyhalted once to listen, for a dog had yelped. But as the sound was notrepeated, they pressed on again, and were soon at the point where iceand solid earth met beneath the all-pervading mantle of snow.
"This'll do," said Hank shortly. "Slip off yer snowshoes and rake thesnow up
from a central point; that'll leave a deep little hole toshelter us. See here, Beaver Jack, you keep a bright eye open for us.Ef we comes bowling along on a sleigh, get a hold of that sleigh ropeof yours, leap aboard us, and make fast. Ef we comes runnin' out, jestsee that you shoot at them critters who'll be follerin' and not at us."
That was his farewell to the Redskin. He and Joe helped to erect thewall of snow, and then, leaving Beaver Jack to complete the task,strode on again towards the camp which they had vacated for the benefitof the enemy. Under one arm the little hunter carried a ball of snow,which seemed somewhat curious and unnecessary, especially consideringthe fact that the ground was thickly covered with the same material.But within the snow there was something of greater value.
"It's that chunk o' meat," Hank had explained, when he first producedhis burden. "I set it over the fire till it was wellnigh cooked andthe frost driven out of it altogether. Then I cut it into pieces,packed them close in a piece of skin from one o' the beasts we shot,and wrapped the whole again in snow, which'll help to keep the heat inand the cold out. Sounds rummy, don't it? But it'll work handsome."
"Now, young chap," he whispered, when he and our hero had parted fromthe Redskin and were within three hundred yards of the enemy, "we'vegot to decide how we'll work this business. How's it to be?"
"You take the dogs," said Joe at once. "I'll tackle Hurley."
"But--but you ain't going to kick up a rumpus with him, surely!"exclaimed Hank, sinking his voice till it was almost inaudible, andalmost hissing the words. "It aer the sleigh we want, two of 'em ef wecould manage it, though that ain't possible. Ef we get away with one,only four of the critters can follow, and what's four after so many?You ain't after Hurley?"
He was answered by a vigorous shake of the head. "No, I don't want anystruggle; I wouldn't shoot the fellow if I had the opportunity."
"Wouldn't ye? Then I would, me lad. It aer human nature to look tonumber one fust. When a man murders, and aer wanted by the hangman,when he begins trying his best to murder others, then's the time ferhim to go under. Hurley has my bullet fust time I kin look straightalong the barrel. But what aer you after?"
"I don't know. I want to see what he's doing. I want to find out ifhe has that envelope he stole from me so many months ago now."
Hank's head shot up quickly. He was a man with such a vast experienceof life, and had encountered so many strange happenings, that he wasnot inclined to think a thing impossible till he had proved it to beso. There was that envelope, to be sure. Joe had often spoken aboutit. He had told Hank the whole story, how there was something withinthe envelope which he could have read had he chosen, though against hisdead father's wishes. The contents, in fact, were for perusal onlywhen he had made good, when he had fought his own battles. And Hankhad been impressed by the recital.
"It aer a queer story," he had said in his quiet little way, "and I'low as the temptation to open that envelope must have been great. Butyour dad war right. Supposing the letter told you of dollars to be hadfor the axing, what would have happened? You'd have stayed back therein England. You'd have lived on the best of the land and become fatand lousy. You wouldn't have had half the fun out of life, for thestruggle to make good aer fun to everyone who's got spirit and pride.'Sides, there's something wuss. This here Hank wouldn't have made youracquaintance.
"Supposing that letter had had something to do with monetary affairs?"The little hunter came to a halt promptly and stared before him. Hewould have whistled but for the proximity of the enemy. Instead, heturned on Joe, and with the snowflakes falling about them gripped himfirmly by the sleeve. "By Jingo," he whispered, "I believe you've gotit! That there Hurley stole the letter. When he was captured he hidit up, for he'd had time to take a look at it. Perhaps he forgot tohide the dollar notes. But in any case, he put the letter away in somesafe place, perhaps in the shack close to that lake where he went intohiding. He'd larned that there was gain to be made by it, ef only hecould get clear of the law. Wall, he slipped off. Those police lethim out of their fingers. He went back for the letter, and then,because you've something to do with it, as of course is sartin, he setsout to find and wipe you out. Huh! It's all in a nutshell. You ain'twanted, young chap. Soon as you're wiped out, Hurley comes in forsomething that's waiting."
Perhaps it was native sagacity again, a strange mixture of intuitionand intelligence, which helped the little hunter. Perhaps also, takingevery point into consideration, it was the most reasonable solution tocome to. Be that as it may, Hank at one effort had fathomed themystery of this unprovoked attack, and at the same time had discoveredthat Joe was most probably rather an important person.
"But you ain't got the dollars yet, not by a long way," he cautioned."We ain't got out of this muss, and Hurley'll do his best to hold us.Now, lad, you aer after that envelope. Wall, see here. Ef it's to behad easy, take it; ef not, leave the thing till another time. For efwe clear out of this with our scalps we'll ride for the nearest fortgarrisoned by the North-west Police, or some station where there'sOntario Police quartered. We'll inform about Hurley, and we'll lead aparty along till the rascal's taken. Life, I guess, aer more valuablethan a letter; so bear that in mind, and hold off ef there's danger."
With their plans thus arranged, the two crept forward, and were soonwithin some fifty yards of the camp. Through the falling snowflakesthey could see the large lean-to in which the half-breeds weresleeping, for the band of desperadoes had thrown themselves downimmediately on returning. The fire at the entrance burned low, and thelight it gave out was feeble. But more issued from a second, blazingsome yards to the left, and illuminating the interior of the otherlean-to.
"The men!" whispered Hank, pointing to the first. "That 'ere critteryonder! It aer up to us now to locate the dogs. H-hish! Here's oneo' them coming."
Joe saw him tear his bundle asunder and extract a piece of flesh. Atthe same moment he became aware of the fact that a huge beast wasslowly crawling toward them.
"Was it actually a dog? No. Yes; that was certain. Then would itsuddenly give tongue and fling itself upon them?"
"H-h-hish!" said Hank, making a curious little clicking sound with histongue. "He's smelt the meat; ef only he'll be quiet, we'll soon havethe others."
A low, almost inaudible growl came from the brute advancing on them.Even in that light Joe could see that its coat was bristling. It wasslinking toward them now on half-bent legs, looking as if it would makea sudden spring when within easy reach of them. The position of thetwo might be described, in fact, as more than a trifle embarrassing.