CHAPTER XVII

SHELTER IN A HOLLOW TREE

"IT is the Shoshone war-cry!" exclaimed Roger, instinctively, as he heard the piercing, bubbling sound that must have been uttered with a hand to the mouth.

Dick seized hold of his chum. He realized that any delay now might prove very costly for them both.

"We must get away from here!" he cried, thinking of what Roger had said concerning the savage ways of the Indians, and how they often preferred killing their prisoners to letting them be set free, or taken by a hostile tribe.

"Your gun, Dick?" asked Roger, breathlessly.

"I mean to make a grab for it," replied the other, who was already moving off.

Then it was that his careful survey of the surroundings came into play, for Dick had made a mental map upon which he could depend when utter darkness lay upon the earth.

Roger, still hearkening to the dreadful sounds that were bursting out all about them, felt his companion duck down, and he judged that they must be alongside the log on which the gun with the ammunition had been placed by the Indian who had led them into the trap.

And, somehow, Roger guessed that success had come to his chum, even though he himself could not see anything of the gun. Again he was being half dragged along, as though Dick had chosen his course, and was trying to follow it.

Their one idea now was to get away from the camp, and let the hostile red men have their fight out to the bitter end. Small affair it was of the boys whether the Dacotahs whipped the Shoshones, or the latter overwhelmed the braves who had been the captors of the young pioneers.

Skillful maneuvering was necessary in order to avoid contact with any of the furious warriors. The boys heard the sound of blows being struck, and their lively imaginations could picture what was occurring nearby, as they slipped along through the darkness.

Fortune was kind to them, after all, for they did not strike against a single dusky figure, although several times they had to sink close to the ground when they heard the rush of moccasined feet close at hand.

Now the noise of the desperate hand-to-hand conflict was behind them, Roger noticed with a feeling of great relief. He could hear not only the war cries of those who fought, but occasionally there also came sounds of darker import, such as were probably the death chants of those who were bound for the "happy hunting grounds" of the red men. As they gradually put all this horrible clamor further and further behind them, the two boys felt their own spirits rise higher. The attack of the Shoshones had come just in the nick of time to help the young pioneers. It had served to cover their escape as nothing else could have done.

Roger was panting for breath, because of the excitement as well as his strenuous actions. He had knocked into more than one tree, but without so far seriously hurting himself; and as usual the boy felt that he must give tongue to the feelings of wild delight that were rioting through his veins.

"We did it, Dick, for a fact; gave them the slip!" he burst forth.

"It looks that way, Roger."

"And now all we have to do is to get our bearings, and make a fresh start for the river; isn't it?" continued Roger, anxiously.

"That's all, Roger," he was assured. "And already I feel that we are on the right course, so we'll keep along as we're going now."

"But the fight seems to be over with," added Roger. "At any rate all the yells have stopped. I wonder whether the Dacotahs whipped, or were overpowered by their foes? Though for that matter we care mighty little how it turned out."

"Since neither of them were our friends," Dick admitted, "we had no interest in the outcome of the forest battle. It was a case of dog eat dog with us; and I only hope we'll run across no more of the red rascals until we rejoin our party."

"How far do you mean to go before stopping, Dick?"

Roger was getting a little tired when he asked this question. They had both had a hard day of it, beside the standing for several hours in a cramped position tied to the trees.

"I think we ought to keep on for at least an hour more," Dick told him, "even if it does pull hard. By then we'll have reached a point where the Indians who turn out to be victors can hardly find us in the morning, even if they happen to bother making the search. So keep up your spirits, Roger, for we've got a heap to be thankful for."

"I'm sure of that, Dick, and I hope you didn't think I was complaining just now. You'll find me good for an hour's tramp in the dark, or two of them, for that matter. Then for a few hours' sleep before day breaks."

"It may be the storm will swoop down on us before then, and force us to change our plans. So, after a while, we must keep a lookout for some sort of shelter, such as a hollow tree. It wouldn't be the first time we have lain in such a snug nook when the rain was coming down in bucketfuls."

"I should say it wasn't!" declared Roger, and from that time on he seemed to have picked up a new supply of energy, for he uttered no further complaint as he struggled on at the side of his companion.

No matter how slowly the minutes passed, Roger realized that the conditions were vastly different from what they seemed earlier in the night; when tied to that tree the gloom around him was no thicker than the state of his feelings.

Dick finally came to a halt. Perhaps the hour had not fully passed, but he believed they had put enough ground behind them to feel safe. Besides, he had made a discovery that he fancied ought to be utilized.

