The party at the cave were enjoying themselves as well as they could under the circumstances.
Kelly was getting anxious about his friend Jehiel, and had resolved that, if he did not make his appearance in the vicinity that day, he would go in search of him next morning.
But he did not know that about that time Jehiel was having his little round with the Pawnee chief—if he had, he would not have rested quite so easily.
Then there was his promise to Gray Eagle, which was only half kept, but which he resolved should be fulfilled to the letter.
Yes, he would have the scalp of the Sioux chief, or die in the attempt to get it.
Nulela, the sister of Red Pine, was indeed happy, and with good reason—the white man whom she had rescued from her brother's power now reciprocated her great love, and she felt herself amply rewarded for the risk she had run and the sacrifice she had made.
Full well she knew that she could not return to her own people, except in disgrace. Such is the moral code of the Sioux—if a maiden of the tribe marries a white man, and he dies, or, as is more generally the case, deserts her, she is thenceforth an outcast.
For a long time after the old trapper had tendered them the hospitalities of his subterranean retreat, they sat beside the fire trying to determine what was best to be done.
"I am afraid that the Sioux will hang around here until they find out some way to get into this cave," said Curtiss.
"Young man," said the old trapper, "it ar' a great pity yer could not hev been born with more brains, an' less stomach!"
"What do you mean, sir?" exclaimed the astonished young man.
"I mean yer must be a durned fool fur bein' afraid, when I've told yer thar ain't a mite o' danger in here!"
Curtiss thought his best plan was to humor the eccentricities of Old Bear-Paw, and it was perhaps well that he did.
"Kem with me, my friends," said the trapper, "an' I'll convince yer we ar' perfeckly safe."
He led the way to the further end of the cave, where the party found themselves standing upon the brink of a fearful chasm, the light from the torches revealing no boundary except that upon which they stood. Below and beyond them, all was inky blackness.
"Gracious, what a place!" said Kelly. "Do you know how deep this hole is, or what is on the other side?"
"Yas. I've bin down inter this 'ar' hole clean ter ther bottom, an' ef yer behave yerselves purty well, I'll take yer down thar with me, one of these days."
"Thank you," replied the scout; "but do you know what is on the other side of here?"
"Sartin, I've bin thar too! Would yer like ter go over? I've got er menagery over thar, as ther show fellers used ter say, uv ther finest livin' speciments on ther contynunt!"
"But how do you get across?—I can't see. Two steps more and down you go, into that bottomless pit. It is not possible that you can walk on air, and there is no way of making a bridge, that I can see."
"Yer see, I ain't lived here ten years fur nothin'—so now I'll show yer how it's done."
He stepped to one side and returned holding in his hand the end of a rope, the other end of which was lost in the darkness above them.
"Now yer see," said the old man, "yer jest hang on ter this yer end, an swing off. Wull, ther swing 'll take yer clear across this yer black hole—then when yer feel yerself comin' back, all yer hev ter do is ter drap yer feet down, an' ye'll find yerself on terry furmy onc't more. Then yer kin throw ther rope back fur ther next feller, ef thar is any more, an' ef thar ain't yer must hang it up on ther peg at ther side—'cause ef yer don't it will hang straight down ther middle arter it gits done swinging. Then thar can't no one git it."
"Yes, I understand. Now, Mr.—"
"Bear-Paw, I told yer, only leave off ther mister!"
"Well, Bear-Paw, supposing you take your torch and go across, then we will follow you."
The old trapper took the torch between his teeth and seizing the rope with both hands, he swung off. In a minute he waved his torch on the other side, and shouted—"Ketch ther rope," and in another minute Kelly was ready to follow.
He tried the rope, as if to make sure that it would hold his weight, never considering that a much larger man had just swung on the same rope; and it was with a sensation that he had never before experienced, that he grasped it firmly and swung off. He soon found himself beside the old trapper, who said:
"Yer done it well, boy! But I'm afeard that booby over thar won't dare ter try it!"
He shouted to Curtiss to catch the rope, and again it went to the other side and was caught by him.
"You go first, Nulela," said Curtiss.
"No, Nulela will follow her chief!"
"Are you sure you can hang on?"
"Nulela is not a child," she replied. "But is the white chief afraid?"
"Oh, no! But what should I do if you were to fall? It would be instant death!"
"Does my chief then care for me?"
"Care for you? Yes, little one—I love you!" he answered.
"Oh! I am so glad!" exclaimed the Indian girl; "then I can go with you, and be your wife?"
"Yes," replied Curtiss, "if we ever get out of here."
A call from both Kelly and the old trapper to "hurry up," put a stop to their love-making, and Curtiss took a firm hold upon the rope and started for the other side. He had barely regained his feet when the old trapper seized the rope and sprung out, leaving the scout and Curtiss alone on the brink of the chasm.
Their first thought was of treachery. Could it be possible that the old man was about to leave them there as the easiest and surest way of getting rid of them?
They surmised all sorts of things—probable and improbable. They saw him land on the other side. Here he said to the Indian girl:
"Jest wait a minit till I git some more torches."
Then he put the rope into her hand to hold until he should return. Presently he came back with a lighted torch in his hand, and several more stuck in his belt.
"Now, gal, we'll jine our friends on ther other side."
He held his torch up to her face, to see if she exhibited any signs of fear, but though he saw no such expression, he saw what puzzled him more—he saw that her eyes were blue.
"Girl, who are you? Certainly you are no Indian!" he exclaimed, in language entirely different from that he generally used.
"I am Nulela, the sister of Red Pine," she answered.
