we reached the gap, and made slantwise across the farther hill. i did not dare to go clown clearwater glen, and, besides, i was aiming for a point farther south than the rappahannock. in my wanderings with shalah i had got a pretty good idea of the lie of the mountains on their eastern side, and i had remarked a long ridge which flung itself like a cape far into the lowlands. if we could leave the hills by this, i thought we might strike the stream called the north fork, which would bring us in time to the neighbourhood of frew's dwelling. the ridges were our only safe path, for they were thickly overgrown with woods, and the indian bands were less likely to choose them for a route. the danger was in the glens, where the trees were sparser and the broad stretches of meadow made better going for horses.
the movement of my legs made me pluck up heart. i was embarked at any rate in a venture, and had got rid of my desperate indecision. the two of us held close together, and chose the duskiest thickets, crawling belly-wise over the little clear patches and avoiding the crown of the ridge like the plague. the weather helped us, for the skies hung grey and low, with wisps of vapour curling among the trees. the glens were pits of mist, and my only guide was my recollection of what i had seen, and the easterly course of the streams.
by midday we had mounted to the crest of a long scarp which fell away in a narrow and broken promontory towards the plains. so far we had seen nothing to give us pause, and the only risk lay in some indian finding and following our trail. we lay close in a scrubby wood, and rested for a little, while we ate some food. everything around us dripped with moisture, and i could have wrung pints from my coat and breeches.
"oh for the dry tortugas!" ringan sighed. "what i would give for a hot sun and the kindly winds o' the sea! i thought i pined for the hills, andrew, but i would not give a clean beach and a warm sou'-wester for all the mountains on earth."
then again: "yon's a fine lass," he would say.
i did not reply, for i had no heart to speak of what i had left behind.
"cheer up, young one," he cried. "there was more lost at flodden. a gentleman-adventurer must live by the hour, and it's surprising how fortune favours them that trust her. there was a man i mind, in breadalbane…." and here he would tell some tale of how light came out of black darkness for the trusting heart.
"man, ringan," i said, "i see your kindly purpose. but tell me, did ever you hear of such a tangle as ours being straightened out?
"why, yes," he said. "i've been in worse myself, and here i am. i have been in a cell at cartagena, chained to a man that had died of the plague, with the gallows preparing for me at cock-crow. but in the night some friends o' mine came into the bay, and i had the solemn joy of stepping out of yon cell over the corp of the almirante. i've been mad with fever, and jumped into the palmas river among the alligators, and not one of them touched me, though i was swimming about crying that the water was burning oil. and then a lad in a boat gave me a clout on the head that knocked the daftness out of me, and in a week i was marching on my own deck, with my bonnet cocked like a king's captain. i've been set by my unfriends on a rock in the florida keys, with a keg of dirty water and a bunch of figs, and the sun like to melt my brains, and two bullet holes in my thigh. but i came out of the pickle, and lived to make the men that put me there sorry they had been born. ay, and i've seen my grave dug, and my dead clothes ready, and in a week i was making napkins out of them. there's a wonderful kindness in providence to mettled folk."
"ay, ringan, but that was only the risk of your own neck. i think i could endure that. but was there ever another you liked far better than yourself, that you had to see in deadly peril?"
"no. i'll be honest with you, there never was. i grant you that's the hardest thing to thole. but you'll keep a stiff lip even to that, seeing you are the braver of the two of us."
at that i cried out in expostulation, but ringan was firm.
"ay, the braver by far, and i'll say it again. i'm a man of the dancing blood, with a rare appetite for frays and forays. you are the sedate soul that would be happier at home in the chimney corner. and yet you are the most determined of the lot of us, though you have no pleasure in it. why? just because you are the bravest. you can force yourself to a job when flesh and spirit cry out against it. i let no man alive cry down my courage, but i say freely that it's not to be evened with yours."
i was not feeling very courageous. as we sped along the ridge in the afternoon i seemed to myself like a midge lost in a monstrous net. the dank, dripping trees and the misty hills seemed to muffle and deaden the world. i could not believe that they ever would end; that anywhere there was a clear sky and open country. and i had always the feeling that in those banks of vapour lurked deadly enemies who any moment might steal out and encompass us.
but about four o'clock the weather lightened, and from the cock's-comb on which we moved we looked down into the lower glens. i saw that we had left the main flanks of the range behind us, and were now fairly on a cape which jutted out beyond the other ridges. it behoved us now to go warily, and where the thickets grew thin we moved like hunters, in every hollow and crack that could shelter a man. ringan led, and led well, for he had not stalked the red deer on the braes of breadalbane for nothing. but no sign of life appeared in the green hollows on either hand, neither in the meadow spaces nor by the creeks of the growing streams. the world was dead silent; not even a bird showed in the whole firmament.
