15 The Chances of a Night

When my eyes opened again I wavered for a while on the verge of consciousness. My senses were heavy and dull, and memory had left me. My eyelids drooped again, but with a supreme effort of the will I summoned back my lost faculties, and with slowness and pain climbed to my feet. Even then my senses sought to wander, but the human will in me triumphed.

When I got the shadows and dimness out of my eyes I looked up at a sky from which the clouds had gone, leaving a million stars to twinkle in their place, Around me was the dripping forest, and the cool wind came, fragrant with the breath of the summer night.

I looked down and there at my feet was that which brought back full recollection to me. The body of the Moor lay upon its back. The scorched and blackened face was upturned to the stars and in his right hand he still clutched the handle of the knife that had drawn the lightning. It was a death such as he deserved.

It took me some time to overcome my repugnance and to touch the body, but I resolved to search it for weapons or food, or anything that might assist me in the wilderness. It was at last, with many shudders, that I turned the thing about, in order that I might look in the pockets. But I found nothing except some pieces of cooked meat, which I hastily appropriated. Weapons there were none. He had been armed only with the knife which he loved. Then I left the stark and cold body without a feeling of pity, for the man in his life had inspired me with the most unutterable repugnance, and I could not forget it in his death. But every feeling of prudence told me to hasten from the spot. Where Hassan was the others could not be very far away. Perhaps the same merciful Providence that had saved me from Hassan’s knife had saved me from their discovery. I must have lain senseless a long time, for the storm was now over and the heavens were bright.

I was weak and dizzy with the exposure and the events of the night, but I rubbed my arms and legs so vigorously that a fair degree of circulation was soon restored. Then I walked away, taking a random course, still trusting in that Providence which had protected me so well thus far.

After the storm the night seemed to wish to make amends for so much violence. The stars never twinkled more brightly, and the wind was like the odor of a flower bank. Though the water from the trees dripped upon me and my feet frequently sank in the soft earth, my clothes began to dry, and the vigorous exercise warmed me. Though I was still in a sorry plight, alone and unarmed in a vast wilderness, my spirits, with all the elasticity of youth, began to rise rapidly. Hope never dies at twenty, and lifted up by this revulsion of feelings, I swung along full of confidence, and even expecting that some infallible fortune would guide me to Pike and my friends before morning.

From this castle-building I was recalled by the sound of voices. At first I thought it was but the wind playing with the leaves, but a more attentive ear showed that the sounds were made by human beings. Reason told me that it must be one of two bands, either Pike’s or Halftrigger’s. But the chances favored the latter, for Pike would not allow his men to travel through a forest making as much noise as a troop of cavalrymen.

I looked around for someplace of concealment, for the night was now so bright one could scarcely hope to escape the observation of a keen eye at short distance. Near me was a large tree which had been overturned by the storm. The tearing up of the roots had made a deep hole, overhung by the bunch of roots and mass of earth which still clung to the tree. I thrust myself into the hole, and found it such, an admirable place of concealment that I would be invisible to a person standing near enough to touch me, while I could watch those without in perfect security.

I had scarcely made myself comfortable in my lair when several figures emerged from the denser shade of the forest and walked directly towards me. Then I was thankful, indeed, for my covert, for in the clear, moonlight I recognized instantly the gigantic form of Halftrigger. Behind him came Spanish Pete and all the others, save Hassan, who would never again follow his leader in crime, at least not in this world.

Halftrigger held something in his hand, and I saw with surprise that it was the haft of Hassan’s dagger. The men halted about twenty feet from me, and Halftrigger said in petulant tones:

“The fellow hain’t fur from here, boys. Hassan had this knife in his hands when the lightnin’ struck him, an’ I guess he wouldn’t hev had his knife drawed ef he hadn’t been ready to strike somethin’.”

“We saw the tracks of some one leading away from the spot,” said Spanish Pete, “but we lost them in the grass.”

“That’s so! That’s so!” said Halftrigger. “Thet Fieldin’ wuz shorely thar, an’ I’d give a double han’ful o’ gold ef I had it, to git my han’s on him ag’in. We’ve had nothin’ but bad luck since we come across him. We’ve lost three o’ our men, good men, too, they’d be in a pinch. Hassan was a bloodthirsty heathen, an’ ’ he didn’t hev the right sort o’ control o’ his feelin’s, but he wuz never afeard and we’d a had use fur him.”

