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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:43:52 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:43:52 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14175-0.txt b/14175-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed5dbd3 --- /dev/null +++ b/14175-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6547 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14175 *** + +BUFFALO ROOST + +A Story of a Young Men's Christian Association Boys' Department + +by + +F. H. CHELEY + +Boys' Work Director, Young Men's Christian Association, South Bend, Ind. + +1913 + + + + + + + +TO Every Good Fellow WHO CUT A LOG OR TURNED A STONE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION +OF THE OLD CABIN IN BUFFALO PARK, AND TO + +My Father WHO BUILT ITS HEART AND INSPIRATION, THE FIREPLACE, THIS STORY +IS DEDICATED + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. WILLIS THORNTON DISPLAYS HIS PLUCK + II. A STORY IS TOLD AND A PROMISE MADE + III. IN WHICH WILLIS IS HONORED + IV. WILLIS BECOMES INTERESTED IN GOLD MINES + V. A PLAN IS EVOLVED + VI. A STAGE ROAD JOURNEY + VII. A WILDERNESS CAMP + VIII. THE SECOND DAY OUT + IX. THE THIRD DAY OUT + X. A GLIMPSE OF BUFFALO ROOST + XI. A STRANGE TURN OF FATE + XII. THE DISCOVERY OF THE MINE + XIII. SLEEPY SMITH HAS AN EXPERIENCE + XIV. THE OPENED DOOR + XV. IN WHICH FATE TAKES A HAND + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Willis Thornton Displays His Pluck + + +Train No. 6 on the D. & P.W., two hours late at Limon, was rushing and +jolting along over its rickety roadbed. The rain fell in torrents, the +heavy peals of thunder seemed about to tear the car to pieces, the black +and threatening clouds blotted out the landscape, and the passengers +could hear nothing but the roar of the thunder and the rattle of the +train. The brakeman, shaking the water from his hat as he passed through +the aisle, dropped something about it being a "mighty tough day for +railroadin'." + +Suddenly there was a creaking, a cracking, and then a series of awful +jolts. Window glass broke and flew in every direction. Like a mighty +monster that had suddenly been frightened by an unseen foe, the train +lurched forward, tipped a little, and slowly came to an uncertain stop. +People were hurled from their seats with a great violence as the +emergency brake was set. A baby cried out from a seat near the front of +the car, and a woman screamed as a satchel from the luggage rack above +her head dropped down upon her. Willis Thornton raised his arms above his +head just in time to save a heavy leather suitcase from striking his +mother full in the face. Through the broken windows was heard the shrill +warning notes of the engine's trouble whistle, but so intense was the +storm that the sound seemed rather a part of the raging gale. The +brakeman rushed through the car, and as he passed Willis heard him +exclaim half-aloud, "The freight!" Then in a loud, shaky voice, not meant +to betray excitement, he shouted, "All out; train off the track!" + +He need not have spoken, however, for the people who had not already +gotten out were close upon him. First in the rush was the mother of the +babe that had screamed when the first jolts came. She was wild-eyed and +hysterical. A piece of flying glass had struck her on the face, and the +warm, trickling blood had frightened her. She rushed up to the nearest +man and shouted, "Is my husband safe?" Just then a sickly, dudish little +man, with a lighted cigar in his mouth, rushed toward her. + +"Ba Jove, my dear, you are 'urt," he said as she hurried toward him and +fainted in his arms. + +The word had been passed around that a heavy freight was expected at any +moment. The passenger whistle blew in long, shrill tones, while the +brakeman hurried up the hill in the direction of the expected freight to +give the danger signal. Hardly had he reached the top when there came +the faint sound of a whistle. He heard the three blasts. The train had +left Eastonville! Could he save a wreck? Lantern in hand, he hurried down +the track as fast as he could with the wind and rain beating him back. +Suddenly a black form loomed up in the mist ahead. Full blast she came, +the black smoke from her stack running ahead as if to coax her on to +greater speed. The brakeman waved his red lantern frantically in the air. +There was a screeching sound of brake-shoes on the wheels, a long, shrill +whistle, and the train sped past him, a misty dull serpent in the storm. +He turned and followed as fast as he could. + +Women with disheveled hair stood and wrung their hands. Men cursed and +swore as they ran back and forth about the derailed passenger. The wind +lulled for a second, and in the momentary silence there came the +half-smothered cry of a little child from one direction, answered from +somewhere in the fog by the rushing of wheels and the faint, weird sigh +of a whistle. + +Willis's head went up, his eyes flashed, his muscles tightened; then, +turning to his mother, he cried, "The baby!" and in an instant was gone. +It all happened so quickly there was no time for Mrs. Thornton to think. +She saw Willis hasten away and enter the front door of the car they had +been occupying; at the same instant she became aware of the approaching +train. There was a shrill, angry hiss, and the freight swung into the cut +with a terrible roar, then came a crashing of glass and breaking of +timbers. The engineer had opened the whistle valve with such a jerk that +it had stuck fast, and the whistle did its utmost. It was a doleful +sound, pulsating its strange, sharp cry into the storm. + +Mrs. Thornton sank to her knees in an attitude of prayer, her head +dropped to her breast. The mother that had fainted roused a little and +called for her child. + +The passengers rushed back and forth in a perfect frenzy, shouting, "The +baby! the baby!" Women cried and begged and implored some one to save it; +but it was all over before any one could act or before the Englishman +realized that it was his child that was in danger. The engines had +telescoped. The freight was derailed and the first three cars completely +demolished. The crew had all jumped and were uninjured, except the +fireman, who had a badly-broken leg and some bruises. Two men came around +the end of the Pullman with a boy supported between them. His head hung +limp and the blood trickled slowly from nasty cuts on his head and face. +Following them came the brakeman with a very frightened but unharmed +baby, wrapped in an overcoat. Every one made a rush for the little group. +The Englishman was first in line. His eyes opened wide and his cigar fell +from his lips. "By Jove, Chauncey!" he exclaimed, "they came near getting +you that time," then began to cry like a child. + +The danger was past. There was no one killed, and only a few injured. +Several people were cut by broken glass and bruised by bumps. The fireman +of the freight had broken his leg and cut his shoulder badly in his jump. +Willis had reached the opposite platform, with the baby in his arms, just +as the trains collided. The jar had thrown him from his feet and broken +the glass in the door behind him. The jolt threw him, baby and all, out +against the side of the cut into the wet sand. Outside of the ugly cuts +and bad bruises he was unharmed, but was the hero of the day. + +Mrs. Thornton sat by her boy, tenderly caring for his every need. He had +swooned at the sight of his own blood and had not yet returned to +consciousness. In the next seat the injured fireman was propped up on +pillows, watching the boy. + +"There's a piece of real stuff," he said to the engineer as they sat +talking together. "Looks just like my old pard. It took real pluck to go +after that baby. If Bill'd a been here he would have gotten enthusiastic +over that lad." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A Story Is Told and a Promise Made + + +An open fire had always been tremendously fascinating to Willis Thornton, +and on winter evenings, when his chores were done and supper over, he +would pile the big fireplace high with maple logs, then sit and dream as +the flames danced and the fire roared. He was a sturdy lad, healthy, +cheerful, wholesome, and tonight he was thinking. + +The snow-laden wind was sweeping across the "Flat Bush." At every fresh +gust the fire would crackle and the little blue flames start up along the +none-too-well seasoned logs. Outside the old farmhouse the great dead +limb of a monstrous white oak moaned and sighed, while the usual sounds +from the barnyard were lost in the patter of the icy snowflakes that +rattled against the window pane. From the open door of the kitchen came +faint odors of freshly-popped corn and the monotonous hum of the old +sewing-machine. Willis was hardly aware of any presence in the room save +his own until a warm hand was laid gently on his and a dish of snowy +popcorn set in his lap. He had been so engrossed with his own fancies +that he had not seen his mother enter the firelit room and come toward +him. + +"Well, my boy; what are you dreaming of tonight?" she asked, as she +seated herself in her accustomed place on the arm of his chair and placed +her arm gently on his shoulder. + +"O, I've just been planning a bit, mother," he said with a smile. +"Sometimes when I sit here by this old fire I forget myself. I travel to +the strangest lands and think the strangest thoughts. Still, they all +seem so very real to me that when I try not to think of them a peculiar +restlessness comes over me. I can hardly wait for summer and the great +big out-of-doors. Did you ever think, mother, what life would be if we +didn't have the birds and the bees and the flowers? Are people in the +cities happy and contented without them? I've often wondered. I suppose +some day I'll be going to the city to live, as all the other boys have +done; but when I think of it it makes me sad. I don't believe I'd ever be +happy in the city, mother, unless--" + +He paused long enough to stir up the fire and put on another log. + +"Unless what, Willis?" his mother inquired. + +"Unless--" he hesitated as if thinking. "I could go West to where father +was." + +His mother listened as he went on. "The schoolmaster was telling us today +about the wonderful Rocky Mountains. He was there last summer on his +vacation, you know. We were studying about Pike's Peak and the Garden of +the Gods, so he told us all about his trip there. He went from Colorado +Springs to somewhere away up in the mountains to a great gold camp. He +told us of the queer little shanties the people live in, and of the great +piles of waste ore outside of each mine. He went through one mine, the +Independence, I think he called it, or the Portland--I don't remember +which now; but he said the machinery used in hoisting the ore was +wonderful. It all set me to thinking of father--I've been thinking of him +all day. Mother, it's mighty hard for a fellow like me not to have any +father, only just a dead one." + +He arose a second time to replenish the fire, but remained standing, +facing his mother. He was too deeply interested in his own thoughts just +then to notice the tears that were slowly stealing down his mother's +face, and the light was too dim for him to see her sad, care-worn +expression. She was not old, but fate had not been kind to her. She was a +slender little woman, with a heavy mass of what had once been brown hair, +but it was now streaked with gray. Her eyes were large and brown, and the +intermingled expression of love and sadness made her face one of tender +beauty, lighted as it was by the rosy tints from the open fire. As the +boy talked on in his manly way she suddenly became aware of a change in +him. She noticed the well-built and symmetrically developed body, the +broad shoulders, the short, stocky neck, and the head covered with brown +ringlets. She could not see the face, but she knew only too well of whom +it reminded her, for of late she had often found herself saying, "Just +like the father--just like the father." + +It was during such winter evenings as this that she had come to know her +son best, as she sat on the arm of his chair and listened with tactful +sympathy to his stories of the big black bass that kept house in the pool +at the end of the lake, or of the downy woodpecker's nest in the old +hickory, or, perhaps, of the big hoot owl that perched on the granary +warm nights to watch for mice. It was with a certain feeling of sadness, +as well as of pride, that she watched him grow older, lose his boyhood +ways, and become more and more of a man--a man just like his father! + +"I get so lonely for some one to teach me things, and go with me into the +big woods, and help me skin my rats in season," he was saying, "and to +teach me to use tools and to understand the books and--" + +"Yes, my son," she replied. "But haven't you me? Won't I do to read with +you and help you find new wild flowers and gather strange caterpillars in +the spring?" + +"Yes, mother, of course you will, and you know how I do care for you. I +couldn't begin to do without you even for a day; but someway you don't +understand. It's because you are a woman. Sometimes I feel as if I would +be the happiest boy in the Clear Creek School if I just had a father I +could look up to and be proud of and--" + +"O, but Willis, be careful." Her voice was low and full of feeling. "You +can do all that, my boy, and more. I know you miss him, but you must not +forget we had him once, both of us, and that he was the very best father +in all the world." She stopped, for now the tears were coming fast. "The +only trouble is that he was taken away before you were lad enough to know +him and love him as you would if we had him now. But that is all the more +reason why you should grow into a worthy man, my boy--for his sake and +mine. He loved you dearly, and I've often thought it was that love and +ambition for you that made him determine to make money, so that you might +have the future he planned for you. He left you, my boy, something better +than money--a heritage of clean, noble blood and character. You aren't +old enough just yet to know all that that means, but some day you will +be truly thankful." + +"You are right--always right; but you know what I mean, don't you? You +have never told me all about him, have you, mother? Won't you tell me +now? I never wanted to know so badly as I do tonight. He seems to come +near to me sometimes, even if I can't see him, and I want to know more +about him." + +The fire burned low; the storm had increased in its fury; it seemed as if +each gust would lift the house from its foundations. Still, to these two, +opening their hearts to each other in the kindly glow of the firelight, +the storm was forgotten. + +After a pause she began softly and very slowly to tell the story. + +"Your father was a noble man, Willis, such as I am sure you will be if +you are spared to live. His boyhood I do not know much about, only that +it was spent on his father's farm. He went to Kalamazoo for his +schooling, and it was there that I first met him. He worked hard, saved +his money, and went to Ann Arbor for his college work. He was ambitious +to become a great engineer, and was always tinkering at some kind of a +machine. He used to joke with me about becoming a great inventor, and +after we were married he did try his hand at a patent coupler and a +back-firing device for a gas engine. He was just like you, my boy, always +dreaming and seeing things in the out-of-doors. I can remember the +delight he found in rising early on summer mornings to search for +caterpillars, moths, and worms in the nearby woods, and he would put a +strange bug in every bottle I had in the house. + +"After our marriage we moved to Lansing, and he became superintendent in +an electrical manufacturing company. He had a little shop of his own in +the basement at home, and during the long winter evenings of the first +year that we were there he built furniture for our little home. The chair +we are sitting in, Willis, is one of his first pieces. We were very happy +together there, and it wasn't long before you came. The summer before you +were born his company sent him West to install mine machinery. It was +then that he became interested in the great gold mines of Colorado. +Everybody seemed to be prospecting and staking gold claims. He thought he +saw his chance to get rich quickly, so he, too, began prospecting. He +very soon developed a great love for the mountains, and while you were a +baby he used to go to Colorado Springs for his vacations. His mind was +very active, and as he became more closely acquainted with the mines he +conceived an idea for a machine to roast gold ore by electricity. In the +winter evenings he would sit sketching its parts and dreaming over his +plans. Sometimes in his boyish enthusiasm he would assure me that he +would yet be a rich man." + +"And what about his mine, mother; doesn't that come into the story pretty +soon?" "Yes, yes, but don't hurry me, son. It seems so very strange to be +sitting here telling you all about him, for it seems to have happened so +long, long ago. + +"On one of his trips west he fell in with an old mountaineer named +Kieser, Tad Kieser. Tad became interested in his roasting machine, and +they decided to locate claims together. Tad was to put up the 'grub +stakes,' as they called it, for your father had no money except his +salary. All one fall, when he was not installing machinery, they explored +the mountains south of Colorado Springs, especially along the old Stage +Road to Cripple Creek, looking for suitable claims. The old Stage Road +was a steep, rocky mountain road over which they hauled provisions and +passengers into the Cripple Creek district. + +"Several miles from the city there was an old log hostelry--'Wright's +Road House' they called it. Here lived a strange old man, a mountaineer +of the oldest type. Daddy Wright, they called him. He and Tad were old +friends, so your father became very well acquainted with him. The stages +to and from the gold camp always stopped at Dad's; sometimes for a meal +and sometimes for all night. It was one of the delights of your father's +business trips to spend an evening with this old man in his rough +mountain cabin, sitting before his crude stone fireplace smoking and +listening to stories of the days of 'forty-nine,' when Dad had hunted for +gold in the mountains of California. Your father and Tad were both in the +old road house the night it was burned and barely escaped with their +lives. He didn't tell me about it until long afterwards. + +"Tad and your father finally filed on two claims. One was on Cheyenne +Mountain, near Dad's claims, and the other was somewhere near a mountain +called Cookstove. Your father thought that valley was the most beautiful +spot he had ever seen. He used to write me long letters describing the +beautiful canyon and the falls, which was just a ribbon of water that +trickled down the face of a monstrous granite boulder hundreds of feet in +height. He called it St. Marys Falls. Here, somewhere in a hidden spot of +this canyon, they found a strange outcropping of black rock which your +father believed would lead to an extensive gold vein in the interior +of the mountain. I remember he called the vein an 'iron dyke,' and said +that a compass revolted when placed on it. His great desire was to mine +that strata by means of a tunnel, but he had no money, so he and Tad +decided that they would work during the winter months and save what money +they could, then both work on the tunnel in warm weather. They chose a +spot down in the canyon that was high, but still near the stream, and +there built a log shanty to live in while they worked the claim. He wrote +me how they cut the great spruce on the side of the mountain far above +the chosen spot and rolled them in. Dad let them use his team of donkeys +to pack in the necessary lumber and shingles for the 'shack.' Father came +home, and Tad, with some hired help, erected the first log cabin in the +canyon. My, but he was proud of it. + +"The next spring saw them at work on the tunnel. I did so hate to let +father go, for I was afraid some harm would befall him; but he reassured +me and seemed so positive that all our future hopes lay hidden in that +hole that I let him go. The first season they went in thirty feet, and +things looked better every foot. It was very hard for him to close up the +hole and come home to his winter's work. His company in Lansing had +inspected the drawings of his proposed machine and had promised him a +goodly sum for the patent if he proved that it would work. The only +question was the securing of the proper ore for flux. I remember his +hopes ran high when one day they came upon a narrow vein of this +necessary flux stone. He was so sure that they would find more, and the +gold, too, that he made plans to build a great reducing plant, using the +falls for motor power. He had it all worked out on paper, even to +details. + +"Meanwhile my sister, your Aunt Lucy, and Uncle Joe went West for her +health, and settled in Colorado Springs. Uncle Joe became a real estate +dealer and also interested in mines and mining properties. He was greatly +interested in the tunnel, and predicted great things for its future. +About this time all the land around the canyon, both north and south, +became a part of the Pike's Peak Forest Reserve, so that your father had +to refile on his claim and prove to the land office that he was working a +real mineral vein. In refiling, his claim was not big enough to include +the shanty, but anticipating no trouble on account of it he neglected to +lease his cabin from the Forest Reserve officials. The news leaked out +that gold had been discovered in Cookstove Gulch, and in a few days the +entire stream was staked from one end of the canyon to the other as +placer claims. Of course the cabin site became the property of another +man, and with it the cabin, as it could not be moved. The new owner was a +little, short, pudgy man with an ever-ready eye for business, so father +and Tad were forced to rent the cabin they had built and paid for. That +winter was the one your sister Mabel was taken from us, and the last year +we were all together." + +She stopped and gazed into the fire, seemingly forgetting the boy who sat +by her side. Then she reached forward and placed the last stick on the +slowly-dying embers. As it caught, and the flames leaped into the chimney +in response to the wind outside, she continued: + +"The next summer was the last. I never knew just how it happened exactly; +but some way, while making a new side drift in the tunnel, a blast went +off prematurely, and he was caught in the falling rocks and crushed to +death. Uncle Joe wrote me the particulars--all that I ever had. + +"He was too badly mangled to be recognized, so even before I knew of the +accident his poor, broken body was laid to rest under the pines in +Evergreen Cemetery. The tunnel was closed and locked, and your uncle +packed father's few belongings in the little old trunk I gave you last +spring for your own and sent it home--all that I ever saw again of your +father. + +"Then followed the terrible fever that nearly took my life. How I prayed, +my boy, that I might die, so great was my sorrow and utter loneliness; +but the Great Father saw fit to keep me here, and now I am thankful. He +needed me to help you become a man. When I was so sick grandfather +came and brought us home, and here we have been ever since." + +"But, mother, have you never wanted to go to Colorado?" + +"Yes, son, I've often thought I would be happier there, but father has +never thought so. I've often promised Aunt Lucy we'd come. I'm afraid she +won't be long for this world, for she has a very serious tubercular +trouble. You must never mention it, son, but your grandfather never had +any use for Uncle Joe, and was very much opposed to Lucy's marrying him, +so they slipped off and were married secretly. She has never felt like +coming home since--not even for a visit. Father gets very lonely for her, +for she was the life of the old home. I would not be surprised, son, if I +should be called to her bedside any time now, for she is very low." + +"Mother, if such a thing should happen, you'd take me with you, wouldn't +you?" eagerly asked Willis. + +"Of course I would, my son." + +"And perhaps I could find father's tunnel. Say, mother, did you ever hear +what became of that Tad Kieser after father's death?" he inquired. + +"No, son, I never heard. He wrote me one letter, expressing his sympathy, +and in that letter I remember he said he had abandoned the tunnel because +he was convinced that it was not a safe place to work, and probably it +never would have amounted to anything, anyway." + +"Do you suppose he is still prospecting somewhere in the mountains, +mother?" + +"I don't know, Willis. Probably not, for that was ten years ago, you +know." + +The remains of the last log dropped between the andirons and rolled over. +Mrs. Thornton rose. + +"It's time we were in bed, son, long ago." With that she gently bent, +kissed him on the forehead, and slipped off to her own room, leaving him +with the dying fire. He sat still a long time, his eyes wide open and his +fists clenched. + +"If I only could," he was saying. "If I only could." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +In Which Willis Is Honored + + +"You're always trying to get in a new fellow, Chuck. We never would have +a new member if you didn't do your scouting around. You know more about +the fellows in this town than any half-dozen of the rest of us. How do +you get next to them?" + +These remarks came from Robert Dennis, the splendid captain of the High +School Basket Ball Team. He had met a few of his companions at the Young +Men's Christian Association that evening. + +The Association was a very handsome, four-story brick that stood some +distance back from the street. Of all the places in the community for +young fellows to "hang out" the Association was the most popular. At any +hour after school, until closing time in the evening, small groups of +fellows of every age might be found in the various departments, talking +athletics, planning an all-day hike into the mountains, discussing an +amateur theatrical, a debating club, a Bible study supper, or some other +of the many activities carried on by these fellows with the Association +as a basis of operations and a partner. It appealed to the best fellows +in the school, and even in the entire community, for it had very early in +its history made itself known as a clean, broad-minded, sympathetic, and +constructive agency in the lives of boys and young men. It appealed to +the fellows because they could have a hand in its operations and a voice +in its government; because it stood for clean sport, clean bodies, clean +minds, healthy spirits, and a type of social life that had all the +appearances of being powerfully masculine, and yet clean and gentlemanly. +It stood for a three-sided manhood--spirit, mind, and body. + +Chuck seated himself. "No, Dennis, not always getting a new member, but +I'll tell you one thing, I always do have an eye open for a first-class +fellow for our bunch. You know as well as I do that if we are going to +keep things right, here in our old Y.M., and give the 'Chief' the help he +needs, we'll have to keep adding every strong, clean, congenial fellow we +can lay our hands on. You don't need to worry about our getting too many. +O.F.F. has been doing stunts for two years now, and in that time we have +just taken in five new men. We have room for at least three more. I know +sometimes I make a mistake, but I'll bet my hat on this fellow. He's no +ordinary kid, I'll tell you that. I saw him in the swimming tank with his +uncle, Mr. Williams, yesterday, and a cleaner-cut, better-built fellow +you never saw. Swim like a fish, and dive--why, there's nothing to it. If +he takes a membership in this Department he'll be in the Leaders' Corps +in less than a jiffy, and, what's more, he'll be a leader in everything +else, too, when he gets acquainted." + +"Well, I'll tell you," said "Shorty" Wier, who had thus far kept silent, +"Let's all look him over and get better acquainted with him Wednesday +night on the hike. The 'Chief' told me he had invited him to go along +with the bunch." + +"What's the bunch going to do on Wednesday night?" inquired "Sleepy" +Smith, who was always preoccupied when anything of real importance was +going on. + +"Why, you ought to wake up occasionally and you wouldn't be so far behind +the times," replied Chuck, rather dryly. "The class is going to Sweet +Potato Gulch for a business meeting and wiener-bake. Be sure to be on +hand, every man of you." + +"O well, I don't like wieners, anyway," replied Smith, and he returned to +his own thoughts. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday night was perfect--not a cloud in the sky, and a great +half-moon to help them find their way. There was a spring breeze in the +air, the kind that makes a great wood-fire of dry logs and pine needles +about the most attractive thing on earth to a crowd of young savages. Far +away to the westward Pike's Peak's hoary head was lifted into the sky, +dimly lighted by the yellow rays of the moon. There was a faint odor of +spring in the air, while the little mountain stream had not as yet given +up its icy prattle. Little patches of snow still dotted the sides of the +canyon, and here and there a crystal icicle sparkled from the end of a +pine bough. + +It was a night of wonders for Willis. He had never felt the "call of the +wild" so strongly and irresistibly as on that night. Every mountain crag +seemed to be calling him, and in his fancy he thought the fir trees +reached their gently-waving branches, beckoning him to come into the +darkness and solitude. In spite of himself, his thoughts would wander to +the Michigan homeland. He wondered if the ice had broken on the lake yet, +and if the blossoms had begun to come in the old orchard, and if his +grandmother had filled the incubator. He felt queer with so many +strangers, yet not at all ill-at-ease, for he had lived a wholesome life +in the out-of-doors, and the meaning of fear was almost unknown to him. +As the fire was lighted and the wieners set to bake on the end of long, +green willow sticks, he began to enter more completely into the merriment +of the crowd. + +It was an exceptional group of older fellows--the clean fun and wholesome +chat was above the ordinary, yet was spontaneous and real. The "Chief," +whose name was Allen, stood at one side of the fire with a note-book in +his hand, while the fellows were seated upon a dead log that had been +dragged close to the fire. Allen was a young man of medium height, +well-built, and clean-cut. His hair was black and his eyes were dark and +very bright. A merry smile played over his features. Every fellow in the +group knew that that smile meant "good will toward men." His hiking +trousers bagged about the tops of his high mountain boots, and his +sweater bore the marks of many a camping trip. He always wore on such +occasions as this an old felt hat, which had the initials of many a +stanch, good, out-of-door companion printed on it. There was the color +and vigor of health in his face, and his movements were swift and +powerful. He was a splendid specimen of a clean, unselfish college man +who loved God, His out-of-doors, and all his fellow-men. There was not a +man in the community who had such an influence, or for whom the boys felt +such profound respect, as Allen. He was a "square deal" personified. Many +were the personal differences of the fellows that were submitted to him +free-willed for arbitration. His Department was his kingdom, and these +fellows his stanch and loyal supporters. Where he led they followed, +always knowing it was for some good purpose. Meanness, like a wolf in the +night, slunk away when he came upon it. Smut and slander knew they had no +chance in his presence. To these fellows, and many more who knew him, he +stood as a confidential friend and counselor, and was as a father to many +a boy in the time of trouble. Many were the fathers who would have given +a good deal to have held the place in their sons' estimations that Mr. +Allen did. + +The trip that night did several things for Willis. It told him plainly +that he was going to be an ardent lover of the mountains and life in +them, just as he had dreamed and hoped he might. + +Several weeks later, when Willis came home one evening, he found his +mother waiting for him at the door with an envelope in her hand. Willis +had told his mother all about his trip to the "Gulch," and had confessed +to her how proud he would be to become a member of "O.F.F." A warm +friendship had sprung up between Chuck and himself, and he was learning +to be happy in the companionship of that crowd. He eagerly reached for +the envelope, and, opening it, read aloud: + +"Next Friday evening 'O.F.F.' will hold an outing meeting in Williams +Canyon. We will first take you through Huccacode Cave, then we will have +supper on Pinion Crag. We will hold our meeting about the council fire, +at which time we will be very pleased to extend to you the right hand of +fellowship, and make you a full-fledged member of 'O.F.F.' + +"ROBT. DENNIS, +President." + +"Isn't that great, mother! I'm really to be a member of the very best +Bible group at the Association. It's a club, too, you know, and holds +every member to a clean standard of life in work and play. Every Saturday +night they meet at the Association for supper and a half-hour of Bible +study. Mr. Allen is teacher, but they all do a lot of talking. O, it's +great! I'm tickled to death! I want you to know every one of those +fellows, mother. Sleepy is the poorest man--besides me, of course. I +can't say I like him so well. He's a little sneaky, I think. Chuck told +me they took him in because Mr. Allen wanted them to. The 'Chief' says he +has a pile of good in him, if we can just get it out. He has been awfully +nice to me, though. He talks camera to me almost every time I see him. +I showed him the pictures I made last spring of the thrush's nest, and he +was crazy over them. I'm going to teach him how to photograph flowers and +birds and nature. I'm glad I can do something that's worth while, or I'd +feel unhappy in that bunch. Sleepy has a wireless outfit and knows all +about electricity. Shorty Wier works in the Strang Garage. He is a shark +in school and a fiend at basket ball. He doesn't say much, but he is a +dandy. Chuck is interested in debates, and will represent the school in +the interscholastic contest next fall. He can talk about anything, and +has 'pep,' I tell you. And Mr. Allen is a nature student. Gee! won't we +have a circus talking bugs and flowers and birds. Fat draws and does +lettering. O yes, and Ham--I mustn't leave out Ham--he is the Billikin of +the crowd. When you feel down in the mouth or blue, just look at Ham and +it makes you laugh. He likes everybody except the girls, and everybody +likes him. He knows more funny stories than all the rest put together. +Ham's the one that always gets the fire ready to light and passes the +'eats,' he's--" + +"Well, son, I think you are fortunate in being able to find such +companions, and in having such a place as the Association to spend your +leisure time. I think it is a great thing. I hope you will make the +most of the opportunity. I have about decided we had better stay here +through the winter, for I am very sure Aunt Lucy can not last until +spring. I feel so sorry for Uncle." + + * * * * * + +Friday came at last, and was one of those grand June evenings when +everything seemed to be bursting with the love of life. The new green +leaves danced in the breeze, as if saying, "See, I'm back again!" Here +and there a fragrant fruit tree gave forth its odor from snowy blossoms, +and innumerable spring insects flocked to the arc lights at the corners. + +It was a happy, healthy crowd of boys that boarded the street car for +Manitou. High-boots, sweaters, slouch hats, cameras, and a plentiful +supply of good food. From the hip-pockets of the trousers tallow candles +showed, and one fellow carried a good supply of mason's cord, wound upon +a paddle. Then there was the coffee-pot, which was really an honorary +member of the club, and numerous packages done up in paper. + +The fellows loved Williams just at twilight, for it was then that the +fantastic shapes and high pinnacles of white limestone made their best +impression. The long, irregular shadows that were thrown across the +canyon by the setting sun, the cool pine-scented breeze that carried +every sound down the narrow crevice, the echoing of every laugh and +halloo added much to the enjoyment and comradeship of the little group. +Who could be unhappy or unfriendly on such a night and in such a place? + +The road led on and up, winding back and forth zigzag fashion on the +south wall, until it reached that wonderful cavern of fairyland, the +Grand Caverns. Thousands of tourists annually come to see its wonders, +but to the boys there were other caves more magic in their spell, for +they had not yet become "civilized," as the fellows said, by being +lighted with electricity and "engraved" by human hands. + +As they passed through the Narrows they began to climb up the east wall, +at a point where an immense pile of broken stone from the ledges above +had collected. This is the doorway to Huccacode. The entrance to the cave +is a mere crack in a mighty white wall that rises a hundred feet. + +Bundles and boxes were placed on a convenient ledge, candles lighted, and +all made ready. The end of the string was fastened to a shoot of +sagebrush just outside the opening; and the group passed in, Shorty in +the lead with an electric flashlight, and Phil bringing up the rear, +trailing the string. Far back in this wonderful cave there is a joining +of passages, and parties entering without a string have often become +lost, and have traveled several times around in a great circle before +finding the lead out. + +The cave is a series of chambers connected by what appears to be an +overlapping of rooms. The voices of the boys sounded hollow and far away, +while the candles cast long, grotesque shadows on the walls. As the +column advanced, the leader shouted back now and then to "watch out to +the left" or "to be careful to the right" or "to mind your footing." +As the trail led off on the side of the Bottomless Pit they halted, and +the usual ceremony was gone through. They twisted several newspapers +together into a torch and, lighting them, dropped them into the pit. They +watched as the torch went down and down and down, lighting the way for a +fleeting instant into the very depths of the earth; past ugly, jagged +rocks, past flat shelves of limestone, past straight, smooth walls of +rock till, at last, it burned itself out, still going down into the vast, +mysterious crevice. + +"It's a strange sight, to be sure," remarked Mr. Allen. "I have seen it a +good many times now, and I have no trouble in believing the old Indian +legend about it." + +"I have never heard it," said Willis. "Won't you tell it to us? This +would be such a good time. Let's put out all the lights except mine; I'll +stick it here on this projection and we'll sit in the end of this big +room while you talk." + +The crowd suited the action to the word. Mr. Allen pulled his hat far +down over his eyes, picked up several little white pebbles from the +ground and put them into his mouth to disguise his voice, then began: + +"Eagle-Foot had been for many years the mighty medicine man of the +great Ute Indians, who were probably the strongest and most warlike of +all the mountain tribes. Their home was in the Middle Park at the north +base of Pike's Peak, shut in from the other tribes in a fertile and +absolutely safe valley, which could be guarded by a few men at a certain +point. Here in this mountain valley the Utes grew into a strong Indian +state. During the hunting season large parties of them would ride to the +plains to hunt buffalo, returning after several weeks with immense +supplies of jerked meat, which is the choice steaks sun-cured, and with a +goodly number of buffalo hides. Now, Eagle-Foot was a great doctor. He +knew all about the mountain herbs and the medicinal properties of certain +mineral waters as well as of the ancient sweating of disease out of the +body by mud baths--a method used by the Indians of the South. He was so +successful that the Indians began to believe him infallible as a doctor +and medicine man. + +"Well, one season, following a great buffalo hunt on the plains, a +strange itching skin disease broke out among the hunters, causing a great +number of them to die. Eagle-Foot could not find a satisfactory remedy, +although he tried many mixtures. At last they held long fasts, and prayed +the Great Spirit to remove the curse from them. But the next season +it was worse than ever. The big Chief himself lost his favorite son, +Megaleep, and Eagle-Foot began to lose his influence among the people. + +"Some thought the Great Spirit was punishing them for stealing the +buffalo from their brothers of the plains; others said that the Evil +Spirit had come back from the great desert to haunt them with disease and +famine. Eagle-Foot remained silent and downcast, spending much time alone +in the mountains fasting. One day as the warriors returned from the +burying ground they found Eagle-Foot awaiting them at the camp, decked in +his full regalia, his face painted as if for a great occasion, all his +feathers hanging from his belt. He told the chief that the Great Spirit +had at last spoken to him, and that he was going on a long quest into the +limestone canyons. There the Great Spirit would reveal to him a cure for +the dread disease. He called for the swiftest runner to go with him. +Huckween, the Night Voice, volunteered, and so they started, all the +warriors accompanying them to Sentinel Point, chanting prayers to the +Great Spirit. + +"Several days later Huckween returned to camp, haggard and weak and +hungry, bearing the medicine wand of Eagle-Foot. He took it straight to +the Chief, and on bended knee told him the strange tale. How Eagle-Foot +had left him in the morning at the entrance to a mighty cavern and told +him to follow in at 'high sun.' This he did, and when he reached this +spot, the Bottomless Pit, he found Eagle-Foot's sacred medicine wand +stuck in the mud, his belt of sacred feathers fastened to the end of it, +dangling down into the mouth of the pit. From the depths he heard strange +sounds, but Eagle-Foot was gone. As he lay looking into the blackness, he +seemed to realize suddenly that the wand was the promised cure, and that +Eagle-Foot had given his own life in the Bottomless Pit that the sacred +feathers might become a saving potion for his people. It was the old idea +of a blood sacrifice. + +"Every season since that the great medicine man of the Utes came here to +receive the mystic cure, bringing with him Eagle-Foot's staff and belt. +Long strips of cedar bark were bound together into a rope. This was +soaked in deer's grease, one end lighted, and dropped into the Pit, the +other fastened to the staff, which was stuck into the ground near the +edge. The spirit of Eagle-Foot thus returned, using the flaming bark rope +as a ladder, to bless the feathers of his brother, the medicine man of +the Utes." + +"Do you suppose there are really bodies there at the bottom?" asked +Sleepy, as the candles were relighted and the group passed on into the +depths of the cave. + +"I wouldn't be surprised," replied the Chief. + +Finally the first flight of rickety wooden steps was reached, and the +boys descended, one at a time. Then came the "Fat man's misery," where +the ceiling of the cave almost met the floor, leaving only a small +opening. There was much laughing as Fat squeezed his body through. In the +"Bridal Chamber" every fellow traced his initials on the white stone with +his smoking candle. Then came the "Auger Hole," which is a round opening, +not more than twenty inches in diameter and about fifteen feet long, +through a solid wall of rock. About the middle of the passage there is a +sharp turn, and the remainder of the passage slopes down into the next +room. Each one stretched himself out at full length, taking hold of the +leg of the man in front of him. In this way they worked themselves +through, like a great serpent. + +A very peculiar sensation came to Willis, who was second in the line, as +he worked himself along the dark passage. "If the roof should cave in +just a little, what a death!" He was busy with such thoughts when Chuck, +who was just ahead of him, suddenly backed into him and whispered, +"Look!" He looked ahead, and there, somewhere in the darkness he saw two +small, yellow-green lights. Willis clutched Chuck by the arm and +whispered hoarsely, "It's an animal!" Word was passed from one to the +other as they emerged from the Auger Hole that there was a wild-cat in +the Mud Room. + +Mr. Allen always carried a gun on these trips, unknown to the fellows. As +he took in the situation he quietly drew the revolver from his pocket and +took a few steps forward. He began to think what the possible results of +shooting might be. He had often heard of mines caving in as the result of +a loud report, and of the vibrations from shouts closing the entrance to +caves. It would be unwise to shoot, but perhaps more unwise to go away +and leave the animal there. Some unarmed party might fall upon it. Many +things were suggested, many possibilities talked over; but there seemed +to be some objection to all. The eyes seemed to go out now and then, and +occasionally there was a sad, low whine that made the cold chills run up +and down each fellow's back. Sleepy had made sure of his safety by +returning through the Auger Hole. Mr. Allen made no reply to their many +inquiries--he seemed to have lost his power of speech. He stood with +muscles taut and gun ready. He despised indecision, yet--what should he +do? He thought of the mountain lion that had been killed on the carriage +road to the Peak the spring before. Could this be its mate? He tried to +think what the characteristics of a bob-cat were. He wondered if perhaps +it had already attacked some one; perhaps killed him, and even now was +guarding the dead body--perhaps not dead yet. His arm twitched nervously. +He was losing his self-control. There was absolute silence now except for +the whine of the beast. Did a lion whine? He could not think. + +They could not have told how long they stood there silent. Presently +Shorty Wier pushed himself to the head of the group and, without a +moment's warning, flashed his electric spotlight and began advancing +slowly toward the animal. Allen caught him by the sleeve and followed, +gun in hand. The eyes seemed to dilate, and there was a low growl that +seemed to be a warning. In an instant it flashed into Allen's mind, "A +mad dog!" A bobcat could not growl, and a lion did not sound like a dog. +Shorty turned and looked Allen in the eye, "Don't be a fool. Put up your +gun and get out your pocket ax," he said in a low, steady voice. Then +he began talking in a coaxing tone. + +"There, dog, there, poor fellow, no one will hurt you, nice pup; what's +the matter, dog." His light he cast straight at the eyes. "Don't strike +till I say," he whispered to Mr. Allen. + +In a moment they were close enough to see that it was a dog, a Collie +pup, wild-eyed and half-starved. Shorty stepped nearer and put his hand +out to pat the dog's head; but the animal only trembled and shrank back, +then whined a pitiful whine. They could see now that the dog was fast in +a steel trap, held securely by his hind leg. Shorty reached down and +released the bruised and swollen leg from the trap, and as the dog felt +himself free he gave a cry of relief. If ever a dog expressed his +gratitude in actions it was that pup. When they reached the mouth of +the cave the dog collar was carefully examined, bringing to light the +fact that the dog belonged to a Beverly H. Pembroke. Shorty would have +the reward. Their lunch boxes and coffee-pot were gathered up, and the +climb to the cliff began. The great moon was just lifting her yellow head +above a rift of clouds in the eastern sky. Soon the flat top of the crag +was reached, and in a moment a roaring fire was kindled. They had filled +the coffee-pot with water before leaving the stream in the canyon, and it +was now swung on a cross-pole over the fire. Each fellow put his share of +the steak to fry by fastening it to the forked end of a stick and holding +it over the coals. The red-cedar sticks made an ideal cooking fire, and +the odor from the burning wood was enough to make any one hungry. The dog +lay upon Shorty's sweater, against the side of the cliff, and watched the +broiling meat with eager eyes. It is hardly necessary to say that he +received a generous share of the meal. + +Mr. Allen stood with his back to the fire, looking off over the tops of +the mountains and down into the moonlit spots of the canyon below, +absorbing as much as he could of its beauty and inspiration. Far away to +the west was the same old peak that he had seen from every conceivable +angle and he had learned to love so well. It was a scene like this that +he loved better than anything else in the world, and it was at such times +that he almost wished that he was one of God's wild things living a +care-free life, looking to Mother Earth and his own wits to care for all +his needs. + +Willis came around the fire and stood by his side, silently taking in the +beauties of the picture. Mr. Allen turned, and placing his arm on the +boy's shoulder, said, "It's great, isn't it, boy? It takes a night like +this to make a man realize what the psalmist meant when he said, 'I will +lift up mine eyes unto the hills whence cometh my help.' Do you ever +think of it when you look at these old mountains?" + +After supper was finished the group gathered about the fire, and the +business meeting, for which the trip had been planned, began. More cedar +sticks were piled upon the fire, while the fellows settled themselves +comfortably. + +"The meeting will please come to order." Dennis had taken his place at +the head of the little company. "The secretary will please read the +minutes of the last meeting." Chuck jumped to his feet and made his +report. + +"Any objections to these minutes? If not, they will stand approved as +read. Mr. Allen, will you explain to Thornton what 'O.F.F.' means and +give him the oath of membership?" + +Mr. Allen stepped to the side of the fire. + +"Fellows, it is with an ever-increasing satisfaction that I meet with +'O.F.F.,' and I think it would not be out of place to-night to say just +a few words that have been in my mind these last few days. I am proud to +be a member of such a club. I am proud to call every fellow gathered here +my brother. I am proud to have a voice in so clean and democratic a +government. I am proud to be able to find my social amusement and social +fellowship in such ways as this club employs--in hiking and tramping in +the woods and learning Nature's secrets. We will not always be together +in this most happy and congenial group. Fate will soon separate us. Some +will grow old; some will die before their time; some will perhaps be rich +in this world's goods; possibly some will experience poverty's sting. Yet +none of us, fellows, need ever want for real friendship; and, after all, +it's that which makes life glad and beautiful for us, or sad and unhappy +if we do not have it. I have often warned my memory never to lose the +picture of a single one of these simple meals, about the open fire +together, so that in days to come I may go back and refresh myself at +these springs of pure contentment. It's a beautiful thing in a fellow's +life to just be living for the welfare of others, as we are trying to do. +I'm wishing one thing to-night for you all, and that is, that there may +never come a time in your busy lives when you will find it to your liking +to follow any other standard than the one we have set for ourselves here +in this little group. I am hoping that we will never find any type of +social fellowship any more attractive to us than this clean, wholesome, +out-of-door life that we have learned to love so well. The time will +come, fellows--did you ever think of it?--the time must come when we will +not be able to gather at these fires and chat together of our mutual +interests and common woes. But I hope the time will never come when we +can forget the good things for which we stand, day by day, in our living. + +"Willis, stand up here by the fire. I want to say to you, my boy, that +we are proud to have you as a brother and that we feel confident that +you are a real addition to our number. We want you to be a real, live +member--to enter into the spirit of our organization. Our letters, +O.F.F., stand for a very simple slogan, one that has meant great things +in the lives of every one of us fellows, and one that will mean great +things to you if you take it into your life and let it work. It means +that from this night on you will be more interested in the welfare of +others than of yourself. O.F.F.--Other Fellow First. Give me your hand. +Do you promise that you will live a clean life, physically, mentally, and +morally? Do you promise that you will forget your own interests in +helping others, that selfishness will have no place in your life? Do you +promise that you will not give your support for any reason to anything +that to your mind is beneath the honor of a gentleman? If so, say, 'I +do.'" + +Willis lifted his eyes to Mr. Allen's, and, with a pressure of his hand, +he answered in a clear voice, "I do!" + +"I take great pleasure," continued Mr. Allen, "in welcoming you as a +brother." + +The other fellows arose, and there was a general handshaking, followed by +cries of "Speech!" "Speech!" + +"All I have to say, fellows, is that I, too, am proud of every one of you +and of everything for which you stand, and that I'll do my best to be a +worthy member. Thank you for the honor you have shown me by asking me to +be one of you." + +They sat a long time that evening, talking and exchanging ideas, for +there was something nearly bewitching in the fire and the view and the +friendship. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Willis Becomes Interested in Gold Mines + + +The next four weeks passed by very slowly to Willis. Mr. Allen had +gone to the annual summer camp with a large number of the Association +boys. It was a State encampment, held in that very odd and interesting +part of the second range known as Cathedral Park. Willis had been very +anxious to go, for he knew it would be a very new and profitable +experience for him. Mr. Allen had asked him to go as a Leader, to have +charge of one tent of seven boys. He had never been to a camp of any +kind, to say nothing of a mountain camp, so it was a great disappointment +to him when his mother had told him that he had better not go this time. +His aunt had grown worse as the hot weather came on, and his mother +explained that she could not do without him in case his aunt should pass +away. + +He understood perfectly and knew that his mother's request was +reasonable, so had contented himself by offering to help out at the +Association in Mr. Allen's absence. He was anxious to give something +in return for all Mr. Allen was giving him. Then, too, it gave him an +opportunity to watch the development of a good many of the cocoons and +chrysalides that the nature study club had placed in glasses in a window +of the reading room. + +He had been making sketches of the development of several butterflies. +This kind of work he dearly loved. He would spend hours, sometimes, +watching a delicate insect emerge from its cocoon and slowly dry its +dainty, crumpled wings until it was able to fly. + +One day he sat sketching an immense Ichneumon fly that had just emerged +from a Tawny Admiral chrysalis. + +"You can't always tell," he was saying to the little group that were +watching him. "Nature fools you sometimes. Mr. Caterpillar, who built +that clean, cozy little house, and he was a fine, big, healthy fellow, +too, expected to be somebody one of these days--a beautiful butterfly +like the frontispiece of that nature book--but he got into bad company +and got 'stung.' Now, instead of hatching a butterfly, out comes this +robber fly, a long, lean, sleek-looking fellow that has been living for +weeks on the body of that poor caterpillar, and we didn't know it. You +want to watch out who you run with, fellows, or you're liable to turn out +'Ichneumon men' instead of gentlemen." He laughed as he returned the +glass to the shelf and closed his sketch book. + +"What in the world!" + +"Pots and kettles, frying pans, +French toast, hot cakes, Chef's the man; +We'll wash our hair and comb our face, +Camp Tech--ump--sa, that's the place." + +The crowd made a break for the door, and in a moment more they were +inside, laughing and shouting. Five minutes later they might all have +been found splashing around in the swimming-pool, making up for the lost +swims of the past few days, their bodies brown as berries, and as healthy +as free, camp-life in mountain air could make them. Mr. Allen shook +Willis by the hand. + +"I never had a better time in my life; and such a gang of royal good +fellows! Willis, old man, I always want to be a boy if age takes such +real pleasures away from man. I missed you, boy, every day, and needed +you so often. How's the aunt, and how's the Department? Say, Willis, +while I take a little swim, will you 'phone to all the Cabinet members +and tell them it's Bruin Inn for supper on Saturday night?--a very +important meeting! Meet here at five o'clock. And say, I want you to go +along with us. I have decided to add an out-of-door committee to the +Cabinet, and I want you to represent that phase of the work, will you?" + +Camp was the favorite topic of conversation on Saturday night as the +little group of older fellows walked up the canyon road. Mr. Allen was +telling one group about some of the funny things fond mothers had sent +to camp with their boys, while just behind another group were listening +to an exciting tale of how the only night-shirt in camp, together with +the Leader's razor-strop, were hung on the topmost branch of a great +spike-topped pine that stood just in the middle of the camp. + +So the talk ran on, from one thing to another. The stars twinkled in +countless numbers above, giving just enough light so that they could +see the mighty column of granite on either side, and to silhouette the +gently-murmuring pines against the canyon wall. The air was chill and +faintly scented by the bursting wild-cherry blossoms that grew in great +profusion along the stream. Here and there, in a moist crevice, a +glow-worm shed forth its greenish-yellow glow, to let you know it was +night time and summer. Far away in the distance Phantom Falls was +tumbling and splashing over a great pile of drift logs. + +As the little company crossed the bridge and rounded a turn in the road, +a campfire, built in a little sheltered nook back from the road, came +into view. It cast long beams of light and grotesque shadows in every +direction, while the odor of cherry blossoms changed to the aroma of good +coffee. + +"I hope Old Ben has as good a pot of coffee on the fire at the Inn," said +one. + +Presently "Old Night Cap" loomed up against the sky. + +"This is as far as we could come a year or two ago," said Mr. Allen to +Willis. "Before the railroad and the inn were built we used to think it +was a long way even up here to the old mine." + +"Did I ever tell you about the old Negro that owned this mine? Well, he +came herein the early days and found a strange yellow outcropping here. +He built himself a funny little shanty on the hillside, which he thatched +with spruce boughs. Here he spent a good many years of his life, digging. +His tunnel caved in soon after he left it, but he did find a little gold +for his work. When his provisions gave out, he would take his old mule, +which was his only companion, tramp into the city, sell his little bag of +gold dust, and buy bacon, flour, and beans. After a little spree he would +return to the mine, always sure that he would find the gold in larger +quantities. Often I've stopped to talk with him as he brought a +wheelbarrow load of dirt out of the tunnel to the edge of the little old +dump. + +"'Yep, I'se 'bout to fin' heaps an' heaps o' gol',' he'd say as he pulled +at his stubby gray whiskers. 'Marse Spruce-tree, yondah, he done tole me +to jes' keep a diggin' an' I'd sho fin' gol'. When I 'se jes' 'bout to +gib up, an' I does sometimes, yes, sah, I does, ole Marse Spruce-tree he +jes' stan' up yondah on de hillside an' laff an' say, "Why, Rufus, yuse +is altogedder wufless." Ole Brer Rabbit, he nod he haid an' 'spress +heself same way. "Jes keep a diggin', Unc' Rufus," he say, "Jes' keep a +diggin'." They sho is gol' in this yere ole world if ye jes' keeps a +diggin'.' + +"He'd sing all day as he worked, and never seemed to lose faith; but when +the canyon road was extended, and the inn built, it took away the quiet +and solitude from the place. The old man just picked up his belongings +and went farther back into the mountains--no one knew where; but +somewhere, I suspect, he is still talking aloud to the trees and making +friends with the wild things, still giving his life to digging up dreams +and living for hopes that will never be realized. It's a strange disease, +this gold fever. I've never had it, but I've heard Old Ben at the Inn +tell how it's nearly impossible for a man to go back to his work in the +city after he has once seen the golden glitter and dug the precious +metal from the earth." + +Willis had remained very quiet all through the story. A strange sadness +seemed to have settled upon his spirit. Several times Mr. Allen addressed +him, but upon receiving no reply turned and looked closely into the boy's +face. His head was thrown back, and he seemed to be lost in the beauty of +the starry night. In a very quiet tone Mr. Allen said, "A penny for your +thoughts, boy." + +Willis laughed a dry little laugh, and, turning to him, replied: + +"O, I was just thinking. I hardly know what, exactly. I was thinking of +how that old darky's tunnel caved in. Do all tunnels cave in? I was +thinking of my father." He linked his arm through the "Chief's" as they +walked on up the canyon. "My father was a miner, you know. That's +how he lost his life." Mr. Allen understood the mood now. + +"You must tell me more of him some time, Willis. Was he like you?" + +"Not very much, but I'm going to be like him, if I can," replied Willis. +"Sometimes, since I've been here in Colorado, especially here in the +mountains, I've fancied that he was near me again, watching and guiding +and keeping me company. It's hard for a fellow like me not to have a +father. Mr. Allen, I don't believe the fellows who have them half +appreciate them, do you?" + +A long, loud shout came from ahead, which was answered by a dog's bark. + +"O you supper!" shouted Chuck. + +"Ben, remember me," cried another. + +The inn was a one-story log building, built of rough spruce trees, just +as they had been cut from the mountain. On the side next to the stream +was a rustic porch. On the down-canyon end was built an immense old, +stone fireplace. From the chimney top there was a procession of tiny +sparks making their way upwards from the roaring wood-fire within. Here +and there on the wall hung the hides of denizens of the woods. Behind the +pine door stood an old-fashioned, double-barreled shotgun and a later +model Winchester rifle. In the opposite corner stood two short-handled +shovels and a miner's pick, while on the wall just above the fireplace +hung the head of a great buck that had one time roamed those very hills. + +The fireplace, which occupied the center of the east wall, was large +and very attractive. An old hand-made crane had been built into the +firebox, and from it hung an old iron pot. The andirons were long, narrow +slabs of granite, set on edge, upon which were piled logs of pine wood, +burning merrily--not because it was a cold night, but because of its +cheerfulness. + +The hearth at once became the center of attraction. It was the mysterious +fairy that bound all hearts together and welded all types of personality +into a sympathetic friendship that gathered round it. It was the stern +and fiery monarch, ordering all assembled to be quiet that it might sing +and moan and whisper the messages that it had gathered from the winter +storms or from the falling leaves. + +At one side of the old fireplace, leaning back in his rickety old +arm-chair, sat Ben, Old Ben the innkeeper, his long-stemmed cob pipe +held quietly in one hand, while the other rested on the head of a huge +Russian hound that lay on the floor in front of the fire. Ben's hair was +long and gray, and on his nose rested a pair of large, old--fashioned, +silver--rimmed spectacles. His head was partly bald, and his small, gray +eyes were set well back under shaggy eyebrows. His face was covered with +a generous growth of dirty-gray whiskers, stained darkly about the mouth +from his pipe. He was a typical old mountain prospector who had seen +better days. + +As the boys entered Old Ben rose, stretched his large, gaunt frame, and +cried, "Howdy, fellers, must o' started day afore yestedy, didn't ye? +Took ye tarnal long to git here, anyhow. Supper's ben ready these two +hours. Me'n the critter 'n Tad is most starved a waitin'. Hello, Mr. +Allen, where'd ye git this lively bunch o' fellers, anyhow? D' they all +b'long to ye? Come along, Tad, er these dratted youngsters 'll eat all +yer grub fer ye." This as the fellows seated themselves about the table. + +Tad, by the aid of a crutch, hobbled from the lean-to kitchen and +took his seat at the table nearest the fire. Old Ben served the +meal--beefsteak, baked potatoes, hot corn muffins, and gravy, apple +sauce, pickles, and coffee that fairly filled the room with its +fragrance. + +"Drat me for a young squirrel if you fellers ain't the hungriest bunch o' +yearlin's I ever set eyes on," muttered Ben as he hurried back and forth +from table to kitchen supplying the urgent demand. + +After the last drop of coffee had disappeared, the meeting was called to +order around the table and the business of the evening was gotten under +way. Willis, for the first time, found it difficult to pay attention to +what Allen had to say. He was watching Old Ben and his friend as they sat +by the fire, chatting and smoking, the very picture of contentment. Now +and then a little of their conversation would reach him, but he could not +make head nor tail of it. At the supper table the man with the crutch had +eyed Willis many times. In his manner there was something that seemed to +be so very familiar, yet his face, which was covered with a several +weeks' beard, was strange to Willis. + +"I never saw a face so like my old pard's," the stranger was saying to +Ben. "And you know, Ben, I often wonder if some day I won't hear +something from Bill's family. There was a wee boy, but what others, if +any, I don't know. The day of the wreck I saw a lad that did a brave +deed, and ever since I've been wondering if he might be Bill's boy--he +looked so like him." + +"Tad, what became of that tarnal critter, Williams, that ye told me +about? The feller that jumped that placer claim up'n the gulch--do you +ever see him any more?" + +"Yes, Ben, he is still in the city. Has a mighty sick wife--tuberculosis, +they say. He's crookeder than a cork-screw, they tell me; but he'll get +caught yet, that kind always does. You know his wife is a sister to +Bill's wife. If it hadn't been for that relationship to Bill, I'd have +had it out with him long ago. But what's the use, anyway. The mine's no +good and the ground's no good, and I haven't any money to fight him." + +"Yep, but s'posin' the tunnel was good; what then?" + +"I don't know, Ben. Old Williams has a good name, generally speaking, in +the city, and he has money--I couldn't fight him. Dad Wright used to say +he was a 'snake in the grass,' and Dad doesn't often misjudge a man." + +"Who holds the key to that tarnal hole, anyway, Tad?" + +"Williams was the last man in the tunnel, Ben, and I suppose he holds the +keys. I've never been inside since I carried out poor Bill's broken +body." + +"Well, Tad, I was a pesterin' around there not long ago, an' I seed whar +some tarnal critter hed tried to pry the lock off. You know, Tad, I +b'lieve they is pay rock in that gulch, if the likes o' you an' me could +jist light onto it. Ye can pan color anywhere around the shanty, if ye +know how. I picked up some o' that quartz formation by the dump, an' drat +it, Tad, it's fine lookin' stuff." + +"Yes, Ben, I often think I'll go back and work a little longer on the old +hole. Bill was certain we had struck it--talked in his fever before he +died. But I haven't got the nerve. + +"Ben, I'm going to tell you something. Just before Bill met his end, he +had a letter from the firm that he installed machinery for concerning the +final drawings of an ore-roaster that he had been working on for years. I +have often wondered if he sent those drawings to the firm before his +death, or if Williams got them and the letters. I've never seen a roaster +like his was to be. Some way, I've thought Williams sold those drawings. +If he did, Ben, I'd kill him, I believe. That's what makes me keep a +thinking of the boy. Those drawings would have brought enough then to +have educated him, and perhaps he's poor--poor like you and me, and can't +go to school, while that rascal, Williams, rides around in an automobile. +Some way, I feel like I'll find out, and then I'll--" + +"Is that a fact! Well, that tarnal critter!" Ben puffed meditatively at +his pipe and gazed into the fire. + +"I have decided to go back, Ben, and work the other claim up in the gulch +by Dad's. If I could get enough money ahead I'd get a detective and put +him on the case. I'm kind of a father to that boy, Ben, wherever he is, +and I ought to be finding him." + +The meeting at the table was over, and the fellows crowded around the +fire before starting home, and, perhaps, to hear one of Ben's stories of +the early days. The stranger watched Willis closely for some minutes, +then he called to him. + +"Lad, ain't you the boy that was in the wreck of the Rocky Mountain +Limited, early in the spring? I've been watching you, and you sure remind +me of him." Willis's face brightened. In a flash he recognized the +fireman. He advanced with extended hand. + +"Why, yes, sir, I am the boy, and you are the fireman. I have been +looking at you all evening and wondering where I had ever seen you +before. It's the whiskers that threw me off. How is the broken leg?" + +The stranger held the boy's hand in his own and looked into his face. + +"We got out lucky, didn't we, lad? Have you ever seen the little +Englishman since that day? He was a dandy, wasn't he?" + +Chuck had been listening to the foregoing conversation. + +"What wreck? What Englishman? Who is your friend?" he questioned. + +The stranger spoke. "Why, don't you know about the wreck? Has he never +told any of you?" In answer to a chorus of "No's," the stranger drew his +chair closer to the fire and began to tell the story. + +"So the lad has never told you, eh? He is a splendid fellow, this lad. I +want to tell you boys there is no yellow in his system. He has cool, true +nerve, like my old friend, that never thought of himself if there was +trouble, always of the other folks that might suffer. That's the reason +he slid off this mortal globe so soon. The lad here came near doing the +same thing. Then he never told you about it. Well, well." + +"I'll see you again," called the stranger as Willis passed out into the +night. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A Plan Is Evolved + + +"Well, by the Great Horn Spoon, you are the laziest bunch of fellows I've +seen in many a long day. What's all this scheming and planning about +that's going on here? Are one of you fellows trying to get a Presidential +nomination?" Ham seated himself on a chair facing the fellows. They were +lounging on a big window-seat in a corner of the game-room, talking +earnestly in low tones. + +"Come, now, let's hear about it. What's the game? Say, fellows, I just +heard a rattling good story." "Well, now, Ham, let up on your stories for +about two shakes and give us your attention. We have an idea, a real, +first-class scheme, if you please, and we want you to give us your expert +opinion on it," said Shorty Wier, as he went and closed the door. + +"All aboard; let her go! What do you want me to do? When are you going to +do it? Hurry, I'm getting awfully excited." + +"Well," continued Shorty, "Fat originated this idea, or at least he +suggested it, and we have just been talking it over. How fine it would be +if we owned a cabin, a good-sized log cabin, big enough to take care of +at least twenty fellows over night. A place far enough from the city to +keep it from being continually broken into by rowdies, and still within a +couple of hours' walking distance from the car-line. With all of this +great string of mountains and canyons, so well-forested and filled with +streams, it ought to be an easy matter to find some such a place. Of +course it would be ideal if we could find a cabin already built; then all +we would have to do would be to rig it up. But we are game sports, every +man of us, and if we can't find any such cabin built, let's locate an +ideal spot and build one. Nothing real fancy or expensive, but just a +typical mountain house that's weather-tight and warm. Of course we'd want +a big fireplace like the one at Bruin Inn. It would be a great big job, +but we could take our time to it. We'd have all winter, and more, if we +needed it. Now, what we want is your suggestion, understand; we are just +talking and planning about it yet." + +"Gee, it would be an awful pile of work," complained Sleepy Smith, and he +yawned and stretched himself. "Work! of course it would be work, you dub; +but what do you ever get in this world that's worth while without real +work, I'd like to know." + +"Work! that's the best part of it; nothing in the world could bind us +fellows together so tight as to do a big piece of real work together. We +would show each other what we're made of. I always have wanted to build a +cabin in the mountains. It would be a great deal better to build one than +to get an old, tumbled-down shack. Besides, we don't want to work out a +stunt that's just going to last for a year or two, and then be abandoned. +We want to build a real, permanent mountain camp. See?" added Chuck. + +"What's the matter with the old Y.M. cabin up in Bear Creek, Shorty?" + +"O rats, boys, we are not talking about a pill box now. We want a cabin." + +"I think it would be a great thing to do, fellows; but we must go awfully +careful. We'll have to finance the thing some other way than from our own +pockets, and we don't know yet what Mr. Allen will say about it. He may +think it's a big mistake and a waste of time and energy. Then, too, where +would we camp while working on the new cabin?" said Willis. Then he +slipped off to talk the plan over with Mr. Allen, and in a few moments +brought the "Chief" back with him. Willis was talking. + +"Now we are on the right track for sure, fellows. Mr. Allen has the +proper suggestions about this matter. No telling what fool stunts we +fellows would do if we didn't have Mr. Allen to keep our feet on the +earth." + +"Listen, fellows," said Shorty. "We have talked this thing all over from +A to Z, and we believe Mr. Allen's advice is the thing; only before we +decide to do anything definite we ought to have Mr. Dean's opinion. He +has been in the army, you know." + +"Mr. Dean, the physical director, been in the army? Why, I didn't know +that," said Sleepy. + +"Yes, and he's a mighty practical fellow. Fat, go out to his office and +ask him to come in here a few minutes, will you?" + +In a moment they came in together, Fat explaining their plans for a +cabin. When every one was seated, Shorty continued: + +"This is a very serious matter, fellows, and we don't want to make a +mistake by being in too big a hurry. There are a few things that seem +very clear after talking with Mr. Allen-- + +"First, we must make our cabin stunt an Association enterprise, so we can +have their help and backing. Let's make it a high school boys' +enterprise. Next, we must find an ideal place, where the work will have +all the natural advantages possible--not too far away, not too close, +near good water and a good supply of dead wood. It would be best to get +somewhere on the old Cripple Creek Stage Road. Mr. Allen has suggested +that we might help finance it in two ways: Organize a cabin company and +sell stock at so much a share, all stockholders being privileged to use +the shack, or we might give a circus in the gymnasium and use the money +thus earned. He thinks the latter the better plan. The greatest trouble +seems to be to find the ideal place. Mr. Dean, what do you think of the +whole plan?" + +"It's a capital idea, fellows; only it means real business. If you tackle +a job like that, you want to finish it. I'd sure be in with you on any +such a deal. Here's a suggestion. Why don't six or seven of you fellows +take a week just before school opens, pack your grub and blankets, take +a gun or two and a good camera, and make a trip on foot, looking over the +possible locations? For instance--start up the old Stage Road, go as far +as Daddy Wright's, then to the top of Cheyenne Mountain through that +valley. There is a beautiful park there that might be suitable; then down +Rock Creek, up around Black Mountain, back around St. Peter's Dome, then +study the canyons along the railroad. They say there is a good cabin +somewhere near Daniel's Pass, and several around Fairview. Get into all +of those canyons that run into North Cheyenne, because that would be the +handiest location for us to get to. It would be great if we could find an +old prospector's cabin that we could remodel and add to. You see, we'd +have a place to camp as we worked that way. Then, too, it would have this +decided advantage--it would be a staked claim and not the open forest +reserve. You would have to pay for all lumber you cut on the reserve, but +on a claim you are entitled to a certain amount for building purposes. +You see, we could probably show mineral anywhere near a prospector's +cabin. I am convinced there are many such cabins that would be almost +ideal, if we could only find them." + +"My father built a cabin in these mountains years ago," said Willis. "A +miner's cabin; but I've never seen it. I don't know where it is, but it's +near Cookstove Mountain. Some one has jumped the claim, though, now, so +mother said." + +"Wouldn't it be funny, Willis, if we should find that old cabin of your +father's?" asked Mr. Allen. Ideas came thick and fast. Even "Sleepy" +Smith woke up to the fact that something unusual was going on, and roused +himself so as not to miss it. After an hour's planning and discussion +they decided what to do. A route was to be laid out and an investigation +trip made under the direction of Mr. Allen. The party was to be limited +to six fellows: Ham, Phil, Fat, Chuck, and Willis were the ones chosen to +go. Definite plans were laid out, and the following Tuesday set as the +day for starting. + +As Willis was explaining the plans to his mother the next morning his +Uncle Joe came into the room. He had seen an article in the morning paper +to the effect that the Y.M.C.A. boys were to build a cabin, including the +names and the probable route to be taken by the investigating party. + +"What's all this nonsense about a cabin in the mountains, Willis? I saw +an article in the _Gazette_ this morning concerning it. Now listen to me, +boy. I don't want any relation of mine getting mixed up in any such a +crazy, wild-goose chase. Do you hear? About the first thing you kids will +do is to trespass on some one's mining claims, and then you'll be getting +yourselves and some of the rest of us into trouble. It's a lot of foolish +nonsense, such doings, anyway. Isn't home good enough for you?" + +"Well, it seems to me you're kind of mad about nothing, Uncle. We're not +going to carry off any one's gold mines," replied Willis. "Have you a few +you are afraid we will steal?" + +Mr. Williams flew into a fit of anger, saying something about, "If he was +mine, I'll bet I'd see if he'd insult his superiors in that way. The next +thing we know you will be off on a mountain picnic on Sunday, bringing +disgrace on your respectable relatives," snapped Mr. Williams. "There are +enough enemies now to a man's good name, without adding any more by +foolish kids like you, with heads full of nonsense." + +Mr. Williams stalked angrily out of the room, slamming the door behind +him. + +"Of all the strange men on earth, I think he is the strangest of them +all," remarked Mrs. Thornton. "Something has upset him, and he has an +ugly streak to-day. I heard him at the telephone, storming about some old +prospector that has come back to the city to make life miserable for him. +He had seen him on the street, talking with a man he said was a +detective. Lucy told me just the other day that Uncle Joe took awful +chances on mining stock very often, and that she believed he would sell +his very soul for a gold mine. It seems so strange--he has been angry at +me every time I have let you go into the mountains. He works hard, and I +suppose he thinks you ought to be doing something, too, and if we stay +here through the winter, my boy, I think it would be well for you to look +about for something to do after school." + +As Willis left the house the next morning and started for the Association +to complete plans for the trip, he met two men coming in at his front +gate. They asked for Mr. Williams. Willis directed them, then hurried on, +rejoicing in his heart that he was to have a real gipsy trip in the +mountains with his gang. + +He spent the day getting his things together for the trip. He was to +carry a small individual frying pan, a small granite bucket, knife, fork, +and spoon, eight small cans of condensed milk, a little cloth sack of +tea, one of sugar, one of oatmeal, and one of rice, two boxes of raisins, +a loaf of rye bread, and butter packed in a small tin can with a cover. +He was to wrap these things, and whatever else he wanted to take along, +including a first-aid packet, in his blanket, army style. His pack must +not exceed twenty pounds in weight, not counting gun or camera. His +tincup was to be fastened to his belt, and his safety ax carried in his +hip-pocket. They would sleep on spruce boughs at night, and each man +would cook his own meals from his own store. The mountain raspberries +were just ripe, and there were great quantities of them. They would have +them with cream, and count on killing a few squirrels now and then, or +perhaps some turtle doves for a change. Mr. Allen took a trout line +and a few flies, in case they had a chance to have mountain trout to +break the monotony of the diet. + +By Monday evening all was in readiness for the start. The news of the +proposed cabin scheme had spread all through the Department, and many +were the suggestions offered by interested fellows for making the trip an +entire success in every way. + +"Remember, shelter and drainage and wood supply, along with good water +and big trees, are what you are looking for, boys," was the advice of Mr. +Dean, as he left them. "I wish I were going along with you. Here's hoping +you'll find the very best spot, and that soon." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A Stage Road Journey + + +"Well, if you haven't any more brains than to be starting out on a +mountain trip on a wet, stormy day like this, why I haven't anything more +to say to you; but remember, I'm not one whit responsible for you," said +Mr. Williams, as he arose from the breakfast table and passed out into +the hall. + +It had been a stormy night. The rainfall had been heavy and the lightning +sharp. It had been a typical electric storm of the mountains. Old Sol had +tried in vain to force his way through the heavy rain-clouds earlier in +the morning, but by breakfast time he seemed to have given up entirely, +and to have withdrawn from the contest. At any rate, he was nowhere to +be seen. Willis was visibly disappointed. He pushed his chair back +restlessly and went to the window. The heavy, black clouds hung low on +the ridge, and Pike's Peak was entirely hidden in the mists. Willis was +thinking of the conversation he had had with his uncle that morning at +the breakfast table. + +"Mother," he turned to Mrs. Thornton, who was still seated at the +breakfast table, "why is Uncle Joe so positive about it being a mistake +for me to take this trip? Either he just wants to show his authority or +he has some special reason. According to his talk, there isn't a more +dangerous place on this earth of ours than around an old prospector's +cabin. Rats! I don't believe a word of it. It's all bosh and, as far as +cabins go, how could disease live in an old, open mountain shanty? +Anyhow, you might go for weeks in the mountains without even seeing a +cabin. He thinks I'm a child and haven't any judgment of my own. My! I'm +glad he isn't my father. He's just a blamed old hypocrite, that's what I +think about him, anyway." + +"Well, you won't be going if it stays so stormy, will you?" asked his +mother. + +"No, but it's going to clear up, mother; this is just a little summer +shower--we weren't counting on starting until after dinner, though, +anyway," replied Willis. Toward noon the clouds broke and melted away as +if by magic. Their lifting was like the raising of some majestic curtain +on a wonderful stage. The moisture from the recent storm still glistened +on every twig and leaf, and the fresh-bathed air was as clear as crystal. +The summit of Pike's Peak was decked in a new covering of snow which +sparkled like beautiful gems. The robins chirped gayly as they fed on the +worms that had come to the surface during the night's rain. + +Was there ever such a happy crowd of fellows' setting forth on any +expedition? High boots, slouch hats, soft shirts, a rifle, a shotgun, +two cameras, and a plenteous supply of food. Each fellow was equipped +with a haversack, in which were his eating tools and other necessary +articles, such as bachelor buttons, cartridges, films, and other things. +They carried their frying-pans, small buckets, and tincups suspended +from their belts. The handles of their safety axes extended from +hip-pockets, making their pockets bulge suspiciously. + +Mr. Allen took the lead through Stratton Park, and headed for the short +cut that joined the old Stage Road just as it sneaked around the base of +Cheyenne Mountain on its way to the top of the Continental Divide; then +downward through mountain passes and clinging close to canyon walls until +it reached that most wonderful of all gold camps, the Cripple Creek +District. + +"It's just two o'clock," said Chuck, in answer to an inquiry as to the +time. "And we will have to do some rapid walking if we are to get on top +of Cheyenne Mountain to-night. We ought to make three miles an hour from +here to the old road house. We'll have to rest there a little and have a +drink from Daddy Wright's spring. That's the best spring in the Rocky +Mountains, I do believe." + +"Hope Dad's home to-day," said Mr. Allen. "I haven't seen him since early +spring. I certainly do enjoy getting the old gentleman to telling some of +his stories. You know he is an old, old timer in these parts. He came +here years before gold was first discovered in Cripple Creek, and he has +lived up in his little gulch ever since. In the early days, when the only +outside connection the gold camp had was this old wagon road, there were +a great many interesting happenings at Dad's little inn. It was really +the only road house on the Stage Road, and was burned down years ago. +Haven't you ever heard that story? I'll tell it to you some time. They +used to say that Dad had any quantity of money--I don't know how true it +was. At any rate, he hasn't much now. After the old inn burned, he built +himself a log cabin down by the spring, and there has lived ever since. +He can tell some great old tales, too. You can't name a single prospector +of the Rocky Mountain region but what Dad can tell you all about him. He +lives a lonely life up here all by himself, shut in all winter by heavy +snows. In the summer he sees a few people passing by, and that helps +some. He's a very friendly old man, and if you treat him right there +isn't anything in the world he won't tell you or do for you if he can. He +loves to talk politics, and can tell you about every Presidential +election back as far as the war. He was a Confederate soldier in his day, +and if there is one thing above another that he loves to talk about, +it's the 'Gov'ment,' as he calls it. 