Either the night had grown lighter, as though the moon might have arisen, and was shining back of the heavy clouds, or else the eyes of the boys, in growing accustomed to the darkness, allowed them to see things better.

"I've noticed several trees of good size as we came along, Roger," he told his chum; "and if only we can find one that is hollow, we need go no further until morning."

At that the other laughed as though pleased.

"If that's all we need, Dick, how would this one over here do for our purposes?" and, speaking in this way, he directed the attention of his chum to a tree not far away.

It was an unusually big tree, and both of them could see, though a bit uncertainly, that it had some sort of cavity at its base. A hasty examination convinced them they had found just what they were looking for.

"We can creep in through that hole easily enough," said Roger, "because it's big enough for a giant to pass through. I hope though, Dick, it doesn't turn out to be the den of any wild beast."

"We can soon settle that!" declared Dick, as he took up a long stick, over which he had just tripped, and thrust it in through the opening.

As no sound of surly remonstrance followed this action on his part, it became evident that the hollow tree was not occupied by any animal.

"If it is a den there's nobody at home right now," announced Roger; "so we can crawl through the doorway and settle down."

After his customary impetuous fashion he insisted on being the one to lead the way, and was quickly inside the hollow tree.

"How do you find it?" asked Dick, thrusting his head through the opening.

"There seems to be plenty of room for two in here," was the quick reply; "and, although I don't just fancy the odor, still I think we could do worse, especially if it comes on to rain hard."

Upon hearing this Dick hastened to creep through the hole, carrying his gun with him of course. He had something on his mind, apparently, for hardly had he reached the side of the other boy than Dick thrust his gun into Roger's hands, remarking:

"I noticed an old stump just outside there, and I'd better go and roll it up, so as to cover this opening, more or less."

"Then you must be thinking that some animal may come in here, and you mean to block the passage so we will not be taken by surprise; is that it?"

"Nothing less, Roger," Dick replied, as he started to crawl out again.

"If I can help you, let me know," called out Roger.

The stump did not prove to be very weighty, and Dick rolled it deftly so that it covered all but a small fraction of the opening. Then he crept inside, and the two of them had little trouble in closing most of the remainder of the aperture.

"Well, to tell you the honest truth," admitted Roger, when this undertaking had been completed, though plenty of air could still find ingress, "I do feel a whole lot better, now that we've shut the door. It can't be very pleasant to lie down to sleep in a hollow tree that may be a panther's lair, and to wake up to find the savage beast coming in on you."

Dick was as satisfied as his companion, even if less vociferous about it.

"I guess that stump will make a good enough door," he went on to say, chuckling, "and if we wake up to hear some one knocking, we can ask who it is before we open up. Just as you say, it makes us feel more secure."

Satisfied with the way things were going Roger soon settled down to make himself as comfortable as the conditions allowed.

"Perhaps this isn't as sweet and easy a bed as my own at home," he remarked, after yawning several times; "but then, as my mother always says, 'beggars mustn't be choosers.' And I can remember many a time when I've slept in worse places than a hollow tree."

"Remember before you go to sleep, Roger, it's understood that the one who happens to hear anything suspicious is to wake the other up. If you feel me touch you on the arm and hear me whisper, keep as still as a church mouse. It may mean that Indians are outside, and looking for us."

"I'll recollect, Dick, you can depend on it; and, if the tables should be turned, so that I am the one to get wind of the danger first, I'll do the same to you. So now, let's go to sleep."

Roger found very little trouble in putting his words into practice, and in a few minutes Dick heard him breathing heavily.

As he felt very much inclined that way himself, Dick made no effort to hold back sleep, and in a short time both lads were fast locked in slumber.

Some time passed, just how long neither of them really knew, when Dick felt a violent tug at his arm. He was wide-awake instantly, and understood just where he was, as well as what the jerk signified.

"What is it?" he whispered, as he felt for his gun the first thing, as though its touch would give him renewed confidence.

"Something or somebody is moving around outside, Dick," whispered Roger.

"Hist! listen!" remarked Dick, softly.

There was a slight scuffling sound, and the stump at the opening moved violently. Then came the loud sniffing of some animal that was trying to thrust its nose through a very small crevice and, apparently, could not understand why the door was closed.

"It must be a bear," said Dick, no longer keeping his voice confined to a whisper, but speaking aloud, "and this is his den. He wonders what has happened, and it may be he scents us, for he's trying to push his way in!"