Bear and forbear

In a short time we were satisfied that the robber intended to run the Raven into the gully on the upper side of High Bluff. Certainly no more inviting prospect could have been desired by a man in his situation; for the entrance was broad and free from peril, promising a good landing-place to the voyager, as, indeed, there was, though his troubles would commence after he left his boat. Tom had explored the locality thoroughly, and was sure that the man could not get out of the gully.

The battle between the friends of Tommy Toppleton and the rebels had been fought at High Bluff, as detailed by my friend Ned Skotchley, and the tradition among the students was, that the gully was impassable except by the bridge, and that its sides were absolutely perpendicular. If the robber would favor us by running into this trap, we felt reasonably certain that we should be able to bag the game, although I could not help dreading his pistol, when we drove him into close quarters. I did not wish to be shot myself, and I was equally averse to having so good a fellow as Tom Walton shot again.

“There he goes into the south gully!” exclaimed Tom, as the Raven passed clear of the foot of the path to the summit of the bluff. “We have him now.”

“Not quite,” I suggested.

“I am sure a man can’t climb up the side of the gully,” protested Tom.

“That fellow has a bag full of tools, which he used in breaking into the bank.”

“What good will tools do him?” demanded Tom. “Will they help him shin up a rock?”

“Perhaps they will. I think, if I had his traps, I could get out of the gully; and I don’t believe in trusting anything to luck this time. We must try and be as smart as that fellow is, and make no mistakes.”

“I don’t see how he could get out of that place, even if he had a whole chest of tools,” persisted Tom. “He can only come out the way he went in. That is the only way I could ever get out of that hole.”

“The robber had a long cord, with which he slung his bag over his shoulder. He used only one end of it, and it may be fifty feet long, for aught I know. There are plenty of stout bushes, no doubt, hanging over the hole.”

“That’s so; and the tree that Briscoe’s fellows crossed upon still lies across the gully.”

“Exactly so. And how deep is the gully under this tree?”

“Twenty or twenty-five feet, I should say.”

“Then he can tie a stone to the end of his cord, throw it over the trunk of the tree, and let it come down on the other side. That’s easy enough—isn’t it?”

“I should say it was,” replied Tom, fully comprehending my suggestion.

“Then, if he can’t go up the cord hand over hand, he can fix some sticks in the line, and go up comfortably. But very likely the fellow has a rope-ladder in his bag.”

“I guess he wouldn’t stop to put any rounds in his ladder,” laughed Tom.

“He has chisels and such things in his bag, at any rate. He could stick these into the chinks of the rocks, and go up on them without much trouble, and without much loss of time. No, Tom; we must be ready to head him off when he tries to get out of the gully.”

“Yes; but if we leave the boat, he will serve us the same trick he did on the other side,” said Tom.

“We will make no mistakes this time. Run for the foot of the path, Tom. Shall I take in the jib?”

“Yes, take it in, Wolf,” replied Tom, for we were within a few rods of High Bluff.

I lowered the jib, and made everything snug forward.

“Now let go the mainsail-halyards,” added the skipper; for, as the wind was blowing directly on shore, we were obliged to take in all sail.

I took the boat-hook, and fended off as the Belle grounded on the beach.

“Now what’s to be done?” demanded Tom, nervously.

“Let Mr. Bradshaw go on the bluff,” I continued.

“What, alone?” asked the sheriff.

“Why not? I am willing to go alone,” I replied. “You will have all the advantage of the robber. If he attempts to climb up, you can knock him, even without being seen yourself. All you have to do is to keep yourself in a safe position, and watch him.”

“What are you going to do?” inquired the officer, apparently not very well satisfied with the arrangement. “Do you mean to make me fight it out alone?”

“Just as soon as the robber leaves the Raven, we are going to drag her out of the gully, and put her where he can’t get at her again. That’s the idea, and we have the worst part of the work to do.”

“It won’t take both of you to do that.”

“Tom has but one arm to help himself with, and can’t do this job alone. If you are afraid to go upon the bluff, I will go, and you may help Tom take the Raven,” I replied.

“Afraid! I am not afraid.”

“Then hurry up, or the fellow will get out before you are in position to do anything.”

“Which way do I go?” said he, stepping on shore.

“Follow the path, and when you are on the bluff, move to the gully on the left, and then continue till you can see or hear the fellow,” I replied, hoisting the mainsail of the Belle again. “You can’t go wrong, and you will be as safe as though you were at the other end of the lake.”

“I think a man who talks as big as he does ought to have a little more pluck,” said Tom, as the sheriff disappeared in the windings of the steep path.

“I don’t blame him much. It isn’t pleasant to be shot.”

“I don’t think it is; and I ought to know as well as any of you.”

“That’s so, Tom. You are the hero of this enterprise.”

“Pooh!” snuffed Tom. “Flatten down that mainsail, Wolf.”