lower and lower we went, till the end of the ridge was before us, a slope which melted into the river plains. a single shaft of bright sunshine broke from the clouds behind us, and showed the tumbled country of low downs and shallow vales which stretched to the tidewater border. i had a momentary gleam of hope, as sudden and transient as that ray of light. we were almost out of the hills, and, that accomplished, we were most likely free of the indian forces that gathered there. i had come to share the rappahannock men's opinion about the cherokees. if we could escape the strange tribes from the west, i looked for no trouble at the hands of those common raiders.
the thicket ended with the ridge, and there was a quarter-mile of broken meadow before the forest began. it was a queer place, that patch of green grass set like an arena for an audience on the mountain side. a fine stream ran through it, coming down the glen on our right, and falling afterwards into a dark, woody ravine. i mistrusted the look of it, for there was no cover, and 'twas in full view of the whole flanks of the hills.
ringan, too, was disturbed. "twould be wiser like to wait for darkness before trying that bit," he said. "we'll be terrible kenspeckle to the gentry we ken of."
but i would not hear of delay. now that we were all but out of the hills i was mad to get forward. i thought foolishly that every minute we delayed there we increased our peril, and i longed for the covering of the lowland forest. besides, i thought that by using some of the crinkles in the meadow we could be sheltered from any eyes on the slopes.
ringan poked his head out of the covert and took a long gaze. "the place seems empty enough, but i cannot like it. have you your pistols handy, andrew? i see what looks like an indian track, and if we were to meet a brave or two, it would be a pity to let them betray us."
i looked at my pistols to see if the damp woods had spoiled the priming.
"well, here's for fortune," said ringan, and we scrambled off the ridge, and plunged into the lush grasses of the meadow.
had we kept our heads and crossed as prudently as we had made the morning's journey, all might have been well. but a madcap haste seemed to possess us. we tore through the herbage as if we had been running a race in the yard of a peaceful manor. the stream stayed us a little, for it could not be forded without a wetting, and i went in up to the waist. as we scrambled up the far bank some impulse made me turn my head.
there, coming down the water, was a band of indians.
they were still some distance off, but they saw us, and put their horses to the gallop. i cried to ringan to run for the shelter of the woods, for in the open we were at their mercy. he cast one glance over his shoulder, and set a pace which came near to foundering me.
we got what we wanted earlier than we had hoped. the woods in front rose in a high bluff, and down a little ravine a burn trickled. the sides were too steep and matted for horses to travel, and he who stood in the ravine had his back and flanks defended.
"now for a fight, andrew lad," cried ringan, his eyes dancing. "stick you to the pistols, and i'll show them something in the way of sword-play."
the indians wheeled up to the edge of the ravine, and i saw to my joy that they did not carry bows.
one had a musket, but it looked as if he had no powder left, for it swung idly on his back. they had tomahawks at their belts and long shining knives with deerhorn handles. i only got a glimpse of them, but 'twas enough to show me they were of that western nation that i dreaded.
they were gone in an instant.
"that looks bad for us, andrew," ringan said. "if they had come down on us yelling for our scalps, we would have had a merry meeting. but they're either gone to bring their friends or they're trying to take us in the back. i'll guard the front, and you keep your eyes on the hinder parts, though a jackdaw could scarcely win over these craigs."
a sudden burst of sun came out, while ringan and i waited uneasily. the great blue roll of mountain we had left was lit below the mist with a glory of emerald and gold. ringan was whistling softly through his teeth, while i scanned the half moon of rock and matted vines which made our shelter. there was no sound in the air but the tap of a woodpecker and the trickling of the little runlets from the wet sides.
the mind in a close watch falls under a spell, so that while the senses are alert the thoughts are apt to wander. as i have said before, i have the sharpest sight, and as i watched a point of rock it seemed to move ever so slightly. i rubbed my eyes and thought it fancy, and a sudden noise above made me turn my head. it was only a bird, and as i looked again at the rock it seemed as if a spray of vine had blown athwart it, which was not there before. i gazed intently, and, following the spray into the shadow, i saw something liquid and mottled like a toad's skin. as i stared it flickered and shimmered. 'twas only the light on a wet leaf, i told myself; but surely it had not been there before. a sudden suspicion seized me, and i lifted my pistol and fired.
there was a shudder in the thicket, and an indian, shot through the head, rolled into the burn.
at the sound i heard ringan cry out, and there came a great war-whoop from the mouth of the ravine. i gave one look, and then turned to my own business, for as the dead man fell another leaped from the matted cliffs.
my second pistol missed fire. in crossing the stream i must have damped the priming.
what happened next is all confusion in my mind. i dodged the fall of the knife, and struck hard with my pistol butt at the uplifted arm. i felt no fear, only intense anger at my folly in not having looked better to my priming. but the shock of the man's charge upset me, and the next i knew of it we were wrestling on the ground.