'Uncle Sammy an' me ain't jest +zackly the best o' pards yit, by crackey,' he says, with a twinkle in his +eye." + +"That certainly is a great view," explained Ham. "I'm going to unload my +cargo and rest here a bit, for I like this spot. Right up yonder in that +heavy belt of timber is where we used to come so often to stay all night. +There is a great granite boulder up there in the 'Graveyard,' as we used +to call it, that's just as good as a house any day. It leans away out on +one side, and we built a big bed of balsam boughs under it. Right behind +the great rock, to the west, we found a tiny spring, hardly big enough to +be called a spring; but we dug it out and stoned up a small reservoir to +catch the water. We used to come up in the evening, cook our supper, get +our beds ready for the night, then climb on the big rock and watch the +lights of the city come on. When they were all lighted it looked like a +big, illuminated checker board out there on the plain. We'd get up early +in the morning, then, and climb to the Devil's Horn to see the sunrise. +My! but it's a gorgeous sight on a cloudy morning. The last time we were +there we sure did have a mighty queer experience--" + +"Come on, fellows, let's travel along, or we'll not get anywhere +to-night. Ham, you can tell us your story while we are walking. We've got +to reach Dad's by four o'clock, or we'll never get to the Park by night," +said Phil, as he arose and adjusted his blanket roll preparatory to +starting. + +"Go on, Ham," urged Fat, who was always ready for a story, especially a +mountain story. "Let's have that tale of yours. I expect we'll need a +little salt with it won't we?" + +"There isn't much to it, after all, when you tell it, for it was the +night and the surroundings that made it so impressive. We had just +finished supper and were all sitting up on the big rock looking out +over the lighted city. As we sat there, every now and then we would hear +the strangest sound. It came from the timber away up behind the camp. At +first it sounded like a human voice--a kind of a long, sad sob. The night +was as dark as pitch, and as we sat listening the cold shivers began to +run up and down our backs. Sometimes the sound seemed to be answered from +far out in the dark valley. We speculated a good deal as to what it could +be, for it was such a sad, wailing call. Then suddenly way down the +valley a light appeared, not a large one, just a tiny, flickering, +ever-moving light. It seemed to me to be in the air just over the center +of the canyon, but the rest declared it was on the road below us. Then +the sad call came again and again. It seemed to be nearer this time. Then +came a far-away, dull, muffled sound, such as a horse would make on stony +road. The light came directly toward us, now, up the canyon. It resembled +a lantern being swung by some one, as if to give signals. We sat and +watched it for a long time, everybody talking in low whispers; and many +were the opinions as to what it really was. No one noticed just when, +but some time, without a second's notice, the light disappeared. We heard +the faraway sound of rolling stones, then all was quiet for a long time. +Two of us sat and listened far into the night. Several times we heard +that long, sad wail--a sort of hoo-oo-oo. A night breeze had risen, and +you fellows know how the wind moans in these pines. It was a mighty +lonesome night--just sitting there with your every nerve alert and as +wide-awake as you could ever get, just listening and watching. As soon as +it was light enough to see, we started for the summit of Cheyenne, up +through that mountain of granite boulders and mighty crags. I think we +were about half-way up, when some one noticed an immense black bird, +swinging in great circles, high in the air. Soon we smelled smoke, so +hurried on. The first long rays of light began to streak the sky, and we +knew we would have to hustle if we reached the summit by sunrise. The +crowd was pretty well strung out down the side of the mountain. Keller +and I were in the lead. The smell of smoke grew stronger and stronger. +The air was heavy that morning, and so forced the smoke down to us, from +somewhere on the summit. At last we came to a little plot of ground +surrounded on three sides with great rocks. From this pit-like nook the +smoke was slowly rising into the morning air. We climbed one side of the +great crags, then cautiously peered over. I was pretty excited, for I was +thinking just then of the awful tragedy that had occurred on Mount Cutler +the year before. What if we should find a dead man? Well, what do you +suppose we did find? I was dumbfounded. There below us were the dying +embers of a log-fire. The flames had long since died, and now it was +just smoldering and smoking. On either side of the fire lay a man, +well-wrapped in his blanket. A gun that for some reason looked very +familiar to me was leaning against the rock near their heads. We could +not see their faces from where we were, but like a flash I remembered +the gun by the leather-covered stock. The two men were Old Ben and a +young fellow who often went with him into the mountains. I never shall +forget how they looked when we waked them by dropping small pebbles from +above. As soon as they would stir a little, we would drop back out of +sight and listen. At last the young fellow muttered something and reached +for his gun. Then Old Ben awoke, sat up, and asked what was the trouble. + +"'I'd bet a dollar that rock just dropped on me from above.' Then he +turned his head and looked up into the sky. 'Great Scott, man, what a +place to sleep! A stone might have tumbled on us any minute.' Then he +scrambled to his feet and cried out, 'Man alive! take a look at that +eagle; what an immense bird!' We boys had forgotten the eagle on finding +the men, but we, too, looked upward, and there, not more than a hundred +feet in the air, directly over us, was the biggest bird I ever hope to +see. He seemed to be fixed, motionless, in the air, with wings +outstretched. Just then some of the rest of the boys came shouting up to +where we were. Ben heard them and shouted back. In a few minutes we were +all up on the rocks watching the bird. Ben wanted to shoot, but the other +man wouldn't let him, for he declared he was going to find the nest. It +must have been the smoke from the fire that first attracted the bird, +for it seemed to keep circling directly above the column of smoke. To +this day we never told who dropped the stones--I suppose they think the +eagle did it. + +"Well, as we sat there watching the eagle, the sun came up. There never +was such a sunrise before, I don't believe. There was a layer of fluffy, +fuzzy clouds, stretched out over the city as far as we could see. Then +the sun came slowly up--a great crimson ball of fire, the long, yellow +rays lighting up that sea of clouds and the pale-blue sky above, until +the scene looked like a great, boiling pot of gold. Then, far above us, +that immense black bird, wings still outstretched, just winging itself +round and round in great, even circles. I've seen many a choice bit of +mountain scenery, and many a sunrise and sunset, but never one just like +that. It isn't at all strange to me why the savages were nature +worshipers. How could they help it? + +"As we sat watching the ever-changing panorama of colored clouds, there +came to our ears, faintly but surely, that same sad call of the night +before. The great eagle paused a moment in his circling--then my heart +came into my mouth, for as we watched he folded his great wings, tipped +his head forward, and began to drop. I held my breath. Down, down he +came. I thought he must surely be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. He +was falling directly toward the great dead spruce, and it seemed that +nothing could save him from being torn to pieces. As suddenly as he had +begun to drop he spread his mighty black wings and swooped down to the +very tree we thought must be his death. He perched for a second on a +dead limb, then flew into a Douglas spruce, emerging in a second with +something in his talons. As he began to rise again, in long, spiral +flights, we heard the cry of distress from the unfortunate bird in his +claws. It was the same cry that we had heard in the night." + +"What was the light in the night? Did you ever find out?" ventured Phil. + +"O yes, I forgot to tell you. It was Daddy Wright on horseback, swinging +a lantern. He had been to the city, and was returning home. He passed Ben +and his friend and nearly frightened them to death. He was singing as he +came up the road, and was keeping time to his song with the lighted +lantern." + +"Twenty-five minutes to reach Dad's! Come, you fellows--loosen up your +joints. The climb up the gulch to the Park is a real one, and there isn't +a place in the canyon to camp," called Mr. Allen, as he started forward +at a more rapid gait. + +When they reached the farthest point of the big Horseshoe Bend, they +stopped to rest a moment before starting up the last long incline to +Daddy Wright's. + +"Isn't it really wonderful when you think of the obstacles men have +overcome just to accomplish their desired ends?" asked Mr. Allen as he +stood gazing out over the mountains. "Men have risked their very lives +just for the privilege of climbing into these old hills to look for gold. +Many were the narrow escapes from death by starvation or wild beasts +that these hills could tell of if they could speak. Did you ever stop to +think that if it hadn't been for the gold that God hid away here in this +Continental Divide, that perhaps the men in the old Eastern colonies +would never have crossed over and taken possession of the wonderful +Westland. It was the gold that was hidden under the snow and ice of +Alaska that beckoned men northward. This has always been true. The +prospectors of the Nation have always been its best explorers--certainly +they were its real frontiersmen. They led and civilization followed. +Think of the thousands of people who endured hardships of which we can +not even imagine just to follow westward that trail, blazed by such +sturdy old men as Dad Wright and others like him. I've heard Dad tell +many a time of that caravan of forty-niners, all their earthly +possessions packed in one of those old prairie schooners, drawn by slow, +patient oxen. I've heard him tell of the time gold was discovered in +Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek was just a part of the great wilderness, and +was only accessible by a series of uncertain trails. Yes, gold is a +precious metal, to be sure; but it is magical, too, for no sooner is it +discovered than a wave of industry is created. Upon a bleak and barren +spot a city is built in a week--a miracle of human energy. The Midland +Railroad kept great gangs of men working day and night, in order to +connect that great gold field with the outer world. Before long there was +a tremendous demand for a common wagon road 'to civilization,' as they +put it; and this very road that we are walking on came into being--an +outlet, if you please--for some of that wonderful, teeming, bubbling life +and industry created by the mere discovery of gold. + +"Soon this very road became the most important highway in the State. +Great wagon loads of food and tools went up, and bags of precious ore +came back. Stores were opened, schools were built, churches erected, +and homes founded. Civilization had found another desolate mountain +wilderness, and with her magic wand added it to her ever-widening +domain--all because some one had discovered gold. + +"Then came the first stage-coach. Daddy has often told me all about it. A +great, cumbersome affair, rolling and pitching on its leathers as it came +lunging and bumping along the rough, stony, mountain road. The driver was +seated high above the dashboard, nearly buried in boxes, bags, and +bundles, while the baggage till behind resembled a railroad truck piled +high with every kind and description of trunks. As it came to a sudden +stop in front of the little postoffice, its great, swinging side-doors +opened and the passengers scrambled out, each one handing +the jovial and loquacious driver a five-dollar note. + +"Soon it took four stages to satisfy the demand, one going each way night +and morning. It was at this stage of the game that Daddy built the famous +Road House. Here the horses were relayed, and here the passengers stepped +out to stretch their cramped limbs or, perhaps, to drink at Dad's spring. +Sometimes, on stormy nights, both stages, the one going up and the one +coming down, would be tied up for the night at Dad's. Then such times as +there would be in that old log house! Prospectors from every gold camp on +earth, promoters and mining brokers, surveyors and engineers, old-timers +and tenderfeet--all brought together by one single impulse--the craze for +gold. + +"Many were the mining claims that passed over the poker table there; many +were the conspiracies that were talked over and determined upon. Many +were the stories of the old Sante Fe trail and of the Pony Express, or +perhaps strange tales of Kit Carson as he roamed the great Westland +from Texas to Wyoming, trapping for fur and killing every treacherous +Indian that crossed his trail. You know Old Ben at Bruin Inn was for many +years a stage driver for Dad on this very road, and he is chuck full of +stories." + +"When are you going to tell us the story of the burning of the Road +House?" interrupted Ham. + +"Well," replied Mr. Allen, "if I don't succeed in getting Dad to tell it +to you himself, I'll tell it when we stop on top of that hogsback to +rest," pointing to a great, round hill in the canyon. + +"Do you think Dad will really tell us any of his stories?" queried +Willis. "My father used to know him, and he has stopped at this very +place. I'm sure he made many trips to Cripple Creek in those old stages." +Turning to Mr. Allen, he continued, "Wouldn't father think it awfully +strange if he knew I was tramping over the very road he used to travel so +often?" + +Mr. Allen and Willis dropped to the rear of the line, and Willis went on: + +"I've been thinking I'd ask Daddy Wright if he remembered my father, and +he might know where the mine is; and O, I'd so like to see it. I never +want to be a miner, but I'd just like to know all about mines, so I could +understand father better." + +"Well, it all depends on how Dad is feeling," returned Mr. Allen. "If he +is well he will be as glad to see us and as loquacious as a happy child; +but if not, he will hardly notice us at all. Leave the talking all to me. +He and I are old friends, and I always have some little treat in my +pocket for him. He will be looking for it if he is home, but sometimes he +is up at the mine." + +"O, he doesn't work a mine now, does he?" exclaimed Willis. + +"No, he doesn't exactly work it, but he owns one up in the gulch here +behind his cabin, and sometimes there is a man up there at work. I don't +know who he is." + +As they rounded a great boulder that jutted out into the road, the little +cabin of Daddy Wright came into view. A dog began to bark loudly, and +somewhere up in the canyon that runs at right angles to the road there +came the deep, muffled boom of a mine blast. + +"Guess they must be working the mine, after all; still, it might be one +of the others. There are half a dozen in this canyon, all of which have +been worked more or less. The owners work in the city until they can get +enough money to buy powder and grub stakes, then they work the mine for a +season on their earnings," remarked Mr. Allen. He was carefully surveying +the cabin and hill behind it. The dog had now come out from its shelter +and stood in the middle of the road, doing his utmost to wake the dead. +He evidently disliked visitors. + +"Dad can't be very far away, for Knepp is always at his heels. He is +nearly as old a timer as Dad himself, and as harmless. Hold on there, you +fellows up ahead," called Mr. Allen. "Let me do the introducing of this +party." + +The cabin was a little log affair, well-banked around the base with dirt +and moss to keep out the cold. To all appearances the only two openings +in it were the front door and a double window. One of the window panes +was covered over with the end of an old egg crate, and another, which was +not so badly shattered, was repaired by a burlap sack, wadded into +the opening. A big pine stood just outside the door and cast its shade +over the roofless veranda. At one side of the house stood an ancient, +moss-covered, hollow pine log, into which a pipe ran from the spring, a +few paces back in the gulch. This was the old stage watering-trough, +made by Dad himself when the big cabin was built. Directly up the road a +hundred paces stood the old stone chimney, a famous landmark of the +region. + +Mr. Allen went to the watering-trough and, filling his cup, called out: + +"Here, you fellows, do you want a drink of the greatest ale in the world? +It's the purest of Mother Nature's brews." + +The old pine door squeaked on its rusty hinges as it slowly opened. + +"Well, sir, I'll be dummed. Howdy, young 'uns! Whar d' ye hail frum? +Huntin' bar, er jist a roundin' up a bunch o' jay-birds? Haw, haw, haw! +Yer 'bout the fightin'est bunch o' young dandies I've seen sence the +war." + +Daddy Wright stood in the doorway, taking in every detail of the group. +He was a little, shriveled-up man, with small, watery eyes set well back +under shaggy white eyebrows. His head was protected by a very +disreputable and time-worn black hat that looked as if it might have been +in active service for at least a half a century. His clothes were shabby +and dirty, and his feet were bare. It was one of the peculiarities of the +old man that he rarely ever wore shoes, except in the coldest of winter; +then he preferred his old, home-made moccasins. His straggly, gray +whiskers were badly stained with tobacco from his constant companion--an +old, corncob pipe. He was short and stout, and had of late years become +very feeble, being just able to hobble about a little each day with the +aid of a cane. + +"Yew fellers with all yer fixin's remind me a heap o' some o' the gangs +o' green city fellers I used to see when I was freightin' on the old +Spanish Trail--all guns an' blankets an' fixin's, but not much real +explorin' blood in ye. Hain't that 'bout so? Say, Hallen, jist explain to +me what yer ca'clatin' to do with these yere young roosters. Explorin', +huh--jist as I thought. Kick me fer a stick o' dynamite if ye hain't the +beatenest bunch o' explorers I've seed in many a moon. Lookin' fer gold +mines? Suthin' bigger, I s'pose? I'd give half my grub stakes if Tad +could see ye. Explorin', eh? Yew remind me o' the time me an' Old Ben +went explorin' on Beaver Creek. We had 'nough truck 'long t' start a gold +camp, an' we walked an' explored an' explored. We must o' walked fer well +nigh onto three weeks, an' all we ever seed in all that time was a +pole-cat--an' we wished we hadn't o' seed him, fer Ben had t' bury every +livin' last stitch o' his duds an' walk home in his bare hide. Haw, haw! +I wisht Tad 'ud come 'long now an' take a squint at yew fellers--he'd +bust a bein' tickled!" + +"Dad, how is your good health these days?" inquired Mr. Allen, as he +handed the old man a little package he had taken from his haversack. Dad +took it, smelled it through the paper; then a pleased smile spread over +his face. + +"Smells like grains o' gold, Mr. Hallen. Thank ye. As fer me health, +never was no better sence I been here. A man can't git sick a livin' out +in this yere country all his life. I'll be ninety-five now, in jist a +few weeks, an' I'm as spry now as most any o' yew fellers. I'll live +longer'n some o' ye yit. Yep, I'm feelin' mighty spry agin sence Tad's +got back. Kind o' seems like the old days afore the shanty was burned. I +ca'calate them there devils must o' injoyed that performance." + +The fellows all stood at attention. Was the Road House story really +coming, and from Dad's very own lips? + +"It must have been a sad sight, wasn't it, Dad, to see your home +demolished in that fashion?" quietly suggested Mr. Allen, by way of +encouragement. + +"'T wan't near as sad a sight as some I have seed," replied the old man. +"'Bout the saddest sight I ever seed was of an old pard o' mine a +wanderin' over these almighty hills a sorrowin' out his life after he'd +lost his right down best friend in a mine cave-in. Poor old boy, he took +it mighty serious. He used to be the happiest prospector I ever swapped +lies with, till that devilish old tunnel caved in an' crushed the life +out o' the feller's pardner. He hain't never ben no 'count sence, till +lately. Now an' then he'd take a long, wanderin' trip back into these +yere gloomy ol' gulches, an' I've seed them as say they've heerd him away +off in the hills at night a callin' his pardner's name, an' a sobbin' an' +a carryin' on. He's a strong man--that's why he gits out into God +Almighty's hills to open his troubled heart, 'stead o' tellin' his +lonesomeness to men as would make fun o' him. That's 'bout the sorriest +sight I ever seed, an' I've seed 'bout my share on 'em--Indian killin's, +dynamite explosions, an' sech like. 'T ain't many fellers ever has as +real a friend as that!" + +"What finally happened to your friend, Dad--did he get over his sorrow +after a while?" + +"No, no, my boy, he never got over it. He got on top of it. I mind now +how he was gone a long spell in the timber; no grub, no duffel, no +nothin'--only his ol' gun. He lived off'n the bounty o' these yere wooded +hills, an' he let the spell o' God Almighty's woods an' crags an' streams +heal up his broken heart. Then he came back. I remember one mornin' he +come to my shanty, and a hungrier, starveder, wild-eyed feller ye never +seed in yer born days than him; but shoot me fer a pole-cat if he didn't +come back a smilin'. I was skeered he'd lost his mind. I was a pannin' +mud in the gulch up back o' the shanty when he come 'long the trail. I +jist looked, then I knowed what had happened. He had licked that awful +sorrow. He's ben off down in civilization now fer these ten years, but +now he's back agin. The silent company is callin' him, he says, an' he +jist has to have a free breath an' a little more pasture, an' this is the +only place he can git it." + +"He must have had an extraordinary companion, if he had learned to care +for him in that way," remarked Mr. Allen. + +"Extraordinary, yew say," began Dad in a low, measured tone. "Bet the +last button on your britches, he was that an' more. He was a youngish +feller, an' quick as scat. Knowed more 'bout machinery 'n all the other +fellers I ever knowed. Seems to me he growed up in Kankakee, or suthin' +like that, an' he was a--" + +"Where did you say he came from, Mr. Wright?" asked Willis in a voice +that betrayed his excitement. Willis had been thinking very rapidly as +Dad told his story. What was there in this strange tale that so +fascinated him, and made him want to cry aloud? He had never felt so +strange before. + +"Why, I don't 'zackly recollect," replied Dad. "It was Kankakee or +Kangaroo, er some sech name. Many's the night he's stopped with me in the +big cabin an' told me about all kinds o' machinery. The night the big +cabin burned he was here a showin' me a lot o' plans of machinery he had +got up himself. They were 'bout all he saved out o' the fire, 'cept his +hide, an' that was some scorched. + +"I never seed a man 'at went so plumb dumb crazy over a few gold nuggets +as him. 'T was here at the old cabin he met his pard, an' they made plans +fer a great minin' company. Of all the fellers they was settin' up +machinery in the mines a dozen years ago, this feller was the best o' +the lot. Why, oncet he rigged up a--" + +"O, Mr. Wright, were there lots of different men installing mine +machinery here in the early days?" inquired Willis. A note of anxiety +had crept into his voice. + +"More'n one, do ye mean, lad? Well, I should snicker. I mind oncet they +was five o' them at the cabin one night, an' every feller could prove +that his machinery was the best. Sech a jamborees o' arguatin' I never +heerd. I had to send 'em all t' their bunks t' keep 'em frum fightin'. +Laws, yes, plenty o' 'em, boy; but this one feller, I forgit his name, +now--my pard could say it quicker'n scat--was wuth all the rest o' the +bunch put together. He was a reg'lar genius with machinery." + +Dad had been filling his pipe from the package Mr. Allen had given him. +He now lighted it and began to smoke. Mr. Allen knew that there would be +no more stories that day, so, bidding good-bye to the old man, he +suggested to the boys that they make a start for the Park. After a last +drink from the cool, bubbling spring, they turned up the gulch, and were +soon lost from view. + +"Well, I hope you'll find explorin' a plenty, young fellers," called Dad. +"Keep yer eye peeled fer pole-cats. They's powerful friendly to strangers +in these parts." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A Wilderness Camp + + +As the little party climbed upward on the gulch trail, they were +discussing Dad and what they knew of his life. Each boy telling little +stories and incidents that he had heard concerning the old man. Willis +lagged behind, and did not seem to be particularly interested in the +conversation. + +"Well, old man, what are you so glum about?" inquired Ham. "One would +think you had been to a funeral instead of chatting with the most +humorous of old mountaineers. You aren't getting weak in the knees +already, are you?" + +Mr. Allen came to the rescue. + +"No, Ham, he's just like me--busy thinking of the really admirable +qualities of the old man. You would have to hunt a long, long time these +days before you would find another such old timer as Dad. He has lived a +rough life all his days. He has been knocked about from pillar to post +for ninety long years. Just think of the store of experience that is +gathered into that one life--frontiersman, cattle man, freighter, +prospector, business man, soldier, and philosopher. Through all his +disappointments, hardships, and discouragements he has still remained a +decided optimist, always happy and cheerful, and is a veritable sage when +it comes to good, common horse-sense. I'd rather take Dad's opinion of a +man than any one's I know of in this world. It wouldn't be in polished +English, but it would be shrewd and just." + +From up the valley there came several long, heavy thuds. They soon +reached the point where the valley widened out and the underbrush +disappeared to give place to a splendid growth of tall, clean Douglas +spruce. Somewhere back in the timber a woodsman was chopping. + +As the trail wound in and out among the great tree trunks, the party soon +came to a little clearing on which was pitched a small tent. Close beside +it a little spring trickled out of a fissure in the rocks. At the far +side of the tent, with his back to the approaching group, worked a man. +He was engaged in chopping young spruce logs into lengths for mine props. +Fat called out in his cheeriest voice, "Hello, there; must be going to +build a cabin!" The man turned and a broad smile crossed his face. + +"Yes, an underground one," he said. Then, in a surprised tone, he +continued, "Well, well, aren't you the fellows I saw over at Ben's place +the other evening?" Without waiting for a reply, he went on: "Why, yes, +there is my friend of the wreck! How do you do, lad? It looks like you +fellows are going to make somewhat of a journey, from the appearance of +your traps. Where to, may I inquire? Looking for something definite, or +just out, like myself, to get a little of the wilderness spirit into your +systems?" + +"Well, I hardly expected to see you up here in the mountains," said +Willis. "It seems we have met a good many times since spring. What are +you doing up here, anyway?" He turned and surveyed the valley. + +"Well, I'll tell you," replied the man, as he leaned on his ax-handle. +"It's like this. When I was a young man, like yourself, I developed a +great love for life in the wilderness. My father was a mountain ranchman +in the Sierra Nevadas, so I had ample opportunity to satisfy my greatest +desire--to roam the hills and valleys and to learn first-hand the art of +getting along well in the wilderness by utilizing Nature's storehouse. As +I have grown older, I have found out that it is the only place where I am +permanently happy. Years ago my partner and myself located this mine, +along with some others; but because of lack of capital, this one was +never developed." He pointed his finger to a pile of loose, freshly-mined +rock just up the hill from his tent. "I've been railroading for the last +ten years, but was awfully unlucky; so after the last smash-up I decided +I would come back and see what this old mine held for me. It's a funny +thing about mines, boys--you can dig and work, work and dig, and be more +or less contented as long as you find nothing but prospects. But when you +dig up a little of the real gold, you get terribly impatient until you +find it in paying quantities. I've had the gold fever for twenty years." + +"Do you think there is anything in any of these mines on Cheyenne +Mountain?" inquired Willis. "My father owned a mine somewhere on this +mountain; but I expect that it was a good deal like your mine--never +developed. I'd love to find it, though, just because it was his. He +was killed in a mine accident, somewhere in these hills, when I was a +small boy." + +The miner's face went suddenly white. His eyes partially closed and his +hands shook, as he muttered something about, "Just as I thought," then +continued, "Well, I--" He changed his mind, and, turning to his woodpile, +chopped vigorously for some moments. When he spoke again Mr. Allen +noticed that his voice was husky and that he was scrutinizing Willis with +special care. + +"I can't tell you to whom all these holes belong, but some of them I +know. That one over there was located by Old Ben at Bruin Inn. That one +with a dump of black rock," pointing up the opposite side of the canyon, +"belongs to a real estate firm in Colorado Springs--Williams and +somebody." He never took his eyes from the boy's face as he spoke. + +"Williams, why--why, my Uncle, Williams, is a real estate man, but I +didn't know that he--" + +The miner, still eyeing the boy carefully, interrupted him by adding, +"And the hole directly to one side, and on the same property, belonged to +a young engineer, and was located many years ago. The Williams shaft has +been sunk in the last few years. That hole has the very best prospects of +being something of any on the mountain. The Williams outfit restaked the +claim because the assessment work had not been kept up by the original +owner." + +"What was the original owner's name? Do you know? You say he was a young +engineer?" + +"Yes, his name was Thornton." The man dropped his head and worked the +heel of his boot nervously in the dirt. "I used to know him quite well, +years ago." Then he added, in a slow, hesitating tone, "I haven't seen +anything of him for nearly a dozen years." + +The corners of Willis's mouth twitched nervously. He tried to speak, but +couldn't. He came a couple of paces nearer to the miner, stopped, picked +up a slender twig, and began to whittle it thoughtfully. + +"Would you mind telling me all about him--all you know?" asked Willis. +The miner looked at him curiously a minute, then asked, in a quiet, +well-controlled voice, "Did you know the man, lad?" + +"Not so well as I would like to have known him, sir; but perhaps I may +get better acquainted with him now. He was my father, but I hardly +remember him, except for the stories and pictures that mother has told me +about. I've always wanted to know more about him." + +"I can't tell you much, my boy," returned the miner in a kind, friendly +voice, "only that he was the best man that ever set a hoisting plant in +this region, and the finest, cleanest young fellow that ever came into +these hills. Every man was his friend." + +"Did you ever know a Mr. Kieser who was a friend of my father's?" asked +Willis, after a moment's thought. + +"Seems like I did," replied the miner, "a great many years ago, but he + disappeared from this region long since." + +"Did you say the mine which once belonged to my father seemed to be the +best in the canyon?" broke in Willis. + +"Yes, it did, the last I knew of it; but nothing ever came of it, except +that there have been two men there to-day, preparing to do this season's +assessment work. You can never tell, you know, about a gold mine, for +most of them have just been 'holes full of hope,' and the hope usually +leaked out sooner or later." + +Chuck halloed from up the trail to get under way, or they would never +reach the top by dark. + +"Going to camp up in the Park to-night, I presume?" asked the miner. + +"Yes, if we can make it," replied Mr. Allen. "Have you been up to the top +lately?" "Yes, I was up yesterday, and it's a grand sight at this season +of the year. The Maraposa lilies are blooming in great profusion, and the +spring is running a fine little stream. I had a very pleasant surprise up +there, too. Years ago there was a large herd of deer which lived in that +park, but they were supposedly all killed off. Yesterday, about this +time, as I sat on a dead log just back from the spring, quietly thinking +over some of the memories of old times when I had hunted on that very +ground, I heard the dry twigs snap, and, turning, I saw a doe and two +tiny, spotted fawns cross the park and enter the timber at the other +side. If you build a fire to-night you may get a glimpse of them." + +"I'm coming to have a long talk with you some of these days," called +Willis as they started off. + +At last the entrance to the Park was reached, and they came upon a +stretch of level ground. The entire country changed. Instead of the stony +tallus of the canyon, there was soft, black soil under foot. Instead +of the great spruces and firs scenting the air, there were only tall, +stately aspens on every side, their leafy tops lost in the deepening +shadows. Instead of the ground cedar and berry bushes, wild grass grew in +rank profusion. The air was tinged with a faint fragrance, and somewhere +in the distance came the sound of gently-splashing waters, "Like a voice +half-sobbing and half-laughing under the shadows." + +The party halted and turned to the right of the trail, where a great, +lone pine tree stood on a little rise of ground, directly above the tiny +spring. This was to be the camping spot for the night. Packs were quickly +removed and unfolded, dry sticks gathered for the fire, and sweet-scented +balsam boughs were cut and brought to the tree. One generous bed was +made, big enough for all, close in front of the camp-fire. Mr. Allen +cleaned and filled his small acetylene lamp--"In case of need," he said. +The guns were stacked in a handy place and supper operations gotten under +way. + +"It sure does smell awfully good up here," began Phil. "I wish we had +gotten here before dark--I'd like to have had a little look around before +I went to sleep. Who knows but we may be sleeping ten yards from a bear's +den. We are up in a real wilderness, now!" + +"Bears, your grandmother!" snorted Ham, as he deftly opened a can of +baked beans with his pocket knife. "A lot of great big bare spots is +about all you could find. Say, Phil, on the dead square, what would you +do, now, if a black bear would sneak down here to-night and crawl into +bed with you?" "I'd say, 'Mr. Bear, if you want a real sweet, tender +morsel that's easily digested, just help yourself to that little imported +Ham over there.'" A roar of laughter went up from the others. + +Chuck was philosophizing about the value of gathering food while it was +yet day, as he sat stowing away his quart of fresh raspberries. + +"You can have all you want of them," retorted Mr. Allen. "I'm seedy +enough now, without eating those things." + +"What's the matter, Willis? Did we walk you too hard?" inquired Fat. + +"No, I could walk a hundred miles yet to-night," replied Willis, as he +sliced up his bacon preparatory to frying it. "But this has been a very +wonderful day for me. It's all so new, you know, and I'm green, too. +Besides, it all has a very special significance to me, some way. I love +it. I like it better than anything in the world. I could live this way +forever. I'm sure I could write poetry to-night, or paint a great +picture, or even sing. It's a wonderful feeling. Did you ever feel that +way? It's the charm of the great out-of-doors." + +"I think we had better picket Willis to-night," dryly remarked Ham. "He's +liable to be floating off in his enthusiasm. But if he happens to be +fortunate enough to lie on a friendly pine knot all night, he'll feel +differently in the morning." + +So the merry talk went on. After supper bigger logs were laid on the +fire. A collapsible canvas bucket, filled with drinking water, was hung +on a low limb of the tree, and the supply of night wood was conveniently +placed near Mr. Allen's end of the bed. + +Then Ham got a long, cotton bag, from which he produced several handfuls +of pinion nuts. They were always the introduction to the camp-fire +stories. He seated himself, drew his knees up close to his body, leaned +back against the great tree trunk, and shouted: "All aboard, let her +flicker. What's first? Mr. Allen, let's have that promised story you +didn't get out of Dad. I believe you just side-tracked him on purpose, so +you could tell it yourself. Come, now, wasn't that it?" He began to +whistle in a low tone as he waited for the story. Fat stretched himself +at full length before the fire, his head resting on his blanket roll. +Phil had backed up on one side of Mr. Allen and Willis on the +other. Everybody was waiting. + +"Well, once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a little fairy," +began Mr. Allen. + +"You don't say so," interrupted Ham, as he tossed a stick into the fire +in a disgusted manner. "Was it fairy long ago? I can recite Mother Goose +rhymes myself. You'll have to do better than that." + +Phil nudged Mr. Allen in the ribs and chuckled to himself. + +"Well, then, how's this: Not many years ago, in a wonderful little +village, there--" + +"Was a wooden wedding at which two Poles were married," interrupted Ham, +with a mischievous grin on his face. + +"You're kind of hard to please, Ham," suggested Fat, as he rolled over to +warm his other side. + +"How's this? The night was dark and stormy," started in Mr. Allen. Ham +settled back contentedly. "That's something like it. 'The night was dark +and stormy,' and what else?" + +"Well, if you must have it. I have heard a good many stories of how the +Old Road House was burned, but they are all different. Which one shall I +tell you? I'll tell you the one that Daddy tells himself, because it +probably comes nearest the truth. As a matter of fact, though, I don't +believe any one knows just how it burned down. + +"You know Dad spent his boyhood on a great southwestern cattle ranch, and +knew at first hand a great many things about Indians and tramping and +mining and 'explorin',' as he calls it. Just why he left this ranch life +he never told me exactly, but I know he had his first case of real gold +fever in forty-nine, and has never gotten over it. His father was a +United States marshal, and was instrumental in gathering in a number of +the most notorious criminals of his day. One of Dad's favorite stories is +of the capture of a gang of Mississippi River pirates. + +"It was Dad's father that finally cleaned out this great nuisance when he +captured Mason, their leader, through the treachery of his fellows. When +the final raid was made, Dad, who was then a young man, was one of the +party. It seems that there was a certain boy in this pirate gang who +escaped, after having been arrested with the others. Several years later +Dad had occasion to remember the threats this boy had made to him at the +time of the raid. + +"Dad was out on a trapping trip with a group of professional trappers, +and, as was the custom, each man had taken with him two good horses, one +to carry his share of the hides and his food supply, the other to be used +in case of emergency. They were trapping in the Arkansas valley, and +after a few weeks out they began to suspect that their camp was being +watched by a large band of hostile Indians. They understood the situation +perfectly. The Indians were not following them for murder or for a mere +fight, but for their horses and furs. They would not attack, however, +until they were reasonably sure of getting away with the desired booty +without loss of life to their own party. + +"The trappers' hunt had been a very successful one, and a large amount of +money was already represented in the heavy packs of fur. Each night these +packs of fur were carefully arranged in a big circle, forming a crude +rampart for the party. The furs gave the men reasonable safety as they +slept, for no arrow, however swift, could penetrate a roll of green +hides. The horses were always securely fastened not far from the camp, +and guards posted at night. + +"Finally the ideal night for attack came. It was dark as pitch, not even +a star showing in the cloudy sky. As night fell, it was so stormy that +the usual night guard was not deemed necessary. Instead, every man went +to sleep. Sometime in the night Dad was suddenly awakened by the pounding +of many hoofs on the hard gravel of the valley. In less than a second the +entire camp was awake, and every man gripped his rifle in readiness. No +one dared to leave the rampart. Safety lay in being all together. The +pounding of hoofs grew louder and louder, the picketed horses whinnied, +then there was a wild gallop past the little camp, accompanied by +fiendish yells. Not a man dared to investigate, for fear of ambush. All +that they could do was to patiently await the coming of morning. + +"With the first rays of light all looked anxiously toward where the +horses had been picketed so carelessly. They were gone, every one of +them. A hasty examination told the tale. Under the cover of the intense +darkness, the hobbles and the picket ropes had been cut at the pins, so +as not to disturb the horses or waken the sleeping trappers. After the +ropes were cut, the Indians had ridden pell-mell past the free animals, +and they, finding their fastenings gone, had joined the stampede. It was +a clever game, and the trappers had lost. What were they to do--fifteen +days' journey from any assistance, and not a horse within a hundred +miles? + +"As they climbed a hill on the far side of the river, to take a look at +the surrounding country, they heard a faint whinny, and there, in the +bottom of the gulch, lay one of their horses, stretched at full length. +His feet had become entangled in the long picket rope, and he had fallen +at the edge of the washout with a badly-broken leg. The party gathered +about the unfortunate animal, lamenting the fact that he must be shot to +relieve him of his suffering. + +"As they stood talking, Dad noticed a movement in a nearby clump of +bushes. Was he mistaken? He quietly told his partner what he had seen, +and, with rifles leveled, the two cautiously approached the spot. There +was, however, no need of fear, for it turned out to be only a young +Indian boy, and he badly injured. He had probably been riding the horse +before its fall. Everybody was for instantly shooting the lad except Dad, +who protested, explaining that the boy might be able to give them +valuable information as to the number of Indians in the war party, and +something of their future plans. This seemed to be reasonably wise, so +the wounded Indian was taken back to the trappers' camp. + +"For many days he kept silence, never once speaking to any one, growing +weaker and weaker every day from his injuries. Finally he was taken with +an awful fever, and every man in the party knew that nothing could +possibly save him. Dad nursed him and cared for him as patiently as if he +had been one of their own party. When the Indian learned that he was to +be treated kindly for the present, at least, he called for Dad, making +feeble signs that he wanted to talk to him secretly. After a long and +painful effort he made Dad understand who was with the band of Indians, +and why they had watched the trappers so long and so closely. There was a +certain pale face with them who was their leader and who had been a 'heap +big robber' on the big river. He had offered a reward for Dad's life to +every Indian in the party. He had invented the stampede, and when the men +were faint with hunger and watching, they would be back to kill them all. +Dad was to be hung in honor of the occasion, to celebrate the day the +pirate had made his escape from Dad's father. In a few hours the Indian +died. Dad kept his secret to himself, although he was greatly disturbed +over it. He was being hunted--hunted by a savage worse than any red man +that ever shot a bow or took a scalp. He remembered, now, that many of +his comrades of that memorable raid had since mysteriously disappeared. +The truth flashed upon him in an instant. Shorty Thunder, the river +pirate, was taking his revenge. Slowly but surely he was hounding down +every man that had sought his life that day. + +"In a few days the trapping party was picked up by another hunting party. + +"What's the matter, Ham? Are you getting sleepy?" called Mr. Allen as he +arose to replenish the fire. Ham had sprawled out on the ground and was +looking off into the dark woods, all alert. + +"Sh-h-, you," he whispered as he motioned them not to move. "I saw +something move out there in those bushes just now; I'll bet my hat on +it." + +"O sugar," said Phil. "Something moved, did it? What do you suppose it +was, an elephant?" + +Just then Fat raised his finger cautiously. "Quiet, there, a second, you +rubes. Use your eyes more instead of your mouths, and you'll see more. +Can't you see that light spot right over there?" pointing into the +darkness with a very crooked stick he had been fooling with. All sat +quietly listening and watching, but to no avail. They could see nothing. + +"Go on with your story, Mr. Allen," urged Ham. "What's river pirates got +to do with the destruction of the Old Road House, that's what I'd like to +know." The crowd settled themselves again for the rest of the story. + +"Well, it's like this, Ham," continued Mr. Allen. "Every great story has +a preface, and I've been telling you the preface so far." Ham let out a +few long, extra well-developed snores. "Say, Fat, wake me when he gets to +the beginning of the first chapter, will you?" + +"Finally Dad came to Colorado--just why, I don't know; but he prospected +hereabouts a good deal in the early days, and when gold was discovered in +Cripple Creek he was right on hand. In 1873, I think it was, the county +built the Cripple Creek Stage Road. Dad was a pretty old man then, but +not too old to see his opportunity. With a little outside capital, he +constructed that famous mountain inn, the Road House. In a short time +after it opened for business it became a very popular place, and was soon +producing a nice little revenue for Dad. + +"The night the house was burned, you remember, I said was dark and +stormy. It was in the summer, and a typical mountain storm was in full +blast. The thunder and lightning were terrific. When the down stage +pulled up at the inn, just before dark, they decided to stay for the +night, fearing a possible cloudburst. It happened that the stage was full +of passengers that night. There was a little Irishman who had just +discovered a fine ledge of onyx out north of Cripple Creek, and a couple +of engineers who had been surveying for a mine over in Cookstove Gulch. +Besides these there was a hard-looking old scalawag, who kept his +business all to himself. As they sat at supper, Dad noticed that the +old-timer eyed him very closely, yet had nothing to say; and as he looked +back on that night, long after the fire, he remembered a lot of little +incidents that gave evidence to his own theory. For instance, several +times during the evening the old stranger rose from his seat and went out +into the night. He seemed very nervous about something. He did not mingle +with the other men, but sat well back in the corner by himself. When it +became time to go to bed, the old man insisted on sleeping on a couch +near the fireplace. Old Ben, who was there at the time, said afterward he +remembered some one moving about the cabin in the night. + +"The storm was at its worst. Suddenly out of the raging storm Dad's dog +let out a long, fierce yelp, followed by several low growls. Dad shouted +down to him to be quiet, supposing he had smelled a coyote or a pole-cat +outside. He was quiet for a few moments, then a second time he howled and +scratched at the door. There was a loud cursing, that was nearly lost in +a peal of thunder, then the cry of 'Fire!' The smoke of the burning logs +was already streaming up the open stairway. The outside door opened and +shut, yet the dog was left inside. Almost before the sleeping guests +could grab their clothes, the whole house was a sheet of flame. There was +a wild scramble for the back stairway. Dad hurried down the front way, +stumbling through the smoke to the door. The dog gave a joyous bark and +sprang toward him. As he opened the door, he stumbled over a large +oil-can that always stood just under the stairway. He didn't think of +it at the time because of his excitement, but later, as he puzzled over +the real cause of the fire, he remembered with startling distinctness +his stumbling over the empty oil-can, which he knew had been full the +day before. As months went by he put this with other little bits of +information, and he believed he understood, yet he had no proof. The old +man who had slept downstairs had oiled the entire first floor, then set +it afire. But why? That was the question. + +"He remembered how the old man had insisted that the house had been +struck by lightning. Dad never saw him again after that night, but a few +months afterwards he recognized him in a description of one of the +robbers of a stage coach, held up at Duffield's. Then, like a flash, it +came to Dad. The old-timer was his enemy of the river pirates, old Shorty +Thunder. He had accidently stumbled onto Dad here in these mountains, and +had determined to settle scores once for all. He had meant by setting +fire to the cabin to burn Dad alive, and if it hadn't been for the dog he +probably would have succeeded." + +"Great old tale," sighed Phil, as he arose and stretched himself. + +"Let's turn in," suggested Fat, "for you know we have some walking ahead +of us to-morrow." "Second the motion," joined in Ham. "Me for a good, big +drink, though, to wash that fairy tale down. How about it?" + +The little party gathered close about the fire after all final +arrangements had been made for the night. Boots were pulled off and set +away from the fire. Watches were wound and trousers unbuckled. They had +all instinctively looked toward the "Chief." He had drawn close to the +fire, and was turning over the leaves of a pocket Testament. + +"What will you have to-night, fellows, from the Great Spirit's Message +before we sleep?" + +"The one about the lilies," said Ham thoughtfully. "There are several big +ones in bloom just at the head of my bed." The "Chief" began to read in +low, reverent tones. + +"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, +how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto +you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of +these." So he went on reading till he came to the end of the chapter, +after which there was a short, reverent prayer, and they were ready for +bed. + +"They talk about cold, clammy churches being the House of God," snorted +Ham, as he snuggled down into his blanket, "but they aren't in it with a +night like this spent in the open in such a country." + +"There's a good deal of the primitive man in you yet, Ham," said Mr. +Allen, as he spread out his blanket before the fire. + +"How do you make that out?" asked Ham. + +"Well, you're just like all the primitive people of long ago. You love +nature and the out-of-doors. All these things appeal to you tremendously; +but you love them more than the Great Power of which they are just an +expression. The only difference between our religion and that of the +Nature worshipers is that they worship the manifestations of Nature, but +we go beyond that and worship the Great Spirit that is able to create +such a Nature." "Too deep for me, too deep for me; I'm no philosopher," +grunted Ham, as he rolled over and settled himself for a good night's +sleep. + +Tad Kieser stood watching the little group as they climbed up the winding +trail, then he slowly returned to his chopping. + +"Shoot me for a pole-cat, as Dad would say," he remarked half-aloud, as +he spat on his hands and raised the heavy ax over his head. "He's the +very spit'n image of Bill, now that's dead sure, and there's one thing +more that's certain." He was interrupted in his thoughts by the loud +report of a gun somewhere up on the mountain side. Turning his head +toward the Williams claim, he saw the two men who had gone up the trail +to the mine late that morning shooting at a great hawk that was circling +in the sky far above them. + +"That mine belongs to the boy, but how's he going to get it?" + +He busied himself about his camp the rest of the afternoon, then in the +early evening he strolled down the trail to chat with Dad a little before +bed-time. Many an evening he had spent with Dad, sitting with him in +front of his cabin, talking over old times and bygone years. As Tad came +down the trail, the smell of Dad's simple supper came floating up to him. +He had forgotten to eat, but perhaps Dad would share his meal with him. +He pulled open the old pine door and entered. Dad sat at his little table +eating, his faithful dog at his feet, patiently waiting for his share of +the meal, for he had learned from years of experience that it would be +something. + +"Howdy, Tad, strike it rich to-day? S'pose ye jist been a shovelin' out +nuggets all day long, till yer tired o' seein' 'em, hain't ye? Tad, I +seed the beatenest bunch o' young'uns to-day ye ever seed in yer life, +all on a explorin' trip o' some kind." + +"That so?" replied Tad, "must have been the same party I saw. Did you see +that tall, slender lad with the brown eyes and dark hair?" + +"Yep, b'lieve I did, come t' think on it, only I didn't pay much +pertic'lar 'tention to none of 'em." + +Tad helped himself to an old chair, and, leaning back against the wall, +lighted his pipe. He was quiet for a long time, then he spoke in a slow, +thoughtful manner, his pipe held firmly between his teeth, his eyes +fixed on a spot far away down the mountain. + +"Dad, the boy has come. He's come to me, and he's just like his +father--tall and straight and clean-cut. Dad, he needs a father, and +perhaps I'll have to act in that capacity yet, who knows, for that +uncle of his is a rascal and will bear a good deal of watching." + +"What? Ye don't mean the young feller ye was a tellin' me about the other +evenin'? Bill's boy really come to the mountains?" asked Dad, becoming +interested at once. + +"Yes, he's here, Dad, as sure as I'm a living man. He went up this trail +this afternoon, and I talked with him. He asked about his father the +first thing; said his father owned a mine up here somewhere, and asked me +if I knew Tad Kieser." + +"Shoot me fer a pole-cat. Well, I'll be dum-swizzled, course ye told him +Yep, ye knowed him a little, didn't ye?" + +"No, Dad, I didn't, and that's just what I've come down to talk to you +about this evening. You see, it's like this: If I had told him who I was, +that would have been the end of it, but if he doesn't really find out who +I am for a while yet, perhaps I can locate a paying gold mine for him. +I always have felt that I owed him at least that much." + +"So ye didn't tell him?" pondered Dad. "Well, Tad, yer head is a sight +longer'n mine is, an' I s'pose ye know what's best; but, my boy, let me +give ye a little advice: If ye wait till ye find a real gold mine in +these here parts, the boy's likely as not to die o' old age 'fore ye find +it." + +"Perhaps so, Dad. Perhaps you're right; but then, if I don't ever find +it, I won't tell him who I am, because he'd be disappointed. He thinks +his father owned a real mine in these mountains somewhere, and he's +looking for it. Do you know, I've been wondering--no, it can't be, +though; I suppose I'm foolish, but someway, I've always felt that I ought +to have been man enough to have worked the old tunnel just a little +farther. Bill was so certain that things looked better, and--" + +"Tad, hain't ye ever been in the old hole sence that day, honest Injun? I +used t' think that's where ye went when ye'd go off fer a week er ten +days in the hills all by yerself." + +"No, Dad, I give you my word, I've never been in that hole since the day +I carried poor Bill's broken body out. I've never been near since I put +that great, heavy lock on the door, and then I dropped the only key into +the old shaft. I thought that perhaps some time the temptation to go back +in might be too strong, and I'd do it." + +Both smoked silently for a long time, then Dad spoke: + +"S'posin' somebody would jump ye over yonder, Tad. What's to hinder 'em +a breakin' in an' startin' operations? I've heerd tell that old Williams +claimed that property, but course it's a dern lie--" + +"He couldn't jump it, Dad, because I hold the deed to it. We proved up on +that, you know, the summer before; but I believe Williams does hold a +placer claim on the property. You know placers can run into regular lode +claims. He could claim the tunnel, all right, too, I suppose, if the +owner couldn't be found. Especially since he seems to be the only +relative Bill had, except his wife." + +"What do ye s'pose ever possessed that old pole-cat to stake a placer +claim jest there, 'stead o' somewhere else? The dirt won't pan color, +will it?" asked Dad. "That's just what has bothered me, Dad. The only way +that I can figure it out is that Williams got some inkling of the +prospects of the tunnel from some of Bill's papers or letters. It wasn't +two weeks after Bill died till that old skinflint went tramping up there +and staked that placer claim. He's worked assessments on it every year +since. One year he repaired the cabin, and one year he built a dam; at +other times he built a bridge and a trail, and dug an assessment hole or +two--most anything to get in the required hundred dollars' worth of +working. It's that, more than anything else, that has set me to wondering +just what was in the old hole, after all, that made him so interested. +Bill was conscious long enough to talk a little before he died, and I +never believed that Williams told me the truth about what he said. It's +taken me a long time to think it all out, but I believe there is +something I don't know about the deal." + +"Well, who knows, Tad, who knows; maybe we're a sittin' on a pile o' gold +nuggets this minute; but we'll never see 'em; mark my words, boy, we'll +never see 'em. God Almighty's a savin' 'em fer somethin', if there is +any, an' if we ain't to have 'em, we'll never git 'em, that's sure." +After a few vigorous puffs, Dad lapsed into a long silence, and soon Tad +arose to go. + +"Good-night, Dad, good-night," he said in an absent-minded way, as he +started through the old door and up the trail. + +Some time in the night the clouds broke and the stars came out clear and +shining. A warm current of air came gently up from the valley, softly +shaking the ever-responsive leaves of the stately aspens. The night was +absolutely still, and the fire had burned down till all that remained of +it was a rounded heap of brightly-glowing embers. Far, far away a turtle +dove was calling--calling so softly that it almost seemed to be +imagination. Now and then a katydid would lift its tiny voice for a few +seconds. + +Willis rose cautiously on one shoulder, and looked about him. He placed +his hand to his ear and gazed intently out into the darkness. What was +that? He shut his eyes that he might hear the better. He could not be +mistaken, he had heard a dry twig snap--one, two, three little dry, +rasping sounds. Perhaps it was just a rabbit or a squirrel. Again he +raised himself cautiously on his shoulder and peered out into the +shadows. There! another snap, this time nearer and more distinct. The +night breeze gently fanned the dying embers. Suddenly there was a series +of gentle little patters on the dead leaves just outside the circle of +light. Would he awaken Mr. Allen, or would he watch by himself. Hardly +had the thought entered his head when, without a sound, and without being +conscious that another was watching, Mr. Allen slowly arose to a sitting +posture and stared out into the forest in the same direction. + +"What is it, Mr. Allen?" softly whispered Willis. Mr. Allen jumped a +trifle. "O, I don't know; I heard it a couple of hours ago. I'd like to +see a wild animal, wouldn't you? I think it must be the fire that +attracts it. I'd like to light my dark lantern, but I hate to strike a +match." He leaned over to the fire, picked up a dry pine needle, and +lighted it in the fire, applying the tiny flame to his opened lantern. +Quietly Mr. Allen opened the shield, and a long, bright gleam swept +noiselessly out into the darkness, revealing with almost painful +distinctness the outlines of every stem of grass and flower. Then, far at +the end of the path of light, something moved. There were two small, +luminous spots, then in an instant two more, a little larger. Slowly the +shifting lights and shadows took shape, and there, before them, stood two +deer--a doe and a tiny fawn. + +"O, aren't they beautiful?" whispered Willis. Just then the fawn left its +mother's side and came fearlessly down the path of light--one, two, six +steps--staring into the wonderful, dazzling beam. There was a gentle call +from the mother, and in an instant they had disappeared into the shadows +from whence they had come. There was a bound, a broken twig, a rustle +of dead leaves, and all was quiet again. + +For a long time Willis and Mr. Allen waited, watching for them to return; +but they did not come. The fire slowly died out and turned into a pile of +ghostly ashes, while the party slept on until morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The Second Day Out + + +Ham was the first to awaken in the morning. A pair of saucy jays had +been gossiping about the little party for nearly an hour. At first they +just exchanged ideas, making their observations from a reasonable +distance. One perched on the topmost limb of a dead pine, the other +bobbing up and down on the slender twigs of a neighboring aspen. + +"Those crazy jabberers would dispute the identity of their own mates," +exclaimed Ham, as he pulled on his trousers and got into his high boots. +"They talk about some folks always having too much to say, but--O, shut +up, you noisy robbers!" He reached for a heavy stick, and sent it +flying into the air toward the aspen. There was a flapping of wings, a +harsh, scolding threat, and the jays retreated to talk it over. + +Very soon the camp was all astir, and there was a general call for a +fire. + +"You don't want to forget that we have the most important ceremony of +this entire trip to go through with here yet this morning before any of +us can eat breakfast. What's your hurry, anyway? Get busy here, Fat, and +get another armful of wood like this that I have. In about three shakes +we'll have an altar built and we'll have our oracle fire burning in less +than a jiffy. Be quick, now, but don't disturb the Spirit," cried Ham. + +"Oracle fire, your grandmother," interrupted Phil. "I'm as hungry as a +pet lion, and it's breakfast for me, and that right soon; oatmeal, a +boiled egg, and some rye bread sounds about right!" + +"Me, too," chimed in Fat, reaching for his haversack. "Hungry's no name, +and I don't believe I brought enough grub, either." + +"Stop!" shouted Ham. "Now, Mr. Philip Dennis, Jr., hear your humble +servant, the Spook Doctor, for just about a second. Long, long ago, even +before our friend, Zebulon Pike, took his first peek at Pike's Peak, +there was a custom common to all the Indian tribes about us," making a +gesture to include all the surrounding country, "and it was believed +absolutely necessary to the happiness and well-being of their mighty +warriors to indulge in this orgy at stated seasons." Ham was making +wild gestures as he went on with his mock oratory. "Never was a hunt +started, never was a journey undertaken, never a distant quest sought +after, until the tribe had first slept, then gathered around the mystic +altar of the Spook Doctor." + +"Ham, you're a regular heathen," called Mr. Allen from his blanket. "What +has the altar got to do with it, anyway?" + +"Well, it's just like this," continued Ham. "After the first night's +slumbers we build an Indian signal fire just like this, then in bare feet +and empty stomachs we dance around the fire and implore the Mighty Night +Wind to interpret the dreams we have had during our first night out. +They never fail to disclose the outcome of the journey, whether it will +be a success or a failure." As he bent over and lighted the fire, he +said, "You may be seated." + +The childishness of it all appealed to every one of them, and they did as +they were commanded. Then Ham solemnly and weirdly called, "Fat, you're +first. Hurry, while the smoke is curling, curling upward." + +Fat arose and made mock obeisance to the fire. + +"My dream was a very queer one, but most too short to have a real +meaning. I dreamed I was in a big barnyard and all I could see was +pigs--little pigs, big pigs, and all kinds of pigs--and they were all +standing around an empty trough. Now, Mr. Wise Man, tell me what that has +to do with a quest for a cabin site, will you?" + +Phil rolled over and chuckled to himself. "Oho, Fat, you will eat bacon +for supper, will you? while your poor fellow-travelers sup on a rare and +expensive can of beans. Ha-ha-ha! Eat pork and you dream of pigs." + +Ham looked long into the fire, then, turning, cried out: + +"I have it, I have it, the Spirit speaks. Fat, you will run out of +provisions long before this journey is over. You will eat all you have by +to-morrow, and never think of the days to follow. Beware, for so the +Spirit tells me." + +A roar of laughter went up from the others. + +"Mr. Allen, your dream next," called Ham, mystically. + +"Well, I dreamed of beautiful autumn days, spent in a splendid grove of +trees, cutting choice timbers for a cabin; and then I dreamed of a crowd +of old men, sitting before an open fire-place, telling about how they had +built a cabin long years before, when they were boys." + +"That needs no interpreter. Phil, your dream is now demanded. Tell it +truly, lie and you will live to suffer. Careful, now, and do not hurry." + +"Well, I dreamed a dandy," cried Phil. "I saw a crazy loon standing in +front of a fire, gazing into fiery embers, and--" There was a crackling +in the fire, a shower of sparks went up, and one of the altar stones +turned over. + +"O, how sad," groaned Ham, "that such a man should lie so to the great +Spook Doctor. In wrath he tears down the altar--hisses forth his +disapproval in clouds of tiny spark-thoughts. Willis, you are next. Now, +do not rile the mighty Master." "Well," said Willis, "my dream was not so +strange. I just dreamed over and over the thoughts I took to bed with me. +I saw cabins and mines and tunnels and miners of all descriptions, only +that there was one that looked very familiar, and it was a very hard one +to find and get to." Ham had failed to replenish the fire, and it had +burned to a tiny, smoldering heap of ashes. + +"I can not answer that one," said Ham, "for the Great Spirit has now left +me. Let's eat our breakfast, and I hope it will be more substantial than +these dreams." + +Soon breakfast was under way. It was a simple meal and soon over with. +Cooking utensils were washed and packs rolled, ready for the day's +journey. + +"What time of day?" asked Chuck. + +"Seven-ten," promptly replied Willis, "and just the time to be starting +through the Park, if we want to see it before the dew is gone." At the +spring they stopped to drink and to examine the deer tracks in the soft, +black muck. From there the trail led off, zigzaging down the gentle +slope. On either side of the path the wild grasses and ferns grew in rank +profusion, while scattered here and there on the soft, green carpet were +great numbers of dainty Maraposa lilies. Now and then a tall, green +stalk of the columbine could be seen, and occasionally a wooly circle of +bracts on the stem of a late anemone. At intervals tall ferns bent over +the woodland pathway, as if to hide and protect it for the private use +of the many tiny wild feet that scampered over it daily. + +"Isn't this great," cried Ham. "Just take a peek at that grove of trees. +I'll bet that grass is full of snakes and rabbits. I'd like to take a +shot at a big 'jack' this morning." + +"It's an old swamp," replied Willis. "Perhaps there was once a little +lake here. Wouldn't it be a swell place for a shanty? I'll bet it's full +of grouse." + +"I suppose it was once an Indian camping ground," suggested Mr. Allen. +"Just a little flat oasis on the summit of a granite mountain. Remember +where we came up last night? Now, look away off there," pointing his +finger. "We are ten thousand feet above the sea up here; up where we +can see how the world is made, and how beautiful it is." + +Soon the little park came to an abrupt end, and great boulders began to +loom up on every side. They came to the edge of the cliff, and could look +far down into the valley below. Away to the west stood Black Mountain, a +rounded bluff, so densely covered with young timber that it seemed at a +distance to be a mountain of black dirt. Far below them could be seen the +silver thread of a tiny stream as it followed the canyon toward the sandy +plains. They had climbed out onto a great boulder, now, that overlooked +the canyon far below on one side and the level plains on the other. Here +they sat down to rest and talk. + +"Do you see that hollow spot in the plain there, just at the foot of the +mountain?" Mr. Allen was saying. "It is what has been known for many +years as the Big Hollow Ranch. It was homesteaded in the early days, +before the war, by our friend, Daddy Wright. There is a story that tells +of how, in those days, the Indians would lie in wait and steal cattle +from the great Texas roundups as they passed, enroute to Kansas City, and +would drive large numbers of the cattle into that great hollow. After the +cattle were driven inside, a few men could guard the opening while the +other Indians drove the cattle off into lonely ravines." + +"My! what a fire there must have been here sometime," exclaimed Willis, +noting the dead trees. "I have always wanted to see a forest fire; it +must be a grand sight." + +"Yes, if you're far enough away to be safe," joined in Chuck. "I saw one +once, but it was several miles away. It looked fine from there. It was +the year we camped at the old hatcheries up in the Middle Park. Mount +Deception was very much like Black Mountain, then--very heavily timbered +with fine, large trees. As the years went by a very large slab pile began +to accumulate back of the mill. Some way, no one ever knew just how, +those slab piles got afire. It was on a very windy summer night, when +everything was as dry as chips and the hills were covered with heaps of +dry toppings and pine slash. Well, the fire got into a few piles of +toppings, and before the men at the mill realized that there was a fire, +it was running over the hills like a wild thing. The dry pine needles are +just like turpentine to burn, so in less than two hours there were +several square miles of timber land afire. The mill and hundreds of +thousands of feet of sawed lumber were burned, and an area of many square +miles stripped of every stick of wood, so far as value was concerned." + +"Did you see them fight it?" asked Phil. + +"No, I didn't see them, but I've heard them tell how they did it." + +"I was in a forest fire once," said Mr. Allen. "It wasn't such an awfully +big one, but there was plenty of excitement while it did last, I tell you +that." + +"Tell us about it," came in a chorus. + +"It's pretty hard to describe a forest fire, but it was a very exciting +experience. It was up not many miles from Mount Deception, while I was +stopping with a friend at Manitou Park. We were eating our Sunday dinner, +when suddenly the door opened and in rushed the man from the adjoining +farm. + +"'Fire, boys,' he called. 'I'm sorry to disturb you, but we need you, and +you know the law. I'll have the buggy ready in a shake, and you be +ready.' As he left, my friend cried, 'Come quick, Allen, into your old +clothes.' 'Why,' I said, 'we don't have to fight the forest fire, do we?' +He laughed aloud. 'Well, you just bet we do!' he cried. 'The law says +that every able-bodied man in reach of a forest fire must give his +services. If a fire starts on Government land and burns onto private +land, Uncle Sam has to pay for all the private loss. But if it starts on +private land and burns onto Government land, the land owner is +responsible.' + +"I jumped into some old clothes, and was ready just as the buggy drove up +to the door. The man handed me a big brown jug and told me to fill it +with drinking water. Off to the north we saw a great cloud of gray smoke +rising from the forest, but no flame. The farmer handed my friend the +lines, told us to take the shortest route, and not to stop for anything, +that he would follow on horseback in a few moments. I never shall forget +how the little mare did go that day. We drove north on a county road +until we got even with the smoke, then we turned in directly toward it +through a very large potato field. After an hour's hard driving, we came +to the entrance of a narrow canyon. We tied the horse, and, with as many +shovels as I could carry on my shoulder, and with the jug, I followed my +friend, who had taken a couple of shovels and two heavy axes. It was a +sultry midsummer day, and how I did sweat! + +"We hurried on, the smoke getting thicker and thicker, and still we could +see no flames. We went up a long, narrow canyon in which there was a tiny +stream, and about every hundred yards we stopped to drink. By and by we +came to the top of a low ridge, and the farmer met us. + +"'Hurry, fellows, hurry!' he shouted. 'Give me a couple of those axes. +Report to the first man you meet, and come home in the buggy when you +can.' He swung his horse round, and in a moment was gone. I was tired out +already, and the jug of water was very heavy to carry by so small a +handle. As we got near the top of the ridge, we came to an old prospect +hole. An idea struck me. I would leave the jug there by the hole, and it +would be easy to find when I wanted it, and I would hurry on with the +shovels. As we reached the top of the ridge, the fire came into full +view. My, what a sight! A great sea of burning, crackling trees below, +and above an ocean of heavy smoke, floating upward in great billows. Far +away, at least it seemed so to me, I heard chopping, chopping. I don't +know how long I stood there wondering at the sight, but presently an old +man--he looked to me like a wild man, came toward me, eyeing me with a +scornful look. + +"'Well, ye goin' to stand there all day with them implements, son?' He +mopped away the great beads of perspiration from his forehead with a big +blue bandanna handkerchief. A large Russian hound stood, panting, by his +side. Nearly a year afterwards I learned that the old man was no other +than Old Ben himself. + +"'Where's that jug of water that Jim said ye was a bringin',' he howled +as he snatched the best shovel from my hands. I don't know what I said, +but I know that he cursed me roundly and I started for the prospect hole +to get the jug. I was excited to the limit. I came to the prospect hole, +and the jug was gone. I was starting back when I came to another hole, +then a third, then a fourth. I raised my eyes and surveyed the hillside. +There were at least a hundred prospect holes. Which one did I leave the +jug by? Was it lost, that precious jug of water? Would I ever find it? +The great clouds of smoke drifted past me and darkened the landscape; +then I began to hunt for the jug, one hole at a time. But I could find no +jug. While I was searching all over the hill, up rode the farmer. He +called for me to follow him. I tried to explain to him that I was looking +for the water, but I couldn't make him understand. When we got back to +the east of the fire, he handed me an ax and showed me what to do. They +were cutting an aisle down the south ridge. There were great trees +cracking and crashing to the ground all along the line and all around me. +I could not see more than a hundred feet ahead, but I worked like a Turk. +O, but I thought my ax was dull and the tree hard! It seemed that I could +never cut it through. I struck a heavy blow; there was a singing noise in +the air, and the head of my ax went flying somewhere into the brush. I +heard the farmer, chopping near me, yell something about a fool and a +greenhorn. + +"'Go, bring the water,' he yelled. I asked what water, and he yelled +back, 'The jug, the brown jug.' + +"I started again to find it. I don't know how long I looked, but by +accident I stumbled onto it. I raised it to my lips to drink, but the +water was warm and insipid. It made me feel faint. My head began to get +dizzy and everything looked burned. I straightened up and went back +toward the fire. When I reached the farmer, he gave me his ax and started +off with the jug. I chose my tree, and began to work. I had cut but one, +and was started on another, when a dozen rugged, sweating men passed me +on the run and shouted, 'Look out for the blast!' I dropped my ax and +followed them. The earth shook under my feet, as one after the other I +saw mighty pine trees rise into the air a few feet, then crash headlong +down the mountain into the flames. The fire was coming nearer. O, such a +sight! The heat was intense, but the coloring was beautiful. I followed +the men, but one man tripped and fell; the others hurriedly picked him +up, and we went onto a safe place. Then a hurried conference was held, +and orders given to cut the underbrush in a great circle around the +fire. By and by the wind changed, and soon the smoke cleared away from +where we were working. To my surprise, there were at least fifty sturdy +men--mountain ranchmen, most of them--cutting the underbrush ahead of me, +and just next to me worked Ben. + +"We worked on until dark. My friend found me, and we started for the +buggy. We got home some way--he drove. I was exhausted. That was my only +forest fire experience, but I don't care for another. I was stiff and +sore for a week." + +The little party worked its way into the gulch, and then proceeded up the +canyon on an old cattle trail in the second range. Every now and then +they would pass a prospect hole, which showed that they were not, by any +means, the first to tramp up the gulches and drink at the crystal +streams. On a great, flat stone, close by a tiny spring, they stopped to +eat their dinner and rest. + +"Let's get as far as we can by night," suggested Phil, "for we'll never +find a cabin site here in this canyon. It's too far away. We'll have to +get in closer, near St. Peter's Dome." + +"Let's make the Little Fountain by night. It must cross this canyon, and +perhaps it will yield us a trout for breakfast. What do you say?" +inquired Mr. Allen. + +"Little Fountain, or bust," called Ham. "I'm in for it. Say, we ought to +find a few squirrels this afternoon up in this lonesome canyon. A +squirrel would taste pretty fine, stewed in a little rice, for supper. +I'll bet I get the first one." + +"Got some salt in your pocket?" asked Willis. + +"Salt, what do I want with salt? Just keep your eye on me. I'm +dead-shot at squirrels." + +"Hello, here, what's this?" called out Mr. Allen about the middle of the +afternoon. "This looks interesting to me. See here, I've found a few +small pieces of aspen that have been cut by beaver." He held them up for +inspection. Sure enough, on the ends were the marks of the tiny chisel +teeth of the little water workmen. "I'd certainly like to see a real +beaver dam. I've seen pieces of dams and old, wrecked dams, but never a +real good one. Keep your eyes open for more sticks like this, and for +stumps along the stream. This ought to be good beaver country, because +it's wild and quiet." + +"What do you suppose killed all those fine big trees in that valley?" +asked Willis. + +They turned aside to examine the great dead trees. + +"Hold on, there," said Ham in a whisper, as he held up his finger. +"There's my stew for to-night. Great Caesar's ghost! I'll bet these dead +trees are full of squirrels. Still, now, a moment." + +The squirrel sat for an instant in plain view on a dead limb of a spruce; +then he barked and scampered around in great excitement, his tail bobbing +up and down in time to his movements. He would run, hide behind the great +tree trunk, then out again to jeer and scold and jerk his tail. As they +came nearer, a second one, perhaps his mate, joined him on the limb and +seconded everything he had to say. The barrel of Ham's gun was making +strange movements in the air. "Hey, there, sit still, you jumping jack," +called Ham. The squirrels sat up and listened to his voice in such a way +that it appeared they perfectly understood the order to sit still. Fat +laughed a hearty laugh; the squirrels took it as a danger signal and were +gone. Ham lowered his gun. + +"Fat, you stole my supper right out of my mouth," said Ham, gloomily. + +"Oho," said Willis. "How do you suppose this happened? All of these big +trees are girdled. See, the bark has been cut clear around the trunk with +an ax, so as to cut off the supply of sap. Mr. Allen, what is your +explanation?" + +"Well, I'm not just sure about it, Willis. Some one may have killed them +for timber or some one may have girdled them so as to be able to start a +big fire. It might have been the work of timber pirates. A man would get +a mighty severe punishment for that, if he were caught." + +A little farther up the canyon they found traces of an old placer sluice, +and what remained of some of the old, homemade cradles for panning out +the gold. + +"Gold, gold, gold; you find traces of it everywhere, and traces of the +men who sought it. A sight like that always makes me sorry for some old, +forlorn, disappointed miner," said Mr. Allen. "Of all the dilapidated, +blue-producing sights that I have ever seen, it's one of these old, +deserted mining camps, for they come as near representing a forlorn hope +as anything you can find. + +"One time I was with a crowd of boys, and we made a detour to look over a +deserted mining camp. They called it Old North Cripple Creek. Years +before, shrewd individuals had salted prospect holes at that point, then +discovered their own gold. Of course there was a grand rush, and a boom +town resulted. Crude houses were built, stores and saloons erected, and +mining operations begun. A real, substantial log hotel was erected, and +I've heard that their charge was upwards of ten dollars a night, payable +in advance. + +"But the camp died as quickly as it had been born, and the people, mostly +men, pushed on to other fields. + +"It was a good many years after the place was deserted that I was there, +but it made a tremendous impression upon me. I had the blues for days +afterward. Old, tumbled-down houses, the windows knocked out and the +doors hanging on leather hinges. I remember one building that had been a +saloon. The great mirrors back of the bar had never been removed, and the +rains of many seasons had peeled the mercury from the plate glass and the +gilt frames were faded. We entered the old hotel, and were surprised to +find some of the fittings still there. In the attic we found an old chest +of letters--and, speaking of strange coincidences, a large number of +those letters were written and signed by Daddy Wright. Away up in the +back corner of the attic sat an old owl. He looked down on us from his +perch in a reproving manner, to think we would disturb the haunts of the +past in that crude way. He was a weird looking old fellow as he sat +there, blinking his big yellow eyes, and I couldn't help thinking that +the owl of wisdom perhaps a good many times might be found perched in the +dark attics of the past, instead of spending his time in the sunlight of +the great and active present." + +The afternoon passed, and soon the sun began to settle behind the western +peaks. It was just six o'clock when the party came to the Little Fountain +and chose their camping spot on a little green knoll of high ground, +right by the water's edge. Some one suggested a dip, and so, in the quiet +coolness of a perfect summer twilight, with a cheerful fire burning on +the bank, clothes were stripped and a bath taken. Then came the evening +meal, the usual round of stories, the message from the letter of the +Great Spirit, then to sleep. + +As Willis and Mr. Allen lay watching the firelight and listening to the +thousand sounds of the night, the night breeze began to rise and to sing +to them through the balsam boughs overhead. + +"Do you know what I think of when I lie out in the woods on such a night +and listen to the gentle sighing of the night wind?" asked Mr. Allen. + +"No," replied Willis. "What do you think of?" + +"It is kind of fanciful, I suppose, but I like to believe that it is God +blowing His breath down on us just to let us know that He is very near +and cares for us." Willis did not answer; he was thinking. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The Third Day Out + + +The first gray streaks of dawn were just creeping over the ridge of old +Cheyenne as Mr. Allen awoke. Up through the green leaves the bluest of +blue skies showed in tiny spots. It was an autumn morning, for a light +frost had settled during the night, and here and there lay the ghost of +an aspen leaf that had flitted down. Everywhere the birds were chirping +and hustling about their morning duties. Here and there industrious +spiders were at work removing the drops of silver dew from their shining +cables of silk, and the bees were already gathering the last of the +summer's sweets. The squirrels scolded and chattered to each other from +the big trees. All the wild life of the woodland seemed at high tide. The +butterflies were already at play in the cool, dewy nooks, and all nature +was rosy in the freshness of a new day. + +Mr. Allen dressed quietly but quickly, unbuckled his fishing rod from his +pack, glanced through his fly book, selected one here and there, then +prepared to slip out of camp without waking any one. The little stream +had been whispering strange tales of big fish to him all the night, and +it was trout for breakfast that he was after. A saucy squirrel, observing +him from a limb overhead, asked many foolish questions. Mr. Allen sat on +an old moss-covered stump joining his rod and arranging his long, white +leader, to which he had attached a royal coachman and a gray hackle. He +paused to listen, for it seemed to him that every wild thing in that +vast, rocky gorge had suddenly raised its voice to welcome the coming +day. + +Willis awoke and saw Mr. Allen as he sat there in the sunlight. In a soft +undertone he called, "I'm going, too, just to watch. May I?" Mr. Allen +nodded, and in a few moments the two were quietly sneaking off through +the bushes, headed up stream. + +"My, O my! isn't this a perfectly gorgeous morning. Just look off there +toward Mount Rosa and Baldy. It's a perfect splendor of clouds and mist +and sun; then look behind you, there, down through the big trees. It's +just the morning to catch a fine big trout." + +"I never caught a trout in all my life," softly called Willis, as he +trailed along behind. "I don't believe I've ever even seen one." + +"Many and many are the days I've fished in these old hills for a dozen; +but a prouder fisherman never cast a fly than myself, when I could come +home to camp, spread out my little catch of speckled beauties on the +grass, and tell just how I caught each one." + +"Is it more fun than casting for big black bass on a clear, warm, summer +night? Lots of times I've seen the big fellows leap out of the water, +then in again with a splash, making big rings of ripples on the smooth +water. O, it's great! Can your trout fishing beat that?" + +"Every man after his own heart," replied the "Chief," "but for me, give +me the trout. You rise early on such a morning as this and slip off into +the canyon. Far away on all sides rise the mountain peaks, their snow +caps jauntily adjusted and their cloaks of ice drawn close about their +shoulders. Then the balsam-scented air, and the dew-laden bushes along +the chattering little stream as it flows over a chaos of broken granite +or works itself into a boiling froth, only to jump headlong into a quiet +green pool. Can you beat it?" + +"Isn't that a good pool just ahead of us?" questioned Willis. + +"I'm going to try it," replied Mr. Allen. "Now, be sure to keep that big +boulder just ahead between you and the water, for if they see us first +there's no use wasting our time here, we'll never get a strike to-day." + +Slowly they crept to the great, bare rock. Here the line and flies were +adjusted, and the fishing began. Willis watched every motion as for a +brief second the fly was allowed to drift down the stream, "to be floated +here and there by idle little eddies, to be sucked down, then suddenly +spat out by tiny suction holes;" then it fell quietly into the current +and floated out to the end of the line, bringing up sharply just at the +edge of a bleak old granite boulder in midstream. Again the flies were +cast, and again; then--both hearts stood still; there was a splash, a +little line of bubbles, a tail, a silver streak tinged with red and +black, then ripples, and nothing more. + +"He's there, anyway," softly whispered Willis in great excitement. + +The line was drawn in and inspected; the hackle was removed from the +leader, and again the coachman spatted the water just above where the +trout had disappeared. It floated down and down until it touched the +swirl at the edge of the jagged rock. There was a short, sharp tug; the +fly disappeared into the water; a plunge, a dash of spray, then +everything kept time to the singing of the reel. Both jumped to their +feet just in time to see the big trout clear the water, shake his head +vigorously, then dive into the deep pool. It was to be a fight to the +finish, and the trout had settled to the cool bottom to lay out his +campaign. + +After ten minutes of maneuvering in the water, up and down, out to the +bank, then in again, knee deep, waist deep, the line slacked a little, +then a little more. Then there was a series of quick jerks and a long +singing of the reel as it unwound, only to slacken again, and this time +for good. There was a silvery streak in the water, then a dark, moving +shadow, a gentle pull of the winding line, and the trout slipped out of +the water onto the bank, exhausted. + +There was an exclamation of joy and wonder from Willis as the fish was +carefully unhooked and placed in the cotton bag, brought for the purpose. + +"Just eighteen inches, and a beauty," cried Mr. Allen. "You'll never get +me away from this stream this morning if there are more fish like this to +be had. We have just time to catch another like him, then we can all have +a taste for breakfast. What will those fellows think when they wake up +and find us gone?" + +They clambered over a rough crag and down to a second green pool. It was +not a big fish this time, but several small ones in quick succession, +till there was a taste for all in camp. + +"I hope the fellows will have a fire going, so we won't have to wait so +long for a bed of coals, don't you?" asked Willis. "I can taste them +already. Is the meat pink or white?" + +"O, surely Ham will have a fire; he's enough of a camper for that, and +they are expecting us to bring fish. I'll tell you, let's leave the bag +in the bushes and tell them a sad tale of woe. I'm still wet, and we'll +let on a big one pulled me in and I lost all the others. What do you +say?" + +"That's a go. You get up the story and I'll swear to it. Make it a big +one." + +Soon the smell of smoke came drifting through the bushes, and they knew +that their return was being patiently awaited. Fat spied them coming +first. + +"Well, old sea-dogs, where's your catch?" he shouted. + +"Hard luck," started in Mr. Allen. "Just plain hard luck; caught a few +minnows, but slow as far as real fishing goes. There's nothing in it +here. Where's Ham?" + +"O Ham!" snorted Phil from his place by the fire. "Crazy, lunatic Ham. +I'd like to see you get him into any kind of a fix he couldn't get out +of. When we woke up and found you gone, Ham declared you'd played a trick +on him, and he's gone off to get even." + +"How do you mean, get even?" + +"He wanted to go with you this morning, so he went out and found your +track going up stream. He came back to camp, got your fly book, cut him a +willow pole, and started off down stream to beat you fishing. He's been +gone most an hour and a half now." + +"Well, he won't have to fish much to beat me, that's sure; but he ought +to be getting back soon, so we can get started." + +"Fishie, fishie, in the brook, +Hammie caught him with a hook," + +came drifting into camp from somewhere on the trail. Soon Ham came into +view, a cotton flour sack thrown over his shoulder and a broad grin on +his face. He had left his pole in the thicket. + +"Fish, fish, fish--little, big, and in between," he cried as he waved the +bag in front of him. "I've never had such fishing." + +"Hurrah for the fisherman," called Chuck, as he came through the trees +with a half-dozen small pails in his hands. "Ham gets the fish, I get the +berries, and we all get the stomach-ache, see?" + +"Let's look at the fish" shouted every one. + +"Bet they are only minnies," cried Phil. + +"Minnies, your grandmother," scornfully replied Ham. "I have one there +that's a foot and a half long if it's an inch. The others aren't so big." +He emptied the contents of the bag on the ground and stood proudly over +them, a merry twinkle in his eye. + +Willis nudged Mr. Allen. "He's found our bag of fish, but don't tell." +Mr. Allen arose, and, holding up the big fish by the tail, said, "Ham, +you're the only original fisherman. That's the very fellow that pulled me +in and came near drowning me." Ham hurried off to the stream to clean the +catch and to laugh over his cleverness. Breakfast was a thoroughly +enjoyed meal that morning, for, besides the fish and the sweet wild +berries, there were just enough fish stories told to give the real thing +the proper seasoning. + +"I'd rather sit on those big boulders along Goose Creek, just where it +empties into the backwaters of Cheeseman Dam, and catch a few big fellows +like that one than to take an extended trip to Europe," solemnly declared +Ham. + +"I'd rather fish in the Narrows of Platte Canyon and pull out a fine big +rainbow every now and then than ride in a New York subway," added Chuck. + +"And I'd rather see Mr. Allen catch _another_ big trout like that one +you're eating," remarked Willis, with a wink at Mr. Allen, "than to catch +all the bass in the State of Michigan." + +By nine o'clock the party was again on the trail, traveling northwest +around the base of Black Mountain. + +"It's going to be a scorcher," exclaimed Fat. "I'm about melted already. +I hope they haven't shipped that bear away from Cather Springs yet. I'd +like to see it. They caught it in a bear trap last week. There is hardly +a season goes by, any more, but what they get some kind of wild game. +Last year it was a big mountain lion, the year before it was a +badly-wounded mountain sheep, this year it was a bear and two cubs." + +"That lion must have been the one that followed Ham up Pike's Peak. How +about it, Ham?" said Mr. Allen teasingly. Ham did not reply. The smile +disappeared from his face, and he dropped to the back of the line. "Ham, +won't you tell us that story some time?" urged Mr. Allen. "I've never +heard the real story, and I'd like to know about it." + +"I've forgotten every detail, Mr. Allen," said Ham, "and I've forgotten +them for good. It wasn't nearly as big a joke as every one supposed, +though, I'll tell you that. I'll never come any nearer to handing in my +heavenly passport and not do it than I did that time. Let's forget it. It +brings back unpleasant thoughts." + +At noon they camped in the shadow of a great overhanging rock and rested. +Fat found, upon opening his pack, that he had left what remained of his +loaf of bread at the last camping place, along with two cans of milk and +a box of raisins. + +"The oracle is coming true," dryly remarked Ham. "It always does, if it's +interpreted properly. Fat, the swine of carelessness have consumed your +living." + +By three o'clock the party reached Cather Springs, which was nothing but +the home of an old mountaineer--a quaint little log cabin, a barn, and a +corral, in which stood two very patient, tired-looking donkeys and a +large, raw-boned mountain horse. A little to one side of the cabin stood +the spring house--a low, rustic affair, built of young trees. A slab-door +stood slightly ajar, and through the opening there came the voice of a +woman, softly singing to herself. A thin column of gray smoke was curling +gently from the rough stone chimney. At one side of the house, in the +shade of a great pine tree, was nestled a little flower garden that gave +every sign of having had careful attention each day. On the back stoop +was stretched out, at full length, a husky Collie dog. He was evidently +asleep, for he did not stir as the boys came down the trail toward the +picturesque little cabin. + +"Great Caesar's ghost!" exclaimed Ham. "Take a peep at a few of those +jay-birds. I never saw so many in my life. I'll bet the lady feeds them. +Watch me knock that saucy fellow off that dead limb." + +He raised his gun and shot. There was an awful scolding, jabbering, and +flapping of wings, but no deaths--fortunately for Ham. The dog came to +life in less than a second, and expressed himself freely on the +imprudence of such an interruption to his mid-day nap. Likewise, the +spring-house door suddenly opened and out popped a funny, little old +lady. + +"Boys, boys!" she called in a high, quavering voice, "don't shoot the +blue jays. It does beat all how right-down destructive all boys are, +anyway--shooting poor, harmless little birds for sport." The jays, on +hearing the familiar voice of their benefactress, began to alight in twos +and threes close by, and approved her every word with as much vigor as +their tiny throats could command. The little old lady came straight +toward Ham. + +"Young man," she cried, as she shook her long, bony finger in his face, +"young man, who ever gave you the right to come into this beautiful +wilderness to maraud and murder and kill such beauties as them jays that +God has put in these woods to be companions and friends to us lonely +mountain folks? Who do you s'pose built this here canyon and that green +meadow and this little spring and these hills, and all the little wild +folks as lives in 'em? I should think you would hang your head and look +like a whipped puppy if ye're little enough to shoot jay-birds, just to +see the blue feathers a flutterin' in the air. 'Pon my soul, you hunters +is beyon' my understandin'. S'pose that bird you shot has a nest, which, +like as not, she has, an' it's full o' little fuzzy balls o' bird flesh +this minute, all mouths an' stomachs, a waitin' for their mother to bring +supper, an' they just keep a waitin' an' a waitin' till they starve, +cause you was mean enough to kill the mother bird just for fun." Ham's +hat had long since come off, and he stood with downcast eyes, not knowing +what to say. The old lady looked him up and down with a look of abject +pity and scorn as she went on: + +"Didn't you ever stop to consider how many things the Almighty has put +into these hills to love, young man, if you ain't too selfish an' proud +an' mean to see 'em? I wonder what He thinks of a boy like you, anyway? +You're like a demon sneakin' through a wonderful picture gallery a +cuttin' holes in the pictures just for fun. I know every jay in this +valley, young man, every single one--and they know me. When food gets +scarce, an' cold nights come, an' snow begins to fall, I feed 'em. +They understand all I say to 'em, an' they bring their young ones for me +to see as quick as they're big enough. They tell me when it's goin' to +storm, an' when a hawk is flyin' over my chicken pen, an' when berries is +ripe, an' when strangers is comin'. They're my little family; I care for +'em every day an'--" The flood gates were opened. The little old lady +cried as if her heart would break, while the jays gossiped and chattered +at the unusual uproar. + +Suddenly she turned and went into the house, and the boys, without a +word, quietly passed up the trail and into the flat, green meadow ahead. +Ham whistled softly to himself as he strode along. + +"Beats the Dutch," he said to Mr. Allen, as the two dropped back +together, "how a fellow will forget himself now and then. I'd have done +just what she did, only I would have gotten mad instead of just feeling +bad. I'm mighty thankful I didn't kill that bird." + +"What a great joy these simple out-of-doors people get out of nature," +replied Mr. Allen. "I'd give half my college education to be able to +see and hear and understand the things that little old lady does in these +old hills. Every time a bird chirps or a squirrel barks she knows what +it says. I think the Master must have been thinking of some such a +pure-hearted body as she when He told the people that the poor in spirit +would inherit the earth. She doesn't go out in society much, nor she +hasn't any party dresses, nor probably never saw a grand opera in her +life; but see what she has that most people never get." + +In a few moments more they had crossed the little meadow, climbed up +through a zigzag trail through the trees, and came out onto the railroad +track, just where it crossed the stage road. Directly in front of them +rose the crag-tipped cap of St. Peter's Dome. On one hand was the old +wagon road, that first pathway of mountain civilization, winding down the +canyon in long, graceful curves until it was lost in the distant haze, +while on the other hand ran the steel rails of more modern civilization. + +As they stood resting for a few moments they heard the rumble of heavy +wheels, a wheezing and puffing, a shrill whistle, a cloud of black smoke, +a shower of cinders, and the evening express passed upward into the cool, +dark shadows, carrying its load of human necessities into the heart of +the Rockies. + +It was six o'clock when the last one in the party reached the rickety +wooden stairs that made the last ascent of a hundred feet to the Dome +possible. Ham and Willis had been on top for some minutes, and were +sitting on a huge boulder just at the foot of a lodge-pole that had been +erected on the very summit for a flagstaff. Certainly it was a sight to +be remembered for many a day--a marvelous wonderland, stretching out in +every direction. The detail of plants, trees, and winding trails was +swallowed up, and only the vastness of the valleys and canyons could be +seen, with here and there a silver ribbon of a stream. Far up in the blue +vault two great eagles soared and circled. Here and there the last golden +rays of sunlight fell on the distant ridges and lighted up the tree tops +with a beautiful iridescence. + +"What a sight!" exclaimed Willis. "Now, where is Cookstove Mountain, for +I am especially interested in it. O yes, I see it. It's that great +granite cliff that is so flat on the top. Wouldn't it be grand if we +could build a cabin near St. Peter's Dome, so sometimes in the evening we +could climb up here to sit and watch the stars come out? I want to be in +the mountains and camp in them and hike in them. I am beginning to +understand their charm more and more. I know now what it is that Old Ben +has, and Daddy Wright, and the little old lady we saw this afternoon, +that I have not. It is a big optimism, a love for everything that lives +and is a part of the Great Creation." + +"I don't know of anything that will take the selfishness and conceit out +of a fellow like a few hours spent on a mountain top," said Mr. Allen. + +"It makes a fellow right down glad he's alive," remarked Ham. "I always +get more out of a view like this than I do out of the best sermon I ever +heard." + +"I wish we could camp right here," exclaimed Chuck; "but we can't, and we +had better be getting down before dark." + +Just at the base of the Dome a little stream trickled over the rocks and +down into the canyon. They followed it back from the railroad and soon +had a cheery fire burning and a comfortable camp made for the night. It +was in a little meadow just at the edge of a grove of small aspens, and +at one side of the tiny stream lay a great round boulder that had +evidently rolled down from the summit of the Dome at some previous date. +Beds were arranged in a row along the side of it, and a pile of dead +sticks placed in a convenient position for the night's fire. The evening +breezes were already beginning to play hide-and-seek in the valley, and +the leaves on the trees were clapping their innumerable hands in applause +at the brightly-burning fire. The sparks flew upward and the shadows +danced in and out of the illuminated circle like so many happy fairies. + +"Do you hear it, fellows? There, now, listen! Don't you hear it?" Ham was +saying as he sat back from the fire. "There it is, calling, calling!" + +"What is calling?" asked Willis, straining his ear to catch the sound. + +"Mother Nature," answered Ham, dryly. "Mother Nature's call--the call +of the wild. See, even the leaves are beckoning us back farther into the +deep, quiet wilderness. Some day I will part with my earthly possessions +and answer that call, for, do you know, I believe that the Indian did +come the nearest to living an ideal life of any of us!" + +Every one knew that Ham was in for a long, private soliloquy, and so +began supper operations, for, although they had all heard the call of +Mother Nature, as Ham put it, to some of them at least it was only an +empty stomach calling to be fed. + +Mr. Allen and Willis were the last ones to take to their blankets, for +they had many things to talk over between themselves. + +What can draw out the innermost thoughts of a fellow's heart more quickly +than a chat with a sympathetic friend when both are seated before a fire +in such a place and on such a night? If you really wish to know a fellow +in a few days' time, you need to camp with him, to eat with him, and to +sit with him before an open fire in the wilderness under a canopy of +stars with the music of Nature about you. Then man speaks with man, and +all the conventionalities of life are forgotten. + +"Yes, I have often wondered if I will ever find my father's partner," +Willis was saying. "I would rather see him than any man on earth, +sometimes." + +"Wouldn't you be happier if you didn't ever find him, though?" questioned +Mr. Allen. + +"No, I wouldn't, Mr. Allen, because he could explain so many things to me +that I have wondered about. I don't know that I ever told you, but it has +always seemed so strange to me that my uncle, Mr. Williams, has never +once mentioned my father's name to me. He was the last man that saw him +alive, yet he has never spoken of him. I have been going to talk with +him several times, but he is so gruff and absorbed I can't get up my +nerve. There is one thing that has bothered me a lot lately, though, and +I've never told you of it, but I'm going to now. I probably never would +have thought much about it if it hadn't been for what the old prospector +told me the other day over on Cheyenne. I've been wondering if there +possibly could be any connection between his not wanting me to come on +this trip and the fact that he was just then sending men to do his +assessment work on the claim that once belonged to my father. + +"There is another thing, too, Mr. Allen. I feel ashamed of even thinking +of such things, yet the night we had our meeting at Bruin Inn I heard +that same prospector discussing a Mr. Williams with Old Ben. I heard him +say that Williams was a thief and a sanctimonious old hypocrite. The +thing that bothers me is, how much does Williams know of my father's +affairs that he has not told my mother. Surely he would not dare to be +crooked in such a thing as that." + +"If you could locate Mr. Kieser, he probably could tell you some things," +slowly added Mr. Allen. "Well, there is one thing sure: 'Murder will +out,' and with the suspicion I now have, I'll keep quiet, keep my eyes +open, and see what I can learn. That Cheyenne claim must be worth +holding, or he wouldn't send men away up there to do that work. That +costs money!" + +"Don't worry about it, anyway, boy. I wouldn't be building any air +castles concerning that gold mine. It was, no doubt, just like thousands +of others here in these mountains--" + +"I know that, but I want to see the mine that my father dug. Do you +suppose I ever will?" + +"Who can tell but that you have already seen it on this trip? I don't +know, but let's go to bed. To-morrow we must find that cabin site, or go +home empty-handed. I think we'll get over into these little canyons on +the north and work over to the railroad. If we don't find a place there, +somewhere, then I'm afraid there is none. Most all of this land is Forest +Reserve, and we'll have to get a ninety-nine years' lease if we locate on +Government land; but you know, I've been thinking we could build a dandy +cabin of these large quaking-aspens, if we could find a place in a good +grove. Build a frame, then fit them in, standing them on end, and line +with building paper, and perhaps boards. These aspens cut very easily in +the winter when they are cold. What would you think of that idea?" + +Willis was already nodding by the fire, and did not answer. + +"Good-night," said Mr. Allen, as he pulled his blanket up about him. +"Sleep tight, and no dreams, mind you." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A Glimpse of Buffalo Roost + + +The little party gathered about the fire the next morning, cooking the +last breakfast of the trip. To-morrow they would be home again. Would +they take back a glowing description of a cabin site, situated in some +cool forest nook, in the shadow of some mighty crag, or would they be +forced to disappoint the anxious crowd of fellows who would be waiting +for their return? + +By seven o'clock they were jogging down the railroad at a lively gait, +keeping their eyes open for a canyon that would lead in back of Cookstove +Mountain. They had come down the track at least two miles without finding +any encouraging signs when they came upon a trail that seemed to lead +from the railroad into an unknown canyon. Perhaps it was one of the many +trails from the railroad back to the remains of some of the old +construction camps. Perhaps it was a cowpath that led into a fertile +meadow where cattle loved to rest by cool springs. Might it not have been +the connecting link between some old prospector's diggings and his point +of supplies? Possibly it had been worn by the ever-watchful forest ranger +as he rode over the reserve, watching for the fires of careless campers, +the trespass of cattle, or, perhaps, to make a timber sale to some +mountain ranchman. Perhaps it was one of these, but more likely it was a +combination of them all. What strange stories it could tell if it could +but speak! Had it been on the southern slope it might have been lost in +the cool shadows of the forest, or have disappeared in the leafy molds +and decaying twigs of many autumns. But it was on the north slope, from +which the hungry flames of a giant forest fire had snatched every tree +and bush, leaving only the barren hillside. + +It was a very alluring trail, for it led to no one knew just where. Just +at the point where it slipped over the rocky ridge and dropped down out +of sight into the canyon beyond there rose a group of great, tall pines, +which seemed to be guarding the pathway. Just ahead stood Cookstove, its +rocky crest bathed in the morning light, while far away to the north the +sharper outlines were lost in a great army of evergreens, which seemed to +be trooping restlessly up the hill and descending again into the great +unknown of the valley. It led straight away down a gently-curving aisle +of beautiful large trees that had already begun to carpet the floor with +dull pine needles, picked from their shaggy heads by the mischievous +dryads of the valley. Away up on the shoulder of Cookstove could be seen +a long silver ribbon of water, the lower end of which was lost in the +treetops of the canyon. From somewhere down below the trail there came +the gentle murmur of jubilant little dashes of mountain spray as they +frolicked and chased each other in the happy play of a mountain stream. +On the inside of the trail the trees dropped away rapidly until you could +look into their topmost branches without raising your eyes, while on the +other side they trooped noiselessly upward, like some great, silent army, +showing only their weather-beaten bodies. + +As the boys hastened down this trail, deeper into the land of +enchantment, their enthusiasm knew no bounds. + +"I've about changed my mind about the location of the Garden of Eden," +Ham sung out. + +"That's the twentieth time," announced Chuck. + +"We're just on the edge of it yet," shouted Mr. Allen. "Let's hurry and +get into it." + +The trail began immediately to descend, and before they knew it the party +found themselves beside a crystal stream that seemed to be lost in a +narrow park of great trees and mighty boulders. The trail crossed the +stream by an ancient corduroy bridge, then off it ran again up the +opposite side of the canyon, penetrating deeper into the quiet forest. + +"This is the forest primeval, +The murmuring pines and the hemlocks," + +quoted Ham. There was a perfume of the forest dampness in the air. Every +tree seemed to shelter a bird family or a host of squirrels, to say +nothing of the tiny creatures that made chorus together from their hiding +places. Softly filtering through the trees came the constant melody of a +waterfall, now far away, now just ahead, crying, laughing, sobbing, in a +strange intermingling of feeling. + +The trail made a sharp turn to the left, the trees suddenly came to an +end, and in their place were large piles of mossy, ragged boulders. The +canyon ended in a perpendicular, moss-covered wall, hundreds of feet +high, and from the top of this wrinkled old cliff leaped the stream into +the canyon below. On an old tin sign, fastened to the stump of an immense +tree, were the words, "St. Marys." Directly at the base of the falls, and +at their extreme edge, stood a grand old spruce tree, straight and clean +as an arrow, its slender top reaching nearly to the top of the falls. +They seemed to be happy comrades, for the tree was gently vibrating with +the soft, half-wild music of the crystal stream. + +After every nook and cranny had been explored, the group began to retrace +their steps down the canyon. + +"Isn't it a wonderful little spot?" asked Phil, as they sat down by the +bridge to rest. "Who do you suppose ever built this trail away up here? +See, it has been dug from the very mountain-side in many places, and this +bridge wasn't built as a mere footbridge--it was built to support heavy +loads of something." + +"Perhaps somewhere way up in those trees there is an old mine," suggested +Fat. + +"I've been wondering if there was," slowly questioned Willis. "I'd like +to go and look, for I'm not a bit tired." His eyes were big with the +wonder of the place. + +"It surely is a treat to him, isn't it?" asked Mr. Allen. + +"Yes, and to us all," replied Ham. "I just wonder what some city people +would think of it. When I get old, fellows, I'm going to find me some +such a little canyon as this and live out my life in it. I don't believe +a fellow could ever think a mean thought out here, could he? He'd be +almost afraid to." + +"It's an ideal place, all right," returned Mr. Allen. + +"Why, I believe I'd be an orator if I just had this valley for a class," +went on Ham. + +"It's a good thing such places can't be moved," suggested Phil, "or some +of these wealthy fellows would be buying them all up and putting them in +their art galleries. This view would create quite a sensation in New York +City, don't you think? Fifty thousand dollars is not much for a few feet +of masterpiece, but this can be had for a few dollars an acre. Strange, +isn't it?" + +"A man paints a little picture on a canvas and worries over it until his +hair gets long and his face sad. He is then a genius. People go wild over +a man that can copy a little scene. Yet those same people declare there +is no Creator. Account for a valley like this without Him, can you?" +declared Fat. + +"The man that can deny Him, standing here in this little bit of His +handiwork," solemnly declared Ham, "is blind, deaf, and dumb, besides +having marked tendencies toward insanity." + +"Halloo," came in a clear shout from up on the hillside. + +"By gracious, he's found a mine!" cried Ham, jumping up. + +"Halloo," he shouted back. "What did you find?" + +"Two more trails," came the answer. "Come up and look. One goes down the +canyon on this side." A wild scramble up through the trees followed. Soon +they were all traveling down one of the newly-discovered trails. The +other one began at an old log cabin, and ran zigzag up the mountain till +it was lost in the gravel slopes. + +"I've been trying to make up my mind where this canyon leads to," said +Mr. Allen. "I'm wondering if it can be Buffalo Park." + +A bridge was visible down the stream, and there was the sound of water +splashing. An immense boulder that had rolled from the cliff above +obstructed any further view. Ham and Willis were in the lead, the rest +following as rapidly as possible. The two ahead disappeared, then came +into view beyond the big boulder. + +"A house!" + +"A cabin!" Every one broke into a run. Just above the bridge a crude dam +of logs had been built to back up a supply of water, and it was running +over from the little pond behind in a happy, babbling waterfall. Then it +turned to the south around the base of a patch of high ground. On this +bit of high country, overlooking the stream on one side and the upper +canyon on the other, stood the loudly-announced cabin. + +It was a typical mountain log-house, except for its roof, which was +covered with cedar shingles instead of the customary split poles, +thatched over with marsh hay. Its every line suggested age. In some +places the mud chinking had dried and dropped out, yet, strange to say, +the windows were all there, and even the door, which was of city +manufacture, was not past repair. One corner of the roof had been +slightly damaged by the falling of a monstrous pine log that was still +lying where it had fallen several years before. + +The cabin had evidently been used as a summer home only, for there was no +fireplace or a chimney of any kind, except a dilapidated old length of +stovepipe that stuck through the gable at one end. It was this feature +that made it look so completely forlorn and abandoned. Besides the door +and two windows that opened on the trail side, there was a window on +the up end and a door on the stream side which led out onto a crude back +porch, built entirely of aspen poles. The floor was of pine boards, and +had once been a marvel of beauty and convenience for a mountain cabin; +but time had played strange pranks with it, till now it was uneven and +sloped off in a jerky fashion toward the back door. On one wall was +fastened a rude set of shelves, on which was perched a motley collection +of pickle bottles and tin cans. Stretched along one wall stood a crude, +home-made table, and in one corner stood the remains of a little, +old-fashioned stove. A wooden chest stood under the shelves, and had +probably been used for a grub box. It still contained a few pounds of +yellow cornmeal, half a can of baking powder, a badly molded loaf of rye +bread, and a surprisingly sturdy sample of butter. Hung on a nail in the +corner above the chest was a once-stylish skillet and the battered lower +part of a double boiler. A rusty tincup lay on the floor beside a powder +can that had been used for a bucket, while just inside the south door +stood a comical homemade shakedown. The frame was built of straight young +aspen poles, while the springs were just a carefully woven layer of +balsam boughs spread over a bottom of limber young saplings. It had once +been a wonder of comfort and ease, but its value had passed with the +departure of its builder. + +The trail ran close in front of the door and then climbed over the sandy +base of a great crag, and disappeared over the hill. Just as it left the +level of the house and started upward, there stood an immense Douglas +spruce like some faithful guard, his proud green helmet stretched up into +the sky so that he might be the more able to see any approaching danger. +A great smoke-stained rock lay just at the end of the house, before which +was built a primitive fireplace. An assortment of tin cans, lying in the +little ravine, told the simple tale of bygone campfire suppers and of +hunters and explorers and miners. + +"Well, this is what I call luck--pure, unadulterated luck, with sugar on +it," drawled Ham as he surveyed the house. + +"Luck, your grandmother," said Phil. "Do you call something that you have +been searching for for four long days luck?" + +"Excuse me," answered Ham, in mock courtesy. "I forgot when I made that +statement that there is no such thing as luck. It was my old friend, +'William Shakespeare,' that wrote that famous line about luck, 'Luck is +pluck in action,' or something like that, wasn't it? That's what it was +here, anyway." + +"Well, at any rate," said Mr. Allen, as he joined the group after his +round of inspection, "the old shanty is chucked full of possibilities." + +"I'm glad something is full," interrupted Fat. "We certainly aren't in +the same class, that cabin and I. It's been so long since I've fed that +my floating ribs have run ashore. The worst of it is that all I have left +is a can of condensed milk, about a teaspoon of sugar, and a little +butter that's a second cousin to what's in that grub box yonder. I'm +going to borrow a few possibilities from the cabin and beg for food. +Let's have dinner." + +"Right here by this old rock," called Willis. "Perhaps we can roast a +little information out of these rocks." + +Chuck had gone down stream into a grove of large aspens, and at this +moment came panting up the trail. + +"Bees--peach of a tree--honey galore--millions of them!" he panted. + +"That sounds like something to eat," cried Fat. "Come along, Chuck, I'm +with you. Do you know how to make that 'milk and honey' that the Good +Book speaks about? I've got the milk, let's get the honey." Ham, Chuck, +and Fat started for the bee tree, Ham singing his favorite, "A Preacher +went a Huntin'." + +"Better let up, Ham," shouted Phil. "The bees will be after the sweetness +in that melody of yours." + +Phil stretched out at full length in the sun while Mr. Allen busily +made figures and sketches in his note book. Willis rose and started +down the trail toward the bee tree. At the edge of the timber he stopped, +and a curious smile spread over his face. Then suddenly, as the real +significance of what he saw dawned upon him, he doubled up with a howl +and laughed till his sides hurt. + +The fellows were unable to roll over the great dead tree, so had decided +to "smudge the brutes out," as Ham said. Accordingly, they built a fire +at the side where the bees had been seen to enter the tree. Chuck had +carried water from the stream in his hat to make the fire smoke, and, as +they watched the hole, the bees came swarming out at the end of the log +behind them, "with spears sharpened and ready for action," as Ham +afterward said. Such lively gymnastics and hurried departures Willis had +never before witnessed. Fat completely forgot that he was hungry, and Ham +took occasion to severely chastise himself, using his old felt hat for a +paddle, while Chuck went ploughing through the underbrush like a young +bull-moose, murmuring strange, inarticulate sentences. Fortunately for +them all, the bee tree was nothing but a nest of marsh-wasps, and there +were nowhere near as many as Chuck declared there were. The damage was +slight to all except Fat, and he had enough signs of battle to warrant a +leather medal for bravery. The saddest thing was that the hoped-for "milk +and honey" did not materialize. + +As the party sat together eating the last of their rations, Ham fell into +one of his philosophical moods. + +"I like this kind of life," he began. "Out here you let go your hold on +man-made things and shift for yourself." He looked cautiously over at +Fat, who was trying to scratch a particularly itchy sting just out of +reach in the middle of his back. "I like the unchanging condition of +nature," he continued. "The wilderness is all yours, and you may take +from it all the essentials of primitive living--shelter, warmth, and +food." + +"Ham, you're an unmitigated prevaricator," cried Fat as he scratched and +made faces. Ham paid no attention to him. "Here in the open country you +can get mighty close to the great wilderness with its myriads of busy +lives, and--" Fat picked up a pine cone and threw it, but Ham disappeared +around the end of the big rock. + +"Ham, you're just like the loons we have on the Michigan lakes," taunted +Willis. "You can do and say more crazy things than all the rest of us +ducks put together; but when any one takes a shot at you, you're out of +sight." + +By this time Fat had managed to make two holes in his can of milk and was +drinking the contents. Mr. Allen had returned to his sketching, and +Willis had gone over to the little dam to get a drink. Suddenly there was +the snort of a horse and the rapid tramping of hoofs. A dog gave two +or three barks, then horse, rider, and dog appeared on the trail. In a +second another rider, with a pick and shovel thrown over his shoulder, +came over the ridge. The first pulled in his horse and, turning in his +saddle, looked to see if his companion was coming. Being confident that +he was not far behind, he again urged his horse forward, apparently not +noticing the group by the big boulder. Ham got to his feet and spoke to +the dog. The horseman gave a quick exclamation of surprise, then called +out, "Howdy!" Mr. Allen rose. + +"Well, well!" called the man. "Seems to me yew fellers are travelin' +some, ain't ye?" + +"O, a little," returned Mr. Allen. + +"You don't happen to know, do you, whether there are two cabins above +here, do you? We was directed to the middle cabin." + +"No, only a very badly decayed one--just a pile of tumbled-down logs," +replied Mr. Allen. The second rider had come up and dismounted, and +together they studied a sketch which he had taken from his pocket. + +"This must be the one, that's all," he drawled, as he spat out a great +quid of tobacco, "'cause he said it was by the bridge. We must o' missed +the other cabin in the trees somewhere below here." + +Willis was eyeing the newcomers closely. A stern, hard look crossed his +face as he quickened his pace. He reached Mr. Allen's side, and the first +rider nodded to him. He drew nearer and observed the sketch very closely, +listening intently to all the strangers had to say. His heart was beating +fast, but just why he could not have told. + +"Well, Jim, I guess we'd better unsaddle an' give the nags a drink an' a +rest," said the stranger as he carefully folded up the sketch and put it +in his pocket. "Seems strange as how we'd meet twice in these mountains +in nearly as many days, don't it?" remarked the man, as he began to +loosen the saddle girths and to untie the sacks of grub that were +fastened on behind. + +"How is that?" queried Mr. Allen. + +"Why, wasn't it you that went up the trail to the top of Cheyenne the +other day?" questioned the man. Then, without waiting for a reply, he +went on: "We was doin' an assessment up there that day an' seed you as +you stood talkin' to that crusty old prospector that works that tunnel." + +"O yes," said Mr. Allen, "so you are the men that were up there by that +black dump?" + +"Yep, we're the fellers, Jim an' me." + +"Are you going to do more assessment work here in this canyon?" +questioned Ham. + +"Yep, we've got two assessments to do here somewhere," returned the +stranger. "This canyon, or at least part of it, belongs to a real estate +company in Colorado Springs. I don't believe there is any gold here, but +they are holdin' the property as an investment. Seems like they expect +sometime to open this canyon to tourist trade to see some swell falls +that's up in it somewheres." + +"O, is that so?" returned Mr. Allen. "Then you don't think there is any +gold here at all?" + +"Nope, I don't, an' I'll tell ye why. Gold, as it's found in these parts, +runs in a strata of quartz. Now, there ain't no quartz in this range, +except on Cheyenne. The old-timer down at the inn says that there's gold +up here, an' he knows where it is, but you can't take no stock in these +old fellers. They're daft on the gold question." + +Mr. Allen looked at his watch, then, turning to the fellows, he suggested +that they had better start for home. After a little more conversation the +two parties separated, one to camp for the night in the cabin, the other +to return to the city. + +Willis motioned Mr. Allen to the back of the line as they worked their +way down the trail and into the park. + +"The plot thickens," began Willis, with a queer little smile on his face. +Then with a slight chuckle he added: "To be more accurate, I suppose I +should say 'The plot thins.' Those are the two men that were at my +uncle's house the morning we started on this trip, and my uncle drew that +sketch--I'm sure of it. The heading was torn from the paper, but I feel +it in my bones that he was the artist. Those are the men that were doing +the assessment on my father's old claim on Cheyenne for my uncle. He +never dreamed of my seeing them here and knowing they were in his employ. +I understand now why he didn't want me to come on this trip. A coward is +always suspicious. I never would have put the two together in the wide +world if he hadn't made such a fuss about my coming. One thing is +absolutely certain--my Uncle Williams is crooked, and that isn't all, +either. My Uncle Williams owns that cabin, and we'll never get it for our +use in this wide world. What will the fellows say when they know it +belongs to my uncle and we can't get it? The cabin is ideal, and it could +be repaired with very little cost. It is isolated and in a beautiful +spot, and is the only thing we have found. Don't tell the fellows about +it, please, until I see what I can do. I'll do my very best." + +"Now, look here, my boy; don't let that bother you," replied Mr. Allen. +"Wait. Don't trouble trouble till trouble troubles you. He hasn't +troubled you yet, he's just getting ready to. Let's beat him at his own +game. There are more ways than one to skin a cat." + +"But how?" inquired Willis. + +"Well, the first thing to do is to get the exact location of the cabin, +then go to the county recorder's office and see to whom the property +belongs. If it ever belonged to your father, as you are now disposed to +believe--" + +"Yes, I'd bet my hat, Mr. Allen, that this is the very cabin that my +father and Tad Kieser built. O, how I 'd like to have it all for my very +own!" Mr. Allen interrupted him. "As I was saying, the records will show +very plainly if it was ever transferred or if it was anything but a lode +claim. If your father owned it, that settles it. Williams has nothing to +say about it. Placer claims can't be taken on deeded property. However, +let's not worry about it, but let's count it ours and work toward that +end." + +"O my, if Tad were only here, we'd soon know a thing or two!" exclaimed +Willis. + +"Now, boy, listen! Don't go home and spoil all this business. Keep still +about it until to-morrow, when we can get at the records and find out for +certain just what is what. Will you do that?" questioned Mr. Allen. + +"I'll tell my mother," replied Willis, "and to-morrow I'll go with you." + +The trail was winding back and forth through a great park of aspens. On +every side were prospect holes, remains of old cabins, and places where +the wilderness was again reclaiming her own after men had spent their +time, money, and energy attempting to force her to give up her gold. + +At the top of the hogsback that over-looked Bruin Inn the fellows sat +down to rest. They were back in familiar territory, now, and the cabin +quest was nearly over. + +"Of course, the very first thing to do," Ham was saying, "is to get in +stone and get our fireplace built before the frost comes. It will be a +simple matter--just throw down stones from the mountain; they are flat +slabs and will lay up very easily. We'll use that big, flat stone at +the end as a foundation, and run the chimney up outside the house--a real +big, life-sized one, too. And we want a grand old-fashioned crane in the +grate, and andirons of stone, and a big cement hearth." + +"Going to do all your cooking in the fireplace?" asked Chuck. + +"Not on your life," put in Fat. "We'll bring up our old camp stove, the +one we had on the trip last summer--it's a dandy." + +"I've got the only stunt, though," said Ham. "Let's build a great big bed +on the rafters that run from wall to wall. We'll just cut a lot of +saplings and lay them in close and support the bed from the roof. After +it has about two feet of balsam boughs on it, it will be a choice roost, +I tell you that. I'm going to be architect and boss carpenter of that +job." + +"Yes," said Mr. Allen gravely, "but it's not a fireplace, an aerial bunk, +or a place to eat that I'm thinking of. There is no use putting our time, +effort, and money into this place unless we can take care of at least +twenty fellows at a time, and how can we do it?" + +"The eating won't be any trouble," advised Fat. "They will get enough to +eat some way--I always do." "We'll build an addition," suggested Phil, "a +bunk house addition. That will be easy; we can build it out where that +old back porch is, can't we? And say, talk about great logs, what's the +matter with those aspens right there ready for us?" + +"We could buy tin dishes, but where is the money coming from? That is the +main question," said Mr. Allen. "Money," snorted Ham, "that will come if +we're in earnest, dead earnest. How about that circus? How much money do +we need, anyway?" + +Mr. Allen drew out his note-book, and made some rapid calculations. +"Well, the very least that you can do with, fellows, is two hundred and +fifty dollars." + +"Good-bye, fond dreams!" cried Fat tragically. + +"Two hundred and fifty dollars!" exclaimed Phil and Ham together. "How +do you get that?" + +"Well, cement and lime for the fireplace, freight to Fairview on boards, +shingles, furnishings, and so on; rent on donkeys to do the packing, +dishes, and pantry boxes, for everything will have to be kept in tin +boxes. Then you'll have to hire a mason to put in the fireplace. You'll +need axes, saws, and tools. I'll wager it won't cost a cent less than two +hundred dollars, and great loads of hard work." + +"Hard fun, you mean," interrupted Phil. + +As the evening shadows began to lengthen and the cool breeze to rise from +the snow-clad peaks of the Middle Range, the little group of explorers +dropped into the canyon and hurried home. All were very full of ideas and +suggestions except Willis. He had listened to their talk, but was saying +over and over to himself, "If it doesn't come true, it's my fault, or my +uncle's, and that's the same thing." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A Strange Turn of Fate + + +"Let's take Mr. Dean to the courthouse with us, Willis," said Mr. Allen. +"He is very shrewd, and we can depend on his judgment in such matters as +we have before us to-day." Willis found Mr. Dean, and in a short time +they were on their way, Mr. Allen explaining to Mr. Dean the possible +difficulty that had arisen in regard to the ownership of the cabin. + +Upon their arrival at the courthouse, the first thing was to study a +United States geological map to find the township, section lines, +railroads, and streams. Then began the search through old, yellow volumes +of records, one after another, each one bringing them nearer to the +desired information. + +"Section five, west of range sixty-seven," read Mr. Dean. "That's the +place, boys; now we must locate an exact point in that section. You say +the cabin is located on a stream and a trail. The falls are marked here;" +he pointed with his pencil. "Now downstream a little; here we are, three +trails marked instead of one. You came over from the railroad, didn't +you?" + +"Yes, right here," said Willis, pointing. "The cabin is where these two +trails cross each other." + +In the center of the next volume, for there had been many claims located +and recorded on the little stream, they found the record of a property +belonging to Willis's father and a Mr. Kieser. The record showed the date +of its refiling, after the country had become a part of the Pike's Peak +Forest Reserve. The survey lines were given, but of course they could not +be located on the map. Was the cabin on the property there recorded or +not? Willis remembered that his mother had said not, so they pushed +further into the books and came to the description of a lode claim, the +corner of which, according to the record, was at the intersection of +the two trails, just where the stream swings south. It was originally +staked and recorded by a man named Briney as a placer claim. Six +consecutive assessments were recorded, then two years later the claim was +relocated by a Joseph H. Williams. Willis frowned as he made notes and +took down the dates of the assessments. + +"There you are," he said despondently; "just as I thought yesterday--Mr. +Joseph H. Williams, my uncle, owner. Great chance of getting that cabin, +isn't there?" + +"Now, hold your horses," interrupted Mr. Dean. "Let's finish the rest of +this record. Well, that's the strangest thing I ever heard of. His last +assessment is dated last summer, August 3, 19--. This year's work hasn't +been done yet. Why--well, anyway, there must be something worth while +around that cabin. 'Claim jumped and re-recorded as a lode claim August +22, 19--.' Why, that's the day you started on the trip to look for a +cabin!" + +"You are right," exclaimed Mr. Allen. "Let's look at the list of records +filed on August 22d last." The clerk showed them the page. It read as +follows: + +"Assessment on Joseph H. Williams lode claim, Cheyenne Mountain." Then +followed the description. Directly under it was the following: + +"Lode claim, Buffalo Park, located by Beverly H. Pembroke, as described +on page 1162." + +"The cabin then belongs, by right of relocation, to Beverly H. Pembroke," +remarked Mr. Allen, "and we are just exactly four days late. Too bad we +didn't start at this end of the trip." + +"Who is Beverly H. Pembroke?" asked Mr. Dean. No one could tell. "Well, +this much is clear," he went on: "there was some very good reason for the +relocation of that claim, and it couldn't have been for that old cabin. +Men don't locate claims to get possession of old, tumbled-down log cabins +nowadays." + +"Well, there's this much that isn't clear," returned Willis: "why that +change was made the day we started over this route, and furthermore, how +does it come that the same men worked the assessment on the two claims if +they belong to different parties? No, sir, men, listen: my Uncle didn't +want that cabin in his possession at this time for some reason, so he +transferred the claim to this man, Pembroke. Anyway, I'm glad it doesn't +belong to my uncle now, whether we get it for our purpose or not." + +"Now, you listen," said Mr. Dean: "let's go and see Mr. Pembroke at once +and inquire about it. He can't do more than throw us out, and it might be +he'd be tickled to let us have the cabin. Every hundred dollars' worth of +work done on that property, whether it's mine, trail, dam, or housework, +is equal to an assessment. If we remodel the house and use it, he can +buy the property or, as they say, 'prove up' on it. What do you say? I +believe we can make a bargain." + +"It's a go!" cried Mr. Allen. "I was sure we would need your brains for +this job, Mr. Dean. Let's go right now." They looked up the desired +gentleman in the directory, then started for his office. + +"Cheer up, old boy," cried Mr. Allen as he slapped Willis on the back. +"Here's where we win, uncle or no uncle. Isn't that right, Mr. Dean?" + +"You feel too confident," returned Willis. "I see the game. You don't. +Mr. Beverly H. Pembroke will politely refuse any offer. My uncle has +coached him on what to say to any inquiries. See if I'm not right!" + +"You haven't a very good opinion of that uncle of yours, have you?" said +Mr. Dean. "I don't see why he should be so vitally interested in keeping +you away from an old cabin. I think you imagine things, boy." + +"You know some things are true that you can't see," tersely replied +Willis. "You can't see a pain in your stomach, but you can feel it and it +tells you something is wrong. It's just the same in this case. I can't +see it, but I know something is wrong, and the next thing for us to do is +to get our heads together and find out the causes. We're interested in +the causes." + +Mr. Beverly H. Pembroke sat idly in his office. His feet were hoisted up +on the window sill, his straw hat tipped far back on his head, while a +long, slender cigar was held between his teeth. He was decidedly an +Englishman, and a very nervous, fidgety one at that. As the three entered +he got to his feet and inquired concerning their wants. + +"Log cabin--Buffalo Park--Lode claim located August 22d." He puffed +meditatively at his cigar, endeavoring to focus his thoughts on the +matter before him. A frown clouded his face, then suddenly disappeared. + +"Why-a, yes, ba Jove, this 'ot weather 'as nearly set me crazy. My brains +'ave been bemuddled all day, don't you know. Ba Jove, I most forgot that +new claim. Yes, yes, and you want 'ow many shares?" + +Mr. Allen looked at Mr. Dean and smiled. "You do the talking," he said. + +"Well, it's like this," said Mr. Dean. Then he laid his proposition +before the Englishman, who puffed away on his cigar and listened in +silence. "Sorry, very sorry, gentlemen," he began, "but I 'ave just +arranged with a party to 'old that site for a summer 'otel or a fruit +farm, or some such a thing, don't you know. Sorry, beastly sorry, though, +because I 'ave to refuse you." + +Mr. Allen looked at Mr. Dean, a great disappointment showing on his face. +He turned to Willis, who was standing in the background. The boy was +squinting out between half-closed eyelids and his fists were clenched +hard at his sides. He was gazing steadfastly at the floor. Suddenly he +looked up at Mr. Allen, then shoved himself behind the railing that +separated them from the Englishman and spoke in clearcut tones. + +"Mr. Pembroke--" The little Englishman batted his eyes nervously and +straightened noticeably. He was all attention in a second. Willis looked +him straight in the eye and continued: "I don't suppose you know who I +am, at least you don't appear to. I hate to ask favors of any man, or +take undue advantage of any one, but in this instance I feel that I have +just a little claim upon your attention and your consideration." Mr. +Allen looked at Mr. Dean in utter astonishment. + +"Very early this spring you and I were fellow passengers on a D. & P.W. +train coming to Colorado Springs. Do you remember? That train was wrecked +on a stormy afternoon by the splintering of the rails, which caused a +collision with a heavy freight. It was my pleasure at that time to save +the life of your little son." + +"Ba Jove," murmured the Englishman, as he shifted his weight from one leg +to the other. "It was a deucedly nasty business. I'm very pleased to meet +you again, Mr.--a--a--" + +"Thornton," said Mr. Allen. + +"Mr. Thornton, and--" + +"Never mind that," continued Willis. "All I have to say is that I would +count it a very great favor, personally, if you could see your way clear +to let us have the use of that cabin for an Association camp, until such +time as you are ready to build or make other improvements there." + +"Why--a--yes, I'll be pleased to do that," returned Mr. Pembroke +confusedly. "Deucedly glad to 'ave a chance to serve you, don't you know. +Now, just what is your plan again, gentlemen?" + +The plan was carefully gone over, this time with Willis as spokesman. Mr. +Pembroke listened carefully till he had finished, then he replied, "Ba +Jove, I like the idea, it 'as points to it. I'd like to furnish the +necessary lumber for the desired addition myself. It will be a deucedly +comfortable 'ome for the boys. You know it was the Association boys that +returned my dog to me." + +Before leaving his office, a three years' lease was arranged for and +everything looked lovely. What was more, the addition could be started at +once. + +"Well, by the Great Horn Spoon!" ejaculated Mr. Dean when they were well +outside. "You are a wonder! That is what I call nerve. Now tell me all +about it." + +"Bah!" replied Willis, "I hated to do it, but I had to. I was going to +ask the old boy what Mr. Williams would say to him, but I thought better +of it. To-night is when I have my fun. I'll tell my uncle about our deal +and watch him squirm. I wonder if he'll get mad. I can tell by the way he +acts if this recording business was a put-up job. There still remains +_the_ question, though--why does he want to keep me away from that cabin? +It has something to do with my father's old mine, I'm sure of that much; +and I'll find out, you see if I don't." + +The evening papers gave a glowing account of the interest of Mr. Beverly +H. Pembroke in the new Y.M.C.A. cabin project, and gave the plan of work. +A circus was already being planned to raise funds for the building, and a +stock company had been organized among the boys of the Boys' Department +to furnish funds with which to begin work at once. Work would be started +the next Saturday. The stockholders and some others would go to the cabin +on Friday evening, camp around a fire all night, and be ready to begin +work in the morning. After supper that evening Willis had a long chat +with his mother, and talked over with her all the things that had been +disturbing him in regard to his uncle's recent actions. + +"I think you must surely be mistaken," she said. "What object could he +have in doing such things. You must remember that you have a very vivid +imagination, and you must watch it." + +"No, mother, it is not imagination, for this is how I know this time: +Didn't you see how red and nervous he got when I told him what Mr. +Pembroke had agreed to do. Right after supper he left for down town +without a word. I don't know what it is, but there is some fact relative +to father's death that he has never told us. If we could only find Tad, +I'm sure he could help us out. I'm going to find father's mine, though, +and it's not so very far from that cabin, either. Mother, isn't it +wonderful that we are going to have the very old house that father built +so long ago? After I find the mine, I'll find out about its worth; but it +can't be worth so very much or Tad would never have left it. If the +tunnel is still locked up like you said Tad wrote it was, why, we can't +get into it. It belongs to Tad. Perhaps it will never be opened. Mother, +some day when you have a chance, talk with Uncle Joe and see what you can +find out. Father might have left keys and information concerning the mine +with him." + +"No, son, he wouldn't have keys, because it was Tad that locked up the +tunnel. It is Tad that has the keys. But listen, don't worry over it a +bit or build any false hopes on it. School will open in a week, and I +want you to take advantage of all it can give you. We'll be here until +Christmas, anyway, I think, unless Aunt Lucy should slip away before that +time." + +"I wonder what uncle would say to me if I asked him about Tad when he +comes home tonight. I think that's what I'll do." + +About nine o'clock he heard the heavy footsteps of his uncle on the +veranda, and in another moment heard him in the hall. After hanging up +his hat and coat, he came into the library, picked up the _Evening +Telegraph,_ and began to read, entirely ignoring Willis. After they had +sat thus silently for some minutes, Willis spoke: + +"Uncle, did you ever know a man named Tad Kieser, who was a great friend +of my father's?" The man moved uneasily in his chair, but, without +looking up from his paper, he inquired of the boy what he knew of Tad +Kieser. + +"Not much, to be sure," returned the boy, half sadly, "only what mother +has told me about him; but I'd like to know more. I think he must have +been a very interesting old character, wasn't he?" + +"An old devil and a cut-throat," retorted Mr. Williams. "You couldn't +count on him to be square even to his own mother. A sly old fox always on +the hunt." + +"That's very strange," replied Willis. "He surely was not that sort of a +man or my father never would have chosen him for a partner. You surely +must be mistaken." "Your father didn't have enough dealings with him to +find him out; that was all. I know him." + +"Tell me about some of the awful deeds he has committed if he is such a +fox," questioned Willis. "I've always thought him absolutely square. I've +heard he was the finest man in these mountains, years ago." + +"Who told you any such rot? I have enough circumstantial evidence against +him to put him behind the bars right now," growled the uncle. + +"Evidence along what lines, Uncle?" persisted Willis. + +"Blackmail!" snorted Williams. "What difference does it make to you, +anyway? He would be a capital fellow to join in on such an absurdly +foolish scheme as you are just about to pull off at the Y.M.C.A. now. +Going into somebody else's property and absorbing its benefits to +yourselves. That's his scheme exactly. He watches my mining claims like a +hawk, and if my assessments should be a day late he'd jump my claims. He +hates me." + +"What did you ever do to make him hate you?" innocently inquired Willis. + +Again Mr. Williams ignored the question and went on: "He'd just love to +work on that old cabin again." + +"I should think that cabin _would_ interest him," calmly replied Willis. +"I only wish he was here to join us, for I'd rather know him than any man +I can think of just now. A man who builds a house ought to know how best +to build onto it, hadn't he? Personally, I think he must have been a very +clever old miner and as true as steel." + +"Yes, true to his own interests." + +"It takes two to make a fight, though, doesn't it? By the way, Uncle, why +did you let that sapheaded Englishman jump your claim last week? I +should think you'd hate him for such tricks as you do Tad?" Willis eyed +his uncle closely, then in a half undertone he casually remarked, +"Anyway, I think a whole lot of this mining business is mighty crooked +business." Then again to his uncle, "Is Tad still around in the mountains +somewhere, Uncle?" + +Mr. Williams smiled in a preoccupied way and said, "Yes and no." + +"I don't understand?" questioned Willis. + +There was no reply. Soon the man laid down his paper and left the room. + +"Well, I'll be jiggered," said Willis half-aloud. "What can he have +against the man who was my father's partner? I don't know, but I'll find +out." He closed his book with a slam and went off to bed. + + * * * * * + +The last Friday night of the summer vacation saw a large group of husky +high school boys board the car en route to the cabin. All were equipped +with blanket rolls, and several carried picks, shovels, and other tools, +for "to-morrow" real work on the cabin was to begin. It seemed that the +coloring of the leaves had given everything their delicate tint. The +squirrels were already gathering stray acorns that Mother Nature had +dropped for them. The little canyon lay in perfect quiet, except for the +chattering of the line of boys stretched out along its leafy woodland +trail. The whole physical body seemed to respond in a mysterious way to +its every call, for "In the city we live, but in the mountains we live +more abundantly." + +By eleven o'clock the party sat around a half-dozen blazing campfires, +munching at a midnight lunch and speculating on various phases of +the work. Ham was keeping the fellows around one fire laughing over +his remarks; Fat was giving expression to his views on camp grub and +food in general. Mr. Dean entertained another group by his stories of +army life, while Mr. Allen and a number of the boys' Cabinet were laying +out a plan of work for the morrow. Shorty Wier advised work on the +fireplace first, because, as he pointed out, "the fireplace would be +the cabin's heart." It might have fine decorations and new rooms, a +well-stocked pantry and new furniture, yet what would all these be to a +dead thing? The fireplace would be the spot around which all the cabin +life would congregate--around which every strange experience would be put +into words. "Yes, I'll help cut the logs and pack in the lumber and build +the furniture, but first of all let me see the rugged stone chimney with +a fire quietly burning on a great, wide, friendly hearth to cheer me as I +work." + +"You are right, Shorty," cried Willis. "I'm with you, for when the old +fireplace is built, and the wind is whistling down the canyon, bringing +messages of snow, we'll forget everything outside and just be happy +toasting before a great log fire." + +And so the night slipped along. After a while they began to drowse, until +one by one the little groups became quiet and fell asleep. Only the +glowing, flickering pine knots stayed awake to watch the tired sleepers. + +The first streak of dawn found the fellows up and eager for work; +besides, there was so much to see and learn before the day's work was +begun. The remains of the midnight lunches were drawn out of their hiding +places and eagerly devoured. The fragrant smell of broiling bacon and the +delicious aroma of campfire coffee filled the air. The pine-scented smoke +from the campfire hung low in the valley, and every sound carried plainly +in the morning air. The squirrels were out in great numbers and at their +morning play, while every now and then the harsh, rasping cry of a +bewildered bluejay would float up the canyon. + +The stone crew were strung out in skirmish order across the front of the +high ridge and were rolling down every loose stone. Some came with a +merry hop, skip, and jump; others with a shower of gravel and a crash as +they struck the bottom. One great stone leaped into the top of a spruce +tree and stuck fast. Another jumped over the great boulder at the base of +the hill and rattled into the open door of the cabin. Still another +dashed in mad frenzy down the slope, through the alders and into the +stream, throwing spray in every direction. So the pile steadily grew. + +In the afternoon the cabin was cleaned out and a part of the back +porch demolished, ready for the new addition. It had been decided to +build a room eight by twenty-eight feet, and in it lay one great +balsam-bough mattress. Under Ham's direction the aerial bunk was begun, +and it very soon showed signs of being built by a master builder. It was +what might be termed "rustic," as Ham said. Logs from the woodpile were +substituted for the rotting ones in the floor of the bridge. A great pile +of brush, twigs, and trash were set afire and destroyed. So the day +slipped away--all too quickly. Four o'clock found a group of royal good +fellows again on the trail--that trail that was soon to become so dear to +every one of them. Their muscles were tired with unselfish work, and +their minds and hearts were full of the joy of living. There was already +something of the great social bond that was later to tie their lives +together for all time with a cord of pleasant memories. + +Ham had fastened his blanket to a nail away up in the topmost rafter of +the cabin, and here he left it for another time. + +"Where your blanket is, there will your heart be also, sometimes," he +quoted as they took the trail that led down out of the wilderness. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +The Discovery of the Mine + + +Two weeks later another crowd was organized to do a day's work on the +cabin, and it seemed every boy in the Department wanted to go. "Unless +you feel as husky as a steam elevator, you better stay home," was Ham's +advice to one small boy, for Ham had been chairman of the committee that +had been so busy since the last trip, purchasing all manner of supplies, +equipment, and building material for the cabin, all of which would have +to be packed over from Fairview on donkeys, and there was nearly a +carload of it. Ham was under the impression that the donkeys would fall +dead when they saw the "pile of junk," and that every single fellow in +the crowd would have to "wiggle his ears, bray once or twice, and get +busy," if the cabin ever became the possessor of the new equipment. + +Twenty fellows besides the "Chief" and Mr. Dean were on hand at the +appointed time. At the mouth of the canyon two very faithful old donkeys, +that had years before belonged to a prospector, were rented for the trip. +Under their former master they had been trained to carry heavy loads of +ore from the little mine far back in the mountains out to the city, and +to return again heavily laden with the provisions for another winter in +camp. They had learned their lessons well, so were perfectly trustworthy. + +Peanuts was the oldest, and therefore came in for the most consideration +and the lightest load. As he raised his tired, patient old head, his long +gray ears pointed forward at the sight of the pack saddles. One glance +and he was satisfied. He perfectly understood what was coming, and +visions of the long, zigzag paths through shaded valleys all fresh from +the summer showers flashed through his brain. Peanuts loved the trail, +the deep, long, grassy trail, that crept along close to the little +stream, then up and up into the great Silent Places. Tradition told that +Peanuts had been the first donkey to carry a pack up Pike's Peak, as well +as the first to bring real "high grade" out of the Cripple Creek; but of +course tradition might have been mistaken. At any rate, Peanuts was a +gentle, slow, patient toiler of the trail, and it was largely due to his +good judgment that the cabin was ever equipped. + +Many were the trips he made after that first journey. There were +summer trips in the hot sun of July days; autumn trips in the cool, +sweet-scented evenings when the mountain twilight lingers on the treetops +and the rocky crests. There were trips in the winter when the trail was +hidden underneath heavy blankets of snow or lost in the deep white +drifts. Once he had gone in beyond his depth and had settled down and +down into the fluffy snow until just his head and big ears were visible +above the snowbank. + +His companion, Tuberculosis, was a little different type of beast. His +legs were long and his spirits high. He was in the prime of life and was +not as trustworthy as his partner. Certainly Tuberculosis had his +idiosyncrasies, and that fact often spelled trouble for both himself +and his masters. Now, Peanuts had learned that his driver was always +boss, and acted accordingly; but not so with Tuberculosis. He believed +that his own judgment in certain matters of conduct was best. For +instance, it was absolutely against his principles to ever cross a +stream, no matter how well it was bridged or how insignificant its size. +Yet, after many experiences, seasoned with a little strenuous persuasion +from the end of an alder limb, he began slowly to change his views. +However, he positively had no use for burned stumps, and when it came to +passing a campfire, Tuberculosis absolutely declined. There was just one +thing that both donkeys very firmly believed, and that was that each +was to lead and the other follow when on the trail. This was the only +point upon which they really ever quarreled, and most every time Peanuts, +because of his mature judgment and statesmanship, won out. + +When the pack saddles were on, and the pack bags of food adjusted on +either side, the blanket rolls piled high on top, they were ready to +begin the journey, "Donkeys are a good deal like some men," observed Ham +as the little column came to the base of the hogsback, "they always +have to travel by freight." + +"How is that?" questioned Willis, who had appointed himself guardian to +Peanuts and was just ahead of Ham. + +"Why, because they can't express themselves," was the reply. + +"Not verbally, perhaps," suggested Fat, "but they do have a signal code, +of which their hind legs are the main features. I've had them signal at +me more than once." + +"And if you ever receive the completed message," added Ham, "it usually +says, 'Six weeks in the hospital.'" + +At the top of the hogsback the party separated into two groups. The one +under Mr. Allen continued on up the trail with the two donkeys, while the +other, under Mr. Dean, took the railroad, walking around by Fairview, to +see if their equipment had arrived. + +It was decided the boys would sleep around a rousing fire rather than on +the cold floor of the cabin. The shakedown was too dry to be comfortable, +and Ham's aerial bunk had not yet been completed. They therefore chose a +spot for the night's camp across the stream from the cabin on a piece of +high level ground covered with a thick brown carpet of pine needles. Very +soon a bright fire was burning and the night's wood gathered. From the +bulging packsacks a real camp supper was gotten under way. Every fellow +cooked his own piece of meat and baked his potato in the coals, while Mr. +Allen made the coffee and opened the cans of beans. Each fellow fashioned +himself a spoon from a dry stick, and the new cabin tincups were +initiated into service. Ham, who had had some previous experience with +donkeys, warned everybody to be sure to save all the scraps, for beans, +rye bread, or beefsteak were all dainties to the faithful animals. + +One of the fellows had brought his mouth-organ, and under his leadership +they sang every song from "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" to "Nearer, My +God, to Thee." When the fire had had time to work its wonders on the +hearts and spirits of the campers, Mr. Allen suggested a few stories. Of +course, he just voiced what was in the minds of many others, for who ever +heard of a campfire, a grand night, a happy crowd, and no stories? Such a +situation was inconceivable. Every fellow looked forward to the campfire +because of the stories, and remembered the stories because of the +campfire. They were inseparable. Mr. Dean opened the program. One story +suggested another, and that one another, until nearly every one in the +circle had told a story except Ham. Willis told Indian legends of the +great Kankakee Swamp and of the disappearance of the Pottawattomie +Indians. Another told of a wonderful trip through Yellowstone Park; +another of a deer hunt in Routt County; and still another of a mountain +goat expedition in the Canadian Rockies. All the while Ham lay flat on +his back, shading his face from the fire with his hands, and looking up +at the stars. He was reveling in the spirit of the fire and of the night. + +"What are you dreaming about, Ham?" called Willis from the other side of +the fire, to which Ham made no reply. + +"What's on your mind?" asked Fat, as he rolled over, facing Ham, and +punched him in the ribs. + +"Nothing special," drawled Ham as he rose to a sitting position and drew +his legs up under him. "I've just been listening. Your stories have been +the words to the music that is in the air to-night. I love to lie still +before a fire and listen to its music. I never realized before how many +out-of-door noises are liberated when a pile of dry sticks are burned. +That old fire has just been singing all the imprisoned songs of the +forest wild to-night, and giving out again in its little flames a hundred +thousand tons of absorbed sunshine." + +"Ham, let's have the Pike's Peak story," urged Mr. Dean; but Ham only +laughed. + +"Yes, let's do," begged Willis. + +"What's the Pike's Peak story?" inquired Sleepy from his place against an +old stump. + +"Well, if every one of you fellows will promise to never mention it again +to me," said Ham hesitatingly; "but I'm not going to tell you all the +details--just the plot--remember that!" He settled himself comfortably +and began: + +"The three of us had been in the habit of taking long Sunday afternoon +tramps in the mountains, but because of the cold weather we had been +pretty well shut in all winter. The snowfall for the season had been +heavy and the cold, especially in the mountains, had been intense. It +was the eighth of March, I think, and the very first signs of spring +had just put in their appearance. We decided that we would walk to the +Half-Way House on the Cog Road, or at least as far as we could. We +didn't know how much snow there was, or where it began, but we were all +feeling good and anxious for another real hike. We were all three dressed +in our Sunday clothes, and I was the proud possessor of a new spring suit +and a pair of low shoes. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when +we started up the track from Manitou; by five o'clock we reached the +Half-Way House, and much to our surprise found the keeper there. We had +encountered very little or no snow that far on the track, and, as the +days were getting longer, we knew we had two good hours yet before dark. +We inquired of the inn keeper how far the track was open, and he informed +us that it was clear as far as Windy Point, that there the great ice +sheets began. There is always more snow on the great south shoulder of +the Peak than anywhere else. You remember Son-of-a-Gun Hill? Well, we +decided that we would push on to the top of Son-of-a-Gun, then come back. +We left the Half-Way House and started up the track. The walking was fine +on that flat stretch just after you leave the inn, and we covered space +very rapidly. At the bottom of the great hill, in a grove of young +aspens, we stopped and cut us some walking sticks. + +"If it had been summer, and the snow and ice gone, we would probably have +noticed that there was a terrible storm gathering in the valley back of +Cameron's Cone; but with the range all white and dreary we did not notice +it. You fellows who have lived here near the mountain know that a storm +often rises up there as if by magic. They come so quickly you often +wonder where they came from. Of course, being directly in the shadow of +Pike's Peak, the sun went down very early, and our twilight was not as +long as we anticipated. I was the first to notice the cold breeze that +had sprung up, and I remarked about it; but we were walking fast and were +really too much interested in reaching the edge of the snow to pay much +attention to anything. Suddenly it grew dark and the wind increased. In +less than ten minutes we were in the midst of a howling mountain blizzard +and the snow was being driven before the wind at a terrific speed. John +suggested turning back, but Al and I were for pushing on, thinking it was +just a squall, and, as it seemed to be headed straight down the canyon, +we thought we would soon get above it. John insisted that we were crazy, +but we made all manner of fun of him, so on we went. + +"'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,' sometimes. That is just what +we did. We walked on in silence as fast as we could for half an hour. +Then we stopped and held a parley. We suddenly awoke from our little +dream of foolishness and began to realize that instead of getting out of +that storm, we had gotten into it. Up there on that great mountain side +we could not see ten feet in any direction. Above us and around us was a +raging sea of frozen pellets. The snow was drifting along the track, and +in some places it was already completely hidden. Night was coming, and +there was no shelter from the swirling winds. In number of miles we were +a good deal nearer the summit of the Peak than we were home, and +somewhere ahead of us was the old printing station. We would make for it +and its shelter--it would be foolish to expose ourselves to the storm by +returning in the open valley. Then, too, we might lose our way and slip +into the canyon below. We fought on bravely in the dark until finally the +wind went down a little and the snow grew soft and wet. Our shoes were +wet through and our bodies completely chilled, yet we could not find the +printing station. Had we passed it, or was it still ahead. We differed in +our opinions. + +"Finally the snow ceased, and we could see about us a little by the +reflected light. We spied a few straggly trees and made for them, for we +were just at timber line. We found a great tree that had blown over, +and, breaking limbs from its prostrate trunk, we built a large fire and +sat on the log to dry our feet. We were now very keenly alive to our +situation, and knew it was becoming serious. We suddenly realized that +our only safety depended on the locating of that old printing station. +Our shoes were so wet and our feet so cold that the leather burned before +we knew it; but, as a real matter of fact, we didn't realize how badly +they were burned until an hour later, when the shoes began to crack away +in bits and the uppers to rip open along the seams. + +"We reached the great snowbanks. The track and roadbed was buried deep. +The last straggling trees were far behind. We stood on a great white +waste of snow, thirty feet in depth, not a landmark to be seen. If the +station was ahead, it was buried; if it was behind, we had missed it. +With that realization our spirits fell, for to turn back now meant +certain death. Then, to add to our danger, it had begun to turn fearfully +cold--that kind of a clear, steady cold that comes only in the mountains, +when the thermometer drops twenty-five degrees below zero and the air +cuts like a knife, while your nostrils freeze together when you breathe. +At the fire we had tied handkerchiefs over our ears and tied strings +around our trouser legs to keep the wind and snow out. + +"Every little while we sat down and pounded our feet with our walking +sticks to keep up the circulation. At last we came to about two feet of a +telephone pole sticking up through the snowbank. We knew then that we +were off the road and were high up on the mountain. Luckily for us, the +snowbanks were so heavily crusted that they held us up without breaking +through. John suggested a plan: We would follow the post ends to the +Summit House; in that way we could not get lost. Two of us would stop at +the tip of one post, while the other, usually John, would push on to find +the next one. When it was located he would call and we would go to +him. Just how long we traveled in that manner I do not know. It seemed +days, but, of course, it was only a brief time. Often I was positive that +the posts were at least a half a mile apart. My shoes were so badly +cracked at the seams that my feet grew very numb with the cold, and +before long I knew I was freezing. + +"Time and again we thought we heard something coming over the snow behind +us. The air was clear as a bell, and, as we pushed on, this sound +frightened us more and more. Our imaginations began to play strange +pranks. I remember that I was too frightened to even move, so sometimes +I would just stand shivering and listening. We hardly spoke a word. By +and by the time came when I was too cold to leave my post for the next +one. I just put my arms about it and begged the fellows not to wait for +me, but to go on and save themselves; to dig a hole in the snow and leave +me in it. But John, dear old John, refused and, putting his arm about me, +he dragged me on and on. He tried to make me angry by striking me, and +warned me not to go to sleep or I would freeze. But I told him I must +sleep, for my feet and legs were numb and my arms and shoulders ached +with sharp pains; then I cried like a baby. Soon Al began to play out +also, and John plead with him not to give up. Al took me by one arm and +John the other, and together they fairly dragged me over the snow. + +"When we least expected it, we stumbled over the steps that led to +the Summit House. In a few moments we were at the door, but I was +helpless. The summit was completely buried, except at one end, where the +wind had kept it clear. John hastily examined the windows, only to find +that every opening was securely covered with an iron shutter. We were +lost! I heard John muttering to himself; then he slipped his fingers +under the bottom of the shutter, braced his feet, and pulled with a +superhuman strength--the strength of a last hope. With a creak the +shutter gave at its fastenings, then bent in the middle, and slipped out. +He then knocked out the double window with his elbow and soon had me +inside. + +"We found candles in a jar, and there was a great wood stove in the room, +but no fuel. He didn't hesitate, but went to the counter, removed the +shelves from it, and, with a meat cleaver which lay on the table, he cut +the shelves, and we soon had a fire. We heard sounds outside, and +realized that the something we had heard behind us on the snow was at the +window. We were conscious of a presence without being able to see it. +John went to the broken window and looked out, but he could see nothing. +Soon we heard stealthy steps back and forth on the flat roof above. He +barricaded the window, brought snow on the end of a board, and rubbed my +face, feet, and legs with it, then wrapped me in tablecloths which he +found in the cupboard. Several times he brought a great armful of shelves +from the storeroom and cut them up for the stove. + +"As soon as the fire was started, Al lay down on the floor and fell into +a heavy sleep. We could not waken him, and it frightened us badly. John +began to cry, and I think if it had not been for the constant pacing back +and forth of the strange animal on the roof we would all have given up. +Soon the first streaks of dawn began to show themselves, and with the +light the pacing on the roof stopped. John climbed up the tower steps and +peered out just in time to see the animal jump from the roof and +disappear. + +"The house was fairly overrun with rats that scampered in every +direction. I thought I had seen rats, mountain rats, but I had never seen +any like those. They were so bold we were afraid to sleep, for they were +large enough to be dangerous. + +"When Al awoke he was very sick and weak. John found a big tin box in the +kitchen, and in it were coffee, grapenuts, and the remains of a ham. He +melted snow for water, and got us a little breakfast. We were three +pretty serious fellows, for we knew only too well how the folks at home +would be worrying about us and how near we had come to freezing to death +on that great mountain of snow and ice. + +"After we had had breakfast, we made us crude snowshoes from the ends of +grocery boxes, which we fastened to our feet with strings. Our shoes +became hard when they dried, and it was only after painful effort that we +got them on at all. We took the piece of ham, cooked the grease from it, +and with this oiled our shoes as best we could. Traveling was very slow, +for we were weak and sick, so it was nearly evening before we reached +Manitou. There we met several rescue parties just starting to find us. I +can shut my eyes and see them now. Some carried blankets and some food. +Mr. Allen had a big red sweater on his arm and a coil of heavy rope hung +from his shoulder. Old Ben was there, too, for they had sent word to him +at Bruin Inn, inquiring if we were there, and when he found out we were +lost he insisted on joining the rescue party. In fact, it was he that +suggested that we had probably gone up Pike's Peak. Ben and I have always +been great friends ever since. + +"We held out some way till we reached home, then we all three gave up. O, +the awful sickness that followed and the pain of frozen feet! I was in +bed nearly a month, and every time I slept I dreamed of that awful night. +I came very near slipping off this earth then. Of course the newspapers +made fools of us and all the fellows teased us nearly beyond endurance. +It was only a few weeks later that an immense mountain lion was shot near +the cabin on the carriage road. There you are, you have my story, now +let's forget it." + +Not a fellow moved. They all sat looking intently into the dying fire. +After a few minutes Mr. Allen suggested a sleep, and before long the camp +was quiet, each camper wrapped in his blanket and stretched full length +on the ground. + + * * * * * + +Very early the next morning the transportation of equipment was +begun. The entire party went over to Fairview to bring the first load +of tin dishes, plates, cups, knives, forks and spoons, kettles, pots, +frying-pans, sugar cans--and so the list went on. The old shelves were +removed from the blind end of the cabin and placed near the window in the +other end. These were to serve as pantry shelves in the kitchen corner. + +After breakfast was over one group returned to the car for another load, +while Ham, with a helper, pushed forward the construction of the aerial +bunk. The queer old shakedown was torn to pieces and the poles used for +Ham's bed, the rest of it was shoved out of the back door and set afire. +On this load the stove came, two fellows supporting it on the pack-saddle +of old Peanuts. It was set up near the window and a work table built at +the end of it. Another set of shelves was made for the pantry, and soon +all was in readiness at that end of the house. The old grub box was +converted into a bread box, and the little old stove was set back in an +out-of-the-way corner. It was, indeed, the passing of the old to give +place to the new. + +Tuberculosis seemed to enter completely into the spirit of the new, for +he had walked calmly back and forth over the shaky old bridge which +crossed the stream with load after load of shingles and sacks of cement +and a thousand other things that were to have a place in the cabin. There +were windows and a heavy pine door for the new room. There were axes +and saws and hammers. There were buckets and lanterns and iron bars to +put over the windows, and stove-pipe for the kitchen stove. Then, too, +there was a grand old crane for the fireplace and the frame for a wire +screen to keep the flying brands on the hearth. Not a thing that would be +needed had been forgotten. It was a weary crowd of fellows that came +slowly along the trail at noon with the last load of boards, hung on the +sides of Peanuts' saddle, the nails and hardware, packed in heavy canvas +bags, loaded on Tuberculosis. + +The aerial bunk was all completed before dinner time, except thatching it +with balsam boughs, and all hands would help at that after the noon meal. +Mr. Allen prepared the meal, and it was a real camp dinner. Could fellows +ever have been so hungry before? + +In the afternoon the rest of the old back veranda was demolished and +cleared away. A large number of great, tall aspens, the choice of the +grove, were cut, trimmed, and dragged in, in readiness for the new +structure. It seemed that all the jays for miles around and all the +squirrels in the valley came to investigate when they heard the crashing +of the big trees and the merry sound of the axes. Great piles of balsam +boughs were dragged down from the mountain side opposite the cabin. These +were carefully trimmed before they were handed up to Ham, who was in the +bunk doing the thatching. The early afternoon saw the completion of the +fine, big bed--big enough for five people; and as the fellows became too +tired to work, the bunk became more and more popular. Every one was +anxious to try it. + +A heavy hasp was spiked to its place, and the cabin was put under lock +and key for the first time. They had really taken possession of it--it +was theirs. + +"It beats the Dutch how much that yard of stovepipe sticking out there +adds to her looks," observed Mr. Dean when the stove had been set up. + +"It isn't the stovepipe so much," replied Chuck, "as it is the smoke +coming out of it." + +"What pipe are you talking about?" inquired Sleepy as he dropped down out +of the new bunk to inspect the work the others had been doing since noon. +"Who's smoking a pipe?" he persisted, not understanding the conversation. + +"The cabin," tersely remarked Chuck. "But it has to get warm before it +can smoke, and it has to work before it can get warm. The cabin might +teach you a lesson." + +Later in the afternoon there was a great commotion a little distance up +the trail, and Mr. Allen hastened to investigate the shouting and sounds +of chopping. To his great disgust he found Sleepy dealing heavy blows to +an old pine tree with an ax while the perspiration was running down his +face. He was prancing about in great excitement. + +"What on earth?" questioned Mr. Allen. + +"I'm trying to get a squirrel. I saw him up in this tree just a moment +ago," cried Sleepy. + +"Is that all you can find to do to use up your energy?" asked Mr. Allen +dryly. Sleepy looked at him sheepishly, then hung his head and slowly +returned to the cabin, brought a pail of water from the stream, then +crawled up into the bunk, out of sight. + +By the time things were straightened around in the cabin so that the +mason could build the fireplace it was time to be starting home, but +every one was too tired from the day's work. They decided they would rest +in the cool shade for an hour before beginning the tramp down. It would +then be twilight. + +Willis took this occasion to do a little exploring on his own account. He +had worked faithfully all day and was very tired, but he did so want to +find his father's mine before he went home this time. He slipped away +unobserved and took the lower trail, which followed up to the remains of +the second bridge, then climbed to the tumbled-down cabin they had found +the first day. Here he took the trail that led far up into the timber. +Finally he saw far up above him what appeared to be an old mine dump. +Quickly he clambered up over rocks and rotting logs toward it, and +in a few moments he stood on the dump itself, which was of hard black +stone, with the exception of just a little quartz. He was sure it was the +same kind of stone he had seen on the old mantle at his grandfather's. +The quartz was apparently the last stone dumped. + +At one side stood an old mine shaft, perhaps fifty feet deep, with an +ancient hand-made windlass still at the top. Then just to one side and +entering the mountain was a great log door, put together with bolts. The +lock was a strong powder-house lock, made of heavy brass. The place gave +no appearance of having seen a man in many years. The hinges and hasp +on the great door were heavily corroded, and an old metal wheelbarrow lay +on the dump, rusted red. A tin sign fastened to a tree at the side of the +tunnel had become a target for expert gunners. Willis tried the door, but +could not force it a particle. Turning, he stood looking off into the +canyon toward Cheyenne. "So this is the spot," he mused; "and it has +never been touched in these ten years. Poor old daddy, poor old daddy!" +He leaned heavily against the log door, and his thoughts came thick and +fast, only to conclude, as they always did, with, "Where is Tad Kieser +and why does my uncle try to keep me away from this spot?" + +He was standing where his father had stood many times, and the boy seemed +to be very conscious of his presence just then. He wondered if, perhaps, +there had not been something of just love for the place itself, as well +as for the gold, which had drawn his father there so irresistibly. Such a +spot for a long, quiet visit with one's self! Below him the stream and +the little cabin; to one side, and a little farther up, the beautiful +falls, with Cookstove in the background; to the other side the park, all +resplendent in yellow leaves, with here and there a tall pine standing +like a green island in a sea of gently-moving gold. Far away over the +ridge was the blue outline of Cheyenne with its stage road creeping round +the base. He sat down to rest and to think. He was suddenly awakened from +his dream by seeing Mr. Allen closing and locking the cabin door below +him. He rose and hastened down the trail. In a few moments he had joined +the party, but he kept silent about where he had been and what he had +seen. + +"You'll have to let me in the cabin a moment, Mr. Allen," he called; "I +left my coat up in the bunk--I forgot it." The door was unlocked and +Willis entered, hastily climbing the little ladder up the side of the +wall to the bunk. It was dark in the cabin, for the sun had set. As he +stepped into the bunk he touched something, then jumped back with an +exclamation. Sleepy raised up on his elbow and looked about him. In a +terror-stricken voice he called out, "Who are you?" Willis laughed so +heartily that the fellows came hurrying into the cabin to see what +occasioned it. Then followed a great deal of fun at Sleepy's expense. +Sleepy only hung his head and tried to act as if his feelings had been +badly hurt. + +"Dirty trick, after a fellow's worked hard all day, to go and lock him in +and start for home without him. I'd have starved in there, I suppose," he +said gloomily, "and no one would have cared." + +"I suppose you would," laughed Ham, "for you would be too lazy to cook +you a meal after you found the food. We'll have to keep guard all the way +home on Sleepy, fellows, or he'll fall into some ravine and go to sleep. +He worked so hard to-day, poor boy. I never did believe in this child +labor business, anyway." + +The fellows took turn about riding the donkeys home, and a unique +experience it was, for pack saddles are not the most comfortable seats in +the world, especially for a tired boy. Ham gave practical demonstration +until the others caught on, then he walked. They were all too tired +to chat much, so just jogged along homeward, happy that another day's +work was done on the cabin. + +"A few more like this trip and we will be ready to entertain," called Mr. +Dean. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Sleepy Smith has an Experience + + +Two weeks later another trip was made to the now-beloved cabin, but the +party was small and, because of the lack of leadership, the amount of +constructive work done was not great. Enough logs were cut and dragged in +to complete the addition, a new layer of fragrant boughs added to the +aerial bunk, and the dam improved and strengthened. The rest of the day +was spent in hunting squirrels and chipmunks and in investigating the +immense valley above St. Mary's Falls. School was keeping the fellows +very busy, and because the fall social life had begun the young men found +spare time very scarce. The autumn activities in the Boys' Department +were also in full swing, demanding their share of time and attention. The +standing committee for the coming circus were already appointed, and +were scratching their heads for new and novel stunts. + +The O.F.F. were to present the afterconcert, and Fat was busy on the +program. The fall gymnasium was being entered into with great zest, and +already there had been a call for basket ball. The Bible study groups +were getting together for the winter, the new Cabinet had been elected, +so that, someway, there was not a great deal of time left for the cabin. + +Mr. Allen and a few picked fellows had made a trip the week before, +primarily to take up a supply of food for the mason and his helper, and +had gotten the entire frame of the addition up, ready to roof and +shingle. + +The next week another small group went up to roof the addition and close +it in so as to keep out the snow, if, perchance, it might come before +they were able to finish the improvements. They found the fireplace +completed, crude but artistic, of jagged boulders with an immense cement +hearth. The iron crane had been built in, and now hung lazily in the big +fire-box. + +Next came the cutting of the aspen poles for the floor of the addition. +They had hoped to get at least one layer of boughs on the great bed so +that the next time a larger crowd could be accommodated, but the long +autumn shadows warned them that twilight was approaching long before they +started it, so consequently they had to go back without seeing that task +accomplished. The curtains had been put on the windows, white oilcloth +had been tacked on the board tables, and a mirror, if you please, was +hung over the tin wash basin just inside the door. Hooks made of crooked +branches were fastened upon the logs on which to hang coats and +haversacks. The place had really undergone a genuine transformation. + +"Well," said Ham, as he took a long drink from the bucket of fresh water +that stood on the kitchen table, "that's the best water that ever flowed +down a mountain side. There's life and health in every shining drop of +it. To tell you the real truth, fellows, I'm beginning to feel mightily +at home here in this little shack. Shack! that doesn't sound right, +though, does it? What are we going to call this place, anyway, Mr. Allen? +Y.M.C.A. Cabin is no good. It sounds too civilized. Now, does that old +fireplace look civilized? And that iron crane, and those twisted rustic +seats in the corner, and that bed out there big enough to accommodate +twenty fellows? It reminds me of a home the old Vikings must have had +long ago, way up in the great pine woods of Northern Europe. Someway, it +has a look of health and strength about it that I like. Don't you see the +smile on that old fire-box? Can't you hear the happy peasant children +gathered there on that hearth singing their woodland songs and drinking +their mugs of warm soup? Then, over yonder, all stretched out, his head +to the fire, lies a great, gaunt dog, tired from the chase. Then the tap, +tap on the wooden floor of the old woman's cane as she hobbles about +the cabin. Can't you smell the bear haunch that's roasting there on that +long spit before the fire? Don't you hear the merry music of the ax, just +outside the door, as brawny arms swing it, cutting the great backlog for +the long night? Civilized? Yes, in a way, but not in our way, is it? But +what are we going to call this cabin?" + +Willis had slipped out a few minutes before and had wandered up the +canyon to the last point from which the cabin could be seen. There he +stopped and turned to survey the valley. The air was clear and cool and +was completely filled with the fragrant murmuring of the pines. Far down +in a vista of shifting lights and shadows stood the cabin. + +The next week brought the first signs of the approaching winter. The +warm fall rains gave way to cold showers. The leaves fell in countless +millions, and the voices of the feathered folk seemed to have blown away +with the autumn leaves. Heavy white mists hung over the mountains, +lifting occasionally to show curious eyes that the lofty summits were +already being painted white. The grass lost its fresh, green color, and +the wild purple asters dropped their lovely heads and slept. The first +real snow came in the night. + +The desire to go to the cabin on the part of a large number of healthy, +stalwart boys was matched against a foot of fluffy snow. The fact that +they had not seen the new, completed bunk-house, nor the fireplace, added +greatly to their intense desire to go. Added to this was the natural +boyish love for possible adventure, so, of course, it was decided to go, +snow or no snow. + +Twenty strong, they were on hand at the appointed hour. Soft shirts had +given way to sweaters, outing shoes to high boots or leggings. Still the +boys were just the same--happy, healthy, and free, ready for anything the +trip might bring. Old Peanuts raised sad eyes as he was led forth and +saddled. To think that such as he should tramp through all that snow +on such a night. Tuberculosis was disgusted beyond all measure. It was +only by much bribing from his bag of precious pinion nuts that Sleepy was +able to get him to even move. The snow was dry and fluffy, so walking was +not really disagreeable, but necessarily very slow. Somehow Peanuts +seemed to have grown old with the season, and many times Ham almost gave +up in desperation, declaring they would not reach the cabin by morning. +Darkness settled very early that night, and with it came the clear, cold +breeze from the snowy peaks beyond. How white everything looked, and how +quiet! Even the stream seemed to have been buried under a white blanket. +On the hogsback the snow had drifted badly, completely obliterating the +trail. It seemed like it took hours to climb that rugged hill. Twice +the donkeys slipped from the trail, floundered in the fluffy drifts, +and then lay down. Twice they both refused to go another step; then +darkness--the black darkness of a stormy winter night, settled about them +just as they entered the Park. Who knew the trail--that narrow pathway +that led between trees, around buried stumps, across shallow fords, and +back again? Who could now general this little disheartened army and lead +it on to warmth and shelter? Sleepy complained bitterly because the trail +was long, and many times threatened to go back when he was taunted with +"Baby!" First it was a false step, then a splash into the cold stream; +next it was a false lead into the heart of an aspen thicket, only to +return and try again. Ham broke the trail until he was too tired to go +another step, while Mr. Allen brought up the discouraged rear. + +It was a gloomy line that worked its way up the snow-filled canyon +that night. Minutes seemed like hours, and already the cold winds were +making every fellow weak and hungry. Ham was the life of the party, and +kept the fellows hopeful at his end of the line, even when he was so +tired from breaking trail that it seemed that he could not go another +pace. Willis was behind him, ready to lend a hand whenever he tripped on +treacherously-covered poles or slipped from the trail into the icy +stream. At last the little belt of thick timber was reached, and Ham's +heart rejoiced, for he knew the cabin was on the other side of it. Before +long they stood on the high trail and looked down into the valley where +stood the cabin, gloomy and gray, the light from the snow caught and +faintly reflected by the windows. Ham gave a loud shout that cheered and +strengthened every heart, and in another moment he was unlocking the +door. + +Ham's little pocket ax sang out in the winter night, and soon his efforts +were rewarded by a tiny blaze on the hearth. He ordered his forces like a +veteran, and they obeyed him without question--all save Sleepy, who chose +a comfortable spot in the corner and sat down, refusing to move. Very +soon the kitchen stove began to heat its end of the house, and the big +tin teakettle sang and sighed over the flames. Mr. Allen was busy with +supper and Fat was clearing a space before the open fire so they could +all sit down together. Some brought in the wood and piled it high in one +corner, while others scraped the snow away from the lea of a big boulder, +thus making a shelter for the donkeys. Ham smuggled a half a dozen frozen +potatoes for them and a half loaf of rye bread. + +A column of merry sparks rose from the chimney, while the candles threw +weird, funny little shadows out on the snow through the barred windows. +Ham and Willis were watering the donkeys and discussing their trip up, +when Ham, without any apparent reason, burst into a merry laugh. + +"I have an idea, Willis, and it's a capital one, too. Will you help me +carry it out?" and he laughed again. + +"Well, that depends," returned Willis. + +Ham put his hand to his ear and listened, then turned and looked eagerly +toward the cabin. When he was satisfied they were alone he continued: +"When I first came out here to feed the mules I heard an owl hooting up +in that big tree. My, but it startled me at first, until I had time to +think what it was. You know they shot a young mountain lion over on +Black Mountain day before yesterday. Now, we aren't so far from Black +Mountain, and if we are ever going to make a real, worth-while member for +O.F.F. out of Sleepy Smith, we have got to begin soon, and, besides, I'm +satisfied we will have to use a few extraordinary tactics. We have nursed +him long enough; besides, his spirit is rotten. He has been sitting +in there by that fire all evening and hasn't turned his hand to do a +thing. He will probably want some one to put him to bed, yet, to-night. +All the way up the trail he whined and acted like a baby. You remember +the tricks he pulled off the day we moved the stuff over from Fairview +on the donkeys--sneaked up in the bunk after dinner and went to sleep. +You know how we nearly locked him in. He's hurting our crowd. + +"We took him in, you know, because Mr. Allen thought there was so much in +him worth saving. Someway, it hasn't come out yet, and we've got to +operate, do you understand? We've got to scare Sleepy Smith out of his +boots once or twice to see what's in him. Let's do it to-night. If we +don't, next time we bring a crowd up here on a night like this there will +be three or four sitting around the fire doing nothing, and the next time +six or seven, until at last a few of us will be waiting on the whole +bunch, do you see?" + +"Yes, I see," replied Willis between chattering teeth; "but how on earth +are you going to do it a night like this, with all this crowd?" + +"Now, I'll tell you just what I want you to do. I'll pull off the game +and you be my accomplice. We'll take Sleepy out for a snow-bird hunt. I +never heard of one myself, but I'll fix that all right. We'll scare the +life out of that boy this night or bust. All you have to do--there comes +some one." + +"Ham, Ham!" called Fat from the cabin; "come on to supper while it's +hot." Then the door closed again. The two started toward the cabin, +leaving old Peanuts braying hoarsely in the night. + +"All you have to do," continued Ham, "is to just swear to all I say. +You'll catch on after I get started. Be sure to watch for the chance. +I'll tell Fat the scheme, and if I can get Sleepy out of the house for a +minute, I'll fix it up with the crowd." They were just about to enter +the cabin when somewhere in the night came the weird hoot of an owl, and +a pale, sickly moon peeped between the clouds. + +"Well, fellows, how do you like that old stone fire-box, anyhow?" Ham +questioned. "I haven't heard a fellow say a word about it yet. That big +black pot hanging on that crane makes me happy all over. Why, we have +Robinson Crusoe and that last polar expedition beaten a city block. I +never do see a pot hanging over the fire like that but I think of some +of the delicious stews that Jim Parker made for us the Christmas vacation +we spent with him out on his ranch in Middle Park. Snowbird stew good? O +my! It has turkey beaten a thousand directions." + +"Snowbird stew?" questioned Chuck. "What in the world is it, Ham? Bacon +creamed, or some such stuff?" + +"Bacon creamed, nothing," replied Ham disgustedly. "Snowbirds, just plain +snowbirds. When I was out feeding the mules just now, I heard a whole +flock of snowbirds fly down the canyon. That's what made me think of the +stew, I suppose." + +"Well, if they're no bigger than the snowbirds I've seen," remarked one +boy, "you'd have to have a bushel of them for a meal." + +"Do you mean those saucy little fellows with the white breasts that come +with the first snows?" + +"Those are the fellows," replied Ham, "and of course you need a lot of +them. But, then, they are so easy to catch if you just get into a flock +of them." + +"How do you get them?" inquired Fat, who was always interested in +anything new, so long as it had possibilities of something to eat in it. + +"Well, it's a good deal of hard work and some inconvenience until you get +started. But, O my! the eats the next day! Little fat fellows all stewed +down until they're tender." + +"Let's get a bunch," suggested Willis weakly, watching Ham for a cue. + +"There isn't a gun in the crowd," laughed one. + +"You could use clubs, couldn't you?" asked another. + +"Well, it's just like this," continued Ham: "you pick out a couple of +fellows for the trappers who are strong and husky, and who aren't afraid +to do their share of the work." Ham smiled at Willis. "Then you place +them one at each side of the canyon. You take a shovel, dig a deep hole +in the snow for the trapper to stand in so he can work easily without +stooping over. Of course, each trapper has a bag, a gunny-sack, or a +common flour sack will do, and a lantern. You can use a candle all right, +if you have no lantern. I've seen very successful hunts conducted by +using candles. The trapper stands with his bag held open between his +legs. It's a good scheme to tie the bag, a side to each knee, so you can +keep the mouth open without using your hands. You'll need them for +numerous other things, probably. The rest of the hunters divide into two +parties, and each party climbs the opposite ridge of the gulch, working +up the canyon without really going through it. In that way the birds are +not disturbed. Then, at a given signal, both parties descend into the +canyon and the hunt begins. Every man must be absolutely silent, for I've +seen one mouthy fellow spoil a whole evening's fun. Now, if any of you +fellows are sure you can't keep still for a little, even in a good deal +of excitement, you better stay here. If we fail, it will be some one's +fault." Ham noticed the sly glances that were going back and forth +between Mr. Allen and Mr. Dean, but he was sure he could count on both of +them, for they liked real fun as well as any of the boys. + +"The hunters then move down the canyon in a skirmish line, thrashing the +bushes with their pine boughs. As they advance the birds will awaken with +a shrill little peep and scuttle off through the bushes down the canyon +and directly toward the trappers. The birds take just little flights at a +time, so you must keep them moving or they will swarm and fly away in a +panic. If a flock panic on you, you might as well quit, for every bird in +the canyon will follow. You see this is the game: snowbirds live on +little bugs that are found in great numbers around the great Northern +Lights. When they see those candles flickering there in the great white +quiet, the snow reflecting the long rays out between the dark tree +trunks, they think it's the northern lights, and fly straight toward the +candle. All the trapper has to do, then, is to take them in his hand and +bag them. Sometimes they come in such great numbers that they fairly +swarm into the bag. When each trapper has enough, he puts his mouth close +to the snow and halloos to the drivers. At the signal they stop hunting +and come into camp. Fun, why it's the most fun I ever had in my life! The +foolish little birds are so easily caught. You see, instead of getting +out and hustling for their food, they think it will all be provided for +them by kind Providence or others," and Ham smiled. + +"Did you ever eat quail on toast in some of these stylish restaurants?" +queried Fat, who had caught onto the game. "Well, all in the world they +are is snowbirds. I suppose there are any number of fellows who make a +living by just that trick." + +A general discussion followed. Every one was ready and anxious for the +hunt to commence. Candles were gotten ready and a shovel found. Ham took +Phil, Fat, and Mr. Dean to help him find some sacks that were supposedly +down in the gulch, but in reality to explain to them just what he wanted +them to do. My, what a laugh they did have when they reached the open. +Fat was instructed to offer his services as the holder of one bag and to +suggest that Sleepy hold the other. They would plant Sleepy first, then +Fat would go on with the bunch. Mr. Dean and Ham would hide themselves in +the brush on either side of Sleepy. Fat would instruct his crowd what was +to be done, and Phil would take charge of the other group. They would go +down the canyon, over the ridge, then swing round and come back high on +the hill, so as to completely lose Sleepy, who would be placed where +both parties could see him by his light, but, of course, he could not see +any of them out in the shadows and the night. + +"If any fellow makes a stir," continued Ham, "the game is up. Remember, +Phil, you are boss of that crowd." + +A difference of opinion had broken out among the rest while Ham and the +others were getting the sacks, for Willis, in a sly way, had suggested +that the game was a fake, but Sleepy scoffed at the idea. + +"You do just as Ham says, and you'll see it's all true," cried Sleepy +hotly. "He knows more about camping than all the rest of us put together. +If you don't want to go, stay here. I'll hold a sack myself, and if I +don't get it full of birds before I come home I'll treat every one of +you." Fat entered just in time to hear the foregoing conversation. + +"I'm with you, Sleepy," he cried. "We'll have snowbirds for breakfast in +the morning." + +"O shucks," scoffed some one, "there aren't enough snowbirds in Colorado +to fill a sack like that!" + +"Well, of all the quitters," snorted Sleepy. "Just because you haven't +seen the birds is no sign they aren't there. If you don't see and hear a +lot of things to-night that you never saw before, I'm badly mistaken. All +that's the matter with you fellows is you're afraid of a little work." +Ham sneezed several times in quick succession, and Fat suddenly hurried +out, slamming the door behind him. Mr. Dean turned his face from the +crowd and energetically poked the fire. From the smiles, it was evident +that some had caught on and wanted to go along to see the fun, while +others declared it was a trick, and wouldn't move a step. + +"Too bad we haven't a dozen bags so we could give them all a chance," +laughed Ham, as he and Fat entered the cabin. + +Four remained, the rest trailed off to a little grove of young firs and +cut themselves branches to drive snowbirds with. Then up the slope they +went, winding in and out among the tall, silent trees, over snowy logs +and around great, jutting boulders, until the top was reached. Then +they hurried along the narrow ridge until it ended in a stone cliff. Here +they descended again through the trees until the trail on the south side +was reached. Ham picked out an open place entirely surrounded with a +heavy growth of young firs. Just at the edge of the little opening, its +bulk back in the trees, stood a great stone, twelve or fifteen feet in +height. Here Ham began to dig the pit for Sleepy's feet, explaining, as +he worked, that the rock would reflect the light and keep the wind from +blowing it out. Every hunter spoke in subdued whispers. When the hole was +finished, Sleepy stepped into it, and Ham shoveled in the dirt and snow +and tramped it tight about him in order to make room for the bag. It was +fastened to each leg by a stout cord. Ham gave the parting instructions. + +"Light your candle when we get out of hearing, then move it gently back +and forth in front of your bag. The first few birds that come will +probably scare you, but remember they are only snowbirds and harmless." + +The party then separated, filing off in either direction, and were soon +swallowed up in the long black shadows. All that Sleepy could hear was +the crunching of feet on the partly-crusted snow. He waited nearly +breathlessly for all sound to cease, and when the last faint echo had +died away it was a very shaky hand that lighted the first match. Of +course Sleepy was not frightened--he was only cold! The greasy tip of the +new candle sputtered and flared a moment, then went out. He tried again, +but this time the match broke off. He felt himself getting excited. He +had just two matches left. He must be extremely careful. He struck the +third match on the stone behind him and shaded the candle tip with his +hand; but his whole body was so nervous and his hands shook so that he +could hardly hold candle and match together long enough to get the light. +At last he succeeded. He stuck the end of the candle in the snow in front +of him while he turned up his collar and pulled his cap down tighter. +What was that? His body became rigid, his head went up, his eyes flashed. +Was it the snowbirds? He listened intently for an instant, then he +quietly relaxed. "Just the kids whacking the brush, I guess," he said, +half-aloud. Then he leaned his back against his rock and waited. Every +few moments he would gaze cautiously about him, then listen. Here and +there back in the shadows he could see a huddled group of pale, straight +forms. He knew they were only aspen trees, still he kept a watchful eye +on them. The night was absolutely quiet and dark except for long, +dimly-lighted alleys between the trees, where the candle rays were +frolicking. Here and there he could see the dim outline of a black stump, +its little snowcap perched upon its rim. He lifted the candle from its +place in the snow and waved it gently before the bag, then he paused +cautiously. His imagination had rallied from the cold and was now his +closest companion. He saw strange shapes flitting here and there among +the shadows. He heard every now and then a new, strange voice of the +woods. The trees, it seemed to him, were murmuring their disapproval +of such things as snowbird hunts. A myriad of unseen folk were peeping at +him from limb and stump and shadow. He knew they were there, even if he +couldn't see them, yet a strong feeling of loneliness crept over him. It +seemed ages since the boys had left him there, still it had been only a +few moments. + +His spirit was gradually becoming restless, and he began to wonder if +there really were any such things as snowbirds, after all. He wished he +was back again in the cabin by the fire. If he thought they were playing +a joke on him, he would slip back to the cabin and fool them. He had +half a notion to do it anyway. What was the use of his standing there? +Which way was the cabin? He sighed and wiped the perspiration from his +forehead. It was just over there, wasn't it? No, that couldn't be. It +must be over yonder. The trail ran through the grove to his right. That +couldn't be, the stream was over there, for he heard it every now and +then. He began talking half-aloud. + +"If the stream is over there, the cabin is over here." He paused and drew +his hand across his eyes. "No, no, if that were true, the stream would +flow uphill, and, of course, it doesn't." + +Far away he heard a series of little chirps, faint but unmistakable. He +was alert in an instant. Yes, that was the snowbirds, and they were +coming. He wondered if Fat heard them and was ready. Where was Fat, +anyway? How strange he felt, now he was almost afraid, for he was sure +something was watching him. He shaded his eyes and peered into the +gloom, but could see nothing. Far away in the timber it seemed to him +he heard brush snapping--still he knew there was nothing bigger than a +skunk or a rabbit in the whole valley. Still--and his breath came +shorter; had not a mountain lion been killed on Black Mountain just +day before yesterday? His imagination suggested hungry kittens searching +for a lost mother, and a tremor ran over his body, making his muscles +quiver. Was that a snarl? A whine far off, yet near to him? The candle +slipped from his shaking fingers and fell in the snow beside him. He made +a grab for it, and caught it just before it went out. The sound was now +clearer. Was that the crunch of feet upon the snow? Yes, he heard it +plainly. A twig snapped somewhere back of the big rock, then another, +then another. There was an answering of the whine. He felt for his +pocket ax; but, alas! it was at the cabin--he had no weapon, not even a +jack knife. Why had Ham taken the shovel with him? Pshaw! was it really +a sound at all, or was he still in his baby days? No, he was no baby, +but--there it was, a low growl, coming nearer and nearer. It flashed upon +him in a second--the hunters had scared up the animal, and it was coming +toward him--toward the light! He felt faint, then sick; but it was no +time to be sick! He swallowed at the big lump in his throat and wondered +if the animal really would attack him. He could plainly hear the +crunching in the snow now, and he fancied he saw two green eyes staring +at him from the shadows. Yes, and there were voices! He could hear them +laughing. Suddenly a twig near him broke, and another and another. He +cried out in terror, shrill agonized, cries for help. He dropped the +candle in the snow. Just how he got out of the hole where his feet were +buried he could not tell. He started to run, but his legs were still +tied to the bag, and at the first step he fell headlong. He was crying +now--great sobs shook his frame. He tore the bag free with a jerk and +started off as fast as the soft snow would let him, shouting "Help!" at +the top of his voice. He stumbled on through the snow, following the line +of least resistance. Finally he emerged from a dark thicket just in time +to see three men and a great dog come out of an opposite thicket. They +laughed heartily as they turned upward on the trail. The dog's eyes were +gleaming green in the half-light, and the one man carried a heavy rifle +on his shoulder. The dog turned, sniffed, then whined, but made no +attempt to leave his masters. + +The men had evidently not seen him. He stood for a second irresolute, his +teeth chattering, his heart pounding, then, turning, he saw the sparks +from the cabin chimney and in another moment he was safe inside. + +Back in the woods where Sleepy had been planted the rest of the fellows +were shouting and laughing. + +"Yes, I'll take it back," cried Ham. "Sleepy can go when he gets started, +but O my! what a lot it takes to start him! I don't believe he ever +moved so fast before, do you? Mr. Dean, you're a wonder on the growling +stunt--I felt kind of queer myself once or twice." Fat was too far gone +to express himself, but stood leaning against the rock, half-choked with +laughter. He had been behind the rock all the time, and had heard all +that Sleepy said. + +"I was dead sure I heard him laughing," said Phil, "and I thought he had +caught on to the game." "So did I," said Mr. Dean. "I certainly did hear +some one laugh." + +"It must have been Fat trying to choke down his amusement," dryly added +Chuck. "He couldn't keep from laughing at a funny thing on a bet." + +"I am sure of one thing," said Mr. Allen, "and that is that hereafter +Sleepy will do his part. I believe he has learned a lesson. You will have +a hard time, though, to ever persuade him that he didn't see an animal." + +"Just let him think he did see it," suggested Phil, "and we'll tell him +it serves him right. If he hadn't been so dead anxious to get the easy +job, like he is with everything, he would never have gotten into the mess +to-night." + +"Yes, that's it," added Ham; "we must be as solemn as we can and say to +him that we didn't see or hear a bear, lion, or any other animal; then +add, that if he had just been with us on the job, climbing up canyons, +hunting birds, and doing his share, instead of just loafing, he wouldn't +have gotten scared. But, rats! he must know that we have played a joke on +him." + +They finally agreed on a plan, then started back to camp. Ham was to do +the talking. As they entered the cabin they found Sleepy sitting on a +block of wood, looking meditatively into the fire. + +"Well, you're a dandy," commenced Ham. "We heard you hollering 'Help' +and 'Murder.' We came tearing through the trees to where we left you, and +you were gone. Please explain. Who did you think was going to catch those +birds? You got tired working so hard, I suppose? Come, now, was there too +much real work in it?" + +Then Fat began in his most disgusted tone: "You might make sure if there +was any real work to be done, Sleepy would get out of it someway. He +always does. Work isn't in his vocabulary." + +"Go easy," said Mr. Allen in a quiet tone. "Sleepy has made lots of +mistakes, and he hasn't begun to do his share of the work here yet, but +he's going to do different from now on, I'm sure. Why did you leave your +post, Sleepy?" He came forward and laid his hand on Sleepy's shoulder. +Sleepy shaded his face with his hand, for the tears were trickling down +his cheeks, and he spoke with real effort. + +"They frightened me terribly," he said. "I'm sorry." Then he rose from +his seat, took his cap from the table, and went into the night. The +fellows crowded up to the fire to warm their cold feet and talk it over. +Mr. Allen was firm in his belief that Sleepy had good stuff in him, and +he believed they were going to get it out at last. + +"He knows he hasn't played fair, fellows, and he's out there now, +squaring up with himself. To-night our friend, Sleepy, wins or loses a +great fight in his life. If he loses, let's not be too hard on him. If he +wins, let's help him. Remember, it's the 'Other Fellow First' in this +bunch." They sat quietly looking into the fire for some minutes, then Ham +broke the silence. + +"Fellows, I believe I understand for the first time in my life an +expression that always used to bother me. When my father invited me into +the woodshed when I was a kid, he always prefaced each performance +with this remark, 'Son, it hurts me a great deal more than it's going to +hurt you.' After the performance I used to ponder that statement over and +over and wonder how it could possibly be true. In fact, I didn't believe +it then, but now I do. Sleepy needed a good punishment; but, O my, I feel +mean, now that it's over!" + +"We are often called on to do unpleasant things for the welfare of +others," remarked Mr. Dean; "but if Sleepy finds himself to-night, and I +believe he will, we will all be glad we did it, himself included." After +a little time Sleepy came in. His step was steady and his manner easy. +Ham shot a curious glance at him from the corner of his eye. He saw that +Sleepy was smiling, and he felt a strange thrill, for he knew Sleepy had +won. Sleepy came to the fire, and in a clear voice addressed the crowd: + +"Fellows, I have something I would like to say before we go to bed." It +was very difficult for him to go on. "I am ashamed of myself to-night. I +know I have never played fair with you fellows here, for I'm lazy--I +always have been. You know I am the only child, and I have been spoiled, +for I've been taught to always let some one else do the work. I'm +sorry." He stopped, and in the pause he became confused. + +"But--but--I'm going to do better, if you'll give me another chance. I've +just had a little argument with Sleepy Smith outside, and I whipped him +in a fair fight. There is no more Sleepy; after this it's George Smith, +if you please. Sleepy and this crowd have had a falling out. Will you +give me another chance?" he asked anxiously. + +Ham was the first to cry out: + +"Bet your life we will, old boy, put it there!" He rose and they shook +hands. + +"Sure thing!" cried Fat. + +"Of course we will!" echoed Phil. + +"Three cheers for Smith!" came from the others. + +"Thanks," was all Smith said, then he sat down and Mr. Allen took the +floor. He had caught his cue from what Smith had said: + +"Fellows, I think we, too, have made a mistake, and as long as Smith has +been man enough to square himself with us, let us be men enough to square +ourselves with him. We have always called him Sleepy, and he has been +true to the name; but I never knew a boy yet who didn't live up to what +his best friends expected of him. Smith always knew we didn't expect +much, didn't you, boy? Now, let's expect more, and we'll get more. Smith, +we, too, are sorry. Let's expect the best from every fellow and every +fellow will give his best, although it will take real manhood to do it +sometimes." + +Ham and Willis went out to take a last look at the donkeys before going +to bed. As they stood on the step, talking things over, they were +startled to hear, somewhere in the night air, the long-drawn bark of a +dog. It came again and again. "Over in the next canyon," was Ham's +remark. "Up by the old mine," was Willis's thought, as he turned and went +into the cabin. + +After breakfast Willis took the trail that led to his father's mine. He +went alone, for he had told no one of its discovery, not even Ham. He was +not at all surprised to find the footprints of three men and a dog on the +upper trail, and found no difficulty in following them to the mine. Once +there, the first thing that attracted his attention was a new sign, +nailed up in the place of the old tin one; on it, in bold, black letters, +was written, "Private property, keep off!" The snow had been shoveled +from one end of the dump, and it looked very much as if some of the rocks +had been carried away. Willis wondered, but his reflections gave him no +light. He noticed, however, that the tracks did not return down the +trail, but ran off over the hill and into the next canyon. He made some +careful observations, then returned to the cabin. + +Upon Mr. Dean's suggestion, the morning was spent in tobogganing in wood +while the snow was good. It was great fun to see the great logs slide +down with a long swish and pile up in front of the cabin. The fellows +worked with a will, and by noon a large supply had been pulled in. The +next thing was to cut it and pile it away in the house. Smith undertook +to build a sawbuck, and, with Mr. Allen's help, the job was soon +accomplished. Every fellow then took his turn sawing off blocks until +dinner time. + +As they sat around the table enjoying a camp meal of fried ham, boiled +rice, potatoes, rye bread, and coffee, a general discussion arose as to +what the cabin should be named. They hoped to get the big bed filled with +balsam boughs that afternoon before they started home, then the place +would be ready for real use on a big scale; and, of course, it must have +a name. + +"Let's call it Snowbird Retreat," suggested Fat naively. + +"Not on your life!" called Smith good-naturedly. "No snowbirds about this +house; you want a good, warm, comfortable name. I'd freeze to death, or +maybe get scared, if you called it that." + +"St. Mary's Inn," suggested Ham. + +"O fiddle, sounds like an old Spanish mission," objected another. + +"The House that Ham Built," suggested Mr. Dean. + +"Buffalo Roost," suggested Willis. "We certainly do love to roost around +in here, and it's in Buffalo Canyon." After a very heated discussion, +Buffalo Roost was chosen for the name, and Willis set about gathering +twigs to make a rustic sign for over the door. + +The wood all in, the dinner dishes washed, and the cabin put in order, +the next thing to do was to thatch the big bed. O, what mountains of +sweet-scented green boughs it took! One party, under Mr. Dean, pulled +in pile after pile of boughs from up on the snow-covered hillside, while +the other party cut and trimmed and laid them in. Choice large fans were +laid in the bottom, the butts toward the foot, the bow of the branch +uppermost. Then a thick layer of fine sprigs to fill in every hollow. +Smith worked with a will, and enjoyed the day like he had no other since +the work on the cabin had begun. + +Never before had they so hated to leave the Roost, for every fellow was +coming to love it and its companionship. It gave plenty of healthful +action, good things to think about, and warm friends. It was building +character and they did not know it. It was fitting a choice group of +older fellows to work together in the community life about them, working +for the welfare and comfort of others, forgetting themselves in their +unselfish service. + +In the late afternoon it began to snow again, and by the time they were +well on their way home it was falling fast. + +"Getting in that wood was a wise stunt," observed Smith, "for the next +time we see the old Roost it will probably be snowbound." + +Old Ben had been watching for their return most of the afternoon. As they +came across the stream and up to the road below the inn, he called Mr. +Allen to the door. + +"I jist want t' ask ye if that tarnal varmit, Williams, has been +botherin' yew fellers any sence he started work on that new claim o' +hisn. If they ever was a sneakin' whelp, he's it. He couldn't get +possession o' Tad's tunnel; he darsent touch it, so he's gone an' started +a tunnel on the other side o' that dyke. He's been workin' it, now, off +an' on all this fall, but I didn't know it till they brought a wounded +man from there yesterday. Seem a stone mashed his foot bad. They stopped +here to rest a bit, an' I seed the feller. I've knowed him these ten +years, an' he's a devil. Does dirty work fer any tarnal critter at'll pay +him well fer it. Served him right. I s'pose you saw something of them +last night, as they went back up to the mine. There was three of 'em and +a mean lookin' dog." Mr. Allen listened in silence. He was wondering just +what Old Ben knew of this Williams, and why he should be so interested in +the boys at the cabin. + +"Ben," he said, and he looked the old man straight in the eye, "do you +know a man named Tad Kieser?" Ben dropped his eyes and shuffled his foot +aimlessly on the floor. + +"Yep, I know him, boy, an' a finer man never walked these here hills. Too +fine a man to get along with varmits!" + +"Is he still living, Ben?" + +"Yep, still livin'. He'll be a poppin' up in these parts one o' these +days, an' then you'll see who's boss at that tunnel up yonder. I've +always said they was gold there, but Tad never would go into the mine +again after the accident. That varmit, Williams, believes same as I do, +or he wouldn't be a diggin' that hole on t' other side o' the dyke. If he +er any o' the rest o' them fellers bothers ye any at the cabin, jist let +me know; I'll take ker o' them fer ye. Good-night." He went inside and +closed the door. Mr. Allen hurried along, and, catching up with the +crowd, he called Willis aside to tell him what Ben had said--all except +that Tad was living and Ben knew where he was. That much he kept secret. +Willis listened intently, then he told of how he heard the dog bark in +the night. + +When Willis reached the Association that evening he was handed a +telephone call. He noted that it was the home number, and he realized in +an instant what had happened. His aunt had grown very much worse Friday +night, and had died early Saturday morning. He hastened home to do what +he could and to comfort his mother. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +The Opened Door + + +It was nearly Thanksgiving time, and it seemed months to Willis since he +had been to Buffalo Roost. Mrs. Thornton had almost decided to return to +her father's since the death of her sister, but Willis had objected +seriously. He was determined to unravel the mine mystery before they +left. They were still living at the Williams's home, but they saw very +little of the uncle. The death of his wife had been a severe blow to him, +and he had been spending long periods of time in the mountains--no one +seemed to know just where. + +During Thanksgiving vacation Mr. Allen was going to have a three days' +camp at the Roost, so Ham and Willis were planning on making a +preliminary trip, to find out how deep the snow was and just what +condition the canyon was in. + +The circus was over, and had been a big success; enough money had been +raised to pay all the debts and leave a nice amount for future +improvements. Meanwhile Ham and Willis had become inseparable companions, +so much so, that Willis had taken him into the mystery of his father's +mine. Very often they had talked it over together, but neither had yet +arrived at any satisfactory conclusions. The day chosen for their trip +turned out to be bitter cold; but the other fellows were depending on +them, and they must not fail. They found it very difficult to climb +the hogsback because of the snow, so when they reached the railroad they +decided to follow it to Fairview rather than attempt the canyon trail. As +they plodded on they grew very cold. + +"There is a dandy little pile of pitch-pine shavings on the hearth," said +Ham; "it won't take long to get a fire. We'll play a joke on this cold +snap yet, when we get inside the cabin." The walking was not bad until +they reached the crest, but here the trail lay on the south side and +was completely filled with snow. Many of the drifts were shoulder-deep, +so it took them nearly an hour to force their way from the ridge to the +cabin. Ham, to his surprise, had great difficulty in opening the lock; it +was evident that it had been tampered with. As they entered, he noticed +that his little pile of shavings were gone from the hearth. Some one had +been inside! + +How much heat it seemed to take that night to warm that frigid air! They +piled in the great logs until the fireplace was full, and still they had +to sit close to keep warm. Slowly the cold was driven out, and the cabin +became more comfortable. Willis took the water bucket and an ax and went +out to the stream for water, but the ice was a foot thick and the water +so cold that it froze in the bucket before he got it back to the cabin. +As he set the bucket on the shelf, he noticed that the mirror which hung +above the bucket was broken into a thousand pieces. No doubt a bullet had +come in through the chinking. Was this a declaration of war? Or had +some rowdy just been showing off? They examined things carefully, but +found nothing missing but the chips, not even food. Ham could not imagine +why the kindling had been removed from the hearth, for he was positive +that no fire had been built in either the stove or the fireplace since +they had last been there. + +After they had warmed sufficiently, they began to think of supper. Ham +selected a can of clam soup from the shelf and opened it, but it was +frozen solid. He set it by the fire to thaw out and made a second +selection. This time he chose a can of beans, but found them in the same +condition. He looked in the bread box--the rye-bread was as hard as a +bullet. They pulled the table close up before the fire and made out a +supper, the best thing on the menu being a pot of boiling-hot tea. + +After supper they pulled down the blankets and carefully warmed them +before the fire. Then the two boys sat and planned concerning the coming +camp until they grew sleepy. After a great pine knot had been placed for +the night log, the boys slipped into bed between at least a dozen +blankets. + +Just before going to bed, Willis prepared a few choice slivers so that a +fire could be quickly started in the morning, and he left them in a +little pile on the hearth. In the night he heard strange noises down on +the floor, but, because it was so cold, he did not venture out to +investigate, and in the morning every chip was gone. The mystery of the +chips grew deeper. + +They lay in bed late next morning, for the cabin was cold and dark and +they were so comfortable. Time was nothing to them that day. As they lay, +chatting, Ham suddenly squeezed Willis's arm, then raised on his elbow to +listen. He heard voices, and they were coming up the canyon. He crawled +to where he could peep out of the window, but all he could see were the +feet of two men and a dog. The cabin was very cold, so he slipped back +between the blankets to warm and talk it over with Willis. About nine +o'clock they got up, still wondering what could have brought men into +that canyon on such a morning. + +Surely there was no hunting, and why should men from the claim in the +other gulch be coming up through Buffalo Park? The boys were bothered. +They were just sitting down to a breakfast of steaming-hot cakes when +from somewhere up in the timber came the clear sound of some one +hammering on metal, heavy blow after blow. Ham paused, listened +attentively, a forkful of hot cake raised half-way to his mouth. The +sound came very clearly and at regular intervals. + +"Sounds like some one pounding a stone drill; perhaps they are going to +do some blasting!" + +Willis rose from his seat, threw open the door, and looked up the snowy +hillside. He was right--the sound came from the direction of his father's +mine. + +"What on earth would any one be blasting up there for?" he said, half to +himself. He was thinking of what Ben had told him the last time he was at +the Roost. Ham had also risen from the table and stood looking out over +Willis's shoulder. The bark of a dog came floating down the canyon. + +Suddenly there was a sharp rattle in the corner of the cabin, followed by +a heavy thud. Ham turned quickly, just in time to see the ax fall to the +floor from its place in the corner. Willis felt a long, cold shiver creep +up his back. The ax had been laid on top of the little stove in the +corner, and something had caused it to fall. + +"Spooks," laughed Ham dryly. + +"What made that ax fall?" questioned Willis in a voice which betrayed his +feeling. They advanced cautiously toward the corner. There was a scamper +of tiny feet, and a large gray rat bounded across the floor and dropped +out of sight through a long opening between the floor and the wall. In a +moment Willis was down on his hands and knees, investigating. + +"Well, of all things," he said, as he looked up laughingly at Ham; "we +have located our mysterious robber. Here are all of our precious fire +starters." Ham stooped to see for himself, and there, under the stove in +the corner, was a neat little pile of pine slivers. + +"If that rat lived in the city," observed Ham, "he'd be a shoplifter, +sure. It's strange he hasn't stolen our food?" + +"Ham, I'm going to the mine. Do you want to stay here or go along?" Ham +thought a moment, then began to pull on his coat. As he passed the +fireplace, he threw on another log, then the two boys stepped out into +the morning air. Ham carefully locked the door behind them--he always +took that precaution. + +"I'd like to know who tried to get into this house, Willis?" he said as +they struck the trail following the footprints of the earlier party up +the canyon. The sound of hammering still came occasionally from the hill. + +"Perhaps it was the same men that passed this morning," replied Willis. +"I wonder why they didn't stop and try the door; they must have seen that +it was unlocked." + +"Perhaps they wanted to pass unnoticed." + +"No, that couldn't be, for they were talking loudly as they passed." + +"Perhaps they didn't notice the cabin door at all." + +"Perhaps not, but they must have noticed our trail over the bridge and +your footprints to the stream." + +"O, I don't know; it snowed in the night, and besides, you see they were +on the upper trail. They evidently came for some special purpose, and +were anxious to get at it. You know, I've been thinking they must have +come from Bruin Inn this morning, because they couldn't have gotten here +so early if they had come all the way from the city." + +"By Jove, boy! I hadn't thought of that, but since you speak of it, there +certainly was something familiar in one of those voices, and that laugh! +Why, of course, it was Old Ben, his dog, and some stranger." + +Progress was slow, for the snow was deep in places. At the old +tumbled-down cabin the trail turned and ran up the mountain side. +Willis felt a strange pounding at his heart. The noise on the mountain +had stopped, but every now and then he heard the sound of voices from +somewhere up in the timber. As they reached the last turn in the +trail, the two figures came into view. Ham had been correct in his +supposition--one of the men was Old Ben, but the other was a stranger. +Ben had, no doubt, seen the boys coming, for he stood looking down the +trail toward them. When they were a little nearer he saluted them: +"Howdy, young'uns. This is a tarnal cold morning for a pair o' city +fellers, ain't it?" + +"Not on your life," cheerily answered Ham; "there's nothing citified +about us. Any one who could sleep in these hills a night like last night +and not freeze is no tenderfoot. What brings you up here so early this +morning?" + +"Early, boys? You're so tarnal lazy, you think dinner time is early. See +anything o' my dog round the cabin?" + +"No, we haven't seen him, except when you went by a while ago." + +Willis was interested in what the stranger was doing. He was bent over a +big rock, filing a metal instrument. His back was turned. Willis was +looking about to see what they could have been hammering, but could see +no sign of their work. + +"Prospecting a little?" queried Ham, as he picked up the light sledge +that lay on the snow. + +"Well, not jist exactly," drawled Old Ben; "it's too tarnal cold to do +much prospectin'. We're jist on an observin' trip this time." + +"Observing the scenery, or what?" persisted Ham. "We heard you doing some +mighty loud observing up here a few minutes ago. Come, now, no secrets. +What are you up to? Do you know you are trespassing this very moment?" + +"Trespassin', eh? Well, I expect Old Ben knows when he's trespassin' an' +when he ain't. This time he ain't." He turned to the stranger and +continued: "I jist come along to give my friend here a little moral +support. He's so tarnal foolish about this old hole." + +"Not foolish, Ben," answered the stranger, as he turned from his work, +"not foolish, but--why, good morning, lad!" He advanced with extended +hand toward Willis. + +Willis could hardly believe his own eyes. What was this man doing here? + +"It seems like our paths cross often, doesn't it?" + +"Why, I--" exclaimed Willis. + +"I know you are surprised," continued the stranger, "but no more so than +I, for I didn't expect to find you here on such a morning as this." + +"But what are you doing here?" stammered Willis. "What is there about +this mine that is of interest to you? This mine is my father's property, +and it's locked--the tunnel, I mean--" + +"Yes, I know, lad," he interrupted. "I know it does seem strange, but it +isn't half as strange to you as it is to me, and besides--" + +"But, sir, how dare you tamper with locked property?" + +"Lad," and the stranger spoke in that same quiet, kindly voice that had +attracted Willis the first time he had seen him, "do you remember that +fall day when we last talked together? Up back of Daddy Wright's on the +Cheyenne trail?" + +"Yes, sir, I do," replied Willis, "and I remember every word you said, +but--" + +The stranger lifted his hand for silence, and then continued: "And do you +remember you asked me if I had ever known a young engineer that used to +be in these parts, and I said, 'Yes;' then you asked me if I knew a Tad +Kieser that used to be a partner of his, and I told you I did?" + +"Yes, yes, I remember all that," interrupted Willis; "but what has that +to do with this mine?" + +"A very great deal, my boy. Listen! I know Tad Kieser better than any man +alive, and of all the men I ever knew, Tad is the strangest. I believe he +owns a half interest in this property, does he not? But he hasn't been +near it for half a dozen years, and to my knowledge he has never been +inside of it since the day of the accident. What's more, my boy, there's +just one thing in all the world that could ever induce him to enter it +again--" + +"What is the one thing?" questioned Ham. + +"If it wasn't for the advice of old Ben here, I would not be here to-day, +either; but Ben and I have been friends these twenty years, and in that +time I have learned to know that Ben's opinions are expressed only after +a very careful consideration of all the facts. I'm here because Old Ben +insisted that I come." + +Willis turned and looked at Ben. He stood by, smiling and puffing away at +his pipe. "But what has all that to do with Tad Kieser?" questioned +Willis a little disappointedly. "Of all the men in the world I would like +most to see, it's Tad. Tell me where he is, if you know." + +"But why do you want to see him so badly, may I ask?" questioned the +stranger. + +"Because he is the only man in the world that can straighten out a tangle +of things that I don't understand. And I'm sure that if he knew I was +here, he'd come to help me." + +Old Ben came to the rescue. + +"Boy, Tad would do anything in the great, wide world fer ye. He's talked +about ye every tarnal day since he first seen ye, an' they ain't been +nothin' in his mind since, except yer welfare. Ye are a tarnal lucky +feller to have such a friend." + +"Saw me?" questioned Willis. "Tad Kieser saw me?" + +"Yes, boy, an' is a lookin' at ye now, an' is out in this cold here fer +ye this mornin', a breakin' of vows he made long ago. Tad, tell the boy +all about it. This young feller an' me is goin' to look up that tarnal +dog." He took Ham by the arm and drew him away down the trail out of +hearing. Tad and Willis were busy at the lock of the old tunnel. Old Ben +explained the situation to Ham as they leisurely hunted the dog. At last +Ham understood, and was happy for Willis. + +"My, but you look pert, Tad. I ain't seed ye look so pert in ten year. +What's up? Come, tell a feller. Has that young'un been stuffin' ye while +we was gone?" and Ben laughed a merry laugh. + +"Why didn't you tell me you were Tad the first day?" questioned Willis, +his eyes shining with pleasure. + +"I'll tell you why some time," replied the old miner, "but not now. I +would never have consented to come up here this morning with Ben if I had +not suspected that Mr. Williams intended to enter this tunnel very soon. +Perhaps you know how he hates me. I caught him in a mighty crooked deal +here once, and scared him badly. He and I have fought each other ever +since the death of your father. He holds the keys to this lock, that's +why I'm cutting it off. We're going to replace it with another. When your +uncle comes he will find I have been ahead of him." + +"And you aren't going into the tunnel?" questioned Willis in +astonishment. + +"No, lad, not to-day. I don't know as I ever will." + +"Tell me all about the trouble between you and my uncle. How does it +happen that he holds the key to this lock instead of you? Mother told me +you had the key?" questioned Willis. + +"I did once, but when I refused to let him enter, he came with a hacksaw +and removed the lock, placing this great brass one in its stead. Your +uncle was the only person with your father when he died, except the +nurse, and he has always claimed that Bill turned all his mining property +over to him. He offered to buy me out, but I refused to sell. + +"Nearly a year after your father's death, I learned from a nurse in the +hospital that in his last moments your father called for me, but Williams +told him that I was badly hurt. He told your uncle that the real gold +vein had been uncovered by the fatal blast, and that I was to be sure to +work it for your sake and your mother's. Williams promised to tell me. +I tried to get the nurse to go into court and swear to her statement, but +she refused, and I found out afterward that Williams had bought her off. +I went and looked at the tunnel; then he broke in, took samples, and, I +believe, found them good. He locked the door with this lock, and since +the day of the accident I have never seen inside. I have never wanted to. +I don't know, but I have always been determined that he should not +plunder your father's possessions. At the time of the accident he came +into possession of all your father's papers. He let the assessments run +out on the Cheyenne claim, and then jumped it for his own. Only last +month he sold that claim to Beverly H. Pembroke for a consideration of +eight thousand dollars. + +"He hates me, because he knows that one more move on his part and I'll +place the matter in the hands of the law. I believe that he once hired an +outlaw to kill me, but was unsuccessful. I can't prove it, but the facts +look so. I have been afraid ever since I knew you were here that your +mother, as the rightful heir to the property, would play into his hands. +I feared he would offer to sell her share of this mine for her and, in +reality, buy it himself. He could then, according to law, force me to +sell my share or to buy his. If I refused to sell, he would ask a very +large sum for his, and in that way force me to his bargain. His working +the tunnel on the other side of the dyke this fall and winter is more to +scare me into believing he will get the gold anyway, and that I may as +well sell, than anything else. I have learned that they are having +a great deal of trouble in their tunnel. It's very shaly and keeps caving +from above. If he spent as much time and money caring for his sick wife +as he has on this mine, she might have gotten well." + +Willis had been listening with breathless interest. + +"Go on," he begged. "Tell me all about everything, from the very +beginning." + +"Lad, it's a long, long story. I'll do that later. Let's not talk any +more about it now." + +"O, I must know about it. Don't stop. Tad, you can't possibly know what +all this means to me." Tad rose and snapped the new lock in place on the +door, while Old Ben cursed under his breath. + +"Of all the tarnal idiots," he was saying; "I never seed a man so sot in +his ways. Tad, ain't ye even goin' to peek inside?" + +"No, Ben, not to-day. Perhaps some day," returned the old prospector, +"and perhaps never." + +Willis jumped to his feet. "Not to-day, Tad? Not to-day? Do you mean you +aren't going into the mine. Well, I am, even if you aren't. I don't leave +this spot until I see the inside for myself. Give me the key. Ham and I +will go in alone." + +"O, I wish you wouldn't. It's dangerous, and I am sure the story of the +gold is only a notion. Your father was out of his mind when he died, and +the gold he told about was just one of his dreams. I worked with him that +day, and I saw no special signs of gold." + +"Yes, but that varmit, Williams, has seed signs," muttered Ben. "He went +in an' brought out samples; he knows, an' you only think you do." + +Willis held out his hand for the key, and Ben urged him on. Tad looked +far away over the snowy hills, then up the quiet valley, so peaceful in +its white robes, and at last down to the little cabin below. There his +gaze rested. + +"My, but it hardly seems fourteen years since I built that shanty," he +said. "How happy I was then! Fourteen years brings strange things into a +man's life. My boy, I hope you will never get the gold fever. Steer clear +of it." + +"But Tad, I have it already," replied Willis, "and I am following where +it leads me." + +Tad looked at him, and a strange, sad expression came to his face. + +"How much you talk like your father, and you're so like him, too! I'm +sorry." + +He reached deep into his trousers' pocket, pulled out the key, then got +slowly to his feet. Twice he changed his mind; but Willis persisted, and +at last he yielded. The new lock opened easily, but not so the great log +door. Its hinges were rusted from the storms of many seasons. As Willis +pulled hard, the old hinges groaned, as if regretting that they were to +be disturbed after so long a rest. As the door swung back, and the mouth +of the tunnel was disclosed, Tad caught Willis by the arm and held him. +"Wait, my boy," he said, "you must let the old place air out. Remember, +it has been bottled up a long time. I'll wager a light won't even burn +in there just now." + +"Have you a candle?" asked Willis, his tone betraying his excitement. + +"I'll get some," volunteered Ham, and off he started down the trail for +the cabin. + +The tunnel was a round, irregular hole a little higher than a man's head, +and in width it varied with the width of the dyke. The floor had been +covered with rough-hewn planks to make the pushing of the loaded +wheelbarrows easier. These old planks were black and wet, but still quite +sound. As they stood, waiting for Ham to return, Tad told Willis +something more of the early history of the mine: + +"You see, the dyke seems to follow an ancient crevice in the granite, +which runs straight in for a hundred and fifty feet, then turns abruptly +to the west. Here it widens out, and just at that point the strata shifts +and is folded. We found a small quantity of quartz just there. The day of +the accident I was replacing some of the floor planks near the entrance +and your father was preparing to make a series of blasts on the new +strata. I was to help him shoot them when he was ready. He was very +pleased at the new outcropping of quartz, and was very anxious to open +up the vein before we quit work for the day. The farther in you go, the +more shaly the black rock seems to get, and in some places we were forced +to roof the drift with mine props in order to keep the ceiling up. I was +bending over, chopping the end of a plank, when I was violently knocked +down. In falling I struck my head against the rough wall, cutting myself +badly over the left eye. I struggled to my feet dazedly, the blood +streaming down over my face. I had mined long enough to know just what +had happened. In some way your father had prematurely set off his blast. +I started toward him, but the heavy powder smoke drove me back. I dropped +to my knees to get the air--it's always best near the floor--and in +a moment a second explosion came. I snatched the jug of water and began +crawling toward Bill on all fours. I called again and again, but no +answer came. When I finally reached him I felt faint and sick. I found +him nearly completely buried in a heap of stone. He was unconscious, +and never spoke to me again. After two hours of tremendous effort, I was +able to lift his poor, broken body in my arms and carry it out. I was +thankful then that he was unconscious and could not feel the pain. By +night I got him to the cabin, and at once set off for Ben's. We came +back by lantern light that night, and led the old horse. We spent the +rest of the night building a crude litter of poles and blankets, and as +soon as it was light we fastened one end of the stretcher to the horse, a +pole on either side of him, and each one of us carried a pole at the +other end. It took an hour for us to get down to the canyon road. In +twelve hours your father died. He regained consciousness just long enough +to talk with Williams briefly. What he said at that time I have never +been able to find out. + +"Then followed the awful years of lonesomeness for me, made worse by the +always-present knowledge that I should have been the one to shoot those +blasts and not your father. I wrote your mother fully concerning the +accident, but never received a reply, so have had no word of you since +that time. I've told you how your uncle tried to get possession of the +mine. When I would not sell, he hounded my every step until at last I +left the city and went to work for the D. & P.W. as fireman. I went +through the city often, but very rarely stopped off. But it seems I came +just often enough to keep your uncle too frightened to carry out his plan +concerning the tunnel." + +Ham was returning up the trail now, and soon the candles were lighted. +Tad took the lead, followed by Willis, Ham and Old Ben bringing up the +rear. A little inside the entrance, and to one side, a small room had +been cut in the solid granite for a store-room. Here were the tools of +the mine--two wheelbarrows, several shovels and picks, a large lantern, +and several boxes of powder. What had once been a heavy coil of hemp rope +was now a very comfortable rat's nest. Several old stone drills had been +driven into the crevices for hooks, and on them hung old burlap sacks, a +coil of heavy wire, two old slouch hats, and a man's coat. + +Tad had bared his head as he entered. He slowly led the way down the +narrow lane without a word. A little farther in they came to a very rusty +ax, leaning against the wall, and Willis guessed that it had never been +moved from where Tad had last used it. The large, blackened chips were +scattered over the floor, and the great plank lay where he had last +worked on it. Tad was very cautious now, trying the props overhead every +few feet, to see if they were safe. Willis was walking as if in a dream; +he was stepping very softly and his head was bowed. This was the very +path his father had trod. He fancied he heard his cheery voice now, as he +came and went with load after load of rock. He fancied how he must have +felt as he worked day by day, ever surer of the fortune that was to be +his. He found himself wondering how his life's course might have been +changed if that golden dream had come true. The tunnel turned abruptly to +the west, and Tad moved more cautiously still. Presently Tad halted and +pointed to a heap of rock on the floor, "It was there, lad," he said very +quietly, and that was all. Willis stooped and placed his hand on the +place for a second. Tad noticed that his face was white and drawn and his +eyes were very big. He let him stay for an instant, then took him gently +by the arm and led him out. + +Old Ben made a hasty examination of the rocks on the floor, then of the +exposed vein. He handed the candle to Ham, and, drawing from his pocket a +heavy cold chisel, he carefully knocked off some choice pieces of the ore +and placed them in his pocket, muttering to himself all the while. When +he had satisfied himself, he turned, took the candle, and started out, +motioning Ham to precede him. + +"Best gold quartz I've seed in many a year," he said softly, "only Tad +will never believe it." Ham understood. Ahead of them, down the narrow +black passage, they saw Tad's light disappear. + +"They have stepped into the tool-room, boy," said Ben, "an' every tarnal +one o' them implements is nearly sacred to Tad. Let's not disturb 'em." +He blew out his light and leaned against the wall of the tunnel, pulling +Ham back with him. + +In a few minutes they were surprised to hear loud exclamations and the +moving of the old iron wheelbarrows. Ahead they could see the light of +the opening, so Old Ben started again toward the entrance. + +"Guess that memorial service must be all over, from the racket they're +makin' with them tarnal carts," he said. + +When they reached Willis, they found him carefully going through the +pockets of the musty old coat hanging upon the wall. The cloth had fairly +rotted in the moisture. Tad was holding the treasures as Willis removed +them from the pockets. To Tad's surprise, there was inside the coat an +old vest. They were no doubt the clothes Mr. Thornton had worn the day +of the accident. In one vest pocket was Bill's gold watch, in another a +musty pocketbook and a badly worn note-book that had mildewed in the +moisture. There were three letters in the outside coat pocket. Willis +took one, moist and rotten as it was, from the envelope and noticed they +were from his mother, and were probably the last ones she had written. +Willis's hand shook violently and two great tears glistened in his eyes. +In the other outside pocket was a strange tin tube, perhaps a foot in +length, with a removable lid at either end. The tube was rusted red and +the ends sealed tight with rust. Willis handed the tube to Tad, a +question on his lips. + +"Thank God," Tad was saying to himself, "thank God, he didn't do it. +I've often thought I'd kill him if he had." + +"If who had what?" questioned Willis. + +"Don't ask me, lad, not now--I'll tell you some time, perhaps. Come, +let's go. This air is very bad, and I'm just a little sick." He linked +his arm through Willis's, and together they walked out into the cold +morning air. Ben and Ham followed. When they were outside, Tad swung the +door shut and locked it. Then, with a note of triumph in his voice, he +said: + +"There, Williams can have the place for all I care," and he held the +queer tin tube in his hand before them. + +"Open it," urged Willis. Tad turned to him. + +"My boy, there has never been a day in the past half-dozen years that I +have not wondered what became of that tin tube. Many times, after hours +of reasoning, I have decided that your uncle stole that tube from your +father's belongings. I have done the man an injustice. From my firm +belief that he had taken the tube came my great dislike for him. You have +never seen the contents of that can, lad, but your mother has. At one +time they were very valuable, and I have no doubt that even now that can +contains a small fortune for you--" + +"But--" interrupted Willis. Tad paid no attention to him, and went on: + +"The contents of that tube will place your father among the greatest of +mining engineers and give his name the honor it has always been entitled +to--" + +"But Tad--" + +"When your father conceived that idea it was impractical. He was too far +ahead of the times. But to-day, lad, it means that every mine dump in the +Cripple Creek region will be worked over again and the gold removed at a +trifling expense, for in that tube are the blueprints of the greatest +electrical ore-roasting machine in the world." He took his knife from his +pocket and slowly and carefully pried off the rusty lid. The blue roll +slid out into his hand. The moisture had not penetrated the can, and the +sketches were as good as the day they were made. Willis took them in his +hand and proudly turned them over and over, then he placed them again in +the can with the remark, "Tad, these things all belong to mother. I +wonder what she'll say?" + +Tad broke into a pleased little laugh, and the old smile that had made +him so many friends in the years gone by came back to his grizzled face. + +"Lad, you're rich to-day, and I am better satisfied. Those plans will +bring you and your mother a goodly sum. It lifts a great burden from a +poor, worthless prospector's mind." Willis did not know the true meaning +of the words, but Old Ben did, and it was now his turn to talk. + +"Tad, I've knowed ye for a tarnal lot o' years, hain't I? An', Tad, they +ain't a soul on earth as would do fer ye as me. I've lived a life myself, +Tad, an' I ain't so big a fool as ye are about some things." Ben pulled a +piece of the ore from his pocket and held it up for inspection. "Tad, +there's a twenty-inch vein of that rock in yonder, an' finer gold quartz +ye never seed in all yer days." He turned to Willis: "Boy, ye'r tarnal +lucky. Them plans may be valuable, but I have my doubts about it; but +it's certain that that mine is valuable. Jist how much gold they is +there, I don't know, but they is lots of it. Two or three more weeks an' +Williams would have struck it from the other side. Now listen, lad: sell +out, do you hear me, sell out. It'll bring a handsome price on assay; but +sell now, or Williams--" and his voice dropped to a mysterious whisper +and he looked suspiciously about him, "or Williams will get the best of +ye yet." + +After more talk and discussion, the whole party went down to the cabin, +and Ham prepared a special supper. After the meal was over, all sat and +talked before the fireplace, and the entire story was gone over again in +detail. Towards late afternoon they began the down trip through the +canyon. + +At the inn Tad promised to come the next day to the city to meet Mrs. +Thornton. Together they would confer about the newly-discovered facts. + +"Don't wait too tarnal long to sell, boy, or something will happen. Tad's +unlucky. Sell if ye can, an' I'd make that tarnal critter, Williams, buy +the whole business, if I was you." + +Tad and Willis stood some time talking, Willis then took the plans and +the other things that had been in his father's coat, and started home. +They walked in silence for some time, then Willis spoke: + +"O, Ham, I'm so happy to-day, and still--" He paused and the smile faded +from his face. "Still, why should I be happy? Do these plans and that +gold mine up there give me back my dear old dad?" + +"Not really," replied Ham, "but perhaps those things he left you will +make it possible for you to accomplish in this world the things he had +hoped to do, and perhaps better things." The little smile came back again +to Willis's face. + +"Ham, you're really a philosopher. I'll do my very best, I'll tell you +that. Now, let's hurry." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +In Which Fate Takes a Hand + + +Four days later Tad and Ben sat before the log-fire at the inn talking +over plans for the future development of the mine in Buffalo Park. Tad +was telling Ben of his visit with Mrs. Thornton and what her wishes were +in regard to the matter. It seemed that Mr. Williams was out of the city +and had been gone for several days. Just where he was no one seemed to +know, but as he had taken several such trips since the death of his wife, +Mrs. Thornton did not think much of it. It had been decided that they +would wait until Mr. Williams returned, at which time he would be given +the opportunity to buy the entire mine at a fair price. But if he did not +care to buy, the property was to be turned over to Tad for disposal or +development, as he saw fit. + +The cold weather had continued, and there had been no visitors at the inn +for nearly a week. Tad and Ben were making some crude tests before the +fire with the pieces of gold quartz Ben had brought from the tunnel. They +were just in the middle of their crude assay when suddenly there was a +loud knock on the outside door, accompanied by a series of low growls +from Ben's dog. The door was unceremoniously thrown open and a very much +excited man stepped in. He made no apologies, but went directly to the +point. He spoke between great breaths, and had evidently come from some +distance at a good speed. He was completely exhausted, and as he spoke +his eyes wandered aimlessly about the room. + +"We've a devil of a mess," he panted. "I don't know how many hurt, but +some of 'em are broken all to pieces. Come right away and bring what +bandages you have. O, it's a devil of a mess." + +Old Ben looked at the stranger bewilderedly. Tad jumped to his feet, +alert in a second. "Devil of a mess where, man? What's wrong? Who's +hurt?" The stranger's voice failed him, and all he could do was to point +his finger in the direction of the canyon and make signs for them to +hurry. Ben pushed him into a chair by the fire, and in a little while +they had his story: + +The new tunnel on the old Iron Dyke had caved in without a moment's +notice. There were seven men locked in by a wall of fallen rock. Whether +they had been crushed or not was hard to tell. The stranger had not been +in the tunnel at the time of the accident, but had gone to the stream for +water. Upon returning, he discovered the cave-in. He had come at once +for help, realizing that a single man would be useless at the mine. + +In a short time the three had the old horse packed and were on the trail. +The snow was deep and progress slow. As they walked up the trail the +stranger described the appearance of the fallen rock as best he could. He +told them that they had been working the tunnel as fast as possible and +that they had not been as careful as they should have been about propping +the ceiling. He said they had struck considerable water, and that the +black rock seemed to have been previously loosened by some great force, +for it was cracked in every direction. They had been spending the day +putting in temporary props, and the boss had been there superintending +the job. He had been urging the men on harder every day, as he seemed so +anxious to get the tunnel in to a certain point with the least possible +delay. The boss had in mind something very definite, however, for he +often referred to a certain sketch which he always carried in his pocket +book. The miner declared he had seen the boss make calculations many +times, after he had measured the depth of the tunnel. + +"Yes, the boss was in the mine, too--had been there all day. It might be +that he is dead this moment, for all I know," said the stranger. From his +description of the boss, Tad guessed that it was no other than Mr. +Williams himself. + +When the mine was reached, operations were at once commenced to remove +the fallen stones. Tad took command, and several times he thought he +heard the sound of hammering from the other side--but, perhaps, after all +it was only an echo. After a careful examination, it was decided that all +the loose rock had fallen, and that to remove it was not dangerous. They +began work at the top in order to make a hole big enough to reach the +men. They had not worked long when they heard sounds from the other side. +They were not all dead at least, and if they could but get to them before +they suffocated all would be well. The imprisoned miners evidently +understood the plan of action, for the sounds from the other side +indicated that they, too, were working at the top of the wall. By night a +small opening was made and messages exchanged. There were seven men +inside--one dead, two very badly hurt, and the others bruised and cut, +but able to help themselves. Water and hot food were passed to them, +then the work of rescue was taken up in earnest. Mr. Williams had a +fractured leg and was unconscious, but was still living. Instead of +rushing to the solid wall end of the tunnel, where he would have been +comparatively safe, at the first sign of danger he had rushed toward the +entrance with one other man, and had been struck down by the falling +stone. If he had started out thirty seconds sooner, he would have been +crushed to death, as his companion was. + +Late that night a large enough hole had been made to move the wounded men +out. Tad was the first to enter, and the first man to be brought out was +Williams. Tad picked him up in his great strong arms and tenderly carried +him to the cabin. By midnight the broken leg was dressed and the cuts and +bruises bandaged. Tad proved as good a nurse as he was a miner. As he +worked over Williams a great pity filled his heart, for Tad knew only too +well that he had been anything but a happy man. + +The tunnel had been driven very rapidly without proper trussing, and it +seemed to Tad that the entire dyke must have been shaken by the blasts +that had caused Mr. Thornton's death years before. Without a second's +notice the shaly rock had given a little, then caved in. It seemed a +strange turn of fate to Tad that the same blast that had taken away his +partner many years ago had now probably taken away his only enemy. With +these thoughts came an intense hatred for the mine and a tender pity for +the man that had so wronged him. Tad had put his body to a tremendous +test, and every nerve and every muscle was fairly tingling, so he drew up +a chair to the bedside and rested. In a little while Mr. Williams became +conscious, but on recognizing Tad at his bedside he slipped back again +into unconsciousness, muttering strange, broken apologies and begging for +mercy. Tad thanked God as he sat there that night that he had never +harmed a brother man willfully and that his life had always been, at +least to the best of his ability, on the square. + +Then he began to think rapidly. Perhaps Williams was near the end. He +feared the bad cut on his head might prove fatal. What if he should die +and have no chance to talk, no chance to square himself with those that +he had wronged? Accordingly he made him as comfortable as he could, and +after telling Ben his plan, he hurriedly ate a little food, went out +into the night and down the trail. + +Willis was awakened early in the morning by a furious pounding on the +door. He rose and hurried down. Tad fairly tumbled into the room. He +informed Willis just what had happened, and told him to get ready to go +with him at once. A doctor was called, a cab ordered, and in a little +while the three were hastening back toward Bruin Inn. With all their +speed, however, the morning was well-spent before they reached the little +shanty again. The doctor made a careful examination and declared Williams +in a very critical condition. The broken leg was reset, the cuts dressed +and sewed up. Then began the preparations to remove him out of the +mountains to a hospital. It seemed very strange to Tad to be again +building a crude stretcher from aspen poles and blankets, but by night +they had placed him in the hospital and he was sleeping. + +It was a long night of strange thoughts and fancies for Willis as he sat +by his uncle's bedside. He was too bewildered by all the strange events +of the last fortnight to be able to think logically. His admiration for +Tad had grown until it knew no bounds, and his pity for his uncle had +increased until all the hardness had disappeared from his heart and he +was sorry for him. He hoped with all his might that he would yet live. + +In the early morning Willis was awakened by his uncle's hand being placed +on his. The injured man was looking up into his face. He closed his eyes +again and was silent a long while. When he opened them again he spoke +falteringly: + +"I'm very sorry, son," he began. "I've been wrong, so wrong all along the +way. I've never been square. I have fought the Fates every day of my +life, and now I'm whipped." He smiled a little, weak smile. "What a fool +a man is," he continued. "Willis, I'm going to slip off very soon, now, +and I have so much I want to say to you." He half arose. "Are we alone?" +Willis told him that they were, but urged him not to talk. He was +determined. + +"I have played a desperate game, and I have lost. I'm sorry for my +mistakes. I have wronged Tad and you the most, for I have wanted your +father's mine. I was jealous of your father's favor. Now I know I did not +deserve it. I got your mother's reply to Tad's letter long ago. It was +sent in my care, and I read it. It decided me, for it all looked so easy. +There's money in the mine, son, and Tad is here somewhere. He will tell +you all. Tell him for me that I am sorry." He closed his eyes, and in a +moment was gone. + +Willis hurried home to his mother, and together they held a long +conference, and many things were accounted for. + + * * * * * + +It was at the little cabin that Willis found his greatest pleasure, and +already Ham and himself were planning a new and more pretentious Lodge to +take the place of Buffalo Roost, for the next Buffalo Roost was to be a +memorial camp built in honor of Tad Kieser, gentleman, and Mr. William +Thornton. + +Willis had found the cabin, and the cabin with its stanch, good +friendships, the healthful work together, and the unselfish leadership of +the right sort of men, had helped him find his best self in thoughtful +service for others. Surely no better thing ever comes to the life of a +boy. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14175 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a08a900 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #14175 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14175) diff --git a/old/14175.txt b/old/14175.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3ef2e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14175.