The Quest of the Four: A Story of the Comanches and Buena Vista. Altsheler Joseph Alexander. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Altsheler Joseph Alexander
Издательство: Public Domain
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Жанр произведения: Зарубежная классика
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attended to the horses, he returned to theedge of the forest and sat himself down to think out theplan of his great adventure.

      It was his intention to enter the Comanche villagewithout detection, and, hard as such a task seemed tohim, it was even harder in reality. No race more warythan the Comanches ever lived. Besides the boys whohabitually watched the ponies, they had regular details ofwarriors as herdsmen. Other details served as sentriesabout the village, and the adjacent heights were alwaysoccupied by scouts. All these guards were maintainednight and day. Phil could see some of them nowpatrolling, and, knowing that any attempt of his would beimpossible in the daylight, he waited patiently for night.He had with him enough food to last for a day or two, and, choosing a place in the dense covert, he lay down.He called up now all the wilderness lore of Breakstone,Arenberg, Middleton, and the others in the train. Heknew that he must restrain all impulsiveness until theappointed time, and that he must lie without motion lestthe keen eyes of wandering warriors should see the bushesabove him moving in a direction other than that of thewind. He also laid his rifle parallel with his body, inthe position in which it could be used most quickly, andloaded the pistol. It was hardest of all to lie perfectlystill. He wished to turn over, to crawl to a new place, and his bones fairly ached, but he restrained himself.Naturally a youth of strength and determination, hismind took the mastery over his body, and held it fastand motionless among the bushes.

      It was well that he controlled himself so completely.Indians came near the edge of the woods, and once someboys passed, driving a herd of ponies. But he croucheda little closer, and they went on. The day was fearfullylong. The high sun poured down a shower of verticalbeams that reached him even in the shelter of the bushes.The perspiration stood out on his brow, and his collarclung to his neck. He envied the freedom of theComanches in the villages and the easy way in whichthey went about the pleasure of savage life. Morewarriors, evidently hunters, came in. Some bore portions ofthe buffalo, and others were loaded with wild turkeys.

      In these hard hours the boy learned much. He hadpassed safely through battle. But there one was borneup by the thrill and excitement of the charge, the firingand shouting and the comradeship of his fellows. Herehe was alone, silent and waiting. Enduring such as that, his will achieved new powers. A single day saw themental growth of a year or two.

      The sun passed the zenith and crept slowly down thewestern heavens. Welcome shadows appeared in theeast, and the far lodges of the Comanches grew misty.Phil thought now that the village would sink into quiet, but he noticed instead a great bustle, and many peoplegoing about. Squaws bore torches which made a brightcore of flame in the increasing dusk, and Phil was quitesure now that something unusual was going to occur. Itseemed to him that the whole population of the villagewas gathering about the great medicine lodge. It mustbe the beginning of some important ceremony, and thetime to enter the Comanche village was propitious. Heinferred that on such an occasion the guard would berelaxed, at least in part, and as he heard the sound ofhundreds of voices chanting monotonously he preparedfor his great adventure.

      The twilight faded, and the night came in its place, thick and dark. The sound of many voices, some singing, some talking, came clearly through the crisp, dryair. The core of light before the medicine lodgeincreased, and, by its radiance, he saw dusky figureshastening toward it to join the great group gathered there.

      Phil took off his cap and hid it in the bushes. Hewould be bareheaded like the Comanches, wishing to lookas much like them as possible. Fortunately his hair hadgrown somewhat long, and his face was deeply tanned.Once he thought of stripping to the waist in Comanchefashion, but his body, protected from the sun, was white, and he would be detected instantly.

      He spent a little time flexing and stretching hismuscles, because, when he first rose to his feet, he couldscarcely stand, and the blood, choked up in the arteriesand veins, tingled for lack of circulation. But thestiffness and pain soon departed, and he felt stronger thanever before in his life. Then he started.

