11 CI
"Move, and earn the death you will presently pray for," he called out.
A medley of mocking yells came from the spectators and a score of voices repeated the taunt; both they and the cunning devil who had uttered it knew that the invitation would not be accepted. However desperate his situation, a sane, healthy man will hold on to life as long as possible, and though Sudden could see no chance of escape, he cherished a hope that he might somehow get free and go down fighting. So he schooled his aching muscles and became as motionless as the tree against which he stood.
With steady, unwinking eyes, he saw the fling of the brown arm again, the gleam of the twinkling steel, and felt the wind of the blade on his cheek. The second knife missed him by less than an inch. Amid the shouts of admiration for the prowess of their chief, were jeers for the man who had declined to die. Sudden was concerned with someone else ; from behind had come a hoarse whisper :
"yore han's is free. When that varmint comes to git his stickers, grab one an' let him have it. Then jump for the tepee, git yore guns, and gimme a chance to start the gal an' yore friend off. There'll be a hoss waitin' for yu."
Like a dazed man, the cowboy listened. The voice was one he had heard before but in the stress of the moment he could not place it. He could feel that his wrists had been loosed and lowered his arms slightly to relieve the numbing ache. He looked at Red Fox ; the chief was strutting to and fro, enjoying his triumph, and seemed to be in no hurry to fetch his weapons. Sudden wanted him nearer.
"Red Fox is clumsy," he announced loudly. "An Apache or Kiowa boy could throw the knife better."
Like a stung man the savage whirled, his dusky features aflame with fury.
"White spawn!" he cried, "I will cut off your ears with the knives ; I will pin your fingers one by one to the tree."
Haughtily he stepped forward and that was the moment the victim had been waiting for. Snatching one of the knives, he balanced it on his palm for an instant, and then hurled it at the advancing savage. With a strangled cry Red Fox crumpled up, the steel buried to the haft in his throat.
For one staggering moment there was silence and then the petrified onlookers saw the man they had believed to be securely tied leap across the open space and vanish into one of the tepees. The sight restored their power to move and with a ferocious threatening howl, they rushed in pursuit.
Sudden found the tepee empty. Buckling on his belt, he drew both guns and sprang to the entrance. A surging wave of maddened redskins was sweeping down upon him, and a cloud of arrows greeted his appearance, piercing the buffalo-hide walls of the tepee, and whistling past his ears. His Colts spouted flame and before that continuous hail of hurtling lead the charge withered and broke, the Indians scattering in all directions. But he knew the respite was but momentary ; they would surround him, and then.... Reloading his weapons, he became aware that someone had entered, and swung about. He saw a brown, paint-lined face, feathered scalp-lock, and his thumb was on the point of releasing the hammer when the intruder spoke :
"Hold on thar, friend ; I ain't no war-whoop."
It was the voice of the man who had freed him, and now he remembered it as that of the "still-hunter" who had come into their camp on the Colorado. Tyson gave him no time for questions.
"The gal is away on yore black an' yore friend with her, though he balked some at leavin' yu," he said. "There's a hoss waitin' an' yu ain't got but a minit--them devils is closin' in, which is why they've stopped yappin'." He pointed to the back of the tepee, where a long slit in the hide covering provided an exit, adding, "It'll be nip an' tuck as it is."
"What about yu?" the cowboy asked.
"I'm stayin'," was the jaunty reply. "I c'n pass as one of 'ern an' "--he chuckled with sinister glee--"I'll make me some converts."
Sudden did not attempt to dissuade him ; Tyson evidently knew what he was about. He held cut a hand.
"This puts me deep in yore debt," he said.
"Nary a bit--I ain't forgot that grub an' smoking'," was the reply. "Head due west an' hump yoreseif."
Sudden slid through the opening and found the horse. Being Indian property there was no saddle, but the hackamore bridle was all the cowboy needed and in a trice he was on the beast's back and spurring for the open. A shout of rage and a few spasmodic arrows greeted his appearance and a redskin rose out of the long grass and sprang at him, only to go downwith a shriek under the plunging feet. A score of leaping strides and the fugitive knew that he was safe for the time. He would be pursued, but the Indians had first to secure their ponies and this would give him a fair start. Nevertheless, he pressed on at full speed, casting an occasional glance at the trail, where the prints of shod horses seemed to indicate that he was following his friends.
Unfortunately, the nature of the country did not favour him, for though undulating, it was open, offering little opportunity of keeping out of sight. Sadden had covered but a few miles when, from the crest of a long slope, he saw the pair he was in search of, and uttered a man-sized curse when he realized that they were waiting for him. With a violent gesture he signed them to go on and let his own mount feel the spurs. His greeting, when he ranged alongside, was hardly one of gratitude.
"Have yu lost yore wits?" he asked Sandy. "yu oughta be a coupla miles farther away right now."
"We were anxious about you," the girl explained. "I insisted on waiting."
Sudden looked around disgustedly. "There ain't a hole we could hide in," he said.
As they surmounted another incline a faint whoop was borne to them on the breeze, and back on the trail was a billowing cloud of dust in which tiny dark forms could be dimly distinguished. Sudden's lips clamped together as he studied the animal he bestrode. Sandy was riding his own horse, which was a good one.
"Friend Tyson don't savvy ponies, or mebbe this is all he could lay his paws on," he commented. He reached over and removed his rifle from the saddle of the black, and said to Sandy, "yu an' Miss Carol go ahead ; my hoss is fast for a mile or two, but ain't got no bottom."
"Like hell we will," the boy retorted hotly. "What yu goin' to do?"
"Stay an' argue with these copper-coloured gents. That'll give yu time to get the girl away--mebbe."
Ere Sandy could voice his objection to this proposal a fierce yell apprised them of another factor to be considered, and effectually closed the argument. Less than half a mile distant, and coming towards them, was another band of redskins who, at the sight of the whites, quirted their ponies into a run. The fugitives were between two fires. Sudden swung his horse to the right.
"Follow me," he cried. "We gotta find a better place than this to stand 'em off."
"Mebbe they'll scrap with each other an' give us a chance to sneak off," Sandy said hopefully, as they raced at top speed across the plain.
"The second lot are Comanches too," Sudden told him, and shot a hasty glance over his shoulder. "Hell, they're gainin'. Head for that bluff ; it looks a likely spot."
He pointed to a small plateau, the approaching slope of which was, at one spot, broken away, leaving a vertical wall. At the foot of this were several boulders. With the girl and the horses sheltered behind the largest of these, the two men gripped their weapons and waited.
"They may get us, boy, but we'll make 'em pay," Sudden grated.
Chapter XVII
THE onslaught did not come at once. The white men saw the two bands meet and fraternize, with much shouting, gesticulation, and brandishing of weapons. Probably the position their prey had taken up did not please them ; it meant a frontal attack, and most Indians had a healthy fear of the "guns that fired for ever." Sandy was counting.