24 In the Outer Darkness

When the last sound of the bar falling heavily in its place behind the door died away, I realized fully the perilous nature of the enterprise we had undertaken, and for a moment wished myself back in the hut with our comrades. But I put my will in command of my nerves and resolved that I would go wherever Pike would lead. It was but a brief chill, and then I steadied myself and waited for Pike’s orders.

“Stan’ close in the shadow of the wall,” whispered the hunter. “I want fust to see ef I kin hear any uv the scoundrels near us.”

He resorted to the familiar device of putting his ear to the earth, moving about in the shadow of the cabin, and listening first at one place and then at another.

“Thar’s nary a sound,” he said, “an’ I don’t think any uv ’em is nigh, I didn’t think it anyway, but it’s best to be shore.”

“Where do you think they are?” I asked in a whisper.

“Up on the hill thar in the woods,” replied Pike, “but come on now, an’ be ez light with your feet ez ef Injuns was huntin’ you, and you didn’t want ’em to fin’ you.”

He led the way, bent over at a sharp angle, and trying to penetrate the darkness, which, however, was too heavy even for his trained eyes. I followed so close behind that I could have touched him with my hand. We were going towards the valley, directly away from the supposed camp of the outlaws on the crest of the .hill. I wondered somewhat at this, as it was our business to spy upon them. But it was an inconvenient time for asking questions and, besides, Pike was a man who understood what he was about. I looked back once towards our hut. The outlines of the building were lost in the darkness. But there was a faint light twinkling like a little star through one of the loopholes. This, too, soon disappeared. We reached the trees which skirted the base of the hill. Pike stopped.

“Be extry keerful here,” he said, “fur some uv our inemies might be loafin’ about.”

A smash among the boughs of the tree under which we stood was the answer. Twigs and other fragments fell upon us, and a great stone struck among the bushes some feet beyond us.

“It seems that we are not as safe from the bombardment here as we were in the cabin,” I said.

“You’re right,” said Pike, “but thet was a tarnation poor shot at the cabin. It must hev missed it full fifty feet. I think we’d better go down in the bottom, or we’ll git our heads smashed by one uv them rocks.”

We made our way very carefully among the trees and undergrowth, until we reached a point that we thought, from the way they had been striking before, was out of the range of the dangerous missiles. Then we halted again.

“My plan,” said Pike, “is to approach them fellers from the rear, an’ see what sort uv trick they’re up to. They won’t be expectin’ us, thinkin’ that we’re all in the cabin, an’ we ought to git nigh enough to see what sort of deviltry they’ve invented. An’ after we’ve seen that we’ll know better how to carcumvent ’em. Be shore to keep your weepins dry, fur I’m thinkin’ we’ll hev some need fur ’em.”

We went up the valley, or rather, the river bed, a considerable distance, passing by our mine on the way. Pike stopped to look for the tools, which we had abandoned in our rush to the cabin. After scrutinizing the place as well as he could in the darkness, he felt about with his hands, and then announced that all the tools were gone.

“It’s jest az I thought,” he said. “Halftrigger and his men hev took ’em an’ put ’em to use. Thet wuz one uv our mistakes. We ought to hev took them tools with us when we run to the cabin.”

When we were two or three hundred yards beyond the mine we crossed the ridge, and, coming around in a circle, were now behind the outlaws, if, as we supposed, they were in the wood on the crest of the hill overlooking our cabin. We began the ascent, stopping every few yards to listen. The rain had now ceased and the darkness had lifted a little bit. The side of the hill on which we now were was well wooded and the undergrowth was thick. It offered good concealment, and, therefore, was favorable to our movements.

We were half way up the hill when we saw a light shining ahead of us. It flickered in the wind and seemed to be just under the crest of the hill.

“That’s the gang,” said Pike, as we halted in a thicket. “That’s thar camp fire, an’ the job that’s cut out fur us, is to git near enough to see ’em without them seein’ us. Now, Joe, jest imagine you’re an Injun creepin’ upon his wust enemy to git his scalp. We’ve got to crawl fur it, and when I hiss like a sarpint stop right in your tracks. Be keerful with your gun.”