“Fortune has been against us to-night, Captain,” said Spanish Pete.

“No doubt o’ it! No doubt o’ it!” said Halftrigger. “The waves hev been too strong fur us. It wuz thet infernal storm thet did the business. It scattered us ez a monsoon in the China Seas sends the junks a-flyin’.”

“What do you propose to do, Captain?” asked Spanish Pete.

“Tain’t wuth while to try to get any more rest tonight,” said Halftrigger, “an’ I think we’d better beat about the woods until day lookin’ fur Fieldin’. Ef we don’t fin’ him we’ll strike out ag’in fur the mine, an’ leave him here to starve or to be et up by wild beasts.”

“Do you think we will be able to find the mine?” asked Spanish Pete, in a doubtful tone.

“Fin’ it! o’ course we will,” said Halftrigger, adopting a sanguine tone. “I think myself we’ve been follerin’ the wrong river. In the mornin’ we’ll strike out across the country an’ see ef we kaint strike another. More’n likely that’ll be the right one, an’ then the devil will be in it ef we kaint follow Pedro’s directions an’ fin’ that mine, an’ then, Pete, my lad, when we carry dead loads o’ gold back to Frisco, you an’ me and the lads here, won’t thar be times, sech howlin’ times, and we’ll be ez rich ez kings, all o’ us, Pete, an’ we’ll wear clothes ez fine ez an admiral’s, an’ we’ll live like lords.”

The men drew close to him as he spoke and their faces flushed with the gold fever.

“You lead us, Cap,” said one, “an’ we’ll stick to you till we fin’ thet gold and get it back to Frisco.”

“I’ll take you to the place,” said Halftrigger. “Depen’ on me fur that.”

In their talk the men had come nearer and nearer to my covert, and when Halftrigger uttered his emphatic assurance he was standing so near me that I could have reached out and touched him with my hand. Still the hiding place was so good that I felt secure from observation. But just at this moment Halftrigger leaned against a root which the fall of the tree had thrust up into the air like a spear. His weight caused a mass of earth clinging to the root to fall, and this mass striking another mass over my covert, knocked it away, disclosing my face.

“Jehosaphat!” exclaimed Halftrigger, jumping back in alarm, thinking that he had almost stepped upon a wild beast, “what hev we here?”

Surprise acts differently at times, and fortunately at this critical moment I retained my self possession.

With one bound I sprang from the hole. Snatching up a handful of the fallen earth I dashed it into the face of Halftrigger, and while he was gasping and spitting out the stuff and rubbing it from his eyes, I leaped like a deer over the uprooted tree and was away through the forest.

Halftrigger was sputtering about and the other men were dazed by the sudden apparition. I think they took me at first for a wild man or some such mysterious occupant of the forest. Spanish Pete was the first to recover from the shock.

“It’s the prisoner! It’s Fielding!” he shouted. “Fire on him! Fire!”

There was a rattle of pistol shots and the bullets clipped about me, but I ran on untouched.

“After him! After him!” shouted Halftrigger. “Bring him down boys! Don’t let him get away ag’in!”

I cast one fleeting glance behind me and saw the whole party full tilt after me, most of them holding their smoking pistols in their hands. The love of life put lightning in my heels, and I sprang over the ground with a vigor and speed that would have astonished those who knew me. I darted between the tree trunks, leaped over the fallen brushwood and paused not for the twigs and low-hanging boughs which seemed to reach out to grasp my clothes. But my pursuers hung on and ran as fast as I did. They fired again several times, but, running so swiftly in that uncertain light, it was impossible to take good aim, and the bullets did not even whiz near me.

As I sprang along my incautious foot caught a protruding root and I rolled down a gully. There was a shout of triumph behind me, but I was up again as light as a feather, and, springing out of the gully, I ran on, sending back a defiant cry. But the accident had enabled the men to gain so much upon me that more than once I could hear their heavy panting breath.

“Stop!” shouted Halftrigger, “or I’ll bore a hole through you with a bullet.”

But I had little fear of that. Their marksmanship was bad, and, moreover, I believed all their pistols now to be empty. Instead of stopping, I strained every nerve to increase my speed, and, though my heart was almost bursting with the exertion, I had the satisfaction, when I looked back, to see that I had, made a considerable gain upon them. Then I eased up a little in order to save my breath.