“Ay, ay! down it is,” I answered, hauling in the sheet, and crowding off the head of the boat.

The skipper ran the boat out into the deep water, and then continued up the lake till the Belle had reached the upper side of the gully, where we could see the position of the Raven.

“Now, steady, Tom. We are not going into that fellow’s pistol barrels, you know. Luff her up, and let us see where he is before we go in.”

He threw the Belle up into the wind, out of pistol range of the Raven. The latter had grounded where the gully contracted its width. Her sails had not been lowered, for the robber evidently intended to abandon her at this point.

“Do you see the rascal?” asked Tom.

“No; he isn’t in sight; but he may be in the cuddy.”

“I guess not. He wouldn’t box himself up in such a place. He has left her.”

“Probably he has; but we will make sure of it before we go in.”

From the point where the Raven had grounded there was a gradual ascent in the ravine, down which flowed the waters of the brook; but there was room enough on the bottom to walk dry shod round to the deep water on the other side. We concluded that the robber had left the boat, and gone to the upper part of the gully, to find a place where he could reach the ground above. We waited long enough to satisfy ourselves that he was not in the boat, and then stood in towards the head of the gully. In a few moments we reached the Raven. She was deserted and empty, and I lost no time in pushing her off. Taking her painter on board of the Belle, we towed her out into the lake.

“That job is done, and I don’t believe the robber will sail in the Raven any more to-day,” said Tom.

“Now what shall we do with her?” I asked.

“We will anchor her just as far from the shore as her cable will reach bottom.”

This was less than a quarter of a mile from the bluff, and we soon had her anchored where it was impossible for her to be reached by the robber.

“I don’t think we have made any mistake this time, Wolf; though, if we have, we won’t say anything about it,” said Tom, as we ran towards the shore again.

“Perhaps not; but we haven’t captured the robber yet,” I replied.

“We know where he is, at any rate.”

“That’s so. If the sheriff keeps both eyes open, he won’t get out of the trap. But he will shoot any of us who come within reach of his bullets.”

“Well, we won’t go within reach of them, then,” added Tom. “But what shall we do with ourselves now?”

“I don’t know that we can do anything better than to cruise up and down off the mouth of the gully.”

“That won’t do any good.”

“I don’t know about that. The rascal might find some logs in the gully, and make a raft, if we don’t keep watch of him on this side. How does your arm feel, Tom?”

“It aches; but I can stand it first rate.”

“I may as well go on the bluff, and see what Mr. Bradshaw is about, if you can run the Belle off the gully alone.”

“O, I can! I could work her up to Middleport without any help.”

“Then I will go ashore. You might anchor off the gully.”

“No. I will stand off and on, where I can see the fellow if he come in sight.”

The Belle was run up at the foot of the path to the bluff, and I landed. The boat worked well under the mainsail alone, and Tom stood off with this sail only. I made my way up the steep path, and soon reached the high ground. I discovered the sheriff over by the bridge which led from the bluff to the road. He was lying on the ground, and, as I approached him, I saw him glance over the cliff into the ravine. He had his pistol in hand, and was trying to get a shot at his intended victim.

“Where is he?” I asked, as I joined the officer.

“The last I heard of him, he was down here,” replied the sheriff, pointing down into the ravine.

“What is he doing?”

“I don’t think he is doing anything just now. Between you and me, I believe I wounded him.”

“I didn’t hear you fire.”

“I have popped at him twice. I could hear every step he took, and I followed him all around the bluff. I got a sight of him twice, and fired both times.”

“What is he doing?”

“Probably he is keeping himself in a safe place. I haven’t heard anything of him for some time.”

“Isn’t he at work in some other place?”

“No; I don’t think he can move without my hearing him.”

“We will stir him up a little,” I added, taking a good-sized rock, and rolling it over the precipice.

I heard it drop upon the rocks below, but no other sound came from the chasm.

“That’s a good idea. I didn’t think of that,” said the sheriff, as he proceeded to roll rocks into the abyss, which, however, appeared to produce no effect upon the robber, at least so far as dislodging him was concerned.

“I will cross the gully,” I continued. “Then we shall have one on each side, and he cannot so easily conceal himself.”

“Cross the gully!” exclaimed the sheriff. “How can you do that?”

“There is a bridge,” I replied, pointing to it.

“Yes; but the moment you show yourself on that bridge, the villain will put a bullet through your brains,” added the officer.

“I will see that he is not in a position to do that before I cross.”

I crawled upon my hands and knees to the brink of the abyss, and assured myself that the robber was not where the sheriff supposed he was. I then crossed the bridge, and began to move in the direction of the tree which lay across the chasm. I had not taken ten steps before a bullet whizzed uncomfortably close to my ears. Luckily it did not hit me; but, deeming discretion to be the better part of valor, I was not ashamed to lie down upon the ground.