In the Hands of the Cave-Dwellers Page 7

  CHAPTER VII

  THE PURSUIT

  But few words were spoken until the party arrived at a spot where thevalley began to narrow in near the boundary of the ranch. They were nowconsiderably beyond the Indian fires.

  "There is no fear of our meeting with any of the red devils now," Sanchosaid. "They know well enough that our Indians would not venture toattack them, and that there are no other enemies near. A quarter of amile and we shall be at the wigwam where the senorita went thismorning."

  "We will stop there for a moment," Will said; "it is not likely that weshall find anything that will give us useful information, but at anyrate the horses may as well have a short rest there as well as anywhereelse."

  They had come fifteen miles now at a smart pace.

  The men all dismounted. One of them struck a light with his flint andsteel, and then lit the end of a short coil of cord that had been soakedin saltpetre, and waved it round his head till it burst into a flame. Asthey expected, they found the two Indians lying dead; both had beentomahawked and then scalped. On the ground lay a broken medicine bottleand a portion of some soft pudding.

  "That does not tell us much," Will said.

  Sancho made no answer, but looked all round the wigwam. "The basket isnot here," he said. "I noticed that it was pretty full."

  "I suppose the red-skins took it, Sancho?"

  "They would not bother about a basket; it is the last thing they wouldthink of taking. My idea is that the senorita came back here. I expectshe came to warn the Indians. She would, to begin with, if she rode atfull speed, have distanced the 'Paches, who would not be able to getthrough the herd, which must have been between them and her when shefirst saw them. If she were half-way down the valley she might have beenhere some minutes before them. Of course the two old Indians knew thatthere was no escape for them, and made no effort to avoid their fate. Iexpect they had only taken that pudding and medicine out of the basketwhen she got back. Now, seeing that the basket and all that was in itare gone, it seems to me possible enough that the senorita may havecaught it up and ridden off with it, knowing that she had a long ridebefore her, and through a country where there are no posadas."

  "I hope, indeed, that it may be so, Sancho, for I have been wonderingwhat she would do if she were lost in these mountains. What would shebe likely to put in the basket?"

  "I handed it up to her, senor, when she had mounted; there were twobottles of milk, a bottle of wine, and a pile of cakes. There were a fewother things, but I did not notice what they were."

  "I only hope that your idea is correct, Sancho; it would be a greatcomfort to know that she had enough provisions to last her for two orthree days."

  "I expect you will find that it is so, senor; the senorita isquick-witted and cool. I saw her once when a dozen bulls stampeded whenwe were trying to drive them into the yard; she was sitting her horse ashort distance from the gate, and was just in their line. She didn't tryto dash aside across their path, as many would have done, but turned andstarted, keeping her horse in at first, and then letting him outgradually and edging off out of their line, and she came cantering backlaughing as she joined her father, who was looking pale as death at thedanger she had been in. I have very little doubt that it has been as Isaid; she galloped at first at full speed, then when she got near thishut she saw that she was well ahead of the red-skins. She rode up here,jumped off to warn the Indians, and when she found they would not go shetook the basket, knowing the things could be of no use to them, andmight be worth a hundred times their weight in gold to her. Maybe theold Indian may have suggested it to her; at any rate, I feel sure shetook them."

  "Well, we will ride steadily on. Is there any place where she could haveleft the valley?"

  "Not beyond this, senor; at least, I know of none; but, as I told you,we know very little of the valley beyond this point. Certainly she couldhave known no path; no doubt she went straight on. Well mounted as shewas, she would feel sure that the red-skins could not overtake her, andI expect she did not press her horse much, but contented herself withkeeping out of rifle-shot. I don't know whether she knew of the fordacross the river, but she would naturally plunge in at the point wherethe track comes down on it, and would, no doubt, be surprised at findingthat the horse was able to cross without swimming."

  "She would not be able to turn, after she had crossed, and come down onthe opposite bank?"

  "No, senor; that would not be possible; there are high mountains there,and the river at some places runs through deep gorges."

  "How far do you think the Apaches would follow?"

