wanderings on the prairie--a war party--chased byindians--a bold leap for life.
for many days the three hunters wandered overthe trackless prairie in search of a village of thesioux indians, but failed to find one, for the indianswere in the habit of shifting their ground and followingthe buffalo. several times they saw small isolated bandsof indians; but these they carefully avoided, fearingthey might turn out to be war parties, and if they fellinto their hands the white men could not expect civiltreatment, whatever nation the indians might belong to.
during the greater portion of this time they met withnumerous herds of buffalo and deer, and were well suppliedwith food; but they had to cook it during the day,being afraid to light a fire at night while indians wereprowling about.
one night they halted near the bed of a stream whichwas almost dry. they had travelled a day and a nightwithout water, and both men and horses were almostchoking, so that when they saw the trees on the horizonwhich indicated the presence of a stream, they pushedforward with almost frantic haste.
"hope it's not dry," said joe anxiously as they galloped up to it.
"no,there's water, lads," and theydashed forward to a pool that had not yet been driedup. they drank long and eagerly before they noticedthat the pool was strongly impregnated with salt. manystreams in those parts of the prairies are quite salt, butfortunately this one was not utterly undrinkable, thoughit was very unpalatable.
"we'll make it better, lads," said joe, digging a deephole in the sand with his hands, a little below the pool.
in a short time the water filtered through, and thoughnot rendered fresh, it was, nevertheless, much improved.
"we may light a fire to-night, d'ye think?" inquireddick; "we've not seed injuns for some days.""p'r'aps 'twould be better not," said joe; "but i daresaywe're safe enough."a fire was therefore lighted in as sheltered a spot ascould be found, and the three friends bivouacked asusual. towards dawn they were aroused by an angrygrowl from crusoe.
"it's a wolf likely," said dick, but all three seized andcocked their rifles nevertheless.
again crusoe growled more angrily than before, andspringing out of the camp snuffed the breeze anxiously.
"up, lads! catch the nags! there's something in thewind, for the dog niver did that afore."in a few seconds the horses were saddled and thepacks secured.
"call in the dog," whispered joe blunt; "if he barksthey'll find out our whereabouts.""here, crusoe, come--"it was too late; the dog barked loudly and savagelyat the moment, and a troop of indians came coursingover the plain. on hearing the unwonted sound theywheeled directly and made for the camp.
"it's a war party; fly, lads! nothin' 'll save ourscalps now but our horses' heels," cried joe.
in a moment they vaulted into the saddle and urgedtheir steeds forward at the utmost speed. the savagesobserved them, and with an exulting yell dashed afterthem. feeling that there was now no need of concealment,the three horsemen struck off into the open prairie,intending to depend entirely on the speed and staminaof their horses. as we have before remarked, theywere good ones; but the indians soon proved that theywere equally well if not better mounted.
"it'll be a hard run," said joe in a low, mutteringtone, and looking furtively over his shoulder. "thevarmints are mounted on wild horses--leastways theywere wild not long agone. them chaps can throw thelasso and trip a mustang as well as a mexican. mindthe badger-holes, dick.--hold in a bit, henri; yer nagdon't need drivin'; a foot in a hole just now wouldcost us our scalps. keep down by the creek, lads.""ha! how dey yell," said henri in a savage tone,looking back, and shaking his rifle at them, an act thatcaused them to yell more fiercely than ever. "dis oldpack-hoss give me moche trobel."the pace was now tremendous. pursuers and pursuedrose and sank on the prairie billows as they sweptalong, till they came to what is termed a "dividingridge," which is a cross wave, as it were, that cuts theothers in two, thus forming a continuous level. herethey advanced more easily; but the advantage wasequally shared with their pursuers, who continued theheadlong pursuit with occasional yells, which served toshow the fugitives that they at least did not gainground.
a little to the right of the direction in which theywere flying a blue line was seen on the horizon. thisindicated the existence of trees to joe's practised eyes,and feeling that if the horses broke down they couldbetter make a last manful stand in the wood than onthe plain he urged his steed towards it. the savagesnoticed the movement at once, and uttered a yell ofexultation, for they regarded it as an evidence that thefugitives doubted the strength of their horses.
