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To Win or to Die: A Tale of the Klondike Gold Craze, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 4. Nature's Mistake |
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_ CHAPTER FOUR. NATURE'S MISTAKE "But hadn't we better go on?" "No: warmth is everything here. The ground is hot where the fire was, and we'll camp there till morning. I saw you had a sledge. We'll drag that to one side for shelter." "And there is theirs, too," was said huskily. "Mine!" was the reply. "The scoundrels inveigled me into staying with them, and I had a narrow escape." "Hah! Just as they served me. I saw their light and came up, and they professed to be friends. I didn't like the look of them, but one can't pick one's company out here, and a good fire was very tempting." "Hist!" The warning was followed by the clicking of pistol locks, after which the pair listened patiently for some minutes. "Nothing. Here, let's get the two sledges one on either side of the hot ground. One will be a shelter, the other a breastwork to fire over if the scoundrels come back. Besides, the breastwork will keep in the heat. We are bound to protect ourselves." "All right," was the reply, in an answering whisper, and the pair dragged the two sledges into position, and then, allowing for the dank odour of the quenched wood, found that they had provided themselves with a snugly warm shelter, adding to their comfort by means of blankets and a waterproof sheet, which they spread beneath them. This took time, for every now and then they paused to listen or make a reconnaissance in search of danger; but at last all was done, and the question was who should keep the first watch. "I'll do that," said the last comer. "I couldn't lie down to sleep if I tried; my throat gives me so much pain. It feels swollen right up. I'll take the first watch--listen, one ought to say. Why, I can't even see my hand." "It is terribly dark here in this gulch," was the whispered reply. "The mountains run up perpendicularly on either side. But I couldn't sleep after all I've gone through to-night. My nerves are all on the jar. I'll watch with you." "Listen." "Well, listen, then. Watch with our ears. Can you hear me when I whisper?" "Oh, yes." "But they will not come back, I'm sure." "So much the better for them; but I hope that the miserable, treacherous hounds will meet their reward. So they attacked you just in the same way?" "Not till I told them I would not stay; and I was sorry afterwards, feeling that perhaps I had insulted them by my suspicions. Of course, I did not know their character then." "No. Well, we know it now. It is a specimen, I suppose, of the scum we shall find yonder." "I am afraid so." "You are going after gold, of course?" "Who would be here if he were not?" "Exactly. I hope the game is going to be worth the candle. Suppose we two stick together. You won't try to choke me the first time you see me nodding off to sleep for the sake of my sledge and stores?" "Oh, I'll promise you that." "It was a startler. I was dog tired." "Eh?" "I was dog tired, and dropping off in the warmth of the fire into a golden dream of being where the nuggets were piled up all around me; and I was just going to pick up one, when a great snake darted at me and coiled itself round my throat. Then I was awake, to find it was a real devil snake in the shape of that red-bearded ruffian." "That was the one the others called Beardy. But don't you talk so much: your voice is growing worse." "Can't help it, old fellow. I must talk. I'm so excited. Feel the cold?" "Oh, no. I'm quite warm with the glow which comes up through the sheet. A good idea, that was, of bringing it on your sledge." "Yes, but it's heavy. I say, though, what an experience this is, here in the pitchy darkness. Ah! Look out!" The pistols clicked again, for from somewhere close at hand there was a faint rustling sound, followed by a heavy thud, as if some one had stumbled and fallen in the snow. The pair listened breathlessly in the black darkness, straining their eyes in the direction from whence the sound had come; but all was perfectly still. They listened again minute after minute, and there was a dull throbbing sound which vibrated through them; but it was only the heavy beating of their own hearts. Then they both started violently, for there was another dull heavy thud, and some one hissed as if drawing in his breath to suppress the strong desire to utter a cry of pain. It was horrible in that intense blackness to crouch there with pistols held ready directed towards the spot where whoever it was had fallen, for there could be no doubt whatever. There had been the fall, not many yards from where they knelt, and they listened vainly for the rustling that must accompany the attempt to get up again. At last the faint rustling came, and the temptation to fire was almost too strong to be resisted. But they mastered it, and waited, both determined and strung up with the desire to mete out punishment to the cowardly miscreants who sought for their own gain to destroy their fellow-creatures. "Don't fire till you are sure it is they," each of the two young men thought. "It is impossible to take aim in this darkness." And they waited till the rustling ended in a sort of whisper. Once more all was silent, and the suspense grew maddening, as they waited minutes which seemed like hours. But the enemy was evidently astir, for there was another whisper, and another--strange warning secretive whispers--and a sigh as of one in pain. At this one of the listeners thrust out a hand, and the other joined in an earnest grip, which told of mutual trust and determination to stand by each other to the death, making them feel that the terrible emergency had made them, not acquaintances of an hour's length, but staunch friends, both strong and tried. Then they loosened the warm, manly grip, and were ready for the worst. For there was no longer any doubt: the enemy was close at hand, waiting the moment for the deadly rush. The only question was whether they should fire at once--not with the thought of hitting, but to teach the scoundrels how thoroughly they were on the alert, and in the hope of driving them into taking to flight once more. But they doubted. A few shots had done this once, but now that the miscreants had had time to recover from their panic, would it answer again? Thud! thud! in front, and then a far heavier one behind them. They could not hold out much longer. The enemy was creeping towards them. At this moment there was a tremendous crack, a hissing roar, and a terrific concussion, the defenders of the tiny fort being struck down behind their little breastwork. But this onslaught was not from the enemy they awaited. The ever-gathering snow from far above, loosened by the hot current of air ascending from the fire, had come down in one awful charge, and the marauders' camp was buried in an instant beneath thousands of tons of snow. _ |
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