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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Arrows, by William O. Stoddard
+
+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: Two Arrows
+       A Story of Red and White
+
+Author: William O. Stoddard
+
+Release Date: August 5, 2009 [EBook #29616]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO ARROWS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Barbara Kosker, Linda McKeown
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TWO ARROWS
+
+
+
+
+
+HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE'S SERIES
+
+NEW LARGE-TYPE EDITION
+
+  TOBY TYLER                            James Otis
+  MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER                  James Otis
+  TIM AND TIP                           James Otis
+  RAISING THE "PEARL"                   James Otis
+  ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL            W. F. Cody
+  DIDDIE, DUMPS AND TOT                 Mrs. L. C. Pyrnelle
+  MUSIC AND MUSICIANS                   Lucy C. Lillie
+  THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB          W. L. Alden
+  THE CRUISE OF THE "GHOST"             W. L. Alden
+  MORAL PIRATES                         W. L. Alden
+  A NEW ROBINSON CRUSOE                 W. L. Alden
+  PRINCE LAZYBONES                      Mrs. W. J. Hays
+  THE FLAMINGO FEATHER                  Kirk Munroe
+  DERRICK STERLING                      Kirk Munroe
+  CHRYSTAL, JACK & CO.                  Kirk Munroe
+  WAKULLA                               Kirk Munroe
+  THE ICE QUEEN                         Ernest Ingersoll
+  THE RED MUSTANG                       W. O. Stoddard
+  THE TALKING LEAVES                    W. O. Stoddard
+  TWO ARROWS                            W. O. Stoddard
+
+  HARPER & BROTHERS
+  PUBLISHERS
+
+[Illustration: TWO ARROWS EXPLORES THE RUINS]
+
+
+
+
+  TWO ARROWS
+
+  A STORY OF RED AND WHITE
+
+
+
+
+  BY
+
+  WILLIAM O. STODDARD
+
+  Author of "THE TALKING LEAVES"
+
+
+
+
+  ILLUSTRATED
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  NEW YORK AND LONDON
+  HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1886, BY HARPER & BROTHERS
+  COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD
+  F.-Y.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                        PAGE
+
+       I. THE HUNGRY CAMP                           1
+
+      II. A YOUNG HERO                              9
+
+     III. A BRAVE NAME                             17
+
+      IV. THE MINING EXPEDITION                    24
+
+       V. A VERY OLD TRAIL                         32
+
+      VI. A THIRSTY MARCH                          40
+
+     VII. THE GREAT CAÑON                          48
+
+    VIII. WATER! WATER!                            56
+
+      IX. INTO A NEW WORLD                         64
+
+       X. SILE'S POCKET                            71
+
+      XI. A TRAPPED BOY                            80
+
+     XII. THE ERRAND OF ONE-EYE                    88
+
+    XIII. GREAT SCOUTING                           96
+
+     XIV. A WRESTLING MATCH                       103
+
+      XV. A GREAT CAPTAIN                         111
+
+     XVI. VISITING                                117
+
+    XVII. MORE FUN                                126
+
+   XVIII. TWO WAR-PARTIES                         136
+
+     XIX. WONDERFUL FISHING                       146
+
+      XX. A FULL CORRAL                           157
+
+     XXI. THE GOLD MINE                           166
+
+    XXII. A NEW SETTLEMENT                        174
+
+   XXIII. DANGER                                  182
+
+    XXIV. SILE'S VICTORY                          191
+
+     XXV. A MIDNIGHT MARCH                        199
+
+    XXVI. PREPARING FOR AN ATTACK                 207
+
+   XXVII. FROM BOW TO RIFLE                       216
+
+  XXVIII. THE APACHES HAVE COME                   224
+
+    XXIX. STIRRING TIMES                          232
+
+     XXX. A DARING RIDE                           239
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  "Two arrows explores the ruins"                     _Frontispiece_
+
+  "Not a boy or girl among them had such a
+  treasure as that mirror"                           _Facing p._ 120
+
+  "The midnight march of the Nez Percés"                "        206
+
+  "His right hand with his palm up to show
+  that he was peaceful"                                 "        230
+
+
+
+
+TWO ARROWS
+
+
+
+
+
+TWO ARROWS
+
+A STORY OF RED AND WHITE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE HUNGRY CAMP
+
+
+The mountain countries of all the earth have always been wonder-lands.
+The oldest and best known of them are to this day full of things that
+nobody has found out. That is the reason why people are always exploring
+them, but they keep their secrets remarkably well, particularly the
+great secret of how they happened to get there in that shape.
+
+The great western mountain country of the United States is made up of
+range after range of wonderful peaks and ridges, and men have peered in
+among them here and there, but for all the peering and searching nothing
+of the wonder to speak of has been rubbed away.
+
+Right in the eastern, edge of one of these mountain ridges, one warm
+September morning, not long ago, a band of Nez Percé Indians were
+encamped. It was in what is commonly called "the Far West," because
+always when you get there the West is as far away as ever. The camp was
+in a sort of nook, and it was not easy to say whether a spur of the
+mountain jutted out into the plain, or whether a spur of the plain made
+a dent in the ragged line of the mountains. More than a dozen "lodges,"
+made of skins upheld by poles, were scattered around on the smoother
+spots, not far from a bubbling spring of water. There were some trees
+and bushes and patches of grass near the spring, but the little brook
+which trickled away from it did not travel a great way into the world,
+from the place where it was born, before it was soaked up and
+disappeared among the sand and gravel. Up and beyond the spring, the
+farther one chose to look, the rockier and the ruggeder everything
+seemed to be.
+
+Take it all together, it was a forlorn looking, hot, dried-up, and
+uncomfortable sort of place. The very lodges themselves, and the human
+beings around them, made it appear pitifully desolate. The spring was
+the only visible thing that seemed to be alive and cheerful and at work.
+
+There were Indians and squaws to be seen, a number of them, and boys and
+girls of all sizes, and some of the squaws carried pappooses, but they
+all looked as if they had given up entirely and did not expect to live
+any longer. Even some of the largest men had an air of not caring much,
+really, whether they lived or not; but that was the only regular and
+dignified way for a Nez Percé or any other Indian warrior to take a
+thing he can't help or is too lazy to fight with. The women showed more
+signs of life than the men, for some of them were moving about among the
+children, and one poor, old, withered, ragged squaw sat in the door of
+her lodge, with her gray hair all down over her face, rocking backward
+and forward, and singing a sort of droning chant.
+
+There was not one quadruped of any kind to be seen in or about that
+camp. Behind this fact was the secret of the whole matter. Those Indians
+were starving! Days and days before that they had been away out upon the
+plains to the eastward, hunting for buffalo. They had not found any, but
+they had found all the grass dry and parched by a long drought, so that
+no buffalo in his senses was likely to be there, and so that their own
+ponies could hardly make a living by picking all night. Then one
+afternoon a great swarm of locusts found where they were and alighted
+upon them just as a westerly wind died out. The locusts remained long
+enough to eat up whatever grass there was left. All through the evening
+the Nez Percés had heard the harsh, tingling hum of those devourers, as
+they argued among themselves whether or not it were best to stay and dig
+for the roots of the grass. The wind came up suddenly and strongly about
+midnight, and the locusts decided to take advantage of it and sail away
+after better grass, but they did not leave any behind them. They set
+out for the nearest white settlements in hope of getting corn and
+apple-tree leaves, and all that sort of thing.
+
+The band of Nez Percés would have moved away the next morning under any
+circumstances, but when morning came they were in a terribly bad
+predicament. Not one of them carried a watch, or he might have known
+that it was about three o'clock, and very dark, when a worse disaster
+than the visit of the locusts took place. By five or six minutes past
+three it was all done completely, and it was the work of a wicked old
+mule.
+
+All but a half a dozen of the ponies and mules of the band had been
+gathered and tethered in what is called a "corral," only that it had no
+fence, at a short distance from the lodges. Nobody dreamed of any danger
+to that corral, and there was none from the outside, even after the boys
+who were set to watch it had curled down and gone to sleep. All the
+danger was inside, and it was also inside of that mule. He was hungry
+and vicious. He had lived in the white "settlements," and knew
+something. He was fastened by a long hide lariat to a peg driven into
+the ground, as were all the others, and he knew that the best place to
+gnaw in two that lariat was close to the peg, where he could get a good
+pull upon it. As soon as he had freed himself he tried the lariat of
+another mule, and found that the peg had been driven into loose earth
+and came right up. That was a scientific discovery, and he tried several
+other pegs. Some came up with more or less hard tugging, and as fast as
+they came up a pony or a mule was free. Then he came to a peg he could
+not pull, and he lost his temper. He squealed, and turned around and
+kicked the pony that belonged to that peg. Then he stood still and
+brayed, as if he were frightened to find himself loose, and that was all
+that was needed.
+
+It was after three o'clock, and in one minute the whole corral was
+kicking and squealing, braying, biting, and getting free, and joining in
+the general opinion that it was time to run away.
+
+That is what the western men call a "stampede," and whenever one occurs
+there is pretty surely a mule or a thief at the bottom of it; but
+sometimes a hail-storm will do as well, or nearly so. By five or six
+minutes past three all of that herd were racing westward, with boys and
+men getting out of breath behind it, and all the squaws in the camp were
+holding hard upon the lariats of the ponies tethered among the lodges.
+When morning came there were hardly ponies enough to "pack" the lodges
+and other baggage and every soul of the band had to carry something as
+they all set off, bright and early, upon the trail of the stampeded
+drove of ponies. Some of the warriors had followed it without any
+stopping for breakfast, and they might have caught up with it, perhaps,
+but for the good generalship of that old mule. He had decided in his own
+mind to trot right along until he came to something to eat and drink,
+and the idea was a persuasive one. All the rest determined to have
+something to eat and drink, and they followed their leader. It was not
+easy for men on foot to catch up with them, and before noon the warriors
+sat down and took a smoke, and held a council as to what it was best to
+do. Before they finished that council the ponies had gained several
+miles more the start of them. The next council the warriors held
+contained but three men, for all the rest had gone back as messengers to
+tell the band that the ponies had not been recovered. By nightfall the
+remaining three had faithfully carried back the same news, and were
+ready for a fresh start.
+
+After that there had been day after day of weary plodding and continual
+disappointment, with the weather growing hotter and the grass drier,
+until the trail they were following brought them to the spring in the
+edge of the mountain range without bringing them to the wicked old mule
+and his followers.
+
+That had not been the whole of the sad history. On the evening before
+the stampede that band of Nez Percés had been well supplied with riding
+ponies and pack-mules, and had also been rich in dogs. No other band of
+their size had more, although their failure to find buffaloes had
+already begun to have its effect upon the number of their barking stock.
+Not a dog had been wasted by feeding him to the other dogs, but the
+human beings had not been allowed to starve, and after the march began
+towards the mountains there was less and less noise in that camp night
+after night.
+
+There was no help for it; the ponies ate the grass up at the spring, and
+then one of them had to be eaten, while the warriors rode all around the
+neighborhood vainly hunting for something better and not so expensive.
+They did secure a few rabbits and sage-hens and one small antelope, but
+all the signs of the times grew blacker and blacker, and it was about as
+well to kill and eat the remaining ponies as to let them die of
+starvation. A sort of apathy seemed to fall upon everybody, old and
+young, and the warriors hardly felt like doing any more hunting. Now at
+last they sat down to starve, without a dog or pony left, and with no
+prospect that game of any kind would come into camp to be killed. It is
+a curious fact, but whole bands of Indians, and sometimes whole tribes,
+get into precisely that sort of scrape almost every year. Now it is one
+band, and now it is another, and there would be vastly more of it if it
+were not for the United States Government.
+
+There was nothing droll, nothing funny, nothing that was not savagely
+sad, about the Nez Percés' camp that September morning. Every member of
+the band, except two, was loafing around the lodges hopelessly and
+helplessly doing nothing, and miserably giving the matter up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A YOUNG HERO
+
+
+Away from the camp a long mile, and down in the edge of the dry, hot,
+desolate plain, there was a wide spread of sage-bushes. They were larger
+than usual, because of having ordinarily a better supply of water sent
+them from the mountains than if they had settled further out. In among
+such growths are apt to be found sage-hens and rabbits, and sometimes
+antelopes, but the warriors had decided that they had hunted out all of
+the game that had been there, and had given the bushes up. Two of the
+members of the band who were not warriors had not arrived at the same
+conclusion, and both of these were among the "sage-brush" that morning.
+The first had been greatly missed among the lodges, and had been much
+hunted for and shouted after, for he was the largest and most
+intelligent dog ever owned by that band. He was also about the ugliest
+ever owned by anybody, and his misfortunes had earned for him the name
+of One-eye. He could see more with the eye he had left--and it was his
+right--than any other animal they had ever had, or than most of the
+warriors. He saw what became of the other dogs, for instance, and at
+once acquired a habit of not coming when an Indian called for him. He
+kept his eye about him all day, and was careful as to where he lay down.
+Just about the time when the ponies began to go into the camp-kettles he
+was a dog hard to find, although he managed to steal pony-bones and
+carry them away into the sage-brush. Perhaps it was for this reason that
+he was in even better condition than common that morning. He had no
+signs of famine about him, and he lay beside what was left of a
+jackass-rabbit, which he had managed to add to his stock of plunder.
+One-eye was a dog of uncommon sagacity; he had taken a look at the camp
+just before sunrise, and had confirmed his convictions that it was a bad
+place for him. He had been to the spring for water, drinking enough to
+last him a good while, and then he had made a race against time for the
+nearest bushes. He lay now with his sharp-pointed, wolfish ears pricked
+forward, listening to the tokens of another presence besides his own.
+
+Somebody else was there, but not in bodily condition to have made much
+of a race after One-eye. It was a well-grown boy of about fifteen years,
+and One-eye at once recognized him as his own particular master, but he
+was a very forlorn-looking boy. He wore no clothing, except the
+deer-skin "clout" that covered him from above his hips to the middle of
+his thighs. He carried a light lance in one hand and a bow in the
+other, and there were arrows in the quiver slung over his shoulder. A
+good butcher-knife hung in its case by the thong around his waist, and
+he was evidently out on a hunting expedition. He was the one being,
+except One-eye, remaining in that band of Nez Percés, with life and
+energy enough to try and do something. He did not look as if he could do
+much. He was the son of the old chief in command of the band, but it was
+two whole days since he had eaten anything, and he had a faded, worn,
+drawn, hungry appearance, until you came to his black, brilliant eyes.
+These had an unusual fire in them, and glanced quickly, restlessly,
+piercingly in all directions. He might have been even good-looking if he
+had been well fed and well dressed, and he was tall and strongly built.
+Just such Indian boys grow up into the chiefs and leaders who make
+themselves famous, and get their exploits into the newspapers, but as
+yet this particular boy had not managed to earn for himself any name at
+all. Every Indian has to do something notable or have something
+memorable occur to him before his tribe gives him the honor of a
+distinguishing name. One-eye knew him, and knew that he was hungry and
+in trouble, but had no name for him except that he suggested a danger of
+the camp-kettle.
+
+There could be no doubt about that boy's pluck and ambition, and he was
+a master for any dog to have been proud of as he resolutely and
+stealthily searched the sage-bushes. He found nothing, up to the moment
+when he came out into a small bit of open space, and then he suddenly
+stopped, for there was something facing him under the opposite bushes.
+
+"Ugh! One-eye."
+
+A low whine replied to him, and a wag of a dog's tail was added, but a
+watch was kept upon any motion he might make with his bow or lance.
+
+"Ugh! no. Not kill him," remarked the boy, after almost a minute of
+profound thinking. "Eat him? No dog then. All old fools. No dog hunt
+with. No pony. Starve. Keep One-eye. Try for rabbits."
+
+He called repeatedly, but his old acquaintance refused to come near him,
+whining a little but receding as the boy advanced.
+
+"Ugh! knows too much."
+
+It was a matter to lessen the value of One-eye that he understood his
+own interests, and his master ceased, wearily, his efforts to entice
+him. He pushed on through the bushes, but now he was instantly aware
+that One-eye was searching them with him, keeping at a safe distance,
+but performing regular hunter's duty. He even scared up a solitary
+sage-hen, but she did not fly within range of bow and arrow. She was an
+encouragement, however, and so were the remains of the rabbit to which
+One-eye managed to pilot the way. They seemed like a promise of better
+things to come, and One-eye stood over them for a moment wagging his
+tail, as much as to say,
+
+"There; take that and let me up!"
+
+The boy picked up the rabbit and said several things to the dog in a
+clear, musical voice. He spoke the guttural, Nez Percé dialect, which is
+one of the most difficult in the world, and One-eye seemed almost to
+understand him--and yet there are white boys of fifteen who stumble
+dreadfully over such easy tongues as Greek and Latin.
+
+The boy and dog seemed to be on better terms after that, and went on
+through the sage-brush towards where a straggling line of mesquite
+scrubs marked the plain. The dog was ranging the bushes right and left,
+while the boy slowly followed the narrow lane of an old, hard-beaten
+"buffalo path," with an arrow on the string, ready for anything that
+might turn up. They were nearly out of the mesquites when One-eye
+uttered a quick, sharp, low-voiced whine, which his master seemed to
+understand. It is not every dog that can whine in the Nez Percé dialect,
+but the boy at once dropped upon his hands and knees and crept silently
+forward. He had been warned that something was the matter, and his
+natural instinct was to hide until he should discover what it might be.
+Again the dog whimpered, and the boy knew that he was hidden ahead and
+beyond him. He crawled out of the trail and made his way under and
+through the bushes. He made no more sound or disturbance than a snake
+would have caused in doing the same thing, and in half a minute more he
+was peering out into the open country.
+
+"Ugh! buffalo!"
+
+His brilliant eyes served him well. Only an Indian or a dog would have
+rightly read the meaning of some very minute variations in the brown
+crest of a roll of the prairie, far away to the eastward. Only the
+keenest vision could have detected the fact that there was a movement in
+the low, dull line of desolation. Back shrank the boy, under the bushes
+at the side of the trail, and One-eye now had enough of restored
+confidence to come and crouch beside him. In a few minutes more the
+spots were noticeably larger, and it was plain that the buffalo were
+approaching and not receding. At another time and under different
+circumstances, even an Indian might have been unwise, and have tried to
+creep out and meet them, but the weakness of semistarvation brought with
+it a most prudent suggestion. It was manifestly better to lie still and
+let them come, so long as they were coming. There was no sort of fatigue
+in such a style of hunting, but there was a vast deal of excitement. It
+was a strain on any nerves, especially hungry ones, to lie still while
+those two great shaggy shapes came slowly out upon the ridge. They did
+not pause for an instant, and there was no grass around them to give
+them an excuse for lingering. They were on their way after some, and
+some water, undoubtedly, and perhaps they knew a reason why there should
+be an ancient buffalo-trail in that direction, trodden by generation
+after generation of their grass-eating race. The boy was a born hunter,
+and knew that he was lurking in the right place, and he drew back
+farther and under deeper and more perfect cover, hardly seeming to
+breathe. One-eye did the same, had almost looked as if he wanted to put
+his paw over his mouth as he panted. On came the two bisons, and it was
+apparent soon that no more were following them.
+
+"Bull--cow," muttered the boy. "Get both. Laugh at old men then. Have
+name!"
+
+His black eyes flashed as he put his best arrow on the string and
+flattened himself upon the dry, hot earth. Nearer and nearer drew the
+gigantic game, and with steady, lumbering pace they followed the old
+trail. It was a breathless piece of business, but it was over at last.
+The bull was in front, and he was a splendid-looking old fellow,
+although somewhat thin in flesh. Neither he nor his companion seemed to
+have smelled or dreamed of danger, and they walked straight into it. The
+moment for action had come, and the boy's body rose a little, with a
+swift, pliant, graceful motion. With all the strength starvation had
+left in him he drew his arrow to the head. In another second it was
+buried to its very feathers in the broad breast of the buffalo bull, and
+the great animal stumbled forward upon his knees, pierced through the
+heart. The young hunter had known well the precise spot to aim at, and
+he had made a perfect shot. The cow halted for a moment, as if in
+amazement, and then charged forward along the trail. That moment had
+given the boy enough time to put another arrow on the string, and as she
+passed him he drove it into her just behind the shoulder, well and
+vigorously. Once more he had given a deadly wound, and now he caught up
+his lance. There was little need of it, but he could not be sure of
+that, and so, as the bull staggered to his feet in his death-struggle,
+he received a terrific thrust in the side and went down again. It was a
+complete victory, so far as the bull was concerned, and One-eye had
+darted away upon the path of the wounded cow.
+
+"Ugh! got both!" exclaimed the boy. "Have name now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A BRAVE NAME
+
+
+One-eye followed the arrow-stricken cow, and he ran well. So did the
+cow, and she did not turn to the right or left from the old buffalo
+trail. There was but one road for either the trail or the cow or the
+dog, for the very formation of the land led them all into the mountains
+through the nook by the spring, and so by and by through the camp of the
+starving Nez Percés. On she went until, right in the middle of the camp
+and among the lodges, she stumbled and fell, and One-eye had her by the
+throat.
+
+It was time for somebody to wake up and do something, and a
+wiry-looking, undersized, lean-ribbed old warrior, with an immense head,
+whose bow and arrows had been hanging near him, at once rushed forward
+and began to make a sort of pin-cushion of that cow. He twanged arrow
+after arrow into her, yelling ferociously, and was just turning away to
+get his lance when a robust squaw, who had not been made very thin even
+by starvation, caught him by the arm, screeching,
+
+"Dead five times! What for kill any more?"