For ten minutes or more the distance between us was unchanged. I could hear the heavy rush of the men and occasionally a curse from one of them as a swinging branch struck him a painful blow in the face.

“Spread out, lads; we’ve got him now!” Halftrigger suddenly exclaimed, in a voice rendered jerky by his exertions.

I did not understand what he meant but when I ran a few feet further and looked up it was all plain to me, and my heart went down like lead. Stretching directly in front of me and shining through the trees was the river. It was broad and looked very deep.

“We’ve got him on a lee shore! Close in lads!” shouted Halftrigger. “It’s been a stern chase an’ a long an’ a hard un, but we’ve won!”

Another minute would have brought me to the river. I made a sudden turn to the north, that is, up stream. Those of my pursuers who had spread out in that direction closed in to head me off, and the others turned to follow. But I whirled suddenly on my heels as if on a pivot, and dashed down the river. I gained several feet by this trick, but still it would not have sufficed to keep me from being cut off had not the river, a short distance further down, curved eastward. I turned with it and ran rapidly along its bank, I gained a little breathing space, but as I summoned my strength for another effort I saw that two of the men, avoiding the curve I had made, had succeeded in gaining enough to head me off. If I had possessed a pistol, I would have fired upon them and made a fight to drive them out of my path. But I was unarmed, and, of course, would be powerless in their grasp.

Again I heard Halftrigger call encouragingly to his men, and assure them that they had me now, and this emboldened me to make a last desperate resolution. Taking one look at the broad, shining river, I leaped far out from the high bank and disappeared, like a diver, head first beneath the water.

As I sank I heard cries of surprise, and I caught a glimpse of the startled faces of the desperadoes. Then the water closed over me. Swimming and diving are among my accomplishments, and, though I was impeded by my clothing, I struck out with strong arms down the stream, bearing towards the further bank. I stayed under water until my head began to buzz and roar, and then I came up panting for breath.

I dashed the water from my eyes, and saw Halftrigger and three of the men standing on the shore a considerable distance up the stream. The others had plunged into the river, and were swimming directly for the opposite shore. Evidently they thought I would strike for the further bank, and my tactics took them by surprise.

“Thar he is! Thar he is!” shouted Halftrigger, as he caught sight of my head on the surface of the stream.

He was reloading his pistol, and as soon as he saw me he began to hasten the task, at the same time running down the bank. I watched him with the tail of one eye, while I floated easily with the current.

It required but a slight exertion to keep me afloat and moving with the stream, and I rapidly recovered’ my breath and strength. Halftrigger was swearing profusely as he fumbled with the pistol and was unable to load it as fast as he wished. The three swimmers had reached the further shore and were climbing up the bank. The other men were following Halftrigger, but in the excitement and hurry of the chase they were forgetful of their pistols and made no effort to reload them. I saw that I had only the leader to fear for the present.

Halftrigger uttered an exclamation of satisfaction presently and raised the pistol to take aim. I watched him until his eyes glanced along the barrel, and then I sank as if lead had been tied to my heels, the report of the pistol ringing in my ears as I went down. Again I swam a long time under the water, and then I came up like a whale for breath, I saw Halftrigger some distance behind me, reloading his pistol with as much haste as he could make. The men who had crossed the river were tearing along the further bank, and now I had two forces threatening me. But we seldom have either good fortune or bad fortune unmixed, and now a bit of good fortune impeded the movements of my enemies. Dense undergrowth began to line either side of the river, and they made their way through it with difficulty, swearing loudly in their vexation.

The lucky interposition of the bushes enabled me to make some gain on my pursuers, though they were still able to keep me in sight. Meanwhile I tried to devise a plan that would help me to escape. Unless the thick undergrowth proceeded for some distance along the bank it was obvious that I would soon be overtaken. Then the men could come into the water and take me or shoot me from the shore at their leisure. It was not a comfortable prospect. But while I was thinking my enemies were thinking also.

“Circle aroun’ the undergrowth!” shouted Halftrigger to one of the men on the further shore, “an’ get ahead o’ him. Then, when he comes down, pop him with a bullet.”

