The whole difficulty was then made clear to the lad. If the Apaches were nowhere but in the rear, it would be an easy matter to give them the slip, but they were on the right and left, and in front, and signs that had been seen through the day indicated very clearly that the Indians were carrying out to the letter the plan of which the hunters had spoken, and which they dreaded so much. They had already surrounded them, the circle being quite a number of miles in diameter, and were now simply drawing in their lines.

This, as a matter of course, made a collision inevitable, unless the hunters could manage to steal between these redskins, and, by striking the open country beyond, place the entire company in their rear. Such a plan as this was scarcely possible of accomplishment.

If attempted during the daytime, it would be instantly detected by some of the redskins, who would notify the proper ones, when an immediate concentration would take place in front of the fugitives. If tried during the darkness of night, it would fail. The Apaches would take every imaginable precaution against it and there was no means of concealing the noise made by hoofs. By going on foot they could get through the lines without difficulty; but they could not commit the imprudence of leaving their horses. The situation, therefore, was critical. Tom made known two most important facts. The first was that beyond a doubt Lone Wolf was at the head of the whole enterprise, and they were likely to meet with this treacherous chief again. The second was that, in case they were driven to the wall, the hunters had determined upon taking refuge in a place known as Hurricane Hill.

"It's nothing more than a pile of rocks," added Hardynge. "I've been there before, and it's just the spot to make a desp'rit stand. Two men like us, if we can reach the right p'int, can keep a hundred of the redskins back."

"Won't they get there ahead of us?" asked Ned.

"I think not," replied the hunter, in that hesitating manner which showed that he had thought of the contingency before; "for the reason that I b'leve they'd like to have us run there; but, come, let's be off."

That the mustangs might be relieved, the lad was now taken on the back of d.i.c.k's, and the journey toward the southwest was resumed at the same sweeping gallop. Tom took the lead, carefully scanning the ground over which they traveled. For an hour all went well, and then he reined up his steed with startling suddenness.

"Look yonder!" he said, pointing to the south.

Glancing in the direction indicated, the boy saw a number of moving specks, apparently on the very horizon.

"Injuns," said d.i.c.k, in a low voice, although the boy scarcely needed the explanation to know they were their old enemies--mounted Apaches.

"Do you see 'em?"

"Yes."

"Now take a peep off there."

This time the hunter pointed exactly opposite, where almost precisely the same thing was visible.

"Now, I s'pose you understand how it all is? They've been keeping along with us all day, a little ahead, and all the time closing in a little.

They've got things down to a dot, and mean bus'ness, you can bet."

"But are we anywhere near Hurricane Hill?"

"Yonder it is."

Several miles in advance, a dark, mound-like obstruction appeared against the sky. It was so far away that it was seen only indistinctly, but its character was evidently such as described by the hunter.

"Are you going for it?"

"We are."

And, suiting action to his words, they immediately broke into a gallop which was more rapid than before.

The situation, especially to the boy, became painful in its thrilling intensity. He required no telling to know that the dreaded programme described by his friends was being carried out to the letter. The Apaches were steadily closing in upon them, and it was evident that, if they chose to do so, they could effectually shut them out from reaching their vantage ground. Young Chadmund dreaded such a course upon their part. Somehow or other he had grown to look upon Hurricane Hill as their haven of safety. The few words of recommendation that Tom Hardynge had given it caused this belief upon his part. He did not pause to ask himself what was to be done after reaching it.

Suppose it could be gained in perfect safety, what then? If they should prove themselves fully able to keep a whole host of Apaches at bay, how was the siege to end? If the Indians should content themselves with merely waiting until hunger and thirst could do their work, what more?

These questions naturally occurred to the men themselves, but it came back to Hobson's choice after all. And so they dashed ahead, gradually increasing their speed, while the Apaches, with the regularity of machine work, as gradually drew in upon them.

"Will they cut us off?" inquired Ned, when the chase had continued for some time.

"Guess not," replied d.i.c.k; "but it don't make much difference."

"Why not?"

"'Cause it begins to look as if they had a dead sure thing of it," said the scout, sententiously.

"I hope not--I hope not," said the trembling lad, who could only pray that Heaven would not desert them in the peril which was encompa.s.sing them on every hand.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

HURRICANE HILL.

While yet at a considerable distance, the full force of the Indians became developed. They were divided almost equally, fifty being on either hand, and their speed still remained such that the main portion kept ahead of the fugitives, with about half a mile intervening between them and their pursuers. It may have been fancy, but Tom Hardynge maintained that he was able to recognize Lone Wolf among the redskins on the right, and when a short time afterward d.i.c.k Morris emphatically a.s.serted the same thing, it began to look as if the belief were well founded.