+
+She held up a plump hand as she spoke, and spread her brown fingers
+almost against his nose. There was no denying it, but the victorious
+hunter at once struck an attitude and exclaimed,
+
+"No starve now, Big Tongue!"
+
+He had saved the whole band from ruin and he went on to say as much,
+while the warriors and squaws and smaller Indians crowded around the
+game so wonderfully brought within a few yards of their kettles. It was
+a grand occasion, and the Big Tongue was entitled to the everlasting
+gratitude of his nation quite as much as are a great many white
+statesmen and kings and generals who claim and in a manner get it. All
+went well with him until a gray-headed old warrior, who was examining
+the several arrows projecting from the side of the dead bison, came to
+one over which he paused thoughtfully. Then he raised his head, put his
+hand to his mouth, and sent forth a wild whoop of delight. He drew out
+the arrow with one sharp tug and held it up to the gaze of all.
+
+"Not Big Tongue. Boy!" For he was the father of the young hero who had
+faithfully stood up against hunger and despair and had gone for game to
+the very last. He was a proud old chief and father that day, and all
+that was left for the Big Tongue was to recover his own arrows as fast
+as he could for future use, while the squaws cut up the cow. They did it
+with a haste and skill quite remarkable, considering how nearly dead
+they all were. The prospect of a good dinner seemed to put new life into
+them, and they plied their knives in half a dozen places at the same
+time.
+
+One-eye sat down and howled for a moment, and then started off upon the
+trail by which he had come.
+
+"Boy!" shouted the old chief. "All come. See what."
+
+Several braves and nearly all the other boys, one squaw and four
+half-grown girls at once followed him as he pursued the retreating form
+of One-eye. It was quite a procession, but some of its members staggered
+a little in their walk, and there was no running. Even the excitement of
+the moment could get no more than a rapid stride out of the old chief
+himself. He was well in advance of all others, and at the edge of the
+expanse of sage-brush in which One-eye disappeared he was compelled to
+pause for breath. Before it had fully come to him he needed it for
+another whoop of delight.
+
+Along the path in front of him, erect and proud, but using the shaft of
+his lance as a walking-stick, came his own triumphant boy hunter. Not
+one word did the youngster utter, but he silently turned in his tracks,
+beckoning his father to follow.
+
+It was but a few minutes after that and they stood together in front of
+the dead bull bison. The boy pointed at the arrow almost buried in the
+shaggy chest, and then he sat down; hunger and fatigue and excitement
+had done their work upon him, and he could keep his feet no longer. He
+even permitted One-eye to lick his hands and face in a way no Indian dog
+is in the habit of doing. Other warriors came crowding around the great
+trophy, and the old chief waited while they examined all and made their
+remarks. They were needed as witnesses of the exact state of affairs,
+and they all testified that this arrow, like the other, had been
+wonderfully well driven. The old chief sat down before the bull and
+slowly pulled out the weapon. He looked at it, held it up, streaming
+with the blood of the animal it had brought down, and said:
+
+"Long Bear is a great chief. Great brave. Tell all people the young
+chief Two ARROWS. Boy got a name. Whoop!"
+
+The youngster was on his feet in a moment, and One-eye gave a sharp,
+fierce bark, as if he also was aware that something great had happened
+and that he had a share in it. It was glory enough for one day, and the
+next duty on hand was to repair the damages of their long fasting. Two
+Arrows and his dog walked proudly at the side of the Long Bear as he led
+the way back to the camp. No longer a nameless boy, he was still only in
+his apprenticeship; he was not yet a warrior, although almost to be
+counted as a "brave," as his title indicated. It would yet be a long
+time before he could be permitted to go upon any war-path, however he
+might be assured of a good pony when there should be hunting to be done.
+
+There had been all along an abundance of firewood, of fallen trees and
+dead mesquite-bushes, in the neighborhood of the camp, and there were
+fires burning in front of several lodges before the remainder of the
+good news came in. The cow had been thoroughly cut up, but the stern
+requirements of Indian law in such cases called for the presence of the
+chief and the leading warriors to divide and give out for use. Anything
+like theft or overreaching would have been visited with the sharp wrath
+of some very hungry men. The Big Tongue had seated himself in front of
+the "hump" and some other choice morsels, waiting the expected decision
+that they belonged to him. He also explained to all who could not help
+hearing him how surely that cow could have broken through the camp and
+escaped into the mountains if it had not been for him, until the same
+plump squaw pointed at the hump and ribs before him, remarking,
+cheerfully,
+
+"Go get arrow. Kill him again. Need some more. Boy kill him when he
+stood up."
+
+There was not strength left in the camp for a laugh, but the Big Tongue
+seemed to have wearied of the conversation. He looked wearier afterwards
+when the hump was unanimously assigned to the old chief's own lodge,
+that Two Arrows might eat his share of it. Indian justice is a pretty
+fair article when it can be had at home, not interfered with by any kind
+of white man. The division was made to the entire satisfaction of
+everybody, after all, for the Big Tongue deserved and was awarded due
+credit and pay for his promptness. If the buffalo had not already been
+killed by somebody else, perhaps he might have killed it, and there was
+a good deal in that. He and his family had a very much encouraged and
+cheerful set of brown faces as they gathered around their fire and began
+to broil bits of meat over it.
+
+One fashion was absolutely without an exception, leaving out of the
+question the smaller pappooses: not one man, woman, or child but was
+diligently working away at a slice of raw meat, whatever else they were
+doing or trying to do. It was no time to wait for cookery, and it was
+wonderful what an enlivening effect the raw meat seemed to have.
+
+Indian etiquette required that Two Arrows should sit down before his
+father's lodge and patiently wait until his "token" should be given him.
+His first slice of meat was duly broiled by his mother, and handed him
+by his father, and he ate it in dignified silence. It was the proudest
+hour of his whole life thus far, and he well knew that the story would
+spread through the Nez Percé nation and lead the old men of it to expect
+great things of him: it was a beginning of fame, and it kindled in him
+a tremendous fever for more. His ambition grew and grew as his appetite
+went down, and his strength began to come back to him.
+
+It was a grand feast, and it was not long before there were braves and
+squaws ready to go and cut up the bull and bring every ounce of him to
+camp. Starvation had been defeated, and all that happiness had been
+earned by "Two Arrows."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE MINING EXPEDITION
+
+
+The place away out upon the rolling plain, at which the unlucky
+hunting-camp of the Nez Percé band had been pitched when the locusts
+visited them, was occupied again a few days after they left it. The
+new-comers were not Indians of any tribe but genuine white men, with an
+uncommonly good outfit for a small one. They were one of the hundreds of
+mining and exploring expeditions which every year set out for one range
+of mountains or another to try and find what there is in them. They are
+all sure to find a good deal of hard work, privation and danger, and
+some of them discover mines of gold and silver.
+
+This expedition consisted of two very strongly built but not heavy
+wagons, with canvas-covered tilts, and each drawn by four large mules.
+What was in the wagons except the drivers could only be guessed at, but
+riding at the side or ahead or behind them as they came towards the
+camping-place were six men and a boy. There were several spare horses
+and mules, and the whole affair looked as if it had cost a good deal of
+money. It costs a great deal to bring up eight men and a boy so that
+these may be fairly included, but there were wide variations in the
+external garnishing of the riders and drivers.
+
+They had all been guided to that spot, partly by the general aim of
+their undertaking, partly by the trail they were following, and a good
+deal by a tall old fellow with a Roman nose and a long, muddy yellow
+beard, who rode in front upon a raw-boned, Roman-nosed sorrel mare, with
+an uncommon allowance of tail. When they reached that camping-ground it
+was not late in the afternoon, but it was not well to go on past a deep
+pool of water, surrounded by willows and cottonwood-trees, however
+little grass there was to be had in the neighborhood. They had found
+water and grass getting scarcer and scarcer for two or three days, and
+there was quite enough in the look of things to make men thoughtful.
+They knew nothing about the Nez Percés and the grasshoppers and the
+wicked old mule, but the tall man in front only looked around for one
+moment before he exclaimed,
+
+"I'd call it--Been some kind of Injins here lately. No game, I reckon,
+or they'd ha' stayed."
+
+"No kind of game'd stay long in such a burned-up country as this is,"
+added a squarely made, gray-headed man who rode up alongside of him.
+"We've nothing to do but to push on. We must get out of this or we'll
+lose our whole outfit."
+
+"Sure as shootin'! I move we just unhitch long enough for a feed and a
+good drink, and lay in what water we can carry, and go on all night.
+There's a good moon to travel by, and it'll be cooler work for the
+critters."
+
+"It's our best hold. Sile, don't you gallop that horse of yours one rod.
+There's work enough before him. Save him up."
+
+"All right, father. But isn't this the camp? He can rest now."
+
+"No he can't, nor you either. It's an all-night job."
+
+Sile was not gray-headed. He was very nearly red-headed. Still, he
+looked enough like his father in several ways. He was broadly and
+heavily built, strong and hearty, with something in his merry, freckled
+face which seemed to indicate a very good opinion of himself. Boys of
+fourteen, or thereabout, who can ride and shoot, and who have travelled
+a little, are apt to get that kind of expression, and it never tells
+lies about them.
+
+Sile's horse was a roan, and looked like a fast one under a light weight
+like his. Just large enough not to be called "ponyish," and with signs
+of high spirit. The moment the youngster sprang from the saddle and
+began to remove it it became manifest that there was a good
+understanding between horse and boy. Any intelligent animal is inclined
+to make a pet of its master if it has a fair chance.
+
+"Now, Hip, there isn't any grass, but you can make believe. I'll bring a
+nose-bag as soon as you've cooled off and have had a drink of water."
+
+He was as good as his word, and there were oats in the nose-bag when he
+brought it, and Hip shortly left it empty, but in less than two hours
+from that time the two tilted wagons were once more moving steadily
+onward towards the West and the mountains.
+
+There had been a hearty supper cooked and eaten, and there was not a
+human being in the party who seemed much the worse for fatigue. The
+spare horses and mules had taken the places of the first lot in harness,
+and it was plain that there was plenty of working power remaining, but
+there was a sort of serious air about the whole matter. The sun set
+after a while, and still, with occasional brief rests, the expedition
+pushed forward. It was a point to be noted that it travelled about twice
+as fast as the band of Nez Percés had been able to do after they had
+lost their ponies. It was not hampered by any heavily burdened
+foot-passengers. The moon arose, and now Sile was riding on in front
+with the muddy-bearded veteran.
+
+"Pine," said he, "s'pose we don't come to grass and water?"
+
+"Most likely we will before mornin', or before noon anyhow. If we
+don't, we must go on till we do."
+
+"Kill all the mules?"
+
+"They'll all die if we don't, sure's my name's Pine--Yellow Pine."
+
+"They can't stand it--"
+
+"They can stand anything but starvation. Did you ever try giving up
+water?"
+
+"No; did you?"
+
+"Well, I did. I was glad to give up giving it up after a few days. It's
+the queerest feeling you ever had."
+
+"How'd it happen?"
+
+"I don't feel like tellin' about it jest now. There's too good a chance
+for tryin' it again to suit me."
+
+"Is that so? Pine, do you know, I wish you'd tell me how they came to
+call you Yellow Pine."
+
+The fear of either thirst or hunger had plainly not yet fallen upon
+Sile, or he would not have asked that question just then. It sounded so
+much like fourteen years old and recklessness that the great, gaunt man
+turned in his saddle and looked at him.
+
+"I'd call it--Well, now, you're a customer. Some reckon it's my
+complexion, and I am turned kind o' yaller, but it ain't. It's my own
+name."
+
+"How'd you get it, anyway?"
+
+"How? Well, my father was just like me; he was a wise man. He named me
+after his brother, my uncle Ogden, and after Colonel Yell, that was
+killed in the Mexican war. So I'm Yell O. Pine, and nobody but you ever
+cared how it kem so."
+
+Sile was satisfied as to that one point, but there did not seem to be
+anything else on that prairie about which he was satisfied, and at last
+his companion remarked to him,
+
+"Now look here, Sile Parks, you go back and tell the judge, if I've got
+to answer questions for you all night, he'll hev to raise my wages. I'm
+thirsty with it now, and there's no water to spare."
+
+Sile was in no wise disconcerted, but rode back to the main body in
+excellent spirits. It was the first real danger of any sort that the
+expedition had encountered, and there was a keen excitement in it. He
+had read of such things, and now he was in one without the least idea in
+the world but what everything would come out all right, just as it does
+in a novel. Before midnight he had asked every other human being around
+him all the questions he could think of, and had dismounted four times
+to examine the grass at the wayside and see if it were of any better
+quality. Each time he was compelled to mount again and ride on to his
+father, "Chips."
+
+When bunch-grass gets to be so dry that it will crumble in the fingers
+it ceases to be of any use except to carry a prairie-fire in a great
+hurry. It will do that wonderfully, but it will not do to feed animals
+on, and it was needful to have something better.
+
+When a halt was called, at about twelve o'clock, and a rest of two hours
+was decided on, the barrels of water in the wagons were drawn upon for
+only a moderate ration all around, and the animals plainly testified
+their eagerness for more. They were not at all distressed as yet, but
+they would have been if they had done that amount of work under
+sunshine. When the moment for again setting out arrived and the word was
+given, Judge Parks inquired,
+
+"Pine, where is Sile?"
+
+"Where? I'd call it--There he is on his blanket, sound asleep. I'll
+shake him up."
+
+"Do, while I put the saddle on his horse. Guess he's tired a little."
+
+A sharp shake of Sile's shoulder had to be followed by another, and then
+a sleepy voice responded,
+
+"Water? Why, Pine, there's a whole lake of it. Was you ever at sea?"
+
+"Sea be hanged! Git up; it's time to travel."
+
+"Ah, halloo! I'm ready. I dreamed we'd got there. Riding so much makes
+me sleepy."
+
+He was quickly in the saddle again, and they went forward; but there
+were long faces among them at about breakfast-time that morning. They
+were halted by some clumps of sickly willows, and Yellow Pine said,
+mournfully,
+
+"Yer's where the redskins made their next camp. They and their critters
+trod the pool down to nothin' and let the sun in onto it, and it's as
+dry as a bone. We're in for a hard time and no mistake."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A VERY OLD TRAIL
+
+
+During all that was left of that happy day in the Nez Percé camp there
+was an immense amount of broiling and boiling done. Whoever left the
+great business of eating enough and went and sat down or lay down got up
+again after a while and did some more remarkable eating. All the life of
+an Indian trains him for that kind of thing, for he goes on in a sort of
+continual vibration from feast to famine.
+
+All the other boys in camp were as hungry as Two Arrows, and as their
+hunger went down their envy of him went up; he had suddenly stepped
+ahead of them and had become an older boy in a moment. It was very much
+as if a boy of his age in the "settlements" had waked up, some fine
+morning, with a pair of mustaches and a military title, uniform and all.
+
+Two Arrows was entitled to strut a little, and so was One-eye, but for
+some reason neither of them was inclined to anything but eating and
+lying down. One-eye may have felt lonely, for he found himself the only
+dog in all that camp, and he knew very well what had become of the dogs
+he used to know: they had gone to the famine, and there had been no
+sort of funeral ceremonies, and now there could be no kind of neighborly
+quarrel over bones any more. There was a reason, why One-eye should
+attach himself more closely than ever to his master and follow his every
+movement. They had killed two buffaloes in company, and there was no
+telling what they might or might not yet do if they kept together.
+
+Two Arrows found the effects of his long fasting rapidly passing away,
+but he was like everybody else and needed a big sleep. One-eye had the
+only eye that did any watching all that night, and nobody but the fat
+squaw was up very early next morning. Her next company was the Big
+Tongue, and he at once began to talk about the game he intended to kill,
+now he had had something to eat. Two Arrows might not have been the next
+riser if it had not been for a friendly tug from One-eye, but the moment
+he was awake he knew that he was hungry again. He was hungry, but he was
+silent, and it was plain that he was thinking about something uncommonly
+interesting. He stood in front of his father's lodge, waiting for the
+breakfast that was now sure to come, when a light hand was laid upon his
+arm and a soft musical voice exclaimed, triumphantly,
+
+"Two Arrows! Name!"
+
+"Ugh," said he. "Na-tee-kah."
+
+He hardly looked around, but the pleasantest face in all that band was
+smiling upon him. It bore a strong resemblance to his own, and belonged
+to an Indian girl a year or so younger than himself. She was well grown,
+slender, and graceful, and had a pair of eyes as brilliant as his, but a
+great deal more gentle and kindly in their expression. They lacked the
+restless, searching, eager look, and his, indeed were quieter than they
+had been the day before.
+
+"Got plenty to eat now," she said. "Not starve to death any more."
+
+"Eat all up," replied he. "Fool! Starve again, pretty soon."
+
+"No, Long Bear and old men say, keep all there is left. Work to-day. Dry
+meat. Go hunting somewhere else. Not stay here."
+
+There was a little more talk that indicated a very fair degree of
+affection between the brother and sister, and then Two Arrows said to
+her,
+
+"Keep tongue very still. Come."
+
+She followed him to the lower edge of the camp, and he silently pointed
+her to the place where the old buffalo trail came in.
+
+"Great many make that. Long time. All know why."
+
+"The cow came in there."
+
+"Ugh! now come."
+
+She followed him now to the upper end of the camp, and he pointed again
+to the trail, deeply and plainly made, going on into the gorges of the
+mountains.
+
+"Buffalo go that way; Two Arrows follow. Say no word. Not find him
+pretty soon."
+
+That was the meaning of all his thoughtfulness. He meant to set off on a
+hunt of his own planning, without asking permission of anybody. Two days
+earlier he would not have dreamed of such a piece of insubordination.
+Now he had won his right to do that very thing, and he meant to take
+advantage of it instantly. All the young ambition in him had been
+stirred to the boiling point, and his only remaining anxiety was to get
+a good supply of provisions and get out of the camp without being seen
+by anybody. He could look out for his weapons, including several of his
+father's best arrows, and Na-tee-kah at once promised to steal for him
+all the meat he wanted. She went right into his plan with the most
+sisterly devotion, and her eyes looked more and more like his when she
+next joined her mother and the other squaws at their camp-fire. There
+was no doubt but what her brother would have his marching rations
+supplied well, and of the best that was to be had.
+
+There was no need for Two Arrows to steal from Long Bear. What between
+pride and buffalo meat the old chief was ready to give or rather lend
+him anything, and he deemed it his heroic son's day to parade and show
+off. He was entitled to do so with the best weapons in his father's
+collection. The day would surely come when he would be allowed to paint
+himself and do a great many other things belonging to full-grown braves
+and warriors. It was even lawful for him to wear a patch or two of paint
+now, and Na-tee-kah helped him to put it on. If he had been a white boy
+with his first standing-collar, he could not have been more particular,
+and every other boy in camp had something to say to the others about the
+fit of that vermilion.
+
+It was a day of drying and smoking meat, and of eating as much as the
+older men permitted, and everybody wore an aspect of extreme good-humor
+except One-eye and his master. The dog and the boy alike kept away from
+the camp-fires and from all grown-up Indians. Towards the middle of the
+afternoon, Na-tee-kah slipped quietly out at the upper end of the camp,
+carrying her own buckskin sack nearly full of something, and nobody
+thought of asking her what there might be in it. She had not been gone
+many minutes before anybody loafing at that end of the camp might have
+seen her brother was following her. He had been standing near the spring
+for some time, in full rig, for the other boys to admire him, and now he
+walked dignifiedly away as if he were weary of being looked at. Half a
+mile farther up the rugged valley he caught up with Na-tee-kah, and she
+returned to camp without her bead-worked sack. There was nothing at all
+noticeable in the whole affair, unless some suspicious person had been
+closely watching them. It was after sunset before there was any special
+inquiry for Two Arrows, and it was dark before Na-tee-kah expressed her
+belief that he had "gone hunt." She replied freely to every question
+asked her, well knowing that there would be no pursuit, but she was more
+than a little relieved when the old chief, instead of getting angry
+about it, swelled up proudly and remarked,
+
+"Two Arrows! young brave. All like father, some day. Kill more buffalo."
+
+Then Na-tee-kah felt courage to speak about the trail and her brother's
+reasoning as to where it might lead to. She had her ears boxed for that,
+as it had a sound of giving advice to her elders, but it was not long
+before her father gravely informed a circle of the warriors and braves
+that the path pointed out by the buffalo cow was the one by which they
+must seek for more like her. It was very easy to convince them that they
+could do nothing upon the dry, sunburnt plains, or by staying to starve
+again in that camp. The objection made by Big Tongue that nobody knew
+where that old trail might carry them was met by Long Bear conclusively.
+He picked up a dry pony-bone that lay on the ground and held it out to
+Big Tongue.
+
+"All other trail go this way. Know all about it. Been there."
+
+It was enough. It was better to follow an unknown trail than to starve,
+and it was not long before it leaked out that Two Arrows was believed to
+have gone ahead of them on that very road.
+
+Precisely how far he had gone nobody had any idea. They would hardly
+have believed if he had sent back word, for he had travelled most
+diligently. There were no longer any traces of starvation about him,
+except that he carried no superfluous weight of flesh. He had load
+enough, what with his provisions and his weapons, but he did not seem to
+mind it. He tramped right along, with a steady, springy step, which told
+a good deal of his desire to get as far away from camp as he could
+before his absence should be discovered.