He dropped upon his knees and began to crawl through the grass and bushes. I followed close behind, managing my gun with some difficulty, for it is not easy to turn your hands into paws and use them for carrying purposes at the same time. But Pike’s progress was as easy as if that were his natural method of locomotion. First he would part the bushes with one hand, next take a careful look ahead and then move forward a yard or two. A pause to listen for sounds from our enemies would ensue, and then our jerky advance would be resumed.

After a quarter of an hour’s crawling we heard voices. We were too far away to understand the words, but we knew we were very near the outlaw camp. Moreover, the light had grown much more distinct.

“They built their fire on this side of the hill so we couldn’t see it from the hut,” said Pike, “though it’ll give enough light fur ’em to work by on top uv the hill. I hope none uv them skunks will be stealin’ ’mong the bushes here an’ run ag’in us.”

A half dozen feet further on we came to a gulch two or three feet deep. It ran transversely along the hillside and seemed to lead directly towards the bandit camp. The bushes were not only very thick on either side of it, but almost met over it and formed an admirable way of approach for us. Pike stepped carefully into it and watched me as I followed without breaking a twig or loosening a gravel, a performance in which I felt some pride, as it justified Pike’s confidence in my abilities and accomplishments as a scout.

When we had gone a few yards up the gulch Pike halted. He was directly in front of me and his bulky frame cut off my line of sight. But he pressed to one side, and pointing through a small opening in the dense foliage that surrounded us, said in a low whisper:

“Now you kin see the secret uv them stuns flyin’ through the air at the cabin.”

About forty feet from us a fire of a half dozen brands was burning. Lounging near it in easy attitudes were three or four of the brigands, but twenty feet higher up and on the crest of the hill the scene was far more interesting. All the remainder of the party were gathered there, the gigantic figure of Halftrigger towering among them. A half dozen were talking at once, though not in loud tones, and Halftrigger was gesturing and giving orders.

Two stout saplings of equal size and about a foot apart grew at the crest of the hill. The outlaws had trimmed all the boughs off of them and had cut out the tops also. Then they had bent the tough but elastic trunks far back, until the upper ends almost touched the ground. Three or four feet from the ends and for a distance of about a half yard they had plaited withes or stout strings of bark backward and forward between the two saplings.

“Don’t you see how it is?” said Pike. “It’s smart enough, confound ’em! I’ll bet Halftrigger wuz the one that thought uv it.”

I did see how it was, for the outlaws were giving even then a practical demonstration of the uses of this crude machine. It was like the catapults or ballistse, or some other machines of ancient times, which I had heard Henry tell about, for he liked to revel in the old histories. Seven or eight of the outlaws had just bent the sapling back, and two others had taken a large stone from a heap which lay near. The matting of withes on which they placed the stone held it in place, and it was obvious that when they loosed their hold on the saplings they would fly back and the stone would be hurled straight away down the hill, as if it were a ball fired from a cannon. It was ingenious and effective, much too effective for our comfort and safety, and the only trouble in operating it was in regard to the accuracy of the aim.

“It’s jest a big spring gun, or ruther a tree cannon,” whispered Pike, “but it’s mighty lucky fur us they can’t tell very well whar thar ball is goin’ when they fire it.”

I thought the name tree cannon was very appropriate.

Though the fire was some yards away, it shone on the faces of the men who were operating the tree cannon. Spanish Pete seemed to be the head of the party that was holding the tree down, while Halftrigger had stationed himself behind them, and was calculating as well as he could where the stone would strike. We were near enough to hear and understand every word they said.

“What do you think of that now, Captain?” asked Spanish Pete. “Will it smash ’em?”