"ye haven't got us yet," muttered joe, with a sardonicgrin. "if they get near us, dick, keep yer eyesopen an' look out for yer neck, else they'll drop a nooseover it, they will, afore ye know they're near, an' haulye off like a sack."dick nodded in reply, but did not speak, for at thatmoment his eye was fixed on a small creek ahead whichthey must necessarily leap or dash across. it waslined with clumps of scattered shrubbery, and heglanced rapidly for the most suitable place to pass.
joe and henri did the same, and having diverged alittle to the different points chosen, they dashed throughthe shrubbery and were hid from each other's view.
on approaching the edge of the stream, dick found tohis consternation that the bank was twenty feet highopposite him, and too wide for any horse to clear.
wheeling aside without checking speed, at the risk ofthrowing his steed, he rode along the margin of thestream for a few hundred yards until he found a ford--atleast such a spot as might be cleared by a boldleap. the temporary check, however, had enabled anindian to gain so close upon his heels that his exultingyell sounded close in his ear.
with a vigorous bound his gallant little horse wentover. crusoe could not take it, but he rushed downthe one bank and up the other, so that he only lost afew yards. these few yards, however, were sufficientto bring the indian close upon him as he cleared thestream at full gallop. the savage whirled his lassoswiftly round for a second, and in another momentcrusoe uttered a tremendous roar as he was tripped upviolently on the plain.
dick heard the cry of his faithful dog, and turnedquickly round, just in time to see him spring at thehorse's throat, and bring both steed and rider downupon him. dick's heart leaped to his throat. had athousand savages been rushing on him he would haveflown to the rescue of his favourite; but an unexpectedobstacle came in the way. his fiery little steed, excitedby the headlong race and the howls of the indians,had taken the bit in his teeth and was now unmanageable.
dick tore at the reins like a maniac, and in theheight of his frenzy even raised the butt of his rifle withthe intent to strike the poor horse to the earth, but hisbetter nature prevailed. he checked the uplifted hand,and with, a groan dropped the reins, and sank almosthelplessly forward on the saddle; for several of the indianshad left the main body and were pursuing himalone, so that there would have been now no chance ofhis reaching the place where crusoe fell, even if he couldhave turned his horse.
spiritless, and utterly indifferent to what his fatemight be, dick varley rode along with his head drooping,and keeping his seat almost mechanically, while themettlesome little steed flew on over wave and hollow.
gradually he awakened from this state of despair to asense of danger. glancing round he observed that theindians were now far behind him, though still pursuing.
he also observed that his companions were gallopingmiles away on the horizon to the left, and that he hadfoolishly allowed the savages to get between him andthem. the only chance that remained for him was tooutride his pursuers, and circle round towards his comrades,and this he hoped to accomplish, for his littlehorse had now proved itself to be superior to those of theindians, and there was good running in him still.
urging him forward, therefore, he soon left the savagesstill farther behind, and feeling confident that they couldnot now overtake him he reined up and dismounted.
the pursuers quickly drew near, but short though itwas the rest did his horse good. vaulting into thesaddle, he again stretched out, and now skirted alongthe margin of a wood which seemed to mark the positionof a river of considerable size.
at this moment his horse put his foot into a badger-hole,and both of them came heavily to the ground.
in an instant dick rose, picked up his gun, and leapedunhurt into the saddle. but on urging his poor horseforward he found that its shoulder was badly sprained.
there was no room for mercy, however--life and deathwere in the balance--so he plied the lash vigorously,and the noble steed warmed into something like a run,when again it stumbled, and fell with a crash on theground, while the blood burst from its mouth and nostrils.
dick could hear the shout of triumph uttered byhis pursuers.
"my poor, poor horse!" he exclaimed in a tone of thedeepest commiseration, while he stooped and stroked itsfoam-studded neck.
the dying steed raised its head for a moment, it almostseemed as if to acknowledge the tones of affection,then it sank down with a gurgling groan.
dick sprang up, for the indians were now upon him,and bounded like an antelope into the thickest of theshrubbery; which was nowhere thick enough, however,to prevent the indians following. still, it sufficientlyretarded them to render the chase a more equal one thancould have been expected. in a few minutes dickgained a strip of open ground beyond, and foundhimself on the bank of a broad river, whose evidentlydeep waters rushed impetuously along their unobstructedchannel. the bank at the spot where hereached it was a sheer precipice of between thirty andforty feet high. glancing up and down the river heretreated a few paces, turned round and shook hisclenched fist at the savages, accompanying the actionwith a shout of defiance, and then running to the edgeof the bank, sprang far out into the boiling flood andsank.
the indians pulled up on reaching the spot. therewas no possibility of galloping down the wood-encumberedbanks after the fugitive; but quick as thoughteach red-man leaped to the ground, and fitting an arrowto his bow, awaited dick's re-appearance with eagergaze.
young though he was, and unskilled in such wildwarfare, dick knew well enough what sort of receptionhe would meet with on coming to the surface, so he keptunder water as long as he could, and struck out as vigorouslyas the care of his rifle would permit. at last herose for a few seconds, and immediately half-a-dozenarrows whizzed through the air; but most of them fellshort--only one passed close to his cheek, and went witha "whip" into the river. he immediately sank again,and the next time he rose to breathe he was far beyondthe reach of his indian enemies.