+
+For a little distance he had found the trail rising gently with the
+land. Then it turned to the left and went up and over a rocky hill, and
+then it turned to the right again, and just about sunset it looked for
+all the world as if it were running right into the side of a great
+precipice of the mountain range. The light of the sinking sun fell
+clearly and brightly upon the grand masses of quartz and granite rocks,
+and showed him the very point where the pathway seemed to end. It looked
+so, but Two Arrows knew that you cannot cut off the end of a buffalo
+path in that way, and he pushed on, every moment finding the way steeper
+and more winding. He could not make any "short cuts" over such ground
+as that, and every Indian boy knows a fact which the white engineers of
+the Pacific Railway found out for themselves--that is, that a herd of
+buffaloes will always find the best passes through mountain ranges, and
+then they will go over them by the best and easiest grades. Only by
+bridging a chasm, or blasting rocks, or by much digging, did the railway
+men ever improve upon the paths pointed out by the bisons.
+
+Two Arrows had carefully marked his point, and just as the last rays of
+daylight were leaving him he sat down to rest in the mouth of what was
+little better than a wide "notch" in the side of the vast barrier.
+
+"Ugh! pass," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A THIRSTY MARCH
+
+
+That was a hard day's toil for the mining expedition. It was the second
+day of feasting by the Nez Percés upon the game won by Two Arrows, but
+there was no feasting done by Judge Parks and his men. Even Sile had no
+more questions to ask, and at nightfall their scanty supply of water was
+nearly gone. Every old watercourse and even "tow-heads" of dying bushes
+that they came to did but each give them another disappointment. The
+animals were holding out well, with frequent rests, for they had been
+taken care of even at the expense of the human beings.
+
+Just before sunset, as they were plodding wearily along, Yellow Pine
+drew his rein, turned in his saddle, and pointed away across the plain
+in advance and to the right of them, exclaiming,
+
+"Redskins!"
+
+There was no mistake about it. In a few minutes more a pretty long line
+of pony-riders could be seen travelling steadily southward.
+
+"Will they attack us, father?"
+
+"I guess not. We are too strong, even if they were hostile."
+
+"They won't make any muss," said Pine, confidently, as he again rode
+forward. "There's only some two dozen on 'em, and it isn't a good time
+for a fight."
+
+It was evident that the two lines of travel, crossing each other at
+right angles, would bring the white and red men pretty near each other,
+and the latter even went out of their way to have it so. Sile all but
+forgot how thirsty he was when the train approached the straggling array
+of lances, and a bare-headed warrior rode out to meet Yellow Pine. The
+Roman-nosed sorrel mare sniffed at the pony as if she would have
+preferred a bucket of water, and the two riders held out their hands.
+
+"How?" said Pine.
+
+"Ugh! bad. No water. How?"
+
+A significant motion of his hand towards his mouth accompanied the
+response, and Pine made one like it. Then he pointed at the wagons, and
+again towards the west, and made motions as if he were digging. The
+Indian understood, and nodded and pointed at himself:
+
+"Ugh! Kiowa."
+
+He made a motion as if pulling a bow, pointed southward and pretended to
+drink something, but when he turned his finger towards the west he shook
+his head.
+
+"How?" said Pine again, and the two shook hands and all the Kiowas rode
+on as if they were in a hurry.
+
+"That's a pretty bad report," said Pine to Judge Parks, and Sile
+muttered to himself:
+
+"Why, he hardly uttered a word."
+
+"What does he say?" asked his father.
+
+"Worst kind," said Pine. "He says they have been hunting northerly for
+several weeks. Little game, and the drought driving it all away. He
+doubts if we find any water between here and the mountains. Hopes to
+reach it by to-morrow night in the direction he's taking. The rest of
+his band are down there now."
+
+"Did he say all that?" exclaimed Sile in amazement.
+
+"You wasn't a-watchin' of him. I told him what I thought about it and
+what we meant to do. Tell you what, my boy, if you're to meet many
+redskins you've got to learn sign language. It beats words all holler."
+
+"Well, I did see his hands and yours a-going."
+
+"Yes, and his face and mine too, and elbows and legs. It's as easy as
+fallin' off a log when you once get the hang of it."
+
+"What do you think we had better do after that?" asked Judge Parks.
+
+"Read our own signs. Push on for water till we get some. It can't be
+more'n one day, now. I know just about where I am. Risk my life on it."
+
+So they went forward, but that night had to be taken for rest and the
+morning found men and horses in a terrible plight. Not one drop of
+water had they left, and all they had been able to do for the horses and
+mules had been to sponge their parched mouths. They had camped near some
+trees and bushes, as usual, and it was just about daylight that Yellow
+Pine came to wake up his employer.
+
+"Look a' here, jedge. I was too much played out to find it last night,
+but here it is. Come."
+
+"Well, what is it?" asked the judge, a moment later.
+
+Yellow Pine was pointing at a broad, deeply trodden, flinty looking rut
+in the surface of the prairie.
+
+"That's the old bufler path I follered last year, when I went into the
+mountains, or I'm the worst sold man you ever saw. It led me jest to
+where we all want to go, 'zackly as I told you."
+
+"We'd better hitch up and follow it now, then."
+
+"We had. It'll take us west on a bee-line, and it'll go to all the
+chances for water there are."
+
+The buffaloes could safely be trusted for that, and before the sun was
+up the mining party was following the very path which had led the big
+game within reach of Two Arrows and One-eye. It was less than two hours
+afterwards, without anybody to carry a report of it to anybody else,
+that the whole Nez Percé camp disappeared, and all its human occupants
+also took the advice of the buffaloes. It was necessary to carry all the
+meat they had, and all the pappooses, and a number of other things, and
+so it had not been possible to take all the lodges with their
+lodge-poles. Two of the smaller and lighter found bearers, but there
+were not squaws enough for the rest, and a sort of hiding-place was made
+for them among the rocks until they could be sent for. Indians on a
+journey load their ponies first, then their squaws, then the boys, but
+never a "brave" unless it is a matter of life and death. A warrior would
+as soon work for a living as carry a burden. It never takes long to
+break up an Indian hunting-camp, for there are no carpets or stoves or
+beds or pianos, and the band of Long Bear was on its way after Two
+Arrows and his dog in remarkably short order.
+
+Judge Parks and his men and all his outfit would have travelled better
+and more cheerfully if they could have set out from beside a good spring
+of water. As it was, the best they could do was to dream of finding one
+before they should try to sleep again.
+
+"Father," said Sile, at about twelve o'clock, "are we to stop anywhere
+for dinner? I'm getting husky."
+
+"So is everybody. Imitate old Pine; he's chewing something."
+
+"All the men have stopped chewing tobacco; they say it makes 'em
+thirstier."
+
+"Of course it does. Try a chip or a piece of leather or a bit of
+meat--not salt meat."
+
+"There isn't anything else."
+
+"The less we eat the better, till we get something to drink."
+
+"We'll all die, at this rate."
+
+"Stand it through, my boy. I hope Pine is right about his trail and
+where it leads to."
+
+He seemed confident enough about it, at any rate, and he and his
+Roman-nosed mare kept their place steadily at the head of the little
+column. So he was always the first to examine a hole or a hollow and
+look back and shake his head to let the rest know that it contained no
+water.
+
+The sun seemed to shine hotter and hotter, and not a living creature
+made its appearance upon the dry and desolate plain. Away in the western
+horizon, at last, some dim and cloud-like irregularities began to show
+themselves, and Sile urged his weary horse to the side of his father,
+pointing at them.
+
+"Will there be some rain?" he asked, in a dry and husky whisper.
+
+"My poor boy! are you so thirsty as that? Those are the mountains."
+
+Sile's mind distinctly connected the idea of mountains with that of
+water, and he took off his hat and swung it, vainly trying to hurrah.
+
+"They're a long way off yet, but we can get there. Old Pine is right."
+
+It was wonderfully good news, but every man had been allowed to gather
+it for himself. Nobody cared to say an unnecessary word to anybody else.
+It was impossible to tell the horses, and the poor brutes were suffering
+painfully.
+
+"I reckon they'll hold out," said Pine; "but they'll only jest do it.
+We're making the tightest kind of a squeeze."
+
+So they were, and it grew tighter and tighter as they went on. Sile
+managed finally to get up to Yellow Pine in the advance, and whisper,
+
+"Were you ever any thirstier than this in all your life?"
+
+"Yes, sir! This isn't much. Wait till you know yer tongue's a-turnin' to
+a dry sponge and there's coals of fire on the back of yer neck. Keep
+your courage up, my boy."
+
+Sile had done so. His father had said a good deal to him about the pluck
+with which young Indians endured that sort of thing, and he had
+determined to show "Indian blood," as if he had some in him. It was the
+hardest kind of hard work, and it kept him all the while thinking of
+rivers and lakes and ice and even lemonade. At last he saw a sage-hen,
+and he said to Pine,
+
+"Isn't that a sign of water?"
+
+"Them things never drink," said Pine "When you come to eat 'em they need
+to be b'iled twice. They're jest the driest bird there is. There's the
+mountains, though."
+
+"Oh dear me!" groaned Sile. "But they're getting bigger, and perhaps
+we'll reach 'em some time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE GREAT CAÑON
+
+
+It was not yet dark when Two Arrows and One-eye halted at the mouth of
+the pass. One-eye looked forward and whined, but his master looked back
+and thought the matter over. He had travelled well and over some pretty
+rough ground, but the trail had been wide and well marked. It was almost
+like a road, so far as room went, but Two Arrows knew nothing of wheels,
+neither did that trail. He was considering the curious fact that not a
+man of his band knew that such a path existed or where it led to. It was
+something to set his ambition on fire only to have discovered and
+followed anything so new and remarkable. It was a deed for an old brave
+rather than for a boy of fifteen. He needed rest, but when he again
+turned and looked into the pass he at once arose and walked on.
+
+"Dark soon. Maybe can't walk then. Do some more before that," said Two
+Arrows.
+
+He was in a spot worth looking at. Some old-time convulsion of nature
+had cleft the mountain barrier at that place so that giant walls of rock
+arose on either side of him for hundreds of feet, almost
+perpendicularly. For some distance ahead the cleft was nearly straight,
+and its gravelly bottom was from ten to thirty yards wide. There were
+not many rocky fragments or bowlders, but it was evident that at some
+seasons of the year torrents of water came pouring through that gorge to
+keep it clean.
+
+"When snow melts," muttered Two Arrows, "pretty bad place."
+
+No doubt, or after any great storm or "cloud-burst" among the peaks
+beyond; but all was dry as a bone now. It was sure to become dark early
+in such a chasm as that, and there was no telling how much need there
+might be for seeing the way. On went the young explorer until he came to
+a point where the chasm suddenly widened. It was a gloomy sort of hollow
+and littered with fragments of trees, drift-wood of old torrents.
+
+"Camp," said Two Arrows to One-eye. "Make fire."
+
+If a dog could use flint and steel, no doubt One-eye would have obeyed;
+as it was, Two Arrows had to attend to that business for himself, and it
+was not long before a great blazing fire of mountain pine was throwing
+flashes of magnificent light upon the mighty precipices in all
+directions. The gray granite stood out like shadows, and the white
+quartz glittered marvellously, but the Nez Percé boy had no time to
+admire them. He had his supper to cook and eat, and he had found some
+water in a hollow of the rocks; no sunshine hot enough to dry it up had
+ever found its way down there. Then drift-wood was gathered to keep some
+sort of a blaze burning all night. There was no danger from human
+enemies in that utter solitude, but there were wild beasts among the
+mountains; night would be their prowling-time, and not one among them
+would venture too near a fire.
+
+Two Arrows was well entitled to a sound sleep, and he had one; when he
+awoke, in the earliest gray of the next morning, the world was in fair
+daylight everywhere outside of that deep crack in the mountains. He ate
+heartily and at once pushed on, determined to have some fresh game
+before night if possible. Such thoughts as he sent back to the Nez Percé
+camp did not include the idea that it was already breaking up to follow
+him; still less did he have any imagination of thirsty white people
+toiling across a waterless plain along that buffalo trail.
+
+He was in no danger of losing the way, for his path was walled in for
+him. Towards midday it ceased to go up, up, up, and the chasm widened
+into a great rocky cañon of wonderful ruggedness and beauty. Two Arrows
+had been among the mountains before, in other ranges, and this seemed to
+him very much like what he might have expected. Now, however, the trail
+turned to the right and picked its way along the steep side of the
+varying slopes. Here it was wider and there it was narrower, until it
+came to a reach of natural roadway that even a bison must have hunted
+for before he found it. Away up it went in zigzags, seeming to take
+skilful advantage of every natural help it came to, and then it shot
+along the mountain-side for a thousand feet, traversing a mere ledge,
+where one formation of rock projected out below another and made a shelf
+for it to go upon. If a man had fallen from that shelf he would have
+gone down a tremendous depth upon jagged rocks at the bottom of the
+cañon.
+
+Two Arrows wasted no time in useless observations or admiration. Where
+herd after herd of wild cattle had tramped before him he could surely
+follow, and at the end of that ledge the road began to descend. The
+descent was gradual, and uncommonly free from breakages. It led, before
+a great while, once more to the bottom of the gorge. Several times Two
+Arrows saw "big-horn" or Rocky Mountain sheep among the rocks above him,
+far out of the reach of his arrows. He felt a longing for antelope
+venison, but there was no use in trying to catch one of those fellows.
+Hotter than anything else he felt the fever and fire of his ambition,
+stirring him to push on and do more than he had ever heard of as done by
+any other boy of his age among all the bands of his nation. It made him
+walk fast and firmly in the bracing mountain air, and he drew his breath
+somewhat quickly at times, when he thought of the wonderful things
+which might be before him. He had no watch, but just as the sun stood
+nearly over his head, or, rather, over the middle of the great gorge, he
+could see that this was beginning to grow broader and not so steep. It
+was promising to lead out into something, and One-eye dashed on ahead as
+if to ascertain what it might be. Two Arrows stood still for a moment
+and watched him, and then he started as if something had pricked him.
+The dog was crouching and creeping as if he had his remaining eye upon
+game of some sort or on danger. His master also crouched and crept,
+slipping forward rapidly from rock to rock. In three minutes more he lay
+beside One-eye, and they both had something worth while to look at. Not
+more than three hundred yards beyond them, on the crest of a rocky ledge
+that came out from the mountain-side like an abutment, stood a big-horn
+antelope. He had seen One-eye and was looking at him. He may have been
+studying whether or not it could be needful for an antelope away up
+where he was to spring away any farther from a dog and an Indian boy. He
+had better have been looking behind him and above him, for his real
+danger was not in the quiver of Two Arrows; it was crouching upon a
+higher fragment of the very ledge which held him, and it was preparing
+for immediate action. It was a cougar, or American panther, of full
+size, on the watch for antelopes, and now had crept almost within
+springing distance. Two Arrows laid his hand upon the head of One-eye to
+keep him silent, and watched breathlessly to see the end of that
+hunting. Nearer and nearer crept the cougar, and still the big-horn was
+absorbed in his study of matters down below. He stepped forward to the
+very edge, and below him the rock came down with a perpendicular face of
+a hundred feet. There was no danger that he would grow dizzy, but even
+the cougar would have done wisely to have ascertained beforehand the
+precise nature of the trap set for him. As it was, he gathered his lithe
+and graceful form for his leap, every muscle quivering with eagerness,
+and he put all his strength into one great, splendid bound. It was as
+sure as a rifle-shot, and it landed him upon the shoulders of the
+big-horn. He had seized his prize, but he had done too much: he had
+fallen with a weight and force which sent him and his antelope
+irresistibly over the rocky edge, and down, down, down they came
+together with a great thud upon the granite below.
+
+"Whoop!" The voice of Two Arrows ringing through the gorge was joined by
+the fierce bark of One-eye as they sprang forward. An older warrior
+might have waited to know the effect of that fall before he interfered
+between a cougar and his game, but Two Arrows did not think of
+hesitation. It was just as well. What between the blow of the cougar and
+the force of the fall, the big-horn was dead. He had somewhat broken the
+effect of the terrible shock upon his enemy by falling under him, but
+even the tough body of the great "cat o' mountain" had not been made for
+such plunges, and he lay on the rock stunned and temporarily disabled.
+Whether it would, after all, have killed him, he was never to know, for,
+just as he was staggering to his feet, a Nez Percé Indian boy charged
+upon him with a long lance, while a large and ambitious dog rushed in
+and seized him by the throat. He was taken at an advantage.
+
+Thrust, thrust, thrust, in fiercely rapid succession, came the keen
+blade of the lance, and One-eye bore down and throttled a brute that
+could have killed four such dogs in anything like a fair fight.
+
+It was tremendous hunting for a boy of fifteen. A cougar to bring down
+his antelope for him, and a precipice to help him kill his cougar, and
+only just enough work for his lance and dog to entitle him to the honor
+of closing, single-handed, with one of the most dangerous of wild
+animals. He had done that very thing, nevertheless, and was entitled to
+all the credit of it. If he had waited to consider the matter, he might
+have had a much harder fight for it. What was more, his energy and
+enterprise and endurance had resulted in bringing him to the right place
+at the right time, instead of somewhere else.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+WATER! WATER!
+
+
+By the time the band of Nez Percés was well on its way, the Big Tongue
+had persuaded himself that the movement was in large part a following of
+his own advice. He felt very free to say as much in the presence of
+several squaws. He even ruffled up and looked large when Na-tee-kah
+laughed and turned away her head. She was too young to say anything in
+reply to a grown-up brave, but just behind her was the fat squaw, and
+her tongue was habitually more at liberty.
+
+"Kill cow same way," said she. "Two Arrows kill him first; then Big
+Tongue. Great brave!"
+
+Big Tongue turned upon her almost fiercely, exclaiming.
+
+"Squaw no talk!"
+
+"Big Tongue keep still. Squaw-boy beat him. Big Tongue shoot arrows into
+dead cow. Ha-ha-pah-no not afraid of squaw-brave."
+
+Ha-ha-pah-no had a tongue and a reputation for it, and the Big Tongue
+did not threaten her any more. Too many squaws and girls joined in the
+laugh against him. Perhaps the fact that Ha-ha-pah-no had a husband
+over six feet high had something to do with it, and that Na-tee-kah was
+the only daughter of Long Bear. It was not safe to quarrel overmuch with
+either of them. They were almost as safe as a large dog is if he is
+known to be quick-tempered. Nobody kicks him.
+
+There was an attempt made at pretty fast travelling, for all the wise
+warriors knew that the tramp across the mountains must be a hard one,
+however good the trail might be, and there were a good many very sober
+faces among them. They had lost their horses and their dogs, and now
+they were leaving behind them a great many other things, and they felt
+as if hard times had come. Starvation is a very severe school-master.
+
+So, for that matter, is thirst, even if provisions are plentiful, and
+Sile Parks learned a great lesson of endurance that day. His father had
+not uttered a word of complaint. Yellow Pine had not murmured, and when
+Sile said to him,
+
+"All the men seem to stand it the very best kind," he had all but
+contemptuously replied,
+
+"Them? Why, every soul on 'em's an old mountain man. Not a greenhorn or
+a tenderfoot among 'em. You won't catch one on 'em a whimperin', not if
+they die for it."
+
+So there were other men besides red Indians who were able to suffer and
+be silent, and Sile tried hard to be that kind of man; but long before
+sunset he felt as if he were choking.
+
+The mountains to the westward loomed up larger and less cloudily as the
+worn-out teams were urged forward. The trail pointed steadily towards
+them, and Yellow Pine unhesitatingly asserted that they were on the
+right track.
+
+"No mistake about it, jedge. It ain't no common cross-prairie trail.
+It's one of their old migration tracks. They've been a treadin' of it
+sence the year one."
+
+The "year one" was a good while ago, but a good deal of hard tramping,
+by many bisons, year after year, had been required to make that ancient
+cattle-path. No grass had grown upon it for nobody could guess how many
+generations, and it was likely to be in the way of ploughing whenever
+that plain should be turned into farming-land.
+
+The greatest care was taken of the animals, those in the traces being
+taken out and changed frequently, and at last all the riders dismounted
+and led their horses. Yellow Pine every now and then went around and
+examined to see how things were looking, and Sile went with him.
+
+"They'll stan' it, every critter of 'em," he said, repeatedly. "They're
+all good stock; good condition. I picked 'em out."
+
+"Your mare is the ugliest in the lot," said Sile, recklessly.
+
+"Best though. Out-walk, out-run, and out-starve any critter in the
+outfit, 'cepting me."
+
+"Can you out-travel a horse?"
+
+"Course I can--most horses. I don't know 'bout the old mare. She can
+out-travel anything. She's good tempered, too; knows just when it's the
+right time to kick and break things. Oh but can't she tear, though!"
+
+He looked at her affectionately, as if her very temper were one of her
+virtues, and she glanced back at him, showing the whites of her eyes in
+a way that indicated anything but a placid mind.
+
+"She's always riley when she doesn't get plenty to drink," said Pine,
+"but she hasn't kicked once in all this. Knows it isn't any fault of
+mine. We'll git there, old lady. Don't you go off the handle."
+
+Another hour and the mountains were very tall, and looked cool, and
+seemed to promise all sorts of things.
+
+"The mines we are after are in among 'em," said Judge Parks to his son.
+"Our trip across the plains has been a quick one; all the quicker for
+this push."
+
+"Hope there'll be a good spring of water right in the edge of them,"
+said Sile, but his voice was huskier than ever and he was struggling
+against a feeling of faintness.
+
+"Poor fellow!" said the judge to himself. "I mustn't say too much to
+him. It's an awful time for me."
+
+So it was, for every now and then the thought would come to him,
+
+"What if, after all, we should not find water when we get there?"
+
+The sun sank lower and lower, and now at last Yellow Pine stood still
+and leaned against his mare, pointing forward.
