CHAPTER XXXV
THREE IN A PIT
Wounded though he was, Houck managed to make a good deal of trouble forthe punchers before they pinned him down and took the forty-five fromhim. His great strength was still at command, and he had the advantagethat neither of his rescuers wanted to injure him during the struggle.They thrashed over the ground, arms and legs outflung wildly. Houck gaveup only when his vigor collapsed.
His surrender was complete. He lay weak and panting, bleeding fromreopened wounds, for the time as helpless and submissive as a child.
From a canteen they gave him water. Afterward they washed and tied up thewounds, bathed the fevered face, and kept the mosquitoes from him byfanning them away.
"Expect I'd better take a pasear an' see where Mr. Ute's at," Dud said."He's liable to drap in onexpected while we're not lookin'--several ofhim, huntin' for souvenirs in the scalp line for to decorate his beltwith."
From the little opening he crept into the thicket of saplings anddisappeared. Bob waited beside the delirious man. His nerves were keyedto a high tension. For all he knew the beadlike eyes of four or fivesharpshooters might be peering at him from the jungle.
The sound of a shot startled him. It came from the direction in which Dudhad gone. Had he been killed? Or wounded? Bob could not remain longerwhere he was. He too crept into the willows, following as well as hecould the path of Hollister.
There came to him presently the faint crackle of twigs. Some one orsomething was moving in the bosk. He lay still, heart thumping violently.The sound ceased, began again.
Bob's trembling hand held a revolver pointed in the direction of thesnapping branches. The willows moved, opened up, and a blond, curly headappeared.
Bob's breath was expelled in a long sigh of relief. "Wow! I'm glad to seeyou. Heard that shot an' thought maybe they'd got you."
"Not so you can notice it," Dud replied cheerfully. "But they're allround us. I took a crack at one inquisitive buck who had notions ofcollectin' me. He ce'tainly hit the dust sudden as he vamosed."
"What'll we do?"
"I found a kinda buffalo wallow in the willows. We'll move in on a leasean' sit tight till Harshaw an' the boys show up."
They carried and dragged Houck through the thicket to the saucer-shapedopening Hollister had discovered. The edges of this rose somewhat abovethe surrounding ground. Using their spurs to dig with, the cowpunchersdeepened the hollow and packed the loose dirt around the rim in order toheighten the rampart.
From a distance came the sound of heavy, rapid firing, of far, faintyells.
"The boys are attackin' the gulch," Dud guessed. "Sounds like they mightbe makin' a clean-up too."
It was three o'clock by Bob's big silver watch. Heat waves wereshimmering in the hollow and mosquitoes singing. Occasionally Houck'svoice rose in delirious excitement. Sometimes he thought the Utes weretorturing him. Again he lived over scenes in the past. Snatches of babblecarried back to the days of his turbulent youth when all men's cattlewere his. In the mutterings born of a sick brain Bob heard presently thename of June.
"... Tell you I've took a fancy to you. Tell you Jake Houck gets what hewants. No sense you rarin' around, June. I'm yore man.... Mine, girl.Don't you ever forget it. Mine for keeps.... Use that gun, damn you, orcrawl into a hole. I'm takin' yore wife from you. Speak yore piece. Tellher to go with me. Ha! Ha! Ha!"
The firing came nearer.
Again Dud guessed what was taking place. "They've got the Utes outa thegulch an' are drivin' them down the valley. Right soon they're liable tolight on us hard. Depends on how much the boys are pressin' them."
They had two rifles and four revolvers, for Houck had lately become atwo-gun man. These they examined carefully to make sure they were inorder. The defenders crouched back to back in the pit, each of themsearching the thicket for an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees.
The sound of the battle died down. Evidently the pursuers were out ofcontact with the natives.
"Don't like that," Dud said. "If the Utes have time they'll try to pickus up as they're passin'."
Bob fired.
"See one?" asked his friend.
"Think so. Something moved. Down in that hollow. He's outa sight now."
"They've got us located, then. Old Man Trouble headed this way. Somethingliable to start. Soon now."
The minutes dragged. Bob's eyes blurred from the intensity with which hewatched.
A bullet struck the edge of the pit. Bob ducked involuntarily. Presentlythere was a second shot--and a third.
"They're gettin' warm," Dud said.
He and Bob fired at the smoke puffs, growing now more frequent. Both ofthem knew it would be only a short time till one of them was hit unlesstheir friends came to the rescue. Spurts of sand flew every few moments.
There was another undesirable prospect. The Utes might charge and capturethe pit, wiping out the defenders. To prevent this the cowpunchers keptup as lively a fire as possible.
From down the valley came the sound of scattered shots and yells. Dudswung his hat in glee.
"Good boys! They're comin' in on the rear. Hi yi yippy yi!"
Firing began again on the other side. The Utes were caught between therangers to the left and the soldiers to the right. Bob could see thembreaking through the willows toward the river. It was an easy guess thattheir horses were bunched here and that they would be forced to cross thestream to escape.
Five minutes later Harshaw broke through the saplings to the pit. "Eitherof you boys hurt?" he demanded anxiously.
"Not a scratch on either of us," Dud reported.
The boss of the Slash Lazy D wrung their hands. "By Godfrey! I'm plumbpleased. Couldn't get it outa my head that they'd got you lads. How'sHouck?"
"He's right sick. Doc had ought to look after him soon. He's had onemighty bad day of it."
Houck was carried on a blanket to the riverbank, where camp was beingmade for the night. The Utes had been routed. It was estimated that tenor twelve of them had been killed, though the number could not beverified, as Indians always if possible carry away their dead. For thepresent, at least, no further pursuit of them was feasible.
Dr. Tuckerman dressed the wounds of the Brown's Park man and looked afterthe others who had been hurt. All told, the whites had lost four killed.Five were wounded more or less seriously.
The wagons had been left on the mesa three miles away. Houck was takenhere next day on a stretcher made of a blanket tied to willow poles. Thebodies of the dead were also removed.
Two days later the rangers reached Bear Cat. They had left the soldiersto complete the task of rounding up the Utes and taking them back to thereservation.
The Fighting Edge Page 35