“I think not, judgin’ by the way the last un struck,” replied Halftrigger. “Pull a leetle ’roun’ to the right. Thar, that’s more like it. But don’t let go yet. I want to take a few more squints. I know eggzackly whar that cabin stands, an’ I want to figger it out so’s I kin make a dead shot.”

“We are bound to smash up the cabin if we keep on, are we not, Captain?” asked Spanish Pete, who seemed to be in an excellent humor with himself.

“You bet,” replied Halftrigger, who also was in a jovial mood. “Great old scheme o’ mine, wuzn’t it, these saplin’s. It ain’t real artillery, but it’s the next thing to it. I’ll gamble them swabs in the hut wuz surprised nigh about ez bad ez Tim Grady when the shark took him when that fust rock come smashin’ among ’em. We know we’ve hit the cabin twice, because we’ve heard the rocks strike, and ef we keep on shootin’ we’re bound to hit it more times, an’ ef we keep on hittin’ ’em we’re bound to bring their house down arter awhile. The more I think o’ that little scheme o’ mine with the saplin’s the more I admire it. Hank Halftrigger hez got somthin’ in his head yet.”

Then the big ugly villian, as he shut one eye cocked his head on one side, and sighting the tree cannon as if it had been a real cannon, began to chant his evil lay:

“Now I think you’ve got it about right, Pete,” he continued. “Let ’er go lads, all together, when I count three.

“One!

“Two!

“Three!”

As he uttered the word “three” the men released the saplings. The tough trunks bounded back to the perpendicular, their proper position, and the stone was driven through the air with a roar and a swish. Halftrigger listened intently, and then uttered a cry of disappointment.

“Missed ag’in, by the great hornspoon!” he cried. “Though I think that must hev gone mighty near the house. I’m afeared the saplin’s wuz bent a little too far ’roun’ to the right. We’ll, we kin try ag’in. Pull ’em down ag’in, lads.”

Some of the men scuttled like monkeys up the saplings, and swinging themselves from the tops bent them back to the ground. Two more brought another of the larger stones and began to put it in place.

“I suppose you expect to get at that gold before many hours, don’t you, Captain?” asked Spanish Pete.

“You bet,” replied Halftrigger. “It’s good ez our’n already. When we smash the cabin all we’ve got to do is to make a rush. They may drop one or two o’ us, but we’ve got to take our chances on that, an’ then it’ll be all over. Why this is jest too easy, Pete. It’s such a cute trick we’re workin’ with them saplin’s, I haven’t had half ez much enj’yment out o’ a leetle bit o’ business since we made the crew o’ the Dutch brig walk the plank off the east coast o’ Timor. I wuz aboard one o’ the tightest craft in them seas, Pete—never mind what her name wuz—an’ we took the Dutchman after a short spell o’fightin’ in which we lost four o’ our best men. When they give up only seven were left alive aboard the Dutchman, ’cludin’ the capt’in. They had showed sech spunk that we thought we’d treat ’em like gen’lemen. So we blindfolded ’em an’ made ’em walk the plank one after another right thar an’ then afore we divided the spoil that we found aboard the ship. Oh, it wuz fun I tell you, Pete, fur after the fust man’ had gone down in the water the sharks come all a-crowdin’ roun’ the ship and a-pokin’ up their shovel noses so much ez to say we’re a-waitin’ fur the next un. An’ they’d grab ’em almost afore they’d walked off the plank into the water, an’ fight over ’em an’ tar each other, ez well ez thar prey, an’ they fairly kivered the sea with blood ’round the ship.”

I shivered with horror at the recital, and I could hear the big hunter grinding his teeth together in wrath.

“I could shoot him full uv holes with more pleasure than I ever sent a bullet after a deer,” he growled.

The pleasure of anticipation seemed to heat the brain of the master villian and make him voluble.

“Pete,” said he, “thar’s one among them swabs in the cabin that I’d like to hev for my own partic’lar meat. I mean thet infernal hunter fellow—Pike they call him. To feel my knife slippin’ atween his ribs would do me so much good that I’d jest grin all over. He’s stopped me two or three times already, and Hank Halftrigger don’t like to be owin’ anybody anythin’.”

