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Show 158 PERSONAL ADVENTURES the lacerations they inflicted upon us: indeed, so O'reat was our difficulty, and so en1barrassed 0 were we-at least I judge frorr1 my own per-sonal experience-that if the enerny had only taken advantage of this natural defence, their an1buscade would have proved fatal to us, for we n1ight easily have been cut off in detail to a single man. But the enemy did. not make his appearance; and I was even expressing my astonishrnent at this circumstance, in a kind of soliloquy, 1nixing it up 'vith conjectures as to whether I should ever succeed in getting out of this abominable labyrinth of cross-branches, when I heard myself called by name, and soon recoO'nised the voiee of O'R8illy, though I 0 could not make out 'vhence it proceeded. "Look out, look out!" shouted he; "the blood· thirsty divil has you un de r cover. " I was so bewildered by the suddenness of this intimation, that it is a rnatter of astonish· ment to me how I escaped the bullet, that-ere the words were well out of O'Reilly's ruouthwhistled a most unpleasant tune close to my ear. I remember standing still for a single IN CALIFORNIA. 159 moment, at which time I must have offered a very fair mark to the gentleman, the shining muzzle of whose well polished rifle I saw the next instant, still smoking, and pointed at me through a small opening in the thickest of the brushwood. In consequence of the closeness of the bushes, I was unable to bring my musket round to return the compliment, though it would have proved a random shot, for I could not see the individual who had so nearly brought my volunteering to a close ; I felt relieved when I heard O'Reilly's voice again. '' I-Iush, hush!" cried he, (n1y Irish friend was still invisible) "it's a Yakee! The cowardly thief's skulking behind a three ! Corne out and be shot like a man you u()"ly-lookino· ' 0 5 naygur." Here he stopped s.hort, and presently came plunging to my side with a crash through the bushes in which he had been concealed, armed with a rifle, ·which I afterwards ascertained he had picked up; it had probably belonged to one of the Californians ·who had fallen under our fire, and he now kept it close up to his |
