As he replied, the corporal’s arm moved suddenly, and the fur cap was jerked across the room right into the sick man’s face. The corporal himself followed it like lightening, and, as he reached the bunk, gripped his cousin’s pistol-hand. The weapon went off, once, twice, and the bullets plugged the logs of the cabin, whilst Dick Bracknell shouted imprecations. The policeman caught the barrel of the pistol, and turned it away from himself, whilst with the other hand he caught his cousin’s wrist, and dug his thumb into the sinews of it, in order to force him to release his hold. In the midst of the struggle there was a sudden clamour of dogs outside, but neither of the men noticed it. The pistol cracked again, and at that moment the door opened, and an Indian rushed in. Apparently, he took in the situation in a glance. There was a heavy dog-whip in his hand, and in an instant he had swung it, and brought the loaded stock down on the corporal’s head. The latter did not even cry out. He doubled up like a doll out of which the stuffing had been ripped, and lay in a crumpled heap upon the hard mud floor.
CHAPTER IX
THE HUSKS OF THE PRODIGAL
WHEN Roger Bracknell came to himself, he had a splitting head, and no exact recollection of recent events. His head ached so much that he felt moved to press his temples with his hands, but found that it was impossible to do so, owing to his arms being bound to his side. On making that discovery, he lay quite still, with his eyes closed, thinking over the situation. Little by little memory came back to him, and he remembered what had befallen, but his remembrance of events ceased with the moment when his cousin’s pistol had cracked for the third time. Had the bullet struck him? He did not know, but at that moment through the drums throbbing in his head, a voice sounded in his ears, a voice that had external reality, and the tones of which he recognized.
“Do you think he’s dead, Joe? He lies still enough.”
A guttural voice grunted some reply, and there was a sound of movement near him. He opened his eyes, to find himself looking into a dark, frost-scarred face, from which a single eye gleamed malevolently. As that eye encountered his, the dark face was lifted and turned from him, and he caught the reply given over the speaker’s shoulder.
“Him eyes open. He alright!”