CHAPTER XVII
SHELTER IN A HOLLOW TREE
"IT is the Shoshone war-cry!" exclaimed Roger, instinctively, as heheard the piercing, bubbling sound that must have been uttered with ahand to the mouth.
Dick seized hold of his chum. He realized that any delay now mightprove very costly for them both.
"We must get away from here!" he cried, thinking of what Roger had saidconcerning the savage ways of the Indians, and how they often preferredkilling their prisoners to letting them be set free, or taken by ahostile tribe.
"Your gun, Dick?" asked Roger, breathlessly.
"I mean to make a grab for it," replied the other, who was alreadymoving off.
Then it was that his careful survey of the surroundings came into play,for Dick had made a mental map upon which he could depend when utterdarkness lay upon the earth.
Roger, still hearkening to the dreadful sounds that were bursting outall about them, felt his companion duck down, and he judged that theymust be alongside the log on which the gun with the ammunition had beenplaced by the Indian who had led them into the trap.
And, somehow, Roger guessed that success had come to his chum, eventhough he himself could not see anything of the gun. Again he was beinghalf dragged along, as though Dick had chosen his course, and wastrying to follow it.
Their one idea now was to get away from the camp, and let the hostilered men have their fight out to the bitter end. Small affair it wasof the boys whether the Dacotahs whipped the Shoshones, or the latteroverwhelmed the braves who had been the captors of the young pioneers.
Skillful maneuvering was necessary in order to avoid contact withany of the furious warriors. The boys heard the sound of blows beingstruck, and their lively imaginations could picture what was occurringnearby, as they slipped along through the darkness.
Fortune was kind to them, after all, for they did not strike against asingle dusky figure, although several times they had to sink close tothe ground when they heard the rush of moccasined feet close at hand.
Now the noise of the desperate hand-to-hand conflict was behind them,Roger noticed with a feeling of great relief. He could hear not onlythe war cries of those who fought, but occasionally there also camesounds of darker import, such as were probably the death chants ofthose who were bound for the "happy hunting grounds" of the red men. Asthey gradually put all this horrible clamor further and further behindthem, the two boys felt their own spirits rise higher. The attack ofthe Shoshones had come just in the nick of time to help the youngpioneers. It had served to cover their escape as nothing else couldhave done.
Roger was panting for breath, because of the excitement as well as hisstrenuous actions. He had knocked into more than one tree, but withoutso far seriously hurting himself; and as usual the boy felt that hemust give tongue to the feelings of wild delight that were riotingthrough his veins.
"We did it, Dick, for a fact; gave them the slip!" he burst forth.
"It looks that way, Roger."
"And now all we have to do is to get our bearings, and make a freshstart for the river; isn't it?" continued Roger, anxiously.
"That's all, Roger," he was assured. "And already I feel that we are onthe right course, so we'll keep along as we're going now."
"But the fight seems to be over with," added Roger. "At any rate allthe yells have stopped. I wonder whether the Dacotahs whipped, or wereoverpowered by their foes? Though for that matter we care mighty littlehow it turned out."
"Since neither of them were our friends," Dick admitted, "we had nointerest in the outcome of the forest battle. It was a case of dogeat dog with us; and I only hope we'll run across no more of the redrascals until we rejoin our party."
"How far do you mean to go before stopping, Dick?"
Roger was getting a little tired when he asked this question. They hadboth had a hard day of it, beside the standing for several hours in acramped position tied to the trees.
"I think we ought to keep on for at least an hour more," Dick toldhim, "even if it does pull hard. By then we'll have reached a pointwhere the Indians who turn out to be victors can hardly find us in themorning, even if they happen to bother making the search. So keep upyour spirits, Roger, for we've got a heap to be thankful for."
"I'm sure of that, Dick, and I hope you didn't think I was complainingjust now. You'll find me good for an hour's tramp in the dark, ortwo of them, for that matter. Then for a few hours' sleep before daybreaks."
"It may be the storm will swoop down on us before then, and force usto change our plans. So, after a while, we must keep a lookout forsome sort of shelter, such as a hollow tree. It wouldn't be the firsttime we have lain in such a snug nook when the rain was coming down inbucketfuls."
"I should say it wasn't!" declared Roger, and from that time on heseemed to have picked up a new supply of energy, for he uttered nofurther complaint as he struggled on at the side of his companion.
No matter how slowly the minutes passed, Roger realized that theconditions were vastly different from what they seemed earlier in thenight; when tied to that tree the gloom around him was no thicker thanthe state of his feelings.
Dick finally came to a halt. Perhaps the hour had not fully passed,but he believed they had put enough ground behind them to feel safe.Besides, he had made a discovery that he fancied ought to be utilized.
