A COUPLE OF ARROWS ... FOLLOWED HIM.
About thirty paces beyond the point of the cliff that hid him for a few moments from view, was the cave in which he had spent the night. Quick as thought he sprang up the steep trail to its entrance and darted in. Crouching behind a ledge of rock close to the entrance, he waited for the two Indians to appear. Presently he saw one of them peering around the bend in the cliff wall. Raising his gun to his shoulder, he fired. The Indian's face disappeared from sight, but whether the bullet had hit the mark, Hawk Eye could not determine.
In the meantime Raven Wing, not daring to run into range of the arrows from the two Indians, had darted into the bushes and made for the rocky ground in the rear of the camp. In doing so he happened to pass the tree against which Slow Dog had rested Hawk Eye's gun, with shot-belt and powder horn. Picking them up, he climbed over the rocks and up to a wooded ridge that overlooked the cave in which Hawk Eye had sought shelter.
From this high point Raven Wing noticed that the bed of dried up water course led through the bushes towards the cave. Without further delay he hurried down to it, and sped swiftly along between its high bush-bordered banks. But, on drawing near to the cave, he was disappointed to find an open space, without tree or shrub, between it and the edge of the bushes.
CHAPTER XV
TWO GOOD SHOTS
Peering cautiously out between the heavy undergrowth, Raven Wing saw the two Indians, who had pursued Hawk Eye, crouching behind a boulder on the opposite side of the open space. He realized that it would be impossible for him to cross the open ground without being hit by an arrow, and he also felt reasonably certain that as soon as they were joined by Slow Dog, they would set off to find him, leaving the Medicine Man to prevent Hawk Eye's escape from the cave.