      He advanced boldly into the plain, bent very low, stopping at times to look and listen, and, also, to resthimself. More than once he lay flat upon the groundand allowed his muscles to relax. Once he saw upon hisright two Indian warriors standing upon a knoll. Theywere a part of the night guard, and their figures wereoutlined duskily against the dusky sky. Their faces werenot disclosed. But Phil knew that they were watching-watchingwith all the effectiveness of eye and ear forwhich the Indian is famous. At this point he crawled, and, in his crawling, he was so nearly flat upon hisstomach that his advance was more like a serpent's than thatof anything else.

      He left the patrol behind, and then he saw another onhis left, and much nearer to him, two more warriors, whodid not occupy any knoll, but who merely walked backand forth on the flat plain. They were between him andthe great fire, and he saw them very distinctly, tall menof light copper color, with high cheek-bones and longblack hair. Both were armed with rifles, of which theComanches were beginning to obtain a supply, and theirfaces in the glow of the firelight seemed very savage andvery cruel to Phil. Now he flattened himself outentirely, and moved forward in a slow series of writhings, until he had passed them. There was an icy rim aroundhis heart until he left these two behind, but when theywere gone in the darkness his courage leaped up anew.

      He now reached the eastern end of the village andcrept among the lodges. They were all deserted. Theiroccupants had gone to witness the ceremony that was nowat hand, whatever it might be. Not a woman, not achild was left. Phil stood up straight, and it was animmense relief to him to do so. It was a relief to the spiritas well as the body. He felt like a human being again, and not some creeping animal, a human being who standsupon his two feet, a human being who has a brain withwhich he thinks before he acts. It was strange, but thismere physical change gave him a further supply ofcourage and hope, as if he had already achieved his victory.

      He passed between two lodges and saw a gleam beyond.It was the surface of the wide but shallow creek, showing through the dusk. The banks were five or sixfeet high, and there was a broad bed of sand extendingon either side of the water.

      Phil glanced up the stream, and saw that it flowedvery close to the medicine lodge. An idea sprang up atonce in his alert brain. Here was his line of approach.He dropped softly down the bank, taking his chance ofquicksand, but finding instead that it was fairly firm tothe feet. Then, hugging the bank, he advanced withnoiseless tread toward the medicine lodge. Chance andhis own quick mind served him well. His feet did notsink more than a few inches in the sand, and the bankcontinued at its uniform height of about six feet. Hecontinued slowly, pausing on occasion to listen, becausehe could see nothing in the village. But occasional straybeams from the fires, passing over his head, fell upon thecreek, lingering there for a moment or two in a red glow.Above him on the bank, but some distance back, the firesseemed to grow, and the monotonous beat of the singinggrew louder. Phil knew that he was now very near themedicine lodge, and he paused a little longer than usual, leaning hard against the sandy bank with a sort ofinvoluntary impulse, as if he would press his body into it toescape observation.

      He looked up and saw two or three boughs projectingover the bank. Then the medicine lodge was somedistance away, perhaps fifteen or twenty yards, and, therefore, the adventure would increase in peril! Anotherglance at the boughs reassured him. Perhaps there wasa little grove between the creek and the medicine lodge, and it would afford him hiding! The largest of theboughs, amply able to support his weight, was not morethan three or four feet above the bank, and, climbingcautiously the sandy slope, he grasped it and drewhimself up. Then he slid along it until he came to the crotchof the tree, where he crouched, holding his rifle in onehand.

      He was right in his surmise about the grove, althoughit was narrower than he had supposed, not more thanseven or eight yards across at the utmost. But the treeswere oak, heavy-limbed and heavy-trunked, and theygrew close together. Nevertheless, the light from someof the fires showed through them, and at one side loomedthe dark mass of the medicine lodge. As nearly as hecould see, it was built directly against some of the trees.He crawled from his tree to the one next to it, and thento a third. There he stopped, and a violent fit ofshuddering seized him. The trees were occupied already.

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