Either the night had grown lighter, as though the moon might havearisen, and was shining back of the heavy clouds, or else the eyes ofthe boys, in growing accustomed to the darkness, allowed them to seethings better.
"I've noticed several trees of good size as we came along, Roger," hetold his chum; "and if only we can find one that is hollow, we need gono further until morning."
At that the other laughed as though pleased.
"If that's all we need, Dick, how would this one over here do for ourpurposes?" and, speaking in this way, he directed the attention of hischum to a tree not far away.
It was an unusually big tree, and both of them could see, though abit uncertainly, that it had some sort of cavity at its base. A hastyexamination convinced them they had found just what they were lookingfor.
"We can creep in through that hole easily enough," said Roger, "becauseit's big enough for a giant to pass through. I hope though, Dick, itdoesn't turn out to be the den of any wild beast."
"We can soon settle that!" declared Dick, as he took up a long stick,over which he had just tripped, and thrust it in through the opening.
As no sound of surly remonstrance followed this action on his part, itbecame evident that the hollow tree was not occupied by any animal.
"If it is a den there's nobody at home right now," announced Roger; "sowe can crawl through the doorway and settle down."
After his customary impetuous fashion he insisted on being the one tolead the way, and was quickly inside the hollow tree.
"How do you find it?" asked Dick, thrusting his head through theopening.
"There seems to be plenty of room for two in here," was the quickreply; "and, although I don't just fancy the odor, still I think wecould do worse, especially if it comes on to rain hard."
Upon hearing this Dick hastened to creep through the hole, carrying hisgun with him of course. He had something on his mind, apparently, forhardly had he reached the side of the other boy than Dick thrust hisgun into Roger's hands, remarking:
"I noticed an old stump just outside there, and I'd better go and rollit up, so as to cover this opening, more or less."
"Then you must be thinking that some animal may come in here, and youmean to block the passage so we will not be taken by surprise; is thatit?"
"Nothing less, Roger," Dick replied, as he started to crawl out again.
"If I can help you, let me know," called out Roger.
The stump did not prove to be very weighty, and Dick rolled it deftlyso that it covered all but a small fraction of the opening. Then hecrept inside, and the two of them had little trouble in closing most ofthe remainder of the aperture.
"Well, to tell you the honest truth," admitted Roger, when thisundertaking had been completed, though plenty of air could still findingress, "I do feel a whole lot better, now that we've shut the door.It can't be very pleasant to lie down to sleep in a hollow tree thatmay be a panther's lair, and to wake up to find the savage beast comingin on you."
Dick was as satisfied as his companion, even if less vociferous aboutit.
"I guess that stump will make a good enough door," he went on to say,chuckling, "and if we wake up to hear some one knocking, we can ask whoit is before we open up. Just as you say, it makes us feel more secure."
Satisfied with the way things were going Roger soon settled down tomake himself as comfortable as the conditions allowed.
"Perhaps this isn't as sweet and easy a bed as my own at home," heremarked, after yawning several times; "but then, as my mother alwayssays, 'beggars mustn't be choosers.' And I can remember many a timewhen I've slept in worse places than a hollow tree."
"Remember before you go to sleep, Roger, it's understood that the onewho happens to hear anything suspicious is to wake the other up. If youfeel me touch you on the arm and hear me whisper, keep as still as achurch mouse. It may mean that Indians are outside, and looking for us."
"I'll recollect, Dick, you can depend on it; and, if the tables shouldbe turned, so that I am the one to get wind of the danger first, I'lldo the same to you. So now, let's go to sleep."
Roger found very little trouble in putting his words into practice, andin a few minutes Dick heard him breathing heavily.
As he felt very much inclined that way himself, Dick made no effortto hold back sleep, and in a short time both lads were fast locked inslumber.
Some time passed, just how long neither of them really knew, whenDick felt a violent tug at his arm. He was wide-awake instantly, andunderstood just where he was, as well as what the jerk signified.
"What is it?" he whispered, as he felt for his gun the first thing, asthough its touch would give him renewed confidence.
"Something or somebody is moving around outside, Dick," whispered Roger.
"Hist! listen!" remarked Dick, softly.
There was a slight scuffling sound, and the stump at the opening movedviolently. Then came the loud sniffing of some animal that was tryingto thrust its nose through a very small crevice and, apparently, couldnot understand why the door was closed.
"It must be a bear," said Dick, no longer keeping his voice confined toa whisper, but speaking aloud, "and this is his den. He wonders whathas happened, and it may be he scents us, for he's trying to push hisway in!"
The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia; or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest Page 20