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6937 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Buffalo Roost, by F. H. Cheley + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Buffalo Roost + +Author: F. H. Cheley + +Release Date: November 27, 2004 [eBook #14175] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO ROOST*** + + +E-text prepared by Audrey Longhurst, Project Gutenberg Beginners Projects, +Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +BUFFALO ROOST + +A Story of a Young Men's Christian Association Boys' Department + +by + +F. H. CHELEY + +Boys' Work Director, Young Men's Christian Association, South Bend, Ind. + +1913 + + + + + + + +TO Every Good Fellow WHO CUT A LOG OR TURNED A STONE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION +OF THE OLD CABIN IN BUFFALO PARK, AND TO + +My Father WHO BUILT ITS HEART AND INSPIRATION, THE FIREPLACE, THIS STORY +IS DEDICATED + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. WILLIS THORNTON DISPLAYS HIS PLUCK + II. A STORY IS TOLD AND A PROMISE MADE + III. IN WHICH WILLIS IS HONORED + IV. WILLIS BECOMES INTERESTED IN GOLD MINES + V. A PLAN IS EVOLVED + VI. A STAGE ROAD JOURNEY + VII. A WILDERNESS CAMP + VIII. THE SECOND DAY OUT + IX. THE THIRD DAY OUT + X. A GLIMPSE OF BUFFALO ROOST + XI. A STRANGE TURN OF FATE + XII. THE DISCOVERY OF THE MINE + XIII. SLEEPY SMITH HAS AN EXPERIENCE + XIV. THE OPENED DOOR + XV. IN WHICH FATE TAKES A HAND + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Willis Thornton Displays His Pluck + + +Train No. 6 on the D. & P.W., two hours late at Limon, was rushing and +jolting along over its rickety roadbed. The rain fell in torrents, the +heavy peals of thunder seemed about to tear the car to pieces, the black +and threatening clouds blotted out the landscape, and the passengers +could hear nothing but the roar of the thunder and the rattle of the +train. The brakeman, shaking the water from his hat as he passed through +the aisle, dropped something about it being a "mighty tough day for +railroadin'." + +Suddenly there was a creaking, a cracking, and then a series of awful +jolts. Window glass broke and flew in every direction. Like a mighty +monster that had suddenly been frightened by an unseen foe, the train +lurched forward, tipped a little, and slowly came to an uncertain stop. +People were hurled from their seats with a great violence as the +emergency brake was set. A baby cried out from a seat near the front of +the car, and a woman screamed as a satchel from the luggage rack above +her head dropped down upon her. Willis Thornton raised his arms above his +head just in time to save a heavy leather suitcase from striking his +mother full in the face. Through the broken windows was heard the shrill +warning notes of the engine's trouble whistle, but so intense was the +storm that the sound seemed rather a part of the raging gale. The +brakeman rushed through the car, and as he passed Willis heard him +exclaim half-aloud, "The freight!" Then in a loud, shaky voice, not meant +to betray excitement, he shouted, "All out; train off the track!" + +He need not have spoken, however, for the people who had not already +gotten out were close upon him. First in the rush was the mother of the +babe that had screamed when the first jolts came. She was wild-eyed and +hysterical. A piece of flying glass had struck her on the face, and the +warm, trickling blood had frightened her. She rushed up to the nearest +man and shouted, "Is my husband safe?" Just then a sickly, dudish little +man, with a lighted cigar in his mouth, rushed toward her. + +"Ba Jove, my dear, you are 'urt," he said as she hurried toward him and +fainted in his arms. + +The word had been passed around that a heavy freight was expected at any +moment. The passenger whistle blew in long, shrill tones, while the +brakeman hurried up the hill in the direction of the expected freight to +give the danger signal. Hardly had he reached the top when there came +the faint sound of a whistle. He heard the three blasts. The train had +left Eastonville! Could he save a wreck? Lantern in hand, he hurried down +the track as fast as he could with the wind and rain beating him back. +Suddenly a black form loomed up in the mist ahead. Full blast she came, +the black smoke from her stack running ahead as if to coax her on to +greater speed. The brakeman waved his red lantern frantically in the air. +There was a screeching sound of brake-shoes on the wheels, a long, shrill +whistle, and the train sped past him, a misty dull serpent in the storm. +He turned and followed as fast as he could. + +Women with disheveled hair stood and wrung their hands. Men cursed and +swore as they ran back and forth about the derailed passenger. The wind +lulled for a second, and in the momentary silence there came the +half-smothered cry of a little child from one direction, answered from +somewhere in the fog by the rushing of wheels and the faint, weird sigh +of a whistle. + +Willis's head went up, his eyes flashed, his muscles tightened; then, +turning to his mother, he cried, "The baby!" and in an instant was gone. +It all happened so quickly there was no time for Mrs. Thornton to think. +She saw Willis hasten away and enter the front door of the car they had +been occupying; at the same instant she became aware of the approaching +train. There was a shrill, angry hiss, and the freight swung into the cut +with a terrible roar, then came a crashing of glass and breaking of +timbers. The engineer had opened the whistle valve with such a jerk that +it had stuck fast, and the whistle did its utmost. It was a doleful +sound, pulsating its strange, sharp cry into the storm. + +Mrs. Thornton sank to her knees in an attitude of prayer, her head +dropped to her breast. The mother that had fainted roused a little and +called for her child. + +The passengers rushed back and forth in a perfect frenzy, shouting, "The +baby! the baby!" Women cried and begged and implored some one to save it; +but it was all over before any one could act or before the Englishman +realized that it was his child that was in danger. The engines had +telescoped. The freight was derailed and the first three cars completely +demolished. The crew had all jumped and were uninjured, except the +fireman, who had a badly-broken leg and some bruises. Two men came around +the end of the Pullman with a boy supported between them. His head hung +limp and the blood trickled slowly from nasty cuts on his head and face. +Following them came the brakeman with a very frightened but unharmed +baby, wrapped in an overcoat. Every one made a rush for the little group. +The Englishman was first in line. His eyes opened wide and his cigar fell +from his lips. "By Jove, Chauncey!" he exclaimed, "they came near getting +you that time," then began to cry like a child. + +The danger was past. There was no one killed, and only a few injured. +Several people were cut by broken glass and bruised by bumps. The fireman +of the freight had broken his leg and cut his shoulder badly in his jump. +Willis had reached the opposite platform, with the baby in his arms, just +as the trains collided. The jar had thrown him from his feet and broken +the glass in the door behind him. The jolt threw him, baby and all, out +against the side of the cut into the wet sand. Outside of the ugly cuts +and bad bruises he was unharmed, but was the hero of the day. + +Mrs. Thornton sat by her boy, tenderly caring for his every need. He had +swooned at the sight of his own blood and had not yet returned to +consciousness. In the next seat the injured fireman was propped up on +pillows, watching the boy. + +"There's a piece of real stuff," he said to the engineer as they sat +talking together. "Looks just like my old pard. It took real pluck to go +after that baby. If Bill'd a been here he would have gotten enthusiastic +over that lad." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A Story Is Told and a Promise Made + + +An open fire had always been tremendously fascinating to Willis Thornton, +and on winter evenings, when his chores were done and supper over, he +would pile the big fireplace high with maple logs, then sit and dream as +the flames danced and the fire roared. He was a sturdy lad, healthy, +cheerful, wholesome, and tonight he was thinking. + +The snow-laden wind was sweeping across the "Flat Bush." At every fresh +gust the fire would crackle and the little blue flames start up along the +none-too-well seasoned logs. Outside the old farmhouse the great dead +limb of a monstrous white oak moaned and sighed, while the usual sounds +from the barnyard were lost in the patter of the icy snowflakes that +rattled against the window pane. From the open door of the kitchen came +faint odors of freshly-popped corn and the monotonous hum of the old +sewing-machine. Willis was hardly aware of any presence in the room save +his own until a warm hand was laid gently on his and a dish of snowy +popcorn set in his lap. He had been so engrossed with his own fancies +that he had not seen his mother enter the firelit room and come toward +him. + +"Well, my boy; what are you dreaming of tonight?" she asked, as she +seated herself in her accustomed place on the arm of his chair and placed +her arm gently on his shoulder. + +"O, I've just been planning a bit, mother," he said with a smile. +"Sometimes when I sit here by this old fire I forget myself. I travel to +the strangest lands and think the strangest thoughts. Still, they all +seem so very real to me that when I try not to think of them a peculiar +restlessness comes over me. I can hardly wait for summer and the great +big out-of-doors. Did you ever think, mother, what life would be if we +didn't have the birds and the bees and the flowers? Are people in the +cities happy and contented without them? I've often wondered. I suppose +some day I'll be going to the city to live, as all the other boys have +done; but when I think of it it makes me sad. I don't believe I'd ever be +happy in the city, mother, unless--" + +He paused long enough to stir up the fire and put on another log. + +"Unless what, Willis?" his mother inquired. + +"Unless--" he hesitated as if thinking. "I could go West to where father +was." + +His mother listened as he went on. "The schoolmaster was telling us today +about the wonderful Rocky Mountains. He was there last summer on his +vacation, you know. We were studying about Pike's Peak and the Garden of +the Gods, so he told us all about his trip there. He went from Colorado +Springs to somewhere away up in the mountains to a great gold camp. He +told us of the queer little shanties the people live in, and of the great +piles of waste ore outside of each mine. He went through one mine, the +Independence, I think he called it, or the Portland--I don't remember +which now; but he said the machinery used in hoisting the ore was +wonderful. It all set me to thinking of father--I've been thinking of him +all day. Mother, it's mighty hard for a fellow like me not to have any +father, only just a dead one." + +He arose a second time to replenish the fire, but remained standing, +facing his mother. He was too deeply interested in his own thoughts just +then to notice the tears that were slowly stealing down his mother's +face, and the light was too dim for him to see her sad, care-worn +expression. She was not old, but fate had not been kind to her. She was a +slender little woman, with a heavy mass of what had once been brown hair, +but it was now streaked with gray. Her eyes were large and brown, and the +intermingled expression of love and sadness made her face one of tender +beauty, lighted as it was by the rosy tints from the open fire. As the +boy talked on in his manly way she suddenly became aware of a change in +him. She noticed the well-built and symmetrically developed body, the +broad shoulders, the short, stocky neck, and the head covered with brown +ringlets. She could not see the face, but she knew only too well of whom +it reminded her, for of late she had often found herself saying, "Just +like the father--just like the father." + +It was during such winter evenings as this that she had come to know her +son best, as she sat on the arm of his chair and listened with tactful +sympathy to his stories of the big black bass that kept house in the pool +at the end of the lake, or of the downy woodpecker's nest in the old +hickory, or, perhaps, of the big hoot owl that perched on the granary +warm nights to watch for mice. It was with a certain feeling of sadness, +as well as of pride, that she watched him grow older, lose his boyhood +ways, and become more and more of a man--a man just like his father! + +"I get so lonely for some one to teach me things, and go with me into the +big woods, and help me skin my rats in season," he was saying, "and to +teach me to use tools and to understand the books and--" + +"Yes, my son," she replied. "But haven't you me? Won't I do to read with +you and help you find new wild flowers and gather strange caterpillars in +the spring?" + +"Yes, mother, of course you will, and you know how I do care for you. I +couldn't begin to do without you even for a day; but someway you don't +understand. It's because you are a woman. Sometimes I feel as if I would +be the happiest boy in the Clear Creek School if I just had a father I +could look up to and be proud of and--" + +"O, but Willis, be careful." Her voice was low and full of feeling. "You +can do all that, my boy, and more. I know you miss him, but you must not +forget we had him once, both of us, and that he was the very best father +in all the world." She stopped, for now the tears were coming fast. "The +only trouble is that he was taken away before you were lad enough to know +him and love him as you would if we had him now. But that is all the more +reason why you should grow into a worthy man, my boy--for his sake and +mine. He loved you dearly, and I've often thought it was that love and +ambition for you that made him determine to make money, so that you might +have the future he planned for you. He left you, my boy, something better +than money--a heritage of clean, noble blood and character. You aren't +old enough just yet to know all that that means, but some day you will +be truly thankful." + +"You are right--always right; but you know what I mean, don't you? You +have never told me all about him, have you, mother? Won't you tell me +now? I never wanted to know so badly as I do tonight. He seems to come +near to me sometimes, even if I can't see him, and I want to know more +about him." + +The fire burned low; the storm had increased in its fury; it seemed as if +each gust would lift the house from its foundations. Still, to these two, +opening their hearts to each other in the kindly glow of the firelight, +the storm was forgotten. + +After a pause she began softly and very slowly to tell the story. + +"Your father was a noble man, Willis, such as I am sure you will be if +you are spared to live. His boyhood I do not know much about, only that +it was spent on his father's farm. He went to Kalamazoo for his +schooling, and it was there that I first met him. He worked hard, saved +his money, and went to Ann Arbor for his college work. He was ambitious +to become a great engineer, and was always tinkering at some kind of a +machine. He used to joke with me about becoming a great inventor, and +after we were married he did try his hand at a patent coupler and a +back-firing device for a gas engine. He was just like you, my boy, always +dreaming and seeing things in the out-of-doors. I can remember the +delight he found in rising early on summer mornings to search for +caterpillars, moths, and worms in the nearby woods, and he would put a +strange bug in every bottle I had in the house. + +"After our marriage we moved to Lansing, and he became superintendent in +an electrical manufacturing company. He had a little shop of his own in +the basement at home, and during the long winter evenings of the first +year that we were there he built furniture for our little home. The chair +we are sitting in, Willis, is one of his first pieces. We were very happy +together there, and it wasn't long before you came. The summer before you +were born his company sent him West to install mine machinery. It was +then that he became interested in the great gold mines of Colorado. +Everybody seemed to be prospecting and staking gold claims. He thought he +saw his chance to get rich quickly, so he, too, began prospecting. He +very soon developed a great love for the mountains, and while you were a +baby he used to go to Colorado Springs for his vacations. His mind was +very active, and as he became more closely acquainted with the mines he +conceived an idea for a machine to roast gold ore by electricity. In the +winter evenings he would sit sketching its parts and dreaming over his +plans. Sometimes in his boyish enthusiasm he would assure me that he +would yet be a rich man." + +"And what about his mine, mother; doesn't that come into the story pretty +soon?" "Yes, yes, but don't hurry me, son. It seems so very strange to be +sitting here telling you all about him, for it seems to have happened so +long, long ago. + +"On one of his trips west he fell in with an old mountaineer named +Kieser, Tad Kieser. Tad became interested in his roasting machine, and +they decided to locate claims together. Tad was to put up the 'grub +stakes,' as they called it, for your father had no money except his +salary. All one fall, when he was not installing machinery, they explored +the mountains south of Colorado Springs, especially along the old Stage +Road to Cripple Creek, looking for suitable claims. The old Stage Road +was a steep, rocky mountain road over which they hauled provisions and +passengers into the Cripple Creek district. + +"Several miles from the city there was an old log hostelry--'Wright's +Road House' they called it. Here lived a strange old man, a mountaineer +of the oldest type. Daddy Wright, they called him. He and Tad were old +friends, so your father became very well acquainted with him. The stages +to and from the gold camp always stopped at Dad's; sometimes for a meal +and sometimes for all night. It was one of the delights of your father's +business trips to spend an evening with this old man in his rough +mountain cabin, sitting before his crude stone fireplace smoking and +listening to stories of the days of 'forty-nine,' when Dad had hunted for +gold in the mountains of California. Your father and Tad were both in the +old road house the night it was burned and barely escaped with their +lives. He didn't tell me about it until long afterwards. + +"Tad and your father finally filed on two claims. One was on Cheyenne +Mountain, near Dad's claims, and the other was somewhere near a mountain +called Cookstove. Your father thought that valley was the most beautiful +spot he had ever seen. He used to write me long letters describing the +beautiful canyon and the falls, which was just a ribbon of water that +trickled down the face of a monstrous granite boulder hundreds of feet in +height. He called it St. Marys Falls. Here, somewhere in a hidden spot of +this canyon, they found a strange outcropping of black rock which your +father believed would lead to an extensive gold vein in the interior +of the mountain. I remember he called the vein an 'iron dyke,' and said +that a compass revolted when placed on it. His great desire was to mine +that strata by means of a tunnel, but he had no money, so he and Tad +decided that they would work during the winter months and save what money +they could, then both work on the tunnel in warm weather. They chose a +spot down in the canyon that was high, but still near the stream, and +there built a log shanty to live in while they worked the claim. He wrote +me how they cut the great spruce on the side of the mountain far above +the chosen spot and rolled them in. Dad let them use his team of donkeys +to pack in the necessary lumber and shingles for the 'shack.' Father came +home, and Tad, with some hired help, erected the first log cabin in the +canyon. My, but he was proud of it. + +"The next spring saw them at work on the tunnel. I did so hate to let +father go, for I was afraid some harm would befall him; but he reassured +me and seemed so positive that all our future hopes lay hidden in that +hole that I let him go. The first season they went in thirty feet, and +things looked better every foot. It was very hard for him to close up the +hole and come home to his winter's work. His company in Lansing had +inspected the drawings of his proposed machine and had promised him a +goodly sum for the patent if he proved that it would work. The only +question was the securing of the proper ore for flux. I remember his +hopes ran high when one day they came upon a narrow vein of this +necessary flux stone. He was so sure that they would find more, and the +gold, too, that he made plans to build a great reducing plant, using the +falls for motor power. He had it all worked out on paper, even to +details. + +"Meanwhile my sister, your Aunt Lucy, and Uncle Joe went West for her +health, and settled in Colorado Springs. Uncle Joe became a real estate +dealer and also interested in mines and mining properties. He was greatly +interested in the tunnel, and predicted great things for its future. +About this time all the land around the canyon, both north and south, +became a part of the Pike's Peak Forest Reserve, so that your father had +to refile on his claim and prove to the land office that he was working a +real mineral vein. In refiling, his claim was not big enough to include +the shanty, but anticipating no trouble on account of it he neglected to +lease his cabin from the Forest Reserve officials. The news leaked out +that gold had been discovered in Cookstove Gulch, and in a few days the +entire stream was staked from one end of the canyon to the other as +placer claims. Of course the cabin site became the property of another +man, and with it the cabin, as it could not be moved. The new owner was a +little, short, pudgy man with an ever-ready eye for business, so father +and Tad were forced to rent the cabin they had built and paid for. That +winter was the one your sister Mabel was taken from us, and the last year +we were all together." + +She stopped and gazed into the fire, seemingly forgetting the boy who sat +by her side. Then she reached forward and placed the last stick on the +slowly-dying embers. As it caught, and the flames leaped into the chimney +in response to the wind outside, she continued: + +"The next summer was the last. I never knew just how it happened exactly; +but some way, while making a new side drift in the tunnel, a blast went +off prematurely, and he was caught in the falling rocks and crushed to +death. Uncle Joe wrote me the particulars--all that I ever had. + +"He was too badly mangled to be recognized, so even before I knew of the +accident his poor, broken body was laid to rest under the pines in +Evergreen Cemetery. The tunnel was closed and locked, and your uncle +packed father's few belongings in the little old trunk I gave you last +spring for your own and sent it home--all that I ever saw again of your +father. + +"Then followed the terrible fever that nearly took my life. How I prayed, +my boy, that I might die, so great was my sorrow and utter loneliness; +but the Great Father saw fit to keep me here, and now I am thankful. He +needed me to help you become a man. When I was so sick grandfather +came and brought us home, and here we have been ever since." + +"But, mother, have you never wanted to go to Colorado?" + +"Yes, son, I've often thought I would be happier there, but father has +never thought so. I've often promised Aunt Lucy we'd come. I'm afraid she +won't be long for this world, for she has a very serious tubercular +trouble. You must never mention it, son, but your grandfather never had +any use for Uncle Joe, and was very much opposed to Lucy's marrying him, +so they slipped off and were married secretly. She has never felt like +coming home since--not even for a visit. Father gets very lonely for her, +for she was the life of the old home. I would not be surprised, son, if I +should be called to her bedside any time now, for she is very low." + +"Mother, if such a thing should happen, you'd take me with you, wouldn't +you?" eagerly asked Willis. + +"Of course I would, my son." + +"And perhaps I could find father's tunnel. Say, mother, did you ever hear +what became of that Tad Kieser after father's death?" he inquired. + +"No, son, I never heard. He wrote me one letter, expressing his sympathy, +and in that letter I remember he said he had abandoned the tunnel because +he was convinced that it was not a safe place to work, and probably it +never would have amounted to anything, anyway." + +"Do you suppose he is still prospecting somewhere in the mountains, +mother?" + +"I don't know, Willis. Probably not, for that was ten years ago, you +know." + +The remains of the last log dropped between the andirons and rolled over. +Mrs. Thornton rose. + +"It's time we were in bed, son, long ago." With that she gently bent, +kissed him on the forehead, and slipped off to her own room, leaving him +with the dying fire. He sat still a long time, his eyes wide open and his +fists clenched. + +"If I only could," he was saying. "If I only could." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +In Which Willis Is Honored + + +"You're always trying to get in a new fellow, Chuck. We never would have +a new member if you didn't do your scouting around. You know more about +the fellows in this town than any half-dozen of the rest of us. How do +you get next to them?" + +These remarks came from Robert Dennis, the splendid captain of the High +School Basket Ball Team. He had met a few of his companions at the Young +Men's Christian Association that evening. + +The Association was a very handsome, four-story brick that stood some +distance back from the street. Of all the places in the community for +young fellows to "hang out" the Association was the most popular. At any +hour after school, until closing time in the evening, small groups of +fellows of every age might be found in the various departments, talking +athletics, planning an all-day hike into the mountains, discussing an +amateur theatrical, a debating club, a Bible study supper, or some other +of the many activities carried on by these fellows with the Association +as a basis of operations and a partner. It appealed to the best fellows +in the school, and even in the entire community, for it had very early in +its history made itself known as a clean, broad-minded, sympathetic, and +constructive agency in the lives of boys and young men. It appealed to +the fellows because they could have a hand in its operations and a voice +in its government; because it stood for clean sport, clean bodies, clean +minds, healthy spirits, and a type of social life that had all the +appearances of being powerfully masculine, and yet clean and gentlemanly. +It stood for a three-sided manhood--spirit, mind, and body. + +Chuck seated himself. "No, Dennis, not always getting a new member, but +I'll tell you one thing, I always do have an eye open for a first-class +fellow for our bunch. You know as well as I do that if we are going to +keep things right, here in our old Y.M., and give the 'Chief' the help he +needs, we'll have to keep adding every strong, clean, congenial fellow we +can lay our hands on. You don't need to worry about our getting too many. +O.F.F. has been doing stunts for two years now, and in that time we have +just taken in five new men. We have room for at least three more. I know +sometimes I make a mistake, but I'll bet my hat on this fellow. He's no +ordinary kid, I'll tell you that. I saw him in the swimming tank with his +uncle, Mr. Williams, yesterday, and a cleaner-cut, better-built fellow +you never saw. Swim like a fish, and dive--why, there's nothing to it. If +he takes a membership in this Department he'll be in the Leaders' Corps +in less than a jiffy, and, what's more, he'll be a leader in everything +else, too, when he gets acquainted." + +"Well, I'll tell you," said "Shorty" Wier, who had thus far kept silent, +"Let's all look him over and get better acquainted with him Wednesday +night on the hike. The 'Chief' told me he had invited him to go along +with the bunch." + +"What's the bunch going to do on Wednesday night?" inquired "Sleepy" +Smith, who was always preoccupied when anything of real importance was +going on. + +"Why, you ought to wake up occasionally and you wouldn't be so far behind +the times," replied Chuck, rather dryly. "The class is going to Sweet +Potato Gulch for a business meeting and wiener-bake. Be sure to be on +hand, every man of you." + +"O well, I don't like wieners, anyway," replied Smith, and he returned to +his own thoughts. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday night was perfect--not a cloud in the sky, and a great +half-moon to help them find their way. There was a spring breeze in the +air, the kind that makes a great wood-fire of dry logs and pine needles +about the most attractive thing on earth to a crowd of young savages. Far +away to the westward Pike's Peak's hoary head was lifted into the sky, +dimly lighted by the yellow rays of the moon. There was a faint odor of +spring in the air, while the little mountain stream had not as yet given +up its icy prattle. Little patches of snow still dotted the sides of the +canyon, and here and there a crystal icicle sparkled from the end of a +pine bough. + +It was a night of wonders for Willis. He had never felt the "call of the +wild" so strongly and irresistibly as on that night. Every mountain crag +seemed to be calling him, and in his fancy he thought the fir trees +reached their gently-waving branches, beckoning him to come into the +darkness and solitude. In spite of himself, his thoughts would wander to +the Michigan homeland. He wondered if the ice had broken on the lake yet, +and if the blossoms had begun to come in the old orchard, and if his +grandmother had filled the incubator. He felt queer with so many +strangers, yet not at all ill-at-ease, for he had lived a wholesome life +in the out-of-doors, and the meaning of fear was almost unknown to him. +As the fire was lighted and the wieners set to bake on the end of long, +green willow sticks, he began to enter more completely into the merriment +of the crowd. + +It was an exceptional group of older fellows--the clean fun and wholesome +chat was above the ordinary, yet was spontaneous and real. The "Chief," +whose name was Allen, stood at one side of the fire with a note-book in +his hand, while the fellows were seated upon a dead log that had been +dragged close to the fire. Allen was a young man of medium height, +well-built, and clean-cut. His hair was black and his eyes were dark and +very bright. A merry smile played over his features. Every fellow in the +group knew that that smile meant "good will toward men." His hiking +trousers bagged about the tops of his high mountain boots, and his +sweater bore the marks of many a camping trip. He always wore on such +occasions as this an old felt hat, which had the initials of many a +stanch, good, out-of-door companion printed on it. There was the color +and vigor of health in his face, and his movements were swift and +powerful. He was a splendid specimen of a clean, unselfish college man +who loved God, His out-of-doors, and all his fellow-men. There was not a +man in the community who had such an influence, or for whom the boys felt +such profound respect, as Allen. He was a "square deal" personified. Many +were the personal differences of the fellows that were submitted to him +free-willed for arbitration. His Department was his kingdom, and these +fellows his stanch and loyal supporters. Where he led they followed, +always knowing it was for some good purpose. Meanness, like a wolf in the +night, slunk away when he came upon it. Smut and slander knew they had no +chance in his presence. To these fellows, and many more who knew him, he +stood as a confidential friend and counselor, and was as a father to many +a boy in the time of trouble. Many were the fathers who would have given +a good deal to have held the place in their sons' estimations that Mr. +Allen did. + +The trip that night did several things for Willis. It told him plainly +that he was going to be an ardent lover of the mountains and life in +them, just as he had dreamed and hoped he might. + +Several weeks later, when Willis came home one evening, he found his +mother waiting for him at the door with an envelope in her hand. Willis +had told his mother all about his trip to the "Gulch," and had confessed +to her how proud he would be to become a member of "O.F.F." A warm +friendship had sprung up between Chuck and himself, and he was learning +to be happy in the companionship of that crowd. He eagerly reached for +the envelope, and, opening it, read aloud: + +"Next Friday evening 'O.F.F.' will hold an outing meeting in Williams +Canyon. We will first take you through Huccacode Cave, then we will have +supper on Pinion Crag. We will hold our meeting about the council fire, +at which time we will be very pleased to extend to you the right hand of +fellowship, and make you a full-fledged member of 'O.F.F.' + +"ROBT. DENNIS, +President." + +"Isn't that great, mother! I'm really to be a member of the very best +Bible group at the Association. It's a club, too, you know, and holds +every member to a clean standard of life in work and play. Every Saturday +night they meet at the Association for supper and a half-hour of Bible +study. Mr. Allen is teacher, but they all do a lot of talking. O, it's +great! I'm tickled to death! I want you to know every one of those +fellows, mother. Sleepy is the poorest man--besides me, of course. I +can't say I like him so well. He's a little sneaky, I think. Chuck told +me they took him in because Mr. Allen wanted them to. The 'Chief' says he +has a pile of good in him, if we can just get it out. He has been awfully +nice to me, though. He talks camera to me almost every time I see him. +I showed him the pictures I made last spring of the thrush's nest, and he +was crazy over them. I'm going to teach him how to photograph flowers and +birds and nature. I'm glad I can do something that's worth while, or I'd +feel unhappy in that bunch. Sleepy has a wireless outfit and knows all +about electricity. Shorty Wier works in the Strang Garage. He is a shark +in school and a fiend at basket ball. He doesn't say much, but he is a +dandy. Chuck is interested in debates, and will represent the school in +the interscholastic contest next fall. He can talk about anything, and +has 'pep,' I tell you. And Mr. Allen is a nature student. Gee! won't we +have a circus talking bugs and flowers and birds. Fat draws and does +lettering. O yes, and Ham--I mustn't leave out Ham--he is the Billikin of +the crowd. When you feel down in the mouth or blue, just look at Ham and +it makes you laugh. He likes everybody except the girls, and everybody +likes him. He knows more funny stories than all the rest put together. +Ham's the one that always gets the fire ready to light and passes the +'eats,' he's--" + +"Well, son, I think you are fortunate in being able to find such +companions, and in having such a place as the Association to spend your +leisure time. I think it is a great thing. I hope you will make the +most of the opportunity. I have about decided we had better stay here +through the winter, for I am very sure Aunt Lucy can not last until +spring. I feel so sorry for Uncle." + + * * * * * + +Friday came at last, and was one of those grand June evenings when +everything seemed to be bursting with the love of life. The new green +leaves danced in the breeze, as if saying, "See, I'm back again!" Here +and there a fragrant fruit tree gave forth its odor from snowy blossoms, +and innumerable spring insects flocked to the arc lights at the corners. + +It was a happy, healthy crowd of boys that boarded the street car for +Manitou. High-boots, sweaters, slouch hats, cameras, and a plentiful +supply of good food. From the hip-pockets of the trousers tallow candles +showed, and one fellow carried a good supply of mason's cord, wound upon +a paddle. Then there was the coffee-pot, which was really an honorary +member of the club, and numerous packages done up in paper. + +The fellows loved Williams just at twilight, for it was then that the +fantastic shapes and high pinnacles of white limestone made their best +impression. The long, irregular shadows that were thrown across the +canyon by the setting sun, the cool pine-scented breeze that carried +every sound down the narrow crevice, the echoing of every laugh and +halloo added much to the enjoyment and comradeship of the little group. +Who could be unhappy or unfriendly on such a night and in such a place? + +The road led on and up, winding back and forth zigzag fashion on the +south wall, until it reached that wonderful cavern of fairyland, the +Grand Caverns. Thousands of tourists annually come to see its wonders, +but to the boys there were other caves more magic in their spell, for +they had not yet become "civilized," as the fellows said, by being +lighted with electricity and "engraved" by human hands. + +As they passed through the Narrows they began to climb up the east wall, +at a point where an immense pile of broken stone from the ledges above +had collected. This is the doorway to Huccacode. The entrance to the cave +is a mere crack in a mighty white wall that rises a hundred feet. + +Bundles and boxes were placed on a convenient ledge, candles lighted, and +all made ready. The end of the string was fastened to a shoot of +sagebrush just outside the opening; and the group passed in, Shorty in +the lead with an electric flashlight, and Phil bringing up the rear, +trailing the string. Far back in this wonderful cave there is a joining +of passages, and parties entering without a string have often become +lost, and have traveled several times around in a great circle before +finding the lead out. + +The cave is a series of chambers connected by what appears to be an +overlapping of rooms. The voices of the boys sounded hollow and far away, +while the candles cast long, grotesque shadows on the walls. As the +column advanced, the leader shouted back now and then to "watch out to +the left" or "to be careful to the right" or "to mind your footing." +As the trail led off on the side of the Bottomless Pit they halted, and +the usual ceremony was gone through. They twisted several newspapers +together into a torch and, lighting them, dropped them into the pit. They +watched as the torch went down and down and down, lighting the way for a +fleeting instant into the very depths of the earth; past ugly, jagged +rocks, past flat shelves of limestone, past straight, smooth walls of +rock till, at last, it burned itself out, still going down into the vast, +mysterious crevice. + +"It's a strange sight, to be sure," remarked Mr. Allen. "I have seen it a +good many times now, and I have no trouble in believing the old Indian +legend about it." + +"I have never heard it," said Willis. "Won't you tell it to us? This +would be such a good time. Let's put out all the lights except mine; I'll +stick it here on this projection and we'll sit in the end of this big +room while you talk." + +The crowd suited the action to the word. Mr. Allen pulled his hat far +down over his eyes, picked up several little white pebbles from the +ground and put them into his mouth to disguise his voice, then began: + +"Eagle-Foot had been for many years the mighty medicine man of the +great Ute Indians, who were probably the strongest and most warlike of +all the mountain tribes. Their home was in the Middle Park at the north +base of Pike's Peak, shut in from the other tribes in a fertile and +absolutely safe valley, which could be guarded by a few men at a certain +point. Here in this mountain valley the Utes grew into a strong Indian +state. During the hunting season large parties of them would ride to the +plains to hunt buffalo, returning after several weeks with immense +supplies of jerked meat, which is the choice steaks sun-cured, and with a +goodly number of buffalo hides. Now, Eagle-Foot was a great doctor. He +knew all about the mountain herbs and the medicinal properties of certain +mineral waters as well as of the ancient sweating of disease out of the +body by mud baths--a method used by the Indians of the South. He was so +successful that the Indians began to believe him infallible as a doctor +and medicine man. + +"Well, one season, following a great buffalo hunt on the plains, a +strange itching skin disease broke out among the hunters, causing a great +number of them to die. Eagle-Foot could not find a satisfactory remedy, +although he tried many mixtures. At last they held long fasts, and prayed +the Great Spirit to remove the curse from them. But the next season +it was worse than ever. The big Chief himself lost his favorite son, +Megaleep, and Eagle-Foot began to lose his influence among the people. + +"Some thought the Great Spirit was punishing them for stealing the +buffalo from their brothers of the plains; others said that the Evil +Spirit had come back from the great desert to haunt them with disease and +famine. Eagle-Foot remained silent and downcast, spending much time alone +in the mountains fasting. One day as the warriors returned from the +burying ground they found Eagle-Foot awaiting them at the camp, decked in +his full regalia, his face painted as if for a great occasion, all his +feathers hanging from his belt. He told the chief that the Great Spirit +had at last spoken to him, and that he was going on a long quest into the +limestone canyons. There the Great Spirit would reveal to him a cure for +the dread disease. He called for the swiftest runner to go with him. +Huckween, the Night Voice, volunteered, and so they started, all the +warriors accompanying them to Sentinel Point, chanting prayers to the +Great Spirit. + +"Several days later Huckween returned to camp, haggard and weak and +hungry, bearing the medicine wand of Eagle-Foot. He took it straight to +the Chief, and on bended knee told him the strange tale. How Eagle-Foot +had left him in the morning at the entrance to a mighty cavern and told +him to follow in at 'high sun.' This he did, and when he reached this +spot, the Bottomless Pit, he found Eagle-Foot's sacred medicine wand +stuck in the mud, his belt of sacred feathers fastened to the end of it, +dangling down into the mouth of the pit. From the depths he heard strange +sounds, but Eagle-Foot was gone. As he lay looking into the blackness, he +seemed to realize suddenly that the wand was the promised cure, and that +Eagle-Foot had given his own life in the Bottomless Pit that the sacred +feathers might become a saving potion for his people. It was the old idea +of a blood sacrifice. + +"Every season since that the great medicine man of the Utes came here to +receive the mystic cure, bringing with him Eagle-Foot's staff and belt. +Long strips of cedar bark were bound together into a rope. This was +soaked in deer's grease, one end lighted, and dropped into the Pit, the +other fastened to the staff, which was stuck into the ground near the +edge. The spirit of Eagle-Foot thus returned, using the flaming bark rope +as a ladder, to bless the feathers of his brother, the medicine man of +the Utes." + +"Do you suppose there are really bodies there at the bottom?" asked +Sleepy, as the candles were relighted and the group passed on into the +depths of the cave. + +"I wouldn't be surprised," replied the Chief. + +Finally the first flight of rickety wooden steps was reached, and the +boys descended, one at a time. Then came the "Fat man's misery," where +the ceiling of the cave almost met the floor, leaving only a small +opening. There was much laughing as Fat squeezed his body through. In the +"Bridal Chamber" every fellow traced his initials on the white stone with +his smoking candle. Then came the "Auger Hole," which is a round opening, +not more than twenty inches in diameter and about fifteen feet long, +through a solid wall of rock. About the middle of the passage there is a +sharp turn, and the remainder of the passage slopes down into the next +room. Each one stretched himself out at full length, taking hold of the +leg of the man in front of him. In this way they worked themselves +through, like a great serpent. + +A very peculiar sensation came to Willis, who was second in the line, as +he worked himself along the dark passage. "If the roof should cave in +just a little, what a death!" He was busy with such thoughts when Chuck, +who was just ahead of him, suddenly backed into him and whispered, +"Look!" He looked ahead, and there, somewhere in the darkness he saw two +small, yellow-green lights. Willis clutched Chuck by the arm and +whispered hoarsely, "It's an animal!" Word was passed from one to the +other as they emerged from the Auger Hole that there was a wild-cat in +the Mud Room. + +Mr. Allen always carried a gun on these trips, unknown to the fellows. As +he took in the situation he quietly drew the revolver from his pocket and +took a few steps forward. He began to think what the possible results of +shooting might be. He had often heard of mines caving in as the result of +a loud report, and of the vibrations from shouts closing the entrance to +caves. It would be unwise to shoot, but perhaps more unwise to go away +and leave the animal there. Some unarmed party might fall upon it. Many +things were suggested, many possibilities talked over; but there seemed +to be some objection to all. The eyes seemed to go out now and then, and +occasionally there was a sad, low whine that made the cold chills run up +and down each fellow's back. Sleepy had made sure of his safety by +returning through the Auger Hole. Mr. Allen made no reply to their many +inquiries--he seemed to have lost his power of speech. He stood with +muscles taut and gun ready. He despised indecision, yet--what should he +do? He thought of the mountain lion that had been killed on the carriage +road to the Peak the spring before. Could this be its mate? He tried to +think what the characteristics of a bob-cat were. He wondered if perhaps +it had already attacked some one; perhaps killed him, and even now was +guarding the dead body--perhaps not dead yet. His arm twitched nervously. +He was losing his self-control. There was absolute silence now except for +the whine of the beast. Did a lion whine? He could not think. + +They could not have told how long they stood there silent. Presently +Shorty Wier pushed himself to the head of the group and, without a +moment's warning, flashed his electric spotlight and began advancing +slowly toward the animal. Allen caught him by the sleeve and followed, +gun in hand. The eyes seemed to dilate, and there was a low growl that +seemed to be a warning. In an instant it flashed into Allen's mind, "A +mad dog!" A bobcat could not growl, and a lion did not sound like a dog. +Shorty turned and looked Allen in the eye, "Don't be a fool. Put up your +gun and get out your pocket ax," he said in a low, steady voice. Then +he began talking in a coaxing tone. + +"There, dog, there, poor fellow, no one will hurt you, nice pup; what's +the matter, dog." His light he cast straight at the eyes. "Don't strike +till I say," he whispered to Mr. Allen. + +In a moment they were close enough to see that it was a dog, a Collie +pup, wild-eyed and half-starved. Shorty stepped nearer and put his hand +out to pat the dog's head; but the animal only trembled and shrank back, +then whined a pitiful whine. They could see now that the dog was fast in +a steel trap, held securely by his hind leg. Shorty reached down and +released the bruised and swollen leg from the trap, and as the dog felt +himself free he gave a cry of relief. If ever a dog expressed his +gratitude in actions it was that pup. When they reached the mouth of +the cave the dog collar was carefully examined, bringing to light the +fact that the dog belonged to a Beverly H. Pembroke. Shorty would have +the reward. Their lunch boxes and coffee-pot were gathered up, and the +climb to the cliff began. The great moon was just lifting her yellow head +above a rift of clouds in the eastern sky. Soon the flat top of the crag +was reached, and in a moment a roaring fire was kindled. They had filled +the coffee-pot with water before leaving the stream in the canyon, and it +was now swung on a cross-pole over the fire. Each fellow put his share of +the steak to fry by fastening it to the forked end of a stick and holding +it over the coals. The red-cedar sticks made an ideal cooking fire, and +the odor from the burning wood was enough to make any one hungry. The dog +lay upon Shorty's sweater, against the side of the cliff, and watched the +broiling meat with eager eyes. It is hardly necessary to say that he +received a generous share of the meal. + +Mr. Allen stood with his back to the fire, looking off over the tops of +the mountains and down into the moonlit spots of the canyon below, +absorbing as much as he could of its beauty and inspiration. Far away to +the west was the same old peak that he had seen from every conceivable +angle and he had learned to love so well. It was a scene like this that +he loved better than anything else in the world, and it was at such times +that he almost wished that he was one of God's wild things living a +care-free life, looking to Mother Earth and his own wits to care for all +his needs. + +Willis came around the fire and stood by his side, silently taking in the +beauties of the picture. Mr. Allen turned, and placing his arm on the +boy's shoulder, said, "It's great, isn't it, boy? It takes a night like +this to make a man realize what the psalmist meant when he said, 'I will +lift up mine eyes unto the hills whence cometh my help.' Do you ever +think of it when you look at these old mountains?" + +After supper was finished the group gathered about the fire, and the +business meeting, for which the trip had been planned, began. More cedar +sticks were piled upon the fire, while the fellows settled themselves +comfortably. + +"The meeting will please come to order." Dennis had taken his place at +the head of the little company. "The secretary will please read the +minutes of the last meeting." Chuck jumped to his feet and made his +report. + +"Any objections to these minutes? If not, they will stand approved as +read. Mr. Allen, will you explain to Thornton what 'O.F.F.' means and +give him the oath of membership?" + +Mr. Allen stepped to the side of the fire. + +"Fellows, it is with an ever-increasing satisfaction that I meet with +'O.F.F.,' and I think it would not be out of place to-night to say just +a few words that have been in my mind these last few days. I am proud to +be a member of such a club. I am proud to call every fellow gathered here +my brother. I am proud to have a voice in so clean and democratic a +government. I am proud to be able to find my social amusement and social +fellowship in such ways as this club employs--in hiking and tramping in +the woods and learning Nature's secrets. We will not always be together +in this most happy and congenial group. Fate will soon separate us. Some +will grow old; some will die before their time; some will perhaps be rich +in this world's goods; possibly some will experience poverty's sting. Yet +none of us, fellows, need ever want for real friendship; and, after all, +it's that which makes life glad and beautiful for us, or sad and unhappy +if we do not have it. I have often warned my memory never to lose the +picture of a single one of these simple meals, about the open fire +together, so that in days to come I may go back and refresh myself at +these springs of pure contentment. It's a beautiful thing in a fellow's +life to just be living for the welfare of others, as we are trying to do. +I'm wishing one thing to-night for you all, and that is, that there may +never come a time in your busy lives when you will find it to your liking +to follow any other standard than the one we have set for ourselves here +in this little group. I am hoping that we will never find any type of +social fellowship any more attractive to us than this clean, wholesome, +out-of-door life that we have learned to love so well. The time will +come, fellows--did you ever think of it?--the time must come when we will +not be able to gather at these fires and chat together of our mutual +interests and common woes. But I hope the time will never come when we +can forget the good things for which we stand, day by day, in our living. + +"Willis, stand up here by the fire. I want to say to you, my boy, that +we are proud to have you as a brother and that we feel confident that +you are a real addition to our number. We want you to be a real, live +member--to enter into the spirit of our organization. Our letters, +O.F.F., stand for a very simple slogan, one that has meant great things +in the lives of every one of us fellows, and one that will mean great +things to you if you take it into your life and let it work. It means +that from this night on you will be more interested in the welfare of +others than of yourself. O.F.F.--Other Fellow First. Give me your hand. +Do you promise that you will live a clean life, physically, mentally, and +morally? Do you promise that you will forget your own interests in +helping others, that selfishness will have no place in your life? Do you +promise that you will not give your support for any reason to anything +that to your mind is beneath the honor of a gentleman? If so, say, 'I +do.'" + +Willis lifted his eyes to Mr. Allen's, and, with a pressure of his hand, +he answered in a clear voice, "I do!" + +"I take great pleasure," continued Mr. Allen, "in welcoming you as a +brother." + +The other fellows arose, and there was a general handshaking, followed by +cries of "Speech!" "Speech!" + +"All I have to say, fellows, is that I, too, am proud of every one of you +and of everything for which you stand, and that I'll do my best to be a +worthy member. Thank you for the honor you have shown me by asking me to +be one of you." + +They sat a long time that evening, talking and exchanging ideas, for +there was something nearly bewitching in the fire and the view and the +friendship. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Willis Becomes Interested in Gold Mines + + +The next four weeks passed by very slowly to Willis. Mr. Allen had +gone to the annual summer camp with a large number of the Association +boys. It was a State encampment, held in that very odd and interesting +part of the second range known as Cathedral Park. Willis had been very +anxious to go, for he knew it would be a very new and profitable +experience for him. Mr. Allen had asked him to go as a Leader, to have +charge of one tent of seven boys. He had never been to a camp of any +kind, to say nothing of a mountain camp, so it was a great disappointment +to him when his mother had told him that he had better not go this time. +His aunt had grown worse as the hot weather came on, and his mother +explained that she could not do without him in case his aunt should pass +away. + +He understood perfectly and knew that his mother's request was +reasonable, so had contented himself by offering to help out at the +Association in Mr. Allen's absence. He was anxious to give something +in return for all Mr. Allen was giving him. Then, too, it gave him an +opportunity to watch the development of a good many of the cocoons and +chrysalides that the nature study club had placed in glasses in a window +of the reading room. + +He had been making sketches of the development of several butterflies. +This kind of work he dearly loved. He would spend hours, sometimes, +watching a delicate insect emerge from its cocoon and slowly dry its +dainty, crumpled wings until it was able to fly. + +One day he sat sketching an immense Ichneumon fly that had just emerged +from a Tawny Admiral chrysalis. + +"You can't always tell," he was saying to the little group that were +watching him. "Nature fools you sometimes. Mr. Caterpillar, who built +that clean, cozy little house, and he was a fine, big, healthy fellow, +too, expected to be somebody one of these days--a beautiful butterfly +like the frontispiece of that nature book--but he got into bad company +and got 'stung.' Now, instead of hatching a butterfly, out comes this +robber fly, a long, lean, sleek-looking fellow that has been living for +weeks on the body of that poor caterpillar, and we didn't know it. You +want to watch out who you run with, fellows, or you're liable to turn out +'Ichneumon men' instead of gentlemen." He laughed as he returned the +glass to the shelf and closed his sketch book. + +"What in the world!" + +"Pots and kettles, frying pans, +French toast, hot cakes, Chef's the man; +We'll wash our hair and comb our face, +Camp Tech--ump--sa, that's the place." + +The crowd made a break for the door, and in a moment more they were +inside, laughing and shouting. Five minutes later they might all have +been found splashing around in the swimming-pool, making up for the lost +swims of the past few days, their bodies brown as berries, and as healthy +as free, camp-life in mountain air could make them. Mr. Allen shook +Willis by the hand. + +"I never had a better time in my life; and such a gang of royal good +fellows! Willis, old man, I always want to be a boy if age takes such +real pleasures away from man. I missed you, boy, every day, and needed +you so often. How's the aunt, and how's the Department? Say, Willis, +while I take a little swim, will you 'phone to all the Cabinet members +and tell them it's Bruin Inn for supper on Saturday night?--a very +important meeting! Meet here at five o'clock. And say, I want you to go +along with us. I have decided to add an out-of-door committee to the +Cabinet, and I want you to represent that phase of the work, will you?" + +Camp was the favorite topic of conversation on Saturday night as the +little group of older fellows walked up the canyon road. Mr. Allen was +telling one group about some of the funny things fond mothers had sent +to camp with their boys, while just behind another group were listening +to an exciting tale of how the only night-shirt in camp, together with +the Leader's razor-strop, were hung on the topmost branch of a great +spike-topped pine that stood just in the middle of the camp. + +So the talk ran on, from one thing to another. The stars twinkled in +countless numbers above, giving just enough light so that they could +see the mighty column of granite on either side, and to silhouette the +gently-murmuring pines against the canyon wall. The air was chill and +faintly scented by the bursting wild-cherry blossoms that grew in great +profusion along the stream. Here and there, in a moist crevice, a +glow-worm shed forth its greenish-yellow glow, to let you know it was +night time and summer. Far away in the distance Phantom Falls was +tumbling and splashing over a great pile of drift logs. + +As the little company crossed the bridge and rounded a turn in the road, +a campfire, built in a little sheltered nook back from the road, came +into view. It cast long beams of light and grotesque shadows in every +direction, while the odor of cherry blossoms changed to the aroma of good +coffee. + +"I hope Old Ben has as good a pot of coffee on the fire at the Inn," said +one. + +Presently "Old Night Cap" loomed up against the sky. + +"This is as far as we could come a year or two ago," said Mr. Allen to +Willis. "Before the railroad and the inn were built we used to think it +was a long way even up here to the old mine." + +"Did I ever tell you about the old Negro that owned this mine? Well, he +came herein the early days and found a strange yellow outcropping here. +He built himself a funny little shanty on the hillside, which he thatched +with spruce boughs. Here he spent a good many years of his life, digging. +His tunnel caved in soon after he left it, but he did find a little gold +for his work. When his provisions gave out, he would take his old mule, +which was his only companion, tramp into the city, sell his little bag of +gold dust, and buy bacon, flour, and beans. After a little spree he would +return to the mine, always sure that he would find the gold in larger +quantities. Often I've stopped to talk with him as he brought a +wheelbarrow load of dirt out of the tunnel to the edge of the little old +dump. + +"'Yep, I'se 'bout to fin' heaps an' heaps o' gol',' he'd say as he pulled +at his stubby gray whiskers. 'Marse Spruce-tree, yondah, he done tole me +to jes' keep a diggin' an' I'd sho fin' gol'. When I 'se jes' 'bout to +gib up, an' I does sometimes, yes, sah, I does, ole Marse Spruce-tree he +jes' stan' up yondah on de hillside an' laff an' say, "Why, Rufus, yuse +is altogedder wufless." Ole Brer Rabbit, he nod he haid an' 'spress +heself same way. "Jes keep a diggin', Unc' Rufus," he say, "Jes' keep a +diggin'." They sho is gol' in this yere ole world if ye jes' keeps a +diggin'.' + +"He'd sing all day as he worked, and never seemed to lose faith; but when +the canyon road was extended, and the inn built, it took away the quiet +and solitude from the place. The old man just picked up his belongings +and went farther back into the mountains--no one knew where; but +somewhere, I suspect, he is still talking aloud to the trees and making +friends with the wild things, still giving his life to digging up dreams +and living for hopes that will never be realized. It's a strange disease, +this gold fever. I've never had it, but I've heard Old Ben at the Inn +tell how it's nearly impossible for a man to go back to his work in the +city after he has once seen the golden glitter and dug the precious +metal from the earth." + +Willis had remained very quiet all through the story. A strange sadness +seemed to have settled upon his spirit. Several times Mr. Allen addressed +him, but upon receiving no reply turned and looked closely into the boy's +face. His head was thrown back, and he seemed to be lost in the beauty of +the starry night. In a very quiet tone Mr. Allen said, "A penny for your +thoughts, boy." + +Willis laughed a dry little laugh, and, turning to him, replied: + +"O, I was just thinking. I hardly know what, exactly. I was thinking of +how that old darky's tunnel caved in. Do all tunnels cave in? I was +thinking of my father." He linked his arm through the "Chief's" as they +walked on up the canyon. "My father was a miner, you know. That's +how he lost his life." Mr. Allen understood the mood now. + +"You must tell me more of him some time, Willis. Was he like you?" + +"Not very much, but I'm going to be like him, if I can," replied Willis. +"Sometimes, since I've been here in Colorado, especially here in the +mountains, I've fancied that he was near me again, watching and guiding +and keeping me company. It's hard for a fellow like me not to have a +father. Mr. Allen, I don't believe the fellows who have them half +appreciate them, do you?" + +A long, loud shout came from ahead, which was answered by a dog's bark. + +"O you supper!" shouted Chuck. + +"Ben, remember me," cried another. + +The inn was a one-story log building, built of rough spruce trees, just +as they had been cut from the mountain. On the side next to the stream +was a rustic porch. On the down-canyon end was built an immense old, +stone fireplace. From the chimney top there was a procession of tiny +sparks making their way upwards from the roaring wood-fire within. Here +and there on the wall hung the hides of denizens of the woods. Behind the +pine door stood an old-fashioned, double-barreled shotgun and a later +model Winchester rifle. In the opposite corner stood two short-handled +shovels and a miner's pick, while on the wall just above the fireplace +hung the head of a great buck that had one time roamed those very hills. + +The fireplace, which occupied the center of the east wall, was large +and very attractive. An old hand-made crane had been built into the +firebox, and from it hung an old iron pot. The andirons were long, narrow +slabs of granite, set on edge, upon which were piled logs of pine wood, +burning merrily--not because it was a cold night, but because of its +cheerfulness. + +The hearth at once became the center of attraction. It was the mysterious +fairy that bound all hearts together and welded all types of personality +into a sympathetic friendship that gathered round it. It was the stern +and fiery monarch, ordering all assembled to be quiet that it might sing +and moan and whisper the messages that it had gathered from the winter +storms or from the falling leaves. + +At one side of the old fireplace, leaning back in his rickety old +arm-chair, sat Ben, Old Ben the innkeeper, his long-stemmed cob pipe +held quietly in one hand, while the other rested on the head of a huge +Russian hound that lay on the floor in front of the fire. Ben's hair was +long and gray, and on his nose rested a pair of large, old--fashioned, +silver--rimmed spectacles. His head was partly bald, and his small, gray +eyes were set well back under shaggy eyebrows. His face was covered with +a generous growth of dirty-gray whiskers, stained darkly about the mouth +from his pipe. He was a typical old mountain prospector who had seen +better days. + +As the boys entered Old Ben rose, stretched his large, gaunt frame, and +cried, "Howdy, fellers, must o' started day afore yestedy, didn't ye? +Took ye tarnal long to git here, anyhow. Supper's ben ready these two +hours. Me'n the critter 'n Tad is most starved a waitin'. Hello, Mr. +Allen, where'd ye git this lively bunch o' fellers, anyhow? D' they all +b'long to ye? Come along, Tad, er these dratted youngsters 'll eat all +yer grub fer ye." This as the fellows seated themselves about the table. + +Tad, by the aid of a crutch, hobbled from the lean-to kitchen and +took his seat at the table nearest the fire. Old Ben served the +meal--beefsteak, baked potatoes, hot corn muffins, and gravy, apple +sauce, pickles, and coffee that fairly filled the room with its +fragrance. + +"Drat me for a young squirrel if you fellers ain't the hungriest bunch o' +yearlin's I ever set eyes on," muttered Ben as he hurried back and forth +from table to kitchen supplying the urgent demand. + +After the last drop of coffee had disappeared, the meeting was called to +order around the table and the business of the evening was gotten under +way. Willis, for the first time, found it difficult to pay attention to +what Allen had to say. He was watching Old Ben and his friend as they sat +by the fire, chatting and smoking, the very picture of contentment. Now +and then a little of their conversation would reach him, but he could not +make head nor tail of it. At the supper table the man with the crutch had +eyed Willis many times. In his manner there was something that seemed to +be so very familiar, yet his face, which was covered with a several +weeks' beard, was strange to Willis. + +"I never saw a face so like my old pard's," the stranger was saying to +Ben. "And you know, Ben, I often wonder if some day I won't hear +something from Bill's family. There was a wee boy, but what others, if +any, I don't know. The day of the wreck I saw a lad that did a brave +deed, and ever since I've been wondering if he might be Bill's boy--he +looked so like him." + +"Tad, what became of that tarnal critter, Williams, that ye told me +about? The feller that jumped that placer claim up'n the gulch--do you +ever see him any more?" + +"Yes, Ben, he is still in the city. Has a mighty sick wife--tuberculosis, +they say. He's crookeder than a cork-screw, they tell me; but he'll get +caught yet, that kind always does. You know his wife is a sister to +Bill's wife. If it hadn't been for that relationship to Bill, I'd have +had it out with him long ago. But what's the use, anyway. The mine's no +good and the ground's no good, and I haven't any money to fight him." + +"Yep, but s'posin' the tunnel was good; what then?" + +"I don't know, Ben. Old Williams has a good name, generally speaking, in +the city, and he has money--I couldn't fight him. Dad Wright used to say +he was a 'snake in the grass,' and Dad doesn't often misjudge a man." + +"Who holds the key to that tarnal hole, anyway, Tad?" + +"Williams was the last man in the tunnel, Ben, and I suppose he holds the +keys. I've never been inside since I carried out poor Bill's broken +body." + +"Well, Tad, I was a pesterin' around there not long ago, an' I seed whar +some tarnal critter hed tried to pry the lock off. You know, Tad, I +b'lieve they is pay rock in that gulch, if the likes o' you an' me could +jist light onto it. Ye can pan color anywhere around the shanty, if ye +know how. I picked up some o' that quartz formation by the dump, an' drat +it, Tad, it's fine lookin' stuff." + +"Yes, Ben, I often think I'll go back and work a little longer on the old +hole. Bill was certain we had struck it--talked in his fever before he +died. But I haven't got the nerve. + +"Ben, I'm going to tell you something. Just before Bill met his end, he +had a letter from the firm that he installed machinery for concerning the +final drawings of an ore-roaster that he had been working on for years. I +have often wondered if he sent those drawings to the firm before his +death, or if Williams got them and the letters. I've never seen a roaster +like his was to be. Some way, I've thought Williams sold those drawings. +If he did, Ben, I'd kill him, I believe. That's what makes me keep a +thinking of the boy. Those drawings would have brought enough then to +have educated him, and perhaps he's poor--poor like you and me, and can't +go to school, while that rascal, Williams, rides around in an automobile. +Some way, I feel like I'll find out, and then I'll--" + +"Is that a fact! Well, that tarnal critter!" Ben puffed meditatively at +his pipe and gazed into the fire. + +"I have decided to go back, Ben, and work the other claim up in the gulch +by Dad's. If I could get enough money ahead I'd get a detective and put +him on the case. I'm kind of a father to that boy, Ben, wherever he is, +and I ought to be finding him." + +The meeting at the table was over, and the fellows crowded around the +fire before starting home, and, perhaps, to hear one of Ben's stories of +the early days. The stranger watched Willis closely for some minutes, +then he called to him. + +"Lad, ain't you the boy that was in the wreck of the Rocky Mountain +Limited, early in the spring? I've been watching you, and you sure remind +me of him." Willis's face brightened. In a flash he recognized the +fireman. He advanced with extended hand. + +"Why, yes, sir, I am the boy, and you are the fireman. I have been +looking at you all evening and wondering where I had ever seen you +before. It's the whiskers that threw me off. How is the broken leg?" + +The stranger held the boy's hand in his own and looked into his face. + +"We got out lucky, didn't we, lad? Have you ever seen the little +Englishman since that day? He was a dandy, wasn't he?" + +Chuck had been listening to the foregoing conversation. + +"What wreck? What Englishman? Who is your friend?" he questioned. + +The stranger spoke. "Why, don't you know about the wreck? Has he never +told any of you?" In answer to a chorus of "No's," the stranger drew his +chair closer to the fire and began to tell the story. + +"So the lad has never told you, eh? He is a splendid fellow, this lad. I +want to tell you boys there is no yellow in his system. He has cool, true +nerve, like my old friend, that never thought of himself if there was +trouble, always of the other folks that might suffer. That's the reason +he slid off this mortal globe so soon. The lad here came near doing the +same thing. Then he never told you about it. Well, well." + +"I'll see you again," called the stranger as Willis passed out into the +night. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A Plan Is Evolved + + +"Well, by the Great Horn Spoon, you are the laziest bunch of fellows I've +seen in many a long day. What's all this scheming and planning about +that's going on here? Are one of you fellows trying to get a Presidential +nomination?" Ham seated himself on a chair facing the fellows. They were +lounging on a big window-seat in a corner of the game-room, talking +earnestly in low tones. + +"Come, now, let's hear about it. What's the game? Say, fellows, I just +heard a rattling good story." "Well, now, Ham, let up on your stories for +about two shakes and give us your attention. We have an idea, a real, +first-class scheme, if you please, and we want you to give us your expert +opinion on it," said Shorty Wier, as he went and closed the door. + +"All aboard; let her go! What do you want me to do? When are you going to +do it? Hurry, I'm getting awfully excited." + +"Well," continued Shorty, "Fat originated this idea, or at least he +suggested it, and we have just been talking it over. How fine it would be +if we owned a cabin, a good-sized log cabin, big enough to take care of +at least twenty fellows over night. A place far enough from the city to +keep it from being continually broken into by rowdies, and still within a +couple of hours' walking distance from the car-line. With all of this +great string of mountains and canyons, so well-forested and filled with +streams, it ought to be an easy matter to find some such a place. Of +course it would be ideal if we could find a cabin already built; then all +we would have to do would be to rig it up. But we are game sports, every +man of us, and if we can't find any such cabin built, let's locate an +ideal spot and build one. Nothing real fancy or expensive, but just a +typical mountain house that's weather-tight and warm. Of course we'd want +a big fireplace like the one at Bruin Inn. It would be a great big job, +but we could take our time to it. We'd have all winter, and more, if we +needed it. Now, what we want is your suggestion, understand; we are just +talking and planning about it yet." + +"Gee, it would be an awful pile of work," complained Sleepy Smith, and he +yawned and stretched himself. "Work! of course it would be work, you dub; +but what do you ever get in this world that's worth while without real +work, I'd like to know." + +"Work! that's the best part of it; nothing in the world could bind us +fellows together so tight as to do a big piece of real work together. We +would show each other what we're made of. I always have wanted to build a +cabin in the mountains. It would be a great deal better to build one than +to get an old, tumbled-down shack. Besides, we don't want to work out a +stunt that's just going to last for a year or two, and then be abandoned. +We want to build a real, permanent mountain camp. See?" added Chuck. + +"What's the matter with the old Y.M. cabin up in Bear Creek, Shorty?" + +"O rats, boys, we are not talking about a pill box now. We want a cabin." + +"I think it would be a great thing to do, fellows; but we must go awfully +careful. We'll have to finance the thing some other way than from our own +pockets, and we don't know yet what Mr. Allen will say about it. He may +think it's a big mistake and a waste of time and energy. Then, too, where +would we camp while working on the new cabin?" said Willis. Then he +slipped off to talk the plan over with Mr. Allen, and in a few moments +brought the "Chief" back with him. Willis was talking. + +"Now we are on the right track for sure, fellows. Mr. Allen has the +proper suggestions about this matter. No telling what fool stunts we +fellows would do if we didn't have Mr. Allen to keep our feet on the +earth." + +"Listen, fellows," said Shorty. "We have talked this thing all over from +A to Z, and we believe Mr. Allen's advice is the thing; only before we +decide to do anything definite we ought to have Mr. Dean's opinion. He +has been in the army, you know." + +"Mr. Dean, the physical director, been in the army? Why, I didn't know +that," said Sleepy. + +"Yes, and he's a mighty practical fellow. Fat, go out to his office and +ask him to come in here a few minutes, will you?" + +In a moment they came in together, Fat explaining their plans for a +cabin. When every one was seated, Shorty continued: + +"This is a very serious matter, fellows, and we don't want to make a +mistake by being in too big a hurry. There are a few things that seem +very clear after talking with Mr. Allen-- + +"First, we must make our cabin stunt an Association enterprise, so we can +have their help and backing. Let's make it a high school boys' +enterprise. Next, we must find an ideal place, where the work will have +all the natural advantages possible--not too far away, not too close, +near good water and a good supply of dead wood. It would be best to get +somewhere on the old Cripple Creek Stage Road. Mr. Allen has suggested +that we might help finance it in two ways: Organize a cabin company and +sell stock at so much a share, all stockholders being privileged to use +the shack, or we might give a circus in the gymnasium and use the money +thus earned. He thinks the latter the better plan. The greatest trouble +seems to be to find the ideal place. Mr. Dean, what do you think of the +whole plan?" + +"It's a capital idea, fellows; only it means real business. If you tackle +a job like that, you want to finish it. I'd sure be in with you on any +such a deal. Here's a suggestion. Why don't six or seven of you fellows +take a week just before school opens, pack your grub and blankets, take +a gun or two and a good camera, and make a trip on foot, looking over the +possible locations? For instance--start up the old Stage Road, go as far +as Daddy Wright's, then to the top of Cheyenne Mountain through that +valley. There is a beautiful park there that might be suitable; then down +Rock Creek, up around Black Mountain, back around St. Peter's Dome, then +study the canyons along the railroad. They say there is a good cabin +somewhere near Daniel's Pass, and several around Fairview. Get into all +of those canyons that run into North Cheyenne, because that would be the +handiest location for us to get to. It would be great if we could find an +old prospector's cabin that we could remodel and add to. You see, we'd +have a place to camp as we worked that way. Then, too, it would have this +decided advantage--it would be a staked claim and not the open forest +reserve. You would have to pay for all lumber you cut on the reserve, but +on a claim you are entitled to a certain amount for building purposes. +You see, we could probably show mineral anywhere near a prospector's +cabin. I am convinced there are many such cabins that would be almost +ideal, if we could only find them." + +"My father built a cabin in these mountains years ago," said Willis. "A +miner's cabin; but I've never seen it. I don't know where it is, but it's +near Cookstove Mountain. Some one has jumped the claim, though, now, so +mother said." + +"Wouldn't it be funny, Willis, if we should find that old cabin of your +father's?" asked Mr. Allen. Ideas came thick and fast. Even "Sleepy" +Smith woke up to the fact that something unusual was going on, and roused +himself so as not to miss it. After an hour's planning and discussion +they decided what to do. A route was to be laid out and an investigation +trip made under the direction of Mr. Allen. The party was to be limited +to six fellows: Ham, Phil, Fat, Chuck, and Willis were the ones chosen to +go. Definite plans were laid out, and the following Tuesday set as the +day for starting. + +As Willis was explaining the plans to his mother the next morning his +Uncle Joe came into the room. He had seen an article in the morning paper +to the effect that the Y.M.C.A. boys were to build a cabin, including the +names and the probable route to be taken by the investigating party. + +"What's all this nonsense about a cabin in the mountains, Willis? I saw +an article in the _Gazette_ this morning concerning it. Now listen to me, +boy. I don't want any relation of mine getting mixed up in any such a +crazy, wild-goose chase. Do you hear? About the first thing you kids will +do is to trespass on some one's mining claims, and then you'll be getting +yourselves and some of the rest of us into trouble. It's a lot of foolish +nonsense, such doings, anyway. Isn't home good enough for you?" + +"Well, it seems to me you're kind of mad about nothing, Uncle. We're not +going to carry off any one's gold mines," replied Willis. "Have you a few +you are afraid we will steal?" + +Mr. Williams flew into a fit of anger, saying something about, "If he was +mine, I'll bet I'd see if he'd insult his superiors in that way. The next +thing we know you will be off on a mountain picnic on Sunday, bringing +disgrace on your respectable relatives," snapped Mr. Williams. "There are +enough enemies now to a man's good name, without adding any more by +foolish kids like you, with heads full of nonsense." + +Mr. Williams stalked angrily out of the room, slamming the door behind +him. + +"Of all the strange men on earth, I think he is the strangest of them +all," remarked Mrs. Thornton. "Something has upset him, and he has an +ugly streak to-day. I heard him at the telephone, storming about some old +prospector that has come back to the city to make life miserable for him. +He had seen him on the street, talking with a man he said was a +detective. Lucy told me just the other day that Uncle Joe took awful +chances on mining stock very often, and that she believed he would sell +his very soul for a gold mine. It seems so strange--he has been angry at +me every time I have let you go into the mountains. He works hard, and I +suppose he thinks you ought to be doing something, too, and if we stay +here through the winter, my boy, I think it would be well for you to look +about for something to do after school." + +As Willis left the house the next morning and started for the Association +to complete plans for the trip, he met two men coming in at his front +gate. They asked for Mr. Williams. Willis directed them, then hurried on, +rejoicing in his heart that he was to have a real gipsy trip in the +mountains with his gang. + +He spent the day getting his things together for the trip. He was to +carry a small individual frying pan, a small granite bucket, knife, fork, +and spoon, eight small cans of condensed milk, a little cloth sack of +tea, one of sugar, one of oatmeal, and one of rice, two boxes of raisins, +a loaf of rye bread, and butter packed in a small tin can with a cover. +He was to wrap these things, and whatever else he wanted to take along, +including a first-aid packet, in his blanket, army style. His pack must +not exceed twenty pounds in weight, not counting gun or camera. His +tincup was to be fastened to his belt, and his safety ax carried in his +hip-pocket. They would sleep on spruce boughs at night, and each man +would cook his own meals from his own store. The mountain raspberries +were just ripe, and there were great quantities of them. They would have +them with cream, and count on killing a few squirrels now and then, or +perhaps some turtle doves for a change. Mr. Allen took a trout line +and a few flies, in case they had a chance to have mountain trout to +break the monotony of the diet. + +By Monday evening all was in readiness for the start. The news of the +proposed cabin scheme had spread all through the Department, and many +were the suggestions offered by interested fellows for making the trip an +entire success in every way. + +"Remember, shelter and drainage and wood supply, along with good water +and big trees, are what you are looking for, boys," was the advice of Mr. +Dean, as he left them. "I wish I were going along with you. Here's hoping +you'll find the very best spot, and that soon." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A Stage Road Journey + + +"Well, if you haven't any more brains than to be starting out on a +mountain trip on a wet, stormy day like this, why I haven't anything more +to say to you; but remember, I'm not one whit responsible for you," said +Mr. Williams, as he arose from the breakfast table and passed out into +the hall. + +It had been a stormy night. The rainfall had been heavy and the lightning +sharp. It had been a typical electric storm of the mountains. Old Sol had +tried in vain to force his way through the heavy rain-clouds earlier in +the morning, but by breakfast time he seemed to have given up entirely, +and to have withdrawn from the contest. At any rate, he was nowhere to +be seen. Willis was visibly disappointed. He pushed his chair back +restlessly and went to the window. The heavy, black clouds hung low on +the ridge, and Pike's Peak was entirely hidden in the mists. Willis was +thinking of the conversation he had had with his uncle that morning at +the breakfast table. + +"Mother," he turned to Mrs. Thornton, who was still seated at the +breakfast table, "why is Uncle Joe so positive about it being a mistake +for me to take this trip? Either he just wants to show his authority or +he has some special reason. According to his talk, there isn't a more +dangerous place on this earth of ours than around an old prospector's +cabin. Rats! I don't believe a word of it. It's all bosh and, as far as +cabins go, how could disease live in an old, open mountain shanty? +Anyhow, you might go for weeks in the mountains without even seeing a +cabin. He thinks I'm a child and haven't any judgment of my own. My! I'm +glad he isn't my father. He's just a blamed old hypocrite, that's what I +think about him, anyway." + +"Well, you won't be going if it stays so stormy, will you?" asked his +mother. + +"No, but it's going to clear up, mother; this is just a little summer +shower--we weren't counting on starting until after dinner, though, +anyway," replied Willis. Toward noon the clouds broke and melted away as +if by magic. Their lifting was like the raising of some majestic curtain +on a wonderful stage. The moisture from the recent storm still glistened +on every twig and leaf, and the fresh-bathed air was as clear as crystal. +The summit of Pike's Peak was decked in a new covering of snow which +sparkled like beautiful gems. The robins chirped gayly as they fed on the +worms that had come to the surface during the night's rain. + +Was there ever such a happy crowd of fellows' setting forth on any +expedition? High boots, slouch hats, soft shirts, a rifle, a shotgun, +two cameras, and a plenteous supply of food. Each fellow was equipped +with a haversack, in which were his eating tools and other necessary +articles, such as bachelor buttons, cartridges, films, and other things. +They carried their frying-pans, small buckets, and tincups suspended +from their belts. The handles of their safety axes extended from +hip-pockets, making their pockets bulge suspiciously. + +Mr. Allen took the lead through Stratton Park, and headed for the short +cut that joined the old Stage Road just as it sneaked around the base of +Cheyenne Mountain on its way to the top of the Continental Divide; then +downward through mountain passes and clinging close to canyon walls until +it reached that most wonderful of all gold camps, the Cripple Creek +District. + +"It's just two o'clock," said Chuck, in answer to an inquiry as to the +time. "And we will have to do some rapid walking if we are to get on top +of Cheyenne Mountain to-night. We ought to make three miles an hour from +here to the old road house. We'll have to rest there a little and have a +drink from Daddy Wright's spring. That's the best spring in the Rocky +Mountains, I do believe." + +"Hope Dad's home to-day," said Mr. Allen. "I haven't seen him since early +spring. I certainly do enjoy getting the old gentleman to telling some of +his stories. You know he is an old, old timer in these parts. He came +here years before gold was first discovered in Cripple Creek, and he has +lived up in his little gulch ever since. In the early days, when the only +outside connection the gold camp had was this old wagon road, there were +a great many interesting happenings at Dad's little inn. It was really +the only road house on the Stage Road, and was burned down years ago. +Haven't you ever heard that story? I'll tell it to you some time. They +used to say that Dad had any quantity of money--I don't know how true it +was. At any rate, he hasn't much now. After the old inn burned, he built +himself a log cabin down by the spring, and there has lived ever since. +He can tell some great old tales, too. You can't name a single prospector +of the Rocky Mountain region but what Dad can tell you all about him. He +lives a lonely life up here all by himself, shut in all winter by heavy +snows. In the summer he sees a few people passing by, and that helps +some. He's a very friendly old man, and if you treat him right there +isn't anything in the world he won't tell you or do for you if he can. He +loves to talk politics, and can tell you about every Presidential +election back as far as the war. He was a Confederate soldier in his day, +and if there is one thing above another that he loves to talk about, +it's the 'Gov'ment,' as he calls it. 