By this time it was nearly dark, and, inasmuch as Flick was to play the part of a deaf and dumb Indian, he felt perfectly safe in his daring feat to rescue his friends, but, when he saw the savages emerge from the woods and approach the canoe, his heart almost ceased to beat through fear of being detected.
CHAPTER VIII.
ENTRAPPED.
Through his perfect knowledge of the country, Ebony Jim with his party succeeded in making about twenty miles the first day. They then encamped on the edge of a small glade, on three sides of which arose the dark woods, while on the fourth side a tall, jutting rock, some fifty feet high, frowned down on the little glade. At the base of this rock our friends selected their camp, which would not only afford a shelter from the heavy, chilly dew, but a protection from an Indian attack in the rear.
Something like an hour had passed, during which time Willis and Ralph had expressed a wish for a little excitement to keep them awake. In the mean time the practiced eyes of Ebony had espied several dark forms moving to and fro along the edge of the timber, but within its shadow.
That they meant harm the negro knew well enough, and he resolved at once to make them “show their hand.” Saying nothing, he crept out of the camp, and securing good cover awaited the red-skins’ approach. Not long did he wait, however, for soon the head and breast of a red-painted warrior appeared, scanning the glade camp with basilisk eyes. Ebony was on the alert with a novel weapon—a round stone of the size of a hen’s egg. Without noise he threw the stone with wonderful power and precision, striking the savage square in the forehead, and without a groan the Cheyenne fell forward upon his face—a dead man.
“Hi-hi!” the negro chuckled; “guess dat imp’s squaw’ll be waitin’ a good while for her next beatin’.”
Not another savage appeared; and Ebony returned to camp to watch and wait.
Two or three hours passed without any demonstration on the part of the savages, and the watchful whites began to congratulate themselves on their enemies’ having withdrawn, when, suddenly, the whole heavens over them became lit up with the glare of the mid-day sun, and the next moment a great ball of dry, matted pine brush came rolling over the edge of the cliff, wrapped in a sheet of red, hissing flame. It fell at the feet of our friends, lighting up their hiding-place with a blinding glare, and exposing them to the savages’ aim, while to them all was inky gloom beyond the radius of light made by the burning brush.
There was no alternative but to take to the woods.