+
+"Jedge! Jedge--there they are!"
+
+"What is it, Pine?"
+
+The judge could hardly speak, and Sile had such a ringing in his ears
+that he could hardly hear, but Yellow Pine gasped out,
+
+"Them there mesquite scrubs. I was just a beginning to say to myself,
+what if I'd mistook the lay of the land, and there they are. I went
+through 'em last spring was a year ago. It's all right!"
+
+The men tried hard to cheer, but it was of no manner of use. All they
+could do was to plod on and drag their horses after them. The teams in
+the wagons halted again and again, panting and laboring, and every
+slight roll of the plain was a tremendous obstacle, but all was
+overcome, inch by inch.
+
+Yellow Pine had evidently felt his responsibility as guide more deeply
+than he had been willing to confess. He led on now with his mouth open
+and panting, for he had given his own last ration of water to Sile Parks
+and was thirstier than the rest of them. So, for that matter, had Sile's
+father, but some men suffer more from thirst than others and the judge
+had held out remarkably. Just inside the range of mesquites Yellow Pine
+stopped short.
+
+"Bufler been killed here inside of two days," he exclaimed. "Must be
+Indians nigh, somewhere. Keep an eye out, boys."
+
+It was no time for any caution that included delay, and he walked on
+like a man who knew exactly where he was, and all followed him, the men
+cutting away the bushes here and there to let the wagons pass more
+easily. On, on, until at last Yellow Pine reached the spring.
+
+"Here it is," he said faintly, and then he lay down by it and began to
+drink slowly, using his hand for a cup.
+
+"Boys," said Judge Parks, "be careful how you drink too much at first.
+Take it easy. Sponge the mouths of the horses and then let them have a
+little at a time. Sile, my poor boy, come with me."
+
+Sile was making a tremendous effort. He had been doing it all day. He
+almost wanted to cry when he saw that spring of water. Then he wanted to
+laugh, but his mouth was too dry for that. All he could do was to smile
+in a sickly sort of way and take the cup his father held out to him.
+There was only a little water in the bottom of it.
+
+"Oh father, give me some more."
+
+"Not yet, Sile. Sit right down and wait till you get the effect of that.
+Hold it in your mouth before you swallow it. I don't mean to let you
+kill yourself."
+
+"Aha! But isn't it good? There isn't anything else quite so good as
+water."
+
+"That's a fact, Sile, but it's like a great many other good things, you
+don't know the value of it until you've had to go without it."
+
+A full hour was spent in getting men and animals ready to drink without
+injury, and Yellow Pine at last declared, triumphantly,
+
+"Jedge, we've won the riffle; we won't lose a hoof. All the men are
+doing first-rate too. This 'ere's my old campin'-ground, but there's
+been an Indian camp here since sun-up."
+
+"How do you know that, Pine?"
+
+"Found live fire. There hasn't been any dew on it to put it out. What's
+more, they've gone on into the mountains. Hunting-party. We're all
+right, jedge."
+
+The mining expedition now kindled fires of its own, and something was
+done in the way of getting supper. There was no grass, but the horses
+and mules could attend fairly well to the contents of their nose-bags,
+and the men paid them all manner of attention. Only a greenhorn is
+careless of the comfort and welfare of his horse.
+
+Sile drank well at last, under his father's direction, and then he felt
+like eating something. After that it seemed to him as if the whole world
+had only been made as a good place to sleep in. He did not care whether
+the tents were pitched or not. All he wanted was a piece of ground large
+enough to lie on, and a blanket, and he was ready to sleep as soundly
+and silently as if he had been one of the mountains which raised their
+shadowy heads into the light of the rising moon. He had been without
+water for the first time in his life. He had stood it through
+heroically, he had found a spring, and now he needed a long sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+INTO A NEW WORLD
+
+
+Two Arrows wiped the blood of the cougar from the blade of his lance. He
+was glad it was a good lance. His father had traded a pony for it, as he
+well knew, with a Mexican, years before that, and it was no ordinary
+weapon. He had chosen it from among half a dozen, as the very thing with
+which to do something uncommon, and now it had proved its value. He
+almost felt an affection for that lance.
+
+One-eye had lain down close to the dead body of the cougar, as if
+watching him for any returning signs of life. If that great cat had
+quivered, there was a dog ready to shake the quiver out of him.
+
+"It's all good meat," said Two Arrows, "but what shall I do with it?"
+
+There was but one answer to that question. He took off the skins of both
+animals, cut them up as well as he could, carried all the meat he did
+not need at once to a cool place among the rocks, piled stones over it
+and left it. He had no ice-house, and that was the best he could do, but
+he made a fire and ate plentifully of antelope venison, and of what the
+Western men call "painter meat." It was hard for him to say which he
+liked the best. Then he took a bit of charcoal and made his mark upon
+the rocks where he buried his game. He was immensely proud of his right
+to do that. He scored two very large and distinct arrows, heaped on some
+more heavy stones, shouted to One-eye, and again pushed forward. His
+exploring trip was already brimming full of glory and adventure, and he
+was ready to fight all the cougars in the mountains. So was One-eye, for
+he had had one of the biggest dinners he had ever eaten, and not another
+dog on hand to dispute it with him. He seemed to be possessed with an
+idea that that place must have more antelopes and mountain-cats in it,
+and that he was likely to find some of them behind rocks. He was
+doubtless right on the main point, but not a stone of the many he
+smelled under turned him out a cougar or a big-horn. Hunting was over
+for that day, and so much time had been consumed that Two Arrows felt
+like running to make it up. He did but walk, however, and as the road
+was now all the way downhill, like a bad man's life, he walked easily.
+The great gorge widened until its broken walls stretched away to the
+right and left, and the eager-hearted explorer came out from among the
+scattered rocks at a point from which he could suddenly see a great
+deal. Away beyond and below him spread such a scene as he could hardly
+have hoped for, and yet which can be found in hundreds of places all
+over the mountain country of the American continent. Just such scenes
+are to be found among the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas, and every
+other similar group of rocky upheavals, but Two Arrows knew of no other
+country than his own, the one his band of Nez Percés had hunted and
+feasted and starved in.
+
+It was a great, deep, grassy, well-wooded, well-watered valley, the very
+home of game and a sure promise of all comfort to a hunter. How far it
+might reach to the westward no eye could tell, for the prospect was
+bounded by other mountains, and there were plain tokens that a
+considerable stream ran through the middle of it.
+
+"Much water, perhaps," said Two Arrows. "Must go somewhere. Find out
+some day."
+
+The idea of a river suggested the other idea that it could be followed
+until an ambitious boy could ascertain where it went to. All that was
+swallowed up at once by the immediate desire to get down upon that green
+grass and among those trees. One-eye had seen the valley, but was
+inclined to stick pretty closely at the side of his master. There were
+only two of them, and they might need each other's help at any moment.
+
+The road tramped by the bison herds did not wind much, as it went on
+down towards the level ground, but it lazily picked out the easiest
+slopes and turned the corners of the great rocks on good curves. As Two
+Arrows and his faithful companion wound around one of these curves,
+almost at the bottom of the long descent, they suddenly came upon a
+discovery that startled them. Even the dog pricked up his ears and began
+to growl, and Two Arrows stepped quickly back behind the rock. He had
+never been in a white man's village, but he had seen a fort and a few
+houses around it, and he had seen the houses of Mexican Indians and some
+others, built of "adobe" or sunburnt brick. He was not, therefore, a
+judge of such matters, and what he saw filled him with astonishment. He
+was not exactly alarmed, for a house could not chase him, but he
+exclaimed,
+
+"Pale-face lodge. Good many. Very bad. What can he do now?"
+
+He peered silently forth for several minutes, but not a human being was
+in sight. There were no signs of life, no curling smoke, no barking
+dogs, no cattle, nothing but scattered structures of stone. These must
+have been put there by somebody, but it began to look as if whoever had
+built them had gone to some other hunting-ground.
+
+Two Arrows noted everything with eyes that grew more brilliant in their
+swift and searching glances. There could hardly be any danger in such a
+solitude as that, but the occasion required caution, and the young
+"brave" made his advances from cover to cover as if there were eyes in
+every stone of those houses. One-eye crept at his side with his head and
+tail up, very much as if there had been game ahead. It was a curious
+piece of business. The nearer they drew to the objects of their
+curiosity the safer and lonelier became the appearance of all things.
+Some of the stone walls had tumbled down, and not one of them had a roof
+over it of any sort. That was nothing to Two Arrows. For all he knew
+there were tribes of cunning and wicked pale-faces who built their
+lodges without roofs. If the world contained anything cunning and wicked
+and dangerous, in the mind of Two Arrows it was a pale-face. He had been
+brought up to look upon a white man as a being to be watched, and as an
+evil to be avoided or destroyed, as the case might be, and yet as a sort
+of magician, capable of doing wonders, and of bringing the richest
+presents in all the earth.
+
+He now at last felt confidence and courage to actually crawl through an
+opening of one of those walls and look around him. It was one great,
+empty room, strewn with bits of stone, and growing thickly, here and
+there, were grass and tall weeds.
+
+"Nobody here for ever so long," had already been his conclusion, and he
+was thoroughly satisfied of it now. He arose and walked around and
+looked at things in that and every other house. Some of them had
+windows so high up as to prove that they must have had two or even three
+stories in some old time when people used them, but those were "signs"
+that Two Arrows could not read. The main thing to him was that he was
+still all alone and in perfect safety. If the wisest white man in the
+world had been there with him, he could not have formed an idea by whom
+those houses were constructed. Just such ruins have been found in many
+places among the valleys of the western mountains, and all that learned
+people can yet do is to guess how they came to be there. The houses did
+not come up like so many mushrooms, and beyond that they have almost
+nothing to say for themselves. Two Arrows had no further questions to
+ask, and One-eye had searched nooks and corners with an assiduity which
+had been duly rewarded: he had captured a fine, fat rabbit, and he
+brought it to his master as a sort of token. No rabbit would have made a
+home in a place infested by white men, for rabbits have the same idea of
+them that Indians have and for somewhat similar reasons. The rabbits get
+very little good from them, however, and the Indians a great deal--that
+is, unless the rabbits live near a white man's farm and garden. In that
+case they come up fully to the Indian standard and help themselves to
+all they can get hold of.
+
+Two Arrows picked up the rabbit and walked out to what had been the door
+of that house. It was nearly sunset, and there could be no more
+exploring done that day. He looked away off into the valley and saw
+another token that he was alone in that part of it: no less than three
+gangs of deer were feeding quietly between him and a bit of forest not
+more than half a mile away.
+
+Right past the group of old ruins ran a dancing brook of cool, pure
+water from the mountains, and a better place to camp in could not have
+been imagined. It was evidently safe to build a fire and cook the
+rabbit, but for more perfect safety Two Arrows made his blaze on a spot
+where some old walls prevented the light of it from being seen at too
+great a distance. After his supper was eaten there came over him a
+feeling that he had seen and done altogether too much for one boy in one
+day. He had come out into a sort of new world through a cleft in the
+mountains, and he did not know that precisely the same thing happens to
+every boy in the world who makes up his mind to be something. The boys
+who are contented not to be anything do not have much of a world to live
+in, anyhow, poor fellows; they only hang around and eat and wear
+clothes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+SILE'S POCKET
+
+
+Na-tee-kah had all the load a girl of her size could comfortably carry
+when she set out with her people. So had all the rest except the
+dignified warriors. For that reason all the urging in the world could
+not get out of that dispirited cavalcade one-half the speed attained by
+Two Arrows and One-eye the previous evening. Na-tee-kah thought
+continually of her pony, between thoughts of her daring brother and
+wonderings of what he had done and seen. She knew very well that there
+is nothing so disables a "plains Indian" as to dismount him. It is not
+so bad as to break both his legs, but he is so accustomed, from
+childhood, to use a horse's legs instead of his own that he is like a
+man lost when he is set on foot. He has learned to hunt on horseback
+mostly, and all his fighting has been done in the saddle. The old-time
+Indians of the East and of Cooper's novels had hardly any horses, and in
+their deep forests could not have used them to advantage. What the far
+Western tribes did in those days nobody knows, but all the tribes which
+have migrated out of the woods into the prairie country have become
+"pony-men."
+
+Na-tee-kah could not remember another time when she, daughter of a
+chief, had been compelled to carry so much, even for a short distance.
+She knew how to pack a pony capitally well, for that is one of the first
+arts of Nez Percé house-keeping. When and where should they ever get
+some more ponies? Her father was a renowned horse-thief, and so were
+several others of the best warriors in the band, and there was hope in
+that thought; still there is a double difficulty before a man who sets
+out to steal horses without having one of his own to ride.
+
+"Two Arrows will steal horses some day," she said to Ha-ha-pah-no,
+confidently.
+
+"Big chief: steal a heap. No boy any more. Big Tongue find a horse; say
+he stole him. No brave. Pony come somehow."
+
+Nobody else in that band could have guessed how the mind of Long Bear
+himself was busy with plans concerning that very matter. He thought of
+all the horses of all the tribes at any kind of difference with the Nez
+Percés, and he thought of the white traders and their rich droves of
+quadrupeds of all sorts. He had won his rank fairly, as his son was
+likely to do after him, and he had a great deal of courage and ambition;
+just at present, however, he was a dismounted horse-thief, and he felt
+the disgrace of it even more than the inconvenience. It was a sad thing
+to be afoot at his time of life, and he brooded over it like some great
+white merchant who had suddenly failed in business. He feared that it
+would take some time to set up that band again, without any four-footed
+capital to begin on.
+
+It was pleasant to find the trail so good, at all events, and before
+dark they made out to reach the very spot where Two Arrows had camped.
+They had been more than twice as long in getting there, but the first
+brave who pushed on into the open space found the dead embers of a fire
+and began to study them. Not far behind him were Na-tee-kah and
+Ha-ha-pah-no, and it was hard to say which of them was the first to
+point at the black coals and ashes, and exclaim, "Two Arrows!"
+
+The word was echoed from lip to lip until it came to Long Bear and his
+wife. For a wonder he was walking beside her, which was as near as he
+could come to carrying her load for her. She was only the step-mother of
+Na-tee-kah and her brother, and had a pappoose of her own as part of her
+burden, but she took her full share of the family pride when her husband
+drew himself grimly up and shut off the strong temptation to "whoop."
+
+"Young brave," he said to her with great calmness. "Great chief some
+day. All like father. Same. Go steal pony pretty soon."
+
+The camp was quickly made, and there was food for all in moderate
+allowance. They were certain of resting in perfect security, and in the
+morning they were as eager as Two Arrows had been to push on out of such
+narrow quarters. Nothing happened to any of them until late in the day,
+and then the whole band went suddenly into camp again.
+
+The Big Tongue had become almost a silent Indian under the effects of
+hard walking, but he had been stung again by remarks from Ha-ha-pah-no,
+and he had gone ahead. He had not gone far enough to make him look
+enterprising, but all at once the cañon fairly rang with a whoop he sent
+back, to let the rest know he had found something. At the same moment
+three great vultures, or buzzard-eagles, arose from a prize they had
+found, and soared away. They were wonderfully wide-winged birds, and
+each carried off a good dinner, for they had nearly finished the offal
+left upon the ground by the carcasses of the cougar and the big-horn.
+
+The Big Tongue pointed proudly at the discovery he had made, and was
+about to say something, when he was once more overwhelmed. His whooping
+had brought a swarm of the braves around him, but of course no squaws
+had presumed to push in. It was for that very cause that the eyes of
+Na-tee-kah had been busy among the rocks, and so she had discovered the
+charcoal "token" scored upon one of them.
+
+"Two Arrows!" she screamed, and in a moment more there were warriors
+there, taking away the stones which covered the meat and the skins.
+
+It was time now for Long Bear to do all the whooping there was in him.
+His son had slain a cougar single-handed, and had killed a big-horn, and
+here were the proofs of it. The whole band could at once have another
+feast of fresh meat, provided by the young hero, for whom they were
+indebted to the great Long Bear.
+
+It was decided that they had travelled far enough for one day, but that
+an early start should be made the next morning. That had also been an
+interesting day at the camp by the spring.
+
+The over-wearied pale-faces slept well, but Yellow Pine arose three
+times to go around among the animals and see how they were doing. He had
+them all fed and rubbed down most carefully in the morning. It was a
+good thing to do, and when Sile Parks awoke and stretched himself, he
+felt as if he also wanted to be fed and rubbed down. Almost everybody
+else was already astir, and breakfast was soon ready for him.
+
+Yellow Pine did a deal of exploring, before and after he breakfasted,
+and Sile at once set out to imitate him. He asked some question or other
+of every one he saw, and believed that he had learned a great deal. At
+last he came to a heap of stones and bushes that seemed to him to have
+been piled up remarkably.
+
+"How could they ever have got there?" he said, as he began to pull upon
+a bush with green leaves yet clinging to its twigs. In five minutes more
+he knew where the Nez Percés had made their hasty "cache" for their
+lodges and other treasures, and he went at once to report it to his
+father and to Yellow Pine. The latter looked at Sile with positive
+respect, and exclaimed,
+
+"There now, jedge; that settles it. I know I'm right; them Indians had
+lost their ponies. I couldn't find a hoof-mark on their trail this
+morning; they dragged some lodge-poles along, though. I say, we must
+leave their cache jest as we found it. We must foller right along, too,
+or we'll run short of fodder. They've taken my old road. We needn't be
+afraid of 'em, only we'd best keep a sharp lookout."
+
+Horses and mules and all felt as if a day's rest would be as good as a
+treat; but after all was said and done it was decided to keep moving.
+The start made was not an early one, and there was work for all hands
+here and there. The herds of bisons had not prepared that road for the
+passage of wagon wheels, and it needed the axe in one place and the
+crow-bar in another before the teams could pass. There was no sort of
+danger that the Nez Percés would be caught up with by the mining-party,
+and Yellow Pine seemed to breathe more freely at the end of every mile.
+
+"No, jedge," he said; "we won't have to leave the outfit anywhere.
+There'll be a heap of hard work at some spots, but we can make our way
+through, and we can come and go by this track forever after it's well
+opened."
+
+Sile Parks learned a great deal that day about the mysteries of
+road-making; he also learned how much a really well-built wagon will
+stand if it is not too heavily loaded. For all that, however, the best
+part of his time was expended in staring at the peaks, and in searching
+the walls of the cañon for traces of gold and silver ore.
+
+"Father," said he at last, at a place where the wagons were "stuck" for
+a while, "I'm going ahead to see what'll turn up."
+
+"Don't go too far, that's all."
+
+"Keep yer eye out for mines," shouted Yellow Pine, with a laugh, and
+Sile took it seriously.
+
+"It's a gold country," he said to himself, "and I might stumble upon
+some of it."
+
+That was precisely what he made out to do. He was marching along, with
+his eyes on all the rocky precipices, as if the mouth of a gold-mine
+might open to him at any moment, and he was not so careful of his feet
+as he should have been. A loose stone shot away from under him, and down
+he came upon a fairly level floor of sand and gravel. It was so sudden
+and so sharp a dropping that he sat still for a moment and looked
+around him.
+
+"Halloo, what's that?" Something bright and yellow had caught his eye,
+peering out at him from the gravel his boot-heel had disturbed. "Gold!
+gold! A chunk of gold!"
+
+Thousands upon thousands of "placer miners" have raised precisely such a
+shout in just such sandy gullies, but Sile felt as if he were the first
+being on earth to whom such an experience had ever happened. He at once
+began to dig and sift among the gravel fiercely. He took out his
+hunting-knife and plied it as a trowel. Little bits of dull yellow metal
+rewarded him every now and then until he worked along to where a ledge
+(or the edge of one) of quartz came nearly to the surface. On the upper
+side of that, and lying closely against it, he pried out something that
+made him shout "Hurrah!" and that then gave him almost a sick feeling.
+It was a gathering of golden nuggets and particles which would nearly
+have filled his hat, and there were others like it, only smaller, all
+along the edge of that stone. For unknown centuries it had been serving
+as a "bar" in the natural "washer" made by that ravine, and had caught
+and kept whatever the torrents had borne down from crumbling quartz
+rocks above and had drifted against it.
+
+Sile thought of Aladdin and his wonderful lamp; then he thought of the
+California miners; then he shut his eyes for a moment. Then he went on
+digging, and he was hard at it when a tall form stooped over him and the
+voice of Yellow Pine exclaimed,
+
+"I'd call it--If the youngster hasn't lighted onto a placer and scooped
+the biggest kind of a pocket! Sile, you've done it. You can jest ax me
+all the fool questions you've a mind to after this. You was really
+learnin' by 'em."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A TRAPPED BOY
+
+
+When the light awoke Two Arrows, he found One-eye standing guard as if
+he did not like the look of things, but no danger showed itself. It was
+a new country--too much so, perhaps--and a dog with a high sense of duty
+could not be too careful. Two Arrows also had duties, and he felt that
+one of them was to go back at once and tell his band what he had
+discovered. He had no idea that they were already on the march, or he
+might have been less troubled in mind about them. His other duty, not
+quite so plain, was to explore the valley a little and see how many
+buffaloes and deer and all that sort of thing were in it. He wondered at
+the greenness of the grass, not knowing that the mountain range east of
+it took care of that, taking the water out of the winds from the west so
+that they were often sponge-dry when they passed over upon the parching
+plains beyond. He had never heard of Eden and he could not make any
+comparisons, but he roundly declared that he had never been in a place
+that promised better hunting. He did not even ask himself how a herd of
+bisons should remember what their fathers had told them about that
+valley and come hundreds of miles to find grass there. He had not seen
+one yet, but he had caught a glimpse of a gang of deer in rapid motion.