'Uncle Sammy an' me ain't jest +zackly the best o' pards yit, by crackey,' he says, with a twinkle in his +eye." + +"That certainly is a great view," explained Ham. "I'm going to unload my +cargo and rest here a bit, for I like this spot. Right up yonder in that +heavy belt of timber is where we used to come so often to stay all night. +There is a great granite boulder up there in the 'Graveyard,' as we used +to call it, that's just as good as a house any day. It leans away out on +one side, and we built a big bed of balsam boughs under it. Right behind +the great rock, to the west, we found a tiny spring, hardly big enough to +be called a spring; but we dug it out and stoned up a small reservoir to +catch the water. We used to come up in the evening, cook our supper, get +our beds ready for the night, then climb on the big rock and watch the +lights of the city come on. When they were all lighted it looked like a +big, illuminated checker board out there on the plain. We'd get up early +in the morning, then, and climb to the Devil's Horn to see the sunrise. +My! but it's a gorgeous sight on a cloudy morning. The last time we were +there we sure did have a mighty queer experience--" + +"Come on, fellows, let's travel along, or we'll not get anywhere +to-night. Ham, you can tell us your story while we are walking. We've got +to reach Dad's by four o'clock, or we'll never get to the Park by night," +said Phil, as he arose and adjusted his blanket roll preparatory to +starting. + +"Go on, Ham," urged Fat, who was always ready for a story, especially a +mountain story. "Let's have that tale of yours. I expect we'll need a +little salt with it won't we?" + +"There isn't much to it, after all, when you tell it, for it was the +night and the surroundings that made it so impressive. We had just +finished supper and were all sitting up on the big rock looking out +over the lighted city. As we sat there, every now and then we would hear +the strangest sound. It came from the timber away up behind the camp. At +first it sounded like a human voice--a kind of a long, sad sob. The night +was as dark as pitch, and as we sat listening the cold shivers began to +run up and down our backs. Sometimes the sound seemed to be answered from +far out in the dark valley. We speculated a good deal as to what it could +be, for it was such a sad, wailing call. Then suddenly way down the +valley a light appeared, not a large one, just a tiny, flickering, +ever-moving light. It seemed to me to be in the air just over the center +of the canyon, but the rest declared it was on the road below us. Then +the sad call came again and again. It seemed to be nearer this time. Then +came a far-away, dull, muffled sound, such as a horse would make on stony +road. The light came directly toward us, now, up the canyon. It resembled +a lantern being swung by some one, as if to give signals. We sat and +watched it for a long time, everybody talking in low whispers; and many +were the opinions as to what it really was. No one noticed just when, +but some time, without a second's notice, the light disappeared. We heard +the faraway sound of rolling stones, then all was quiet for a long time. +Two of us sat and listened far into the night. Several times we heard +that long, sad wail--a sort of hoo-oo-oo. A night breeze had risen, and +you fellows know how the wind moans in these pines. It was a mighty +lonesome night--just sitting there with your every nerve alert and as +wide-awake as you could ever get, just listening and watching. As soon as +it was light enough to see, we started for the summit of Cheyenne, up +through that mountain of granite boulders and mighty crags. I think we +were about half-way up, when some one noticed an immense black bird, +swinging in great circles, high in the air. Soon we smelled smoke, so +hurried on. The first long rays of light began to streak the sky, and we +knew we would have to hustle if we reached the summit by sunrise. The +crowd was pretty well strung out down the side of the mountain. Keller +and I were in the lead. The smell of smoke grew stronger and stronger. +The air was heavy that morning, and so forced the smoke down to us, from +somewhere on the summit. At last we came to a little plot of ground +surrounded on three sides with great rocks. From this pit-like nook the +smoke was slowly rising into the morning air. We climbed one side of the +great crags, then cautiously peered over. I was pretty excited, for I was +thinking just then of the awful tragedy that had occurred on Mount Cutler +the year before. What if we should find a dead man? Well, what do you +suppose we did find? I was dumbfounded. There below us were the dying +embers of a log-fire. The flames had long since died, and now it was +just smoldering and smoking. On either side of the fire lay a man, +well-wrapped in his blanket. A gun that for some reason looked very +familiar to me was leaning against the rock near their heads. We could +not see their faces from where we were, but like a flash I remembered +the gun by the leather-covered stock. The two men were Old Ben and a +young fellow who often went with him into the mountains. I never shall +forget how they looked when we waked them by dropping small pebbles from +above. As soon as they would stir a little, we would drop back out of +sight and listen. At last the young fellow muttered something and reached +for his gun. Then Old Ben awoke, sat up, and asked what was the trouble. + +"'I'd bet a dollar that rock just dropped on me from above.' Then he +turned his head and looked up into the sky. 'Great Scott, man, what a +place to sleep! A stone might have tumbled on us any minute.' Then he +scrambled to his feet and cried out, 'Man alive! take a look at that +eagle; what an immense bird!' We boys had forgotten the eagle on finding +the men, but we, too, looked upward, and there, not more than a hundred +feet in the air, directly over us, was the biggest bird I ever hope to +see. He seemed to be fixed, motionless, in the air, with wings +outstretched. Just then some of the rest of the boys came shouting up to +where we were. Ben heard them and shouted back. In a few minutes we were +all up on the rocks watching the bird. Ben wanted to shoot, but the other +man wouldn't let him, for he declared he was going to find the nest. It +must have been the smoke from the fire that first attracted the bird, +for it seemed to keep circling directly above the column of smoke. To +this day we never told who dropped the stones--I suppose they think the +eagle did it. + +"Well, as we sat there watching the eagle, the sun came up. There never +was such a sunrise before, I don't believe. There was a layer of fluffy, +fuzzy clouds, stretched out over the city as far as we could see. Then +the sun came slowly up--a great crimson ball of fire, the long, yellow +rays lighting up that sea of clouds and the pale-blue sky above, until +the scene looked like a great, boiling pot of gold. Then, far above us, +that immense black bird, wings still outstretched, just winging itself +round and round in great, even circles. I've seen many a choice bit of +mountain scenery, and many a sunrise and sunset, but never one just like +that. It isn't at all strange to me why the savages were nature +worshipers. How could they help it? + +"As we sat watching the ever-changing panorama of colored clouds, there +came to our ears, faintly but surely, that same sad call of the night +before. The great eagle paused a moment in his circling--then my heart +came into my mouth, for as we watched he folded his great wings, tipped +his head forward, and began to drop. I held my breath. Down, down he +came. I thought he must surely be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. He +was falling directly toward the great dead spruce, and it seemed that +nothing could save him from being torn to pieces. As suddenly as he had +begun to drop he spread his mighty black wings and swooped down to the +very tree we thought must be his death. He perched for a second on a +dead limb, then flew into a Douglas spruce, emerging in a second with +something in his talons. As he began to rise again, in long, spiral +flights, we heard the cry of distress from the unfortunate bird in his +claws. It was the same cry that we had heard in the night." + +"What was the light in the night? Did you ever find out?" ventured Phil. + +"O yes, I forgot to tell you. It was Daddy Wright on horseback, swinging +a lantern. He had been to the city, and was returning home. He passed Ben +and his friend and nearly frightened them to death. He was singing as he +came up the road, and was keeping time to his song with the lighted +lantern." + +"Twenty-five minutes to reach Dad's! Come, you fellows--loosen up your +joints. The climb up the gulch to the Park is a real one, and there isn't +a place in the canyon to camp," called Mr. Allen, as he started forward +at a more rapid gait. + +When they reached the farthest point of the big Horseshoe Bend, they +stopped to rest a moment before starting up the last long incline to +Daddy Wright's. + +"Isn't it really wonderful when you think of the obstacles men have +overcome just to accomplish their desired ends?" asked Mr. Allen as he +stood gazing out over the mountains. "Men have risked their very lives +just for the privilege of climbing into these old hills to look for gold. +Many were the narrow escapes from death by starvation or wild beasts +that these hills could tell of if they could speak. Did you ever stop to +think that if it hadn't been for the gold that God hid away here in this +Continental Divide, that perhaps the men in the old Eastern colonies +would never have crossed over and taken possession of the wonderful +Westland. It was the gold that was hidden under the snow and ice of +Alaska that beckoned men northward. This has always been true. The +prospectors of the Nation have always been its best explorers--certainly +they were its real frontiersmen. They led and civilization followed. +Think of the thousands of people who endured hardships of which we can +not even imagine just to follow westward that trail, blazed by such +sturdy old men as Dad Wright and others like him. I've heard Dad tell +many a time of that caravan of forty-niners, all their earthly +possessions packed in one of those old prairie schooners, drawn by slow, +patient oxen. I've heard him tell of the time gold was discovered in +Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek was just a part of the great wilderness, and +was only accessible by a series of uncertain trails. Yes, gold is a +precious metal, to be sure; but it is magical, too, for no sooner is it +discovered than a wave of industry is created. Upon a bleak and barren +spot a city is built in a week--a miracle of human energy. The Midland +Railroad kept great gangs of men working day and night, in order to +connect that great gold field with the outer world. Before long there was +a tremendous demand for a common wagon road 'to civilization,' as they +put it; and this very road that we are walking on came into being--an +outlet, if you please--for some of that wonderful, teeming, bubbling life +and industry created by the mere discovery of gold. + +"Soon this very road became the most important highway in the State. +Great wagon loads of food and tools went up, and bags of precious ore +came back. Stores were opened, schools were built, churches erected, +and homes founded. Civilization had found another desolate mountain +wilderness, and with her magic wand added it to her ever-widening +domain--all because some one had discovered gold. + +"Then came the first stage-coach. Daddy has often told me all about it. A +great, cumbersome affair, rolling and pitching on its leathers as it came +lunging and bumping along the rough, stony, mountain road. The driver was +seated high above the dashboard, nearly buried in boxes, bags, and +bundles, while the baggage till behind resembled a railroad truck piled +high with every kind and description of trunks. As it came to a sudden +stop in front of the little postoffice, its great, swinging side-doors +opened and the passengers scrambled out, each one handing +the jovial and loquacious driver a five-dollar note. + +"Soon it took four stages to satisfy the demand, one going each way night +and morning. It was at this stage of the game that Daddy built the famous +Road House. Here the horses were relayed, and here the passengers stepped +out to stretch their cramped limbs or, perhaps, to drink at Dad's spring. +Sometimes, on stormy nights, both stages, the one going up and the one +coming down, would be tied up for the night at Dad's. Then such times as +there would be in that old log house! Prospectors from every gold camp on +earth, promoters and mining brokers, surveyors and engineers, old-timers +and tenderfeet--all brought together by one single impulse--the craze for +gold. + +"Many were the mining claims that passed over the poker table there; many +were the conspiracies that were talked over and determined upon. Many +were the stories of the old Sante Fe trail and of the Pony Express, or +perhaps strange tales of Kit Carson as he roamed the great Westland +from Texas to Wyoming, trapping for fur and killing every treacherous +Indian that crossed his trail. You know Old Ben at Bruin Inn was for many +years a stage driver for Dad on this very road, and he is chuck full of +stories." + +"When are you going to tell us the story of the burning of the Road +House?" interrupted Ham. + +"Well," replied Mr. Allen, "if I don't succeed in getting Dad to tell it +to you himself, I'll tell it when we stop on top of that hogsback to +rest," pointing to a great, round hill in the canyon. + +"Do you think Dad will really tell us any of his stories?" queried +Willis. "My father used to know him, and he has stopped at this very +place. I'm sure he made many trips to Cripple Creek in those old stages." +Turning to Mr. Allen, he continued, "Wouldn't father think it awfully +strange if he knew I was tramping over the very road he used to travel so +often?" + +Mr. Allen and Willis dropped to the rear of the line, and Willis went on: + +"I've been thinking I'd ask Daddy Wright if he remembered my father, and +he might know where the mine is; and O, I'd so like to see it. I never +want to be a miner, but I'd just like to know all about mines, so I could +understand father better." + +"Well, it all depends on how Dad is feeling," returned Mr. Allen. "If he +is well he will be as glad to see us and as loquacious as a happy child; +but if not, he will hardly notice us at all. Leave the talking all to me. +He and I are old friends, and I always have some little treat in my +pocket for him. He will be looking for it if he is home, but sometimes he +is up at the mine." + +"O, he doesn't work a mine now, does he?" exclaimed Willis. + +"No, he doesn't exactly work it, but he owns one up in the gulch here +behind his cabin, and sometimes there is a man up there at work. I don't +know who he is." + +As they rounded a great boulder that jutted out into the road, the little +cabin of Daddy Wright came into view. A dog began to bark loudly, and +somewhere up in the canyon that runs at right angles to the road there +came the deep, muffled boom of a mine blast. + +"Guess they must be working the mine, after all; still, it might be one +of the others. There are half a dozen in this canyon, all of which have +been worked more or less. The owners work in the city until they can get +enough money to buy powder and grub stakes, then they work the mine for a +season on their earnings," remarked Mr. Allen. He was carefully surveying +the cabin and hill behind it. The dog had now come out from its shelter +and stood in the middle of the road, doing his utmost to wake the dead. +He evidently disliked visitors. + +"Dad can't be very far away, for Knepp is always at his heels. He is +nearly as old a timer as Dad himself, and as harmless. Hold on there, you +fellows up ahead," called Mr. Allen. "Let me do the introducing of this +party." + +The cabin was a little log affair, well-banked around the base with dirt +and moss to keep out the cold. To all appearances the only two openings +in it were the front door and a double window. One of the window panes +was covered over with the end of an old egg crate, and another, which was +not so badly shattered, was repaired by a burlap sack, wadded into +the opening. A big pine stood just outside the door and cast its shade +over the roofless veranda. At one side of the house stood an ancient, +moss-covered, hollow pine log, into which a pipe ran from the spring, a +few paces back in the gulch. This was the old stage watering-trough, +made by Dad himself when the big cabin was built. Directly up the road a +hundred paces stood the old stone chimney, a famous landmark of the +region. + +Mr. Allen went to the watering-trough and, filling his cup, called out: + +"Here, you fellows, do you want a drink of the greatest ale in the world? +It's the purest of Mother Nature's brews." + +The old pine door squeaked on its rusty hinges as it slowly opened. + +"Well, sir, I'll be dummed. Howdy, young 'uns! Whar d' ye hail frum? +Huntin' bar, er jist a roundin' up a bunch o' jay-birds? Haw, haw, haw! +Yer 'bout the fightin'est bunch o' young dandies I've seen sence the +war." + +Daddy Wright stood in the doorway, taking in every detail of the group. +He was a little, shriveled-up man, with small, watery eyes set well back +under shaggy white eyebrows. His head was protected by a very +disreputable and time-worn black hat that looked as if it might have been +in active service for at least a half a century. His clothes were shabby +and dirty, and his feet were bare. It was one of the peculiarities of the +old man that he rarely ever wore shoes, except in the coldest of winter; +then he preferred his old, home-made moccasins. His straggly, gray +whiskers were badly stained with tobacco from his constant companion--an +old, corncob pipe. He was short and stout, and had of late years become +very feeble, being just able to hobble about a little each day with the +aid of a cane. + +"Yew fellers with all yer fixin's remind me a heap o' some o' the gangs +o' green city fellers I used to see when I was freightin' on the old +Spanish Trail--all guns an' blankets an' fixin's, but not much real +explorin' blood in ye. Hain't that 'bout so? Say, Hallen, jist explain to +me what yer ca'clatin' to do with these yere young roosters. Explorin', +huh--jist as I thought. Kick me fer a stick o' dynamite if ye hain't the +beatenest bunch o' explorers I've seed in many a moon. Lookin' fer gold +mines? Suthin' bigger, I s'pose? I'd give half my grub stakes if Tad +could see ye. Explorin', eh? Yew remind me o' the time me an' Old Ben +went explorin' on Beaver Creek. We had 'nough truck 'long t' start a gold +camp, an' we walked an' explored an' explored. We must o' walked fer well +nigh onto three weeks, an' all we ever seed in all that time was a +pole-cat--an' we wished we hadn't o' seed him, fer Ben had t' bury every +livin' last stitch o' his duds an' walk home in his bare hide. Haw, haw! +I wisht Tad 'ud come 'long now an' take a squint at yew fellers--he'd +bust a bein' tickled!" + +"Dad, how is your good health these days?" inquired Mr. Allen, as he +handed the old man a little package he had taken from his haversack. Dad +took it, smelled it through the paper; then a pleased smile spread over +his face. + +"Smells like grains o' gold, Mr. Hallen. Thank ye. As fer me health, +never was no better sence I been here. A man can't git sick a livin' out +in this yere country all his life. I'll be ninety-five now, in jist a +few weeks, an' I'm as spry now as most any o' yew fellers. I'll live +longer'n some o' ye yit. Yep, I'm feelin' mighty spry agin sence Tad's +got back. Kind o' seems like the old days afore the shanty was burned. I +ca'calate them there devils must o' injoyed that performance." + +The fellows all stood at attention. Was the Road House story really +coming, and from Dad's very own lips? + +"It must have been a sad sight, wasn't it, Dad, to see your home +demolished in that fashion?" quietly suggested Mr. Allen, by way of +encouragement. + +"'T wan't near as sad a sight as some I have seed," replied the old man. +"'Bout the saddest sight I ever seed was of an old pard o' mine a +wanderin' over these almighty hills a sorrowin' out his life after he'd +lost his right down best friend in a mine cave-in. Poor old boy, he took +it mighty serious. He used to be the happiest prospector I ever swapped +lies with, till that devilish old tunnel caved in an' crushed the life +out o' the feller's pardner. He hain't never ben no 'count sence, till +lately. Now an' then he'd take a long, wanderin' trip back into these +yere gloomy ol' gulches, an' I've seed them as say they've heerd him away +off in the hills at night a callin' his pardner's name, an' a sobbin' an' +a carryin' on. He's a strong man--that's why he gits out into God +Almighty's hills to open his troubled heart, 'stead o' tellin' his +lonesomeness to men as would make fun o' him. That's 'bout the sorriest +sight I ever seed, an' I've seed 'bout my share on 'em--Indian killin's, +dynamite explosions, an' sech like. 'T ain't many fellers ever has as +real a friend as that!" + +"What finally happened to your friend, Dad--did he get over his sorrow +after a while?" + +"No, no, my boy, he never got over it. He got on top of it. I mind now +how he was gone a long spell in the timber; no grub, no duffel, no +nothin'--only his ol' gun. He lived off'n the bounty o' these yere wooded +hills, an' he let the spell o' God Almighty's woods an' crags an' streams +heal up his broken heart. Then he came back. I remember one mornin' he +come to my shanty, and a hungrier, starveder, wild-eyed feller ye never +seed in yer born days than him; but shoot me fer a pole-cat if he didn't +come back a smilin'. I was skeered he'd lost his mind. I was a pannin' +mud in the gulch up back o' the shanty when he come 'long the trail. I +jist looked, then I knowed what had happened. He had licked that awful +sorrow. He's ben off down in civilization now fer these ten years, but +now he's back agin. The silent company is callin' him, he says, an' he +jist has to have a free breath an' a little more pasture, an' this is the +only place he can git it." + +"He must have had an extraordinary companion, if he had learned to care +for him in that way," remarked Mr. Allen. + +"Extraordinary, yew say," began Dad in a low, measured tone. "Bet the +last button on your britches, he was that an' more. He was a youngish +feller, an' quick as scat. Knowed more 'bout machinery 'n all the other +fellers I ever knowed. Seems to me he growed up in Kankakee, or suthin' +like that, an' he was a--" + +"Where did you say he came from, Mr. Wright?" asked Willis in a voice +that betrayed his excitement. Willis had been thinking very rapidly as +Dad told his story. What was there in this strange tale that so +fascinated him, and made him want to cry aloud? He had never felt so +strange before. + +"Why, I don't 'zackly recollect," replied Dad. "It was Kankakee or +Kangaroo, er some sech name. Many's the night he's stopped with me in the +big cabin an' told me about all kinds o' machinery. The night the big +cabin burned he was here a showin' me a lot o' plans of machinery he had +got up himself. They were 'bout all he saved out o' the fire, 'cept his +hide, an' that was some scorched. + +"I never seed a man 'at went so plumb dumb crazy over a few gold nuggets +as him. 'T was here at the old cabin he met his pard, an' they made plans +fer a great minin' company. Of all the fellers they was settin' up +machinery in the mines a dozen years ago, this feller was the best o' +the lot. Why, oncet he rigged up a--" + +"O, Mr. Wright, were there lots of different men installing mine +machinery here in the early days?" inquired Willis. A note of anxiety +had crept into his voice. + +"More'n one, do ye mean, lad? Well, I should snicker. I mind oncet they +was five o' them at the cabin one night, an' every feller could prove +that his machinery was the best. Sech a jamborees o' arguatin' I never +heerd. I had to send 'em all t' their bunks t' keep 'em frum fightin'. +Laws, yes, plenty o' 'em, boy; but this one feller, I forgit his name, +now--my pard could say it quicker'n scat--was wuth all the rest o' the +bunch put together. He was a reg'lar genius with machinery." + +Dad had been filling his pipe from the package Mr. Allen had given him. +He now lighted it and began to smoke. Mr. Allen knew that there would be +no more stories that day, so, bidding good-bye to the old man, he +suggested to the boys that they make a start for the Park. After a last +drink from the cool, bubbling spring, they turned up the gulch, and were +soon lost from view. + +"Well, I hope you'll find explorin' a plenty, young fellers," called Dad. +"Keep yer eye peeled fer pole-cats. They's powerful friendly to strangers +in these parts." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A Wilderness Camp + + +As the little party climbed upward on the gulch trail, they were +discussing Dad and what they knew of his life. Each boy telling little +stories and incidents that he had heard concerning the old man. Willis +lagged behind, and did not seem to be particularly interested in the +conversation. + +"Well, old man, what are you so glum about?" inquired Ham. "One would +think you had been to a funeral instead of chatting with the most +humorous of old mountaineers. You aren't getting weak in the knees +already, are you?" + +Mr. Allen came to the rescue. + +"No, Ham, he's just like me--busy thinking of the really admirable +qualities of the old man. You would have to hunt a long, long time these +days before you would find another such old timer as Dad. He has lived a +rough life all his days. He has been knocked about from pillar to post +for ninety long years. Just think of the store of experience that is +gathered into that one life--frontiersman, cattle man, freighter, +prospector, business man, soldier, and philosopher. Through all his +disappointments, hardships, and discouragements he has still remained a +decided optimist, always happy and cheerful, and is a veritable sage when +it comes to good, common horse-sense. I'd rather take Dad's opinion of a +man than any one's I know of in this world. It wouldn't be in polished +English, but it would be shrewd and just." + +From up the valley there came several long, heavy thuds. They soon +reached the point where the valley widened out and the underbrush +disappeared to give place to a splendid growth of tall, clean Douglas +spruce. Somewhere back in the timber a woodsman was chopping. + +As the trail wound in and out among the great tree trunks, the party soon +came to a little clearing on which was pitched a small tent. Close beside +it a little spring trickled out of a fissure in the rocks. At the far +side of the tent, with his back to the approaching group, worked a man. +He was engaged in chopping young spruce logs into lengths for mine props. +Fat called out in his cheeriest voice, "Hello, there; must be going to +build a cabin!" The man turned and a broad smile crossed his face. + +"Yes, an underground one," he said. Then, in a surprised tone, he +continued, "Well, well, aren't you the fellows I saw over at Ben's place +the other evening?" Without waiting for a reply, he went on: "Why, yes, +there is my friend of the wreck! How do you do, lad? It looks like you +fellows are going to make somewhat of a journey, from the appearance of +your traps. Where to, may I inquire? Looking for something definite, or +just out, like myself, to get a little of the wilderness spirit into your +systems?" + +"Well, I hardly expected to see you up here in the mountains," said +Willis. "It seems we have met a good many times since spring. What are +you doing up here, anyway?" He turned and surveyed the valley. + +"Well, I'll tell you," replied the man, as he leaned on his ax-handle. +"It's like this. When I was a young man, like yourself, I developed a +great love for life in the wilderness. My father was a mountain ranchman +in the Sierra Nevadas, so I had ample opportunity to satisfy my greatest +desire--to roam the hills and valleys and to learn first-hand the art of +getting along well in the wilderness by utilizing Nature's storehouse. As +I have grown older, I have found out that it is the only place where I am +permanently happy. Years ago my partner and myself located this mine, +along with some others; but because of lack of capital, this one was +never developed." He pointed his finger to a pile of loose, freshly-mined +rock just up the hill from his tent. "I've been railroading for the last +ten years, but was awfully unlucky; so after the last smash-up I decided +I would come back and see what this old mine held for me. It's a funny +thing about mines, boys--you can dig and work, work and dig, and be more +or less contented as long as you find nothing but prospects. But when you +dig up a little of the real gold, you get terribly impatient until you +find it in paying quantities. I've had the gold fever for twenty years." + +"Do you think there is anything in any of these mines on Cheyenne +Mountain?" inquired Willis. "My father owned a mine somewhere on this +mountain; but I expect that it was a good deal like your mine--never +developed. I'd love to find it, though, just because it was his. He +was killed in a mine accident, somewhere in these hills, when I was a +small boy." + +The miner's face went suddenly white. His eyes partially closed and his +hands shook, as he muttered something about, "Just as I thought," then +continued, "Well, I--" He changed his mind, and, turning to his woodpile, +chopped vigorously for some moments. When he spoke again Mr. Allen +noticed that his voice was husky and that he was scrutinizing Willis with +special care. + +"I can't tell you to whom all these holes belong, but some of them I +know. That one over there was located by Old Ben at Bruin Inn. That one +with a dump of black rock," pointing up the opposite side of the canyon, +"belongs to a real estate firm in Colorado Springs--Williams and +somebody." He never took his eyes from the boy's face as he spoke. + +"Williams, why--why, my Uncle, Williams, is a real estate man, but I +didn't know that he--" + +The miner, still eyeing the boy carefully, interrupted him by adding, +"And the hole directly to one side, and on the same property, belonged to +a young engineer, and was located many years ago. The Williams shaft has +been sunk in the last few years. That hole has the very best prospects of +being something of any on the mountain. The Williams outfit restaked the +claim because the assessment work had not been kept up by the original +owner." + +"What was the original owner's name? Do you know? You say he was a young +engineer?" + +"Yes, his name was Thornton." The man dropped his head and worked the +heel of his boot nervously in the dirt. "I used to know him quite well, +years ago." Then he added, in a slow, hesitating tone, "I haven't seen +anything of him for nearly a dozen years." + +The corners of Willis's mouth twitched nervously. He tried to speak, but +couldn't. He came a couple of paces nearer to the miner, stopped, picked +up a slender twig, and began to whittle it thoughtfully. + +"Would you mind telling me all about him--all you know?" asked Willis. +The miner looked at him curiously a minute, then asked, in a quiet, +well-controlled voice, "Did you know the man, lad?" + +"Not so well as I would like to have known him, sir; but perhaps I may +get better acquainted with him now. He was my father, but I hardly +remember him, except for the stories and pictures that mother has told me +about. I've always wanted to know more about him." + +"I can't tell you much, my boy," returned the miner in a kind, friendly +voice, "only that he was the best man that ever set a hoisting plant in +this region, and the finest, cleanest young fellow that ever came into +these hills. Every man was his friend." + +"Did you ever know a Mr. Kieser who was a friend of my father's?" asked +Willis, after a moment's thought. + +"Seems like I did," replied the miner, "a great many years ago, but he + disappeared from this region long since." + +"Did you say the mine which once belonged to my father seemed to be the +best in the canyon?" broke in Willis. + +"Yes, it did, the last I knew of it; but nothing ever came of it, except +that there have been two men there to-day, preparing to do this season's +assessment work. You can never tell, you know, about a gold mine, for +most of them have just been 'holes full of hope,' and the hope usually +leaked out sooner or later." + +Chuck halloed from up the trail to get under way, or they would never +reach the top by dark. + +"Going to camp up in the Park to-night, I presume?" asked the miner. + +"Yes, if we can make it," replied Mr. Allen. "Have you been up to the top +lately?" "Yes, I was up yesterday, and it's a grand sight at this season +of the year. The Maraposa lilies are blooming in great profusion, and the +spring is running a fine little stream. I had a very pleasant surprise up +there, too. Years ago there was a large herd of deer which lived in that +park, but they were supposedly all killed off. Yesterday, about this +time, as I sat on a dead log just back from the spring, quietly thinking +over some of the memories of old times when I had hunted on that very +ground, I heard the dry twigs snap, and, turning, I saw a doe and two +tiny, spotted fawns cross the park and enter the timber at the other +side. If you build a fire to-night you may get a glimpse of them." + +"I'm coming to have a long talk with you some of these days," called +Willis as they started off. + +At last the entrance to the Park was reached, and they came upon a +stretch of level ground. The entire country changed. Instead of the stony +tallus of the canyon, there was soft, black soil under foot. Instead +of the great spruces and firs scenting the air, there were only tall, +stately aspens on every side, their leafy tops lost in the deepening +shadows. Instead of the ground cedar and berry bushes, wild grass grew in +rank profusion. The air was tinged with a faint fragrance, and somewhere +in the distance came the sound of gently-splashing waters, "Like a voice +half-sobbing and half-laughing under the shadows." + +The party halted and turned to the right of the trail, where a great, +lone pine tree stood on a little rise of ground, directly above the tiny +spring. This was to be the camping spot for the night. Packs were quickly +removed and unfolded, dry sticks gathered for the fire, and sweet-scented +balsam boughs were cut and brought to the tree. One generous bed was +made, big enough for all, close in front of the camp-fire. Mr. Allen +cleaned and filled his small acetylene lamp--"In case of need," he said. +The guns were stacked in a handy place and supper operations gotten under +way. + +"It sure does smell awfully good up here," began Phil. "I wish we had +gotten here before dark--I'd like to have had a little look around before +I went to sleep. Who knows but we may be sleeping ten yards from a bear's +den. We are up in a real wilderness, now!" + +"Bears, your grandmother!" snorted Ham, as he deftly opened a can of +baked beans with his pocket knife. "A lot of great big bare spots is +about all you could find. Say, Phil, on the dead square, what would you +do, now, if a black bear would sneak down here to-night and crawl into +bed with you?" "I'd say, 'Mr. Bear, if you want a real sweet, tender +morsel that's easily digested, just help yourself to that little imported +Ham over there.'" A roar of laughter went up from the others. + +Chuck was philosophizing about the value of gathering food while it was +yet day, as he sat stowing away his quart of fresh raspberries. + +"You can have all you want of them," retorted Mr. Allen. "I'm seedy +enough now, without eating those things." + +"What's the matter, Willis? Did we walk you too hard?" inquired Fat. + +"No, I could walk a hundred miles yet to-night," replied Willis, as he +sliced up his bacon preparatory to frying it. "But this has been a very +wonderful day for me. It's all so new, you know, and I'm green, too. +Besides, it all has a very special significance to me, some way. I love +it. I like it better than anything in the world. I could live this way +forever. I'm sure I could write poetry to-night, or paint a great +picture, or even sing. It's a wonderful feeling. Did you ever feel that +way? It's the charm of the great out-of-doors." + +"I think we had better picket Willis to-night," dryly remarked Ham. "He's +liable to be floating off in his enthusiasm. But if he happens to be +fortunate enough to lie on a friendly pine knot all night, he'll feel +differently in the morning." + +So the merry talk went on. After supper bigger logs were laid on the +fire. A collapsible canvas bucket, filled with drinking water, was hung +on a low limb of the tree, and the supply of night wood was conveniently +placed near Mr. Allen's end of the bed. + +Then Ham got a long, cotton bag, from which he produced several handfuls +of pinion nuts. They were always the introduction to the camp-fire +stories. He seated himself, drew his knees up close to his body, leaned +back against the great tree trunk, and shouted: "All aboard, let her +flicker. What's first? Mr. Allen, let's have that promised story you +didn't get out of Dad. I believe you just side-tracked him on purpose, so +you could tell it yourself. Come, now, wasn't that it?" He began to +whistle in a low tone as he waited for the story. Fat stretched himself +at full length before the fire, his head resting on his blanket roll. +Phil had backed up on one side of Mr. Allen and Willis on the +other. Everybody was waiting. + +"Well, once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a little fairy," +began Mr. Allen. + +"You don't say so," interrupted Ham, as he tossed a stick into the fire +in a disgusted manner. "Was it fairy long ago? I can recite Mother Goose +rhymes myself. You'll have to do better than that." + +Phil nudged Mr. Allen in the ribs and chuckled to himself. + +"Well, then, how's this: Not many years ago, in a wonderful little +village, there--" + +"Was a wooden wedding at which two Poles were married," interrupted Ham, +with a mischievous grin on his face. + +"You're kind of hard to please, Ham," suggested Fat, as he rolled over to +warm his other side. + +"How's this? The night was dark and stormy," started in Mr. Allen. Ham +settled back contentedly. "That's something like it. 'The night was dark +and stormy,' and what else?" + +"Well, if you must have it. I have heard a good many stories of how the +Old Road House was burned, but they are all different. Which one shall I +tell you? I'll tell you the one that Daddy tells himself, because it +probably comes nearest the truth. As a matter of fact, though, I don't +believe any one knows just how it burned down. + +"You know Dad spent his boyhood on a great southwestern cattle ranch, and +knew at first hand a great many things about Indians and tramping and +mining and 'explorin',' as he calls it. Just why he left this ranch life +he never told me exactly, but I know he had his first case of real gold +fever in forty-nine, and has never gotten over it. His father was a +United States marshal, and was instrumental in gathering in a number of +the most notorious criminals of his day. One of Dad's favorite stories is +of the capture of a gang of Mississippi River pirates. + +"It was Dad's father that finally cleaned out this great nuisance when he +captured Mason, their leader, through the treachery of his fellows. When +the final raid was made, Dad, who was then a young man, was one of the +party. It seems that there was a certain boy in this pirate gang who +escaped, after having been arrested with the others. Several years later +Dad had occasion to remember the threats this boy had made to him at the +time of the raid. + +"Dad was out on a trapping trip with a group of professional trappers, +and, as was the custom, each man had taken with him two good horses, one +to carry his share of the hides and his food supply, the other to be used +in case of emergency. They were trapping in the Arkansas valley, and +after a few weeks out they began to suspect that their camp was being +watched by a large band of hostile Indians. They understood the situation +perfectly. The Indians were not following them for murder or for a mere +fight, but for their horses and furs. They would not attack, however, +until they were reasonably sure of getting away with the desired booty +without loss of life to their own party. + +"The trappers' hunt had been a very successful one, and a large amount of +money was already represented in the heavy packs of fur. Each night these +packs of fur were carefully arranged in a big circle, forming a crude +rampart for the party. The furs gave the men reasonable safety as they +slept, for no arrow, however swift, could penetrate a roll of green +hides. The horses were always securely fastened not far from the camp, +and guards posted at night. + +"Finally the ideal night for attack came. It was dark as pitch, not even +a star showing in the cloudy sky. As night fell, it was so stormy that +the usual night guard was not deemed necessary. Instead, every man went +to sleep. Sometime in the night Dad was suddenly awakened by the pounding +of many hoofs on the hard gravel of the valley. In less than a second the +entire camp was awake, and every man gripped his rifle in readiness. No +one dared to leave the rampart. Safety lay in being all together. The +pounding of hoofs grew louder and louder, the picketed horses whinnied, +then there was a wild gallop past the little camp, accompanied by +fiendish yells. Not a man dared to investigate, for fear of ambush. All +that they could do was to patiently await the coming of morning. + +"With the first rays of light all looked anxiously toward where the +horses had been picketed so carelessly. They were gone, every one of +them. A hasty examination told the tale. Under the cover of the intense +darkness, the hobbles and the picket ropes had been cut at the pins, so +as not to disturb the horses or waken the sleeping trappers. After the +ropes were cut, the Indians had ridden pell-mell past the free animals, +and they, finding their fastenings gone, had joined the stampede. It was +a clever game, and the trappers had lost. What were they to do--fifteen +days' journey from any assistance, and not a horse within a hundred +miles? + +"As they climbed a hill on the far side of the river, to take a look at +the surrounding country, they heard a faint whinny, and there, in the +bottom of the gulch, lay one of their horses, stretched at full length. +His feet had become entangled in the long picket rope, and he had fallen +at the edge of the washout with a badly-broken leg. The party gathered +about the unfortunate animal, lamenting the fact that he must be shot to +relieve him of his suffering. + +"As they stood talking, Dad noticed a movement in a nearby clump of +bushes. Was he mistaken? He quietly told his partner what he had seen, +and, with rifles leveled, the two cautiously approached the spot. There +was, however, no need of fear, for it turned out to be only a young +Indian boy, and he badly injured. He had probably been riding the horse +before its fall. Everybody was for instantly shooting the lad except Dad, +who protested, explaining that the boy might be able to give them +valuable information as to the number of Indians in the war party, and +something of their future plans. This seemed to be reasonably wise, so +the wounded Indian was taken back to the trappers' camp. + +"For many days he kept silence, never once speaking to any one, growing +weaker and weaker every day from his injuries. Finally he was taken with +an awful fever, and every man in the party knew that nothing could +possibly save him. Dad nursed him and cared for him as patiently as if he +had been one of their own party. When the Indian learned that he was to +be treated kindly for the present, at least, he called for Dad, making +feeble signs that he wanted to talk to him secretly. After a long and +painful effort he made Dad understand who was with the band of Indians, +and why they had watched the trappers so long and so closely. There was a +certain pale face with them who was their leader and who had been a 'heap +big robber' on the big river. He had offered a reward for Dad's life to +every Indian in the party. He had invented the stampede, and when the men +were faint with hunger and watching, they would be back to kill them all. +Dad was to be hung in honor of the occasion, to celebrate the day the +pirate had made his escape from Dad's father. In a few hours the Indian +died. Dad kept his secret to himself, although he was greatly disturbed +over it. He was being hunted--hunted by a savage worse than any red man +that ever shot a bow or took a scalp. He remembered, now, that many of +his comrades of that memorable raid had since mysteriously disappeared. +The truth flashed upon him in an instant. Shorty Thunder, the river +pirate, was taking his revenge. Slowly but surely he was hounding down +every man that had sought his life that day. + +"In a few days the trapping party was picked up by another hunting party. + +"What's the matter, Ham? Are you getting sleepy?" called Mr. Allen as he +arose to replenish the fire. Ham had sprawled out on the ground and was +looking off into the dark woods, all alert. + +"Sh-h-, you," he whispered as he motioned them not to move. "I saw +something move out there in those bushes just now; I'll bet my hat on +it." + +"O sugar," said Phil. "Something moved, did it? What do you suppose it +was, an elephant?" + +Just then Fat raised his finger cautiously. "Quiet, there, a second, you +rubes. Use your eyes more instead of your mouths, and you'll see more. +Can't you see that light spot right over there?" pointing into the +darkness with a very crooked stick he had been fooling with. All sat +quietly listening and watching, but to no avail. They could see nothing. + +"Go on with your story, Mr. Allen," urged Ham. "What's river pirates got +to do with the destruction of the Old Road House, that's what I'd like to +know." The crowd settled themselves again for the rest of the story. + +"Well, it's like this, Ham," continued Mr. Allen. "Every great story has +a preface, and I've been telling you the preface so far." Ham let out a +few long, extra well-developed snores. "Say, Fat, wake me when he gets to +the beginning of the first chapter, will you?" + +"Finally Dad came to Colorado--just why, I don't know; but he prospected +hereabouts a good deal in the early days, and when gold was discovered in +Cripple Creek he was right on hand. In 1873, I think it was, the county +built the Cripple Creek Stage Road. Dad was a pretty old man then, but +not too old to see his opportunity. With a little outside capital, he +constructed that famous mountain inn, the Road House. In a short time +after it opened for business it became a very popular place, and was soon +producing a nice little revenue for Dad. + +"The night the house was burned, you remember, I said was dark and +stormy. It was in the summer, and a typical mountain storm was in full +blast. The thunder and lightning were terrific. When the down stage +pulled up at the inn, just before dark, they decided to stay for the +night, fearing a possible cloudburst. It happened that the stage was full +of passengers that night. There was a little Irishman who had just +discovered a fine ledge of onyx out north of Cripple Creek, and a couple +of engineers who had been surveying for a mine over in Cookstove Gulch. +Besides these there was a hard-looking old scalawag, who kept his +business all to himself. As they sat at supper, Dad noticed that the +old-timer eyed him very closely, yet had nothing to say; and as he looked +back on that night, long after the fire, he remembered a lot of little +incidents that gave evidence to his own theory. For instance, several +times during the evening the old stranger rose from his seat and went out +into the night. He seemed very nervous about something. He did not mingle +with the other men, but sat well back in the corner by himself. When it +became time to go to bed, the old man insisted on sleeping on a couch +near the fireplace. Old Ben, who was there at the time, said afterward he +remembered some one moving about the cabin in the night. + +"The storm was at its worst. Suddenly out of the raging storm Dad's dog +let out a long, fierce yelp, followed by several low growls. Dad shouted +down to him to be quiet, supposing he had smelled a coyote or a pole-cat +outside. He was quiet for a few moments, then a second time he howled and +scratched at the door. There was a loud cursing, that was nearly lost in +a peal of thunder, then the cry of 'Fire!' The smoke of the burning logs +was already streaming up the open stairway. The outside door opened and +shut, yet the dog was left inside. Almost before the sleeping guests +could grab their clothes, the whole house was a sheet of flame. There was +a wild scramble for the back stairway. Dad hurried down the front way, +stumbling through the smoke to the door. The dog gave a joyous bark and +sprang toward him. As he opened the door, he stumbled over a large +oil-can that always stood just under the stairway. He didn't think of +it at the time because of his excitement, but later, as he puzzled over +the real cause of the fire, he remembered with startling distinctness +his stumbling over the empty oil-can, which he knew had been full the +day before. As months went by he put this with other little bits of +information, and he believed he understood, yet he had no proof. The old +man who had slept downstairs had oiled the entire first floor, then set +it afire. But why? That was the question. + +"He remembered how the old man had insisted that the house had been +struck by lightning. Dad never saw him again after that night, but a few +months afterwards he recognized him in a description of one of the +robbers of a stage coach, held up at Duffield's. Then, like a flash, it +came to Dad. The old-timer was his enemy of the river pirates, old Shorty +Thunder. He had accidently stumbled onto Dad here in these mountains, and +had determined to settle scores once for all. He had meant by setting +fire to the cabin to burn Dad alive, and if it hadn't been for the dog he +probably would have succeeded." + +"Great old tale," sighed Phil, as he arose and stretched himself. + +"Let's turn in," suggested Fat, "for you know we have some walking ahead +of us to-morrow." "Second the motion," joined in Ham. "Me for a good, big +drink, though, to wash that fairy tale down. How about it?" + +The little party gathered close about the fire after all final +arrangements had been made for the night. Boots were pulled off and set +away from the fire. Watches were wound and trousers unbuckled. They had +all instinctively looked toward the "Chief." He had drawn close to the +fire, and was turning over the leaves of a pocket Testament. + +"What will you have to-night, fellows, from the Great Spirit's Message +before we sleep?" + +"The one about the lilies," said Ham thoughtfully. "There are several big +ones in bloom just at the head of my bed." The "Chief" began to read in +low, reverent tones. + +"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, +how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto +you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of +these." So he went on reading till he came to the end of the chapter, +after which there was a short, reverent prayer, and they were ready for +bed. + +"They talk about cold, clammy churches being the House of God," snorted +Ham, as he snuggled down into his blanket, "but they aren't in it with a +night like this spent in the open in such a country." + +"There's a good deal of the primitive man in you yet, Ham," said Mr. +Allen, as he spread out his blanket before the fire. + +"How do you make that out?" asked Ham. + +"Well, you're just like all the primitive people of long ago. You love +nature and the out-of-doors. All these things appeal to you tremendously; +but you love them more than the Great Power of which they are just an +expression. The only difference between our religion and that of the +Nature worshipers is that they worship the manifestations of Nature, but +we go beyond that and worship the Great Spirit that is able to create +such a Nature." "Too deep for me, too deep for me; I'm no philosopher," +grunted Ham, as he rolled over and settled himself for a good night's +sleep. + +Tad Kieser stood watching the little group as they climbed up the winding +trail, then he slowly returned to his chopping. + +"Shoot me for a pole-cat, as Dad would say," he remarked half-aloud, as +he spat on his hands and raised the heavy ax over his head. "He's the +very spit'n image of Bill, now that's dead sure, and there's one thing +more that's certain." He was interrupted in his thoughts by the loud +report of a gun somewhere up on the mountain side. Turning his head +toward the Williams claim, he saw the two men who had gone up the trail +to the mine late that morning shooting at a great hawk that was circling +in the sky far above them. + +"That mine belongs to the boy, but how's he going to get it?" + +He busied himself about his camp the rest of the afternoon, then in the +early evening he strolled down the trail to chat with Dad a little before +bed-time. Many an evening he had spent with Dad, sitting with him in +front of his cabin, talking over old times and bygone years. As Tad came +down the trail, the smell of Dad's simple supper came floating up to him. +He had forgotten to eat, but perhaps Dad would share his meal with him. +He pulled open the old pine door and entered. Dad sat at his little table +eating, his faithful dog at his feet, patiently waiting for his share of +the meal, for he had learned from years of experience that it would be +something. + +"Howdy, Tad, strike it rich to-day? S'pose ye jist been a shovelin' out +nuggets all day long, till yer tired o' seein' 'em, hain't ye? Tad, I +seed the beatenest bunch o' young'uns to-day ye ever seed in yer life, +all on a explorin' trip o' some kind." + +"That so?" replied Tad, "must have been the same party I saw. Did you see +that tall, slender lad with the brown eyes and dark hair?" + +"Yep, b'lieve I did, come t' think on it, only I didn't pay much +pertic'lar 'tention to none of 'em." + +Tad helped himself to an old chair, and, leaning back against the wall, +lighted his pipe. He was quiet for a long time, then he spoke in a slow, +thoughtful manner, his pipe held firmly between his teeth, his eyes +fixed on a spot far away down the mountain. + +"Dad, the boy has come. He's come to me, and he's just like his +father--tall and straight and clean-cut. Dad, he needs a father, and +perhaps I'll have to act in that capacity yet, who knows, for that +uncle of his is a rascal and will bear a good deal of watching." + +"What? Ye don't mean the young feller ye was a tellin' me about the other +evenin'? Bill's boy really come to the mountains?" asked Dad, becoming +interested at once. + +"Yes, he's here, Dad, as sure as I'm a living man. He went up this trail +this afternoon, and I talked with him. He asked about his father the +first thing; said his father owned a mine up here somewhere, and asked me +if I knew Tad Kieser." + +"Shoot me fer a pole-cat. Well, I'll be dum-swizzled, course ye told him +Yep, ye knowed him a little, didn't ye?" + +"No, Dad, I didn't, and that's just what I've come down to talk to you +about this evening. You see, it's like this: If I had told him who I was, +that would have been the end of it, but if he doesn't really find out who +I am for a while yet, perhaps I can locate a paying gold mine for him. +I always have felt that I owed him at least that much." + +"So ye didn't tell him?" pondered Dad. "Well, Tad, yer head is a sight +longer'n mine is, an' I s'pose ye know what's best; but, my boy, let me +give ye a little advice: If ye wait till ye find a real gold mine in +these here parts, the boy's likely as not to die o' old age 'fore ye find +it." + +"Perhaps so, Dad. Perhaps you're right; but then, if I don't ever find +it, I won't tell him who I am, because he'd be disappointed. He thinks +his father owned a real mine in these mountains somewhere, and he's +looking for it. Do you know, I've been wondering--no, it can't be, +though; I suppose I'm foolish, but someway, I've always felt that I ought +to have been man enough to have worked the old tunnel just a little +farther. Bill was so certain that things looked better, and--" + +"Tad, hain't ye ever been in the old hole sence that day, honest Injun? I +used t' think that's where ye went when ye'd go off fer a week er ten +days in the hills all by yerself." + +"No, Dad, I give you my word, I've never been in that hole since the day +I carried poor Bill's broken body out. I've never been near since I put +that great, heavy lock on the door, and then I dropped the only key into +the old shaft. I thought that perhaps some time the temptation to go back +in might be too strong, and I'd do it." + +Both smoked silently for a long time, then Dad spoke: + +"S'posin' somebody would jump ye over yonder, Tad. What's to hinder 'em +a breakin' in an' startin' operations? I've heerd tell that old Williams +claimed that property, but course it's a dern lie--" + +"He couldn't jump it, Dad, because I hold the deed to it. We proved up on +that, you know, the summer before; but I believe Williams does hold a +placer claim on the property. You know placers can run into regular lode +claims. He could claim the tunnel, all right, too, I suppose, if the +owner couldn't be found. Especially since he seems to be the only +relative Bill had, except his wife." + +"What do ye s'pose ever possessed that old pole-cat to stake a placer +claim jest there, 'stead o' somewhere else? The dirt won't pan color, +will it?" asked Dad. "That's just what has bothered me, Dad. The only way +that I can figure it out is that Williams got some inkling of the +prospects of the tunnel from some of Bill's papers or letters. It wasn't +two weeks after Bill died till that old skinflint went tramping up there +and staked that placer claim. He's worked assessments on it every year +since. One year he repaired the cabin, and one year he built a dam; at +other times he built a bridge and a trail, and dug an assessment hole or +two--most anything to get in the required hundred dollars' worth of +working. It's that, more than anything else, that has set me to wondering +just what was in the old hole, after all, that made him so interested. +Bill was conscious long enough to talk a little before he died, and I +never believed that Williams told me the truth about what he said. It's +taken me a long time to think it all out, but I believe there is +something I don't know about the deal." + +"Well, who knows, Tad, who knows; maybe we're a sittin' on a pile o' gold +nuggets this minute; but we'll never see 'em; mark my words, boy, we'll +never see 'em. God Almighty's a savin' 'em fer somethin', if there is +any, an' if we ain't to have 'em, we'll never git 'em, that's sure." +After a few vigorous puffs, Dad lapsed into a long silence, and soon Tad +arose to go. + +"Good-night, Dad, good-night," he said in an absent-minded way, as he +started through the old door and up the trail. + +Some time in the night the clouds broke and the stars came out clear and +shining. A warm current of air came gently up from the valley, softly +shaking the ever-responsive leaves of the stately aspens. The night was +absolutely still, and the fire had burned down till all that remained of +it was a rounded heap of brightly-glowing embers. Far, far away a turtle +dove was calling--calling so softly that it almost seemed to be +imagination. Now and then a katydid would lift its tiny voice for a few +seconds. + +Willis rose cautiously on one shoulder, and looked about him. He placed +his hand to his ear and gazed intently out into the darkness. What was +that? He shut his eyes that he might hear the better. He could not be +mistaken, he had heard a dry twig snap--one, two, three little dry, +rasping sounds. Perhaps it was just a rabbit or a squirrel. Again he +raised himself cautiously on his shoulder and peered out into the +shadows. There! another snap, this time nearer and more distinct. The +night breeze gently fanned the dying embers. Suddenly there was a series +of gentle little patters on the dead leaves just outside the circle of +light. Would he awaken Mr. Allen, or would he watch by himself. Hardly +had the thought entered his head when, without a sound, and without being +conscious that another was watching, Mr. Allen slowly arose to a sitting +posture and stared out into the forest in the same direction. + +"What is it, Mr. Allen?" softly whispered Willis. Mr. Allen jumped a +trifle. "O, I don't know; I heard it a couple of hours ago. I'd like to +see a wild animal, wouldn't you? I think it must be the fire that +attracts it. I'd like to light my dark lantern, but I hate to strike a +match." He leaned over to the fire, picked up a dry pine needle, and +lighted it in the fire, applying the tiny flame to his opened lantern. +Quietly Mr. Allen opened the shield, and a long, bright gleam swept +noiselessly out into the darkness, revealing with almost painful +distinctness the outlines of every stem of grass and flower. Then, far at +the end of the path of light, something moved. There were two small, +luminous spots, then in an instant two more, a little larger. Slowly the +shifting lights and shadows took shape, and there, before them, stood two +deer--a doe and a tiny fawn. + +"O, aren't they beautiful?" whispered Willis. Just then the fawn left its +mother's side and came fearlessly down the path of light--one, two, six +steps--staring into the wonderful, dazzling beam. There was a gentle call +from the mother, and in an instant they had disappeared into the shadows +from whence they had come. There was a bound, a broken twig, a rustle +of dead leaves, and all was quiet again. + +For a long time Willis and Mr. Allen waited, watching for them to return; +but they did not come. The fire slowly died out and turned into a pile of +ghostly ashes, while the party slept on until morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The Second Day Out + + +Ham was the first to awaken in the morning. A pair of saucy jays had +been gossiping about the little party for nearly an hour. At first they +just exchanged ideas, making their observations from a reasonable +distance. One perched on the topmost limb of a dead pine, the other +bobbing up and down on the slender twigs of a neighboring aspen. + +"Those crazy jabberers would dispute the identity of their own mates," +exclaimed Ham, as he pulled on his trousers and got into his high boots. +"They talk about some folks always having too much to say, but--O, shut +up, you noisy robbers!" He reached for a heavy stick, and sent it +flying into the air toward the aspen. There was a flapping of wings, a +harsh, scolding threat, and the jays retreated to talk it over. + +Very soon the camp was all astir, and there was a general call for a +fire. + +"You don't want to forget that we have the most important ceremony of +this entire trip to go through with here yet this morning before any of +us can eat breakfast. What's your hurry, anyway? Get busy here, Fat, and +get another armful of wood like this that I have. In about three shakes +we'll have an altar built and we'll have our oracle fire burning in less +than a jiffy. Be quick, now, but don't disturb the Spirit," cried Ham. + +"Oracle fire, your grandmother," interrupted Phil. "I'm as hungry as a +pet lion, and it's breakfast for me, and that right soon; oatmeal, a +boiled egg, and some rye bread sounds about right!" + +"Me, too," chimed in Fat, reaching for his haversack. "Hungry's no name, +and I don't believe I brought enough grub, either." + +"Stop!" shouted Ham. "Now, Mr. Philip Dennis, Jr., hear your humble +servant, the Spook Doctor, for just about a second. Long, long ago, even +before our friend, Zebulon Pike, took his first peek at Pike's Peak, +there was a custom common to all the Indian tribes about us," making a +gesture to include all the surrounding country, "and it was believed +absolutely necessary to the happiness and well-being of their mighty +warriors to indulge in this orgy at stated seasons." Ham was making +wild gestures as he went on with his mock oratory. "Never was a hunt +started, never was a journey undertaken, never a distant quest sought +after, until the tribe had first slept, then gathered around the mystic +altar of the Spook Doctor." + +"Ham, you're a regular heathen," called Mr. Allen from his blanket. "What +has the altar got to do with it, anyway?" + +"Well, it's just like this," continued Ham. "After the first night's +slumbers we build an Indian signal fire just like this, then in bare feet +and empty stomachs we dance around the fire and implore the Mighty Night +Wind to interpret the dreams we have had during our first night out. +They never fail to disclose the outcome of the journey, whether it will +be a success or a failure." As he bent over and lighted the fire, he +said, "You may be seated." + +The childishness of it all appealed to every one of them, and they did as +they were commanded. Then Ham solemnly and weirdly called, "Fat, you're +first. Hurry, while the smoke is curling, curling upward." + +Fat arose and made mock obeisance to the fire. + +"My dream was a very queer one, but most too short to have a real +meaning. I dreamed I was in a big barnyard and all I could see was +pigs--little pigs, big pigs, and all kinds of pigs--and they were all +standing around an empty trough. Now, Mr. Wise Man, tell me what that has +to do with a quest for a cabin site, will you?" + +Phil rolled over and chuckled to himself. "Oho, Fat, you will eat bacon +for supper, will you? while your poor fellow-travelers sup on a rare and +expensive can of beans. Ha-ha-ha! Eat pork and you dream of pigs." + +Ham looked long into the fire, then, turning, cried out: + +"I have it, I have it, the Spirit speaks. Fat, you will run out of +provisions long before this journey is over. You will eat all you have by +to-morrow, and never think of the days to follow. Beware, for so the +Spirit tells me." + +A roar of laughter went up from the others. + +"Mr. Allen, your dream next," called Ham, mystically. + +"Well, I dreamed of beautiful autumn days, spent in a splendid grove of +trees, cutting choice timbers for a cabin; and then I dreamed of a crowd +of old men, sitting before an open fire-place, telling about how they had +built a cabin long years before, when they were boys." + +"That needs no interpreter. Phil, your dream is now demanded. Tell it +truly, lie and you will live to suffer. Careful, now, and do not hurry." + +"Well, I dreamed a dandy," cried Phil. "I saw a crazy loon standing in +front of a fire, gazing into fiery embers, and--" There was a crackling +in the fire, a shower of sparks went up, and one of the altar stones +turned over. + +"O, how sad," groaned Ham, "that such a man should lie so to the great +Spook Doctor. In wrath he tears down the altar--hisses forth his +disapproval in clouds of tiny spark-thoughts. Willis, you are next. Now, +do not rile the mighty Master." "Well," said Willis, "my dream was not so +strange. I just dreamed over and over the thoughts I took to bed with me. +I saw cabins and mines and tunnels and miners of all descriptions, only +that there was one that looked very familiar, and it was a very hard one +to find and get to." Ham had failed to replenish the fire, and it had +burned to a tiny, smoldering heap of ashes. + +"I can not answer that one," said Ham, "for the Great Spirit has now left +me. Let's eat our breakfast, and I hope it will be more substantial than +these dreams." + +Soon breakfast was under way. It was a simple meal and soon over with. +Cooking utensils were washed and packs rolled, ready for the day's +journey. + +"What time of day?" asked Chuck. + +"Seven-ten," promptly replied Willis, "and just the time to be starting +through the Park, if we want to see it before the dew is gone." At the +spring they stopped to drink and to examine the deer tracks in the soft, +black muck. From there the trail led off, zigzaging down the gentle +slope. On either side of the path the wild grasses and ferns grew in rank +profusion, while scattered here and there on the soft, green carpet were +great numbers of dainty Maraposa lilies. Now and then a tall, green +stalk of the columbine could be seen, and occasionally a wooly circle of +bracts on the stem of a late anemone. At intervals tall ferns bent over +the woodland pathway, as if to hide and protect it for the private use +of the many tiny wild feet that scampered over it daily. + +"Isn't this great," cried Ham. "Just take a peek at that grove of trees. +I'll bet that grass is full of snakes and rabbits. I'd like to take a +shot at a big 'jack' this morning." + +"It's an old swamp," replied Willis. "Perhaps there was once a little +lake here. Wouldn't it be a swell place for a shanty? I'll bet it's full +of grouse." + +"I suppose it was once an Indian camping ground," suggested Mr. Allen. +"Just a little flat oasis on the summit of a granite mountain. Remember +where we came up last night? Now, look away off there," pointing his +finger. "We are ten thousand feet above the sea up here; up where we +can see how the world is made, and how beautiful it is." + +Soon the little park came to an abrupt end, and great boulders began to +loom up on every side. They came to the edge of the cliff, and could look +far down into the valley below. Away to the west stood Black Mountain, a +rounded bluff, so densely covered with young timber that it seemed at a +distance to be a mountain of black dirt. Far below them could be seen the +silver thread of a tiny stream as it followed the canyon toward the sandy +plains. They had climbed out onto a great boulder, now, that overlooked +the canyon far below on one side and the level plains on the other. Here +they sat down to rest and talk. + +"Do you see that hollow spot in the plain there, just at the foot of the +mountain?" Mr. Allen was saying. "It is what has been known for many +years as the Big Hollow Ranch. It was homesteaded in the early days, +before the war, by our friend, Daddy Wright. There is a story that tells +of how, in those days, the Indians would lie in wait and steal cattle +from the great Texas roundups as they passed, enroute to Kansas City, and +would drive large numbers of the cattle into that great hollow. After the +cattle were driven inside, a few men could guard the opening while the +other Indians drove the cattle off into lonely ravines." + +"My! what a fire there must have been here sometime," exclaimed Willis, +noting the dead trees. "I have always wanted to see a forest fire; it +must be a grand sight." + +"Yes, if you're far enough away to be safe," joined in Chuck. "I saw one +once, but it was several miles away. It looked fine from there. It was +the year we camped at the old hatcheries up in the Middle Park. Mount +Deception was very much like Black Mountain, then--very heavily timbered +with fine, large trees. As the years went by a very large slab pile began +to accumulate back of the mill. Some way, no one ever knew just how, +those slab piles got afire. It was on a very windy summer night, when +everything was as dry as chips and the hills were covered with heaps of +dry toppings and pine slash. Well, the fire got into a few piles of +toppings, and before the men at the mill realized that there was a fire, +it was running over the hills like a wild thing. The dry pine needles are +just like turpentine to burn, so in less than two hours there were +several square miles of timber land afire. The mill and hundreds of +thousands of feet of sawed lumber were burned, and an area of many square +miles stripped of every stick of wood, so far as value was concerned." + +"Did you see them fight it?" asked Phil. + +"No, I didn't see them, but I've heard them tell how they did it." + +"I was in a forest fire once," said Mr. Allen. "It wasn't such an awfully +big one, but there was plenty of excitement while it did last, I tell you +that." + +"Tell us about it," came in a chorus. + +"It's pretty hard to describe a forest fire, but it was a very exciting +experience. It was up not many miles from Mount Deception, while I was +stopping with a friend at Manitou Park. We were eating our Sunday dinner, +when suddenly the door opened and in rushed the man from the adjoining +farm. + +"'Fire, boys,' he called. 'I'm sorry to disturb you, but we need you, and +you know the law. I'll have the buggy ready in a shake, and you be +ready.' As he left, my friend cried, 'Come quick, Allen, into your old +clothes.' 'Why,' I said, 'we don't have to fight the forest fire, do we?' +He laughed aloud. 'Well, you just bet we do!' he cried. 'The law says +that every able-bodied man in reach of a forest fire must give his +services. If a fire starts on Government land and burns onto private +land, Uncle Sam has to pay for all the private loss. But if it starts on +private land and burns onto Government land, the land owner is +responsible.' + +"I jumped into some old clothes, and was ready just as the buggy drove up +to the door. The man handed me a big brown jug and told me to fill it +with drinking water. Off to the north we saw a great cloud of gray smoke +rising from the forest, but no flame. The farmer handed my friend the +lines, told us to take the shortest route, and not to stop for anything, +that he would follow on horseback in a few moments. I never shall forget +how the little mare did go that day. We drove north on a county road +until we got even with the smoke, then we turned in directly toward it +through a very large potato field. After an hour's hard driving, we came +to the entrance of a narrow canyon. We tied the horse, and, with as many +shovels as I could carry on my shoulder, and with the jug, I followed my +friend, who had taken a couple of shovels and two heavy axes. It was a +sultry midsummer day, and how I did sweat! + +"We hurried on, the smoke getting thicker and thicker, and still we could +see no flames. We went up a long, narrow canyon in which there was a tiny +stream, and about every hundred yards we stopped to drink. By and by we +came to the top of a low ridge, and the farmer met us. + +"'Hurry, fellows, hurry!' he shouted. 'Give me a couple of those axes. +Report to the first man you meet, and come home in the buggy when you +can.' He swung his horse round, and in a moment was gone. I was tired out +already, and the jug of water was very heavy to carry by so small a +handle. As we got near the top of the ridge, we came to an old prospect +hole. An idea struck me. I would leave the jug there by the hole, and it +would be easy to find when I wanted it, and I would hurry on with the +shovels. As we reached the top of the ridge, the fire came into full +view. My, what a sight! A great sea of burning, crackling trees below, +and above an ocean of heavy smoke, floating upward in great billows. Far +away, at least it seemed so to me, I heard chopping, chopping. I don't +know how long I stood there wondering at the sight, but presently an old +man--he looked to me like a wild man, came toward me, eyeing me with a +scornful look. + +"'Well, ye goin' to stand there all day with them implements, son?' He +mopped away the great beads of perspiration from his forehead with a big +blue bandanna handkerchief. A large Russian hound stood, panting, by his +side. Nearly a year afterwards I learned that the old man was no other +than Old Ben himself. + +"'Where's that jug of water that Jim said ye was a bringin',' he howled +as he snatched the best shovel from my hands. I don't know what I said, +but I know that he cursed me roundly and I started for the prospect hole +to get the jug. I was excited to the limit. I came to the prospect hole, +and the jug was gone. I was starting back when I came to another hole, +then a third, then a fourth. I raised my eyes and surveyed the hillside. +There were at least a hundred prospect holes. Which one did I leave the +jug by? Was it lost, that precious jug of water? Would I ever find it? +The great clouds of smoke drifted past me and darkened the landscape; +then I began to hunt for the jug, one hole at a time. But I could find no +jug. While I was searching all over the hill, up rode the farmer. He +called for me to follow him. I tried to explain to him that I was looking +for the water, but I couldn't make him understand. When we got back to +the east of the fire, he handed me an ax and showed me what to do. They +were cutting an aisle down the south ridge. There were great trees +cracking and crashing to the ground all along the line and all around me. +I could not see more than a hundred feet ahead, but I worked like a Turk. +O, but I thought my ax was dull and the tree hard! It seemed that I could +never cut it through. I struck a heavy blow; there was a singing noise in +the air, and the head of my ax went flying somewhere into the brush. I +heard the farmer, chopping near me, yell something about a fool and a +greenhorn. + +"'Go, bring the water,' he yelled. I asked what water, and he yelled +back, 'The jug, the brown jug.' + +"I started again to find it. I don't know how long I looked, but by +accident I stumbled onto it. I raised it to my lips to drink, but the +water was warm and insipid. It made me feel faint. My head began to get +dizzy and everything looked burned. I straightened up and went back +toward the fire. When I reached the farmer, he gave me his ax and started +off with the jug. I chose my tree, and began to work. I had cut but one, +and was started on another, when a dozen rugged, sweating men passed me +on the run and shouted, 'Look out for the blast!' I dropped my ax and +followed them. The earth shook under my feet, as one after the other I +saw mighty pine trees rise into the air a few feet, then crash headlong +down the mountain into the flames. The fire was coming nearer. O, such a +sight! The heat was intense, but the coloring was beautiful. I followed +the men, but one man tripped and fell; the others hurriedly picked him +up, and we went onto a safe place. Then a hurried conference was held, +and orders given to cut the underbrush in a great circle around the +fire. By and by the wind changed, and soon the smoke cleared away from +where we were working. To my surprise, there were at least fifty sturdy +men--mountain ranchmen, most of them--cutting the underbrush ahead of me, +and just next to me worked Ben. + +"We worked on until dark. My friend found me, and we started for the +buggy. We got home some way--he drove. I was exhausted. That was my only +forest fire experience, but I don't care for another. I was stiff and +sore for a week." + +The little party worked its way into the gulch, and then proceeded up the +canyon on an old cattle trail in the second range. Every now and then +they would pass a prospect hole, which showed that they were not, by any +means, the first to tramp up the gulches and drink at the crystal +streams. On a great, flat stone, close by a tiny spring, they stopped to +eat their dinner and rest. + +"Let's get as far as we can by night," suggested Phil, "for we'll never +find a cabin site here in this canyon. It's too far away. We'll have to +get in closer, near St. Peter's Dome." + +"Let's make the Little Fountain by night. It must cross this canyon, and +perhaps it will yield us a trout for breakfast. What do you say?" +inquired Mr. Allen. + +"Little Fountain, or bust," called Ham. "I'm in for it. Say, we ought to +find a few squirrels this afternoon up in this lonesome canyon. A +squirrel would taste pretty fine, stewed in a little rice, for supper. +I'll bet I get the first one." + +"Got some salt in your pocket?" asked Willis. + +"Salt, what do I want with salt? Just keep your eye on me. I'm +dead-shot at squirrels." + +"Hello, here, what's this?" called out Mr. Allen about the middle of the +afternoon. "This looks interesting to me. See here, I've found a few +small pieces of aspen that have been cut by beaver." He held them up for +inspection. Sure enough, on the ends were the marks of the tiny chisel +teeth of the little water workmen. "I'd certainly like to see a real +beaver dam. I've seen pieces of dams and old, wrecked dams, but never a +real good one. Keep your eyes open for more sticks like this, and for +stumps along the stream. This ought to be good beaver country, because +it's wild and quiet." + +"What do you suppose killed all those fine big trees in that valley?" +asked Willis. + +They turned aside to examine the great dead trees. + +"Hold on, there," said Ham in a whisper, as he held up his finger. +"There's my stew for to-night. Great Caesar's ghost! I'll bet these dead +trees are full of squirrels. Still, now, a moment." + +The squirrel sat for an instant in plain view on a dead limb of a spruce; +then he barked and scampered around in great excitement, his tail bobbing +up and down in time to his movements. He would run, hide behind the great +tree trunk, then out again to jeer and scold and jerk his tail. As they +came nearer, a second one, perhaps his mate, joined him on the limb and +seconded everything he had to say. The barrel of Ham's gun was making +strange movements in the air. "Hey, there, sit still, you jumping jack," +called Ham. The squirrels sat up and listened to his voice in such a way +that it appeared they perfectly understood the order to sit still. Fat +laughed a hearty laugh; the squirrels took it as a danger signal and were +gone. Ham lowered his gun. + +"Fat, you stole my supper right out of my mouth," said Ham, gloomily. + +"Oho," said Willis. "How do you suppose this happened? All of these big +trees are girdled. See, the bark has been cut clear around the trunk with +an ax, so as to cut off the supply of sap. Mr. Allen, what is your +explanation?" + +"Well, I'm not just sure about it, Willis. Some one may have killed them +for timber or some one may have girdled them so as to be able to start a +big fire. It might have been the work of timber pirates. A man would get +a mighty severe punishment for that, if he were caught." + +A little farther up the canyon they found traces of an old placer sluice, +and what remained of some of the old, homemade cradles for panning out +the gold. + +"Gold, gold, gold; you find traces of it everywhere, and traces of the +men who sought it. A sight like that always makes me sorry for some old, +forlorn, disappointed miner," said Mr. Allen. "Of all the dilapidated, +blue-producing sights that I have ever seen, it's one of these old, +deserted mining camps, for they come as near representing a forlorn hope +as anything you can find. + +"One time I was with a crowd of boys, and we made a detour to look over a +deserted mining camp. They called it Old North Cripple Creek. Years +before, shrewd individuals had salted prospect holes at that point, then +discovered their own gold. Of course there was a grand rush, and a boom +town resulted. Crude houses were built, stores and saloons erected, and +mining operations begun. A real, substantial log hotel was erected, and +I've heard that their charge was upwards of ten dollars a night, payable +in advance. + +"But the camp died as quickly as it had been born, and the people, mostly +men, pushed on to other fields. + +"It was a good many years after the place was deserted that I was there, +but it made a tremendous impression upon me. I had the blues for days +afterward. Old, tumbled-down houses, the windows knocked out and the +doors hanging on leather hinges. I remember one building that had been a +saloon. The great mirrors back of the bar had never been removed, and the +rains of many seasons had peeled the mercury from the plate glass and the +gilt frames were faded. We entered the old hotel, and were surprised to +find some of the fittings still there. In the attic we found an old chest +of letters--and, speaking of strange coincidences, a large number of +those letters were written and signed by Daddy Wright. Away up in the +back corner of the attic sat an old owl. He looked down on us from his +perch in a reproving manner, to think we would disturb the haunts of the +past in that crude way. He was a weird looking old fellow as he sat +there, blinking his big yellow eyes, and I couldn't help thinking that +the owl of wisdom perhaps a good many times might be found perched in the +dark attics of the past, instead of spending his time in the sunlight of +the great and active present." + +The afternoon passed, and soon the sun began to settle behind the western +peaks. It was just six o'clock when the party came to the Little Fountain +and chose their camping spot on a little green knoll of high ground, +right by the water's edge. Some one suggested a dip, and so, in the quiet +coolness of a perfect summer twilight, with a cheerful fire burning on +the bank, clothes were stripped and a bath taken. Then came the evening +meal, the usual round of stories, the message from the letter of the +Great Spirit, then to sleep. + +As Willis and Mr. Allen lay watching the firelight and listening to the +thousand sounds of the night, the night breeze began to rise and to sing +to them through the balsam boughs overhead. + +"Do you know what I think of when I lie out in the woods on such a night +and listen to the gentle sighing of the night wind?" asked Mr. Allen. + +"No," replied Willis. "What do you think of?" + +"It is kind of fanciful, I suppose, but I like to believe that it is God +blowing His breath down on us just to let us know that He is very near +and cares for us." Willis did not answer; he was thinking. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The Third Day Out + + +The first gray streaks of dawn were just creeping over the ridge of old +Cheyenne as Mr. Allen awoke. Up through the green leaves the bluest of +blue skies showed in tiny spots. It was an autumn morning, for a light +frost had settled during the night, and here and there lay the ghost of +an aspen leaf that had flitted down. Everywhere the birds were chirping +and hustling about their morning duties. Here and there industrious +spiders were at work removing the drops of silver dew from their shining +cables of silk, and the bees were already gathering the last of the +summer's sweets. The squirrels scolded and chattered to each other from +the big trees. All the wild life of the woodland seemed at high tide. The +butterflies were already at play in the cool, dewy nooks, and all nature +was rosy in the freshness of a new day. + +Mr. Allen dressed quietly but quickly, unbuckled his fishing rod from his +pack, glanced through his fly book, selected one here and there, then +prepared to slip out of camp without waking any one. The little stream +had been whispering strange tales of big fish to him all the night, and +it was trout for breakfast that he was after. A saucy squirrel, observing +him from a limb overhead, asked many foolish questions. Mr. Allen sat on +an old moss-covered stump joining his rod and arranging his long, white +leader, to which he had attached a royal coachman and a gray hackle. He +paused to listen, for it seemed to him that every wild thing in that +vast, rocky gorge had suddenly raised its voice to welcome the coming +day. + +Willis awoke and saw Mr. Allen as he sat there in the sunlight. In a soft +undertone he called, "I'm going, too, just to watch. May I?" Mr. Allen +nodded, and in a few moments the two were quietly sneaking off through +the bushes, headed up stream. + +"My, O my! isn't this a perfectly gorgeous morning. Just look off there +toward Mount Rosa and Baldy. It's a perfect splendor of clouds and mist +and sun; then look behind you, there, down through the big trees. It's +just the morning to catch a fine big trout." + +"I never caught a trout in all my life," softly called Willis, as he +trailed along behind. "I don't believe I've ever even seen one." + +"Many and many are the days I've fished in these old hills for a dozen; +but a prouder fisherman never cast a fly than myself, when I could come +home to camp, spread out my little catch of speckled beauties on the +grass, and tell just how I caught each one." + +"Is it more fun than casting for big black bass on a clear, warm, summer +night? Lots of times I've seen the big fellows leap out of the water, +then in again with a splash, making big rings of ripples on the smooth +water. O, it's great! Can your trout fishing beat that?" + +"Every man after his own heart," replied the "Chief," "but for me, give +me the trout. You rise early on such a morning as this and slip off into +the canyon. Far away on all sides rise the mountain peaks, their snow +caps jauntily adjusted and their cloaks of ice drawn close about their +shoulders. Then the balsam-scented air, and the dew-laden bushes along +the chattering little stream as it flows over a chaos of broken granite +or works itself into a boiling froth, only to jump headlong into a quiet +green pool. Can you beat it?" + +"Isn't that a good pool just ahead of us?" questioned Willis. + +"I'm going to try it," replied Mr. Allen. "Now, be sure to keep that big +boulder just ahead between you and the water, for if they see us first +there's no use wasting our time here, we'll never get a strike to-day." + +Slowly they crept to the great, bare rock. Here the line and flies were +adjusted, and the fishing began. Willis watched every motion as for a +brief second the fly was allowed to drift down the stream, "to be floated +here and there by idle little eddies, to be sucked down, then suddenly +spat out by tiny suction holes;" then it fell quietly into the current +and floated out to the end of the line, bringing up sharply just at the +edge of a bleak old granite boulder in midstream. Again the flies were +cast, and again; then--both hearts stood still; there was a splash, a +little line of bubbles, a tail, a silver streak tinged with red and +black, then ripples, and nothing more. + +"He's there, anyway," softly whispered Willis in great excitement. + +The line was drawn in and inspected; the hackle was removed from the +leader, and again the coachman spatted the water just above where the +trout had disappeared. It floated down and down until it touched the +swirl at the edge of the jagged rock. There was a short, sharp tug; the +fly disappeared into the water; a plunge, a dash of spray, then +everything kept time to the singing of the reel. Both jumped to their +feet just in time to see the big trout clear the water, shake his head +vigorously, then dive into the deep pool. It was to be a fight to the +finish, and the trout had settled to the cool bottom to lay out his +campaign. + +After ten minutes of maneuvering in the water, up and down, out to the +bank, then in again, knee deep, waist deep, the line slacked a little, +then a little more. Then there was a series of quick jerks and a long +singing of the reel as it unwound, only to slacken again, and this time +for good. There was a silvery streak in the water, then a dark, moving +shadow, a gentle pull of the winding line, and the trout slipped out of +the water onto the bank, exhausted. + +There was an exclamation of joy and wonder from Willis as the fish was +carefully unhooked and placed in the cotton bag, brought for the purpose. + +"Just eighteen inches, and a beauty," cried Mr. Allen. "You'll never get +me away from this stream this morning if there are more fish like this to +be had. We have just time to catch another like him, then we can all have +a taste for breakfast. What will those fellows think when they wake up +and find us gone?" + +They clambered over a rough crag and down to a second green pool. It was +not a big fish this time, but several small ones in quick succession, +till there was a taste for all in camp. + +"I hope the fellows will have a fire going, so we won't have to wait so +long for a bed of coals, don't you?" asked Willis. "I can taste them +already. Is the meat pink or white?" + +"O, surely Ham will have a fire; he's enough of a camper for that, and +they are expecting us to bring fish. I'll tell you, let's leave the bag +in the bushes and tell them a sad tale of woe. I'm still wet, and we'll +let on a big one pulled me in and I lost all the others. What do you +say?" + +"That's a go. You get up the story and I'll swear to it. Make it a big +one." + +Soon the smell of smoke came drifting through the bushes, and they knew +that their return was being patiently awaited. Fat spied them coming +first. + +"Well, old sea-dogs, where's your catch?" he shouted. + +"Hard luck," started in Mr. Allen. "Just plain hard luck; caught a few +minnows, but slow as far as real fishing goes. There's nothing in it +here. Where's Ham?" + +"O Ham!" snorted Phil from his place by the fire. "Crazy, lunatic Ham. +I'd like to see you get him into any kind of a fix he couldn't get out +of. When we woke up and found you gone, Ham declared you'd played a trick +on him, and he's gone off to get even." + +"How do you mean, get even?" + +"He wanted to go with you this morning, so he went out and found your +track going up stream. He came back to camp, got your fly book, cut him a +willow pole, and started off down stream to beat you fishing. He's been +gone most an hour and a half now." + +"Well, he won't have to fish much to beat me, that's sure; but he ought +to be getting back soon, so we can get started." + +"Fishie, fishie, in the brook, +Hammie caught him with a hook," + +came drifting into camp from somewhere on the trail. Soon Ham came into +view, a cotton flour sack thrown over his shoulder and a broad grin on +his face. He had left his pole in the thicket. + +"Fish, fish, fish--little, big, and in between," he cried as he waved the +bag in front of him. "I've never had such fishing." + +"Hurrah for the fisherman," called Chuck, as he came through the trees +with a half-dozen small pails in his hands. "Ham gets the fish, I get the +berries, and we all get the stomach-ache, see?" + +"Let's look at the fish" shouted every one. + +"Bet they are only minnies," cried Phil. + +"Minnies, your grandmother," scornfully replied Ham. "I have one there +that's a foot and a half long if it's an inch. The others aren't so big." +He emptied the contents of the bag on the ground and stood proudly over +them, a merry twinkle in his eye. + +Willis nudged Mr. Allen. "He's found our bag of fish, but don't tell." +Mr. Allen arose, and, holding up the big fish by the tail, said, "Ham, +you're the only original fisherman. That's the very fellow that pulled me +in and came near drowning me." Ham hurried off to the stream to clean the +catch and to laugh over his cleverness. Breakfast was a thoroughly +enjoyed meal that morning, for, besides the fish and the sweet wild +berries, there were just enough fish stories told to give the real thing +the proper seasoning. + +"I'd rather sit on those big boulders along Goose Creek, just where it +empties into the backwaters of Cheeseman Dam, and catch a few big fellows +like that one than to take an extended trip to Europe," solemnly declared +Ham. + +"I'd rather fish in the Narrows of Platte Canyon and pull out a fine big +rainbow every now and then than ride in a New York subway," added Chuck. + +"And I'd rather see Mr. Allen catch _another_ big trout like that one +you're eating," remarked Willis, with a wink at Mr. Allen, "than to catch +all the bass in the State of Michigan." + +By nine o'clock the party was again on the trail, traveling northwest +around the base of Black Mountain. + +"It's going to be a scorcher," exclaimed Fat. "I'm about melted already. +I hope they haven't shipped that bear away from Cather Springs yet. I'd +like to see it. They caught it in a bear trap last week. There is hardly +a season goes by, any more, but what they get some kind of wild game. +Last year it was a big mountain lion, the year before it was a +badly-wounded mountain sheep, this year it was a bear and two cubs." + +"That lion must have been the one that followed Ham up Pike's Peak. How +about it, Ham?" said Mr. Allen teasingly. Ham did not reply. The smile +disappeared from his face, and he dropped to the back of the line. "Ham, +won't you tell us that story some time?" urged Mr. Allen. "I've never +heard the real story, and I'd like to know about it." + +"I've forgotten every detail, Mr. Allen," said Ham, "and I've forgotten +them for good. It wasn't nearly as big a joke as every one supposed, +though, I'll tell you that. I'll never come any nearer to handing in my +heavenly passport and not do it than I did that time. Let's forget it. It +brings back unpleasant thoughts." + +At noon they camped in the shadow of a great overhanging rock and rested. +Fat found, upon opening his pack, that he had left what remained of his +loaf of bread at the last camping place, along with two cans of milk and +a box of raisins. + +"The oracle is coming true," dryly remarked Ham. "It always does, if it's +interpreted properly. Fat, the swine of carelessness have consumed your +living." + +By three o'clock the party reached Cather Springs, which was nothing but +the home of an old mountaineer--a quaint little log cabin, a barn, and a +corral, in which stood two very patient, tired-looking donkeys and a +large, raw-boned mountain horse. A little to one side of the cabin stood +the spring house--a low, rustic affair, built of young trees. A slab-door +stood slightly ajar, and through the opening there came the voice of a +woman, softly singing to herself. A thin column of gray smoke was curling +gently from the rough stone chimney. At one side of the house, in the +shade of a great pine tree, was nestled a little flower garden that gave +every sign of having had careful attention each day. On the back stoop +was stretched out, at full length, a husky Collie dog. He was evidently +asleep, for he did not stir as the boys came down the trail toward the +picturesque little cabin. + +"Great Caesar's ghost!" exclaimed Ham. "Take a peep at a few of those +jay-birds. I never saw so many in my life. I'll bet the lady feeds them. +Watch me knock that saucy fellow off that dead limb." + +He raised his gun and shot. There was an awful scolding, jabbering, and +flapping of wings, but no deaths--fortunately for Ham. The dog came to +life in less than a second, and expressed himself freely on the +imprudence of such an interruption to his mid-day nap. Likewise, the +spring-house door suddenly opened and out popped a funny, little old +lady. + +"Boys, boys!" she called in a high, quavering voice, "don't shoot the +blue jays. It does beat all how right-down destructive all boys are, +anyway--shooting poor, harmless little birds for sport." The jays, on +hearing the familiar voice of their benefactress, began to alight in twos +and threes close by, and approved her every word with as much vigor as +their tiny throats could command. The little old lady came straight +toward Ham. + +"Young man," she cried, as she shook her long, bony finger in his face, +"young man, who ever gave you the right to come into this beautiful +wilderness to maraud and murder and kill such beauties as them jays that +God has put in these woods to be companions and friends to us lonely +mountain folks? Who do you s'pose built this here canyon and that green +meadow and this little spring and these hills, and all the little wild +folks as lives in 'em? I should think you would hang your head and look +like a whipped puppy if ye're little enough to shoot jay-birds, just to +see the blue feathers a flutterin' in the air. 'Pon my soul, you hunters +is beyon' my understandin'. S'pose that bird you shot has a nest, which, +like as not, she has, an' it's full o' little fuzzy balls o' bird flesh +this minute, all mouths an' stomachs, a waitin' for their mother to bring +supper, an' they just keep a waitin' an' a waitin' till they starve, +cause you was mean enough to kill the mother bird just for fun." Ham's +hat had long since come off, and he stood with downcast eyes, not knowing +what to say. The old lady looked him up and down with a look of abject +pity and scorn as she went on: + +"Didn't you ever stop to consider how many things the Almighty has put +into these hills to love, young man, if you ain't too selfish an' proud +an' mean to see 'em? I wonder what He thinks of a boy like you, anyway? +You're like a demon sneakin' through a wonderful picture gallery a +cuttin' holes in the pictures just for fun. I know every jay in this +valley, young man, every single one--and they know me. When food gets +scarce, an' cold nights come, an' snow begins to fall, I feed 'em. +They understand all I say to 'em, an' they bring their young ones for me +to see as quick as they're big enough. They tell me when it's goin' to +storm, an' when a hawk is flyin' over my chicken pen, an' when berries is +ripe, an' when strangers is comin'. They're my little family; I care for +'em every day an'--" The flood gates were opened. The little old lady +cried as if her heart would break, while the jays gossiped and chattered +at the unusual uproar. + +Suddenly she turned and went into the house, and the boys, without a +word, quietly passed up the trail and into the flat, green meadow ahead. +Ham whistled softly to himself as he strode along. + +"Beats the Dutch," he said to Mr. Allen, as the two dropped back +together, "how a fellow will forget himself now and then. I'd have done +just what she did, only I would have gotten mad instead of just feeling +bad. I'm mighty thankful I didn't kill that bird." + +"What a great joy these simple out-of-doors people get out of nature," +replied Mr. Allen. "I'd give half my college education to be able to +see and hear and understand the things that little old lady does in these +old hills. Every time a bird chirps or a squirrel barks she knows what +it says. I think the Master must have been thinking of some such a +pure-hearted body as she when He told the people that the poor in spirit +would inherit the earth. She doesn't go out in society much, nor she +hasn't any party dresses, nor probably never saw a grand opera in her +life; but see what she has that most people never get." + +In a few moments more they had crossed the little meadow, climbed up +through a zigzag trail through the trees, and came out onto the railroad +track, just where it crossed the stage road. Directly in front of them +rose the crag-tipped cap of St. Peter's Dome. On one hand was the old +wagon road, that first pathway of mountain civilization, winding down the +canyon in long, graceful curves until it was lost in the distant haze, +while on the other hand ran the steel rails of more modern civilization. + +As they stood resting for a few moments they heard the rumble of heavy +wheels, a wheezing and puffing, a shrill whistle, a cloud of black smoke, +a shower of cinders, and the evening express passed upward into the cool, +dark shadows, carrying its load of human necessities into the heart of +the Rockies. + +It was six o'clock when the last one in the party reached the rickety +wooden stairs that made the last ascent of a hundred feet to the Dome +possible. Ham and Willis had been on top for some minutes, and were +sitting on a huge boulder just at the foot of a lodge-pole that had been +erected on the very summit for a flagstaff. Certainly it was a sight to +be remembered for many a day--a marvelous wonderland, stretching out in +every direction. The detail of plants, trees, and winding trails was +swallowed up, and only the vastness of the valleys and canyons could be +seen, with here and there a silver ribbon of a stream. Far up in the blue +vault two great eagles soared and circled. Here and there the last golden +rays of sunlight fell on the distant ridges and lighted up the tree tops +with a beautiful iridescence. + +"What a sight!" exclaimed Willis. "Now, where is Cookstove Mountain, for +I am especially interested in it. O yes, I see it. It's that great +granite cliff that is so flat on the top. Wouldn't it be grand if we +could build a cabin near St. Peter's Dome, so sometimes in the evening we +could climb up here to sit and watch the stars come out? I want to be in +the mountains and camp in them and hike in them. I am beginning to +understand their charm more and more. I know now what it is that Old Ben +has, and Daddy Wright, and the little old lady we saw this afternoon, +that I have not. It is a big optimism, a love for everything that lives +and is a part of the Great Creation." + +"I don't know of anything that will take the selfishness and conceit out +of a fellow like a few hours spent on a mountain top," said Mr. Allen. + +"It makes a fellow right down glad he's alive," remarked Ham. "I always +get more out of a view like this than I do out of the best sermon I ever +heard." + +"I wish we could camp right here," exclaimed Chuck; "but we can't, and we +had better be getting down before dark." + +Just at the base of the Dome a little stream trickled over the rocks and +down into the canyon. They followed it back from the railroad and soon +had a cheery fire burning and a comfortable camp made for the night. It +was in a little meadow just at the edge of a grove of small aspens, and +at one side of the tiny stream lay a great round boulder that had +evidently rolled down from the summit of the Dome at some previous date. +Beds were arranged in a row along the side of it, and a pile of dead +sticks placed in a convenient position for the night's fire. The evening +breezes were already beginning to play hide-and-seek in the valley, and +the leaves on the trees were clapping their innumerable hands in applause +at the brightly-burning fire. The sparks flew upward and the shadows +danced in and out of the illuminated circle like so many happy fairies. + +"Do you hear it, fellows? There, now, listen! Don't you hear it?" Ham was +saying as he sat back from the fire. "There it is, calling, calling!" + +"What is calling?" asked Willis, straining his ear to catch the sound. + +"Mother Nature," answered Ham, dryly. "Mother Nature's call--the call +of the wild. See, even the leaves are beckoning us back farther into the +deep, quiet wilderness. Some day I will part with my earthly possessions +and answer that call, for, do you know, I believe that the Indian did +come the nearest to living an ideal life of any of us!" + +Every one knew that Ham was in for a long, private soliloquy, and so +began supper operations, for, although they had all heard the call of +Mother Nature, as Ham put it, to some of them at least it was only an +empty stomach calling to be fed. + +Mr. Allen and Willis were the last ones to take to their blankets, for +they had many things to talk over between themselves. + +What can draw out the innermost thoughts of a fellow's heart more quickly +than a chat with a sympathetic friend when both are seated before a fire +in such a place and on such a night? If you really wish to know a fellow +in a few days' time, you need to camp with him, to eat with him, and to +sit with him before an open fire in the wilderness under a canopy of +stars with the music of Nature about you. Then man speaks with man, and +all the conventionalities of life are forgotten. + +"Yes, I have often wondered if I will ever find my father's partner," +Willis was saying. "I would rather see him than any man on earth, +sometimes." + +"Wouldn't you be happier if you didn't ever find him, though?" questioned +Mr. Allen. + +"No, I wouldn't, Mr. Allen, because he could explain so many things to me +that I have wondered about. I don't know that I ever told you, but it has +always seemed so strange to me that my uncle, Mr. Williams, has never +once mentioned my father's name to me. He was the last man that saw him +alive, yet he has never spoken of him. I have been going to talk with +him several times, but he is so gruff and absorbed I can't get up my +nerve. There is one thing that has bothered me a lot lately, though, and +I've never told you of it, but I'm going to now. I probably never would +have thought much about it if it hadn't been for what the old prospector +told me the other day over on Cheyenne. I've been wondering if there +possibly could be any connection between his not wanting me to come on +this trip and the fact that he was just then sending men to do his +assessment work on the claim that once belonged to my father. + +"There is another thing, too, Mr. Allen. I feel ashamed of even thinking +of such things, yet the night we had our meeting at Bruin Inn I heard +that same prospector discussing a Mr. Williams with Old Ben. I heard him +say that Williams was a thief and a sanctimonious old hypocrite. The +thing that bothers me is, how much does Williams know of my father's +affairs that he has not told my mother. Surely he would not dare to be +crooked in such a thing as that." + +"If you could locate Mr. Kieser, he probably could tell you some things," +slowly added Mr. Allen. "Well, there is one thing sure: 'Murder will +out,' and with the suspicion I now have, I'll keep quiet, keep my eyes +open, and see what I can learn. That Cheyenne claim must be worth +holding, or he wouldn't send men away up there to do that work. That +costs money!" + +"Don't worry about it, anyway, boy. I wouldn't be building any air +castles concerning that gold mine. It was, no doubt, just like thousands +of others here in these mountains--" + +"I know that, but I want to see the mine that my father dug. Do you +suppose I ever will?" + +"Who can tell but that you have already seen it on this trip? I don't +know, but let's go to bed. To-morrow we must find that cabin site, or go +home empty-handed. I think we'll get over into these little canyons on +the north and work over to the railroad. If we don't find a place there, +somewhere, then I'm afraid there is none. Most all of this land is Forest +Reserve, and we'll have to get a ninety-nine years' lease if we locate on +Government land; but you know, I've been thinking we could build a dandy +cabin of these large quaking-aspens, if we could find a place in a good +grove. Build a frame, then fit them in, standing them on end, and line +with building paper, and perhaps boards. These aspens cut very easily in +the winter when they are cold. What would you think of that idea?" + +Willis was already nodding by the fire, and did not answer. + +"Good-night," said Mr. Allen, as he pulled his blanket up about him. +"Sleep tight, and no dreams, mind you." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A Glimpse of Buffalo Roost + + +The little party gathered about the fire the next morning, cooking the +last breakfast of the trip. To-morrow they would be home again. Would +they take back a glowing description of a cabin site, situated in some +cool forest nook, in the shadow of some mighty crag, or would they be +forced to disappoint the anxious crowd of fellows who would be waiting +for their return? + +By seven o'clock they were jogging down the railroad at a lively gait, +keeping their eyes open for a canyon that would lead in back of Cookstove +Mountain. They had come down the track at least two miles without finding +any encouraging signs when they came upon a trail that seemed to lead +from the railroad into an unknown canyon. Perhaps it was one of the many +trails from the railroad back to the remains of some of the old +construction camps. Perhaps it was a cowpath that led into a fertile +meadow where cattle loved to rest by cool springs. Might it not have been +the connecting link between some old prospector's diggings and his point +of supplies? Possibly it had been worn by the ever-watchful forest ranger +as he rode over the reserve, watching for the fires of careless campers, +the trespass of cattle, or, perhaps, to make a timber sale to some +mountain ranchman. Perhaps it was one of these, but more likely it was a +combination of them all. What strange stories it could tell if it could +but speak! Had it been on the southern slope it might have been lost in +the cool shadows of the forest, or have disappeared in the leafy molds +and decaying twigs of many autumns. But it was on the north slope, from +which the hungry flames of a giant forest fire had snatched every tree +and bush, leaving only the barren hillside. + +It was a very alluring trail, for it led to no one knew just where. Just +at the point where it slipped over the rocky ridge and dropped down out +of sight into the canyon beyond there rose a group of great, tall pines, +which seemed to be guarding the pathway. Just ahead stood Cookstove, its +rocky crest bathed in the morning light, while far away to the north the +sharper outlines were lost in a great army of evergreens, which seemed to +be trooping restlessly up the hill and descending again into the great +unknown of the valley. It led straight away down a gently-curving aisle +of beautiful large trees that had already begun to carpet the floor with +dull pine needles, picked from their shaggy heads by the mischievous +dryads of the valley. Away up on the shoulder of Cookstove could be seen +a long silver ribbon of water, the lower end of which was lost in the +treetops of the canyon. From somewhere down below the trail there came +the gentle murmur of jubilant little dashes of mountain spray as they +frolicked and chased each other in the happy play of a mountain stream. +On the inside of the trail the trees dropped away rapidly until you could +look into their topmost branches without raising your eyes, while on the +other side they trooped noiselessly upward, like some great, silent army, +showing only their weather-beaten bodies. + +As the boys hastened down this trail, deeper into the land of +enchantment, their enthusiasm knew no bounds. + +"I've about changed my mind about the location of the Garden of Eden," +Ham sung out. + +"That's the twentieth time," announced Chuck. + +"We're just on the edge of it yet," shouted Mr. Allen. "Let's hurry and +get into it." + +The trail began immediately to descend, and before they knew it the party +found themselves beside a crystal stream that seemed to be lost in a +narrow park of great trees and mighty boulders. The trail crossed the +stream by an ancient corduroy bridge, then off it ran again up the +opposite side of the canyon, penetrating deeper into the quiet forest. + +"This is the forest primeval, +The murmuring pines and the hemlocks," + +quoted Ham. There was a perfume of the forest dampness in the air. Every +tree seemed to shelter a bird family or a host of squirrels, to say +nothing of the tiny creatures that made chorus together from their hiding +places. Softly filtering through the trees came the constant melody of a +waterfall, now far away, now just ahead, crying, laughing, sobbing, in a +strange intermingling of feeling. + +The trail made a sharp turn to the left, the trees suddenly came to an +end, and in their place were large piles of mossy, ragged boulders. The +canyon ended in a perpendicular, moss-covered wall, hundreds of feet +high, and from the top of this wrinkled old cliff leaped the stream into +the canyon below. On an old tin sign, fastened to the stump of an immense +tree, were the words, "St. Marys." Directly at the base of the falls, and +at their extreme edge, stood a grand old spruce tree, straight and clean +as an arrow, its slender top reaching nearly to the top of the falls. +They seemed to be happy comrades, for the tree was gently vibrating with +the soft, half-wild music of the crystal stream. + +After every nook and cranny had been explored, the group began to retrace +their steps down the canyon. + +"Isn't it a wonderful little spot?" asked Phil, as they sat down by the +bridge to rest. "Who do you suppose ever built this trail away up here? +See, it has been dug from the very mountain-side in many places, and this +bridge wasn't built as a mere footbridge--it was built to support heavy +loads of something." + +"Perhaps somewhere way up in those trees there is an old mine," suggested +Fat. + +"I've been wondering if there was," slowly questioned Willis. "I'd like +to go and look, for I'm not a bit tired." His eyes were big with the +wonder of the place. + +"It surely is a treat to him, isn't it?" asked Mr. Allen. + +"Yes, and to us all," replied Ham. "I just wonder what some city people +would think of it. When I get old, fellows, I'm going to find me some +such a little canyon as this and live out my life in it. I don't believe +a fellow could ever think a mean thought out here, could he? He'd be +almost afraid to." + +"It's an ideal place, all right," returned Mr. Allen. + +"Why, I believe I'd be an orator if I just had this valley for a class," +went on Ham. + +"It's a good thing such places can't be moved," suggested Phil, "or some +of these wealthy fellows would be buying them all up and putting them in +their art galleries. This view would create quite a sensation in New York +City, don't you think? Fifty thousand dollars is not much for a few feet +of masterpiece, but this can be had for a few dollars an acre. Strange, +isn't it?" + +"A man paints a little picture on a canvas and worries over it until his +hair gets long and his face sad. He is then a genius. People go wild over +a man that can copy a little scene. Yet those same people declare there +is no Creator. Account for a valley like this without Him, can you?" +declared Fat. + +"The man that can deny Him, standing here in this little bit of His +handiwork," solemnly declared Ham, "is blind, deaf, and dumb, besides +having marked tendencies toward insanity." + +"Halloo," came in a clear shout from up on the hillside. + +"By gracious, he's found a mine!" cried Ham, jumping up. + +"Halloo," he shouted back. "What did you find?" + +"Two more trails," came the answer. "Come up and look. One goes down the +canyon on this side." A wild scramble up through the trees followed. Soon +they were all traveling down one of the newly-discovered trails. The +other one began at an old log cabin, and ran zigzag up the mountain till +it was lost in the gravel slopes. + +"I've been trying to make up my mind where this canyon leads to," said +Mr. Allen. "I'm wondering if it can be Buffalo Park." + +A bridge was visible down the stream, and there was the sound of water +splashing. An immense boulder that had rolled from the cliff above +obstructed any further view. Ham and Willis were in the lead, the rest +following as rapidly as possible. The two ahead disappeared, then came +into view beyond the big boulder. + +"A house!" + +"A cabin!" Every one broke into a run. Just above the bridge a crude dam +of logs had been built to back up a supply of water, and it was running +over from the little pond behind in a happy, babbling waterfall. Then it +turned to the south around the base of a patch of high ground. On this +bit of high country, overlooking the stream on one side and the upper +canyon on the other, stood the loudly-announced cabin. + +It was a typical mountain log-house, except for its roof, which was +covered with cedar shingles instead of the customary split poles, +thatched over with marsh hay. Its every line suggested age. In some +places the mud chinking had dried and dropped out, yet, strange to say, +the windows were all there, and even the door, which was of city +manufacture, was not past repair. One corner of the roof had been +slightly damaged by the falling of a monstrous pine log that was still +lying where it had fallen several years before. + +The cabin had evidently been used as a summer home only, for there was no +fireplace or a chimney of any kind, except a dilapidated old length of +stovepipe that stuck through the gable at one end. It was this feature +that made it look so completely forlorn and abandoned. Besides the door +and two windows that opened on the trail side, there was a window on +the up end and a door on the stream side which led out onto a crude back +porch, built entirely of aspen poles. The floor was of pine boards, and +had once been a marvel of beauty and convenience for a mountain cabin; +but time had played strange pranks with it, till now it was uneven and +sloped off in a jerky fashion toward the back door. On one wall was +fastened a rude set of shelves, on which was perched a motley collection +of pickle bottles and tin cans. Stretched along one wall stood a crude, +home-made table, and in one corner stood the remains of a little, +old-fashioned stove. A wooden chest stood under the shelves, and had +probably been used for a grub box. It still contained a few pounds of +yellow cornmeal, half a can of baking powder, a badly molded loaf of rye +bread, and a surprisingly sturdy sample of butter. Hung on a nail in the +corner above the chest was a once-stylish skillet and the battered lower +part of a double boiler. A rusty tincup lay on the floor beside a powder +can that had been used for a bucket, while just inside the south door +stood a comical homemade shakedown. The frame was built of straight young +aspen poles, while the springs were just a carefully woven layer of +balsam boughs spread over a bottom of limber young saplings. It had once +been a wonder of comfort and ease, but its value had passed with the +departure of its builder. + +The trail ran close in front of the door and then climbed over the sandy +base of a great crag, and disappeared over the hill. Just as it left the +level of the house and started upward, there stood an immense Douglas +spruce like some faithful guard, his proud green helmet stretched up into +the sky so that he might be the more able to see any approaching danger. +A great smoke-stained rock lay just at the end of the house, before which +was built a primitive fireplace. An assortment of tin cans, lying in the +little ravine, told the simple tale of bygone campfire suppers and of +hunters and explorers and miners. + +"Well, this is what I call luck--pure, unadulterated luck, with sugar on +it," drawled Ham as he surveyed the house. + +"Luck, your grandmother," said Phil. "Do you call something that you have +been searching for for four long days luck?" + +"Excuse me," answered Ham, in mock courtesy. "I forgot when I made that +statement that there is no such thing as luck. It was my old friend, +'William Shakespeare,' that wrote that famous line about luck, 'Luck is +pluck in action,' or something like that, wasn't it? That's what it was +here, anyway." + +"Well, at any rate," said Mr. Allen, as he joined the group after his +round of inspection, "the old shanty is chucked full of possibilities." + +"I'm glad something is full," interrupted Fat. "We certainly aren't in +the same class, that cabin and I. It's been so long since I've fed that +my floating ribs have run ashore. The worst of it is that all I have left +is a can of condensed milk, about a teaspoon of sugar, and a little +butter that's a second cousin to what's in that grub box yonder. I'm +going to borrow a few possibilities from the cabin and beg for food. +Let's have dinner." + +"Right here by this old rock," called Willis. "Perhaps we can roast a +little information out of these rocks." + +Chuck had gone down stream into a grove of large aspens, and at this +moment came panting up the trail. + +"Bees--peach of a tree--honey galore--millions of them!" he panted. + +"That sounds like something to eat," cried Fat. "Come along, Chuck, I'm +with you. Do you know how to make that 'milk and honey' that the Good +Book speaks about? I've got the milk, let's get the honey." Ham, Chuck, +and Fat started for the bee tree, Ham singing his favorite, "A Preacher +went a Huntin'." + +"Better let up, Ham," shouted Phil. "The bees will be after the sweetness +in that melody of yours." + +Phil stretched out at full length in the sun while Mr. Allen busily +made figures and sketches in his note book. Willis rose and started +down the trail toward the bee tree. At the edge of the timber he stopped, +and a curious smile spread over his face. Then suddenly, as the real +significance of what he saw dawned upon him, he doubled up with a howl +and laughed till his sides hurt. + +The fellows were unable to roll over the great dead tree, so had decided +to "smudge the brutes out," as Ham said. Accordingly, they built a fire +at the side where the bees had been seen to enter the tree. Chuck had +carried water from the stream in his hat to make the fire smoke, and, as +they watched the hole, the bees came swarming out at the end of the log +behind them, "with spears sharpened and ready for action," as Ham +afterward said. Such lively gymnastics and hurried departures Willis had +never before witnessed. Fat completely forgot that he was hungry, and Ham +took occasion to severely chastise himself, using his old felt hat for a +paddle, while Chuck went ploughing through the underbrush like a young +bull-moose, murmuring strange, inarticulate sentences. Fortunately for +them all, the bee tree was nothing but a nest of marsh-wasps, and there +were nowhere near as many as Chuck declared there were. The damage was +slight to all except Fat, and he had enough signs of battle to warrant a +leather medal for bravery. The saddest thing was that the hoped-for "milk +and honey" did not materialize. + +As the party sat together eating the last of their rations, Ham fell into +one of his philosophical moods. + +"I like this kind of life," he began. "Out here you let go your hold on +man-made things and shift for yourself." He looked cautiously over at +Fat, who was trying to scratch a particularly itchy sting just out of +reach in the middle of his back. "I like the unchanging condition of +nature," he continued. "The wilderness is all yours, and you may take +from it all the essentials of primitive living--shelter, warmth, and +food." + +"Ham, you're an unmitigated prevaricator," cried Fat as he scratched and +made faces. Ham paid no attention to him. "Here in the open country you +can get mighty close to the great wilderness with its myriads of busy +lives, and--" Fat picked up a pine cone and threw it, but Ham disappeared +around the end of the big rock. + +"Ham, you're just like the loons we have on the Michigan lakes," taunted +Willis. "You can do and say more crazy things than all the rest of us +ducks put together; but when any one takes a shot at you, you're out of +sight." + +By this time Fat had managed to make two holes in his can of milk and was +drinking the contents. Mr. Allen had returned to his sketching, and +Willis had gone over to the little dam to get a drink. Suddenly there was +the snort of a horse and the rapid tramping of hoofs. A dog gave two +or three barks, then horse, rider, and dog appeared on the trail. In a +second another rider, with a pick and shovel thrown over his shoulder, +came over the ridge. The first pulled in his horse and, turning in his +saddle, looked to see if his companion was coming. Being confident that +he was not far behind, he again urged his horse forward, apparently not +noticing the group by the big boulder. Ham got to his feet and spoke to +the dog. The horseman gave a quick exclamation of surprise, then called +out, "Howdy!" Mr. Allen rose. + +"Well, well!" called the man. "Seems to me yew fellers are travelin' +some, ain't ye?" + +"O, a little," returned Mr. Allen. + +"You don't happen to know, do you, whether there are two cabins above +here, do you? We was directed to the middle cabin." + +"No, only a very badly decayed one--just a pile of tumbled-down logs," +replied Mr. Allen. The second rider had come up and dismounted, and +together they studied a sketch which he had taken from his pocket. + +"This must be the one, that's all," he drawled, as he spat out a great +quid of tobacco, "'cause he said it was by the bridge. We must o' missed +the other cabin in the trees somewhere below here." + +Willis was eyeing the newcomers closely. A stern, hard look crossed his +face as he quickened his pace. He reached Mr. Allen's side, and the first +rider nodded to him. He drew nearer and observed the sketch very closely, +listening intently to all the strangers had to say. His heart was beating +fast, but just why he could not have told. + +"Well, Jim, I guess we'd better unsaddle an' give the nags a drink an' a +rest," said the stranger as he carefully folded up the sketch and put it +in his pocket. "Seems strange as how we'd meet twice in these mountains +in nearly as many days, don't it?" remarked the man, as he began to +loosen the saddle girths and to untie the sacks of grub that were +fastened on behind. + +"How is that?" queried Mr. Allen. + +"Why, wasn't it you that went up the trail to the top of Cheyenne the +other day?" questioned the man. Then, without waiting for a reply, he +went on: "We was doin' an assessment up there that day an' seed you as +you stood talkin' to that crusty old prospector that works that tunnel." + +"O yes," said Mr. Allen, "so you are the men that were up there by that +black dump?" + +"Yep, we're the fellers, Jim an' me." + +"Are you going to do more assessment work here in this canyon?" +questioned Ham. + +"Yep, we've got two assessments to do here somewhere," returned the +stranger. "This canyon, or at least part of it, belongs to a real estate +company in Colorado Springs. I don't believe there is any gold here, but +they are holdin' the property as an investment. Seems like they expect +sometime to open this canyon to tourist trade to see some swell falls +that's up in it somewheres." + +"O, is that so?" returned Mr. Allen. "Then you don't think there is any +gold here at all?" + +"Nope, I don't, an' I'll tell ye why. Gold, as it's found in these parts, +runs in a strata of quartz. Now, there ain't no quartz in this range, +except on Cheyenne. The old-timer down at the inn says that there's gold +up here, an' he knows where it is, but you can't take no stock in these +old fellers. They're daft on the gold question." + +Mr. Allen looked at his watch, then, turning to the fellows, he suggested +that they had better start for home. After a little more conversation the +two parties separated, one to camp for the night in the cabin, the other +to return to the city. + +Willis motioned Mr. Allen to the back of the line as they worked their +way down the trail and into the park. + +"The plot thickens," began Willis, with a queer little smile on his face. +Then with a slight chuckle he added: "To be more accurate, I suppose I +should say 'The plot thins.' Those are the two men that were at my +uncle's house the morning we started on this trip, and my uncle drew that +sketch--I'm sure of it. The heading was torn from the paper, but I feel +it in my bones that he was the artist. Those are the men that were doing +the assessment on my father's old claim on Cheyenne for my uncle. He +never dreamed of my seeing them here and knowing they were in his employ. +I understand now why he didn't want me to come on this trip. A coward is +always suspicious. I never would have put the two together in the wide +world if he hadn't made such a fuss about my coming. One thing is +absolutely certain--my Uncle Williams is crooked, and that isn't all, +either. My Uncle Williams owns that cabin, and we'll never get it for our +use in this wide world. What will the fellows say when they know it +belongs to my uncle and we can't get it? The cabin is ideal, and it could +be repaired with very little cost. It is isolated and in a beautiful +spot, and is the only thing we have found. Don't tell the fellows about +it, please, until I see what I can do. I'll do my very best." + +"Now, look here, my boy; don't let that bother you," replied Mr. Allen. +"Wait. Don't trouble trouble till trouble troubles you. He hasn't +troubled you yet, he's just getting ready to. Let's beat him at his own +game. There are more ways than one to skin a cat." + +"But how?" inquired Willis. + +"Well, the first thing to do is to get the exact location of the cabin, +then go to the county recorder's office and see to whom the property +belongs. If it ever belonged to your father, as you are now disposed to +believe--" + +"Yes, I'd bet my hat, Mr. Allen, that this is the very cabin that my +father and Tad Kieser built. O, how I 'd like to have it all for my very +own!" Mr. Allen interrupted him. "As I was saying, the records will show +very plainly if it was ever transferred or if it was anything but a lode +claim. If your father owned it, that settles it. Williams has nothing to +say about it. Placer claims can't be taken on deeded property. However, +let's not worry about it, but let's count it ours and work toward that +end." + +"O my, if Tad were only here, we'd soon know a thing or two!" exclaimed +Willis. + +"Now, boy, listen! Don't go home and spoil all this business. Keep still +about it until to-morrow, when we can get at the records and find out for +certain just what is what. Will you do that?" questioned Mr. Allen. + +"I'll tell my mother," replied Willis, "and to-morrow I'll go with you." + +The trail was winding back and forth through a great park of aspens. On +every side were prospect holes, remains of old cabins, and places where +the wilderness was again reclaiming her own after men had spent their +time, money, and energy attempting to force her to give up her gold. + +At the top of the hogsback that over-looked Bruin Inn the fellows sat +down to rest. They were back in familiar territory, now, and the cabin +quest was nearly over. + +"Of course, the very first thing to do," Ham was saying, "is to get in +stone and get our fireplace built before the frost comes. It will be a +simple matter--just throw down stones from the mountain; they are flat +slabs and will lay up very easily. We'll use that big, flat stone at +the end as a foundation, and run the chimney up outside the house--a real +big, life-sized one, too. And we want a grand old-fashioned crane in the +grate, and andirons of stone, and a big cement hearth." + +"Going to do all your cooking in the fireplace?" asked Chuck. + +"Not on your life," put in Fat. "We'll bring up our old camp stove, the +one we had on the trip last summer--it's a dandy." + +"I've got the only stunt, though," said Ham. "Let's build a great big bed +on the rafters that run from wall to wall. We'll just cut a lot of +saplings and lay them in close and support the bed from the roof. After +it has about two feet of balsam boughs on it, it will be a choice roost, +I tell you that. I'm going to be architect and boss carpenter of that +job." + +"Yes," said Mr. Allen gravely, "but it's not a fireplace, an aerial bunk, +or a place to eat that I'm thinking of. There is no use putting our time, +effort, and money into this place unless we can take care of at least +twenty fellows at a time, and how can we do it?" + +"The eating won't be any trouble," advised Fat. "They will get enough to +eat some way--I always do." "We'll build an addition," suggested Phil, "a +bunk house addition. That will be easy; we can build it out where that +old back porch is, can't we? And say, talk about great logs, what's the +matter with those aspens right there ready for us?" + +"We could buy tin dishes, but where is the money coming from? That is the +main question," said Mr. Allen. "Money," snorted Ham, "that will come if +we're in earnest, dead earnest. How about that circus? How much money do +we need, anyway?" + +Mr. Allen drew out his note-book, and made some rapid calculations. +"Well, the very least that you can do with, fellows, is two hundred and +fifty dollars." + +"Good-bye, fond dreams!" cried Fat tragically. + +"Two hundred and fifty dollars!" exclaimed Phil and Ham together. "How +do you get that?" + +"Well, cement and lime for the fireplace, freight to Fairview on boards, +shingles, furnishings, and so on; rent on donkeys to do the packing, +dishes, and pantry boxes, for everything will have to be kept in tin +boxes. Then you'll have to hire a mason to put in the fireplace. You'll +need axes, saws, and tools. I'll wager it won't cost a cent less than two +hundred dollars, and great loads of hard work." + +"Hard fun, you mean," interrupted Phil. + +As the evening shadows began to lengthen and the cool breeze to rise from +the snow-clad peaks of the Middle Range, the little group of explorers +dropped into the canyon and hurried home. All were very full of ideas and +suggestions except Willis. He had listened to their talk, but was saying +over and over to himself, "If it doesn't come true, it's my fault, or my +uncle's, and that's the same thing." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A Strange Turn of Fate + + +"Let's take Mr. Dean to the courthouse with us, Willis," said Mr. Allen. +"He is very shrewd, and we can depend on his judgment in such matters as +we have before us to-day." Willis found Mr. Dean, and in a short time +they were on their way, Mr. Allen explaining to Mr. Dean the possible +difficulty that had arisen in regard to the ownership of the cabin. + +Upon their arrival at the courthouse, the first thing was to study a +United States geological map to find the township, section lines, +railroads, and streams. Then began the search through old, yellow volumes +of records, one after another, each one bringing them nearer to the +desired information. + +"Section five, west of range sixty-seven," read Mr. Dean. "That's the +place, boys; now we must locate an exact point in that section. You say +the cabin is located on a stream and a trail. The falls are marked here;" +he pointed with his pencil. "Now downstream a little; here we are, three +trails marked instead of one. You came over from the railroad, didn't +you?" + +"Yes, right here," said Willis, pointing. "The cabin is where these two +trails cross each other." + +In the center of the next volume, for there had been many claims located +and recorded on the little stream, they found the record of a property +belonging to Willis's father and a Mr. Kieser. The record showed the date +of its refiling, after the country had become a part of the Pike's Peak +Forest Reserve. The survey lines were given, but of course they could not +be located on the map. Was the cabin on the property there recorded or +not? Willis remembered that his mother had said not, so they pushed +further into the books and came to the description of a lode claim, the +corner of which, according to the record, was at the intersection of +the two trails, just where the stream swings south. It was originally +staked and recorded by a man named Briney as a placer claim. Six +consecutive assessments were recorded, then two years later the claim was +relocated by a Joseph H. Williams. Willis frowned as he made notes and +took down the dates of the assessments. + +"There you are," he said despondently; "just as I thought yesterday--Mr. +Joseph H. Williams, my uncle, owner. Great chance of getting that cabin, +isn't there?" + +"Now, hold your horses," interrupted Mr. Dean. "Let's finish the rest of +this record. Well, that's the strangest thing I ever heard of. His last +assessment is dated last summer, August 3, 19--. This year's work hasn't +been done yet. Why--well, anyway, there must be something worth while +around that cabin. 'Claim jumped and re-recorded as a lode claim August +22, 19--.' Why, that's the day you started on the trip to look for a +cabin!" + +"You are right," exclaimed Mr. Allen. "Let's look at the list of records +filed on August 22d last." The clerk showed them the page. It read as +follows: + +"Assessment on Joseph H. Williams lode claim, Cheyenne Mountain." Then +followed the description. Directly under it was the following: + +"Lode claim, Buffalo Park, located by Beverly H. Pembroke, as described +on page 1162." + +"The cabin then belongs, by right of relocation, to Beverly H. Pembroke," +remarked Mr. Allen, "and we are just exactly four days late. Too bad we +didn't start at this end of the trip." + +"Who is Beverly H. Pembroke?" asked Mr. Dean. No one could tell. "Well, +this much is clear," he went on: "there was some very good reason for the +relocation of that claim, and it couldn't have been for that old cabin. +Men don't locate claims to get possession of old, tumbled-down log cabins +nowadays." + +"Well, there's this much that isn't clear," returned Willis: "why that +change was made the day we started over this route, and furthermore, how +does it come that the same men worked the assessment on the two claims if +they belong to different parties? No, sir, men, listen: my Uncle didn't +want that cabin in his possession at this time for some reason, so he +transferred the claim to this man, Pembroke. Anyway, I'm glad it doesn't +belong to my uncle now, whether we get it for our purpose or not." + +"Now, you listen," said Mr. Dean: "let's go and see Mr. Pembroke at once +and inquire about it. He can't do more than throw us out, and it might be +he'd be tickled to let us have the cabin. Every hundred dollars' worth of +work done on that property, whether it's mine, trail, dam, or housework, +is equal to an assessment. If we remodel the house and use it, he can +buy the property or, as they say, 'prove up' on it. What do you say? I +believe we can make a bargain." + +"It's a go!" cried Mr. Allen. "I was sure we would need your brains for +this job, Mr. Dean. Let's go right now." They looked up the desired +gentleman in the directory, then started for his office. + +"Cheer up, old boy," cried Mr. Allen as he slapped Willis on the back. +"Here's where we win, uncle or no uncle. Isn't that right, Mr. Dean?" + +"You feel too confident," returned Willis. "I see the game. You don't. +Mr. Beverly H. Pembroke will politely refuse any offer. My uncle has +coached him on what to say to any inquiries. See if I'm not right!" + +"You haven't a very good opinion of that uncle of yours, have you?" said +Mr. Dean. "I don't see why he should be so vitally interested in keeping +you away from an old cabin. I think you imagine things, boy." + +"You know some things are true that you can't see," tersely replied +Willis. "You can't see a pain in your stomach, but you can feel it and it +tells you something is wrong. It's just the same in this case. I can't +see it, but I know something is wrong, and the next thing for us to do is +to get our heads together and find out the causes. We're interested in +the causes." + +Mr. Beverly H. Pembroke sat idly in his office. His feet were hoisted up +on the window sill, his straw hat tipped far back on his head, while a +long, slender cigar was held between his teeth. He was decidedly an +Englishman, and a very nervous, fidgety one at that. As the three entered +he got to his feet and inquired concerning their wants. + +"Log cabin--Buffalo Park--Lode claim located August 22d." He puffed +meditatively at his cigar, endeavoring to focus his thoughts on the +matter before him. A frown clouded his face, then suddenly disappeared. + +"Why-a, yes, ba Jove, this 'ot weather 'as nearly set me crazy. My brains +'ave been bemuddled all day, don't you know. Ba Jove, I most forgot that +new claim. Yes, yes, and you want 'ow many shares?" + +Mr. Allen looked at Mr. Dean and smiled. "You do the talking," he said. + +"Well, it's like this," said Mr. Dean. Then he laid his proposition +before the Englishman, who puffed away on his cigar and listened in +silence. "Sorry, very sorry, gentlemen," he began, "but I 'ave just +arranged with a party to 'old that site for a summer 'otel or a fruit +farm, or some such a thing, don't you know. Sorry, beastly sorry, though, +because I 'ave to refuse you." + +Mr. Allen looked at Mr. Dean, a great disappointment showing on his face. +He turned to Willis, who was standing in the background. The boy was +squinting out between half-closed eyelids and his fists were clenched +hard at his sides. He was gazing steadfastly at the floor. Suddenly he +looked up at Mr. Allen, then shoved himself behind the railing that +separated them from the Englishman and spoke in clearcut tones. + +"Mr. Pembroke--" The little Englishman batted his eyes nervously and +straightened noticeably. He was all attention in a second. Willis looked +him straight in the eye and continued: "I don't suppose you know who I +am, at least you don't appear to. I hate to ask favors of any man, or +take undue advantage of any one, but in this instance I feel that I have +just a little claim upon your attention and your consideration." Mr. +Allen looked at Mr. Dean in utter astonishment. + +"Very early this spring you and I were fellow passengers on a D. & P.W. +train coming to Colorado Springs. Do you remember? That train was wrecked +on a stormy afternoon by the splintering of the rails, which caused a +collision with a heavy freight. It was my pleasure at that time to save +the life of your little son." + +"Ba Jove," murmured the Englishman, as he shifted his weight from one leg +to the other. "It was a deucedly nasty business. I'm very pleased to meet +you again, Mr.--a--a--" + +"Thornton," said Mr. Allen. + +"Mr. Thornton, and--" + +"Never mind that," continued Willis. "All I have to say is that I would +count it a very great favor, personally, if you could see your way clear +to let us have the use of that cabin for an Association camp, until such +time as you are ready to build or make other improvements there." + +"Why--a--yes, I'll be pleased to do that," returned Mr. Pembroke +confusedly. "Deucedly glad to 'ave a chance to serve you, don't you know. +Now, just what is your plan again, gentlemen?" + +The plan was carefully gone over, this time with Willis as spokesman. Mr. +Pembroke listened carefully till he had finished, then he replied, "Ba +Jove, I like the idea, it 'as points to it. I'd like to furnish the +necessary lumber for the desired addition myself. It will be a deucedly +comfortable 'ome for the boys. You know it was the Association boys that +returned my dog to me." + +Before leaving his office, a three years' lease was arranged for and +everything looked lovely. What was more, the addition could be started at +once. + +"Well, by the Great Horn Spoon!" ejaculated Mr. Dean when they were well +outside. "You are a wonder! That is what I call nerve. Now tell me all +about it." + +"Bah!" replied Willis, "I hated to do it, but I had to. I was going to +ask the old boy what Mr. Williams would say to him, but I thought better +of it. To-night is when I have my fun. I'll tell my uncle about our deal +and watch him squirm. I wonder if he'll get mad. I can tell by the way he +acts if this recording business was a put-up job. There still remains +_the_ question, though--why does he want to keep me away from that cabin? +It has something to do with my father's old mine, I'm sure of that much; +and I'll find out, you see if I don't." + +The evening papers gave a glowing account of the interest of Mr. Beverly +H. Pembroke in the new Y.M.C.A. cabin project, and gave the plan of work. +A circus was already being planned to raise funds for the building, and a +stock company had been organized among the boys of the Boys' Department +to furnish funds with which to begin work at once. Work would be started +the next Saturday. The stockholders and some others would go to the cabin +on Friday evening, camp around a fire all night, and be ready to begin +work in the morning. After supper that evening Willis had a long chat +with his mother, and talked over with her all the things that had been +disturbing him in regard to his uncle's recent actions. + +"I think you must surely be mistaken," she said. "What object could he +have in doing such things. You must remember that you have a very vivid +imagination, and you must watch it." + +"No, mother, it is not imagination, for this is how I know this time: +Didn't you see how red and nervous he got when I told him what Mr. +Pembroke had agreed to do. Right after supper he left for down town +without a word. I don't know what it is, but there is some fact relative +to father's death that he has never told us. If we could only find Tad, +I'm sure he could help us out. I'm going to find father's mine, though, +and it's not so very far from that cabin, either. Mother, isn't it +wonderful that we are going to have the very old house that father built +so long ago? After I find the mine, I'll find out about its worth; but it +can't be worth so very much or Tad would never have left it. If the +tunnel is still locked up like you said Tad wrote it was, why, we can't +get into it. It belongs to Tad. Perhaps it will never be opened. Mother, +some day when you have a chance, talk with Uncle Joe and see what you can +find out. Father might have left keys and information concerning the mine +with him." + +"No, son, he wouldn't have keys, because it was Tad that locked up the +tunnel. It is Tad that has the keys. But listen, don't worry over it a +bit or build any false hopes on it. School will open in a week, and I +want you to take advantage of all it can give you. We'll be here until +Christmas, anyway, I think, unless Aunt Lucy should slip away before that +time." + +"I wonder what uncle would say to me if I asked him about Tad when he +comes home tonight. I think that's what I'll do." + +About nine o'clock he heard the heavy footsteps of his uncle on the +veranda, and in another moment heard him in the hall. After hanging up +his hat and coat, he came into the library, picked up the _Evening +Telegraph,_ and began to read, entirely ignoring Willis. After they had +sat thus silently for some minutes, Willis spoke: + +"Uncle, did you ever know a man named Tad Kieser, who was a great friend +of my father's?" The man moved uneasily in his chair, but, without +looking up from his paper, he inquired of the boy what he knew of Tad +Kieser. + +"Not much, to be sure," returned the boy, half sadly, "only what mother +has told me about him; but I'd like to know more. I think he must have +been a very interesting old character, wasn't he?" + +"An old devil and a cut-throat," retorted Mr. Williams. "You couldn't +count on him to be square even to his own mother. A sly old fox always on +the hunt." + +"That's very strange," replied Willis. "He surely was not that sort of a +man or my father never would have chosen him for a partner. You surely +must be mistaken." "Your father didn't have enough dealings with him to +find him out; that was all. I know him." + +"Tell me about some of the awful deeds he has committed if he is such a +fox," questioned Willis. "I've always thought him absolutely square. I've +heard he was the finest man in these mountains, years ago." + +"Who told you any such rot? I have enough circumstantial evidence against +him to put him behind the bars right now," growled the uncle. + +"Evidence along what lines, Uncle?" persisted Willis. + +"Blackmail!" snorted Williams. "What difference does it make to you, +anyway? He would be a capital fellow to join in on such an absurdly +foolish scheme as you are just about to pull off at the Y.M.C.A. now. +Going into somebody else's property and absorbing its benefits to +yourselves. That's his scheme exactly. He watches my mining claims like a +hawk, and if my assessments should be a day late he'd jump my claims. He +hates me." + +"What did you ever do to make him hate you?" innocently inquired Willis. + +Again Mr. Williams ignored the question and went on: "He'd just love to +work on that old cabin again." + +"I should think that cabin _would_ interest him," calmly replied Willis. +"I only wish he was here to join us, for I'd rather know him than any man +I can think of just now. A man who builds a house ought to know how best +to build onto it, hadn't he? Personally, I think he must have been a very +clever old miner and as true as steel." + +"Yes, true to his own interests." + +"It takes two to make a fight, though, doesn't it? By the way, Uncle, why +did you let that sapheaded Englishman jump your claim last week? I +should think you'd hate him for such tricks as you do Tad?" Willis eyed +his uncle closely, then in a half undertone he casually remarked, +"Anyway, I think a whole lot of this mining business is mighty crooked +business." Then again to his uncle, "Is Tad still around in the mountains +somewhere, Uncle?" + +Mr. Williams smiled in a preoccupied way and said, "Yes and no." + +"I don't understand?" questioned Willis. + +There was no reply. Soon the man laid down his paper and left the room. + +"Well, I'll be jiggered," said Willis half-aloud. "What can he have +against the man who was my father's partner? I don't know, but I'll find +out." He closed his book with a slam and went off to bed. + + * * * * * + +The last Friday night of the summer vacation saw a large group of husky +high school boys board the car en route to the cabin. All were equipped +with blanket rolls, and several carried picks, shovels, and other tools, +for "to-morrow" real work on the cabin was to begin. It seemed that the +coloring of the leaves had given everything their delicate tint. The +squirrels were already gathering stray acorns that Mother Nature had +dropped for them. The little canyon lay in perfect quiet, except for the +chattering of the line of boys stretched out along its leafy woodland +trail. The whole physical body seemed to respond in a mysterious way to +its every call, for "In the city we live, but in the mountains we live +more abundantly." + +By eleven o'clock the party sat around a half-dozen blazing campfires, +munching at a midnight lunch and speculating on various phases of +the work. Ham was keeping the fellows around one fire laughing over +his remarks; Fat was giving expression to his views on camp grub and +food in general. Mr. Dean entertained another group by his stories of +army life, while Mr. Allen and a number of the boys' Cabinet were laying +out a plan of work for the morrow. Shorty Wier advised work on the +fireplace first, because, as he pointed out, "the fireplace would be +the cabin's heart." It might have fine decorations and new rooms, a +well-stocked pantry and new furniture, yet what would all these be to a +dead thing? The fireplace would be the spot around which all the cabin +life would congregate--around which every strange experience would be put +into words. "Yes, I'll help cut the logs and pack in the lumber and build +the furniture, but first of all let me see the rugged stone chimney with +a fire quietly burning on a great, wide, friendly hearth to cheer me as I +work." + +"You are right, Shorty," cried Willis. "I'm with you, for when the old +fireplace is built, and the wind is whistling down the canyon, bringing +messages of snow, we'll forget everything outside and just be happy +toasting before a great log fire." + +And so the night slipped along. After a while they began to drowse, until +one by one the little groups became quiet and fell asleep. Only the +glowing, flickering pine knots stayed awake to watch the tired sleepers. + +The first streak of dawn found the fellows up and eager for work; +besides, there was so much to see and learn before the day's work was +begun. The remains of the midnight lunches were drawn out of their hiding +places and eagerly devoured. The fragrant smell of broiling bacon and the +delicious aroma of campfire coffee filled the air. The pine-scented smoke +from the campfire hung low in the valley, and every sound carried plainly +in the morning air. The squirrels were out in great numbers and at their +morning play, while every now and then the harsh, rasping cry of a +bewildered bluejay would float up the canyon. + +The stone crew were strung out in skirmish order across the front of the +high ridge and were rolling down every loose stone. Some came with a +merry hop, skip, and jump; others with a shower of gravel and a crash as +they struck the bottom. One great stone leaped into the top of a spruce +tree and stuck fast. Another jumped over the great boulder at the base of +the hill and rattled into the open door of the cabin. Still another +dashed in mad frenzy down the slope, through the alders and into the +stream, throwing spray in every direction. So the pile steadily grew. + +In the afternoon the cabin was cleaned out and a part of the back +porch demolished, ready for the new addition. It had been decided to +build a room eight by twenty-eight feet, and in it lay one great +balsam-bough mattress. Under Ham's direction the aerial bunk was begun, +and it very soon showed signs of being built by a master builder. It was +what might be termed "rustic," as Ham said. Logs from the woodpile were +substituted for the rotting ones in the floor of the bridge. A great pile +of brush, twigs, and trash were set afire and destroyed. So the day +slipped away--all too quickly. Four o'clock found a group of royal good +fellows again on the trail--that trail that was soon to become so dear to +every one of them. Their muscles were tired with unselfish work, and +their minds and hearts were full of the joy of living. There was already +something of the great social bond that was later to tie their lives +together for all time with a cord of pleasant memories. + +Ham had fastened his blanket to a nail away up in the topmost rafter of +the cabin, and here he left it for another time. + +"Where your blanket is, there will your heart be also, sometimes," he +quoted as they took the trail that led down out of the wilderness. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +The Discovery of the Mine + + +Two weeks later another crowd was organized to do a day's work on the +cabin, and it seemed every boy in the Department wanted to go. "Unless +you feel as husky as a steam elevator, you better stay home," was Ham's +advice to one small boy, for Ham had been chairman of the committee that +had been so busy since the last trip, purchasing all manner of supplies, +equipment, and building material for the cabin, all of which would have +to be packed over from Fairview on donkeys, and there was nearly a +carload of it. Ham was under the impression that the donkeys would fall +dead when they saw the "pile of junk," and that every single fellow in +the crowd would have to "wiggle his ears, bray once or twice, and get +busy," if the cabin ever became the possessor of the new equipment. + +Twenty fellows besides the "Chief" and Mr. Dean were on hand at the +appointed time. At the mouth of the canyon two very faithful old donkeys, +that had years before belonged to a prospector, were rented for the trip. +Under their former master they had been trained to carry heavy loads of +ore from the little mine far back in the mountains out to the city, and +to return again heavily laden with the provisions for another winter in +camp. They had learned their lessons well, so were perfectly trustworthy. + +Peanuts was the oldest, and therefore came in for the most consideration +and the lightest load. As he raised his tired, patient old head, his long +gray ears pointed forward at the sight of the pack saddles. One glance +and he was satisfied. He perfectly understood what was coming, and +visions of the long, zigzag paths through shaded valleys all fresh from +the summer showers flashed through his brain. Peanuts loved the trail, +the deep, long, grassy trail, that crept along close to the little +stream, then up and up into the great Silent Places. Tradition told that +Peanuts had been the first donkey to carry a pack up Pike's Peak, as well +as the first to bring real "high grade" out of the Cripple Creek; but of +course tradition might have been mistaken. At any rate, Peanuts was a +gentle, slow, patient toiler of the trail, and it was largely due to his +good judgment that the cabin was ever equipped. + +Many were the trips he made after that first journey. There were +summer trips in the hot sun of July days; autumn trips in the cool, +sweet-scented evenings when the mountain twilight lingers on the treetops +and the rocky crests. There were trips in the winter when the trail was +hidden underneath heavy blankets of snow or lost in the deep white +drifts. Once he had gone in beyond his depth and had settled down and +down into the fluffy snow until just his head and big ears were visible +above the snowbank. + +His companion, Tuberculosis, was a little different type of beast. His +legs were long and his spirits high. He was in the prime of life and was +not as trustworthy as his partner. Certainly Tuberculosis had his +idiosyncrasies, and that fact often spelled trouble for both himself +and his masters. Now, Peanuts had learned that his driver was always +boss, and acted accordingly; but not so with Tuberculosis. He believed +that his own judgment in certain matters of conduct was best. For +instance, it was absolutely against his principles to ever cross a +stream, no matter how well it was bridged or how insignificant its size. +Yet, after many experiences, seasoned with a little strenuous persuasion +from the end of an alder limb, he began slowly to change his views. +However, he positively had no use for burned stumps, and when it came to +passing a campfire, Tuberculosis absolutely declined. There was just one +thing that both donkeys very firmly believed, and that was that each +was to lead and the other follow when on the trail. This was the only +point upon which they really ever quarreled, and most every time Peanuts, +because of his mature judgment and statesmanship, won out. + +When the pack saddles were on, and the pack bags of food adjusted on +either side, the blanket rolls piled high on top, they were ready to +begin the journey, "Donkeys are a good deal like some men," observed Ham +as the little column came to the base of the hogsback, "they always +have to travel by freight." + +"How is that?" questioned Willis, who had appointed himself guardian to +Peanuts and was just ahead of Ham. + +"Why, because they can't express themselves," was the reply. + +"Not verbally, perhaps," suggested Fat, "but they do have a signal code, +of which their hind legs are the main features. I've had them signal at +me more than once." + +"And if you ever receive the completed message," added Ham, "it usually +says, 'Six weeks in the hospital.'" + +At the top of the hogsback the party separated into two groups. The one +under Mr. Allen continued on up the trail with the two donkeys, while the +other, under Mr. Dean, took the railroad, walking around by Fairview, to +see if their equipment had arrived. + +It was decided the boys would sleep around a rousing fire rather than on +the cold floor of the cabin. The shakedown was too dry to be comfortable, +and Ham's aerial bunk had not yet been completed. They therefore chose a +spot for the night's camp across the stream from the cabin on a piece of +high level ground covered with a thick brown carpet of pine needles. Very +soon a bright fire was burning and the night's wood gathered. From the +bulging packsacks a real camp supper was gotten under way. Every fellow +cooked his own piece of meat and baked his potato in the coals, while Mr. +Allen made the coffee and opened the cans of beans. Each fellow fashioned +himself a spoon from a dry stick, and the new cabin tincups were +initiated into service. Ham, who had had some previous experience with +donkeys, warned everybody to be sure to save all the scraps, for beans, +rye bread, or beefsteak were all dainties to the faithful animals. + +One of the fellows had brought his mouth-organ, and under his leadership +they sang every song from "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" to "Nearer, My +God, to Thee." When the fire had had time to work its wonders on the +hearts and spirits of the campers, Mr. Allen suggested a few stories. Of +course, he just voiced what was in the minds of many others, for who ever +heard of a campfire, a grand night, a happy crowd, and no stories? Such a +situation was inconceivable. Every fellow looked forward to the campfire +because of the stories, and remembered the stories because of the +campfire. They were inseparable. Mr. Dean opened the program. One story +suggested another, and that one another, until nearly every one in the +circle had told a story except Ham. Willis told Indian legends of the +great Kankakee Swamp and of the disappearance of the Pottawattomie +Indians. Another told of a wonderful trip through Yellowstone Park; +another of a deer hunt in Routt County; and still another of a mountain +goat expedition in the Canadian Rockies. All the while Ham lay flat on +his back, shading his face from the fire with his hands, and looking up +at the stars. He was reveling in the spirit of the fire and of the night. + +"What are you dreaming about, Ham?" called Willis from the other side of +the fire, to which Ham made no reply. + +"What's on your mind?" asked Fat, as he rolled over, facing Ham, and +punched him in the ribs. + +"Nothing special," drawled Ham as he rose to a sitting position and drew +his legs up under him. "I've just been listening. Your stories have been +the words to the music that is in the air to-night. I love to lie still +before a fire and listen to its music. I never realized before how many +out-of-door noises are liberated when a pile of dry sticks are burned. +That old fire has just been singing all the imprisoned songs of the +forest wild to-night, and giving out again in its little flames a hundred +thousand tons of absorbed sunshine." + +"Ham, let's have the Pike's Peak story," urged Mr. Dean; but Ham only +laughed. + +"Yes, let's do," begged Willis. + +"What's the Pike's Peak story?" inquired Sleepy from his place against an +old stump. + +"Well, if every one of you fellows will promise to never mention it again +to me," said Ham hesitatingly; "but I'm not going to tell you all the +details--just the plot--remember that!" He settled himself comfortably +and began: + +"The three of us had been in the habit of taking long Sunday afternoon +tramps in the mountains, but because of the cold weather we had been +pretty well shut in all winter. The snowfall for the season had been +heavy and the cold, especially in the mountains, had been intense. It +was the eighth of March, I think, and the very first signs of spring +had just put in their appearance. We decided that we would walk to the +Half-Way House on the Cog Road, or at least as far as we could. We +didn't know how much snow there was, or where it began, but we were all +feeling good and anxious for another real hike. We were all three dressed +in our Sunday clothes, and I was the proud possessor of a new spring suit +and a pair of low shoes. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when +we started up the track from Manitou; by five o'clock we reached the +Half-Way House, and much to our surprise found the keeper there. We had +encountered very little or no snow that far on the track, and, as the +days were getting longer, we knew we had two good hours yet before dark. +We inquired of the inn keeper how far the track was open, and he informed +us that it was clear as far as Windy Point, that there the great ice +sheets began. There is always more snow on the great south shoulder of +the Peak than anywhere else. You remember Son-of-a-Gun Hill? Well, we +decided that we would push on to the top of Son-of-a-Gun, then come back. +We left the Half-Way House and started up the track. The walking was fine +on that flat stretch just after you leave the inn, and we covered space +very rapidly. At the bottom of the great hill, in a grove of young +aspens, we stopped and cut us some walking sticks. + +"If it had been summer, and the snow and ice gone, we would probably have +noticed that there was a terrible storm gathering in the valley back of +Cameron's Cone; but with the range all white and dreary we did not notice +it. You fellows who have lived here near the mountain know that a storm +often rises up there as if by magic. They come so quickly you often +wonder where they came from. Of course, being directly in the shadow of +Pike's Peak, the sun went down very early, and our twilight was not as +long as we anticipated. I was the first to notice the cold breeze that +had sprung up, and I remarked about it; but we were walking fast and were +really too much interested in reaching the edge of the snow to pay much +attention to anything. Suddenly it grew dark and the wind increased. In +less than ten minutes we were in the midst of a howling mountain blizzard +and the snow was being driven before the wind at a terrific speed. John +suggested turning back, but Al and I were for pushing on, thinking it was +just a squall, and, as it seemed to be headed straight down the canyon, +we thought we would soon get above it. John insisted that we were crazy, +but we made all manner of fun of him, so on we went. + +"'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,' sometimes. That is just what +we did. We walked on in silence as fast as we could for half an hour. +Then we stopped and held a parley. We suddenly awoke from our little +dream of foolishness and began to realize that instead of getting out of +that storm, we had gotten into it. Up there on that great mountain side +we could not see ten feet in any direction. Above us and around us was a +raging sea of frozen pellets. The snow was drifting along the track, and +in some places it was already completely hidden. Night was coming, and +there was no shelter from the swirling winds. In number of miles we were +a good deal nearer the summit of the Peak than we were home, and +somewhere ahead of us was the old printing station. We would make for it +and its shelter--it would be foolish to expose ourselves to the storm by +returning in the open valley. Then, too, we might lose our way and slip +into the canyon below. We fought on bravely in the dark until finally the +wind went down a little and the snow grew soft and wet. Our shoes were +wet through and our bodies completely chilled, yet we could not find the +printing station. Had we passed it, or was it still ahead. We differed in +our opinions. + +"Finally the snow ceased, and we could see about us a little by the +reflected light. We spied a few straggly trees and made for them, for we +were just at timber line. We found a great tree that had blown over, +and, breaking limbs from its prostrate trunk, we built a large fire and +sat on the log to dry our feet. We were now very keenly alive to our +situation, and knew it was becoming serious. We suddenly realized that +our only safety depended on the locating of that old printing station. +Our shoes were so wet and our feet so cold that the leather burned before +we knew it; but, as a real matter of fact, we didn't realize how badly +they were burned until an hour later, when the shoes began to crack away +in bits and the uppers to rip open along the seams. + +"We reached the great snowbanks. The track and roadbed was buried deep. +The last straggling trees were far behind. We stood on a great white +waste of snow, thirty feet in depth, not a landmark to be seen. If the +station was ahead, it was buried; if it was behind, we had missed it. +With that realization our spirits fell, for to turn back now meant +certain death. Then, to add to our danger, it had begun to turn fearfully +cold--that kind of a clear, steady cold that comes only in the mountains, +when the thermometer drops twenty-five degrees below zero and the air +cuts like a knife, while your nostrils freeze together when you breathe. +At the fire we had tied handkerchiefs over our ears and tied strings +around our trouser legs to keep the wind and snow out. + +"Every little while we sat down and pounded our feet with our walking +sticks to keep up the circulation. At last we came to about two feet of a +telephone pole sticking up through the snowbank. We knew then that we +were off the road and were high up on the mountain. Luckily for us, the +snowbanks were so heavily crusted that they held us up without breaking +through. John suggested a plan: We would follow the post ends to the +Summit House; in that way we could not get lost. Two of us would stop at +the tip of one post, while the other, usually John, would push on to find +the next one. When it was located he would call and we would go to +him. Just how long we traveled in that manner I do not know. It seemed +days, but, of course, it was only a brief time. Often I was positive that +the posts were at least a half a mile apart. My shoes were so badly +cracked at the seams that my feet grew very numb with the cold, and +before long I knew I was freezing. + +"Time and again we thought we heard something coming over the snow behind +us. The air was clear as a bell, and, as we pushed on, this sound +frightened us more and more. Our imaginations began to play strange +pranks. I remember that I was too frightened to even move, so sometimes +I would just stand shivering and listening. We hardly spoke a word. By +and by the time came when I was too cold to leave my post for the next +one. I just put my arms about it and begged the fellows not to wait for +me, but to go on and save themselves; to dig a hole in the snow and leave +me in it. But John, dear old John, refused and, putting his arm about me, +he dragged me on and on. He tried to make me angry by striking me, and +warned me not to go to sleep or I would freeze. But I told him I must +sleep, for my feet and legs were numb and my arms and shoulders ached +with sharp pains; then I cried like a baby. Soon Al began to play out +also, and John plead with him not to give up. Al took me by one arm and +John the other, and together they fairly dragged me over the snow. + +"When we least expected it, we stumbled over the steps that led to +the Summit House. In a few moments we were at the door, but I was +helpless. The summit was completely buried, except at one end, where the +wind had kept it clear. John hastily examined the windows, only to find +that every opening was securely covered with an iron shutter. We were +lost! I heard John muttering to himself; then he slipped his fingers +under the bottom of the shutter, braced his feet, and pulled with a +superhuman strength--the strength of a last hope. With a creak the +shutter gave at its fastenings, then bent in the middle, and slipped out. +He then knocked out the double window with his elbow and soon had me +inside. + +"We found candles in a jar, and there was a great wood stove in the room, +but no fuel. He didn't hesitate, but went to the counter, removed the +shelves from it, and, with a meat cleaver which lay on the table, he cut +the shelves, and we soon had a fire. We heard sounds outside, and +realized that the something we had heard behind us on the snow was at the +window. We were conscious of a presence without being able to see it. +John went to the broken window and looked out, but he could see nothing. +Soon we heard stealthy steps back and forth on the flat roof above. He +barricaded the window, brought snow on the end of a board, and rubbed my +face, feet, and legs with it, then wrapped me in tablecloths which he +found in the cupboard. Several times he brought a great armful of shelves +from the storeroom and cut them up for the stove. + +"As soon as the fire was started, Al lay down on the floor and fell into +a heavy sleep. We could not waken him, and it frightened us badly. John +began to cry, and I think if it had not been for the constant pacing back +and forth of the strange animal on the roof we would all have given up. +Soon the first streaks of dawn began to show themselves, and with the +light the pacing on the roof stopped. John climbed up the tower steps and +peered out just in time to see the animal jump from the roof and +disappear. + +"The house was fairly overrun with rats that scampered in every +direction. I thought I had seen rats, mountain rats, but I had never seen +any like those. They were so bold we were afraid to sleep, for they were +large enough to be dangerous. + +"When Al awoke he was very sick and weak. John found a big tin box in the +kitchen, and in it were coffee, grapenuts, and the remains of a ham. He +melted snow for water, and got us a little breakfast. We were three +pretty serious fellows, for we knew only too well how the folks at home +would be worrying about us and how near we had come to freezing to death +on that great mountain of snow and ice. + +"After we had had breakfast, we made us crude snowshoes from the ends of +grocery boxes, which we fastened to our feet with strings. Our shoes +became hard when they dried, and it was only after painful effort that we +got them on at all. We took the piece of ham, cooked the grease from it, +and with this oiled our shoes as best we could. Traveling was very slow, +for we were weak and sick, so it was nearly evening before we reached +Manitou. There we met several rescue parties just starting to find us. I +can shut my eyes and see them now. Some carried blankets and some food. +Mr. Allen had a big red sweater on his arm and a coil of heavy rope hung +from his shoulder. Old Ben was there, too, for they had sent word to him +at Bruin Inn, inquiring if we were there, and when he found out we were +lost he insisted on joining the rescue party. In fact, it was he that +suggested that we had probably gone up Pike's Peak. Ben and I have always +been great friends ever since. + +"We held out some way till we reached home, then we all three gave up. O, +the awful sickness that followed and the pain of frozen feet! I was in +bed nearly a month, and every time I slept I dreamed of that awful night. +I came very near slipping off this earth then. Of course the newspapers +made fools of us and all the fellows teased us nearly beyond endurance. +It was only a few weeks later that an immense mountain lion was shot near +the cabin on the carriage road. There you are, you have my story, now +let's forget it." + +Not a fellow moved. They all sat looking intently into the dying fire. +After a few minutes Mr. Allen suggested a sleep, and before long the camp +was quiet, each camper wrapped in his blanket and stretched full length +on the ground. + + * * * * * + +Very early the next morning the transportation of equipment was +begun. The entire party went over to Fairview to bring the first load +of tin dishes, plates, cups, knives, forks and spoons, kettles, pots, +frying-pans, sugar cans--and so the list went on. The old shelves were +removed from the blind end of the cabin and placed near the window in the +other end. These were to serve as pantry shelves in the kitchen corner. + +After breakfast was over one group returned to the car for another load, +while Ham, with a helper, pushed forward the construction of the aerial +bunk. The queer old shakedown was torn to pieces and the poles used for +Ham's bed, the rest of it was shoved out of the back door and set afire. +On this load the stove came, two fellows supporting it on the pack-saddle +of old Peanuts. It was set up near the window and a work table built at +the end of it. Another set of shelves was made for the pantry, and soon +all was in readiness at that end of the house. The old grub box was +converted into a bread box, and the little old stove was set back in an +out-of-the-way corner. It was, indeed, the passing of the old to give +place to the new. + +Tuberculosis seemed to enter completely into the spirit of the new, for +he had walked calmly back and forth over the shaky old bridge which +crossed the stream with load after load of shingles and sacks of cement +and a thousand other things that were to have a place in the cabin. There +were windows and a heavy pine door for the new room. There were axes +and saws and hammers. There were buckets and lanterns and iron bars to +put over the windows, and stove-pipe for the kitchen stove. Then, too, +there was a grand old crane for the fireplace and the frame for a wire +screen to keep the flying brands on the hearth. Not a thing that would be +needed had been forgotten. It was a weary crowd of fellows that came +slowly along the trail at noon with the last load of boards, hung on the +sides of Peanuts' saddle, the nails and hardware, packed in heavy canvas +bags, loaded on Tuberculosis. + +The aerial bunk was all completed before dinner time, except thatching it +with balsam boughs, and all hands would help at that after the noon meal. +Mr. Allen prepared the meal, and it was a real camp dinner. Could fellows +ever have been so hungry before? + +In the afternoon the rest of the old back veranda was demolished and +cleared away. A large number of great, tall aspens, the choice of the +grove, were cut, trimmed, and dragged in, in readiness for the new +structure. It seemed that all the jays for miles around and all the +squirrels in the valley came to investigate when they heard the crashing +of the big trees and the merry sound of the axes. Great piles of balsam +boughs were dragged down from the mountain side opposite the cabin. These +were carefully trimmed before they were handed up to Ham, who was in the +bunk doing the thatching. The early afternoon saw the completion of the +fine, big bed--big enough for five people; and as the fellows became too +tired to work, the bunk became more and more popular. Every one was +anxious to try it. + +A heavy hasp was spiked to its place, and the cabin was put under lock +and key for the first time. They had really taken possession of it--it +was theirs. + +"It beats the Dutch how much that yard of stovepipe sticking out there +adds to her looks," observed Mr. Dean when the stove had been set up. + +"It isn't the stovepipe so much," replied Chuck, "as it is the smoke +coming out of it." + +"What pipe are you talking about?" inquired Sleepy as he dropped down out +of the new bunk to inspect the work the others had been doing since noon. +"Who's smoking a pipe?" he persisted, not understanding the conversation. + +"The cabin," tersely remarked Chuck. "But it has to get warm before it +can smoke, and it has to work before it can get warm. The cabin might +teach you a lesson." + +Later in the afternoon there was a great commotion a little distance up +the trail, and Mr. Allen hastened to investigate the shouting and sounds +of chopping. To his great disgust he found Sleepy dealing heavy blows to +an old pine tree with an ax while the perspiration was running down his +face. He was prancing about in great excitement. + +"What on earth?" questioned Mr. Allen. + +"I'm trying to get a squirrel. I saw him up in this tree just a moment +ago," cried Sleepy. + +"Is that all you can find to do to use up your energy?" asked Mr. Allen +dryly. Sleepy looked at him sheepishly, then hung his head and slowly +returned to the cabin, brought a pail of water from the stream, then +crawled up into the bunk, out of sight. + +By the time things were straightened around in the cabin so that the +mason could build the fireplace it was time to be starting home, but +every one was too tired from the day's work. They decided they would rest +in the cool shade for an hour before beginning the tramp down. It would +then be twilight. + +Willis took this occasion to do a little exploring on his own account. He +had worked faithfully all day and was very tired, but he did so want to +find his father's mine before he went home this time. He slipped away +unobserved and took the lower trail, which followed up to the remains of +the second bridge, then climbed to the tumbled-down cabin they had found +the first day. Here he took the trail that led far up into the timber. +Finally he saw far up above him what appeared to be an old mine dump. +Quickly he clambered up over rocks and rotting logs toward it, and +in a few moments he stood on the dump itself, which was of hard black +stone, with the exception of just a little quartz. He was sure it was the +same kind of stone he had seen on the old mantle at his grandfather's. +The quartz was apparently the last stone dumped. + +At one side stood an old mine shaft, perhaps fifty feet deep, with an +ancient hand-made windlass still at the top. Then just to one side and +entering the mountain was a great log door, put together with bolts. The +lock was a strong powder-house lock, made of heavy brass. The place gave +no appearance of having seen a man in many years. The hinges and hasp +on the great door were heavily corroded, and an old metal wheelbarrow lay +on the dump, rusted red. A tin sign fastened to a tree at the side of the +tunnel had become a target for expert gunners. Willis tried the door, but +could not force it a particle. Turning, he stood looking off into the +canyon toward Cheyenne. "So this is the spot," he mused; "and it has +never been touched in these ten years. Poor old daddy, poor old daddy!" +He leaned heavily against the log door, and his thoughts came thick and +fast, only to conclude, as they always did, with, "Where is Tad Kieser +and why does my uncle try to keep me away from this spot?" + +He was standing where his father had stood many times, and the boy seemed +to be very conscious of his presence just then. He wondered if, perhaps, +there had not been something of just love for the place itself, as well +as for the gold, which had drawn his father there so irresistibly. Such a +spot for a long, quiet visit with one's self! Below him the stream and +the little cabin; to one side, and a little farther up, the beautiful +falls, with Cookstove in the background; to the other side the park, all +resplendent in yellow leaves, with here and there a tall pine standing +like a green island in a sea of gently-moving gold. Far away over the +ridge was the blue outline of Cheyenne with its stage road creeping round +the base. He sat down to rest and to think. He was suddenly awakened from +his dream by seeing Mr. Allen closing and locking the cabin door below +him. He rose and hastened down the trail. In a few moments he had joined +the party, but he kept silent about where he had been and what he had +seen. + +"You'll have to let me in the cabin a moment, Mr. Allen," he called; "I +left my coat up in the bunk--I forgot it." The door was unlocked and +Willis entered, hastily climbing the little ladder up the side of the +wall to the bunk. It was dark in the cabin, for the sun had set. As he +stepped into the bunk he touched something, then jumped back with an +exclamation. Sleepy raised up on his elbow and looked about him. In a +terror-stricken voice he called out, "Who are you?" Willis laughed so +heartily that the fellows came hurrying into the cabin to see what +occasioned it. Then followed a great deal of fun at Sleepy's expense. +Sleepy only hung his head and tried to act as if his feelings had been +badly hurt. + +"Dirty trick, after a fellow's worked hard all day, to go and lock him in +and start for home without him. I'd have starved in there, I suppose," he +said gloomily, "and no one would have cared." + +"I suppose you would," laughed Ham, "for you would be too lazy to cook +you a meal after you found the food. We'll have to keep guard all the way +home on Sleepy, fellows, or he'll fall into some ravine and go to sleep. +He worked so hard to-day, poor boy. I never did believe in this child +labor business, anyway." + +The fellows took turn about riding the donkeys home, and a unique +experience it was, for pack saddles are not the most comfortable seats in +the world, especially for a tired boy. Ham gave practical demonstration +until the others caught on, then he walked. They were all too tired +to chat much, so just jogged along homeward, happy that another day's +work was done on the cabin. + +"A few more like this trip and we will be ready to entertain," called Mr. +Dean. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Sleepy Smith has an Experience + + +Two weeks later another trip was made to the now-beloved cabin, but the +party was small and, because of the lack of leadership, the amount of +constructive work done was not great. Enough logs were cut and dragged in +to complete the addition, a new layer of fragrant boughs added to the +aerial bunk, and the dam improved and strengthened. The rest of the day +was spent in hunting squirrels and chipmunks and in investigating the +immense valley above St. Mary's Falls. School was keeping the fellows +very busy, and because the fall social life had begun the young men found +spare time very scarce. The autumn activities in the Boys' Department +were also in full swing, demanding their share of time and attention. The +standing committee for the coming circus were already appointed, and +were scratching their heads for new and novel stunts. + +The O.F.F. were to present the afterconcert, and Fat was busy on the +program. The fall gymnasium was being entered into with great zest, and +already there had been a call for basket ball. The Bible study groups +were getting together for the winter, the new Cabinet had been elected, +so that, someway, there was not a great deal of time left for the cabin. + +Mr. Allen and a few picked fellows had made a trip the week before, +primarily to take up a supply of food for the mason and his helper, and +had gotten the entire frame of the addition up, ready to roof and +shingle. + +The next week another small group went up to roof the addition and close +it in so as to keep out the snow, if, perchance, it might come before +they were able to finish the improvements. They found the fireplace +completed, crude but artistic, of jagged boulders with an immense cement +hearth. The iron crane had been built in, and now hung lazily in the big +fire-box. + +Next came the cutting of the aspen poles for the floor of the addition. +They had hoped to get at least one layer of boughs on the great bed so +that the next time a larger crowd could be accommodated, but the long +autumn shadows warned them that twilight was approaching long before they +started it, so consequently they had to go back without seeing that task +accomplished. The curtains had been put on the windows, white oilcloth +had been tacked on the board tables, and a mirror, if you please, was +hung over the tin wash basin just inside the door. Hooks made of crooked +branches were fastened upon the logs on which to hang coats and +haversacks. The place had really undergone a genuine transformation. + +"Well," said Ham, as he took a long drink from the bucket of fresh water +that stood on the kitchen table, "that's the best water that ever flowed +down a mountain side. There's life and health in every shining drop of +it. To tell you the real truth, fellows, I'm beginning to feel mightily +at home here in this little shack. Shack! that doesn't sound right, +though, does it? What are we going to call this place, anyway, Mr. Allen? +Y.M.C.A. Cabin is no good. It sounds too civilized. Now, does that old +fireplace look civilized? And that iron crane, and those twisted rustic +seats in the corner, and that bed out there big enough to accommodate +twenty fellows? It reminds me of a home the old Vikings must have had +long ago, way up in the great pine woods of Northern Europe. Someway, it +has a look of health and strength about it that I like. Don't you see the +smile on that old fire-box? Can't you hear the happy peasant children +gathered there on that hearth singing their woodland songs and drinking +their mugs of warm soup? Then, over yonder, all stretched out, his head +to the fire, lies a great, gaunt dog, tired from the chase. Then the tap, +tap on the wooden floor of the old woman's cane as she hobbles about +the cabin. Can't you smell the bear haunch that's roasting there on that +long spit before the fire? Don't you hear the merry music of the ax, just +outside the door, as brawny arms swing it, cutting the great backlog for +the long night? Civilized? Yes, in a way, but not in our way, is it? But +what are we going to call this cabin?" + +Willis had slipped out a few minutes before and had wandered up the +canyon to the last point from which the cabin could be seen. There he +stopped and turned to survey the valley. The air was clear and cool and +was completely filled with the fragrant murmuring of the pines. Far down +in a vista of shifting lights and shadows stood the cabin. + +The next week brought the first signs of the approaching winter. The +warm fall rains gave way to cold showers. The leaves fell in countless +millions, and the voices of the feathered folk seemed to have blown away +with the autumn leaves. Heavy white mists hung over the mountains, +lifting occasionally to show curious eyes that the lofty summits were +already being painted white. The grass lost its fresh, green color, and +the wild purple asters dropped their lovely heads and slept. The first +real snow came in the night. + +The desire to go to the cabin on the part of a large number of healthy, +stalwart boys was matched against a foot of fluffy snow. The fact that +they had not seen the new, completed bunk-house, nor the fireplace, added +greatly to their intense desire to go. Added to this was the natural +boyish love for possible adventure, so, of course, it was decided to go, +snow or no snow. + +Twenty strong, they were on hand at the appointed hour. Soft shirts had +given way to sweaters, outing shoes to high boots or leggings. Still the +boys were just the same--happy, healthy, and free, ready for anything the +trip might bring. Old Peanuts raised sad eyes as he was led forth and +saddled. To think that such as he should tramp through all that snow +on such a night. Tuberculosis was disgusted beyond all measure. It was +only by much bribing from his bag of precious pinion nuts that Sleepy was +able to get him to even move. The snow was dry and fluffy, so walking was +not really disagreeable, but necessarily very slow. Somehow Peanuts +seemed to have grown old with the season, and many times Ham almost gave +up in desperation, declaring they would not reach the cabin by morning. +Darkness settled very early that night, and with it came the clear, cold +breeze from the snowy peaks beyond. How white everything looked, and how +quiet! Even the stream seemed to have been buried under a white blanket. +On the hogsback the snow had drifted badly, completely obliterating the +trail. It seemed like it took hours to climb that rugged hill. Twice +the donkeys slipped from the trail, floundered in the fluffy drifts, +and then lay down. Twice they both refused to go another step; then +darkness--the black darkness of a stormy winter night, settled about them +just as they entered the Park. Who knew the trail--that narrow pathway +that led between trees, around buried stumps, across shallow fords, and +back again? Who could now general this little disheartened army and lead +it on to warmth and shelter? Sleepy complained bitterly because the trail +was long, and many times threatened to go back when he was taunted with +"Baby!" First it was a false step, then a splash into the cold stream; +next it was a false lead into the heart of an aspen thicket, only to +return and try again. Ham broke the trail until he was too tired to go +another step, while Mr. Allen brought up the discouraged rear. + +It was a gloomy line that worked its way up the snow-filled canyon +that night. Minutes seemed like hours, and already the cold winds were +making every fellow weak and hungry. Ham was the life of the party, and +kept the fellows hopeful at his end of the line, even when he was so +tired from breaking trail that it seemed that he could not go another +pace. Willis was behind him, ready to lend a hand whenever he tripped on +treacherously-covered poles or slipped from the trail into the icy +stream. At last the little belt of thick timber was reached, and Ham's +heart rejoiced, for he knew the cabin was on the other side of it. Before +long they stood on the high trail and looked down into the valley where +stood the cabin, gloomy and gray, the light from the snow caught and +faintly reflected by the windows. Ham gave a loud shout that cheered and +strengthened every heart, and in another moment he was unlocking the +door. + +Ham's little pocket ax sang out in the winter night, and soon his efforts +were rewarded by a tiny blaze on the hearth. He ordered his forces like a +veteran, and they obeyed him without question--all save Sleepy, who chose +a comfortable spot in the corner and sat down, refusing to move. Very +soon the kitchen stove began to heat its end of the house, and the big +tin teakettle sang and sighed over the flames. Mr. Allen was busy with +supper and Fat was clearing a space before the open fire so they could +all sit down together. Some brought in the wood and piled it high in one +corner, while others scraped the snow away from the lea of a big boulder, +thus making a shelter for the donkeys. Ham smuggled a half a dozen frozen +potatoes for them and a half loaf of rye bread. + +A column of merry sparks rose from the chimney, while the candles threw +weird, funny little shadows out on the snow through the barred windows. +Ham and Willis were watering the donkeys and discussing their trip up, +when Ham, without any apparent reason, burst into a merry laugh. + +"I have an idea, Willis, and it's a capital one, too. Will you help me +carry it out?" and he laughed again. + +"Well, that depends," returned Willis. + +Ham put his hand to his ear and listened, then turned and looked eagerly +toward the cabin. When he was satisfied they were alone he continued: +"When I first came out here to feed the mules I heard an owl hooting up +in that big tree. My, but it startled me at first, until I had time to +think what it was. You know they shot a young mountain lion over on +Black Mountain day before yesterday. Now, we aren't so far from Black +Mountain, and if we are ever going to make a real, worth-while member for +O.F.F. out of Sleepy Smith, we have got to begin soon, and, besides, I'm +satisfied we will have to use a few extraordinary tactics. We have nursed +him long enough; besides, his spirit is rotten. He has been sitting +in there by that fire all evening and hasn't turned his hand to do a +thing. He will probably want some one to put him to bed, yet, to-night. +All the way up the trail he whined and acted like a baby. You remember +the tricks he pulled off the day we moved the stuff over from Fairview +on the donkeys--sneaked up in the bunk after dinner and went to sleep. +You know how we nearly locked him in. He's hurting our crowd. + +"We took him in, you know, because Mr. Allen thought there was so much in +him worth saving. Someway, it hasn't come out yet, and we've got to +operate, do you understand? We've got to scare Sleepy Smith out of his +boots once or twice to see what's in him. Let's do it to-night. If we +don't, next time we bring a crowd up here on a night like this there will +be three or four sitting around the fire doing nothing, and the next time +six or seven, until at last a few of us will be waiting on the whole +bunch, do you see?" + +"Yes, I see," replied Willis between chattering teeth; "but how on earth +are you going to do it a night like this, with all this crowd?" + +"Now, I'll tell you just what I want you to do. I'll pull off the game +and you be my accomplice. We'll take Sleepy out for a snow-bird hunt. I +never heard of one myself, but I'll fix that all right. We'll scare the +life out of that boy this night or bust. All you have to do--there comes +some one." + +"Ham, Ham!" called Fat from the cabin; "come on to supper while it's +hot." Then the door closed again. The two started toward the cabin, +leaving old Peanuts braying hoarsely in the night. + +"All you have to do," continued Ham, "is to just swear to all I say. +You'll catch on after I get started. Be sure to watch for the chance. +I'll tell Fat the scheme, and if I can get Sleepy out of the house for a +minute, I'll fix it up with the crowd." They were just about to enter +the cabin when somewhere in the night came the weird hoot of an owl, and +a pale, sickly moon peeped between the clouds. + +"Well, fellows, how do you like that old stone fire-box, anyhow?" Ham +questioned. "I haven't heard a fellow say a word about it yet. That big +black pot hanging on that crane makes me happy all over. Why, we have +Robinson Crusoe and that last polar expedition beaten a city block. I +never do see a pot hanging over the fire like that but I think of some +of the delicious stews that Jim Parker made for us the Christmas vacation +we spent with him out on his ranch in Middle Park. Snowbird stew good? O +my! It has turkey beaten a thousand directions." + +"Snowbird stew?" questioned Chuck. "What in the world is it, Ham? Bacon +creamed, or some such stuff?" + +"Bacon creamed, nothing," replied Ham disgustedly. "Snowbirds, just plain +snowbirds. When I was out feeding the mules just now, I heard a whole +flock of snowbirds fly down the canyon. That's what made me think of the +stew, I suppose." + +"Well, if they're no bigger than the snowbirds I've seen," remarked one +boy, "you'd have to have a bushel of them for a meal." + +"Do you mean those saucy little fellows with the white breasts that come +with the first snows?" + +"Those are the fellows," replied Ham, "and of course you need a lot of +them. But, then, they are so easy to catch if you just get into a flock +of them." + +"How do you get them?" inquired Fat, who was always interested in +anything new, so long as it had possibilities of something to eat in it. + +"Well, it's a good deal of hard work and some inconvenience until you get +started. But, O my! the eats the next day! Little fat fellows all stewed +down until they're tender." + +"Let's get a bunch," suggested Willis weakly, watching Ham for a cue. + +"There isn't a gun in the crowd," laughed one. + +"You could use clubs, couldn't you?" asked another. + +"Well, it's just like this," continued Ham: "you pick out a couple of +fellows for the trappers who are strong and husky, and who aren't afraid +to do their share of the work." Ham smiled at Willis. "Then you place +them one at each side of the canyon. You take a shovel, dig a deep hole +in the snow for the trapper to stand in so he can work easily without +stooping over. Of course, each trapper has a bag, a gunny-sack, or a +common flour sack will do, and a lantern. You can use a candle all right, +if you have no lantern. I've seen very successful hunts conducted by +using candles. The trapper stands with his bag held open between his +legs. It's a good scheme to tie the bag, a side to each knee, so you can +keep the mouth open without using your hands. You'll need them for +numerous other things, probably. The rest of the hunters divide into two +parties, and each party climbs the opposite ridge of the gulch, working +up the canyon without really going through it. In that way the birds are +not disturbed. Then, at a given signal, both parties descend into the +canyon and the hunt begins. Every man must be absolutely silent, for I've +seen one mouthy fellow spoil a whole evening's fun. Now, if any of you +fellows are sure you can't keep still for a little, even in a good deal +of excitement, you better stay here. If we fail, it will be some one's +fault." Ham noticed the sly glances that were going back and forth +between Mr. Allen and Mr. Dean, but he was sure he could count on both of +them, for they liked real fun as well as any of the boys. + +"The hunters then move down the canyon in a skirmish line, thrashing the +bushes with their pine boughs. As they advance the birds will awaken with +a shrill little peep and scuttle off through the bushes down the canyon +and directly toward the trappers. The birds take just little flights at a +time, so you must keep them moving or they will swarm and fly away in a +panic. If a flock panic on you, you might as well quit, for every bird in +the canyon will follow. You see this is the game: snowbirds live on +little bugs that are found in great numbers around the great Northern +Lights. When they see those candles flickering there in the great white +quiet, the snow reflecting the long rays out between the dark tree +trunks, they think it's the northern lights, and fly straight toward the +candle. All the trapper has to do, then, is to take them in his hand and +bag them. Sometimes they come in such great numbers that they fairly +swarm into the bag. When each trapper has enough, he puts his mouth close +to the snow and halloos to the drivers. At the signal they stop hunting +and come into camp. Fun, why it's the most fun I ever had in my life! The +foolish little birds are so easily caught. You see, instead of getting +out and hustling for their food, they think it will all be provided for +them by kind Providence or others," and Ham smiled. + +"Did you ever eat quail on toast in some of these stylish restaurants?" +queried Fat, who had caught onto the game. "Well, all in the world they +are is snowbirds. I suppose there are any number of fellows who make a +living by just that trick." + +A general discussion followed. Every one was ready and anxious for the +hunt to commence. Candles were gotten ready and a shovel found. Ham took +Phil, Fat, and Mr. Dean to help him find some sacks that were supposedly +down in the gulch, but in reality to explain to them just what he wanted +them to do. My, what a laugh they did have when they reached the open. +Fat was instructed to offer his services as the holder of one bag and to +suggest that Sleepy hold the other. They would plant Sleepy first, then +Fat would go on with the bunch. Mr. Dean and Ham would hide themselves in +the brush on either side of Sleepy. Fat would instruct his crowd what was +to be done, and Phil would take charge of the other group. They would go +down the canyon, over the ridge, then swing round and come back high on +the hill, so as to completely lose Sleepy, who would be placed where +both parties could see him by his light, but, of course, he could not see +any of them out in the shadows and the night. + +"If any fellow makes a stir," continued Ham, "the game is up. Remember, +Phil, you are boss of that crowd." + +A difference of opinion had broken out among the rest while Ham and the +others were getting the sacks, for Willis, in a sly way, had suggested +that the game was a fake, but Sleepy scoffed at the idea. + +"You do just as Ham says, and you'll see it's all true," cried Sleepy +hotly. "He knows more about camping than all the rest of us put together. +If you don't want to go, stay here. I'll hold a sack myself, and if I +don't get it full of birds before I come home I'll treat every one of +you." Fat entered just in time to hear the foregoing conversation. + +"I'm with you, Sleepy," he cried. "We'll have snowbirds for breakfast in +the morning." + +"O shucks," scoffed some one, "there aren't enough snowbirds in Colorado +to fill a sack like that!" + +"Well, of all the quitters," snorted Sleepy. "Just because you haven't +seen the birds is no sign they aren't there. If you don't see and hear a +lot of things to-night that you never saw before, I'm badly mistaken. All +that's the matter with you fellows is you're afraid of a little work." +Ham sneezed several times in quick succession, and Fat suddenly hurried +out, slamming the door behind him. Mr. Dean turned his face from the +crowd and energetically poked the fire. From the smiles, it was evident +that some had caught on and wanted to go along to see the fun, while +others declared it was a trick, and wouldn't move a step. + +"Too bad we haven't a dozen bags so we could give them all a chance," +laughed Ham, as he and Fat entered the cabin. + +Four remained, the rest trailed off to a little grove of young firs and +cut themselves branches to drive snowbirds with. Then up the slope they +went, winding in and out among the tall, silent trees, over snowy logs +and around great, jutting boulders, until the top was reached. Then +they hurried along the narrow ridge until it ended in a stone cliff. Here +they descended again through the trees until the trail on the south side +was reached. Ham picked out an open place entirely surrounded with a +heavy growth of young firs. Just at the edge of the little opening, its +bulk back in the trees, stood a great stone, twelve or fifteen feet in +height. Here Ham began to dig the pit for Sleepy's feet, explaining, as +he worked, that the rock would reflect the light and keep the wind from +blowing it out. Every hunter spoke in subdued whispers. When the hole was +finished, Sleepy stepped into it, and Ham shoveled in the dirt and snow +and tramped it tight about him in order to make room for the bag. It was +fastened to each leg by a stout cord. Ham gave the parting instructions. + +"Light your candle when we get out of hearing, then move it gently back +and forth in front of your bag. The first few birds that come will +probably scare you, but remember they are only snowbirds and harmless." + +The party then separated, filing off in either direction, and were soon +swallowed up in the long black shadows. All that Sleepy could hear was +the crunching of feet on the partly-crusted snow. He waited nearly +breathlessly for all sound to cease, and when the last faint echo had +died away it was a very shaky hand that lighted the first match. Of +course Sleepy was not frightened--he was only cold! The greasy tip of the +new candle sputtered and flared a moment, then went out. He tried again, +but this time the match broke off. He felt himself getting excited. He +had just two matches left. He must be extremely careful. He struck the +third match on the stone behind him and shaded the candle tip with his +hand; but his whole body was so nervous and his hands shook so that he +could hardly hold candle and match together long enough to get the light. +At last he succeeded. He stuck the end of the candle in the snow in front +of him while he turned up his collar and pulled his cap down tighter. +What was that? His body became rigid, his head went up, his eyes flashed. +Was it the snowbirds? He listened intently for an instant, then he +quietly relaxed. "Just the kids whacking the brush, I guess," he said, +half-aloud. Then he leaned his back against his rock and waited. Every +few moments he would gaze cautiously about him, then listen. Here and +there back in the shadows he could see a huddled group of pale, straight +forms. He knew they were only aspen trees, still he kept a watchful eye +on them. The night was absolutely quiet and dark except for long, +dimly-lighted alleys between the trees, where the candle rays were +frolicking. Here and there he could see the dim outline of a black stump, +its little snowcap perched upon its rim. He lifted the candle from its +place in the snow and waved it gently before the bag, then he paused +cautiously. His imagination had rallied from the cold and was now his +closest companion. He saw strange shapes flitting here and there among +the shadows. He heard every now and then a new, strange voice of the +woods. The trees, it seemed to him, were murmuring their disapproval +of such things as snowbird hunts. A myriad of unseen folk were peeping at +him from limb and stump and shadow. He knew they were there, even if he +couldn't see them, yet a strong feeling of loneliness crept over him. It +seemed ages since the boys had left him there, still it had been only a +few moments. + +His spirit was gradually becoming restless, and he began to wonder if +there really were any such things as snowbirds, after all. He wished he +was back again in the cabin by the fire. If he thought they were playing +a joke on him, he would slip back to the cabin and fool them. He had +half a notion to do it anyway. What was the use of his standing there? +Which way was the cabin? He sighed and wiped the perspiration from his +forehead. It was just over there, wasn't it? No, that couldn't be. It +must be over yonder. The trail ran through the grove to his right. That +couldn't be, the stream was over there, for he heard it every now and +then. He began talking half-aloud. + +"If the stream is over there, the cabin is over here." He paused and drew +his hand across his eyes. "No, no, if that were true, the stream would +flow uphill, and, of course, it doesn't." + +Far away he heard a series of little chirps, faint but unmistakable. He +was alert in an instant. Yes, that was the snowbirds, and they were +coming. He wondered if Fat heard them and was ready. Where was Fat, +anyway? How strange he felt, now he was almost afraid, for he was sure +something was watching him. He shaded his eyes and peered into the +gloom, but could see nothing. Far away in the timber it seemed to him +he heard brush snapping--still he knew there was nothing bigger than a +skunk or a rabbit in the whole valley. Still--and his breath came +shorter; had not a mountain lion been killed on Black Mountain just +day before yesterday? His imagination suggested hungry kittens searching +for a lost mother, and a tremor ran over his body, making his muscles +quiver. Was that a snarl? A whine far off, yet near to him? The candle +slipped from his shaking fingers and fell in the snow beside him. He made +a grab for it, and caught it just before it went out. The sound was now +clearer. Was that the crunch of feet upon the snow? Yes, he heard it +plainly. A twig snapped somewhere back of the big rock, then another, +then another. There was an answering of the whine. He felt for his +pocket ax; but, alas! it was at the cabin--he had no weapon, not even a +jack knife. Why had Ham taken the shovel with him? Pshaw! was it really +a sound at all, or was he still in his baby days? No, he was no baby, +but--there it was, a low growl, coming nearer and nearer. It flashed upon +him in a second--the hunters had scared up the animal, and it was coming +toward him--toward the light! He felt faint, then sick; but it was no +time to be sick! He swallowed at the big lump in his throat and wondered +if the animal really would attack him. He could plainly hear the +crunching in the snow now, and he fancied he saw two green eyes staring +at him from the shadows. Yes, and there were voices! He could hear them +laughing. Suddenly a twig near him broke, and another and another. He +cried out in terror, shrill agonized, cries for help. He dropped the +candle in the snow. Just how he got out of the hole where his feet were +buried he could not tell. He started to run, but his legs were still +tied to the bag, and at the first step he fell headlong. He was crying +now--great sobs shook his frame. He tore the bag free with a jerk and +started off as fast as the soft snow would let him, shouting "Help!" at +the top of his voice. He stumbled on through the snow, following the line +of least resistance. Finally he emerged from a dark thicket just in time +to see three men and a great dog come out of an opposite thicket. They +laughed heartily as they turned upward on the trail. The dog's eyes were +gleaming green in the half-light, and the one man carried a heavy rifle +on his shoulder. The dog turned, sniffed, then whined, but made no +attempt to leave his masters. + +The men had evidently not seen him. He stood for a second irresolute, his +teeth chattering, his heart pounding, then, turning, he saw the sparks +from the cabin chimney and in another moment he was safe inside. + +Back in the woods where Sleepy had been planted the rest of the fellows +were shouting and laughing. + +"Yes, I'll take it back," cried Ham. "Sleepy can go when he gets started, +but O my! what a lot it takes to start him! I don't believe he ever +moved so fast before, do you? Mr. Dean, you're a wonder on the growling +stunt--I felt kind of queer myself once or twice." Fat was too far gone +to express himself, but stood leaning against the rock, half-choked with +laughter. He had been behind the rock all the time, and had heard all +that Sleepy said. + +"I was dead sure I heard him laughing," said Phil, "and I thought he had +caught on to the game." "So did I," said Mr. Dean. "I certainly did hear +some one laugh." + +"It must have been Fat trying to choke down his amusement," dryly added +Chuck. "He couldn't keep from laughing at a funny thing on a bet." + +"I am sure of one thing," said Mr. Allen, "and that is that hereafter +Sleepy will do his part. I believe he has learned a lesson. You will have +a hard time, though, to ever persuade him that he didn't see an animal." + +"Just let him think he did see it," suggested Phil, "and we'll tell him +it serves him right. If he hadn't been so dead anxious to get the easy +job, like he is with everything, he would never have gotten into the mess +to-night." + +"Yes, that's it," added Ham; "we must be as solemn as we can and say to +him that we didn't see or hear a bear, lion, or any other animal; then +add, that if he had just been with us on the job, climbing up canyons, +hunting birds, and doing his share, instead of just loafing, he wouldn't +have gotten scared. But, rats! he must know that we have played a joke on +him." + +They finally agreed on a plan, then started back to camp. Ham was to do +the talking. As they entered the cabin they found Sleepy sitting on a +block of wood, looking meditatively into the fire. + +"Well, you're a dandy," commenced Ham. "We heard you hollering 'Help' +and 'Murder.' We came tearing through the trees to where we left you, and +you were gone. Please explain. Who did you think was going to catch those +birds? You got tired working so hard, I suppose? Come, now, was there too +much real work in it?" + +Then Fat began in his most disgusted tone: "You might make sure if there +was any real work to be done, Sleepy would get out of it someway. He +always does. Work isn't in his vocabulary." + +"Go easy," said Mr. Allen in a quiet tone. "Sleepy has made lots of +mistakes, and he hasn't begun to do his share of the work here yet, but +he's going to do different from now on, I'm sure. Why did you leave your +post, Sleepy?" He came forward and laid his hand on Sleepy's shoulder. +Sleepy shaded his face with his hand, for the tears were trickling down +his cheeks, and he spoke with real effort. + +"They frightened me terribly," he said. "I'm sorry." Then he rose from +his seat, took his cap from the table, and went into the night. The +fellows crowded up to the fire to warm their cold feet and talk it over. +Mr. Allen was firm in his belief that Sleepy had good stuff in him, and +he believed they were going to get it out at last. + +"He knows he hasn't played fair, fellows, and he's out there now, +squaring up with himself. To-night our friend, Sleepy, wins or loses a +great fight in his life. If he loses, let's not be too hard on him. If he +wins, let's help him. Remember, it's the 'Other Fellow First' in this +bunch." They sat quietly looking into the fire for some minutes, then Ham +broke the silence. + +"Fellows, I believe I understand for the first time in my life an +expression that always used to bother me. When my father invited me into +the woodshed when I was a kid, he always prefaced each performance +with this remark, 'Son, it hurts me a great deal more than it's going to +hurt you.' After the performance I used to ponder that statement over and +over and wonder how it could possibly be true. In fact, I didn't believe +it then, but now I do. Sleepy needed a good punishment; but, O my, I feel +mean, now that it's over!" + +"We are often called on to do unpleasant things for the welfare of +others," remarked Mr. Dean; "but if Sleepy finds himself to-night, and I +believe he will, we will all be glad we did it, himself included." After +a little time Sleepy came in. His step was steady and his manner easy. +Ham shot a curious glance at him from the corner of his eye. He saw that +Sleepy was smiling, and he felt a strange thrill, for he knew Sleepy had +won. Sleepy came to the fire, and in a clear voice addressed the crowd: + +"Fellows, I have something I would like to say before we go to bed." It +was very difficult for him to go on. "I am ashamed of myself to-night. I +know I have never played fair with you fellows here, for I'm lazy--I +always have been. You know I am the only child, and I have been spoiled, +for I've been taught to always let some one else do the work. I'm +sorry." He stopped, and in the pause he became confused. + +"But--but--I'm going to do better, if you'll give me another chance. I've +just had a little argument with Sleepy Smith outside, and I whipped him +in a fair fight. There is no more Sleepy; after this it's George Smith, +if you please. Sleepy and this crowd have had a falling out. Will you +give me another chance?" he asked anxiously. + +Ham was the first to cry out: + +"Bet your life we will, old boy, put it there!" He rose and they shook +hands. + +"Sure thing!" cried Fat. + +"Of course we will!" echoed Phil. + +"Three cheers for Smith!" came from the others. + +"Thanks," was all Smith said, then he sat down and Mr. Allen took the +floor. He had caught his cue from what Smith had said: + +"Fellows, I think we, too, have made a mistake, and as long as Smith has +been man enough to square himself with us, let us be men enough to square +ourselves with him. We have always called him Sleepy, and he has been +true to the name; but I never knew a boy yet who didn't live up to what +his best friends expected of him. Smith always knew we didn't expect +much, didn't you, boy? Now, let's expect more, and we'll get more. Smith, +we, too, are sorry. Let's expect the best from every fellow and every +fellow will give his best, although it will take real manhood to do it +sometimes." + +Ham and Willis went out to take a last look at the donkeys before going +to bed. As they stood on the step, talking things over, they were +startled to hear, somewhere in the night air, the long-drawn bark of a +dog. It came again and again. "Over in the next canyon," was Ham's +remark. "Up by the old mine," was Willis's thought, as he turned and went +into the cabin. + +After breakfast Willis took the trail that led to his father's mine. He +went alone, for he had told no one of its discovery, not even Ham. He was +not at all surprised to find the footprints of three men and a dog on the +upper trail, and found no difficulty in following them to the mine. Once +there, the first thing that attracted his attention was a new sign, +nailed up in the place of the old tin one; on it, in bold, black letters, +was written, "Private property, keep off!" The snow had been shoveled +from one end of the dump, and it looked very much as if some of the rocks +had been carried away. Willis wondered, but his reflections gave him no +light. He noticed, however, that the tracks did not return down the +trail, but ran off over the hill and into the next canyon. He made some +careful observations, then returned to the cabin. + +Upon Mr. Dean's suggestion, the morning was spent in tobogganing in wood +while the snow was good. It was great fun to see the great logs slide +down with a long swish and pile up in front of the cabin. The fellows +worked with a will, and by noon a large supply had been pulled in. The +next thing was to cut it and pile it away in the house. Smith undertook +to build a sawbuck, and, with Mr. Allen's help, the job was soon +accomplished. Every fellow then took his turn sawing off blocks until +dinner time. + +As they sat around the table enjoying a camp meal of fried ham, boiled +rice, potatoes, rye bread, and coffee, a general discussion arose as to +what the cabin should be named. They hoped to get the big bed filled with +balsam boughs that afternoon before they started home, then the place +would be ready for real use on a big scale; and, of course, it must have +a name. + +"Let's call it Snowbird Retreat," suggested Fat naively. + +"Not on your life!" called Smith good-naturedly. "No snowbirds about this +house; you want a good, warm, comfortable name. I'd freeze to death, or +maybe get scared, if you called it that." + +"St. Mary's Inn," suggested Ham. + +"O fiddle, sounds like an old Spanish mission," objected another. + +"The House that Ham Built," suggested Mr. Dean. + +"Buffalo Roost," suggested Willis. "We certainly do love to roost around +in here, and it's in Buffalo Canyon." After a very heated discussion, +Buffalo Roost was chosen for the name, and Willis set about gathering +twigs to make a rustic sign for over the door. + +The wood all in, the dinner dishes washed, and the cabin put in order, +the next thing to do was to thatch the big bed. O, what mountains of +sweet-scented green boughs it took! One party, under Mr. Dean, pulled +in pile after pile of boughs from up on the snow-covered hillside, while +the other party cut and trimmed and laid them in. Choice large fans were +laid in the bottom, the butts toward the foot, the bow of the branch +uppermost. Then a thick layer of fine sprigs to fill in every hollow. +Smith worked with a will, and enjoyed the day like he had no other since +the work on the cabin had begun. + +Never before had they so hated to leave the Roost, for every fellow was +coming to love it and its companionship. It gave plenty of healthful +action, good things to think about, and warm friends. It was building +character and they did not know it. It was fitting a choice group of +older fellows to work together in the community life about them, working +for the welfare and comfort of others, forgetting themselves in their +unselfish service. + +In the late afternoon it began to snow again, and by the time they were +well on their way home it was falling fast. + +"Getting in that wood was a wise stunt," observed Smith, "for the next +time we see the old Roost it will probably be snowbound." + +Old Ben had been watching for their return most of the afternoon. As they +came across the stream and up to the road below the inn, he called Mr. +Allen to the door. + +"I jist want t' ask ye if that tarnal varmit, Williams, has been +botherin' yew fellers any sence he started work on that new claim o' +hisn. If they ever was a sneakin' whelp, he's it. He couldn't get +possession o' Tad's tunnel; he darsent touch it, so he's gone an' started +a tunnel on the other side o' that dyke. He's been workin' it, now, off +an' on all this fall, but I didn't know it till they brought a wounded +man from there yesterday. Seem a stone mashed his foot bad. They stopped +here to rest a bit, an' I seed the feller. I've knowed him these ten +years, an' he's a devil. Does dirty work fer any tarnal critter at'll pay +him well fer it. Served him right. I s'pose you saw something of them +last night, as they went back up to the mine. There was three of 'em and +a mean lookin' dog." Mr. Allen listened in silence. He was wondering just +what Old Ben knew of this Williams, and why he should be so interested in +the boys at the cabin. + +"Ben," he said, and he looked the old man straight in the eye, "do you +know a man named Tad Kieser?" Ben dropped his eyes and shuffled his foot +aimlessly on the floor. + +"Yep, I know him, boy, an' a finer man never walked these here hills. Too +fine a man to get along with varmits!" + +"Is he still living, Ben?" + +"Yep, still livin'. He'll be a poppin' up in these parts one o' these +days, an' then you'll see who's boss at that tunnel up yonder. I've +always said they was gold there, but Tad never would go into the mine +again after the accident. That varmit, Williams, believes same as I do, +or he wouldn't be a diggin' that hole on t' other side o' the dyke. If he +er any o' the rest o' them fellers bothers ye any at the cabin, jist let +me know; I'll take ker o' them fer ye. Good-night." He went inside and +closed the door. Mr. Allen hurried along, and, catching up with the +crowd, he called Willis aside to tell him what Ben had said--all except +that Tad was living and Ben knew where he was. That much he kept secret. +Willis listened intently, then he told of how he heard the dog bark in +the night. + +When Willis reached the Association that evening he was handed a +telephone call. He noted that it was the home number, and he realized in +an instant what had happened. His aunt had grown very much worse Friday +night, and had died early Saturday morning. He hastened home to do what +he could and to comfort his mother. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +The Opened Door + + +It was nearly Thanksgiving time, and it seemed months to Willis since he +had been to Buffalo Roost. Mrs. Thornton had almost decided to return to +her father's since the death of her sister, but Willis had objected +seriously. He was determined to unravel the mine mystery before they +left. They were still living at the Williams's home, but they saw very +little of the uncle. The death of his wife had been a severe blow to him, +and he had been spending long periods of time in the mountains--no one +seemed to know just where. + +During Thanksgiving vacation Mr. Allen was going to have a three days' +camp at the Roost, so Ham and Willis were planning on making a +preliminary trip, to find out how deep the snow was and just what +condition the canyon was in. + +The circus was over, and had been a big success; enough money had been +raised to pay all the debts and leave a nice amount for future +improvements. Meanwhile Ham and Willis had become inseparable companions, +so much so, that Willis had taken him into the mystery of his father's +mine. Very often they had talked it over together, but neither had yet +arrived at any satisfactory conclusions. The day chosen for their trip +turned out to be bitter cold; but the other fellows were depending on +them, and they must not fail. They found it very difficult to climb +the hogsback because of the snow, so when they reached the railroad they +decided to follow it to Fairview rather than attempt the canyon trail. As +they plodded on they grew very cold. + +"There is a dandy little pile of pitch-pine shavings on the hearth," said +Ham; "it won't take long to get a fire. We'll play a joke on this cold +snap yet, when we get inside the cabin." The walking was not bad until +they reached the crest, but here the trail lay on the south side and +was completely filled with snow. Many of the drifts were shoulder-deep, +so it took them nearly an hour to force their way from the ridge to the +cabin. Ham, to his surprise, had great difficulty in opening the lock; it +was evident that it had been tampered with. As they entered, he noticed +that his little pile of shavings were gone from the hearth. Some one had +been inside! + +How much heat it seemed to take that night to warm that frigid air! They +piled in the great logs until the fireplace was full, and still they had +to sit close to keep warm. Slowly the cold was driven out, and the cabin +became more comfortable. Willis took the water bucket and an ax and went +out to the stream for water, but the ice was a foot thick and the water +so cold that it froze in the bucket before he got it back to the cabin. +As he set the bucket on the shelf, he noticed that the mirror which hung +above the bucket was broken into a thousand pieces. No doubt a bullet had +come in through the chinking. Was this a declaration of war? Or had +some rowdy just been showing off? They examined things carefully, but +found nothing missing but the chips, not even food. Ham could not imagine +why the kindling had been removed from the hearth, for he was positive +that no fire had been built in either the stove or the fireplace since +they had last been there. + +After they had warmed sufficiently, they began to think of supper. Ham +selected a can of clam soup from the shelf and opened it, but it was +frozen solid. He set it by the fire to thaw out and made a second +selection. This time he chose a can of beans, but found them in the same +condition. He looked in the bread box--the rye-bread was as hard as a +bullet. They pulled the table close up before the fire and made out a +supper, the best thing on the menu being a pot of boiling-hot tea. + +After supper they pulled down the blankets and carefully warmed them +before the fire. Then the two boys sat and planned concerning the coming +camp until they grew sleepy. After a great pine knot had been placed for +the night log, the boys slipped into bed between at least a dozen +blankets. + +Just before going to bed, Willis prepared a few choice slivers so that a +fire could be quickly started in the morning, and he left them in a +little pile on the hearth. In the night he heard strange noises down on +the floor, but, because it was so cold, he did not venture out to +investigate, and in the morning every chip was gone. The mystery of the +chips grew deeper. + +They lay in bed late next morning, for the cabin was cold and dark and +they were so comfortable. Time was nothing to them that day. As they lay, +chatting, Ham suddenly squeezed Willis's arm, then raised on his elbow to +listen. He heard voices, and they were coming up the canyon. He crawled +to where he could peep out of the window, but all he could see were the +feet of two men and a dog. The cabin was very cold, so he slipped back +between the blankets to warm and talk it over with Willis. About nine +o'clock they got up, still wondering what could have brought men into +that canyon on such a morning. + +Surely there was no hunting, and why should men from the claim in the +other gulch be coming up through Buffalo Park? The boys were bothered. +They were just sitting down to a breakfast of steaming-hot cakes when +from somewhere up in the timber came the clear sound of some one +hammering on metal, heavy blow after blow. Ham paused, listened +attentively, a forkful of hot cake raised half-way to his mouth. The +sound came very clearly and at regular intervals. + +"Sounds like some one pounding a stone drill; perhaps they are going to +do some blasting!" + +Willis rose from his seat, threw open the door, and looked up the snowy +hillside. He was right--the sound came from the direction of his father's +mine. + +"What on earth would any one be blasting up there for?" he said, half to +himself. He was thinking of what Ben had told him the last time he was at +the Roost. Ham had also risen from the table and stood looking out over +Willis's shoulder. The bark of a dog came floating down the canyon. + +Suddenly there was a sharp rattle in the corner of the cabin, followed by +a heavy thud. Ham turned quickly, just in time to see the ax fall to the +floor from its place in the corner. Willis felt a long, cold shiver creep +up his back. The ax had been laid on top of the little stove in the +corner, and something had caused it to fall. + +"Spooks," laughed Ham dryly. + +"What made that ax fall?" questioned Willis in a voice which betrayed his +feeling. They advanced cautiously toward the corner. There was a scamper +of tiny feet, and a large gray rat bounded across the floor and dropped +out of sight through a long opening between the floor and the wall. In a +moment Willis was down on his hands and knees, investigating. + +"Well, of all things," he said, as he looked up laughingly at Ham; "we +have located our mysterious robber. Here are all of our precious fire +starters." Ham stooped to see for himself, and there, under the stove in +the corner, was a neat little pile of pine slivers. + +"If that rat lived in the city," observed Ham, "he'd be a shoplifter, +sure. It's strange he hasn't stolen our food?" + +"Ham, I'm going to the mine. Do you want to stay here or go along?" Ham +thought a moment, then began to pull on his coat. As he passed the +fireplace, he threw on another log, then the two boys stepped out into +the morning air. Ham carefully locked the door behind them--he always +took that precaution. + +"I'd like to know who tried to get into this house, Willis?" he said as +they struck the trail following the footprints of the earlier party up +the canyon. The sound of hammering still came occasionally from the hill. + +"Perhaps it was the same men that passed this morning," replied Willis. +"I wonder why they didn't stop and try the door; they must have seen that +it was unlocked." + +"Perhaps they wanted to pass unnoticed." + +"No, that couldn't be, for they were talking loudly as they passed." + +"Perhaps they didn't notice the cabin door at all." + +"Perhaps not, but they must have noticed our trail over the bridge and +your footprints to the stream." + +"O, I don't know; it snowed in the night, and besides, you see they were +on the upper trail. They evidently came for some special purpose, and +were anxious to get at it. You know, I've been thinking they must have +come from Bruin Inn this morning, because they couldn't have gotten here +so early if they had come all the way from the city." + +"By Jove, boy! I hadn't thought of that, but since you speak of it, there +certainly was something familiar in one of those voices, and that laugh! +Why, of course, it was Old Ben, his dog, and some stranger." + +Progress was slow, for the snow was deep in places. At the old +tumbled-down cabin the trail turned and ran up the mountain side. +Willis felt a strange pounding at his heart. The noise on the mountain +had stopped, but every now and then he heard the sound of voices from +somewhere up in the timber. As they reached the last turn in the +trail, the two figures came into view. Ham had been correct in his +supposition--one of the men was Old Ben, but the other was a stranger. +Ben had, no doubt, seen the boys coming, for he stood looking down the +trail toward them. When they were a little nearer he saluted them: +"Howdy, young'uns. This is a tarnal cold morning for a pair o' city +fellers, ain't it?" + +"Not on your life," cheerily answered Ham; "there's nothing citified +about us. Any one who could sleep in these hills a night like last night +and not freeze is no tenderfoot. What brings you up here so early this +morning?" + +"Early, boys? You're so tarnal lazy, you think dinner time is early. See +anything o' my dog round the cabin?" + +"No, we haven't seen him, except when you went by a while ago." + +Willis was interested in what the stranger was doing. He was bent over a +big rock, filing a metal instrument. His back was turned. Willis was +looking about to see what they could have been hammering, but could see +no sign of their work. + +"Prospecting a little?" queried Ham, as he picked up the light sledge +that lay on the snow. + +"Well, not jist exactly," drawled Old Ben; "it's too tarnal cold to do +much prospectin'. We're jist on an observin' trip this time." + +"Observing the scenery, or what?" persisted Ham. "We heard you doing some +mighty loud observing up here a few minutes ago. Come, now, no secrets. +What are you up to? Do you know you are trespassing this very moment?" + +"Trespassin', eh? Well, I expect Old Ben knows when he's trespassin' an' +when he ain't. This time he ain't." He turned to the stranger and +continued: "I jist come along to give my friend here a little moral +support. He's so tarnal foolish about this old hole." + +"Not foolish, Ben," answered the stranger, as he turned from his work, +"not foolish, but--why, good morning, lad!" He advanced with extended +hand toward Willis. + +Willis could hardly believe his own eyes. What was this man doing here? + +"It seems like our paths cross often, doesn't it?" + +"Why, I--" exclaimed Willis. + +"I know you are surprised," continued the stranger, "but no more so than +I, for I didn't expect to find you here on such a morning as this." + +"But what are you doing here?" stammered Willis. "What is there about +this mine that is of interest to you? This mine is my father's property, +and it's locked--the tunnel, I mean--" + +"Yes, I know, lad," he interrupted. "I know it does seem strange, but it +isn't half as strange to you as it is to me, and besides--" + +"But, sir, how dare you tamper with locked property?" + +"Lad," and the stranger spoke in that same quiet, kindly voice that had +attracted Willis the first time he had seen him, "do you remember that +fall day when we last talked together? Up back of Daddy Wright's on the +Cheyenne trail?" + +"Yes, sir, I do," replied Willis, "and I remember every word you said, +but--" + +The stranger lifted his hand for silence, and then continued: "And do you +remember you asked me if I had ever known a young engineer that used to +be in these parts, and I said, 'Yes;' then you asked me if I knew a Tad +Kieser that used to be a partner of his, and I told you I did?" + +"Yes, yes, I remember all that," interrupted Willis; "but what has that +to do with this mine?" + +"A very great deal, my boy. Listen! I know Tad Kieser better than any man +alive, and of all the men I ever knew, Tad is the strangest. I believe he +owns a half interest in this property, does he not? But he hasn't been +near it for half a dozen years, and to my knowledge he has never been +inside of it since the day of the accident. What's more, my boy, there's +just one thing in all the world that could ever induce him to enter it +again--" + +"What is the one thing?" questioned Ham. + +"If it wasn't for the advice of old Ben here, I would not be here to-day, +either; but Ben and I have been friends these twenty years, and in that +time I have learned to know that Ben's opinions are expressed only after +a very careful consideration of all the facts. I'm here because Old Ben +insisted that I come." + +Willis turned and looked at Ben. He stood by, smiling and puffing away at +his pipe. "But what has all that to do with Tad Kieser?" questioned +Willis a little disappointedly. "Of all the men in the world I would like +most to see, it's Tad. Tell me where he is, if you know." + +"But why do you want to see him so badly, may I ask?" questioned the +stranger. + +"Because he is the only man in the world that can straighten out a tangle +of things that I don't understand. And I'm sure that if he knew I was +here, he'd come to help me." + +Old Ben came to the rescue. + +"Boy, Tad would do anything in the great, wide world fer ye. He's talked +about ye every tarnal day since he first seen ye, an' they ain't been +nothin' in his mind since, except yer welfare. Ye are a tarnal lucky +feller to have such a friend." + +"Saw me?" questioned Willis. "Tad Kieser saw me?" + +"Yes, boy, an' is a lookin' at ye now, an' is out in this cold here fer +ye this mornin', a breakin' of vows he made long ago. Tad, tell the boy +all about it. This young feller an' me is goin' to look up that tarnal +dog." He took Ham by the arm and drew him away down the trail out of +hearing. Tad and Willis were busy at the lock of the old tunnel. Old Ben +explained the situation to Ham as they leisurely hunted the dog. At last +Ham understood, and was happy for Willis. + +"My, but you look pert, Tad. I ain't seed ye look so pert in ten year. +What's up? Come, tell a feller. Has that young'un been stuffin' ye while +we was gone?" and Ben laughed a merry laugh. + +"Why didn't you tell me you were Tad the first day?" questioned Willis, +his eyes shining with pleasure. + +"I'll tell you why some time," replied the old miner, "but not now. I +would never have consented to come up here this morning with Ben if I had +not suspected that Mr. Williams intended to enter this tunnel very soon. +Perhaps you know how he hates me. I caught him in a mighty crooked deal +here once, and scared him badly. He and I have fought each other ever +since the death of your father. He holds the keys to this lock, that's +why I'm cutting it off. We're going to replace it with another. When your +uncle comes he will find I have been ahead of him." + +"And you aren't going into the tunnel?" questioned Willis in +astonishment. + +"No, lad, not to-day. I don't know as I ever will." + +"Tell me all about the trouble between you and my uncle. How does it +happen that he holds the key to this lock instead of you? Mother told me +you had the key?" questioned Willis. + +"I did once, but when I refused to let him enter, he came with a hacksaw +and removed the lock, placing this great brass one in its stead. Your +uncle was the only person with your father when he died, except the +nurse, and he has always claimed that Bill turned all his mining property +over to him. He offered to buy me out, but I refused to sell. + +"Nearly a year after your father's death, I learned from a nurse in the +hospital that in his last moments your father called for me, but Williams +told him that I was badly hurt. He told your uncle that the real gold +vein had been uncovered by the fatal blast, and that I was to be sure to +work it for your sake and your mother's. Williams promised to tell me. +I tried to get the nurse to go into court and swear to her statement, but +she refused, and I found out afterward that Williams had bought her off. +I went and looked at the tunnel; then he broke in, took samples, and, I +believe, found them good. He locked the door with this lock, and since +the day of the accident I have never seen inside. I have never wanted to. +I don't know, but I have always been determined that he should not +plunder your father's possessions. At the time of the accident he came +into possession of all your father's papers. He let the assessments run +out on the Cheyenne claim, and then jumped it for his own. Only last +month he sold that claim to Beverly H. Pembroke for a consideration of +eight thousand dollars. + +"He hates me, because he knows that one more move on his part and I'll +place the matter in the hands of the law. I believe that he once hired an +outlaw to kill me, but was unsuccessful. I can't prove it, but the facts +look so. I have been afraid ever since I knew you were here that your +mother, as the rightful heir to the property, would play into his hands. +I feared he would offer to sell her share of this mine for her and, in +reality, buy it himself. He could then, according to law, force me to +sell my share or to buy his. If I refused to sell, he would ask a very +large sum for his, and in that way force me to his bargain. His working +the tunnel on the other side of the dyke this fall and winter is more to +scare me into believing he will get the gold anyway, and that I may as +well sell, than anything else. I have learned that they are having +a great deal of trouble in their tunnel. It's very shaly and keeps caving +from above. If he spent as much time and money caring for his sick wife +as he has on this mine, she might have gotten well." + +Willis had been listening with breathless interest. + +"Go on," he begged. "Tell me all about everything, from the very +beginning." + +"Lad, it's a long, long story. I'll do that later. Let's not talk any +more about it now." + +"O, I must know about it. Don't stop. Tad, you can't possibly know what +all this means to me." Tad rose and snapped the new lock in place on the +door, while Old Ben cursed under his breath. + +"Of all the tarnal idiots," he was saying; "I never seed a man so sot in +his ways. Tad, ain't ye even goin' to peek inside?" + +"No, Ben, not to-day. Perhaps some day," returned the old prospector, +"and perhaps never." + +Willis jumped to his feet. "Not to-day, Tad? Not to-day? Do you mean you +aren't going into the mine. Well, I am, even if you aren't. I don't leave +this spot until I see the inside for myself. Give me the key. Ham and I +will go in alone." + +"O, I wish you wouldn't. It's dangerous, and I am sure the story of the +gold is only a notion. Your father was out of his mind when he died, and +the gold he told about was just one of his dreams. I worked with him that +day, and I saw no special signs of gold." + +"Yes, but that varmit, Williams, has seed signs," muttered Ben. "He went +in an' brought out samples; he knows, an' you only think you do." + +Willis held out his hand for the key, and Ben urged him on. Tad looked +far away over the snowy hills, then up the quiet valley, so peaceful in +its white robes, and at last down to the little cabin below. There his +gaze rested. + +"My, but it hardly seems fourteen years since I built that shanty," he +said. "How happy I was then! Fourteen years brings strange things into a +man's life. My boy, I hope you will never get the gold fever. Steer clear +of it." + +"But Tad, I have it already," replied Willis, "and I am following where +it leads me." + +Tad looked at him, and a strange, sad expression came to his face. + +"How much you talk like your father, and you're so like him, too! I'm +sorry." + +He reached deep into his trousers' pocket, pulled out the key, then got +slowly to his feet. Twice he changed his mind; but Willis persisted, and +at last he yielded. The new lock opened easily, but not so the great log +door. Its hinges were rusted from the storms of many seasons. As Willis +pulled hard, the old hinges groaned, as if regretting that they were to +be disturbed after so long a rest. As the door swung back, and the mouth +of the tunnel was disclosed, Tad caught Willis by the arm and held him. +"Wait, my boy," he said, "you must let the old place air out. Remember, +it has been bottled up a long time. I'll wager a light won't even burn +in there just now." + +"Have you a candle?" asked Willis, his tone betraying his excitement. + +"I'll get some," volunteered Ham, and off he started down the trail for +the cabin. + +The tunnel was a round, irregular hole a little higher than a man's head, +and in width it varied with the width of the dyke. The floor had been +covered with rough-hewn planks to make the pushing of the loaded +wheelbarrows easier. These old planks were black and wet, but still quite +sound. As they stood, waiting for Ham to return, Tad told Willis +something more of the early history of the mine: + +"You see, the dyke seems to follow an ancient crevice in the granite, +which runs straight in for a hundred and fifty feet, then turns abruptly +to the west. Here it widens out, and just at that point the strata shifts +and is folded. We found a small quantity of quartz just there. The day of +the accident I was replacing some of the floor planks near the entrance +and your father was preparing to make a series of blasts on the new +strata. I was to help him shoot them when he was ready. He was very +pleased at the new outcropping of quartz, and was very anxious to open +up the vein before we quit work for the day. The farther in you go, the +more shaly the black rock seems to get, and in some places we were forced +to roof the drift with mine props in order to keep the ceiling up. I was +bending over, chopping the end of a plank, when I was violently knocked +down. In falling I struck my head against the rough wall, cutting myself +badly over the left eye. I struggled to my feet dazedly, the blood +streaming down over my face. I had mined long enough to know just what +had happened. In some way your father had prematurely set off his blast. +I started toward him, but the heavy powder smoke drove me back. I dropped +to my knees to get the air--it's always best near the floor--and in +a moment a second explosion came. I snatched the jug of water and began +crawling toward Bill on all fours. I called again and again, but no +answer came. When I finally reached him I felt faint and sick. I found +him nearly completely buried in a heap of stone. He was unconscious, +and never spoke to me again. After two hours of tremendous effort, I was +able to lift his poor, broken body in my arms and carry it out. I was +thankful then that he was unconscious and could not feel the pain. By +night I got him to the cabin, and at once set off for Ben's. We came +back by lantern light that night, and led the old horse. We spent the +rest of the night building a crude litter of poles and blankets, and as +soon as it was light we fastened one end of the stretcher to the horse, a +pole on either side of him, and each one of us carried a pole at the +other end. It took an hour for us to get down to the canyon road. In +twelve hours your father died. He regained consciousness just long enough +to talk with Williams briefly. What he said at that time I have never +been able to find out. + +"Then followed the awful years of lonesomeness for me, made worse by the +always-present knowledge that I should have been the one to shoot those +blasts and not your father. I wrote your mother fully concerning the +accident, but never received a reply, so have had no word of you since +that time. I've told you how your uncle tried to get possession of the +mine. When I would not sell, he hounded my every step until at last I +left the city and went to work for the D. & P.W. as fireman. I went +through the city often, but very rarely stopped off. But it seems I came +just often enough to keep your uncle too frightened to carry out his plan +concerning the tunnel." + +Ham was returning up the trail now, and soon the candles were lighted. +Tad took the lead, followed by Willis, Ham and Old Ben bringing up the +rear. A little inside the entrance, and to one side, a small room had +been cut in the solid granite for a store-room. Here were the tools of +the mine--two wheelbarrows, several shovels and picks, a large lantern, +and several boxes of powder. What had once been a heavy coil of hemp rope +was now a very comfortable rat's nest. Several old stone drills had been +driven into the crevices for hooks, and on them hung old burlap sacks, a +coil of heavy wire, two old slouch hats, and a man's coat. + +Tad had bared his head as he entered. He slowly led the way down the +narrow lane without a word. A little farther in they came to a very rusty +ax, leaning against the wall, and Willis guessed that it had never been +moved from where Tad had last used it. The large, blackened chips were +scattered over the floor, and the great plank lay where he had last +worked on it. Tad was very cautious now, trying the props overhead every +few feet, to see if they were safe. Willis was walking as if in a dream; +he was stepping very softly and his head was bowed. This was the very +path his father had trod. He fancied he heard his cheery voice now, as he +came and went with load after load of rock. He fancied how he must have +felt as he worked day by day, ever surer of the fortune that was to be +his. He found himself wondering how his life's course might have been +changed if that golden dream had come true. The tunnel turned abruptly to +the west, and Tad moved more cautiously still. Presently Tad halted and +pointed to a heap of rock on the floor, "It was there, lad," he said very +quietly, and that was all. Willis stooped and placed his hand on the +place for a second. Tad noticed that his face was white and drawn and his +eyes were very big. He let him stay for an instant, then took him gently +by the arm and led him out. + +Old Ben made a hasty examination of the rocks on the floor, then of the +exposed vein. He handed the candle to Ham, and, drawing from his pocket a +heavy cold chisel, he carefully knocked off some choice pieces of the ore +and placed them in his pocket, muttering to himself all the while. When +he had satisfied himself, he turned, took the candle, and started out, +motioning Ham to precede him. + +"Best gold quartz I've seed in many a year," he said softly, "only Tad +will never believe it." Ham understood. Ahead of them, down the narrow +black passage, they saw Tad's light disappear. + +"They have stepped into the tool-room, boy," said Ben, "an' every tarnal +one o' them implements is nearly sacred to Tad. Let's not disturb 'em." +He blew out his light and leaned against the wall of the tunnel, pulling +Ham back with him. + +In a few minutes they were surprised to hear loud exclamations and the +moving of the old iron wheelbarrows. Ahead they could see the light of +the opening, so Old Ben started again toward the entrance. + +"Guess that memorial service must be all over, from the racket they're +makin' with them tarnal carts," he said. + +When they reached Willis, they found him carefully going through the +pockets of the musty old coat hanging upon the wall. The cloth had fairly +rotted in the moisture. Tad was holding the treasures as Willis removed +them from the pockets. To Tad's surprise, there was inside the coat an +old vest. They were no doubt the clothes Mr. Thornton had worn the day +of the accident. In one vest pocket was Bill's gold watch, in another a +musty pocketbook and a badly worn note-book that had mildewed in the +moisture. There were three letters in the outside coat pocket. Willis +took one, moist and rotten as it was, from the envelope and noticed they +were from his mother, and were probably the last ones she had written. +Willis's hand shook violently and two great tears glistened in his eyes. +In the other outside pocket was a strange tin tube, perhaps a foot in +length, with a removable lid at either end. The tube was rusted red and +the ends sealed tight with rust. Willis handed the tube to Tad, a +question on his lips. + +"Thank God," Tad was saying to himself, "thank God, he didn't do it. +I've often thought I'd kill him if he had." + +"If who had what?" questioned Willis. + +"Don't ask me, lad, not now--I'll tell you some time, perhaps. Come, +let's go. This air is very bad, and I'm just a little sick." He linked +his arm through Willis's, and together they walked out into the cold +morning air. Ben and Ham followed. When they were outside, Tad swung the +door shut and locked it. Then, with a note of triumph in his voice, he +said: + +"There, Williams can have the place for all I care," and he held the +queer tin tube in his hand before them. + +"Open it," urged Willis. Tad turned to him. + +"My boy, there has never been a day in the past half-dozen years that I +have not wondered what became of that tin tube. Many times, after hours +of reasoning, I have decided that your uncle stole that tube from your +father's belongings. I have done the man an injustice. From my firm +belief that he had taken the tube came my great dislike for him. You have +never seen the contents of that can, lad, but your mother has. At one +time they were very valuable, and I have no doubt that even now that can +contains a small fortune for you--" + +"But--" interrupted Willis. Tad paid no attention to him, and went on: + +"The contents of that tube will place your father among the greatest of +mining engineers and give his name the honor it has always been entitled +to--" + +"But Tad--" + +"When your father conceived that idea it was impractical. He was too far +ahead of the times. But to-day, lad, it means that every mine dump in the +Cripple Creek region will be worked over again and the gold removed at a +trifling expense, for in that tube are the blueprints of the greatest +electrical ore-roasting machine in the world." He took his knife from his +pocket and slowly and carefully pried off the rusty lid. The blue roll +slid out into his hand. The moisture had not penetrated the can, and the +sketches were as good as the day they were made. Willis took them in his +hand and proudly turned them over and over, then he placed them again in +the can with the remark, "Tad, these things all belong to mother. I +wonder what she'll say?" + +Tad broke into a pleased little laugh, and the old smile that had made +him so many friends in the years gone by came back to his grizzled face. + +"Lad, you're rich to-day, and I am better satisfied. Those plans will +bring you and your mother a goodly sum. It lifts a great burden from a +poor, worthless prospector's mind." Willis did not know the true meaning +of the words, but Old Ben did, and it was now his turn to talk. + +"Tad, I've knowed ye for a tarnal lot o' years, hain't I? An', Tad, they +ain't a soul on earth as would do fer ye as me. I've lived a life myself, +Tad, an' I ain't so big a fool as ye are about some things." Ben pulled a +piece of the ore from his pocket and held it up for inspection. "Tad, +there's a twenty-inch vein of that rock in yonder, an' finer gold quartz +ye never seed in all yer days." He turned to Willis: "Boy, ye'r tarnal +lucky. Them plans may be valuable, but I have my doubts about it; but +it's certain that that mine is valuable. Jist how much gold they is +there, I don't know, but they is lots of it. Two or three more weeks an' +Williams would have struck it from the other side. Now listen, lad: sell +out, do you hear me, sell out. It'll bring a handsome price on assay; but +sell now, or Williams--" and his voice dropped to a mysterious whisper +and he looked suspiciously about him, "or Williams will get the best of +ye yet." + +After more talk and discussion, the whole party went down to the cabin, +and Ham prepared a special supper. After the meal was over, all sat and +talked before the fireplace, and the entire story was gone over again in +detail. Towards late afternoon they began the down trip through the +canyon. + +At the inn Tad promised to come the next day to the city to meet Mrs. +Thornton. Together they would confer about the newly-discovered facts. + +"Don't wait too tarnal long to sell, boy, or something will happen. Tad's +unlucky. Sell if ye can, an' I'd make that tarnal critter, Williams, buy +the whole business, if I was you." + +Tad and Willis stood some time talking, Willis then took the plans and +the other things that had been in his father's coat, and started home. +They walked in silence for some time, then Willis spoke: + +"O, Ham, I'm so happy to-day, and still--" He paused and the smile faded +from his face. "Still, why should I be happy? Do these plans and that +gold mine up there give me back my dear old dad?" + +"Not really," replied Ham, "but perhaps those things he left you will +make it possible for you to accomplish in this world the things he had +hoped to do, and perhaps better things." The little smile came back again +to Willis's face. + +"Ham, you're really a philosopher. I'll do my very best, I'll tell you +that. Now, let's hurry." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +In Which Fate Takes a Hand + + +Four days later Tad and Ben sat before the log-fire at the inn talking +over plans for the future development of the mine in Buffalo Park. Tad +was telling Ben of his visit with Mrs. Thornton and what her wishes were +in regard to the matter. It seemed that Mr. Williams was out of the city +and had been gone for several days. Just where he was no one seemed to +know, but as he had taken several such trips since the death of his wife, +Mrs. Thornton did not think much of it. It had been decided that they +would wait until Mr. Williams returned, at which time he would be given +the opportunity to buy the entire mine at a fair price. But if he did not +care to buy, the property was to be turned over to Tad for disposal or +development, as he saw fit. + +The cold weather had continued, and there had been no visitors at the inn +for nearly a week. Tad and Ben were making some crude tests before the +fire with the pieces of gold quartz Ben had brought from the tunnel. They +were just in the middle of their crude assay when suddenly there was a +loud knock on the outside door, accompanied by a series of low growls +from Ben's dog. The door was unceremoniously thrown open and a very much +excited man stepped in. He made no apologies, but went directly to the +point. He spoke between great breaths, and had evidently come from some +distance at a good speed. He was completely exhausted, and as he spoke +his eyes wandered aimlessly about the room. + +"We've a devil of a mess," he panted. "I don't know how many hurt, but +some of 'em are broken all to pieces. Come right away and bring what +bandages you have. O, it's a devil of a mess." + +Old Ben looked at the stranger bewilderedly. Tad jumped to his feet, +alert in a second. "Devil of a mess where, man? What's wrong? Who's +hurt?" The stranger's voice failed him, and all he could do was to point +his finger in the direction of the canyon and make signs for them to +hurry. Ben pushed him into a chair by the fire, and in a little while +they had his story: + +The new tunnel on the old Iron Dyke had caved in without a moment's +notice. There were seven men locked in by a wall of fallen rock. Whether +they had been crushed or not was hard to tell. The stranger had not been +in the tunnel at the time of the accident, but had gone to the stream for +water. Upon returning, he discovered the cave-in. He had come at once +for help, realizing that a single man would be useless at the mine. + +In a short time the three had the old horse packed and were on the trail. +The snow was deep and progress slow. As they walked up the trail the +stranger described the appearance of the fallen rock as best he could. He +told them that they had been working the tunnel as fast as possible and +that they had not been as careful as they should have been about propping +the ceiling. He said they had struck considerable water, and that the +black rock seemed to have been previously loosened by some great force, +for it was cracked in every direction. They had been spending the day +putting in temporary props, and the boss had been there superintending +the job. He had been urging the men on harder every day, as he seemed so +anxious to get the tunnel in to a certain point with the least possible +delay. The boss had in mind something very definite, however, for he +often referred to a certain sketch which he always carried in his pocket +book. The miner declared he had seen the boss make calculations many +times, after he had measured the depth of the tunnel. + +"Yes, the boss was in the mine, too--had been there all day. It might be +that he is dead this moment, for all I know," said the stranger. From his +description of the boss, Tad guessed that it was no other than Mr. +Williams himself. + +When the mine was reached, operations were at once commenced to remove +the fallen stones. Tad took command, and several times he thought he +heard the sound of hammering from the other side--but, perhaps, after all +it was only an echo. After a careful examination, it was decided that all +the loose rock had fallen, and that to remove it was not dangerous. They +began work at the top in order to make a hole big enough to reach the +men. They had not worked long when they heard sounds from the other side. +They were not all dead at least, and if they could but get to them before +they suffocated all would be well. The imprisoned miners evidently +understood the plan of action, for the sounds from the other side +indicated that they, too, were working at the top of the wall. By night a +small opening was made and messages exchanged. There were seven men +inside--one dead, two very badly hurt, and the others bruised and cut, +but able to help themselves. Water and hot food were passed to them, +then the work of rescue was taken up in earnest. Mr. Williams had a +fractured leg and was unconscious, but was still living. Instead of +rushing to the solid wall end of the tunnel, where he would have been +comparatively safe, at the first sign of danger he had rushed toward the +entrance with one other man, and had been struck down by the falling +stone. If he had started out thirty seconds sooner, he would have been +crushed to death, as his companion was. + +Late that night a large enough hole had been made to move the wounded men +out. Tad was the first to enter, and the first man to be brought out was +Williams. Tad picked him up in his great strong arms and tenderly carried +him to the cabin. By midnight the broken leg was dressed and the cuts and +bruises bandaged. Tad proved as good a nurse as he was a miner. As he +worked over Williams a great pity filled his heart, for Tad knew only too +well that he had been anything but a happy man. + +The tunnel had been driven very rapidly without proper trussing, and it +seemed to Tad that the entire dyke must have been shaken by the blasts +that had caused Mr. Thornton's death years before. Without a second's +notice the shaly rock had given a little, then caved in. It seemed a +strange turn of fate to Tad that the same blast that had taken away his +partner many years ago had now probably taken away his only enemy. With +these thoughts came an intense hatred for the mine and a tender pity for +the man that had so wronged him. Tad had put his body to a tremendous +test, and every nerve and every muscle was fairly tingling, so he drew up +a chair to the bedside and rested. In a little while Mr. Williams became +conscious, but on recognizing Tad at his bedside he slipped back again +into unconsciousness, muttering strange, broken apologies and begging for +mercy. Tad thanked God as he sat there that night that he had never +harmed a brother man willfully and that his life had always been, at +least to the best of his ability, on the square. + +Then he began to think rapidly. Perhaps Williams was near the end. He +feared the bad cut on his head might prove fatal. What if he should die +and have no chance to talk, no chance to square himself with those that +he had wronged? Accordingly he made him as comfortable as he could, and +after telling Ben his plan, he hurriedly ate a little food, went out +into the night and down the trail. + +Willis was awakened early in the morning by a furious pounding on the +door. He rose and hurried down. Tad fairly tumbled into the room. He +informed Willis just what had happened, and told him to get ready to go +with him at once. A doctor was called, a cab ordered, and in a little +while the three were hastening back toward Bruin Inn. With all their +speed, however, the morning was well-spent before they reached the little +shanty again. The doctor made a careful examination and declared Williams +in a very critical condition. The broken leg was reset, the cuts dressed +and sewed up. Then began the preparations to remove him out of the +mountains to a hospital. It seemed very strange to Tad to be again +building a crude stretcher from aspen poles and blankets, but by night +they had placed him in the hospital and he was sleeping. + +It was a long night of strange thoughts and fancies for Willis as he sat +by his uncle's bedside. He was too bewildered by all the strange events +of the last fortnight to be able to think logically. His admiration for +Tad had grown until it knew no bounds, and his pity for his uncle had +increased until all the hardness had disappeared from his heart and he +was sorry for him. He hoped with all his might that he would yet live. + +In the early morning Willis was awakened by his uncle's hand being placed +on his. The injured man was looking up into his face. He closed his eyes +again and was silent a long while. When he opened them again he spoke +falteringly: + +"I'm very sorry, son," he began. "I've been wrong, so wrong all along the +way. I've never been square. I have fought the Fates every day of my +life, and now I'm whipped." He smiled a little, weak smile. "What a fool +a man is," he continued. "Willis, I'm going to slip off very soon, now, +and I have so much I want to say to you." He half arose. "Are we alone?" +Willis told him that they were, but urged him not to talk. He was +determined. + +"I have played a desperate game, and I have lost. I'm sorry for my +mistakes. I have wronged Tad and you the most, for I have wanted your +father's mine. I was jealous of your father's favor. Now I know I did not +deserve it. I got your mother's reply to Tad's letter long ago. It was +sent in my care, and I read it. It decided me, for it all looked so easy. +There's money in the mine, son, and Tad is here somewhere. He will tell +you all. Tell him for me that I am sorry." He closed his eyes, and in a +moment was gone. + +Willis hurried home to his mother, and together they held a long +conference, and many things were accounted for. + + * * * * * + +It was at the little cabin that Willis found his greatest pleasure, and +already Ham and himself were planning a new and more pretentious Lodge to +take the place of Buffalo Roost, for the next Buffalo Roost was to be a +memorial camp built in honor of Tad Kieser, gentleman, and Mr. William +Thornton. + +Willis had found the cabin, and the cabin with its stanch, good +friendships, the healthful work together, and the unselfish leadership of +the right sort of men, had helped him find his best self in thoughtful +service for others. Surely no better thing ever comes to the life of a +boy. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUFFALO ROOST*** + + +******* This file should be named 14175.txt or 14175.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/7/14175 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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