The man to whom he gave the command at once bore away from the stream to escape the impeding undergrowth. Just then the river narrowed somewhat and the banks rose to a considerable height. A strip of bushes and trailing vines grew at the edge of the water and climbed up the bank. A hurried glance disclosed all this. Then I was compelled to watch the men, for I saw some of them had their pistols ready and were going to fire upon me again.

“Jest one o’ you shoot,” called out Halftrigger, “an’ then ef he dives, the other pop him when he comes up.”

This was the last spur to my thoughts and I formed my resolution. I watched the man who was taking aim and again I repeated as successfully as before the trick of diving to escape the shot. But instead of floating down the river I turned and swam up stream, though maintaining a diagonal direction that would bring me to the further shore.

I had inhaled a deep, long breath before I sank, for I felt that my fate turned upon the success of this maneuver. I swam until the whole river seemed to roar in my ears. Then when my outstretched hands’ struck against a hard substance I raised my head slowly from the water. With infinite relief I felt branches and soft leaves rubbing against my face, and when the water dripped from my eyes I found I was lying against the precipitous bank, and my head, which alone protruded above the water, was buried in a mass of bushes, weeds and vines. This growth interlaced and was so dense that I could not see. But parting some of the mass with extreme caution I peeped out.

Some distance further down the men on either side of the river were watching its surface for my reappearance, and had begun to utter exclamations of disappointment when they failed to see me. The one who had the loaded pistol held it outstretched, ready to use it when the opportunity came. Halftrigger also had finished loading his weapon and was waiting for me.

“What’s become o’ the feller!” exclaimed Halftrigger in an impatient voice. “He kain’t swim forever like a fish.”

“He hasn’t come up, that’s certain, Captain,” said Spanish Pete, “or we would have seen him.”

“Perhaps he’s drowned,” hazarded one of the men.

“I don’t believe it,” said Halftrigger. “I think it’s a trick. We’ll watch here a bit longer. But I’ll fin’ out what the trick is or I’m not a sailor.”

They watched for fully five minutes. The man who had undertaken to head me off called from further down the river announcing his failure to find me there. Then Halftrigger decided that they must go into the stream and search for me, one remaining on either bank with loaded pistols in case I made a dash.

“Take your knives in your teeth,” he said. “The fellow is unarmed, an’ you kin settle him easy.”

Halftrigger took the lead and plunged into the water, swimming about with his knife clinched between his teeth. The others followed, and they began to search along the base of the banks, though some distance below me. I might have left the water, but they would see me inevitably as I climbed up the bank, and a bullet would tumble me back. I had secured a good footing on some stones and was standing in the water up to my neck. I pressed back against the bank, holding my head under a projecting stone. The thick foliage in front completely concealed me and I hoped to escape detection.

The men splashed about in the water, swimming here and there and calling to each other. At last, led by Halftrigger, they bore up the stream and came near to my hiding place.

“He must be ’long here somewhar,” called out Halftrigger, “an’ we’ll fin’ him, livin’ or dead. Look well in them bushes, lads.”

I sank lower and lower, until the water almost bubbled into my mouth. Several of them passed above me and began to thresh among the bushes and grass that grew at the water’s edge. Halftrigger came within a yard of me. I could see the great burn on his face glowing in the moonlight, and his whole expression was one of disappointment and anger.

“Captain, he must have had a cramp and drowned,” said Spanish Pete to his disappointed leader.

“But we’d see somethin’ o’ the body,” objected Halftrigger. “Keep up the search.”

They were all above me now, but not far enough away for me to make a dash. I hoped that the search would lead them still further on, but presently one of the men swam back down the stream and began to prod among the grass and bushes very near me. He held his knife in his teeth, and was examining the bank as closely as he could in the moonlight.

I had escaped so much search already that this man did not greatly arouse my apprehensions. If the keen eyes of Halftrigger passed by me in vain this fellow was not likely to be more successful. He swam within four or five feet of me and then paused as if undecided. Halftrigger was calling to the man to come on upstream, and the fellow seemed to me to be ready to obey, for his face was turned toward me and in the direction of Halftrigger.

Perhaps he would have gone, but in my eagerness to crouch still further back, if possible, my foot slipped on one of the stones and made a slight gurgling sound in the waters. The man turned instantly, parted the mass of bushes and weeds in front of my face and his glowing eyes looked into mine.

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