CHAPTER VI.
A STRANGE ENCOUNTER.
Hal laughed aloud.
"Terrible fight, eh?" he exclaimed. "Of course you did. What else could you do? You had to fight. Pretty lucky, Stubbs."
"Lucky!" echoed Stubbs. "What do you mean, lucky? If you had been here in time to see me tackle this fellow you would have known what a hard time I had."
"I saw you," replied Hal. "You can put down your gun, now. I'll take care of this fellow."
He leveled his own revolver at the queer-looking creature before him and
Stubbs placed his newly-acquired revolver in his coat pocket.
Hal motioned to his prisoner to approach. The latter did so with an ugly scowl on his face. He seemed not to have the slightest fear and came up to the lad unflinchingly.
"Speak English?" asked Hal.
There was no reply.
"French?"
The man nodded.
"Who are you?" demanded Hal.
"Nikol."
"Nikol what?"
The man did not reply, and Hal surveyed him critically. He was at least thirty-five years of age, could not have been an inch more than four feet in height, and his long, knotted arms, apparently as strong as a gorilla's, reached almost to the ground, where his huge hand clasped and unclasped nervously. Involuntarily Hal shuddered.
"Must be as strong as an ox," the lad muttered. "Lucky for Stubbs he kicked at the right time and happened to land."
"What's your last name?" the lad demanded again.
"Haven't any," was the reply.
"What are you, an Albanian?"
"Yes."
"What are you doing here?"
The man did not reply.
Stubbs had been an interesting listener to the conversation and became decidedly impatient when the dwarf refused to answer Hal's questions.
"Why don't you speak?" he demanded aggressively, taking a step forward.
He felt perfectly safe now that Hal had the man covered.
Instantly there was an unexpected change in the dwarf's manner. He stepped back a pace and bowed his head before the angry Stubbs.
"I did not know that you wished me to answer," he replied civilly. "I will talk to you, for you are the first man who has ever conquered me; and you are a small man, too—a dwarf."
"What's that?" exclaimed Stubbs still more angrily, for "the dwarf" had touched upon a tender spot. "Dwarf, am I? What do you mean by talking to me like that?"
Again he took a step forward and the Albanian drew back.
"You will please excuse me," he said humbly. "I did not mean to offend. For myself I am proud that I am a dwarf and I was glad that it was one of my own kind who conquered me."
Stubbs, greatly flattered, threw out his chest and turned to Hal.
"You see," he exclaimed, "if you have any doubts as to how I overcame this man, he will tell you himself. Won't you, Nik—Nikol?"
Nikol bowed.
"I will, sir," he replied.
"Well, you seem to have done a good job," Hal replied. "I don't believe I could have overcome him. In fact, I am sure of it. Now if you will kindly order your newly made slave to answer my questions, perhaps we may learn something."
Stubbs gave the order in the tone of a man born to command and the dwarf nodded his understanding.
"If my boss knew I could give orders like that, I'd have a better job," was Stubbs' comment as Hal turned to Nikol.
"What are your sympathies in this war?" asked the lad quietly.
"My sympathies," was the reply, "I have kept locked up here," and Nikol tapped his breast with one of his huge fingers. "But, now that my conqueror requests me to talk, I will tell you. My sympathies are with Montenegro; always have been and always will be."
"Good!" exclaimed Hal. "Then perhaps you can tell me something of the
Austrian sentiment in these mountains."
"The Austrian sympathy is very strong," was the reply. "Not so much here as further north. Thousands of tribesmen there are only awaiting the arrival of the Austrians to join their ranks. Some have joined already."
"And is there not danger for a man of your sympathies in these parts?"
The Albanian shrugged his shoulders.
"I have said," he replied, "that I keep my sympathies locked up here," and again he tapped his breast.
Hal was silent for a few moments, considering a plan that had come to him. At length he turned to Stubbs.
"Will you ask your newly made friend," he said, "if he will join us? He will be invaluable. He can lead us where we would go without question."
Stubbs grasped the situation instantly.
He put the question to the Albanian. For long minutes the man hesitated, and then he, in turn, asked a question.
"You say that you are working in the interests of Montenegro?" he asked.
"I can give you my word," replied Stubbs soberly.
