Three Young Ranchmen Part 33

They were moving with care when they heard a sudden yell ahead. It was Slavin calling to his horse.

"Back up!" they heard him cry. "Back, hang ye! De ye want ter pitch me in a hole?" And then followed a savage muttering they could not make out.

"We've got him!" cried Watson. "Come--but be careful, be careful."

"I'm going to dismount," said Allen, and did so and led his steed forward along the trail which the rain had made slippery and treacherous.

Watson likewise got down and they now had to wait for another flash of lightning to show them just where they were. As the flash came Allen gave a look ahead.

"Well, I never!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed.

"Wot did ye see?" came quickly from the old hunter.

"Slavin has tumbled down and the horse with him."

"Then we've got the rascal sure!"

They plunged forward again. The trail was narrower than ever and the gully, or hollow, was on one side, and a fringe of mountain brush on the other.

Presently they heard something which served to increase their surprise.

Slavin was groaning as if in extreme pain.

"The fall hurt him," said Allen, "Look after my horse, will you? I am going ahead."

He hurried on around a slight turn of the trail and through a clump of bushes and trees growing close to the edge of the hollow. As he emerged from the bushes a sight met his gaze that thrilled him to the backbone.

Slavin had fallen over the edge of the trail at a point where lay a huge half-rotted trunk of a tree. The trunk of the tree had slipped in the wet, rolled partly over the man, and was slowly but surely crus.h.i.+ng the life out of him!

CHAPTER XXVII.

Allen Shows His Bravery

"Slavin!"

"Hel-help!" gasped the poor wretch. "Help! For the love of Heaven, help me!"

"How did you get under the tree trunk?"

"My horse kicked me and I fell. I tried to save myself from going into the hollow. Please help me!"

"Thet's wot ye git fer runnin' away," put in Watson, who had appeared on the scene.

"Don't--don't talk! Save me!" was Slavin's only answer.

"We'll do what we can for you," returned Allen.

Yet even as he spoke he realized how difficult, not to say dangerous, was the task which lay before him.

Should he attempt to roll the log over it might catch him just as it had caught the suffering wretch now under it.

"Take care, Allen!" warned Watson. "The bank here is mighty slippery."

"I know it," was the answer. "Watson, can you hold yonder branch?"

"Wait till I tether the hosses."

This was done as quickly as possible and then the old hunter caught hold of the branch Allen had mentioned.

Allen got down under the lower end of the fallen tree and caught Slavin by the arm.

"Can't you turn over?" he asked.

"I--I--can't budge!" was the low answer. And then with a groan the prisoner became insensible.

"He has fainted!" cried Allen, to Watson. "Pull on that branch for all you are worth."

"I'm a-pullin'."

Still the tree trunk did not budge, for one end was embedded in the mud lying on the edge of the bank.

Allen was determined to save the poor wretch who was slowly but surely having his chest crushed in by the sinking tree. Finding he could not move the tree he called on Watson to hold fast as before.

"Ye can't do nothin', Allen," protested the old hunter. "Come away afore the tree rolls over an' crushes ye too!"

"It won't roll if you hold fast," Allen answered.

"Yes, it will, when it starts. I can't git nothin' ter brace ag'in here."

"Well, I'm going to do my best and you must hold back as long as you can," was the answer.

Getting down on his knees, Allen began to scoop away the loose dirt with his hands, working directly under Slavin's body. It was hard work and broke his finger nails, but he kept on and at last had quite a hole made.

"Now hold hard, I'm going to pull!" he shouted to Watson, and the old hunter held as hard as he could. Then Allen pulled with might and main and at last had the satisfaction of getting the senseless body of Slavin free from its awful pressure.

"Quick, the tree is a-goin'!" came from Watson. "Give me yer hand!"

He reached forth and at the same time the tree began to slide down the hollow, directly in Allen's pathway. Allen had Slavin in his arms by this time. He made a leap and got on top of the tree, and just as the trunk went down Watson caught him and held tight.

"A close call an' no error!" cried Watson, when Allen was safe on the trail once more. "Ye came within an ace o' goin' into the hollow with the tree on top o' ye!"

"I guess Slavin's pretty badly hurt," said Allen, when he could get back his breath. "That trunk had him pinned down for fair. He would have been crushed in another minute or two. What shall we do with him?"

"Wait till I catch his hoss an' we'll take him back to the cave,"

answered Watson.