Frank in the Mountains

by Harry Castlemon

"Perhaps he will not be able to call for help by the time we are done with him. I'll tell you what we will do," continued Adam, glancing toward the outlaw, who still sat on the ground, closely watching all their movements, "do you get behind him, throw your arm around his neck, and choke him with all your power; and I'll cram my handkerchief into his mouth. Then catch him by the shoulders, and drag him to that sapling and tie him there; and while you are doing that, I will secure his knife and tomahawk, and also his powder-horn and bullet-pouch. After that we'll take to our heels, and do some of the best running we ever did in our lives. There's not a single instant to be lost. Don't flinch, now."

Adam knew that Frank was a remarkably swift runner, an excellent wrestler, and a splendid shot with the rifle; but he had never seen him in a situation like this, and he did not know how cool and determined he could be. If he had, he would not have talked to him about "flinching."

"Wal," exclaimed the outlaw, as the boys sprang across the brook, "seen any thing wuth lookin' at? Didn't diskiver none of my mates hangin' around in the bushes, did you?"

"We saw all we wanted to see," replied Adam. "We saw foot-prints behind that bowlder, and we know who made them. That's the way to do it! Choke him till he opens his mouth."

While Adam was occupying the outlaw's attention, Frank had stepped behind him, and thrown his arm around his neck. He struggled and tried to shout for help; but the strong grasp on his throat rendered him powerless, and effectually stifled his cries. His under jaw dropped down, and the handkerchief which Adam held ready in his hand, was forced into his mouth. A moment afterward Black Bill was lying flat on his back, held down by Frank's handkerchief, which was passed around his neck and tied to the sapling of which Adam had spoken, and the boys, having possessed themselves of their weapons, and the outlaw's ammunition, were scrambling up the cliff like a couple of goats. They looked back now and then to satisfy themselves that their prisoner was still secure, and both told themselves that if they should be so unfortunate as to again fall into his power, their treatment would be very different from that which they had already received at his hands. Black Bill seemed almost beside himself with rage. He glared up at them like a madman, and made the most desperate attempts to free himself from his bonds; but the boys, although they had done their work quickly, had done it well, and as long as they remained in sight of the outlaw, he had accomplished nothing toward liberating himself.

Arriving at the top of the cliff, Adam shouldered his rifle, and sprang forward at the top of his speed, closely followed by Frank, who stepped as nearly as possible in his tracks. For nearly half an hour they flew along without speaking, turning their heads occasionally to listen for sounds of pursuit, making use of all their skill to render their trail as indistinct as possible, and finally they slackened their pace to a rapid walk, which they kept up for two hours longer without once stopping to rest. At the end of that time, Frank, being satisfied that they were out of danger for the present, proposed "half an hour for refreshments." The half hour was really not more than ten minutes, for the boys were so much afraid of the enemies who they knew were following them, that they regarded every instant spent in needful repose as so much time wasted. Their refreshments consisted of just nothing at all—not even a drop of water to cool their lips. They could not stop to cook a dinner, even if they had had any thing to cook; and after a very short rest, during which they talked over their situation, and tried to determine upon their plans for the future, they sprang up, and resumed their flight, Adam, as before, leading the way.

The outlaw had told his nephew that Fort Benton, which was the nearest trading-post, and the place to which all the trappers and soldiers who escaped the massacre would be likely to direct their course, was a hundred miles distant; and the boys had decided, after much debate, that it lay nearly due east of Fort Stockton. A hundred miles from the nearest place of refuge, in the heart of an unbroken wilderness, every step of the way they must travel beset with dangers, and their path waylaid by crafty foes who might spring out on them without an instant's warning! Twenty miles of mountains and ravines to be passed over, and eighty miles more of prairie, where there was not even a thicket of bushes to afford them concealment from their enemies, to be traversed on foot! Would they ever succeed in reaching the fort?

"It looks like a slim chance, doesn't it?" said Adam, who easily read the thoughts that were passing through Frank's mind. "But father used to tell me that a fellow never knows how much he can accomplish until he tries. We will do the best we can, and if we fail we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that it isn't our fault."

Frank's endurance was severely tested that day. He found that traveling through the mountains on foot was something besides a holiday pastime, especially with such a guide as Adam, who moved along without any apparent effort, threading his way through the thick, tangled bushes with a celerity that was surprising. The afternoon wore slowly away, and just as the sun was sinking out of sight behind the mountains, the boys, weary and footsore, halted in the edge of the willows, and looked out over the prairie which stretched away before them as far as their eyes could reach. Adam stood for a long time with his chin resting on the muzzle of his rifle, and his gaze fixed upon the horizon, thinking of his father and Captain Porter, and wondering if he should meet them if he succeeded in reaching the fort; while Frank, after satisfying himself that there were no Indians in sight, became interested in objects in his immediate vicinity. He thought the place looked familiar. There was a wide, shallow creek flowing through the ravine in which they were standing, and on its left bank arose a rocky cliff, which hung over the bed of the stream. Under the branches of a spreading oak which grew near the foot of the cliff, were the remains of a camp-fire; and a little farther on was a sapling which had been stripped of its bark. Frank remembered that sapling. It was the one to which Roderick had been tied when the trappers first brought him into camp. The horse was wild and vicious then, and after trying in vain to break the lasso with which he was confined, he had attacked the tree with his teeth, and peeled off the bark as neatly as it could have been done with a knife.

"We have accomplished the hardest part of our journey," said Adam, his gaze still wandering over the prairie in the direction he supposed the trading-post to be, "and now comes the dangerous part. If what father said about a general rising of the Indians was correct, the savages are scattered all over the plains between here and the fort; and if we get through, it will be more by good luck than good management. Do you see any thing?"