CHAPTER IV.

THE STRANGE BATTLE IN THE WITCH'S CAVE.

"Quick! Into the woods, boys!" snapped the world-famous desperado.

Instantly the bandits sprang to obey.

Fully ten feet away were the evergreens.

Desperately the men sought to gain their cover.

But less than half the distance had they traversed when from above there rang out in stentorian command:

"Fire!"

R-r-rip! crashed the sharp, staccato volley of carbines.

The aim of the cavalrymen was deadly.

With shrieks of pain, three of the outlaws threw up their hands and pitched forward.

Convulsively their bodies twitched for a few moments and then lay still, while their life blood oozed from wounds in their backs, saturating their clothes and making soggy the ground on which they lay.

With a terrible oath, the world-famous desperado hissed:

"Don't try to return the fire. Our pistols won't carry up the cliff. Into the woods! Leave the bodies!"

As they saw the desperadoes continue their flight without stopping to take their dead pals with them, a mighty cheer broke from the soldiers.

And, while it echoed, again the deep-lunged voice bellowed:

"Fire!"

Once more the rattle of the musketry rang out.

But this time no men fell.

The outlaws had gained the protection of the evergreens.

"Who's here?" demanded Jesse, a strange tremor in his voice. "Answer to your names as I call them."

So sudden had been their dash from the unprotected trail of the cliff to the woods that none of the outlaws knew who of their number had fallen victims to the terrible rain of lead that had been literally poured down on them from the edge of the precipice above.

And it was with bated breath that they heard their leader say:

"Comanche Tony!"

"O.K."

"Wild Bill?"

"Here."

"Texas Jack?"

"Here."

"Sam Dirks?"

Heavily the others drew in their breath as no one answered.

"Sam Dirks?" repeated Jesse, in hushed tone. "Poor Sam."

"Frank?"

"Here."

"Homely Harry?"

"O.K."

"Bud Noble?"

Again there was no answer.

"Bob Moore?"

Silence greeted this name also.

A moment later the bandits stood.

The calling of the roll in the sombre setting of the overhanging branches of the evergreen trees, through which, here and there, the moonlight filtered, amid the crash of the carbines and the whistle of the bullets, as they searched out the possible hiding place of the little band of fugitives, was dramatic in the extreme.

And the outlaws, rough and desperate men as they were, were cowed as they realized that the same death they had visited upon so many helpless mortals, had thinned their own ranks.

And the shock was all the greater for the reason that they had practised their nefarious pastime with such seeming immunity that they had come to look upon themselves as bearing charmed lives.

Not long, however, were they left to their thoughts.

Of a sudden, above the cheering of the troopers, above the rattle of the musketry, above the shrilling of the bullets rang the wild, blood-curdling war whoops of infuriated redskins.

"Quick, on your bellies under the trees!" whispered Jesse. "We'll let the devils charge the soldiers and may they battle till every one, Injun and trooper, falls dead!"

But just as the bandits were obeying their leader, there sounded from close beside them a plaintive:

"Jess Jame! Jess Jame! Don' lie down. Injun see um dead paleface, hunt um wood. Injun no care sojer, want Jess Jame.

"Come Dew Drop. Dew Drop show um place hide."

As she uttered the last words, the amazed desperadoes saw a slender creature, clad in what seemed an old wrapper, part the branches of the tree near which they stood.

An instant the world-famous desperado hesitated.

"If the bucks see the corpses and don't find us in the woods won't they search the place you're going to take us?" he asked, anxiously.

"No. Dew Drop take um cave Kaw-Kaw, Injun witch. Injun fraid go in Kaw-Kaw cave."

"Well, we won't be any worse off than we will here, that's sure. But why you want to help us I don't see. However, we'll take the chance. Come on, boys."

And, following the Indian maiden, the outlaws wound in and out among the evergreens till they reached a black hole, like a cavernous maw, in the cliff from which was exhaled a curiously intoxicating aroma.

"Paleface no make noise. Kaw-Kaw deaf, no hear. Lie down, no see. Dew Drop lie nex' Jess Jame so can talk."

Wondering what adventure was in store for them, the bandits quickly did as the Indian maiden told them, their chief choosing a place near the mouth of the cave with his chum at his side.

Scarcely had the world-famous desperado squatted down, with Dew Drop on his left and Comanche Tony on his right, than howls and yells of exultation reached them, telling them that the savages had discovered the three dead bodies at the foot of the cliff.

"By my scalp! we didn't git hyar any too soon, I reckon, jedgin' by them whoops," whispered the old Indian fighter.

But his master paid him no heed.

The action of the red-hued maiden in coming to him when he was in such sore need puzzled him, and he was racking his brain to remember whether or not he had ever seen her before.

Unable to place her, his mind once more reverted to the thought that her opportune appearance might have been but a part of a plot conceived by Great Bear to lure him and his men to the cave of the witch that they might be slaughtered without chance of escape.

If such were, in truth, the case, he and his companions were wasting precious moments.

Determined to end his suspense, Jesse clutched the maiden in a vice-like grip with his left hand, raising his bowie knife in his right, ready to plunge it into her heart, as he whispered in a tense, hoarse voice:

"Tell me why you brought me here! Was it at Great Bear's order? Tell the truth, as you hope to carry your scalp to the Happy Hunting Ground!"