“Nobody will dispute your rights when it comes to settling up, Captain,” said Spanish Pete.

“They’d better not,” replied Halftrigger. “Not quite so fur to the right this time, lads. That last shot didn’t miss ’em more’n a yard or two an’ I think we’ll get ’em this time.”

He was squinting down the hillside now. The rain had ceased and the clouds had lifted so much that it was probable he could see the house. Thus aided, and profiting by his former experience, Halftrigger might be able to strike the cabin. We knew it could not stand many such blows as the two it had received already.

Pike touched me on the arm.

“Joe,” he said, “the time hez come for us to take a hand in the game. ’Tain’t wuth while fur the fun to be all on one side.”

“What do you propose to do?” I asked.

“Are your nerves stiddy?” he asked.

I replied with some pride that I believed they were.

“Wa’al, they had orter be,” replied Pike, “fur I’m goin’ to try a game that’s mighty desprit, but I believe it’s the only thing that’s left that’ll save us. You see, it’s jest ez Halftrigger says. Ef they keep on firin’ them stuns at the cabin they’re bound to smash it arter a while, an’ then ef we try to stan’ our groun’ they’re likely to wipe us out through power uv numbers. We might git away ef we made a break fur it, but then we’d hev to leave the gold fur which we hev resked so much, an’ we ain’t the men to do that, I take it.”

“No, no,” I exclaimed, “we will not leave the gold, not on any account.”

The gold fever is a powerful disease, and there are few medicines strong enough to cure it.

“I knowed how you all felt,” replied Pike, “an’ so we’ve got to beat them fellers off, an’ break up thar fun with thar tree cannon. We’ve got to fire on ’em jest az they stan’. Thar are two at the ends uv the saplin’ that are doing most uv the holdin’ down. You take aim at the nigh one an’ I’ll shoot at the fur one. I’d like to take the head scoundrel, Halftrigger, but I kain’t get a good bead on him on account uv them saplin’s, an’ besides we hev to take the men who are holdin’ the saplin’s so ez to stop the tree cannon business. Now, wait till I give the word to fire an’ ez soon ez you’ve pulled the trigger foller me, steppin’ ez light an’ ez fast as you kin. It’s resky, tarnation resky, but it must be done.”

The last words Pike addressed to himself in a soliloquy rather than to me. Obedient to his instructions, I aimed at the man at the end of the nearest sapling. It is repugnant to one’s feelings to take human life, and most of all to take it from ambush when your victim is unsuspecting. But these men were simply so many ravenous wolves seeking to devour us. Not one of them would be in the least bit merciful were we to fall into their power, and the saving of our lives depended upon the taking of theirs.

When I looked down the sights of my rifle at the face of the man whom Pike had marked off for me, most of my scruples disappeared. It was a pock marked, scarred and thoroughly villainous countenance. The nose had been slit by a great gash, probably received in some barroom fight, and lay almost flat on his face. Everything human and redeeming had been banished from that countenance. Only the brute was left.

“Hev you got your aim, Joe?” asked Pike.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“I think she’s about right now, boys,” said Halftrigger; “but let me take one more squint. I want to be sartin to smash ’em this time.”

“Fire!” said Pike in a sharp whisper.

We pulled triggers so nearly together that our rifles made but a single report. The man at whom I had aimed threw his hands to his head, reeled away from the tree and then fell over on his face. Pike’s man sank down in a lump. The others, startled by the flash and crack of the guns, released the trees and they flew back in place, while the stone, which had not yet been quite adjusted, slipped from the matting and fell to the ground. The band seemed dazed by the sudden catastrophe, and even Halftrigger lost his presence of mind for a moment.

“Come on,” said Pike, gathering up his rifle and stealing silently, but swiftly, away among the bushes. A dozen steps and we heard a wild shout of rage and execration, and then the whole band came tearing through the grass and bushes after us.

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