Frank in the Mountains

by Harry Castlemon

Frank was about to say that if he had Roderick, and could catch Jack Bowles out on clear ground, he would show him that he hadn't got Pete quite so safe as he imagined; but he stopped when he reflected that the mustang was a good many miles away, and in the hands of the savages, and that possibly he might never see him again.

"I know where your other horse is," said Adam. "He is in the possession of Dick Lewis. You see, when the trappers learned that Dick had been captured, they went up and attacked the Indian camp, in the hope that during the confusion he might see a chance to get away. That was, probably, the time that Roderick escaped. At any rate, when the trappers returned to the fort, the mustang came with them, and Dick took care of him."

"That's all right," said Frank. "I knew the Indians would never catch Dick. Did you see Bob Kelly?"

"Yes; he was alive and yelling when we cut our way out of the fort."

"I have just thought of something," said Frank, turning to the outlaw. "You said you gave Archie into the keeping of the Black Fox. I met the Fox about three miles back in the mountains, and had a fight with him. What was he doing so far from camp?"

"I don't know," replied the outlaw, looking thoughtfully at the ground. "Mebbe the leetle feller got away from him."

"That's just my idea. Archie escaped, and he was in pursuit of him. If the Fox knows when he is well off, he will get help before he tries to capture him, for Archie is plucky and strong, if he is little. But, Adam, you were going to tell me what happened at the fort."

"There isn't much to tell," was the reply. "The Indians whipped us, and they were not more than an hour in doing it. The trappers, as I told you, left the fort and made an attack on the village, for the purpose of liberating Dick Lewis. Of course, they did not expect to whip the Indians in a fair fight; all they wanted to do was to throw the camp into confusion, and give Dick a chance to do something for himself. But he had already escaped, and about fifteen minutes after the trappers left, he came into the fort, puffing and blowing like a porpoise. The trappers were more successful than they expected to be. Finding the village nearly deserted, they set it on fire, kept up a running fight with the Indians for ten miles; and sixteen out of nineteen returned to the fort in safety. The Indians, in the meantime, must have received reinforcements from somewhere, for they followed close at the trappers' heels; and no sooner had the gates been closed than the fight began.

"You learned something about Indians when they made the attack on your wagon-train, while you were coming across the plains; but you have never been in a regular battle with them, and you can have but a poor idea of the state of affairs in and about that fort during the short time the fight continued. They began operations by setting fire to our house and barns. The fire lighted up the whole valley; and I shall never forget how I felt when I looked over the top of the palisades and saw the savages coming toward us. I had never seen so many Indians before. There must have been a thousand of them; and the determination with which they made and carried on their attack, proved that they had great confidence in their overwhelming numbers, and that they expected an easy victory. They did not waste time in skulking behind trees and shooting at the fort—they came on in a body, like soldiers, approaching so close to the palisades that we could touch them with the muzzles of our guns as we thrust them through the loop-holes. They expected, no doubt, to find the fort in the same defenseless state in which they had seen it in the morning—with the gates gone and the walls broken down; but in this they were disappointed. The major had paid some attention to Captain Porter's warning, and the old trading-post was as strong as it had ever been. That was a fortunate thing for us, for, even as it was, it was all we could do to prevent the savages from affecting an entrance. They fought like tigers, climbing up to the top of the wall and throwing their tomahawks down at the soldiers, and even tearing out the palisades in some places; and I saw more than one Indian cut down with sabers inside the fort. The assault did not continue more than five or ten minutes—of course it seemed much longer to me—and then one of the chiefs set up a yell, and the savages fell back to the cover of the woods to devise some new plan of attack; while we improved the time to repair the damage they had done. I say we, because I count myself in as one of the defenders of the fort. My bullets went as swift and as straight to the mark as anybody's. I had a good rifle and a brace of revolvers; and, although I was excited and frightened, as I believe any other boy would have been under the same circumstances, I was not foolish enough to waste my ammunition, and did not shoot unless a fair mark was presented. I know I hit one Indian, and saved a soldier's life; but I haven't come to that yet.

"If you had been in the fort, I don't think you would have failed to take particular notice of Dick Lewis and Bob Kelly. All the trappers seemed to be in their element—I don't believe there was one among them who experienced any more fear than you and I would if we were defending a snow fort against the attacks of our schoolmates—but Dick and Bob were as wild as any of the Indians. Such yells I never before heard uttered by white men. If there was one place in the fort more dangerous than another, those two trappers were sure to be there. On one occasion, when the Indians had cut down a portion of the palisades, and the soldiers were doing some desperate hand-to-hand fighting to keep them from entering through the opening, Dick seized one of the savages, and, whirling him clear over his head, threw him back into the fort, calling out: 'Ketch him, somebody!' Three or four soldiers sprang upon him at once, and before they had time to bind him, Dick threw them another. When the savages had been driven back, and the soldiers were repairing the palisades, the major took occasion to thank the trappers, and especially Dick and Bob, for what they had done. The former listened attentively to what he had to say, and then drew himself up and gave the major a regular military salute.