Frank in the Mountains

by Harry Castlemon

"You needn't keep so still down thar!" he shouted. "We've got you fast enough, an' if you don't hand up that rifle an' come up out o' that, it'll be wuss fur you."

If the outlaws had known that Adam was alone in the cave, and that the rifle they so much dreaded was a long way from there, they would not have spent many minutes in settling matters. They waited and listened for a reply, and then Adam saw Black Bill's burly form darken the opening. He was tired of waiting for Adam; and since the latter would not come up, he had decided to go down after him. The boy saw that it was high time he was doing something.

"Hallo, up there!" he exclaimed, as if he had just awakened from a sound sleep; "who's that? Frank, Dick, Bob, wake up! There's somebody coming down the passage-way."

By the time these words were spoken, there was no one in the passage-way, or even in sight. Black Bill had crawled back to the top of the hill with all possible speed. He believed now that his man was right in his conjectures—that the trappers, of whom he stood so much in fear, were in the cave with the boys, and that it would not be quite safe for him to go among them. He said nothing until he had rolled the log over the opening, thus putting it out of the power of his enemies to ascend out of the cave to attack him, even should they feel so disposed, and then he exclaimed, in an exultant tone:

"We've got you all jest where we want you. It wont take us long to settle up our accounts. Thar won't be enough of you left to go on another tradin' expedition by the time we are done with you."

During the next ten minutes Adam sat on his bed of boughs, listening intently, and wondering what would come next. The outlaws were holding a consultation. He could hear them conversing in low tones, but could not understand what they said. After a long and earnest debate, they seemed to have come to some decision, for the sound of their voices ceased, and Adam heard them moving down the hill. The next sound that reached his ears came through the lower passage-way—a rustling sound, as if some one was crawling toward the cave; but Adam knew it was not that. He was well aware that the outlaws could not be induced to enter the Old Bear's Hole as long as they supposed that Dick and Bob were there, for there was not one among them who was brave enough to meet either of the trappers in a fair contest. They had determined to compel them to come out of their hiding-place, so that they could overpower them by their superior numbers. In order to accomplish this, they adopted the same plan to which the boys had resorted to drive out the panther. But Adam was not a wild animal, to be frightened out of his snug harboring-place by a little smoke. He thought he knew how to beat the outlaws at their own game; and, while they were employed in filling the passage-way with leaves and pine-knots, he went to work to stop the draft so that the fire would not burn. The lower passage-way, where it entered the cave, was about two feet square; and it was a matter of but little difficulty for him to close the opening by cramming the hemlock boughs into it. When the work was done, he surveyed it with a smile of satisfaction, and told himself that the outlaws would have a fine time smoking him out.

Having finished the task of blocking up the passage-way, Adam spread his hunting-shirt upon the ground, and began cutting the garment into strips with his knife. The pieces, when tied together, formed a rope about fifteen feet in length; and in one end of it was a running noose. Adam then threw a pine-knot upon the fire, and when it blazed up so that he could distinguish objects in the cave, he coiled the rope in his hand, and, after one or two failures, succeeded in throwing the noose around a projecting point of rock about ten feet above his head. As the noose settled down over the rock, something glided from behind it, and stole noiselessly up the side of the cave; but Adam did not see it. It was dark up there, and he was too deeply interested in his work to notice any thing. In order to make sure that the rope was strong enough to sustain his weight, he ascended it hand-over-hand, and climbed upon the rock.

"This is just the place," said he, to himself. "Black Bill will not be long in finding out that I am alone here, and then, of course, he will come in. I can't whip him and his three mates, so when I see him coming, I will climb up the rope, and hide behind this rock. He'll never discover me, unless he comes up here; and if he tries that I'll begin to fight. I'll show him that he's got a nephew who isn't afraid of him, if he is an outlaw and a desperado."

Adam slid down the rope again, and busied himself in collecting his weapons, and getting every thing in readiness, so that when the time came for him to retreat, he could ascend to his hiding-place without an instant's delay. Then, for the first time, he discovered that Frank had gone off without any ammunition for his rifle. The powder-horn and bullet-pouch were still hanging over his shoulder, where they had been ever since he and Frank escaped from the outlaws. How careless they had both been! What a reckless piece of business it was for a hunter to go off alone in the mountains, with only one load in his rifle! Frank might have run into some danger from which a single extra charge of powder would have saved him. But no amount of regrets could now place the ammunition in his friend's hands; and after a few seconds reflection, Adam thought that perhaps what had been Frank's loss might be his gain—that the powder, at least, might be made to serve him a good turn. An idea came into his head, and no sooner was it conceived than he set about putting it into execution. Stepping to the place where the upper passage-way opened into the cave, he pulled the stopper from the powder-horn, and poured nearly all its contents in a pile upon the rocks. With that which was left in the horn, he laid a train from the pile to the middle of the cave. When he had done this, he felt greatly encouraged. He believed that if he had a few more pounds of powder, and a supply of provisions and water, he could hold the Old Bear's Hole against all the enemies Black Bill could bring against it.

While Adam was thus employed on the inside of the cave, the outlaws were equally busy on the outside. They had filled the passage-way with leaves, and after a fire had been started in them, Black Bill and two of his men went up the hill to tell the occupants of the cave what they had done, and to demand their surrender. The outlaws had left some one at the upper passage-way to watch it during their absence. It was the Black Fox, who, shortly after his fight with Frank, had found and joined Black Bill's party. He had a piece of news to communicate to the outlaws, and that was that Adam was alone in the cave. He had kept a close watch down the passage-way, and had seen Adam moving about—it was so dark that he could not tell what he was doing—and he had seen no one else. He did not believe that Dick and Bob were down there, and, after Black Bill had listened to his story, he did not believe it either. With angry haste he pulled away the log which he had rolled over the mouth of the passage-way, and shouted: