CHAPTER IX. CAUGHT AT LAST.

After Sandy and I left the camp, our fellows busied themselves in various ways—Duke kindling a fire, Herbert gathering a supply of wood, and Mark whittling out some spits on which to cook the squirrels. When this had been done, they seated themselves on the ground about the fire, and passed the time in discussing the exciting events that had happened during the last two weeks.

While they were thus engaged they heard some one coming down the bank of the bayou. The bushes were so thick that they could not see who it was, but they could tell by the sound of his horse’s hoofs that he was approaching the camp, and that he was in something of a hurry.

The question “Who is it?” which our fellows all asked at once, did not remain long unanswered. 124The sound of the hoofs grew louder and louder, and presently a horseman emerged from the bushes, and came toward them at a rapid gallop.

He was gazing earnestly toward the opposite bank of the bayou, and the first intimation he had of the presence of our fellows was the chorus of ejaculations they uttered the instant their eyes rested on him. Then he pulled up his horse with a jerk, and gazed at them with a countenance indicative of intense surprise and alarm.

One glance showed our fellows three things—that the man was Luke Redman, that he was mounted on Black Bess, and that he carried General Mason’s valise strapped on behind his saddle.

The meeting was so unexpected to both parties, that for a moment no one moved or spoke. The robber sat on his horse—my horse, rather—gazing at our fellows in stupid bewilderment, and our fellows looked at him as if they could not quite make up their minds whether their eyes were deceiving them or not.

125Duke was the first to recover the use of his tongue.

“Well,” said he, “this is the luckiest thing that has happened to us for many a day. We are glad to see you, Luke Redman. We’ll trouble you to dismount, and give up that horse and valise.”

These words seemed to bring the robber to his senses. He raised a short, heavy gun, which he carried across the horn of his saddle, and cocking both barrels, growled out:

“I’ll trouble you to mind your own business. If ary one on you moves a hand or foot until I am acrost this yere bayou, I’ll send a charge of buckshot among you.”

This warning was uttered in a very savage tone of voice, and there was a wicked gleam in the robber’s eyes which was enough to convince our fellows that he meant all he said.

Duke slowly lowered the horn, which he had been on the point of raising to his lips; and Herbert’s hand, which was stretched out toward his gun, that stood leaning against a tree close by, fell to his side.

Luke Redman saw the sudden pallor that 126overspread their faces, and believing that he had thoroughly frightened them, turned his horse, and rode down the bank of the bayou.

But the sequel proved that he did not know much about boys, especially such boys as those who were confronting him at that moment.

They had traveled through every nook and corner of the country, searching for this very man, and now that he was fairly before them, should they permit him to escape, and carry off General Mason’s money, and Black Bess, besides? It was not to be thought of.

“Hold on!” shouted Mark, excitedly. “That horse shan’t carry you a step further. Your game is up now, Luke Redman!”

The robber, who had never once removed his eyes from the boys, seeing that Mark was reaching for his gun, quickly raised his own weapon; but by the time it touched his shoulder there was not one of our fellows in sight.

They had dodged behind the trees, like so many squirrels, and each one was blowing his horn with all the power of his lungs, sending up signals of distress that awoke the echoes far and near.

127“Stop that noise, or I’ll shoot some on you!” roared Luke.

“Blow away, boys,” said Mark. “Perhaps some of the settlers are close by.”

This was just what Luke Redman was afraid of. He knew that the cane-brakes were full of men, for he had been dodging them all day. The blasts of the hunting-horns would call up every one of them who might happen to be within hearing, and thus his chances for escape would be greatly diminished.

Seeing that he was in a dangerous neighborhood, and knowing that if he remained there he would certainly get himself into trouble, he dashed his spurs into his horse, which sprang into the bayou and made the best of her way toward the opposite bank.

In his rage, he discharged one barrel of his gun, sending the buckshot in a perfect shower about the trees behind which our fellows were concealed; but, instead of frightening them, it seemed to add strength to their lungs, for the signals of distress arose louder and faster than ever.

The moment Luke emerged from the water, 128he put his horse into a gallop, and went flying through the swamp.

I caught sight of him as he came out of the cane-brake, and if I had had my gun in my hands, I believe I should have lifted him out of that saddle with as little hesitation as I ever brought down a squirrel.

To see my little Black Bess bounding along with that man on her back—going, too, with a free step, and arching her glossy neck and tossing her head as if she enjoyed the rapid motion—I tell you, the sight made me well-nigh desperate.

It drove all thoughts of the Indians out of my mind, and almost before I knew it, I was swimming rapidly toward the opposite bank of the bayou.

This was something my captors had not calculated upon, and they were greatly amazed. I was half way across the stream before they had realized what I had done.

“Hey, you!” shouted Pete, as soon as he could speak. “Stop! You no stop and come back, Indian shoot!”

It was in Pete’s power to carry out this threat 129if he had felt so inclined, for he held his own rifle and my shot-gun under his arm; but I had no fear that he would attempt it.

I kept straight ahead, and Pete and his companion, seeing that I could not be frightened into surrendering myself into their hands, hastily launched the canoe and started in pursuit.

I was quite at home in the water, and prided myself on being a fast swimmer; but of course I stood no chance with a canoe propelled by two athletic Indians.

A few swift strokes with the paddles brought them close upon me; but I was on the alert, and just as Pete bent down to seize me by the collar, I sank out of sight.

When I arose to the surface again, I was twenty yards further down the stream. As I shook the water from my face and looked around for my enemies, I was surprised to see them paddling with all possible haste toward the bank they had just left; and the moment they reached it, they jumped out of the canoe and dived into the bushes like a couple of frightened deer.

I was not long in finding out what had caused 130them to abandon their pursuit of me so suddenly, for scarcely had they disappeared when Duke, Herbert and Mark galloped up.

When they discovered me crawling out upon the bank, they drew rein and broke out into a loud chorus of questions and exclamations—one demanding what I was doing in the water, another asking if that wasn’t Pete who had just jumped into the bushes on the opposite shore, and the third shouting out something that I knew very well already, namely, that Luke Redman had just gone by, mounted on my horse.

I did not attempt to answer their questions, for I could not forget that Black Bess was very fleet, and that while we were wasting time in talking, she was fast increasing the distance between us, and lessening our chances for capturing her and her rascally rider.

“I can’t stop to explain now, fellows,” said I. “Come back, and stand by me until I get my horse, and then we’ll start in pursuit of that robber!”

The reason I asked our fellows to “stand by” me was because I knew that Pete and his companion were not a great way off, and I was 131afraid that if I went back to camp alone, they would pounce down upon me and make a prisoner of me again.

I could see by the expression on my friends’ faces that they did not exactly understand why I stood in need of protection; but they were too considerate to waste any more time in asking questions.

I led the way up the bank at a rapid run, and in a few minutes we arrived opposite to the camp.

Duke was on the point of riding across the bayou to bring my horse, when Sandy Todd came in sight, carrying four squirrels in his hand, and moving along with a slow and deliberate step that was exceedingly aggravating to us just then.

His stolid face bore not the least sign of excitement or surprise, although the first words he uttered showed that he had heard the signals of distress, and that he had returned to camp in answer to them.

“Now,” said he, “I’d like to know what you fellows were blowin’ them horns fur?”

“Sandy,” exclaimed Duke, “if you have 132any get up at all about you, show it now. Don’t ask any questions, but bring those horses over here at once.”

Sandy stopped, laid his squirrels carefully at the root of a tree, and pulling off his hat, ran his fingers through his fiery locks. He looked all about the camp, then across the bayou at us, surveying us from head to foot as though he had never seen us before, and when his gaze rested on me, he drawled out:

“Joe, ain’t this a mighty cold day to go in a-swimmin’?”

“Sandy,” shouted Duke—and he could not help throwing a little impatience into his tones—“Luke Redman has just gone by here, mounted on Black Bess, and carrying General Mason’s valise tied fast to his saddle. We want to follow him up and catch him. Now will you bring those horses over here?”

Sandy did not exhibit the least astonishment at hearing this piece of news. He dropped the butt of his gun to the ground, and leaning on the muzzle of the weapon, said:

“Now I’ll just tell you what’s the matter. 133Whar’s he bin hid all the time that we’ve been lookin’ fur him?”

“How do you suppose we know? Bring those horses over here.”

Sandy slung his gun over his shoulder, moved slowly toward the tree to which his horse was tied, and with his usual deliberation, prepared to mount. He placed his foot in the stirrup, but immediately took it out again.

“Fellows,” he shouted, “whar do you reckon Redman got thar mar’? You know—”

“Yes, I know,” interrupted Duke. “We thought Tom Mason stole her, but it seems he didn’t. If we don’t see her again, it will be your fault.”

Our fellow began to stir about in earnest now, and I thought it was high time, for my teeth were chattering, and I was so cold I could scarcely speak.

When you remember that it was midwinter, that I was as wet as a drowned rat, and that a fierce north wind was blowing, you will readily perceive that my situation was far from being a pleasant one.

I would have been glad of the privilege of 134standing before a roaring fire for a few minutes, and would thankfully have accepted a suit of dry clothes; but if I went home I would lose the opportunity of taking part in the pursuit of Luke Redman, and that was something I could not think of.

When we had all become so impatient that it did not seem possible we could wait an instant longer, Sandy came across the bayou with the horses, and in a few seconds more we were all in the saddle and flying through the swamp on Luke Redman’s trail.

Sandy saw by our looks that the delay of which he was the cause had tried our patience severely, and he hastened to apologize for it.

“Fellers,” said he, “I may be slow a-talkin’ an’ a-walkin’, but I am not slow a-ridin’.”

And so we found it. He took the lead at once, and conducted the pursuit with a degree of energy that was surprising. For five miles his horse never broke a gallop; and when at last he drew rein on the bluffs above Dead Man’s Elbow, we were willing to vote him the most reckless rider we had ever followed.

Perhaps you will wonder what plan Sandy 135adopted in conducting the pursuit, and how he knew whether or not he was following Luke Redman’s trail. I can explain it in a few words.

I have told you that about a week previous to this time the swamp was covered with water to the depth of fifteen feet, but it was not so now. The flood was gradually subsiding, and patches of dry land were making their appearance all over the swamp.

The ridges were high and dry, and by following them, one could enjoy a pleasant ride, avoiding the water altogether. It was dangerous, however, to attempt to pass from one ridge to another, for the lowland, or “bottom,” as we called it, was covered with a bed of mud, in which a horse would sink almost out of sight.

Luke Redman, in his flight, had followed one of these ridges, and we knew that he must follow it to the end, simply because he could not leave it. We knew, too, that the ridge led directly to Dead Man’s Elbow, and that when the robber arrived at that point he would be obliged to abandon Black Bess, for the bluffs 136were steep, and there was no possible way of getting her across the bayou.

Another thing we knew was that the ridge ended very abruptly about a hundred yards from the opposite bank, and beyond that the swamp, with its impassable bed of mud, extended for miles and miles; so that, even if the fugitive succeeded in crossing the stream, he could not escape us.

The only question was, how we should capture him when we found him. He was armed, and we knew he would not surrender without a fight.

“Here we are,” cried Sandy, reining in his horse on the very brink of the cliff, “an’ now comes the hardest part of the hul business. The fust thing is to hunt up that mar’. She’s hid somewhar in these yere bushes.”

We were not long in finding Black Bess, for even as Sandy spoke, a familiar neigh, which came from a thicket close by, led us to her place of concealment.

I tell you I was glad to see her, and if one might judge by the way she pranced about and 137rubbed her head against my shoulder, she was glad to see me, too.

She was just as handsome as ever, only her glossy breast was flecked with foam, showing that she had been driven long and rapidly, and her usually sleek coat looked as though it had not seen a brush or curry-comb for a fortnight.

While I was congratulating myself on my good fortune, the rest of our fellows were looking for General Mason’s valise; but that, of course, had disappeared.

“We must have pushed him pretty hard,” said Duke, “for he did not have time to unbuckle the straps with which the valise was fastened to the saddle, but cut them with his knife. He isn’t far off. Spread out now, and let us see if we can find any signs of his having crossed the bayou.”

As we were all expert hunters, and good at following a trail, it did not take us many minutes to find out what had become of Luke Redman. After a short search, we discovered the prints of his feet in the soft earth, and followed them from the thicket in which he had 138left the horse to the edge of the bluff, where they ceased.

When we saw that, we were pretty certain that we knew where to find Luke Redman. He was hidden under the cliff.

My companions unslung their guns with a common impulse—how I wished for the double-barrel that Pete had carried away with him!—and waited for somebody to suggest a plan of operations.

“He is under our very feet, and almost within reach of us,” said Herbert. “Don’t you see that those bushes are bent down and look as though they had been tramped upon? He did that when he lowered himself over the side of the cliff.”

“Yes, we’ve treed him easy enough,” said Mark; “but how are we going to secure him? Luke Redman isn’t the man to allow himself to be captured and sent to state prison if he can help it, and perhaps he is standing below there, ready to put a charge of buckshot into the first one who shows his head over the bluff. I am afraid to try it.”

If Mark was afraid, it was plain that Sandy 139was not, for he threw himself flat upon the ground, and, at the imminent risk of losing his balance and falling into the bayou, thrust his head over the brink of the cliff and looked under it. He held this position a moment, and then called out:

“Now, I’ll just tell you what’s the matter with you; you’re ketched!”

“No, I hain’t,” said a gruff voice, in reply. “Better keep close up thar, or I’ll plug some on you.”

“Ho! ho!” laughed Sandy. “You can’t skeer us none. You’re in a pretty situation to plug any body, hain’t you now? Fellers, if you want to see something, just look down here!”

We did look, and, although we expected to see something exciting, we were little prepared for the sight that was presented to our gaze. We saw at a glance that we had nothing to fear from our enemy.

A thicket of bushes grew on the side of the bluff directly in front of the mouth of Dead Man’s Elbow, and there, hanging at arms’ length from this frail support, his feet almost 140touching the water, and his dark features convulsed with terror, was Luke Redman.

The valise hung under one of his arms, supported by a strap which passed over his opposite shoulder; but his gun was nowhere to be seen. He had evidently made some desperate attempts to climb up the steep bluff, for we could see the prints of his knees and feet in the soft earth.

When we had made these observations, we drew back on the cliff to hold a consultation.

“Hasn’t he got himself into a pretty scrape?” asked Duke, gleefully. “I understand what has happened as well as if I had been here on the bank and witnessed it.”

So did the rest of us, for the robber’s situation was a sufficient explanation of the accident that had befallen him. It had been his intention to lower himself over the side of the bluff, and find concealment on the top of the drift-wood which formed one side of the cavern; but his feet had slipped, or his hold had given way, and he had fallen down the steep bank almost into the water.

In order to save himself, he dropped his gun, 141which of course fell into the bayou, and now he was unarmed. His situation was dangerous in the extreme, and it was no wonder that he was frightened.

He could not climb up the bluff without assistance, for it was as slippery as ice; and if he released his hold on the bushes, he would fall into the water, and be whirled into the cavern before he could have time to think twice. Dead Man’s Elbow seemed to be an unlucky place for Luke Redman.

“Now, fellows,” continued Duke, in a hurried whisper, “I’ll tell you what we will do. We’ll take our halters off our bridles, make them into a rope, and when Mr. Redman gets tired of hanging to those bushes, we’ll pass one end of it down to him, and pull him up the bluff.”

“But perhaps he won’t take hold of the rope,” said I. “Then what?”

“Then he can fall into the water and welcome. But there’s no danger of that. Bad as he is, he isn’t tired of life.”

“What shall we do with him when we get him up here?”

142“We’ll jump on him, and tie him hand and foot—that’s what we’ll do with him. I guess we five fellows are a match for him.”

Duke’s plan was the best that could have been adopted under the circumstances, and we agreed to it without a word of comment.

In a few moments we had removed our halters from our bridles, and tied them together, thus forming a rope about thirty feet in length. When this had been done, we once more stretched ourselves out on the ground, and looked over the cliff to watch the movements of the robber.

He was struggling desperately to gain a foothold on the bluff; but the soft earth always gave way beneath him, and when at last he became exhausted with his efforts, he hung down at arms’ length to recover his breath, glaring up into our faces with an expression as savage as that of a caged hyena.

We saw with no little excitement and horror that a few more attempts of this kind would seal his fate, for the bushes had been loosened by his frantic struggles, and their roots were slowly but surely giving way.

143“Now I’ll jest tell you what’s the matter with you,” shouted Sandy. “The fust thing you know, you won’t know nothing. If you want any help, sing out.”

Luke Redman looked up at the bushes, then down at the angry waves which were dashing wildly against the base of the cliff, and being fully convinced that there was no other way of escape for him, said, in a hoarse whisper:

“Lend a hand here!”

“All right! Here you are!” said Duke. And in a moment more, one end of the rope was dangling over the cliff, and our fellows were holding fast to the other, ready to hoist away when Duke gave the word. “In order to guard against accident, you had better pass the rope under your arms,” continued the latter. “Take it easy. There’s time enough, and the more you thrash about, the more you exhaust yourself.”

Luke Redman thought it best to act upon Duke’s suggestion; but he had grown so weak and was so nearly overcome with terror, that it was with the greatest difficulty that he could make the rope fast under his arms.

144He accomplished it at last, however, and then Duke told us to haul away, adding, in an excited whisper:

“Be ready to grab him the instant his head appears above the cliff. Don’t flinch now, but be careful to keep out of the way of his fists, for they are as heavy as sledge-hammers.”

Luke, being utterly unable to help himself, hung like a lump of lead at the end of the rope, and it was any thing but an easy operation to raise him to the top of the cliff. He came up slowly, inch by inch, and at last his head appeared in sight, then his shoulders, and finally the valise, which Mark instantly pounced upon, while Sandy seized the rascal by the collar and pulled him upon the bluff.

“Now stand out o’ the way, or I’ll kick some on you into the bayou,” shouted Luke Redman, whose terror vanished the moment he found himself on solid ground. “I’ve got a pistol in my pocket.”

“An’ that’s all the good it’ll do you,” replied Sandy, catching the robber’s hands and pinning them to the ground. “We are a few 145too many for you. Show what you’re made of, fellers!”

Tired and weak as Luke Redman was, he had plenty of determination left in him. He struggled furiously, and scratched and bit like some wild animal; but he did not kick any of us into the bayou, and neither did he draw his pistol, simply because we did not give him an opportunity. We jumped upon him in a body, and while two of us confined his legs, which he kept flying about like the shafts of a windmill, the others pulled his arms behind his back and tied them fast. It was all over in five minutes, and the robber lay panting and foaming on the ground, while we stood with our hands in our pockets, looking at him.