+That fact set him to thinking and made him cautious, for it was an hour
+when deer are feeding unless they have been disturbed. He cooked and ate
+his breakfast, providing liberally for One-eye, but could hardly make up
+his mind in which direction to go. There was the mouth of the cañon,
+telling him one thing, and in all other directions were the possible
+secrets of that valley.
+
+His feet took him along, at last, and he wandered for nearly a mile
+before he came to any sort of adventure. Then he suddenly discovered why
+the deer were in motion, and why it was time for him and One-eye to
+wander back again. It was almost as bad as a war-party of another tribe
+or even a band of wicked pale-faces, for at the edge of a little grove
+of wild plum-trees One-eye broke out into something between a howl and a
+bark, and turned, running towards his master. Then Two Arrows himself
+turned and ran, for his quick eyes caught the meaning of it. The head of
+a grisly bear came out between two bushes, and no idea of heroism called
+for any waiting. The cañon, or the ruins, or almost any other place,
+would have been better, at that moment, than the spot where he was when
+Bruin saw him.
+
+The grisly may have had bad-luck that morning. At all events, he was out
+after game, and was in a bad temper. He hated all dogs, naturally, and
+he had seen One-eye. He hated men, as well, but his first rush was after
+the scared quadruped. That was an excellent thing for Two Arrows. He was
+the best runner of his age in his band, and never before had he done
+quite so well, but he stuck to his weapons. His bag of provisions had
+been hidden among the old houses, and he was glad of it as he bounded
+away across the grass. Every jump counted, for One-eye was doing the
+right thing. He was not following his master too closely, he was only
+thinking of getting away from that bear. He, too, had been the best
+runner of his tribe, when there had been other dogs to run with him, and
+he certainly was now. He ran well, but so did the bear, for a good horse
+does not too easily overtake a grisly, and a man on foot can never do it
+if the bear does his best.
+
+It was an exciting race, but Two Arrows knew it must have an end some
+time. He longed for a tree, and to be away up in the top of it, but
+there were none near enough to be of any use. He kept an eye on the
+other racers, and it was not many minutes before he saw that One-eye was
+doing almost too well. He was getting away so fast that the grisly gave
+him up and turned to his other chance for a breakfast. It was as if he
+had said to himself,
+
+"Dogs are no good. They run too well. A nice, tender, well-fed Indian
+boy, now, and I'll get him in a moment."
+
+Two Arrows had gained a pretty good start, and it led him towards the
+cañon. He tried to calculate the distance, and how long it would take
+him to get there, but his next thought was that he had never heard of a
+grisly that could gallop and rush like this one.
+
+"It'll all be over with me. I'd fight him, but he's too much for me. Got
+to die now."
+
+It was an awful moment, and all the courage in him did not make it any
+less so. The claws and jaws and hug of a mountain grisly are a terrible
+prospect to set before anybody's ambition.
+
+Just then another prospect and a ray of hope dawned upon him. Away to
+the right he saw a solitary bowlder of gray granite, with a round top,
+nearly thirty feet above the grass.
+
+"If it isn't too smooth to climb," flashed through the mind of Two
+Arrows, as he turned and ran for it. He was running now for his life,
+and the bear was rapidly gaining on him, but it told well for his valor
+that he did not drop lance or bow.
+
+Nearer, now, and he could see that the rock was one of those
+bald-headed, smooth-cheeked affairs that look as if they had been ground
+and polished in a mill.
+
+"Ugh! Other side, maybe," groaned Two Arrows, as he dodged around the
+hopeless side he came to. Away around, and the same mocking smoothness
+made his heart sink, while the fierce growl of the huge wild beast
+behind him thrilled him through and through.
+
+"Ugh! rough place! Climb."
+
+It was a mere crack at the surface of the ground, but at a few feet
+above it the granite surface was somewhat broken. A good spring, aided
+by the tough shaft of his lance, and Two Arrows managed to brace himself
+upon a tolerable holding. If he should slip there would be an end of it,
+for the grisly was close up now. He clung like a fly, and found place
+after place for his hands and feet. In a moment more he was sitting upon
+the round top of the rock safe, but a prisoner, with a guard set to keep
+him secure. He had come out after adventures and he had found one of the
+very largest kind. He had never heard such tremendous roaring growls as
+the disappointed grisly was now uttering. Between these he could also
+hear, at no great distance, the mournful howls of One-eye. The sagacious
+animal had not self-conceit enough to match his weight and size against
+a brute that could have whipped a lion in five minutes, but he could
+express his feelings concerning the state of affairs.
+
+"He can't get up here," said Two Arrows, but he said it doubtfully, for
+the grisly is a rock bear, and is made for climbing. He was now
+studying the face of that rock at the cleft, and it was not long before
+he made up his mind that he could do something.
+
+"I won't waste any arrows on him," said the boy on the top of the
+bowlder. "Besides, if I don't get him too angry he may go off."
+
+Not without trying a climb for his human game; and it was wonderful with
+what care and consideration, as well as skill and strength, Bruin made
+his effort.
+
+Two-Arrows lay down, bow in hand, and watched him, as he raised his huge
+bulk against the side of the rock. The long, strong, cruel-looking claws
+took hold of crevices and roughnesses much more powerfully than a human
+hand or foot could have grasped them. A grunt, a growl, a great lift,
+and the grisly was off the ground.
+
+"He is coming. Let him come one length nearer."
+
+Two Arrows did not know that he was testing his quality as a warrior and
+chief to be. It was a marvellous trial of cool courage to lie there,
+with an arrow on the string, and bide his time.
+
+"Now! Ugh!"
+
+The arrow went truly to its mark, but the hide of a grisly is a tough
+shield, and the shaft did not go as deeply as it might have gone into a
+deer or bison. Arrow after arrow sped in swift, unerring succession, and
+the bear received them with roars of fury, struggling upward as his
+wrath and pain aroused him to greater efforts.
+
+"My last two arrows. One for that leg, just above the claw."
+
+Cool and correct again, and the last brace of shafts did their work to
+admiration. They did not kill the grisly nor even loosen the gripe of
+that great forearm and claw upon the rock, but the next struggle of the
+bear brought him upon smooth stone, gently rounding. He reached out over
+it with his wounded limb, and the black hooks at the end of it did not
+work well. His game was within a length of him, but it was game that
+held a long Mexican lance in its ready hand. Under other circumstances
+Bruin could have parried that thrust and closed with its giver, but not
+now. It went through his other forearm, and his gripe with that loosened
+for a second or so--only for an instant, but that was enough. Slip,
+slide, growl, tear, roar, and the immense monster rolled heavily to the
+ground below, full of rage and arrow-wounds, and altogether unfitted for
+another steep climb.
+
+Two Arrows drew a great breath of relief, but he well knew that he had
+not yet escaped. There were oceans of hate and fight in the wounded
+grisly, and there was no use whatever in going down for a fair match
+with him upon the grass. He was in his most dangerous state, and the top
+of the rock would have to answer all purposes for a season. There was no
+telling how long that would be, for even when the bear arose and limped
+all the way around the bowlder, his ferocious growls plainly declared
+his purpose. He had not the least idea of letting the matter stop there.
+He meant to stay and watch it out. Perhaps more grislies would come to
+help him and keep guard while he should doctor himself. It was a most
+remarkable trap for a young explorer to get caught in, and he well knew
+that a grisly will take more killing and die longer and harder than any
+other known animal. Besides, he had no idea how much or how seriously
+his shafts had touched the vitals of his enemy.
+
+He must stay where he was, and now he felt something like a sensation of
+mortification. One-eye had deserted him. All the howling had died away
+while the bear was climbing the rock. The last dog of that band of Nez
+Percés had turned tail and left his master on the top of a bowlder to be
+starved out by a bear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE ERRAND OF ONE-EYE
+
+
+The wagons came slowly on down the pass, but it was only a few moments
+before everybody but the two drivers had dismounted and stood gazing at
+Sile's remarkable "find." There were old "placer miners" among them, and
+they all declared that it was just the place in which they would have
+expected a "bonanza." Then they all added that without water to wash the
+sand and gravel with, there would be little use in doing anything more
+than to hunt for "pockets." There might be "pay dirt" in all directions,
+but a man might scratch and sift until he starved and not get more than
+enough to buy him a new hat. They had been through all that sort of
+experience, and their heads were not to be turned by it. Still, it was
+decided to try that level again some day, and the whole cañon, at a time
+of the year when water was to be had. All that could now be done was to
+carefully search for and gather up the odds and ends of Sile's "luck."
+Even the necessity of grass for the horses compelled the train to move
+onward.
+
+When they came to the rocky ledge, with the precipice on one side and
+the mountain wall on the other, Judge Parks turned to Yellow Pine with a
+face full of doubt.
+
+"Don't you be skeered, jedge. I took a measure of it at the narrerest
+p'int, and it'll let the wheels go by and two feet to spare."
+
+That was close work, when they came to it, and Sile shuddered all over
+as he saw how near the wheels came to the edge of destruction. A restive
+mule, a scared horse, a little backing and plunging, and disaster was
+ready to come. Not an animal shied, however, though some of them
+trembled and sheered in towards the rock. It was hardest when they had
+to hold back going down and around some of the sharper curves. Sile had
+several tremendous shudders at such places and drew long breaths of
+relief afterwards, as the wagons rolled on in safety. Then, on the next
+level below, there was more axe and crow-bar work to be done, and it was
+late in the day when the train once more reached a deserted
+camping-ground of the band of Indians they seemed to be pursuing.
+
+"We'd better take a rest here, jedge. It's been a hard day on the men
+and the hosses, and we've struck gold a'ready."
+
+Sile had been strangely aware of that fact for some hours, and it had
+dazed him a little. He had walked on without asking a question of
+anybody. He had a dim idea that the metal he had found was worth a
+great deal of money, but he hardly cared to know how much. It was a new
+and wonderful sensation. His father told him there was enough of it to
+buy him a farm and stock it, and when Yellow Pine had finished his other
+duties, at going into camp, and had noted all the signs the Nez Percés
+left behind, he said to Sile,
+
+"Now, my boy, gather up all the charcoal you can rake from those dead
+fires and I'll show you something. Slugs are safer to carry than dust
+and nuggets. I allers used to slug my finds, first thing."
+
+That was Greek to Sile, but Yellow Pine rummaged one of the wagons and
+brought out a long-nosed bellows and a crucible and a sort of mould that
+opened with two handles. He put the crucible in among the coals, filled
+it from Sile's yellow heap, covered it, and began to work the bellows.
+Sile was astonished to find how speedily what Pine called "bullion"
+would melt, and how easy it was to run it into little bars. There did
+not seem to be so much of it, but there was less danger that any of the
+smaller chunks and scales and particles could get away.
+
+"There, Sile. There's your farm, cows, hosses, hogs and all, and it only
+cost you a gitten' thirsty."
+
+"They're wonderful," was all Sile could make out to say, and his father
+put them in a bag and locked them up in an iron-bound box in one of the
+wagons.
+
+"You needn't scratch into all the sand you come to after this," said
+Yellow Pine. "That's what takes the tuck out of placer miners. One good
+pocket'll most ginerally spile the eyes of a green hand."
+
+He assured the judge that one more push would bring them to good grass,
+and he added,
+
+"What's more, we ain't in any hurry to ketch up with no redskins till we
+know what they are. It's peace with most on 'em, but this 'ere isn't a
+strong band, and I kinder want to feel my way."
+
+There was sense in that, especially as he knew that Indians without
+horses are also Indians on the lookout for some. What he did not know
+was the state of mind that band of Nez Percés was in at that hour.
+
+They had set out very early that morning, and were plodding on steadily
+down the winding slopes of the cañon, when there came to them an
+unexpected sensation. It was a dog.
+
+Right up the trail trotted One-eye, all alone, and with an air of
+business anxiety. He neither paused nor turned until he came to Long
+Bear himself, and in front of the chief he sat down, threw up his head,
+and let out the most mournful howl he knew--and he knew a great many.
+
+"Where Two Arrows?" asked the chief, as if the dog had been human, and
+he was answered first by another howl and then by an eager look and a
+tug at his deer-skin leggings. Then One-eye trotted off a little
+distance along the trail and looked back and barked, and the dullest man
+in the world could have understood him. It all plainly meant,
+
+"Come on. There's a fellow down this way that's in need of help. Follow
+me and help him."
+
+"Ugh!" exclaimed Long Bear, and he added the names of half a dozen of
+the leading braves. "Two Arrows send dog after warrior. Come."
+
+That was somewhat more than the truth, seeing that all the credit
+belonged to One-eye, but in a minute or so the old chief was leading his
+men rapidly down the pass. There was nothing whatever to be said, and
+One-eye kept well ahead of them, every now and then trying to express an
+idea he had that no time was to be wasted.
+
+"Ugh!" was all the remark made by any brave when the valley came in
+sight, and hardly more was remarked upon the ruins of the ancient
+village, but every grunt meant a great deal.
+
+"Not here. Dog go right on," said Long Bear. "Follow. Find Two Arrows
+somewhere."
+
+They had not far to go now before they halted as if with one accord.
+From the summit of a granite bowlder, a hundred yards in advance of
+them, came a shrill whoop, and there stood the object of their search,
+firmly erect and seemingly unharmed.
+
+"Boy all right," said Big Tongue. "Better come down."
+
+"Two Arrows no fool," said Long Bear. "Go slow. Watch dog."
+
+One-eye still trotted on, but more slowly, until he turned the corner of
+the rock. He reappeared in a second, with a sharp, warning yelp,
+followed by the fierce growling charge of an uncommonly large grisly
+bear.
+
+"Ugh!" said Long Bear. "Stand still. Boy been treed."
+
+He had not been "treed," he had been bowldered, and the grisly had been
+arrowed and lanced thoroughly. His angry charge had been made with his
+last energies, and before he advanced half-way he reeled and fell.
+
+There was no boy upon the rock now. Two Arrows darted down from his
+perch, slipping, sliding the instant the bear followed One-eye. He had
+waited up there for hour after hour, looking down at his half disabled
+enemy, and he was tired of it. He had seen that the strength of the bear
+was failing and that he bled freely, and was not far behind him when he
+fell.
+
+"Whoop! whoop! whoop! I have killed a grisly. My bear!" he shouted, and
+it was all in vain that the Big Tongue ran faster than even the Long
+Bear himself, for Two Arrows had the advantage of them. His lance was
+the first to be plunged into the dying monster, and the great brute tore
+up the sod around him for only half a minute before he stretched himself
+out and all was over. With the help of several hours of quiet bleeding,
+which cannot always be provided for in such cases, Two Arrows had fought
+and killed a grisly single-handed, and again Long Bear was the proudest
+man in the whole Nez Percé nation. The steepness of the rock had helped
+a good deal, and the bear had hardly had a fair chance, but after all he
+had been whipped by a boy of fifteen. It was a disgrace to the grisly
+but it was a great honor to the young hero, for by all Indian law he was
+thenceforth entitled to wear the claws of that bear on state occasions.
+Adding all things together, bisons and big-horn and cougar and grisly,
+Two Arrows was rapidly getting to be a middle-aged warrior, and the
+other boys had no hope of catching up with him. He might also fairly be
+said to have led his band into that valley, and now the pity of it was
+that they had no ponies to eat such excellent grass.
+
+The remainder of the band came down the pass remarkably, with Na-tee-kah
+well in advance of everybody else.
+
+"Could anything terrible have happened to Two Arrows?"
+
+Her heart beat hard with exertion and anxiety, and when she reached the
+level she hurried right along upon the trail of the braves. It was not
+many minutes before she could see them, and a sort of mist came before
+her eyes. They were all sitting upon the grass around something, and she
+could hear her father's voice chanting. It was a curious kind of song of
+triumph, belonging especially to a case of large grisly bear slaying,
+but Na-tee-kah could not hear it clearly at first, and it might have
+been a funeral song for all the music there was in it. All out of breath
+she toiled on, as near as an Indian girl might come to a party of
+warriors, and then she understood it like a flash. Red or white, she was
+only a girl, and she sat down on the grass and began to cry. The Big
+Tongue had risen as she came near, and he was polite enough to say to
+her,
+
+"Squaw not cry. Boy all right. We have killed a bear. Ugh!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+GREAT SCOUTING
+
+
+The quadrupeds of the mining expedition showed many signs of the hard
+time they had been having, and it was needful to get out from among the
+rocks quickly. It was yet quite shadowy in the deep cañon when the
+wagons were set in motion, but not a great deal of "road mending" was
+called for from that point onward. Early in the day they came out upon
+the level, and before noon the horses and mules were picking the rich
+grass around the ancient ruins.
+
+It was a grand time, and Sile had a dim idea that he only drew his
+breath now and then, the great, long ones came so frequently. He had
+felt one kind of awe in the cañon and in looking at the mountain peaks.
+Now he felt quite another kind of awe in looking at the rude mason-work
+of those houses.
+
+"Father," he asked, "do you s'pose they were people anything like us?"
+
+"They built three-story houses. No Indians ever did that."
+
+"Is there nothing at all about them in history?"
+
+"Yes, here are the ruins. Here are little books like this."
+
+He handed Sile what looked for all the world like a broken piece of an
+old pot, and Sile said so.
+
+"That's it. If it is one, it shows that they understood making pottery.
+Nobody has ever found anything to prove that they were miners, and all
+the stones of these houses are only broken. None of them are cut or
+trimmed."
+
+It was a wonder of wonders to stand there and talk about a lost and
+vanished people, but Yellow Pine was thinking of a people who had
+vanished without being lost. They were the Indians whose camp-grounds he
+had moved into and out of, and he had an idea that they might be found
+again at any hour. He advised the judge not to move on again until some
+exploring and scouting should have been done. Meantime the "critters,"
+as he called them, did their feeding under a strong guard and close
+watching.
+
+"Sile," he said, "as soon as your horse has had a good feed, you and I
+will ride a circuit and see what we can find."
+
+Sile's blood danced a little. Scouting after Indians was a thing he had
+read about, and he did not dwell too much upon the fact that he was
+chosen to go with Pine rather because his horse was a fast one and had
+not pulled wagons than for any reason. Pine said to him,
+
+"Your eyes are pretty good ones, too. Who knows but what you might see
+something. Jedge, I won't run him into any danger. Them Indians is all
+on foot."
+
+Sile set to work at once upon his repeating-rifle, his revolver, and the
+edge of his hunting-knife, as if he had a battle with Pawnees on hand.
+He gave up studying the ruins at once, and even forgot how many nuggets
+his gold had been run into. He had never before felt precisely that kind
+of excitement, and was too young to know that every entirely new
+enthusiasm is worth a whole book in the way of education, if it comes
+rightly. People who have never been waked up are apt to be dull people.
+
+It was an old story to Yellow Pine, and when at last they both were
+mounted and ready to ride away, it was worth while to look at his
+cast-iron face and then at that of Sile Parks.
+
+"Sile," said his father, as he looked at him, "bring me in some Indians;
+not a whole tribe; just a few."
+
+"Come on, Sile," said Pine. "We'll bring all we find, I reckon."
+
+He showed no disposition to ride fast, but cantered away to the right,
+skirting the edge of the mountain slope, and seeming to study every
+clump of trees and bushes they came to. It was mostly grassy "open" for
+quite a distance from the mouth of the cañon.
+
+"No smoke anywhere," said Pine. "They're not camped hereaway."
+
+"I walked out along their trail, at the ruins," said Sile. "Why didn't
+you follow it?"
+
+"That's a fair question, Sile. It looks as if I'd orter ha' done it, but
+you see, I don't want to ketch up with 'em or let 'em know we're here. I
+want to find 'em without telling 'em what road I kem by."
+
+It was a sort of half-Indian cunning, but it was not quite equal to the
+needs of the matter. Full-blooded Indian cunning beat it all to pieces,
+as they were to find out before morning. It came to pass in a perfectly
+easy and natural sort of way.
+
+When the entire band of Nez Percés had arrived, and every soul in it had
+taken a look at the dead grisly, they had no notion of walking back a
+single rod. The braves had noted the indications of running water in the
+distance, and they pushed on until they found a camp-ground on the
+border of a swift, bright stream, almost alive with trout. It was
+bordered by a wide band of forest, and the trees were magnificent. Here
+at last they could all sit down in a kind of peace and plenty, and mourn
+for their dogs and ponies.
+
+Two Arrows had no mourning to do. What he really needed was to be
+hooped, like a barrel, for fear his pride and ambition might burst him.
+He felt as if he were about ten feet high and weighed more than a horse.
+All the other Indians he had heard of were nothing at all to what he
+was or was pretty soon going to be. He almost despised cougars and even
+grislies until he recalled how he had felt when the open jaws of the one
+which had hunted him came up over the curve of the bowlder.
+
+It occurred to him that he had better have a rock or something to help
+him next time, but his vanity suggested that after all he had invented
+that rock. The other Indian boys hardly felt like speaking to him, and
+Na-tee-kah called him to supper as respectfully as if he had been a
+full-grown warrior. He felt like one, and as if the camp were too small
+for him; so he walked out of it after supper, and his feet carried him
+farther. They seemed to have an idea of their own that it would be good
+for him to take another look at the bowlder where he had been watched
+for by the grisly. A thorough understanding of that matter might have
+taken him down a little, but he was to have better medicine yet before
+he again reached his father's lodge. He had his bow and arrows with him
+but no lance, and it was getting too dusky for hunting. The ground he
+was walking over was pretty level but it had its hollows, and as he came
+up out of one of these he suddenly dropped flat upon the grass. He had
+not been hurt, but he had seen something that in a manner knocked him
+down. It was the biggest surprise he had had since he came through the
+cañon, for two pale-faces on horseback were cantering along at no great
+distance. They had not seen him, he was sure of that, although they were
+evidently looking for something. He let them pass and go on until he
+felt safe in following. Every nerve in his body tingled with fierce
+excitement.