He looked at her a moment, as if trying to recollect some half-forgotten event, and bowing his head upon his hands, the strong man wept.
"Can it be that I have found my lost one?" he murmured. "My God! If it should be true, what a joyful ending there would be to all these years of sorrow and heart-ache! But no, it can not be! She was stolen by the fierce Apaches, and this one—ha! where is she?"
During his soliloquy the Indian girl had swung off and was now standing beside her friends on the other side of the chasm, and the voice of Kelly was heard shouting:
"Here comes the rope, Bear-Paw, catch it!"
A moment later and the old man stood beside them.
"Wull," he said, "yer kem acrost all right, didn't yer? An' now we'll go an' see ther anermiles."
Proceeding a few yards further into the cave, he turned abruptly to the left, and entered a large circular room. Here the party were greeted with a chorus of howls, yells, and snarlings, which continued until the old man said:
"Hush! yer 'tarnal critters! Don't yer see I've brought yer some company?"
Immediately the growling ceased, and the old man led the way around the room.
Chained to the walls were four monster bears and an equal number of panthers, and they manifested great pleasure when the old trapper patted them on the head, and called them by their names.
The party were much surprised when the old trapper removed the chain from the neck of the largest grizzly, and said to him—"Now go an' shake paws with ther gentlemen." The bear did as he was ordered, and returned to his master.
"Do you have many visitors?" asked the scout.
"No, yer ther only men these anermiles has seen in eight year," was the reply of the trapper.
"I should think it would take you all of the time to keep these fellows in meat."
"Thar yer mightily mistaken then, for when thar is too many reds about, I send them out ter hunt fur me! Now yer moughtn't like ter b'lieve me, but I kin send any one uv 'em out, an' they'll bring in suthen ter eat quicker nor either uv yer fellers kin."
"Is it possible that they are so well trained as that?" asked the scout.
"I'll show yer," replied the hunter, and he let loose a huge panther, and patting him on the head, said:
"Now, Andy Jackson, go an' ketch me a deer, an' be spry about it, too! Yer knows whar ter find 'em, don't yer?"
The animal looked up at the hunter's face, and then actually nodded his head in assent.
"Wull, go on then, an' don't yer stop ter play!"
The panther bounded past the party and disappeared in the gloom beyond.
"How in the world can he get out?" asked Curtiss. "Surely he can not swing over the chain?"
"Wull, I reckon he could ef I'd ever l'arnt him! But yer see ther's no occasion—this yer hole goes clean through ther mountain. But I'll show yer thet some other time."
"Hark! What is that?"
"It's Andy Jackson passin' ther guard," replied the trapper.
"Who do you have for a guard?"
"He's er brother uv Andy Jackson, but I calls him Barnum jest 'cause he kin humbug more Injuns than any other feller in ther kentry, 'thout it ar' ther king uv humbugs, old Barnum his self. Tell yer what, stranger, he's ther knowin'est varmint uv 'em all. 'Tain't more'n ten days ago, I war out looking arter things gineraly, when I run inter a nest uv 'bout er dozen Blackfeet. They had er white feller what they war a-goin' ter roast, an' I allowed it didn't look jest right, so I kem back an' got Andy Jackson an Barnum, an' we went fur ter stop ther fun. Wull, they war so 'tarnal busy with ther white man that they didn't see us at all, tell jest as they war goin' ter set fire ter ther brush. Then I shot ther feller what was ther leader, an' you'd jest orter see'd them two boys, Andy an' Barnum, sail in, an' go ter sp'ilin' Injuns! Fact, thar didn't a one uv 'em git away! All ther Injuns in this kentry are scart uv me, an call me a heap big medicine; so they don't very often kem around here—an' thet leaves me all uv ther trappin' ter myself. Kem, let's go back now to ther fire."
"But what will become of Andy Jackson?" asked the scout.
"Oh, he'll kem back purty soon, an' be in his stall when I want him!"
"What will he do with the meat, even supposing that he gets any?"
"He'll dervide with the rest, like a man," replied the trapper.
"I don't believe—"
The speaker was interrupted by the old man, saying:
"Thar he kems, now. Ef yer don't b'lieve it, jest keep watch on him."
The trained panther came bounding in, with the carcass of a deer in his mouth, and thrown across his back.
Kelly noticed that the head was gone, and said:
"Andy stopped by the way to take his own lunch, I see."
"Yer don't see anything uv ther kind! Andy jest chawed ther head off, an' giv it to Barnum, 'cause thet's his favor-ite piece. 'Sides yer see it saves ther trouble uv ruunin' back when he feeds ther rest. Yer needn't laugh, fur as sure as yer live, that ar' Andy Jackson has got more good sense than half uv ther humans in this territory. Now, ef yer ain't in a hurry, jest watch ther critter."
The panther had laid the deer upon the floor of the cavern, and stood wagging his tail in anticipation, while the old hunter took his knife and proceeded to cut it into so many pieces as there were animals.
"Thar, Andy," he said, "feed ther rest, an' take yer own piece, an' go ter bed."
The party were by this time prepared for 'most any degree of tractability on the part of the animal, yet they could not repress an exclamation of admiration and surprise, when they saw the animal do as he was bid; it was hard for them to imagine how they could be brought so completely under the control of the strange old man.
They recrossed the chasm in the same manner in which they had gone over, and were soon again seated around the fire.
Curtiss and the Indian girl were upon one side, by themselves, completely lost to their surroundings. But, the story of their love-making was so like others of the same kind, that need not repeat it here. Those of my readers who do not "know how it is themselves," have the sympathies of the writer!