Mass' George

"We must get across the river at once."

Pomp made a grimace.

"How we 'wim ober dah wid de 'gator all awaiting to hab us for breakfa.s.s, Ma.s.s' George?"

I shuddered as I thought of the task, but it seemed as if that was the only thing to do, and then tramp along the opposite bank downward.

"What are you doing?" I said, as the boy began to step about, cautiously penetrating once more into the forest, and stopping at last beside a moderate-sized pine, whose trunk was dotted with the stumps of dead branches, till about fifty feet from the ground, where it formed a pretty dense tuft, whose top was well in the sunlight.

"Now we go up dah and hide, and rest a bit."

"But why not try that tree, or that, or that?" I said; and I pointed rapidly to three or four more, all far more thickly clothed with branch and foliage.

"If Injum come he fink p'raps we hide in dah, an' look. No fink we get up dat oder tree. Injum berry 'tupid."

"But hadn't we better try and get across or down the stream?"

Pomp shook his head.

"See Injum, and dey dreffle cross dat we run 'way. Wait a bit, Ma.s.s'

George."

"But my father--yours--and Morgan?"

"Well, what 'bout um, Ma.s.s' George?"

"We ought to warn them."

"Dey must take care ob demself. No good to go and be caught. Dat not help um fader."

There was so much truth in this that I did not oppose Pomp's plan of getting up in the tree, and hiding until the pursuit was over. For it was only reasonable to suppose that after a thorough hunt in one direction, the Indians would come in the other. Besides, I was utterly wearied out the previous evening, and glad to rest my tired limbs by hanging against the rope, and taking the weight off my feet. Since then we had tramped through the night many dreary miles, made more painful by the constant stress of avoiding obstacles, and the sensation of being hunted by a pack of savages whose cries might at any moment rise upon the ear.

It was not a comfortable resting-place for one who felt as if he would give anything to throw himself down and lie at full length, but it promised to be safe, and following Pomp's lead, I climbed steadily up the tree to where the dense head formed quite a scaffolding of crossing boughs, and here, after getting well out of sight of any one who might be pa.s.sing below, we seated ourselves as securely as possible, and waited for what was to come next.

"Wait Injum gone, and we kedge fis' and roast um for dinner," said Pomp; and then we sat for

Birds we heard from time to time, and now and then the rustle of a squirrel as it leaped from bough to bough, but nothing else till there were, one after the other, four ominous splas.h.i.+ngs in the river, which gave me a very uncomfortable feeling with regard to crossing to the other side, and I looked at Pomp.

"Dat 'gators," he said shortly. "No 'wim cross de ribber."

Then quite a couple of hours must have pa.s.sed, and Pomp began to fidget about terribly, making so much noise that if the Indians had been anywhere at hand, they must have heard.

"Hus.h.!.+" I said; "sit still."

"Can't, Ma.s.s' George," he said sharply. "I so dreffle hungly."

"Yes, so am I. What are you going to do?"

"Get down again. Injum no come now."

I hesitated; and as I was heartily sick of waiting, and famished, I made myself believe that our enemies were not pursuing us, and descended quickly to look at my companion.

"What we do now, Ma.s.s' George--kedge fis?"

"If we can," I said; "but how?"

"Pomp show Ma.s.s' George."

He led on through the thick growth just outside the forest edge, and looking sharply from side to side, soon pitched upon a couple of long, thin, tapering canes, which he hacked off and trimmed neatly, so that they formed a pair of very decent fis.h.i.+ng-rods, and he looked at me triumphantly.

"Dah!" he said.

"But where are the hooks and lines?"

Pomp's face was wonderful in its change.

"Wha de hook.u.m line?" he said.

"Yes, you can't catch fish like that."

Scratching the head when puzzled must be a natural act common to all peoples, for the boy gave his woolly sconce a good scratch with first one hand and then the other.

"Dat berry 'tupid," he said at last; "Pomp no 'tink of dat. What we do now?"

I stood musing for a few minutes as puzzled as he was. Then the bright thought came, and I took the lighter of the two canes, cut off the most pliant part, and then tearing my silk neckerchief in thin strips, I split the end of the cane, thrust in the haft of the knife, so that it was held as by a fork, and bound the cane tightly down the length of the knife-handle, and also below, so that the wood should split no farther; and as the knife was narrow in blade, and ran to a sharp point, we now had a formidable lance, with shaft fully twelve feet long.

"There!" I said triumphantly in turn, as I looked at Pomp.

"'Tick um froo de fis?" he said.

"Yes. We must find some deep pool, and see if we cannot spear something, so as to be food for the day."

"Ma.s.s' George 'tick um fis, Pomp find um."

I nodded, eager enough to try and get something in the way of food, so that we might be better able to bear our day's journey, for I felt that somehow we must get back; but I always hesitated from starting, lest we should be seen by pursuing Indians, and being recaptured, have no chance of giving the alarm at home.

Pomp was not long in finding a deep hole close under the bank, in whose clear, tree-shaded water I could see about a dozen fish slowly gliding about. They were only small, but anything was food for us then; and introducing my lance cautiously, I waited my opportunity, and then struck rapidly at a fish.

Vain effort! The fish was out of reach before the point of the knife could reach him; and a few more such strokes emptied the hole, but not in the way I intended.

"Find another," I said; and Pomp crept along, and soon signed to me to come.

As he made way for me, and I crept to the edge, I felt a thrill of pleasure, for there, close under the bank, just balanced over some water-weed, was a fine fish about a foot and a half long.

"If I can get you," I thought, "we shall do."

Carefully getting my spear-shaft upright, I lowered the point, and aiming carefully, I struck.

Whether I aimed badly, or the refraction of the water was not allowed for, I cannot say, but there was no result. I only saw a quivering of the surface and the fish was off into the river.