i had his right arm by the wrist, but i was no match for him in suppleness, and in the position in which we lay i could not use the weight of my shoulders. the most i could do was to keep him from striking, and to effect that my strength was stretched to its uttermost. my eyes filmed with weariness, and my breath came in gasps, for, remember, i had been up all night, and that day had already travelled many miles. i remember yet the sickly smell of his greasy skin and the red hate of his eyes. as we struggled i could see ringan holding the mouth of the ravine with his sword. one of his foes he had shot, and the best blade in the five seas was now engaged with three indian knives. i heard his happy whistling, and a grunt now and then from a wounded foe. he had enough to do, and could give me no aid. and as i realized this i felt the grip of my arms growing slacker, and knew that in a second or two i should feel that long indian steel.
i made a desperate effort, and swung round so that i got my left shoulder on his knife arm. that brought my right shoulder close to his mouth, and he bit me to the bone. the wound did me good, for it maddened me, and i got a knee loose, and forced it into his loins. for a moment i dreamed of victory, but i had not counted on the wiles of a savage. he lay quite limp for a second, and, as i relaxed my effort a little, seized the occasion to slip from beneath me and let me roll into the burn. the next instant he was above me, and i saw the knife against the sky.
i thought that all was over. he pushed back his hair from his eyes, and the steel quivered. and then something thrust between me and the point, there was a leap and a shudder, and i was gazing at emptiness.
i lay gazing, for i seemed bereft of wits. then a voice cried, "are you hurt, andrew?" and i got to my feet.
my enemy lay in the pool of the burn, with a hole through his throat from ringan's sword. a little farther off lay the savage i had shot. at the mouth of the ravine lay three dead indians. the last of the six must have fled.
ringan had sheathed his blade, and was looking at me with a queer smile on his face.
"yon was a merry bout, andrew," he said, and his voice sounded very far away. then he swayed into my arms, and i saw that his vest was dark with blood.
"what is it?" i cried in wild fear. "are you hurt, ringan?" i laid him on a bed of moss, and opened his shirt. in his breast was a gaping wound from which the bright blood was welling.
he lay with his eyes closed while i strove to stanch the flow. then he choked, and as i raised his head there came a gush of blood from his lips.
"that man of yours…." he whispered. "i got his knife before he got my sword…. i doubt it went deep…."
"o ringan," i cried, "it's me that's to blame. you got it trying to save me. you're not going to leave me, ringan?"
he was easier now, and the first torrent of blood had subsided. but his breath laboured, and there was pain in his eyes.
"i've got my call," he said faintly. "who would have thought that ninian campbell would meet his death from an indian shabble? they'll no believe it at tortuga. still and on…."
i brought him water in my hat, and for a moment he breathed freely. he motioned me to put my ear close.
"you'll send word to the folk in breadalbane…. just say that i came by an honest end…. cheer up, lad. you'll live to see happy days yet…. but keep mind of me, andrew…. man, i liked you well, and would have been blithe to keep you company a bit longer…."
i was crying like a child. there was a little gold charm on a cord round his neck, now dyed with his blood. he motioned me to look at it.
"give it to the lass," he whispered. "i had once a lass like yon, and i aye wore it for her sake. i've had a roving life, with many ill deeds in it, but doubtless the almighty will make allowances. can you say a bit prayer, andrew?"
as well as i could, i repeated that psalm i had said over the graves by the rapidan. he looked at me with eyes as clear and honest as a child's.
"'in death's dark vale i will fear no ill,'" he repeated after me. "that minds me of lang syne. i never feared muckle on earth, and i'll not begin now."
i saw that the end was very near. the pain had gone, and there was a queer innocence in his lean face. his eyes shut and opened again, and each time the light was dimmer.
suddenly he lifted himself. "the horn of diarmaid has sounded," he cried, and dropped back in my arms.
that was the last word he spoke.
i watched by him till the dark fell, and long after. then as the moon rose i bestirred myself, and looked for a place of burial. i would not have him lie in that narrow ravine, so i carried him into the meadow, and found a hole which some wild beast had deserted. painfully and slowly with my knife i made it into a shallow grave, where i laid him, with some boulders above. then i think i flung myself on the earth and wept my fill. i had lost my best of friends, and the ache of regret and loneliness was too bitter to bear. i asked for nothing better than to join him soon on the other side.
after a while i forced myself to rise. he had praised my courage that very day, and if i was to be true to him i must be true to my trust. i told myself that ringan would never have countenanced this idle grief. i girt on his sword, and hung the gold charm round my neck. then i took my bearings as well as i could, re-loaded my pistols, and marched into the woods, keeping to the course of the little river.
as i went i remember that always a little ahead i seemed to hear the merry lilt of ringan's whistling.