Startled by the suddenness of the move and frightened by the stern face peering into hers, her eyes rivetted on the keen edged blade, Dew Drop blinked.

But a rough shake recalled her to the necessity of replying.

"No, no!" she gasped. "Great Bear no know Dew Drop left tepee. He kill um if knew."

"Then what made you?"

"Dew Drop want save um Jess Jame."

"Why?"

"Jess Jame save um Dew Drop."

"_I_ save _you_?" repeated the bandit-chieftain, surprised in his turn. "When? What do you mean?"

"Kaw-Kaw say Great Spirit want Dew Drop be squaw um son Dog Face. Dew Drop no want. No like Dog Face. Dog Face bad Injun. Kaw-Kaw say must. Have heap pow-wow.

"Little Wolf come tepee say um hunting um see paleface burned Silverstock cabin, Jess Jame.

"Great Bear ask where.

"Little Wolf say canyon.

"Dog Face say get um Jess Jame scalp give squaw.

"Great Bear take Dog Face, Little Wolf twenty Injun leave um pow-wow go git Jess Jame.

"Dew Drop no know what happen."

"Great Bear five Injun come run tepee say Jess Jame on cliff, kill um Injun, kill um Dog Face.

"Kaw-Kaw say must scalp um Jess Jame or cuss um Great Bear.

"Great Bear make heap talk. Call um brave go back get Jess Jame.

"Dew Drop no wait hear more.

"Jess Jame save Dew Drop from Dog Face. Dew Drop save Jess Jame from Great Bear.

"Dew Drop git cliff see um paleface come down. Dew Drop call. Sojer shoot.

"Dew Drop 'fraid Jess Jame get um lead. When see no dead, hear um Great Bear.

"Dew Drop think where hide.

"Dew Drop think um cave Kaw-Kaw.

"Jess Jame in Kaw-Kaw cave."

Like a torrent the Indian maiden poured forth her story and as the world-famous desperado learned the strange reason for her friendship, he exclaimed:

"Well, I'll be jiggered! So my men killed Dog Face, eh? I guess we can trust you, if that's the way things are.

"I'm sure mighty glad we put an end to your prospective husband."

"But she said Kaw-Kaw was in the cave when we got here, and just now she tells us she's at the pow-wow," breathed Comanche Tony, who had heard the remarkable tale.

"How about that?" demanded Jess sharply, his suspicions rekindled by the seeming discrepancy in Dew Drop's statement.

"Kaw-Kaw in um cave," returned the maiden with positiveness. "When um hear Great Bear say go back git um Jess Jame, Kaw-Kaw say go um cave get um cuss ready case Great Bear no get um Jess Jame."

"So that smell's the old hag's curses, a brewin', eh?" chuckled Tony. "I'm glad they're for Great Bear and his bucks and not me, if they're that strong."

But further speech was stopped by the sudden appearance of three tall forms, looming in the entrance of the cave.

Crouching low, the bandit-chieftain watched them, stealthily drawing his shooting-irons.

Yet before he could extract them from his holsters, he felt Dew Drop's hand on his arm, restrainingly.

Turning toward her, wondering what she meant, he saw her shake her head vigorously, at the same time pressing upon his arm.

"Evidently doesn't want me to shoot," reasoned Jesse. "I reckon she knows more about what's best in this witch-den than I do."

And he silently dropped his guns back into their holsters.

The old Indian fighter had been a spectator of the pantomime and as he saw his chief relinquish his weapons, he did likewise.

All this had taken but a few seconds, and even while it was transpiring, one of the bucks was jabbering excitedly.

What he was saying, the bandits did not know, for the redmen spoke in their own language.

Yet from the jumble of guttural sounds, they occasionally distinguished the words "Jess Jame" and "Kaw-Kaw."

But if they could not understand what was said they could see what was happening.

The jabberings of the excited bucks had been carried on in loud tones.

Scarcely had they begun than the outlaws beheld a bent and bowed figure hobble into the light at the mouth of the cave, leaning on a crooked staff.

At her approach, the warriors drew back.

In shrill tones the figure, whom they realized must be the witch, Kaw-Kaw, harangued them, waving her staff as her excitement got the better of her.

Soon she paused and the bucks replied.

Again the piping voice answered.

And, as she heard the words, Jesse could feel Dew Drop tremble, so close was she to him.

Deciding because of this that whatever the gibberish meant it spelled danger for himself and his men, the world-famous desperado again whipped his hands to his pistol holsters.

And this time there was no objection from the Indian maiden by his side.

Yet before he could draw them, Kaw-Kaw hobbled from the cave, joining the three braves and vanished from sight with them.

As they disappeared, Dew Drop breathed a sigh of intense relief.

Ere Jesse could utter the question that was on his lips, the red-skinned maiden whispered:

"Quick! Quick! Get um paleface. Dew Drop take um back Kaw-Kaw cave while um 'way."

Springing to her feet, the maid seized the hand of the bandit-chieftain and dragged him back into the pall of blackness that enveloped the witch's den.

