TURNING OUT A PANTHER.
"I have been in more than one fight with the Indians," continued Adam, "and have heard their yells more times than I can remember; but I never heard any that equaled those which rung in my ears when the savages saw us coming out of the fort. At the moment the gate opened they were preparing for a second assault, and we must have taken them by surprise, for they scattered right and left before us like a flock of turkeys. But they did not forget the weapons they held in their hands, and, as we dashed through their lines, the bullets and arrows whistled about our ears thicker than ever. Before we had gone fifty yards from the gate, I saw riderless horses on all sides of me.
"Our party did not keep together long. Pursuit was commenced on the instant, and presently Indians, soldiers, and trappers were mixed up in the greatest confusion, so that I could scarcely distinguish a friend from a foe. Picture to yourself the scene: A desperate hand-to-hand contest among mounted men—the horses thundering along at the top of their speed, their riders too intent upon fighting to know or care where they were going; sabers, tomahawks, and spears flashing in the air, and emitting sparks of fire as they clashed together; rifles and revolvers cracking right and left, their reports sounding faintly above the noise of the horses' hoofs, and the whoops and yells of the combatants;—if you can imagine such a scene, you can have a faint idea of the running fight we carried on with those savages while we were going through the valley. As for myself, I confess that I took but little part in it, I was so badly frightened. I emptied both my revolvers before we were fairly out of the gate, and then clung to the horn of my saddle, and gazed about me in a sort of stupid bewilderment, while my horse galloped along with the rest. I seemed to be in a sort of trance; and when I came to myself I found that I had become separated from my father and Captain Porter, and that they were nowhere to be seen. I was almost alone. My horse, frightened by the noise and confusion, had left the others, and was going toward the mountains at a rate of speed I had never supposed him capable of. I saw that he was running away with me, but I did not care for that. If he would only take me out of reach of the Indians, and carry me to the willows, where I could conceal myself until daylight, he might run and welcome. I did not try to stop him, but somebody else did. I heard the report of a rifle close behind me, my horse fell dead in his tracks, and I went rolling along the ground like a ball from a bat. I was badly hurt, and stunned by the fall, but still I retained my senses sufficiently to see that the enemy who had unhorsed me so suddenly was an Indian, and that he was approaching to finish the work he had begun. He came on at a gallop, holding in his hand a spear which was pointed straight at my breast. I gave myself up for lost; but when the spear was so close to me that I could have touched it, the Indian fell forward in his saddle (he was tied fast to it, so that he could not fall to the ground), the spear dropped from his grasp, and his horse carried him away, dead. Where the bullet that saved my life came from, I could not tell. It may have been a spent ball; or some friend may have seen my danger, and discharged his rifle at the Indian; but that was a matter I could not stop to inquire into. I jumped to my feet, and made the best of my way toward the willows, but had not gone far before I found that I had other enemies to contend with. I heard a shout, and saw a trapper running toward me. I stopped when I discovered him, for I thought he was one of those belonging to Captain Porter's expedition, and consequently a friend; but when he came within reach of me I found out my mistake. He seized me by the collar, and greeted me with:
"'Who are you, boy? What's your name?'
"'I am Adam Brent,' I replied, astonished at his tone and manner.
"'Then you're jest the chap I've been a lookin' fur,' said he; and before I could tell what he was going to do, he caught me up in his arms as if I had been a child, and plunged into the willows. I did not struggle nor shout for help, nor do I believe I even trembled when, after carrying me perhaps half a mile into the woods, he put me down on a log, and, seating himself beside me, coolly announced that he was Black Bill, and that, having got hold of me at last, it was his determination to hold fast to me.
"'I've been many a long year tryin' to get you,' said he, with savage satisfaction, 'an' now I'm goin' to make a second Black Bill of you. I made that promise to your father more'n twelve year ago, an' I haint forgot it. When I see you as I have been—hunted through the mountains like a wild beast, an' shot at by every white feller who crosses your trail, then I'll be satisfied.'
"I had lived in fear of this man from my earliest boyhood, and had more than once tried to imagine the terror I should experience if I should ever be so unfortunate as to fall into his power; but now that I was his prisoner, I was not at all afraid of him. If your cousin, whom he captured last night by mistake, had been safe among friends, I should have felt no uneasiness; but, perhaps, after all, it was a good thing for Archie that Black Bill carried him to the Indian camp, for if he had been at the fort during the fight, he might not have been as fortunate as I was. A good many of our people were cut down, and I don't suppose that more than a dozen escaped.
"After thinking over my situation, I made up my mind that fate had destined me to a long captivity among the Indians, in company with this outlaw, and that I would endure it with what fortitude I could. Sometimes, when I thought of the scenes I had witnessed during that hand-to-hand fight, and reflected upon my father's chances for escape, I did not care what became of me. Black Bill said I would never see him again, and I believed him; and told myself that, if I must live without my father, I might as well be among savages as anywhere else. But I think differently, now that you have rescued me. I hope to be a man some day, and when that time comes, such fellows as Black Bill and his mates, who are constantly spreading dissatisfaction among the Indians, and urging them on to the war-trail, will have good cause to remember me. To whom are you making signals?" continued Adam, suddenly raising himself on his elbow, and looking earnestly at the outlaw.
Frank had been so intent upon his breakfast, and so deeply interested in his friend's story, that he had not thought of keeping a lookout for enemies; consequently he did not see the figure clad in buckskin, which crept stealthily through the trees on the opposite side of the brook, and took up a position behind a huge bowlder, from which a good view of the camp could be obtained. But the figure was there, and it was that of an outlaw—one of Black Bill's mates. His eyes, which swept rapidly over the camp, were open to their widest extent, and on his face, as he raised it cautiously above the bowlder, was an expression of great astonishment. Black Bill saw him, if the boys did not; and, by turning partly around and showing his confined hands, and by nodding his head, and winking his eyes, and making other mysterious signs, he must have succeeded in making the spy understand the situation, for he disappeared behind the bowlder, and stole back into the woods.