The sun was quite low in the sky, and the gait of the mustangs began to tell upon them. The two were galloping side by side, and going nearly at full speed. Both Tom and d.i.c.k were angry at being forced into such a position, which, to them, was a cowardly flight from a lot of wretches whom they despised and hated.

"I must give 'em my compliments," suddenly exclaimed the latter, when they were within rifle shot of each other. As he spoke, he raised his gun, and fired into Lone Wolf's band.

He seemed to take no aim at all, and, indeed, there was little necessity for it, as the Indians were so numerous and compact. A yell followed and then a commotion, showing very plainly that the shot had told.

"I reckon I'll try it again, it works so well," said d.i.c.k, repeating the demonstration, except that he aimed to the company on the left. He took a little more pains to guard against throwing his shot away and the result was similar to the first.

"Now we'll catch it," said the terrified Ned, crouching down beside the hunter, who like his friend was engaged in reloading his gun.

But there was no return fire. The Apaches, evidently, had concluded that they could wait. The shots, however, resulted somewhat advantageously for the fugitives, who, during the momentary confusion thus created, managed to crowd a little ahead. The horses were then put to a dead run and the final rush made for Hurricane Hill, the last refuge for which the fugitives could flee, seeing which, the Indians converged toward them, and made every effort to shut them off.

Although the hunters had apparently used their utmost endeavors up to this time, they had husbanded the strength of their animals so cleverly that their pursuers themselves were deceived, and when they expected to interpose themselves directly across the path, they beheld them flying like a whirlwind toward the rocks.

The few hundred yards remaining between the latter and Hurricane Hill were pa.s.sed in a few seconds by the fleet-footed mustangs. Ned was fairly dazed by the bewildering rush of events, and hardly able to keep track of their order. He saw the hurrying warriors directly behind them, and the rough, cragged ma.s.s of rocks in front. The next moment he was off the mustang. The scouts had checked their beasts at the same instant at the base of Hurricane Hill, and, leaping to the ground, skurried up the steep incline by which its surface was reached. The feet of the lad did not touch the earth. d.i.c.k, who was slightly in advance, carried him under his arm as if he were an infant s.n.a.t.c.hed up in haste, and the men bounded toward the top of the hill, the whole howling horde at their heels.

Hurricane Hill, it should be stated, was a pile of rocks about one hundred feet in diameter, with half that height. On one side a narrow path led upward at an angle of forty-five degrees, and, as it permitted only one to pa.s.s at a time, the place, with a few defenders, was impregnable against almost any force. This path upward was filled with loose, rattling stones, which sometimes made one's foothold treacherous, and it also made several curious turns, so that, after ascending a rod or so, one was shut out from the view of those upon the ground below.

The very instant this point was reached d.i.c.k Morris dropped the lad and exclaimed:

"Now run like thunder, and don't stop till you reach the top."

Then, wheeling about, he leaped back several paces to the a.s.sistance of Tom, who was defending the pa.s.s like a second Leonidas against the swarming warriors.

A huge, stalwart redskin, who probably believed his strength to be superior to that of the scouts, advanced boldly and seized him, with the evident purpose of drawing him down among the others and making him a prisoner in spite of himself. But he found he had made a slight miscalculation when he was lifted like a child from the ground and hurled over the heads and among the glowering redskins crowding below.

The momentum of his body was such that a half dozen were forced backward and almost off their feet. Had the Apaches chosen to do so, it would have been an easy matter to have shot all three of the fugitives, or even two of them, and taken the lad; but they had some old score against Tom and d.i.c.k, which could not be wiped out by mere death alone. Now that such a fine opportunity was presented for securing them and indulging in all the luxury of torture, they were not the ones to throw away the chance. Hence, they persistently refused to fire and as persistently forced their way upward.

This check, which might have been simply temporary, was emphasized and made more permanent in its character by d.i.c.k, who at the critical moment seized a goodly sized rock, which he drove down among the wretches like the discharge from a fifty pounder. It made terrible work and the discomfited Apaches retreated tumultuously to the bottom, while the hunters hastened away again to the top of the hill. Ned was there awaiting their coming with the most painful misgiving about their coming at all. He knew from the uproar that a desperate fight was raging in the narrow pa.s.s, and he feared that the resentful Apaches would overcome the braver hunters, who were defending themselves so desperately. But there they were at last, with the announcement that their enemies had fallen back and a temporary peace was given them.

"Can't expect it to last long, howsomever," added Tom, who breathed scarcely any faster from his terrific exertions. "Them skunks are bound to swallow us whole, and we've got to kick hard to prevent it."

As soon as a little breathing time had been gained, the besieged made an examination of their immediate surroundings, to learn the probable form in which this business was likely to end. The hunters removed all superfluous articles from their persons,--in the shape of canteens and a few appurtenances,--like pugilists who are stripping for a fight.