+
+"War-path!" he exclaimed. "Ugh! Two Arrows a brave now. Get horse. Big
+warrior. Grow a heap. Find pale-face camp."
+
+Running, walking, creeping, as the mists of evening deepened, the young
+Nez Percé followed those two horsemen, cunningly avoiding all detection.
+He followed them to the edge of the rocky ground at the foot of the
+mountain slope, and there he saw them turn to the left.
+
+"Know now," he muttered. "Pale-face came through cañon. Follow Nez
+Percé. Got plenty horse. Two Arrows great brave. Ugh!"
+
+He should have gone for help and have performed the rest of his task in
+older company, but he was full to over-flowing with the vanity of
+winning another "heap" of glory. He felt entirely competent to deal with
+one band of white men, and to carry all their horses into his own camp.
+His rapid successes had been too much for him, and it is sometimes very
+nearly the same with young fellows of a different color.
+
+He lost sight of his human game several times, and it was now pretty
+dark, but his keen eyes caught the glow of camp-fires at last, and he
+knew what that meant. What he did not know was that Yellow Pine and Sile
+had ridden a wide circuit across that open and had discovered no sign
+of danger.
+
+"Them Indians," said Pine, as they were riding in, "have gone on to the
+timber. They can't have the least idee that we're here, on the ground
+they passed over. To-morrer we must make another scout, though I sha'n't
+be easy till I know jest what kind of neighbors we're to have."
+
+That was common-sense, and so was the extreme care with which the
+quadrupeds were gathered and hobbled and "corralled" between the
+protecting masses of the ruins. The members of the mining party were
+already divided into "watches," taking regular turns, and Sile and a man
+named Jonas were in the first watch with Yellow Pine. That gave him a
+chance for an unbroken sleep when his work was done. What was also good,
+it gave him a rest to get sleepy in, and to let all the steam of his
+excitement get away from his head. He ate well, and he felt somewhat
+weary afterwards, but there was a queer idea growing in his mind that he
+was in the neighborhood of strange Indians, and that nobody could tell
+what might turn up.
+
+"Pine," said he, "if I see an Indian shall I kill him?"
+
+"Yell first, and get out of his way, unless he holds out his hand and
+says 'How?' But you won't have any chance this night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A WRESTLING MATCH
+
+
+The moon was to come up late that night, and all the first part of it
+would be lighted only by stars and camp-fires. The mining party had but
+two of these latter burning low, and the Nez Percé band had not any,
+after they had done their cooking, but the stars sent down enough light
+to make things visible at short distances. The two camps were not over
+four miles apart.
+
+The only really wide-awake watchman in one of them was One-eye, and he
+patrolled in all directions as if he had an idea that matters must be
+less secure in the absence of his wonderful young master. Only one dog
+to do the barking for a whole village was something very uncommon in
+Indian history, but it was well to have the great duty given to an
+entirely competent dog.
+
+The boy whom One-eye considered the greatest personage in all that
+valley had now crept near enough to the mining camp to get a fair idea
+of what it contained. He saw a wealth of horse-flesh and mule-flesh,
+every quadruped of it worth half a dozen Indian ponies, and his
+ambition almost lifted him up from the grass. It stirred any amount of
+reckless daring, and it made him remember all the stories he had ever
+heard of famous chiefs who stole into camps and then stripped them clean
+of everything. He was already that kind of chief in his own estimation,
+and did not know that within a hundred yards of him there sat a white
+boy, of about his own age, not so tall but broader in the shoulders, who
+was at that moment recalling a long list of just such stories.
+
+Sile had fairly read up on Indian fiction before he left home, and his
+ideas of the way some things could be done were a little misty. He could
+hardly sit still for one moment, and preferred to stroll around among
+the horses to make sure no red man's hand was reaching out for one of
+them. Old Pine smiled grimly now and then, for he felt perfectly safe on
+the Indian question, but at last he heard an unaccountable rustling at
+one end of the corral, and then a loud hurrah from Sile.
+
+The idea had been in Sile's head that his proper course was to go about
+very much as if he were himself about to steal the horses, and his
+noiseless movements carried him to the outer edge of the corral at
+exactly the right moment. He was standing at the side of a tall mule, in
+the shadow of it and completely hidden, when he saw something darker
+than a shadow glide out from between two tall weeds and swiftly writhe
+its way forward. His heart beat like a trip-hammer. His first thought
+was to use his rifle, but it was a new and dreadful thing to take a
+human life, and he could not lift his weapon. His eyes said, "Not a
+large Indian," and his hands let go of the rifle. The next instant, and
+just as Two Arrows rose to his feet, Sile sprang forward and grappled
+with him.
+
+It was a most perilous thing to do, considering that Two Arrows carried
+a knife; but the young Nez Percé had also been thinking, and had made up
+his mind that "war" was no part of his errand. His tribe was at peace
+with the pale-faces, except as to horse-flesh, and that fact saved
+Sile's life. He had been accounted the best wrestler in his set, at home
+and at school, and his muscles were in capital order. It was not by any
+means an uneven match, therefore, and Two Arrows would have been glad
+enough to get away. He had no clothing for Sile to hold him by, and
+there was more and more danger of losing him every moment, but the shout
+of warning had hardly begun to rouse the general camp before a pair of
+long, sinewy arms wound around poor Two Arrows from behind.
+
+"I've got him," said Yellow Pine. "Run for a rope. You're jest the
+luckiest youngster I ever knowed."
+
+By the time the rope was there, every man in camp was up and out, and
+the grass and weeds within sight had rifle muzzles pointed at
+everything among them as big as a human head.
+
+"No whoopin' sounded," said Yellow Pine. "This cub was alone. I say, you
+young coyote, you jest answer my questions now, or I'll tan the hide
+clean off ye."
+
+Two Arrows drew himself up proudly and looked at him in silence, but
+Pine led his captive on into the fire-light and picked up a heavy
+"black-snake" whip, for he was justly angry.
+
+It was a terrible come-down for the ambition of a young chief. Captured
+on his first raid and threatened with a horsewhipping. He felt ready to
+burst, but it was not with vanity this time.
+
+"Where's yer band? Where's their camp?" asked Pine, with a significant
+flourish of the black-snake, but the Indian boy looked him unflinchingly
+in the face without a sound or a motion.
+
+"Speak, now," began Pine; but Sile had finished answering some hurried
+questions from his father, and he now asked one for himself.
+
+"I say, Yellow Pine, didn't I grab him first? Isn't he my prisoner as
+much as he is yours?"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Well, now, I don't want him flogged. He didn't use his knife. You
+always said it was best to be friends with 'em."
+
+"I'd call it---- Jedge, it's jest so. Sile's right. I'd kinder lost my
+head. Look a-here, redskin, next time you come for hosses you won't get
+off so easy. I'll unhitch ye now, and let ye up. There now, Sile, shake
+hands with him."
+
+"How?" said Sile, as he held out his hand to the loosened captive.
+
+"How?" said Two Arrows, and he said it a little sullenly, but he had
+been glancing from Pine's face to Sile's and understood pretty well that
+the latter had stopped the proposed work of the black-snake.
+
+"Make him a present of something, Sile," said his father. "Here--give
+him this."
+
+It was a small round pocket-mirror, worth twenty-five cents, but there
+was no telling what it was worth in the estimation of such a boy as Two
+Arrows--perhaps a pound or so of gold nuggets, if he had them, or the
+skin of his grisly bear, after the glory of killing it had worn a little
+thin. At all events, he was a most astonished Indian. Evidently these
+monsters in human form were disposed to be friends with
+him--particularly this red-headed young chief who had proved himself so
+good a wrestler. All he had ever heard of pale-faces was against
+believing it, but there was no chance of escaping from the ring of
+riflemen now gathered around him, and he gave it up. He answered Yellow
+Pine's questions by signs only, until something he said brought an
+exclamation from the old miner Jonas.
+
+"Nez Percé! He's a Nez Percé, Pine. I know their lingo. He can talk
+some English, too. He needn't play 'possum any longer."
+
+Two Arrows felt that he was completely beaten, and even pride failed to
+carry him any farther. It came to his mind, also, with a peculiar force,
+that he was by no means sure of the approval of Long Bear and his
+warriors. They had not sent him out to kill pale-faces and bring upon
+them the vengeance of the terrible "brass-button men" he had heard of.
+He had seen a few of them, and had wondered at their great knives, twice
+as long as his arm. He decided to speak out now, and in a few moments
+Jonas had pumped him thoroughly.
+
+"He isn't on any war-path," said Yellow Pine to Judge Parks; "he's jest
+a fool of a boy. We'll keep him till mornin' and carry him over to his
+own camp. It's the best way in the world to make friends with 'em."
+
+"All right," replied the judge; "we must get out some presents. See that
+he doesn't get away."
+
+"I'll look out for that--you bet I will."
+
+So he did, and Two Arrows had now no knife with which to cut the rope
+whereby he was tied to Yellow Pine's elbow when that "big brave" lay
+down again. Sile rolled himself up in a blanket, only a few feet from
+them, and hardly slept a wink. He had captured a wild red Indian and it
+beat all the novels he had ever seen. He did not hear his father chuckle
+to himself, nor could he read the thoughts of the old judge. Long Bear
+himself was not prouder of Two Arrows and his grisly than was Sile's
+father of the manner in which his own boy had met and grappled with a
+sudden peril.
+
+"He'll be at the head of something or other some day," he muttered, as
+he was dropping asleep.
+
+Not even Na-tee-kah knew anything of the movements or whereabouts of Two
+Arrows this time, and her father questioned her in vain. His absence was
+"irregular," and when the hours went by and he did not return, the Long
+Bear's face put on an expression of stern displeasure.
+
+"Boy too big," he said; "grow too fast. Brave too soon. Young chief,
+though. Great warrior by-and-by, like father. Come back. Talk hard to
+him."
+
+Na-tee-kah's thoughts followed her hero brother so long as her eyes were
+open. She had no doubt whatever that he would quickly turn up again with
+a great heap of new glory. She dreamed of his performing all sorts of
+marvellous things. All the other boys in camp were planning to catch up
+and get ahead of him, she knew, for she had heard some of them say so.
+The Big Tongue had told her of a large number of bears belonging to his
+record, and he was going on to tell of more when Ha-ha-pah-no overheard
+and asked him,
+
+"Kill bear all with tongue? Shoot big lie right through? Catch old bear
+and talk to him; bear die!"
+
+Her tongue was sharp enough, and she strongly sympathized with
+Na-tee-kah's enthusiasm for Two Arrows. The Big Tongue got away from her
+and the camp grew more and more quiet.
+
+The spot chosen for it, in a curve of the stream, was one of rare
+beauty, and the loop formed by the long sweep of the rippling water
+would have been just the place for a secure corral, if that band of Nez
+Percés had had any four-footed property to be anxious about. It was not
+needful to keep a guard over their hope of stealing some thereafter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A GREAT CAPTAIN
+
+
+The band of Nez Percés had done very well thus far, and so had the band
+of white miners, but there had been one other band of travellers which
+had accomplished a good deal by reason of having an uncommonly good
+commander.
+
+The wicked old mule that had engineered the stampede of the Nez Percé
+ponies had continued to hold his position as captain. He could out-kick
+and out-bray any other mule there, and no mere pony would have dreamed
+of disputing him. There was some grass to be had, next day after the
+escape, and there was yet a little water in the pools rapidly drying
+away, but there was nothing anywhere to tempt to a stoppage. On he went,
+and on went the rest after him, and the reason why the warriors could
+not find his trail was because he did not leave any. He obeyed the
+strong instinct of all large animals, and some smaller ones, to "follow
+a beaten path and keep in a travelled road." He struck the well-made
+buffalo trail and did not find any reason for wandering from it.
+Multitudes of men have a precisely similar instinct, and keep in any
+particular path in life mainly because they are in it; they stick all
+the closer if they can see anybody else doing the same thing. That was
+what the wicked old mule saw, and he may have imagined that the squad or
+rather string of bisons ahead of him knew where they were going and what
+for. At all events he led his band closely behind them, and they plodded
+on in a way that carried them ahead quite rapidly. It carried them into
+the pass and through it, mule, ponies and all, and there was no one to
+tell them of what had happened there before or what was about to occur.
+
+Something had happened--something that is pretty sure to come to all
+bisons, sooner or later. In due season their great bodies reel and fall,
+and the wolves and buzzards are fed. But for such things the wolves
+would all die, and they have an unerring judgment as to the condition of
+an ailing bison. They never attack a healthy bull or cow unless they are
+in great force and the animal is alone.
+
+The migration of bisons from the parching plain to better pasture had
+been going on for some time, and the coyotes had followed it as a matter
+of course. The very day that the old mule halted his runaways at the
+spring for all the water they could hold, there should have been a
+painter on the great ledge which was followed by the trail in the middle
+of the pass. There was a tragedy there worth sketching.
+
+Herd after herd of bisons had gone along that ledge road in clumsy
+safety, but right there now, at the curve of the projecting rock, stood
+one who could go no farther. A fragment of an arrow still sticking
+through one of his hind-legs told what had made him lame in the first
+place, and the marks of wolf-teeth explained why he had grown lamer and
+lamer until all he could do was to turn his back to the rock and stand
+at bay.
+
+Mile after mile of weary walking and painful struggling the poor old
+beast had contended with the enemies now swarming around him; they had
+assailed him always from behind, and they had altogether crippled him.
+His great, terrible head was lowered threateningly, and his deep,
+sonorous bellow was thick with pain and fury. The watching coyotes sat
+down or walked around, barking, yelping, howling, snapping their teeth
+like castanets, sure of a feast to come and hungrily impatient for its
+beginning. One, hungrier or bolder than the rest, made a rush too soon,
+and the quick horn of the old bison caught him. Up, up he went, whirling
+over and over, and his last yelp went down with him into the deep cañon.
+The head of the bison sank again, and his bloodshot eyes grew filmy; he
+was faint and sinking, and he swayed staggeringly to and fro. He gave a
+great lurch forward as his faintness grew upon him, and in an instant he
+seemed to be all but covered with wolves. They attacked every square
+foot of him at the same moment, climbing over each other, yelling,
+tearing, and the bison's time had come. The terror and agony stirred all
+his remaining life for one last, blinded rush. His instinct was to
+"charge" and he made one lumbering plunge. The trail at that point
+afterwards but barely passed the wagon-wheels, and there was no room to
+spare for the bison's last effort. It bore him heavily, helplessly over
+the sickening edge, and half a dozen of clinging coyotes went down with
+him. Hundreds of whirling feet the hunters and the hunted-down bison
+fell together, to be dashed to pieces upon the rocks at the bottom.
+
+A chorus of howls arose from the remaining wolves, but it did not
+express pity or horror. Only for a moment did they seem to be in doubt
+as to what was best to be done. After that it was a wolf-race as to
+which should first get back to the point at which they could safely
+clamber and tumble to the bottom of the pass. Their feast had been
+provided for them, and they ate every part of it, buffalo meat and wolf
+meat alike, with the help of some buzzards, before Two Arrows or any
+other human being entered the cañon to disturb them. Then they followed
+their prospect of further feasting, and it led them on into the grassy
+valley.
+
+The wicked old mule knew nothing of all this. No coyotes annoyed him or
+his command, but not a mouthful to eat did they find until they came
+out where they could see the ancient ruins. At sight of these, hinting
+of human presence, they halted briefly and then sheered away so as not
+to approach too nearly so very unpleasant a suggestion. The bisons had
+led them well, whether or not the mule got the credit of it. Also, there
+was a fair degree of justification of the instinct concerning beaten
+paths. New ones may be better, and somebody must hunt them up all the
+while, but the old roads will do very well for most people until the new
+ones are fairly mapped out. Christopher Columbus had a hard time of it,
+and Captain Cook got himself eaten up at last, after finding ever so
+many new things.
+
+It was a matter of course that the runaways should feel their way
+farther and farther down the valley, and all sorts of happiness seemed
+to be before them. Grass, water, nice weather, no masters, no
+responsibilities, and plenty of good company among themselves. It was a
+time to grow fat, and to think well of the world they lived in.
+
+The wicked old mule had done his work, but he had gained neither name
+nor fame by it. He looked sidewise more slyly, whisked his ropy tail
+more demurely, and kicked his nearest neighbors more viciously than
+ever. Still, all he or they had gained was a vacation; no work to do for
+anybody but themselves, but with winter only a few months ahead and with
+a certainty that wolves, buzzards, coyotes, cougars, grislies, frost,
+snow-storms, and all the other unknown possibilities of the mountain
+country were only holding off for a season.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+VISITING
+
+
+Two Arrows was treated to an excellent breakfast the morning after his
+capture. He also saw a white man eat with a knife and fork, and had all
+the sugar he wanted for the first time. It was a wonderful morning, and
+a very brilliant pair of eyes were drinking in its marvels greedily.
+
+Rifles, pistols, and all that sort of thing were familiar enough to the
+young Nez Percé, but he saw new patterns of them and gained tremendous
+notions of the wealth and skill of the pale-faces who could make such
+weapons.
+
+"Father," said Sile, "I wish he could read. He's a bright fellow."
+
+"Show him everything you have with a picture in it."
+
+There was no fear that Two Arrows would try to run away after that
+process began. The printed matter of any sort did not convey to him an
+idea; it was so much mud; it meant nothing whatever. The pictures were
+another thing, and Sile had provided himself well with illustrated
+reading. Two Arrows almost gave up the sullen pride that refused to be
+astonished, and Sile began to understand "sign language." At all events
+he nearly twisted himself out of shape in an effort to explain to his
+captive the nature of ships, cannon, camels, and steam-engines. He felt
+as if he were a sort of missionary. At last Judge Parks himself handed
+Two Arrows a photograph of an Indian chief, given him at one of the
+frontier agencies a few weeks before.
+
+"Ugh! Pawnee!" said Two Arrows.
+
+"I told you so," exclaimed Yellow Pine. "If you showed him dogerrytypes
+of every tribe there is, he'd name 'em at sight. Jedge, it's about time
+we set out. I've got a mount ready for him."
+
+Jonas more fully explained to Two Arrows that a visit of peace was
+planned, and that he was to be marched home again, but the face of the
+young Indian clouded. That was the one thing he stood in mortal dread
+of. He thought of the jeers and derision sure to greet him from all
+other Nez Percé boys when they should see him come home without any
+glory, and he hung back.
+
+"Mount now," shouted Yellow Pine, with a motion towards the animal he
+had selected.
+
+A horse! To ride back, instead of returning tired and on foot. That was
+quite another matter.
+
+"Whoop!" he could not have restrained that yell of relief, and in an
+instant he was in the saddle. He had been used to riding a barebacked
+pony, and that made his present outfit the more splendid. All his vanity
+and ambition came pouring back upon him, and he almost felt as if he had
+captured that squad of pale-faces and was bringing them in as prisoners.
+He dashed forward at once, with Sile on one side, Yellow Pine on the
+other, and the rest following, except a camp-guard of two miners.
+
+Less than an hour later all the Nez Percé band came out under the trees
+to see what was coming.
+
+"Two Arrows!" almost breathlessly exclaimed Na-tee-kah. "Caught some
+pale-faces this time."
+
+"Got horse," said Ha-ha-pah-no.
+
+Long Bear and his warriors did not say a word, for they were all but
+dumb with astonishment from the moment that they recognized the
+returning wanderer. What would not that remarkable boy do next? Had he
+killed anybody? Had he really stolen all those white men, or had they
+stolen him? There he was, anyway, and in a few moments more Yellow Pine
+and Judge Parks had said "How?" to Long Bear and his best men. Indian
+manners required that Two Arrows should be silent before his elders
+until spoken to, but Long Bear almost instantly inquired,
+
+"Where find boy?"
+
+"In camp," said Yellow Pine. "Try to steal horse. Too many pale-face.
+Catch him. All safe. Big thief some day. Boy now."
+
+All of Two Arrows's dream of glory went out of sight before the grim
+smiles with which the Nez Percé warriors heard that explanation. They
+perfectly understood the matter, and that the pale-faces before them
+wished to be good friends. On their part, they were a good deal more
+than willing, for they had much to gain from peace and very little from
+war with mounted riflemen.
+
+"Prisoner?" groaned Na-tee-kah.
+
+"Boy all right," grumbled Ha-ha-pah-no, indignantly. "Find pale-face
+camp anyhow. Go right in. Old brave all asleep. Never find anything. Big
+chief by-and-by."
+
+There was some truth in that view of the matter, and Long Bear made a
+remark that had a little the same sound. At all events Two Arrows was
+permitted to dismount and walk away, while the conference with his
+captors went on. In ten seconds he was exhibiting his little hand-mirror
+to Na-tee-kah and a crowd of other young people, and found his
+importance coming back to him. None of them had ever ventured to creep,
+all alone, into a white man's corral. Not a boy or girl among them had
+such a treasure as the mirror. He had made friends with the pale-faces,
+at all events. In fact, his standing in that community was rising with
+tremendous rapidity, until somehow or other the story of his
+wrestling match with Sile Parks began to be whispered around, and it
+became necessary for Two Arrows to point at Yellow Pine as the great
+brave who had really pinioned him. There was not a Nez Percé in the
+band, old or young, who felt any longing for a grapple with the sinewy,
+big-boned old miner and all would have been right but for the fact that
+Two Arrows had not at once escaped from Sile.
