Winnetou, the Apache Knight, Karl Friedrich May [easy books to read txt] 📗

“And not kill us?”

“Hot all at once. They want to take us to the Mascaleros village at Rio Pecos, where we are to be tortured and die a living death, like carp taken out of the water and put into a pond to fatten. I wonder what kind of flesh old Sam’s would make, especially if they put me into the pan in my leather hunting-jacket.”

He laughed in his silent, inward fashion, and added: “They’ve got their eye on Mr. Rattler there, sitting as still as if heaven, with all the saints, were waiting for him. Yes, Rattler, they’ve got a banquet ready for you that I wouldn’t care to sit down to. You’re to be spitted, impaled, poisoned, smothered, shot, broken on a wheel, and hanged, each done a little more beautifully than the other, and only a taste of each that you may be kept alive a long time and have the full benefit of all the torture and anguish of death. And if after all you shouldn’t be quite dead, you’re to be laid in the grave of Kleki-Petrah, whom you murdered, and buried alive.”

“Merciful Heaven! did they say that?” gasped Rattler, his face blanched with terror.

“That’s what they said, and you deserve it. I only hope if you do escape you’ll be half decent in the future; and I guess you will be, for the body of Kleki-Petrah will be a strong medicine for you.”

“Where is the main band of the Apaches which is out against the Kiowas? ” I asked.

“I don’t know; nothing was said of that. It doesn’t matter to us.”

Little Sam was mistaken in that; it was far from unimportant to us where this band was, as we discovered in a few days.

Sam continued: “As I had heard enough, I should have come back to you at once; but it was dark, and I couldn’t see the trail till dawn, so I waited. I stayed all night hidden in the wood, and my legs were almost broken. I was six miles from here, and I had to go out of my way to get back unseen. And that is all I have to tell you.”

“But you said you were going to show yourself to them.”

“I know, and I should have done so, only - hark! did you hear anything?”

The scream of an eagle, thrice repeated, came from the woods.

“That’s the Kiowa spies,” he said. “They are over there in the trees. I told them to give me this sign when they saw the Apaches on the savanna. Come, sir; we’ll try what sort of eyes you have.”

This invitation was addressed to me. Sam rose to go, and I took my gun to follow him.

“Hold on,” he said. “Leave that gun here. It’s true the frontiersman should never go out without his weapons, but this is an exception, because we must not seem to have any suspicion of danger. We’ll appear to be gathering wood to make our fire, and the Apaches will conclude we are going to stay here all night.”

We sauntered out, apparently wandering carelessly in and out among the trees and bushes, breaking off the dry branches. We strained our eyes, but could discover no one; yet later I learned from Winnetou himself that fifty feet at most away from us he was hidden behind a bush watching us. We gathered more wood for the campfire than we needed, for Sam wanted enough in reserve to enable the Apaches to kindle the fire quickly when they discovered we were gone.

Darkness fell, and we gathered in the camp for the eventful night. Sam, as the most experienced, sat at the end of the grassy plain nearest the savanna, where he could see the coming of the spies for whom we were waiting, knowing they could not be far off. The fire blazed up, lighting the plain and the savanna. How foolish and inexperienced the Apaches must think us! This great fire was the very thing to guide an enemy to us from afar. We ate our supper, and lounged about as if we were far from suspecting any danger. The guns lay at some distance back of us towards the peninsula, ready to be seized by us later in our flight.

Three hours after dark Sam stepped back to us and said softly:” The spies are coming; two, one on this, one on that side. I heard and saw them.” Then he sat down with us, and began to talk in a loud voice on the first subject that occurred to him. We answered, and kept up a conversation intended to show the spies how secure we felt. We knew that they were there watching us, but by a strong effort we kept ourselves from glancing towards the bushes concealing them.

The most important thing now was to know when they had gone. We could neither hear nor see any thing, and yet we dared not waste a moment after their departure, for in a short time the whole band would be upon us, and in that interval the Kiowas must come over from the peninsula. Hence it was best not to wait until they had withdrawn, but to force them out. So Sam rose as if he were going to get more wood, and went into the bushes on one side, while I took the other.

We were now sure that the spies were gone. Sun put one hand to his mouth and thrice imitated the croaking of a bull-frog. This was the signal for the Kiowas to come; it would not be noticed by the Apaches, as we were beside the stream. Sam then resumed his office of watchman to warn us of the approach of the whole body of the enemy.