Seeing their leader rise, his pals had followed suit, even before he commanded in a low voice:

"Get up, boys. Take hold of one another. Follow me quickly!"

Had Kaw-Kaw returned to her den just then, she would have been filled with amazement at the file of men, who threaded their way through the maze of pots, tripods and implements dear to the heart of the sorceress, led by the lithe, slim maiden.

But her amazement would have turned to alarm had she seen them enter a second cave, which led from the first, the existence of which she thought she herself alone knew.

So low was the opening into the inner den that the bandits were forced to drop to their hands and knees.

"This is a fool's stunt, getting in farther instead of--" began Frank.

But his words were frozen in his mouth by a terrible, hair-raising growl that sounded from the recesses of the cave.

"No 'fraid, no 'fraid!" gasped Dew Drop hurriedly. "Um Wa-Wa, Kaw-Kaw bear. Um no hurt."

"Sure not, his growl doesn't sound fierce, I don't think!" ejaculated Wild Bill.

But the Indian maiden, laughing softly, quickly allayed their fears by adding:

"Wa-Wa no got claw, no got teeth.'"

"Well, the growl's the real thing, all right, all right," exclaimed Jesse. "The old hag hasn't removed his hug, too, has she?"

"No-o," replied the maiden, doubtfully. "But Dew Drop know Wa-Wa. Um play, Dew Drop an' Wa-Wa.

"Dew Drop come cave any day. Kaw-Kaw deaf no hear.

"Wa-Wa know Dew Drop. No hurt."

"That may be all right for you," snarled Frank, "but Wa-Wa may not take so kindly to our coming."

The series of growls, growing in intensity and volume with each successive outburst, that came from the monster, lent a force to the outlaw's words that even the Indian maiden could not disregard.

"Wa-Wa!" she called, soothingly, adding something in her native tongue.

But the pet of the witch, Kaw-Kaw, as though he recognized among the strangers, whose presence he scented, the man who had grievously wronged his mistress by killing her son, refused to be pacified.

Each moment, his growls announced that he was getting nearer and nearer to the bandits.

Of a sudden, two little balls of seeming phosphorous glowered at them, as the brute came from behind a boulder.

"You can stand there like dummies, if you want to," snapped the elder of the James boys. "_I'm going to shoot him!_"

"No! No! No shoot!" protested Dew Drop, in alarm.

"Why not?"

"Kaw-Kaw smell powder when um came back. Know some one in um cave. Make heap cuss. Fin' um paleface. Call um Injun. Devil to pay!"

"I reckon the girl's right, Frank," declared his brother, smiling at the words of his saviour. "It wouldn't take long for the old hag to notice the odour of the saltpetre and when she called the bucks it would be all over but the shouting.

"And I've no intention of adorning an Indian triumph."

"All right," grudgingly acquiesced the elder of the James boys. "I won't shoot, but something's got to be done.

"I don't propose to stay in here with a bear walking round loose, if it hasn't any teeth or claws."

This announcement expressed the feelings of the rest of the bandits, yet what to do, they did not know.

And as they stood, in helpless perplexity, the brute itself solved their dilemma.

As its wicked little eyes beheld the figures of the intruders in its retreat, the monster reared on its hind legs, and with a roar, deafening because of the narrow confines of the cave, charged at them, laying about it viciously with its herculean paws.

In panic, the outlaws fled before it.

But the rock side of the den checked them.

Came a mighty swish and Comanche Tony fell, dropped by the clawless paws of the monster.

And, in a trice, the bear stood over its unconscious victim, snarling ominously.

The peril of their pal broke the spell of terror in which the outlaws stood.

"Stab the brute! Tackle him, boys!" snapped Jesse, leaping toward the monster as he spoke.

Instantly his comrades obeyed.

Drawing their keen-edged bowie-knives, they buried them to the hilts in any part of the bear's body they could reach.

Stung by the sharp pains, the monster reared on its hind legs again, lashing about viciously with its paws, emitting savage growls, awful in their fury.

But its raising up was the beast's doom.

Crouching low, dodging the terrible lunges as a prize-fighter dodges the blows of his adversary in the ring, the world-famous desperado watched his chance.

Suddenly he saw the monster's breast unprotected.

With a lightning movement, the bandit-chieftain leaped forward.

In his right hand he clasped his bowie-knife.

His arm, bent close to his body, shot out.

And the force of his spring drove the keen-egded blade to the hilt, straight through the bear's heart.

But so great was the power of resistance of the monster that, despite the steel in its most vital organ, it seized Jesse in a mighty embrace, holding him helpless as it staggered.

"T-trip it!" gasped the leader of the outlaws frantically, "I--I've st-tabbed it."

Again his men sprang forward.

Yet before they could carry out their master's instructions, the bear fell, its embrace unbroken.

Not long did it take the bandits to extricate their chief from his uncomfortable position.

But as they raised him to his feet, they heard the sound of hoarse, excited voices in the outer cave.

"The bucks have come back!" hissed Texas Jack.

"No, no Injun! Um paleface sojers!" gasped Dew Drop in consternation. "No Injun come Kaw-Kaw cave."