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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 33. A Death Shriek |
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_ CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. A DEATH SHRIEK "Wait a bit--wait a bit!" said Dallas through his teeth; "we'll pay the cowardly brutes yet. Bel, it makes me feel like a savage. I could enjoy pulling the rope that was to hang them!" "I couldn't; but I wish it was daylight and I could get a good aim at one of them. I say, they'll riddle that door." "Wait a bit," whispered Dallas, with a curious little laugh, "and we'll answer their riddle." The firing went on persistently, but the dog barked no more--only gave vent from time to time to a low growl, while the listeners could tell from the sound that he was applying an animal's natural remedy to his wound by licking it diligently. And the firing went on as if the enemy were searching every part of the hut with their bullets. "Dal," whispered Abel suddenly, "don't be startled." "You're not going to be such an idiot as to open the door to the fire, are you?" "No; but it would not be idiotic," said Abel quietly; "for I feel as if I could hit one of them by seeing the flash of his piece." "What are you going to do, then?--let the dog out?" "No, not now he is wounded. I wish we had set him free, though, at the first--he'd have startled the wretches!" "They'd have done for him with their bowies," said Dallas. "What am I not to be startled at? Ah-h-ah! You brutes! Lie right down, Bel! They're firing at the wall now." "Then it's time for it. Look here, I'm going to humbug them." Two more reports came, and, as the sound died out, Abel uttered so unearthly a shriek that Dallas felt it go through him in a shudder that chilled him to the bone. "Bel!" he panted wildly. "All right; did it sound natural?" was whispered back. "Oh, you wretch!" whispered Dallas; and Abel laughed. "They'll think they've done for the dog and one of us," said Abel softly. "Let them go on firing now for a bit, and then it will be your turn; only don't squeak like I did." "I see," said Dallas. "You feel for something big, and when they've fired a bit more hurl it hard at the door, and then give a big groan." "All right!" "They'll feel sure then, and come up and begin to force open the door or the shutters. Then we must let them have it." "Yes; four barrels at once," said Dallas. "And some seasoning directly after from our pepper-boxes." The dog was so quiet now that Abel trembled for his fate; but he and his companion, as they lay there in the darkness, had something else to think about, for the firing went on steadily, and they wondered it did not bring up some of the miners from their claims here and there. "Surely they're not too cowardly to come to our help," thought Dallas. Four shots were fired now in quick succession, as if the enemy were anxious to bring matters to an end, and Abel whispered, "Try it directly they fire again." "Yes," said Dallas; and directly after Abel heard the handle of the galvanised iron bucket chink softly. Then came two more shots, and in an instant Dallas dashed the bucket against the door with all his might, uttered a heavy groan, and was silent. The firing outside ceased now, showing that the ruse had been successful; and the two young men held their breath as they listened for the nearer approach of the enemy, which they felt sure must now be imminent; but they listened a long time in vain. At last, though, the crackling of the snow outside, as from the pressure of a heavy foot, warned them that their time was coming, and they lay ready with the muzzles of their pieces ready to direct at door or window, as the necessity might arise, and their revolvers on the floor by their knees. Which was it to be--door or window? They would have given years of their lives to know at which to aim, and they felt now what guesswork it must be. "They'll come to the window, I hope," thought Dallas; "and if they do I won't fire till I am sure of winging one of them." But though they waited, no such opportunity seemed likely to come, for there was not a sound at the front after they heard the soft crackling of the snow. All at once, when the horrible suspense seemed greater than they could bear, and Dallas felt that he must spring to his feet, rush to the door, and begin firing at random, it seemed to both that an icy hand had grasped each of them by the throat. It was another exemplification of the aphorism that it is the unexpected which always happens. For all at once, after a long period of perfect silence, there was a peculiar grating sound at the back of the hut instead of at the front, and for a few moments both the defenders of the place were puzzled. Then, as the sound was repeated, they realised what it was. There were several pieces of thickish pine-trunk lying outside in the snow, pieces that had been cut to form uprights for the rough shedding over their shaft. These pieces were very rough and jagged with the remains of the boughs which had been lopped off, so that they would be as easy to climb--almost--as a ladder. Two of these had been softly placed so that they lay along the slope of the roof, and up them one of the enemy was cautiously climbing, while his companion was holding them at the foot. "Bel must grasp this," thought Dallas, who dared not whisper, for fear of giving the alarm to the enemy and putting them on their guard. For, cunning enough in the plans that had been devised, the enemy were about to ignore door and window, and make their approach by the opening in the roof through which the smoke passed. There was a sort of lid of boards nailed a foot above to prevent the snow from falling straight through, but there was ample room for an active man to lower himself down through the hole; and, drawing a deep breath full of satisfaction, Dallas changed the direction of the muzzle of his gun, feeling quite sure that the one who was to attack would lower himself down feet first, so that the task of performing vengeance would be easy as far as one of the men was concerned, and at any rate they could make sure of him. Dallas's teeth gritted softly together as he waited, and Abel's heart beat with heavy throbs, for he had been as quick to grasp the way of attack as his cousin. But they had not fully fathomed the enemy's plans, and were completely taken by surprise. It was only a matter of a few minutes, but it seemed like an hour as the young men strained their eyes in the black darkness, and mentally saw one of their foes climb slowly up till he reached the sloping roof, up which he progressed steadily, the two pieces of tree rasping and crunching the thick, icy snow which clung to the roof; and then fingers trembled about triggers as the defenders tried to guess at the opening exactly in the centre of where the ridge-pole ran. And now the sounds came more plainly; a hand was evidently feeling about for the opening, for a bit or two of snow from the edge of the hole-- pieces which had not melted away--fell down amongst the embers with a soft pat, and a low, hissing sound of steam arose from the hot fire-hole. "Now he knows exactly," thought Dallas, "and I shall hear him turn and begin to lower himself down. We ought to wait till he is more than half through before we fire. Will Bel think of this?" He drew a long breath, for there was a heavy, rustling sound above, as if the man on the roof was altering his position. Then there came a sharp scratch, for the greater part of a box of matches had been struck all at once. Then there was a brilliant flash of light, the momentary glimpse of a big hairy hand, from which the burning matches began to fall, while the interior of the dark hut was lit up, showing the dog, with eyes glistening and bared teeth, crouched to spring, and the two young men kneeling, each with his weapon raised. But they did not fire, feeling that it would be madness to trust to hitting the unseen, for the hand was too small a target; and before they could make up their minds what to do next, two shots were fired from outside, and a cry rang out on the midnight air. _ |
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