About two minutes after the signal was given the Kiowas came over, in close single file - a long line of two hundred warriors. They had not waited in the woods, but had come down to the bank to be ready for the signal, and on receiving it had instantly sprung across the stream. They crawled behind us in our shadow like snakes, lying close to the ground, near the peninsula. This was done so quickly and silently that in three minutes, at the most, the last one had joined us. In a short time Sam came and whispered to us: “They’re coming on both sides. Don’t put on any more wood; we must let the fire die down, and take care that an ember is left for the Indians to kindle another.”

We piled what wood we had left around the fire, so that no light would fall upon our retreat. After this was done each of us had to be more or less an actor. We knew that fifty Apaches were close to us, yet that we must not betray our knowledge by the slightest sign. We expected them to wait until we were asleep; but what if they did not wait, but fell upon us at once? Of course we had two hundred allies in the Kiowas, but in that case there would be a bloody struggle that might easily cost some of us our lives.

The time had come, and it was interesting to watch the various effects it produced on my comrades. Rattler lay face downward on the ground as if asleep, the fear of death gripping his heart with an icy hand. His trusty friends glanced at one another with blanched faces; they could not utter a word to help on our forced conversation. Will Parker and Dick Stone sat there as calmly as if there were no such thing as an Apache in the world. Sam Hawkins made jokes, and I laughed in spite of myself at his nonsense. For now that the danger was upon us I was as calm as if we were about to play a game of whist. And so we waited.

CHAPTER X. THE CAPTURE OF WINNETOU.

FOR more than an hour we sat waiting the attack, and then concluded that we had been right and the Apaches would not come until we were asleep. The fire was getting low, and I thought there was no use in putting off the evil hour, so I yawned, stretched myself, and said: “I’m tired, and I’d like to go to sleep; how about you, Sam?”

“I’ve no objection,” he said. “The fire is going out anyway. Good night, then.”

“Good night,” repeated all, and getting back from the fire as far as we could we stretched ourselves out at full length. The flame grew dimmer and dimmer, till it died out altogether, only the ashes still glowing; but the light could not reach us because of the wood piled between us and the fire, and we lay entirely in the shadow.

Now was the time to get quietly, very quietly, into safety. I reached for my gun, and slowly crept away. Sam kept at my side, the others following. When I reached the horses I stirred them up that the noise of their stamping might cover any possible rustling we might make in going. We came over safely to the Kiowas, who stood like panthers crouching for prey.

“Sam,” I whispered,” if we want to spare the two chiefs we mustn’t let a Kiowa get at them: understand?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll take Winnetou; you and Stone and Parker look after Intschu-Tschuna.”

“One for you alone, and one for us three together? That’s no way to do.”

“Yes, it is. I’ll finish up Winnetou in short order, and there should be three to take charge of his father, for his braves will be around him, and if he should resist it would cost him his life.”

“Well, all right. We’d better go on a few steps and be first, or some Kiowa will get ahead of us. Come.”

We posted ourselves a little in advance, and awaited in greatest suspense the war-cry of the Apaches. It is customary for an Indian leader to give the signal for an onslaught by a cry in which the rest join like demons. This is intended to deprive the victim of all courage, and is well adapted to its end. The best idea one can get of it is by uttering a long-drawn-out H-i-i-i-i-i-h at the top of his voice, at the same time striking the mouth repeatedly with the hand to break the sound into waves.

The Kiowa were at as high a tension as we were; each of them wanted to be first, and pushed us forward further and further till we were too near the Apaches for comfort, and I wished very heartily the onslaught might come.

At last it did come. The H-i-i-i-i-i-h arose in such a tone as to go through my very marrow, followed by a howl as dreadful as if a thousand devils had broken loose. We heard quick steps and springs over the soft earth. Suddenly all was still; for a moment we could almost have heard an ant crawl. Then we heard Intschu-Tschuna speak the short word: “Ko.” This means” fire,” or” make a fire.” The ashes of our fire were still smouldering, and as the Apaches obeyed him and threw the dry wood on them, it kindled at once, and the flames leaped up anew, lighting the entire camp.

Intechu-Tschuna and Winnetou stood side by side, and a circle of braves gathered around them as the Apaches saw to their amazement that we were gone. “Uff! Off!” they grunted in astonishment. Winnefeu then showed that presence of mind which later so often excited my wonder. He saw that we could not be far off, and that they, standing in the full light of the fire, made a fine mark for our guns; therefore he cried: “Tatischa! tatischa!” which means: “Be off!”