+
+[Illustration: NOT A BOY OR GIRL AMONG THEM HAD SUCH A TREASURE AS THAT
+MIRROR]
+
+A good understanding was easily established between the miners and the
+red men, and it was not long before Sile was off his horse and was going
+around among the young people. He used his eyes as busily as Two Arrows
+had done, but it is to be doubted if he saw as much, even in what there
+was to see. It was not long before Na-tee-kah had as good a
+looking-glass as her brother, and a general distribution of small
+presents sealed the arrangement that the miners were not to be plundered
+by that particular band.
+
+"Now, jedge," said Yellow Pine at last, "it's time we moved. S'pose we
+fetch along that young cub and his sister. Company for Sile. Make the
+old chief feel fine."
+
+Long Bear gave several grunts of assent when spoken to, and once more
+Two Arrows felt as if he were growing very fast indeed.
+
+"We'll go back and move the wagons," said Pine to Sile. "You and your
+young redskin can scout on down the valley. You've got your directions
+'bout finding us. Don't go too fast nor too far. The Indian'll smell any
+danger long before you will. He won't be roped in by anybody in broad
+daylight, I can tell ye."
+
+He did not look like it as he rode proudly away from the village. Jonas
+had mounted Na-tee-kah behind him, but Ha-ha-pah-no was to follow the
+wagons on foot, that the chief's daughter might have somebody to
+superintend her visit. When Ha-ha-pah-no set out in her turn nearly half
+the village went with her uninvited, and it took all the authority of
+Long Bear to keep the other half from keeping them company.
+
+"Come," said Two Arrows to Sile, after a few minutes of silent riding.
+"We go. Ugh! Shoot a heap."
+
+He had picked up more English words, somehow or other, than he had at
+first acknowledged, but Sile found it needful to work the sign language
+pretty industriously for all that.
+
+Na-tee-kah had spent her life in the close retirement of an Indian
+village. She had been housed up among plains and mountains from all the
+world, and knew nothing about it. She had lived in a narrower prison
+than the smallest country village in all the East. The idea of visiting
+a white man's camp and seeing all there was in it made her tremble all
+over. She knew her father and ever so many others would be there in an
+hour or so, and that her wonderful brother had gone on a hunt with the
+son of the pale-face chief, but she was to enter a strange place with
+only white warriors for company. It was an awful thing to do, and she
+could not have done it, nor would Long Bear have consented to it, but
+for something they both saw in the face of old Judge Parks when he
+patted her on the head and said,
+
+"Be my daughter a little while. Make a white girl of her for a week.
+Take good care of her."
+
+Red men have keen eyes for character, and Long Bear understood. So did
+Na-tee-kah, and yet she would have run away and hidden but for her
+curiosity, stirred up by what Two Arrows had told her of the contents of
+that camp and its wagons. An offer to a white girl of a trip to Paris
+might be something like it, but it would not be much more. Her eyes
+danced and her fingers tingled as they drew near, and yet the only thing
+she could see was a couple of commonplace tilted wagons and a lot of
+horses and mules. The moment she was on the ground the old judge came to
+her assistance.
+
+"Now, Na-tee-kah, I'll show you something. Come this way."
+
+She stood as straight as an arrow and walked along courageously, but it
+required all her strength of mind and will to do so. She watched him in
+silence, as he went into and came out of one of those mysterious rolling
+tents full of all unknown riches.
+
+"There, now. That'll keep you busy while we're getting ready to move."
+
+She held out both her hands, and when Ha-ha-pah-no at last put her own
+hand upon her shoulder and said "Ugh!" Na-tee-kah started as if she had
+been waked from a dream. She had been looking at pictures that told her
+of another world.
+
+"Heap lie," said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Pale-face tell 'em. Make lie about
+squaw. There!"
+
+It was a picture of several ladies in evening dress, and Na-tee-kah had
+been looking at it for five minutes. No such woman as those could
+possibly be, nor could any human beings get themselves up so
+wonderfully. It was all a lie, and any intelligent squaw could detect
+the fraud at a glance.
+
+Na-tee-kah drew a long breath that sounded like a sigh, and just then
+the shout of Yellow Pine announced that all was ready for a move.
+
+"We'll reach that mine to-morrow night, jedge, if we're lively.
+Everything's goin' prime now."
+
+With or without an invitation the relatives of Na-tee-kah trudged along
+with the wagons mile after mile, and Long Bear gained an extra pound of
+tobacco by sticking to Yellow Pine until the train halted at noon.
+
+Ha-ha-pah-no scolded Na-tee-kah pretty nearly all the way for not
+knowing more about pale-faces, but she broke down at the noon camp-fire.
+She undertook to play cook, and in half a minute Jonas discovered that
+she did not know how to make coffee.
+
+"Wouldn't you have b'iled a black soup?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Poor old squaw!" said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Know all about him. Drink some
+once; bitter. Put sweet in. Stir him up, so."
+
+"Ugh!" said Na-tee-kah. "Know so much. Ask Two Arrows when he come."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+MORE FUN
+
+
+Sile Parks and Two Arrows had the whole valley before them and all the
+mountains and valleys beyond, and one knew as much about them as did the
+other. Neither had ever been just there before, and yet the young Nez
+Percé was at home, and Sile was in a new country. Sile could ride well
+and he could shoot well, but here at his side was a born hunter. With
+all sorts of descriptive signs he asked him,
+
+"Did you ever kill a deer?"
+
+"Ugh! heap deer. Heap bear. Heap buffalo. Big heap."
+
+And then all the pride of Two Arrows came to help him explain that he
+had killed a cougar all alone, and a big-horn and a grisly. By the time
+he had succeeded in doing so Sile regarded him as a red-skinned wonder,
+but had so interpreted some of his signs as to include a big snake, a
+land-turtle, and a kangaroo in the list of asserted victories. It gave
+him some doubts as to the others, for he said to himself,
+
+"No rabbit can jump as far as he says that thing did. There are no
+kangaroos here, and they have no horns. I give it up. Maybe he is
+lying, but he doesn't look so."
+
+Two Arrows was boasting quite truthfully, and the trouble was with
+Sile's translation.
+
+"Ugh! look. Rifle--"
+
+Sile's eyes followed the pointing finger in vain for a moment. At first
+he saw nothing but a clump of sumach bushes, but for once he asked no
+questions. What could be among them? One seemed to move a little. Could
+it be possible? the horns of a buck!
+
+"Maybe I can hit him. I've heard of such a thing. I'll aim below them;
+his body is there somewhere."
+
+Two Arrows could have told him just how that deer was standing, but
+Sile's guess-work was pretty good. He let his rifle-muzzle sink on a
+line with one of those antlers, and had lowered it a little too much
+when he pulled the trigger. The kicking of the rifle made the aim a good
+one, for the sharp report was answered by a great bound from the cover
+of the sumachs, and in an instant a mortally-wounded buck was dashing
+across the open, with One-eye close at his heels.
+
+"Ugh! got him," said Two Arrows. "Heap shoot. Bow not so good."
+
+Sile had offered to lend him a rifle at starting, but Two Arrows had
+prudently refused to disgrace himself. He had never owned one and did
+not care to show his lack of skill.
+
+That was a fine dash after One-eye and the wounded buck, but it was a
+short one. The bullet had done its work so thoroughly that there was
+little trouble left for the dog when he seized his victim's throat to
+pull him down.
+
+There had been some hunting done by the mining party on their long
+journey, but Sile could have told Two Arrows if he had chosen to do so,
+that here lay the first deer he had ever killed. He could also have told
+him that it appeared to be the largest, fattest, finest, most miraculous
+buck that anybody in the world had ever killed; as it really was even
+Two Arrows spoke well of the buck and thought well of the shot which had
+brought it down.
+
+"If I knew where to find our train I'd take it right in," said Sile, as
+they hoisted the buck to his own saddle. "I'd just as lief walk."
+
+"Find him," said Two Arrows, understanding the searching look Sile gave
+towards the mountains. "Go so. Come. Get on horse; ride."
+
+He took the lead at once, but it seemed to Sile that he was going in the
+wrong direction. He was not at all aware that his friend had skilfully
+directed their hunt on a line nearly parallel, at no great distance,
+from that which the train must follow. He was therefore doubly
+astonished when a brief ride brought them within sight of the
+wagon-tilts. They had halted, and Sile had double comfort: he could
+show his father his first deer and he could get a hot dinner, for
+Ha-ha-pah-no could do very well with a steak if not with coffee.
+
+"Which of you killed the deer?" asked the judge, as they rode in.
+
+Sile was silent long enough for Two Arrows to point at him and remark,
+
+"Heap shoot."
+
+"So I did, father, but he pointed him out. I'd never have seen him if
+I'd been alone."
+
+"Jest so," said Yellow Pine. "There isn't anything else on the earth
+like the eyesight of an Indian. I've had 'em sight game more'n once that
+I'd ha' missed sure."
+
+It puzzled Na-tee-kah somewhat that anybody else should have won
+anything while her wonderful brother was near by, but Ha-ha-pah-no
+relieved her by remarking,
+
+"Ugh! The red-head kill deer. Two Arrows show him how. Good."
+
+One of the miners had ridden out from the line of march and returned
+with another deer, so that fresh venison was plentiful in the camp. Two
+Arrows felt no longing for any more hunting that day, and he bluntly
+said so. It was ten times more to his liking to ride along with the
+train and keep his eyes busy. He was studying white men, and all the
+world knows what a curious study they are. One white boy was also
+studying him and his sister, and could not understand them at all.
+Sile's eyes and thoughts ran about over everything he heard or saw
+until he almost had a headache.
+
+"Tell you what, father," he said to the judge, "when we go into camp
+again I'm going to show them my box."
+
+"It's a curiosity box. Show it to them."
+
+The road was necessarily somewhat rough, and wagoning was slow work, and
+before sunset a place was chosen for an all-night camp. Then came Sile's
+experiment. He hauled a stoutly-made, leather-covered trunk out of one
+of the wagons, before the eyes of Two Arrows and Na-tee-kah, and it was
+instantly evident that neither had ever seen one, but that both
+understood its use. He unstrapped it, but it did not open, and he made
+them try it. Lock and key were mysteries they had no thought of, and
+they almost started back with surprise when Sile pushed a thin bit of
+steel into one side of that contrivance and all the upper part of it
+could be tipped right over.
+
+Sile's "box" would have been first-rate rummaging for any boy of his
+acquaintance, and it was a mine of wonders to the two young savages. He
+had put into it some things which could hardly be useful to him, even if
+he should be cast away upon a mountain, as Robinson Crusoe was upon an
+island, and it was so much the better fun for Two Arrows and Na-tee-kah.
+The fishing-hooks, lines, reel, etc., made the eyes of the former fairly
+dance, and Sile brought out a joint-rod and put it together, with a
+reel on, to show him how the machine worked. Two Arrows grew thoughtful
+over that affair.
+
+"Big fish break him."
+
+"No. Show you about that to-morrow morning."
+
+"Ugh! ugh!" suddenly exclaimed Ha-ha-pah-no. "Red-head got squaw? Boy!"
+
+He did look young to be married, but she was pointing straight at a
+brush and comb and some other articles which, to her notion, did not
+belong in the treasury of a young warrior. Sile at once explained that
+he used them himself, but there were several brushes and combs, and she
+added,
+
+"Ugh! Beat squaw. Take 'em away from her. What she do?"
+
+"Try it on," said Sile, handing a brush and comb to Na-tee-kah, and a
+peal of laughter announced the pleasure of the two Indian ladies, old
+and young. Even Two Arrows dropped a "spoon-hook" to take an interest in
+that proceeding.
+
+"Come," said Ha-ha-pah-no, with a long string of merry gutturals of
+explanation that she had seen a white lady at one of the forts putting
+up the hair of another. She herself could do it, and in twenty seconds
+more there was a yell from Na-tee-kah and a tooth out of the comb.
+
+"Let me show you," said Sile, and from that moment there was not one
+sound from the lips of Na-tee-kah. Whether she was hurt or not nobody
+knew, for if the comb had extracted hair by the handful she would not
+have whimpered. Ha-ha-pah-no insisted on having her hair combed by
+Na-tee-kah. She must know how now, it was evident, and she did, for the
+comb lost another tooth in the very first tangles of Ha-ha-pah-no's
+hair.
+
+"That's fun," said Yellow Pine. "Jest look at them critters. That there
+squaw'll crack that lookin'-glass, twistin' her face, 'fore her combin'
+is done."
+
+She stood it pretty well, but the other contents of the box had less
+interest now. She and Na-tee-kah preferred to go on with the brush and
+comb. Even Two Arrows looked at them so enviously that Sile told him the
+white chiefs did comb their hair. It was enough. Squaws were made to
+serve braves, and they were both commanded to take charge of his long,
+bushy, and decidedly tangled barbering. Not for his life would he have
+uttered a cry of pain, but he made up his mind that a pale-face can
+endure a great deal before they got through with him.
+
+Supper had to be eaten, and sharp appetites helped them to get away long
+enough for that duty, but then the brush and comb began again under
+Sile's instruction.
+
+"That there comb won't last long," said Yellow Pine. "Tell 'em to put
+on some grease, Sile, and some ribbons. Ribbons, Sile, and some beads,
+and--"
+
+"And some red flannel," said Jonas, "and some tinware."
+
+"I'd forgotten all about that," exclaimed Sile, springing up.
+
+In a few moments his visitors were in a new state of excitement, for
+they were tying up their now glossy locks with brilliant ribbons and
+strips of gay cloth. To these were added some of the brilliant
+white-metal ornaments that pass for silver among the very youngest
+pale-face children. Two Arrows put on his full share of all that was
+offered and became a very gay-looking young Indian. There was no danger
+that he would stand on his head and spoil his ribbons, but he felt
+almost too proud to stand on his feet. He felt more and more sure that
+the world did not contain quite such another hero, and longed for the
+presence of his whole band, and of his entire tribe, and of several
+other tribes, that he might walk up and down in front of them and be
+admired. No white boy with a new stovepipe hat and a pair of yellow kid
+gloves ever wanted to walk through so many streets or past quite so many
+"boarding-schools" as did Two Arrows--only that his showing-off places
+were such as he was best acquainted with.
+
+Na-tee-kah was more quiet than even Ha-ha-pah-no, for that highly
+respectable squaw had done up her head remarkably.
+
+"All she wants to finish it off is two tin dippers and a set of
+sleigh-bells. I saw a squaw do that once. There's no telling what they
+won't put on. But I say, jedge, that there littler one is a born lady,
+and she's right down good-lookin' too. All she needs is good dressin'
+and she'd kind o' shine."
+
+There was not a doubt of it, and her highly-colored ribbons had been put
+on with better taste than those of Ha-ha-pah-no, and they showed to good
+advantage her clear, dark complexion, brilliant eyes, and regular
+features. Old Long Bear had a right to be proud of both his children.
+
+It was grand fun, but there came an end to it at last. Two Arrows went
+out to share with Sile his camp-watch, and Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah
+were shown to a small tent which had been pitched for them. It was
+something of a trial to take all that finery away from the admiring
+blaze of the camp-fire and carry it into the dark hiding-place of that
+tent, but it had to be done. At all events they could rise early in the
+morning and comb their hair again and arrange the ribbons and things in
+some other way.
+
+Na-tee-kah's new world was opening to her wonderfully, and she lay for a
+long time wide awake, staring into the darkness and trying to imagine
+pale-face squaws and their ways of doing up their hair and painting
+themselves and putting on whole heaps of blankets of the most striking
+colors and patterns.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+TWO WAR-PARTIES
+
+
+That was a time of uncommon interest and excitement to the entire Nez
+Percé hunting village. They had plenty to eat and to drink, and some of
+them had received presents, and the prospect ahead seemed to brighten a
+little. By nightfall all the warriors were returned from accompanying
+the mining party, and it was a time for a grand smoke. Some of them had
+begged Yellow Pine for "fire-water," but not a drop had been obtained.
+Instead of it they had been informed,
+
+"We're not jest that kind of white men. There isn't a pint of
+tangle-foot in this 'ere outfit. Ef I want to murder a feller I'll take
+a rifle to him and do the job clean. I won't go around the bush and
+massacre him with a whiskey-jug."
+
+The red men understood perfectly well that there was no "fire-water,"
+but that was all they gathered. Plenty of smoking tobacco they did
+obtain, and it was a grand addition to the dignity of their "council,"
+if every half-naked brave with a pipe in his mouth had a right to
+consider himself a councillor. They all smoked, and they all wondered
+what it was best to do next, and they all said so, and every brave among
+them regretted that it was out of the question for them to acquire
+possession of the quadrupeds ridden and driven by Judge Parks and his
+men. The Big Tongue and a few of the younger braves even went so far as
+to "talk war," but the wiser heads merely grunted at the suggestions
+volunteered. The Big Tongue had much to say to the smokers nearest him
+concerning a pale-face warrior whose scalp was among his own treasures.
+Ha-ha-pah-no was not there to make any sly remarks as to how he actually
+obtained such a trophy as that and some others on which his reputation
+as a warrior mainly rested. They sat up until they had smoked all the
+wisdom out of several pipes of tobacco to each warrior, but did not seem
+to be any nearer a conclusion. The camp was under the special charge of
+One-eye, but that dog was becoming quiet and solemn. His especial master
+had departed, he knew not whither. All the bones in camp now belonged to
+him, and he had no time to bury so much as one of them. He was not fond
+of tobacco, and as soon as the smoking began he walked out of camp to
+patrol the edge of the woods and to keep all the eye left him on duty
+against possible intruders. He had no faith in a country which was
+evidently infested by pale-faces.
+
+If he had known more about that valley and the region into which it
+led, he would have had an even worse opinion of it. The fact that it
+contained a large stream of water had already suggested many things to
+the experienced mind of Long Bear. All such water, he well knew, kept on
+running, no matter what might be its crooks and turnings. If he and his
+braves could have followed that stream far enough while they were
+smoking and talking over plans, they might have reached a place where it
+turned a corner of the mountains and was joined by another and larger
+stream. The two in partnership were able to float a canoe. There was no
+canoe afloat there, but there was something yet more important away on
+down, a pretty long way, below the fork made by the junction of the two
+streams. There was a camp occupied by red warriors only, without one
+squaw to be seen in it, and it was therefore the camp of a "war-party."
+It was accompanied by a large drove of ponies, horses, and mules, and
+some of these had saddles and others carried packs. These were signs
+that the war-party had been successful and that pale-faces had been the
+sufferers. Every quadruped visible wore an air of being more or less
+fatigued, in token of having been driven or ridden both fast and far.
+From this it might have been gathered that these red men, however
+successful had been their expedition, believed or feared that they were
+followed by somebody whom they preferred to get away from. All these
+signs told the exact truth; it was also true that some pains had been
+taken to discover whether or not the supposed pursuit continued.
+
+At the very hour when One-eye was making the best use he could of the
+bright moonshine in front of his own camp, and knew nothing at all about
+this other, a tall man stood in the deep shadow of a pine-tree, miles
+and miles down stream from the resting-place of the war-party. The
+bridle of a horse hung over his right arm, but the animal stood as
+motionless as did his master, and both were intently watching a dark
+shape that rode nearer and could be seen more and more clearly, and that
+paused at last upon the river-bank within thirty yards. Just as it did
+so there came from under the shadow of the pine-tree a flash and a sharp
+report, and all the upper part of the dark shape on the bank fell
+suddenly to the earth, uttering a loud, fierce yell.
+
+"Got him!" was shouted from under the pine-tree, and the man walked out,
+leading his horse, while instantly there could be heard the sound of
+galloping hoofs beyond him. In a minute or so more a stern, hoarse voice
+rang out.
+
+"Halt! What is it, Garry?"
+
+"Got him, captain. 'Nother of them 'Paches. He won't carry back no news.
+Dead as a mackerel. Reckon they can't be far away now."
+
+"We've taken pretty good care of their scouts, anyhow."
+
+"Jest so many the less to fight when we come up with 'em. They'll
+outnumber us bad enough, I reckon, best we can make of it."
+
+"Back to camp, Garry. Corporal Peters, take the same post, with two men.
+There may be more of them."
+
+"All right, captain."
+
+There was a little more talking done, but these seemed to be a somewhat
+quiet set of men. There were six of them besides the captain. They were
+all dressed in blue, and wore brass buttons and carried short-barrelled
+carbines and sabres. A good look at them would have recalled to the mind
+of Two Arrows all the arguments he had ever heard as to the wisdom of
+keeping the peace with the pale-faces. When they reached the camp, after
+"changing the guard" at Garry's river-side post, it was easy to see that
+their entire force consisted of several times as many men of the same
+sort. Every man was on his feet, wide awake and waiting for orders. One
+squad of five stood with each man's hand upon the bridle of a saddled
+horse, ready to mount, just as the first squad must have been, when it
+heard the warning report of Garry's carbine. A company of United States
+cavalry, veteran Indian fighters, following a "hot trail," keeps itself
+wonderfully ready for action. It is not easy to take such men by
+surprise. Now, however, at the word of command, all was instantly quiet
+again. The actual meaning of the alarm was rapidly told from man to man,
+and several remarked:
+
+"Good for Garry! We'll catch 'em yet."
+
+All who had a right to go to sleep, did so as unconcernedly as if they
+had been in a hotel. On the whole, it looked as if something else than
+peace were on its way into the valley where One-eye was keeping watch
+for the smokers. The last man to lie down was the captain, and one of
+the wide-awake squad nodded at him and said to another,
+
+"If there was forty alarms 'fore sun-up, old Grover'd be the first man
+to turn out every time."