  "I think that they would keep on for some distance beyond the river;when they found at last that they had no chance of catching her, theymight turn and come back and cross the river, and camp on this side. Bythat time their horses would be done for; you see, they most likely hada long ride yesterday; maybe they were travelling all night, and, ofcourse, it gave the senorita an immense advantage that her horse wasfresh, while theirs had anyhow a great deal taken out of them beforethey set out in pursuit. I should recommend that we halt, as soon as itbecomes light, in some clump of trees and wait for them as they comeback. We are pretty well matched in numbers, and with the advantage of asurprise we ought to be able to wipe them out altogether. We might go asfar as we can up the valley to the point where it becomes a mere ravine,before daylight breaks, and our horses will be all the better for a restof a few hours. They will have gone over forty miles since they left theriver, and we may probably have a very long journey to do againto-morrow. There is no saying how far the senorita may have gone; shewould not know whether the red-skins might not follow all night, and Ishould think that she would keep on till daybreak, though, of course,she would only go at a walk."

  "It is difficult to say what she is most likely to do."

  "It is, indeed, senor; if I myself were in her place I should bepuzzled. I should reckon that all in the valley had been wiped out. Thered-skins would assuredly first make a rush for the hacienda, because itwas most important that they should carry that before the men couldrally round and make a defence. I should reckon that the red-skins wouldremain there for four or five days before they had jerked as much meatas they could carry, and that, when they started, a party would likeenough be placed in ambush to catch me as I came back. I should knowthat it was next to hopeless to try and find my way down across suchmountains as there are ahead, through which, so far as I know, there areno tracks, and I am not sure that I should not push on in hopes ofreaching the Moquis, who are peaceful Indians, as I have heard, withtheir villages perched on the top of hills, and having flocks and herds,and being in all ways different from all the other tribes except theZunis.

  "The red-skins say that these people were here before them, and thatthey really belong to the tribes of Central Mexico, and came from therelong before the white man ever set foot in America. From there one couldtravel north, strike the Santa Fe trail, and possibly make one's waythrough safely, though the Navajoes are pretty nearly as bad there asthe Apaches are here. Whether the senorita has ever heard of the MoquisI cannot say, but if she finds that she is on a trail she will followit, thinking anything better than going back and falling into the handsof the Apaches."

  "Are there any other tribes she would have to pass through on the way?"

  "I think not. It is a great mountain track, where even red-skins couldnot pick up a living. As far as I have heard, the track from the fordleads through a series of passes between lofty hills. It is not thecourse of a river, and, therefore, there are not likely to be anyvillages. I should say that there would be forest on the lower slopes,and we are sure to meet with enough game to keep us."

  They now proceeded at a walk, for the trees in most places grew thickly,and the ground here and there was broken by boulders that had rolleddown from the hillside. At last they came to a point where the valleywas but a hundred yards wide. Here they halted, took off the horses'bridles to allow them to pick what grass there was, and threw themselvesdown
, and most of them were asleep in a few minutes.

  "Is it necessary to keep watch?" Will said.

  "No, senor, the 'Paches will assuredly not start to come back untilmorning. The country is as strange to them as it is to us. I should say,from what I have heard, it is about ten miles from the river, and in anhour or an hour and a half after daylight they are likely to be here."

  Will took a seat by the trunk of a tree. He had no inclination forsleep. His thoughts were busy with the girl--alone in these mountainswith an unknown country before her and a band of relentless savages whomight, for aught she knew, be still pressing after her. It was difficultto conceive a more terrible situation. She might lose the trail,which was sure to be a faintly-marked one, and in some placesindistinguishable save to an eye accustomed to tracking. If so, her fatewas sealed. She must wander about till she died of hunger and thirst. Itwas maddening to be waiting there even for an hour or two and to knowthat she was alone. As soon as daylight broke, Sancho sent four of themen back to hunt for game. If they did not come upon something in thecourse of three-quarters of an hour, they were to return. They had beengone, however, half that time when the crack of a rifle was heard, andten minutes later they rode back, bringing with them a stag they hadshot. Already a fire had been lighted one hundred yards behind thecamping-ground. Antonio had collected some perfectly dry wood for thepurpose.

