Before I could stop to see what it was, a pair of strong arms were thrown around me, my feet were tripped up, and in an instant more I was lying flat on my back, with a heavy weight on top of me holding me down.
As soon as I had in some measure recovered myself, I looked up into the dark, scowling face that was bending over me, and recognized Pete, the half-breed.
Things were not working exactly as our fellows had anticipated. While we were looking for Pete, he had all the while been looking for us; and he had found one of us, too, before we knew that he was about.
Almost involuntarily my hand moved toward the hunting-horn that hung at my side. One short, quick blast on that, had I been permitted to give it, would have put things right again in a hurry. Our fellows would have appeared as quickly as their horses could have brought them, and one glance at the double-barrels pointed straight at his head, would, I am confident, have driven away the fierce scowl and brought an altogether different expression to Pete’s copper-colored face. But Pete knew something about hunting-horns, and was too wise to allow me time to make any signals.
With a quick movement he tore the horn from my grasp, and in a second more he had removed the belt which contained my hunting-knife and secured possession of my gun.
I struggled fruitlessly in his strong grasp, and, as soon as I could find my tongue, exclaimed:
“You have already done more mischief than you will care to stand punishment for; and if you know when you are well off, you will release me at once. What do you mean, anyhow?”
“You put dogs on Injun the other day,” replied Pete, in his broken English, which I could not imitate on paper if I should try. “I pay you for that now!”
These words afforded me a perfectly satisfactory explanation of the situation. I was to be punished for something Mark had done; for, as you know, it was he and not I who put the hounds on the Indian.
I knew it would be of no use for me to deny the charge, for Pete had been acquainted with me for more than a year, and if he had not learned in that time to tell Mark and me apart, it was not at all likely that he would place any dependence on my word.