Читать книгу Six-Gun Gorilla - Anonymous - Страница 12

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The rest of the Indians turned. They could see a huge hand holding a smoking gun protruding from amongst the foliage, but that was all.

They muttered amongst themselves, and raised their bows. Four arrows sped at once to the tree where O'Neil squatted. Three of them struck the branches of the tree, but the fourth gashed the gorilla's ribs. It did little more than tear the skin, but that was painful enough, and the gorilla gave a roar that roused the echoes for half a mile around.

The men inside the marooned coach looked at each other in terror. Pete Stark gave a groan.

"He—he's caught up on us!" he moaned. "Close the shutters on those windows. Bolt the doors!"

All coach windows in those days were fitted with iron shutters, and these were hurried slid into place. Meanwhile O'Neil had taken a flying leap out of the tree and landed amongst the astonished Indians.

With a roar of rage O'Neil flung himself at the Redskins.

They had expected a white man, but instead of that they saw something which made their eyes bulge with horror.

They were so frightened that they forgot to shoot at him. O'Neil bashed one on the head with the butt of his revolver, then swept two others into his arms and crushed them.

The remaining Indians turned and fled for their lives. It would be a long time before they would visit that coaching trail again.

O'Neil had a reason for saving the men in the coach, however. His desire was to get at the three members of the gang. He knew that they were there. He could smell them and could hear their voices.

Crack!

Tutt Strawhan had fired with the heavy rifle, and a tuft of hair flew from under O'Neil's left ear.

Before the gang leader could reload, however, the gorilla had cleared the intervening space with a single bound. It hurled itself at the side of the coach and tried to break a way in. The coach rocked on its wheels. One of the occupants pushed a revolver through a gap in the shutter and fired at point blank range.

It was one of the passengers, and his .32 bullet did not even penetrate the gorilla's hide. It merely infuriated the beast to greater efforts.

It caught hold of the lower end of the coach and shook it.

The coach rocked on its leather slings. One of the wheels actually left the ground.

Encouraged by the movement of the coach O'Neil gave another terrific heave, and this time the coach came over sideways. The gorilla jumped out of the way just in time.

There was a crash as the heavy Concord fell flat on its side, and a wheel snapped off.

O'Neil's temper was rising. Even now he could see no way into the coach. He gripped one of the wheels and wrenched it viciously. The wheel came off in his hand, and he flung it another twenty yards away.

Another wheel, and yet another followed.

The men inside now found it difficult to fire at the attacker, but Tutt Strawhan did manage to get off one more shot from the express rifle. This time he missed altogether.

The firing of that shot reminded O'Neil of his own six shooter. He pushed the barrel in through a hole in the coach and pulled the trigger twice. Judging by the howl that followed, he hit someone. O'Neil cackled with glee, and started to pull the coach along behind him.

He saw a steep hillside not far away. The trail zigzagged down this, but O'Neil did not mean to take the trail. He got to the top of the five hundred foot slope, and heaved the wheelless coach over the top.

On the slippery grass it began to slide down the slope. Faster and faster it sped down the hillside.

O'Neil went after it, but it easily outdistanced him. It reached the river at the bottom of the hill before he was halfway down, and hit the water with a terrific splash.

The gorilla roared, and paused to see what happened. The coach had landed the right way up, and was not being carried swiftly downstream by the current.

Once more O'Neil thought that his victims were escaping. The Six-Gun Gorilla did not care if there were three innocent men inside the coach as well as the three ruffians. He went after them with bellows of rage.

The floating coach still kept ahead, however. Shouts came from inside. Tutt Strawhan and el Valdo were forcing the door open, and climbing out on top. Pete Stark appeared a few moments later.

Somewhere ahead were rapids. Strawhan had heard their roar, and was shouting to the others to jump into the river. They pointed to the gorilla, now a quarter of a mile up the bank, and Strawhan waved his gun impatiently. His intent was to get on the other side of the river and leave the gorilla on the opposite bank.

Luck favored the killer gang. The current suddenly whirled the sinking coach around, and dashed it against the other bank. In a moment Strawhan had grabbed an overhanging branch and steadied the coach, and they were all able to stumble ashore.

The Six-Gun Gorilla arrived almost opposite about the same time, and beat his chest with rage when he saw the stretch of rough water between him and his foes.

Like all gorillas, O'Neil did not like deep water, added to which was the fact that he remembered that he must not get his gun wet. He waded out until he was knee deep in the water, then stopped.

The two remaining occupants of the coach were not scrambling to safety, dragging their wounded companion with them. The killers had not waited to lend a hand. They were already heading for the wooded hills that showed in the distance.

The Six-Gun Gorilla went back to the bank, and prowled up and down like some wild beast in a cage.

The escaping men got further and further away. O'Neil lost sight of them, but he was determined to get across the river. He followed the bank along until the river narrowed. In one place a tree had fallen out at an angle over the water, its roots beginning to tear away from the bank.

O'Neil went to the foot of this tree and leaned hard against it. His weight caused it to sway.

Swiftly he swarmed up the tree, and as he neared the top his weight had a greater effect, for it put additional leverage on the roots. There was a tearing sound, and the roots came out of the bank, allowing the tree to fall across the river.

O'Neil clung tightly, and as the treetop neared the other bank he leapt clear. He had crossed the river without getting himself wet, and his gun was not even splashed.

He raced up the bank to the spot where the men had landed, and nosed around until he found their tracks. Then once again he strode along.

For more than an hour he kept on rapidly until suddenly he heard voices ahead. His lips parted in a soundless snarl. His nostrils dilated, and he drew his gun.

The voices came from the men who were standing still. The gorilla dropped on all fours, then crawled to the corner. Seconds later it leapt upon them with a deafening roar of triumph.

Shrieks arose, and three white faced men pressed themselves back against a big tree, cowering before their terrible attacker.

O'Neil stopped and snorted. He believed that he had made a mistake. These men were not the three he wanted. They were the coachman and the two passengers.

Reaching out with his mighty hands O'Neil grabbed the yelling coachman, and lifted him high in order to sniff him as a dog might sniff a bone. It was the wrong scent! He tossed the man down roughly on the grass, and tried the next man with the same result. The third man was treated in the same way, then the Six-Gun Gorilla swung away and continued his journey through the woods.

The men who had escaped the gorilla's fury remained breathless on the ground where it had flung them. They found it hard to believe that they were still alive. Just for a moment they had stared into the face of death. Not till their dying day would they forget those awful seconds when they had been held in O'Neil's hairy paws.