  "There will be no smoke to speak of," he said to Will, "and what littlethere is will make its way out through the leaves. It is unlikely in theextreme that the Indians will notice it, and if they do, they will thinkthat it is a fire made by one of our Indians."

  A couple of the hunters at once set about skinning and cutting up thecarcass. They were to go on cooking it until a signal was made to themthat the Indians were approaching. The horses had now been collected,and the men disposed themselves behind trunks of trees, each with hishorse a few yards behind him. All these were well trained to stand stillwhen the reins were thrown over their heads. In front of them was aclear space some thirty yards across. After half an hour's anxiouswaiting, Sancho, who was lying with his ear to the ground, raised hishand as a signal that he could hear the Indians coming. The men from thefire ran up and took their places with the rest. The rifles were thrownforward in readiness. All could now hear the dull tread of the horses,with an occasional sharper sound as the hoofs fell upon rock. As theApaches rode out from the wood their leader suddenly checked his horsewith a warning cry, but it was too late.

  Sixteen rifles flashed out, half the Apaches fell, and before theothers could recover from their surprise at this unexpected attack thevaqueros charged down upon them. Hopelessly outnumbered as they were,the Apaches fought desperately, but the combat was short. The pistols ofWill and Sancho were used with deadly effect, and in a couple of minutesthe fight was over and the last Indian had fallen.

  "Now, let us waste no time," Will said. "Ten minutes must do for ourbreakfast; then we will be off."

  None of the party was seriously hurt, and the wounds were soon bandaged.The joints hanging above the fire were soon taken down, cut into slices,and grilled. They were being eaten when four Indians stepped from amongthe trees, one of them being evidently a chief.

  "You are breaking the rules," he said to Will, whom he recognized as theleader of the party. "We shall lay a complaint before the great master."

  Will did not answer, but Antonio, who spoke their language fairly,replied, "Have you not heard the news?"

  "We have heard no news," the chief said. "We heard a gun fire when wewere hunting two miles down the valley. We came to see what it was. Thenwe heard many guns, and, not knowing what it could be, hid our horsesand came on."

  "Then do you not know that there are three or four hundred Apaches andTejunas in the valley below; that the hacienda has been attacked, allwithin it killed, and that the herds have been destroyed? So far as weknow, we alone have escaped."

  The Indians uttered deep exclamations of surprise.

  "What was the firing?" the chief asked.

  "If you go on a hundred yards farther up, you will find the dead bodiesof twenty Apache braves; they have been riding in pursuit of DonnaClara, the daughter of the senor, who was fortunately at your end of thevalley, having gone there with food and medicine for the old Indian ofyour tribe who was too ill to leave with the rest, a fortnight since."

  "I saw her often then," the chief said, "and this young brave"--and hemotioned to Will--"he was often in our camp, and the girl visited ourwigwams and gave many little presents to our women. Did she escapethem?"

  "She did, but where she is we know not. We are going in search of her.If you and your warriors will go with us, we shall be glad, for youreyes are better than ours, and could follow the footmarks of her horsewhere we should see nothing."

  "Teczuma, with one of his warriors, will go," the chief said. "The othertwo must go and carry the news to our people, and, though they are notstrong enough to fight so large a force, yet they will not be idle, andmany of the Apaches and Tejunas will lose their scalps before they crossthe river again."

  He spoke a few words to the three men, who at once left, and in tenminutes one returned with two horses. The chief had already eaten twoslices of deer's flesh, and he mounted and rode on with the others,while his follower waited for a minute to eat the flesh that had alreadybeen cooked for him. Sancho had chosen the horse that had been riddenby the Apache chief, and, without stopping, they rode on until theywere, a few minutes later, joined by the other Indian. They now pushedon rapidly, ascending the ravine, and on reaching the top Will saw withsatisfaction that high hills on both sides bordered what was, in fact, apass between them, and that Clara must therefore have kept on straight.