The dwarf extended a hand to Stubbs and looked him in the eye.
"Such men as you, such fighters as you, do not lie," he said gravely.
Stubbs blushed like a schoolboy as he extended a hand, which was seized in a grip that brought tears to the little man's eyes. But he bore the pain bravely, for he did not wish to lose caste in the eyes of his new admirer.
"Come then," said Hal. "We'll pick up Colonel Edwards again and be moving."
He led the way back to where the first shot had been fired and raised his voice in a shout:
"All right, Edwards?"
"All right," was the reply.
"I've caught the enemy," explained Hal. "You can come from under cover."
He led the way to the road and a moment later Colonel Edwards joined them.
"What have we here?" he exclaimed, after a glance at the dwarf.
"A guide," replied Hal; "the same being the man who fired at us, and also
Stubbs' own prisoner."
"Stubbs' prisoner?"
"Exactly. He captured him single-handed."
Colonel Edwards eyed Stubbs in the greatest surprise, until Hal explained in a low voice, so that neither Stubbs nor the dwarf might hear.
"Well, we may as well be moving then," said Colonel Edwards. "Have your guide take the lead, Stubbs."
Stubbs, undeniably proud at the honor now being bestowed upon him, did as requested, and the dwarf led the way down the road at a rapid gait.
Hour after hour they walked along encountering no one, until shortly before nightfall when they drew up near a small hut. Here Nikol went forward and secured food, which he brought back in his hands. This they devoured hungrily, drank from a little brook, and moved forward again.
Now Nikol deserted the beaten path and struck off through the mountains proper, climbing steep hills, leaping ruts and gullies, rocks and brooks, but making such good progress that the others were hard pressed to keep up with him.
Darkness fell suddenly and Stubbs shuddered.
"Nice place for an assassin here, too," he muttered gloomily.
"Back at it, are you?" said Hal. "What will your friend Nikol say?"
Stubbs did not reply.
Suddenly the dwarf halted and motioned the others to silence. All listened intently and directly made out what the sharp ears of Nikol had caught first—the sound of approaching footsteps.
Nikol motioned the others back into the shadow of a great rock and stepped boldly forward. Then he hesitated a moment, came back and spoke to Stubbs in a low voice, yet loud enough for the others to hear.
"If I should chance to be outmatched," he said, "you will come to my assistance? The others," he snapped his fingers, "are no good. You will come?"
Taken wholly off his guard, Stubbs stuttered and stammered.
"You will come?" Nikol repeated again.
"Ye-e-s, I'll come," Stubbs articulated at last.
Nikol wasted no further time in words, but moved forward perhaps a hundred yards. Then he halted and stood still, waiting.
The sound of footsteps drew nearer and still nearer, and then suddenly
Nikol sprang forward, silently and swiftly.
There came a sudden startled cry from ahead and then a great, boisterous laugh.
"Ho! Ho!" exclaimed a voice in French. "Look what has attacked
Ivan Vergoff."
For some reason that he could not explain, Hal left his place of concealment and moved toward the combatants. The others followed him.
"Ho! Ho!" came the great voice again. "Ivan Vergoff, the greatest of the
Cossacks, attacked by this puny pygmy."
Hal had now approached close enough to see the gigantic figure of Nikol's antagonist and to witness the struggle.
The giant had stooped over and seized Nikol by one arm. He pulled, but the dwarf, his feet firmly planted on the ground, did not budge. It was a great exhibition of strength, for Hal knew that the stranger must be a powerful man.
This time the giant did not laugh.
"A strong man," he muttered aloud. "A strong man, though he be a pygmy."
He now extended another arm, seized the dwarf around the middle and lifted him high above his head. With his right arm the dwarf struck the face that gazed up at him as he was suspended high in the air.
The big man gave a roar like that of an angry bull, hurled the dwarf from him and then jumped after the flying figure with remarkable agility for a man of his huge size.
But even as he would have seized Nikol again, Hal stepped forward.
"Wait!" cried the lad, who had been doing some quick thinking. "Your name is Ivan Vergoff and you are a Cossack?"
The big man paused suddenly and glanced about him.
"Yes!" he shouted. "What of it?"
"Only," replied Hal quietly, "that I bring you word of your brother, Alexis!"