  The chief with his follower rode a little ahead of the others, Will,with Antonio and Sancho, following closely behind him. Once or twice thechief pointed down to marks on the rocks, with the remark, "A shodhorse".

  "That is all right," Antonio said. "The Indians do not shoe theirhorses, so we may be sure it was the senorita."

  The path soon began to descend again, and in an hour from the time ofstarting they emerged from the pass within one hundred yards of theriver; the ground here being soft, a well-marked track was visible.

  "Made by our people," the chief said, turning round. "They often crossford to hunt on the other side--large forests there, two hours' rideaway--good hunting-ground. Apache not come there. Hills too big tocross."

  Beyond the river the track was for some time perfectly distinct, but itpresently became fainter. However, as the Indians rode on rapidly, Willhad no doubt that, although he could not see the tracks on the ground,they were plain enough to the eyes of the Indians.

  "It is a mighty good job we have the chief with us," Antonio said. "Thetrail is plain enough at present, but it is sure to get fainter when weget into these forests they speak of. Probably it goes straight enoughthere, but once among the trees it will break up, as the Indians wouldscatter to hunt. We should have lost a lot of time following it. Now wehave got these two red-skin fellows, they will pick it up almost as fastas we can ride."

  The road, indeed, after passing over a rocky plateau, dipped suddenlydown into a deep valley running up from the river, and extending as faras one could see almost due east among the hills. The track they werefollowing turned to the right at the foot of the hill. For miles it wasclearly defined, then gradually became fainter, as the Indians who hadfollowed it turned off in search of game. The footprints of the shodhorse continued straight up the valley, until, ten miles from the pointat which they had entered it, they turned to the left.

  "It has been going at a walk for some miles," the chief said, "and thewhite girl has been walking beside it. I saw her footprints many times.We shall find that she halted for the night at the little stream in themiddle of the valley. It must have been getting dark when she arrivedhere. She must be a good horsewoman and have a good horse under her, forit is nearly eighty miles from here to the hacienda."

  By the stream,
indeed, they found the place where Clara had slept. TheIndian pointed to spots where the horse had cropped the grass by theedge of the stream, and where it had at last lain down near itsmistress, who had, as a few crumbs showed, eaten some of the cakes.

  "I wonder we don't see one of the bottles," Will remarked.

  Antonio translated his remarks to the chief, who said, "Girl wise; fillbottle with water; not know how far stream come. We halt here; cannotfollow trail farther; soon come dark."

  This was evident to them all; men and horses alike needed rest. They lita fire and sat around it for a short time; all were encouraged by thesuccess so far, and even the fact that they were supperless did notaffect them.

  "Teczuma and Wolf go out and find game in the morning," the chief saidconfidently. "Plenty of game here."

  Long before the others were awake, indeed, the chief and his followerwere moving. Just as daylight broke, the latter ran into camp.

  "Come," he said, "bring gun; grizzly coming down valley. Teczuma watchhim."

  The men were on their feet the instant Antonio translated the Indian'swords, and followed the Indian on foot.

  "Was the bear too much for the two Indians?" Will asked Sancho.

  "If they had been alone they would have fought it, but the chief wasright to send for us. It was like enough they might have got badly hurt,and that would have been a bad thing for us."

  Presently the Indian stopped. It was still twilight under the trees, butthey could make out a great gray form advancing towards them. Whenwithin twenty yards it scented danger, and stopped with an angry growl.Almost at the same moment a rifle flashed out behind a tree near itsflank. With a furious growl it turned, exposing its flank to thewatchers. Antonio had warned five of these not to fire; the other tenrifles were fired simultaneously, and the bear rolled over and over. Itscrambled to its feet again, and stood rocking itself, evidently woundedto death. The other five men ran forward together, and when three yardsdistant poured in their fire, and the bear fell dead. The vaqueros lostno time in skinning it. A portion of the flesh was carried to the fire,cut up into strips, and at once cooked. As soon as the meal wasfinished, the rest of the meat was cut off and divided between theparty, who then mounted and rode on, the two Indians again leading theway.