+
+"Not much reg'lation 'bout him."
+
+"But there's lots of fight."
+
+"He can get more hard work out of men and hosses, and he can do more
+himself, and he can sleep less, and say less about it all, than any
+other captain I ever served under."
+
+That, therefore, was the kind of soldiers from whom the Apaches were
+wisely trying to get away, and Garry's carbine had destroyed their
+prospect of learning how very near he and his might be. It looked very
+much as if two days more of hard riding would bring them into a sort of
+trap, with the mountains before and the cavalry behind. Still, even
+then, there would be the pass, if they knew where to find it. There
+also were One-eye and all of his men and Sile Parks and his party; and
+the wicked old mule, too, with his command, was in the valley somewhere.
+Only a few days earlier the entire sweep of forest and "open and
+mountain-side" had been unoccupied by anything more dangerous or more
+interesting than wild game and the wild animals that fed on it. It is
+very curious how suddenly immigrants will sometimes pour into a new
+country if there is a good trail pointing out the way.
+
+The spot chosen by Yellow Pine for the camp of the mining party was by a
+dancing little brook which came down from the mountain to the right of
+them, and the path by which they travelled that day had barely kept them
+outside of the rocky slopes. Some coyotes came prowling around, to yelp
+over the faint smell of roasted meat that floated out to them from the
+camp-fires. Once during the night the cry of a wandering cougar came
+wailing through the silence and was followed by that of a horned owl who
+had noiselessly flapped near enough to blink his great eyes at the
+blaze. For all that, it was the loneliest kind of a place, and the hours
+went by until sunrise without the smallest real disturbance or hint of
+perils to come.
+
+Judge Parks himself was on the watch in the first gray of dawn, and the
+camp was dim enough even after there were rosy tints upon the distant
+mountain summits. He stood gazing at these and leaning upon his rifle,
+when Yellow Pine walked out to take his customary survey of matters.
+
+"We're going to have a fine day, jedge."
+
+"Splendid weather. Pine, just think of all this magnificent country as
+it will be when it's settled. Farms, towns, villages, mines, railways,
+factories--"
+
+"There won't be any game, then, or any red Indians, either."
+
+"There isn't a finer country in all the world. The new time is coming,
+Pine."
+
+"Of course it is. Our mine's coming first thing. We'll get there 'fore
+sundown. Wish I knew what else was coming."
+
+"Afraid of anything?"
+
+"Got a curious feeling in my back. Always have it when there's something
+up. It's as much like the rheumatiz as it is like anything."
+
+"Guess that's what it is, then."
+
+"I dunno 'bout that. I've had all sorts of things happen when I had this
+'ere feeling onto me."
+
+"Exactly, Pine. I've had dinner happen to me a good many times just when
+I had a sort of feeling it was coming. Soon as I got right down hungry I
+knew it was a sure sign. I say, look at those boys."
+
+"Going a-fishing. I'd call it--Well, it's a good thing for 'em to do.
+They can't miss bringing in a good string. Sile, see here."
+
+"Halloo!"
+
+"Get back with some for breakfast if you can. We'll be right here till
+the critters have done feeding. Catch a heap."
+
+"All right," shouted Sile. "He says the water's full of 'em."
+
+"Of course it is."
+
+"Sile," said his father, "don't throw away your time on fly-fishing. Use
+bait, and pull 'em right in. They'll bite."
+
+"I'm going to spoon for 'em. Can't find any bait."
+
+"Never mind, jedge," said Pine. "I've seen trout in some of these
+mountain streams jump for a bare hook quick as it tetched the water.
+There's too many on 'em, and they get the hungriest kind."
+
+"They won't mind much what they jump at, that's sure. I must say I'd
+like some for breakfast, though."
+
+Yellow Pine and the judge had other matters on hand, and the latter had
+a short nap to take, after his "watch." The animals had to be cared for,
+moreover, before any mere human being had a right to be fed.
+
+The first noise that was made in camp brought Na-tee-kah and
+Ha-ha-pah-no out of their tent, comb and brush in hand. They both made
+sure of their ribbons and that all was in order before they had a word
+to say to anybody. It could not be denied that they were a very bright
+looking and highly ornamented pair, Ha-ha-pah-no being perhaps a little
+ahead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+WONDERFUL FISHING
+
+
+There had been a good deal of discussion of the fishing question between
+the two young friends, for Two Arrows knew nothing of the powers of a
+"spoon-hook." Sile had them of several sizes, and Two Arrows admitted to
+himself that anything so very bright and pretty must have special
+effectiveness. Any of those spoons was brilliant enough to have been
+worn in the hat of a great chief, but the doubt remaining was as to what
+the trout would think of them. The gaudy assortment of artificial flies
+Two Arrows quite turned up his nose at. The fish of the western
+mountains were not in the habit of biting at such things, and could not
+be taught to do so. As to the hooks, however, large and small, anybody
+could see their superiority over such as he was accustomed to using, and
+the lines were elegant. Sile provided him with a rod, and when he
+marched away with it he felt a strong desire to carry it to and through
+his own camp, that everybody he knew might see what an extraordinary
+thing he was doing. No Nez Percé boy that he had ever heard of had been
+able to go a-fishing with a joint-rod and a spoon-hook.
+
+They had but a mile or so to walk in order to reach the nearest bend of
+the little river, and they startled more than one gang of deer on the
+way. Sile had his rifle and Two Arrows had his bow, but the morning had
+been given up to fish, and they stuck to their original purpose in spite
+of all temptation. On the bank of the stream they paused for a moment
+and took a survey of the situation. The water was not more than fifty
+yards wide, and did not seem to be deep, but it ran with rippling
+swiftness.
+
+"That'll do," said Sile. "It's plenty strong enough to carry a spoon.
+You won't have to skitter it a bit."
+
+"Ugh! Heap fish," said Two Arrows, but he did not understand Sile's
+remark and wondered what was to come next. During all his life thus far
+he had never thought of the pale-faces as fishermen, or that they really
+knew anything valuable about such matters. The contents of Sile's box
+had staggered him, and now he looked on in silence while the "Red-head"
+(as Ha-ha-pah-no had named him) put his rod together, setting the reel
+firmly in its socket, and then deftly fitted on the spoon-hook with its
+fine wire "snell." Sile's father was an enthusiastic fisherman and had
+given his son more than a little good schooling. Up went the rod, and
+the line swing lightly back for a second, and then, with a perfect cast,
+the brilliant "spoon" flew over the water and alighted among the swift
+ripples. The current caught it and whirled it away, the polished silver
+glittering and dancing near the surface, but it was visible only for an
+instant. There came a rush and a plunge, and away out of the water
+sprang a splendid trout with Sile's hook fastened firmly in his too
+hasty jaw.
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted Sile. "Got him!"
+
+"Ugh! Good," said Two Arrows. "Break!"
+
+"No, he won't break any line. See!"
+
+Two Arrows did see a great deal in a very few moments. The tough rod
+bent, and Sile gave a little line at first; but the trout made an
+up-stream rush and was guided to the shore. He was lying on the grass,
+quietly enough, just after that. So was another and another, and now Two
+Arrows had mastered the idea and was at work with energy. It surprised
+Sile to see how perfectly his red friend could handle his new tools, but
+it was well that the rod was a stout one, for the reel and its uses were
+as yet an enigma. It was exciting sport, for there was hardly any
+waiting for bites whatever. The trout were on the lookout for their
+breakfasts, and nobody had ever before offered them such attractive
+little silvery fish as they now saw, every now and then struggling
+through the water, all ready to be seized upon.
+
+It was a great lesson to Two Arrows, and it promised a capital breakfast
+to the mining party.
+
+"Guess we've got enough," said Sile at last. "We'd better hurry back to
+camp."
+
+At that moment a strange and unexpected sound came to his ears from some
+point lower down the stream, and Two Arrows came near to dropping his
+rod into the water.
+
+"Ugh! Catch now!"
+
+"Yes, you've caught your fish, but what's that? It sounds for all the
+world like a mule braying."
+
+"Two Arrows know him. Heap bad mule. Nez Percé lose all pony. Find 'em
+now. Red-head come?"
+
+Sile looked with admiration upon the fiercely excited face of the young
+Nez Percé. The dark eyes fairly glittered with pleasure and expectation,
+and he was striving, with all the words and signs he was master of, to
+convey an idea of the loss his band had sustained, and now once more,
+and more sonorously, the "morning bugle" of a mule in command of
+something came ringing up the river.
+
+"I'll string the trout," said Sile, as he began to do so, "then I'll go
+with you. It'll be grand if we can really catch them."
+
+"Two Arrows catch 'em all, heap time. Get one, get all tribe."
+
+"Wish we were mounted. Better go to camp and get some horses."
+
+"Ugh! No wait. Find now."
+
+There was no such thing as resisting his eager urgency, and Sile
+himself began to get excited. The trout made two magnificent "strings,"
+but were pretty heavy to carry, and it was decided to hang them and the
+two rods upon the limb of a tree until a visit should have been paid to
+the owner of that bray. All this was quickly attended to, and then the
+two fishermen were instantly changed into pony-hunters.
+
+Not even his adventure with the grisly, or his timely success with the
+two bisons when his people were starving, had so aroused the ambition of
+Two Arrows. The future fortunes of his entire band seemed to him to
+depend once more upon his own individual good-conduct. Sile thought he
+had never seen so proud looking a human being.
+
+The speckled beauties from the river swung heavily from the high but
+bending branch as the two boys hurried away, but these were almost
+forgotten by both in the course of a few minutes. They did not have to
+follow far the windings of the stream before Two Arrows, who was
+somewhat in the advance, dodged behind a tree and beckoned eagerly to
+Sile:
+
+"Ugh! Look! Pony!"
+
+Just beyond him was a grassy glade glistening with morning dew, and
+scattered over it was the entire command of the wicked old mule, the
+wealth and the comfort together of the Nez Percé pony-riders. To have
+been seen by them prematurely would have been a pretty sure way of
+stampeding them again, and the occasion called for prudence and good
+management. Some of the animals still had their long hide lariats
+hanging and dragging from their necks and some had not, but Two Arrows
+noted one of the former, a very good-looking pony, feeding at no great
+distance from a clump of hazel and willows beyond him. He made Sile
+understand his purpose of getting into that cover, and then all that
+Sile had to do was to watch him. Down dropped the young Nez Percé, and
+from that moment there was little of him to be seen, except when his
+gayly ribboned head now and then showed itself, peering over the wet,
+luxuriant grass and weeds. Then a slight movement among the willows told
+of his safe arrival, and still the runaways were feeding quietly,
+unaware of the nearness of human beings or other enemies. Sile peered
+from behind his tree and watched the movements of the particular pony
+his friend had pointed out. He was a brisk sort of fellow, and he was
+working at his breakfast busily. Nearer and nearer he fed his way
+towards a projecting growth of the hazel-bushes and Sile perceived a
+promising shake in one of these. There was something more than a shake
+hidden by them, for in about one minute more a light, lithe, graceful
+human form sprang suddenly out. A quick grasp at the trailing lariat, a
+rapid twist of a loop of it around the animal's face, a buoyant leap,
+and Two Arrows was a mounted Indian once more. Every beast of the
+wicked old mule's startled command was familiar with the tones of the
+whoop of triumph which called them all away from their grass and their
+freedom. They had many a time been driven in from other pastures by that
+particular yell, and it seemed now as if each of them took a swift look
+around him and listened for the expected voice of One-eye. It should
+naturally have followed that whoop. After that it was as if they had
+only been waiting for somebody to come, and wished to say as much. Their
+commander put out his head and brayed lustily, and so did all the other
+mules, but the ponies took the matter more soberly. Whether or not they
+had already begun to discover warning signs of cougars, wolves, grislies
+and other insecurities of their situation, they actually felt better to
+be once more in the company of a human being whom they knew. Sile
+wondered greatly to see how readily the whole drove obeyed the shouts of
+Two Arrows, and permitted themselves to be gathered and driven. He
+refused the invitation given him to mount one of the ponies, for he had
+doubts of his success in managing it barebacked and with such a
+halter-bridle. He explained as well as he could that he preferred to
+carry the fish and the rods and the news to his own camp, leaving Two
+Arrows to handle his captives as best he could. That was just what Two
+Arrows wanted. He was almost afraid lest the pale-faces should send him
+some help and so take from him part of the glory of his fresh
+achievement. There was little danger of that, as Sile was soon to
+discover. He hurried back after his fish in a state of such excitement
+that he very nearly forgot that he was in a new country. He would have
+forgotten it more completely if it had not been for something he heard
+as he drew nearer the spot where he had left his speckled game.
+
+"What's that?" he suddenly exclaimed, stopping short and listening.
+"What's all that growling? I never heard a bear, but it might be one."
+
+So it might be, indeed, in a country where they were so plentiful, but
+it was not a grisly this time. It was only a common black bear, very
+fond of fish, and tremendously disgusted at the failure of his efforts
+to get hold of some which had plainly been caught and left expressly for
+him. Standing upon his hind-feet, and springing up as far as he was
+able, his paws just reached the end of the longest string of trout and
+set it a swinging. Two Arrows had wisely insisted upon bending down a
+branch and hanging the fish pretty high, Indian fashion, and Sile now
+saw the reason of it.
+
+"He'd bring 'em all down as it is if I should let him take his time to
+it. What shall I do now? Oh, but ain't I glad I brought along my
+rifle!"
+
+He was glad of it, very; but when he raised it in the direction of that
+bear the sight seemed to dance in all directions, and he could not get a
+good aim, short as was the distance.
+
+Sile had the "buck ague."
+
+Even old hunters sometimes find their nerves playing tricks on them. It
+would not do to miss a shot then and there, and Sile lowered his rifle.
+
+"I'll try a rest and see about this thing. I must hit that bear in the
+head the first time, sure." He stepped behind a tree and put his rifle
+through the crotch of a projecting branch. That tree had no shake in it;
+and the barrel grew steady. "He is getting up on his hind-feet again.
+Now for him."
+
+The bear poised himself, with uplifted head, and, just as he lifted his
+paw for another scratch at the fish, Sile pulled the trigger.
+
+The range was very short, the rest was a good one, the sight was quick
+but careful, and the bit of lead went straight to its intended place
+under the ear of that black bear. He would need no more fish from that
+time forth, and he pitched heavily forward upon the ground.
+
+"Wait a moment, Sile! Never run in on a b'ar till yer sure of him.
+Reckon he's dead, though. Stand where you are, my boy!"
+
+"Why, father! Yellow Pine! You here? I never expected to see you."
+
+"Well, my son," said the judge, "we thought we'd come over and see what
+luck you were having. Where's Two Arrows?"
+
+"We watched ye jest a moment," said Pine. "Allers take sight from a rest
+if you can get one. You did that thing fine. There's the making of a
+prime good shot in ye."
+
+"I shook all over at first," said Sile, walking a little nearer the
+bear.
+
+"Buck ager. I've had it. He won't come to. If he does it's no matter,
+now we've got here. I'll come back after breakfast with a hoss and fetch
+him in. Where's the redskin?"
+
+Sile rapidly explained the cause of his delay in getting back to camp;
+but what he did not know or explain was the fact that the Nez Percés had
+had no idea that their drove of lost ponies had wandered into that
+valley.
+
+"Glad they've got 'em," said Yellow Pine. "Every hoof of ourn'll be
+safer from this time on, treaty or no treaty, good Indians or bad."
+
+"Would they really steal from us, after all?" asked Sile, soberly.
+
+"Steal hosses? Well, now, that isn't jest the way it looks to them.
+They're brought up to it. All hoss-flesh is fair game to a plains
+redskin. The more they have of their own, the easier it is to get 'em to
+keep their hands off from them that you have and to make believe good.
+These 'ere Nez Percés ain't a bad lot. Hope we won't run afoul of any
+that's worse than they are, and more of 'em."
+
+Sile was proud of his fish, and tenfold prouder of his bear, but the
+proudest person in the mining-camp that morning was Na-tee-kah. Her
+wonderful brother had earned some more glory. The next proudest being
+was probably Ha-ha-pah-no, and she asked, several times in succession,
+of both herself and Na-tee-kah, and without any satisfactory answer,
+
+"What Big Tongue say, now? Tell how he caught pony?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+A FULL CORRAL
+
+
+Two arrows was a born horseman. About the earliest memory he had was of
+riding rather than walking. The pony he was now on was one which had
+carried him many a time. As soon as he had cut and trimmed a very long
+and serviceable tree-branch all the other ponies and the mules perfectly
+understood what it was for.
+
+He was in a serious hurry. It was the most important affair of his life.
+So far as he could see, the only ponies now missing from the drove were
+the ones which had not been stampeded, but had remained in camp to be
+eaten. All the rest had been rescued and kept in good order by the
+genius and generalship of the wicked old mule. Two Arrows could but wish
+that a dozen or so of the best dogs had been stampeded at the same time.
+He rode busily hither and thither, shouting vigorously and lashing his
+charges away from every tuft of grass they lingered over. He knew
+exactly where to find his people, and he meant to find them quickly. The
+distance was nearly the same that had been travelled the day before by
+the mining party, but the loaded wagons had taken more time upon it
+than loose ponies would, followed by an excited boy with a long "gad."
+
+The fact that he had eaten no breakfast was one which hardly occurred to
+Two Arrows, in his eager determination to get his runaways home in the
+shortest possible order. Once they were headed in the right direction
+there was but little difficulty in guiding them rightly, and now the old
+mule took his accustomed place in the advance. It was as if he had
+repented and was even willing to get some credit for leading his
+reformed command in the way they should go.
+
+The Nez Percé community had all eaten a good breakfast that morning;
+there had been no vegetables, to be sure, but not a soul had missed
+them. With plenty of fish and fresh meat they had all that red Indians
+expect to be provided with, and they asked for no more. Their kind of
+human life can be kept a-going upon a very narrow diet. The laziest
+brave in camp was well fed, but for all that there was a general air of
+dejection and despondency. Long Bear himself sat in front of his lodge,
+cross-legged and moody, all the forenoon: his children were away from
+him, on a visit to the pale-faces; his ponies were away upon another
+visit, he could not guess with whom; his dogs, with the solitary
+exception of One-eye, had all visited the camp-kettles. His only
+remaining consolation seemed to be his pipe, and he was rapidly and
+extravagantly using up all the tobacco he had obtained from Yellow Pine.
+The shadow of the mighty maple near him grew shorter until it had little
+more left to lose and could almost announce the arrival of midday. Just
+then there arose, at the edge of the woods, a long, ear-piercing howl,
+followed by such a volley of yelps and barking as can only be fired off
+by a very remarkable dog. One-eye was informing the camp that something
+great was drawing near, and was doing his best to make up for the
+absence of the other dogs.
+
+The Nez Percé warriors went for their weapons instinctively but somewhat
+listlessly, until they heard a tremendous whoop join in with the barking
+of One-eye and recognized the powerful voice of the Big Tongue. He could
+out-whoop any other brave he knew of, and he was now doing his best. He
+had been strolling out towards the open country when One-eye began, and
+had found and seized upon a sudden heap of unexpected glory.
+
+Away in advance of his command, farther and farther, had wisely trotted
+the long-legged, long-eared, long-absent wicked old mule. Not another
+quadruped was in sight when One-eye gave the alarm. The Big Tongue
+bounded forward as if he were charging upon a beaten enemy, and the mule
+did but whinny affectionately when he caught the remains of the lariat
+at the place where it had been gnawed asunder, and sprang triumphantly
+upon the back of the recaptured mule.
+
+Whoop followed whoop as the happy warrior rode his prize towards the
+camp, and the entire band, squaws and children included, poured out
+under the trees to rejoice that they now had a mule as well as a dog.
+Long Bear came among the rest. Ha-ha-pah-no was not there to make
+unpleasant remarks, but the old chief knew that mule very well and he
+knew that by no chance had he returned to his owners of his own free
+will. He would have remained more contentedly with a man who had found
+or stolen him. Long Bear was positive that he had not followed his
+masters lovingly across the mountains, and that he need not make any
+pretence of having done so. He could hardly have believed that the mule
+was there at all but that he could see him, with the Big Tongue sitting
+upon him to be admired.
+
+The old chief turned and looked keenly and wistfully across the grassy
+rolls, and so did several others of the wiser warriors. There was quite
+a rise of ground at a little distance and One-eye was making for it as
+fast as his legs could carry him. Suddenly, as if by a common impulse,
+all the woods rang with a full chorus of whooping. Over the crest of
+that green ridge came galloping pony after pony and mule after mule, in
+a confused rush, and then a shrill shout arose beyond, and they could
+shortly see Two Arrows, gayly ribboned, ornamented, mounted, dashing
+madly back and forth and lashing forward the rear-guard of that
+battalion.
+
+Long Bear folded his arms and stood erect and still, as if he were
+trying to hold himself in. His own boy, and therefore he himself, had
+done another mighty deed.
+
+"Ugh! Two Arrows! Young chief! Find pony all alone."
+
+The Big Tongue tried hard to look as if he had found the mule, but it
+did not seem to fit, somehow, and twice he opened his mouth widely and
+shut it again in silence; there was no whoop ready to come. Every other
+brave had a score or more quite ready, but Two Arrows grew silent as he
+came nearer and rode more sedately. There was almost an air of
+stateliness about him when at last he followed the trail of his
+important cavalcade in under the shadows of the forest.
+
+It was not becoming for him to volunteer, in boyish haste, an
+explanation of his utterly unlooked-for exploit. Even the gray-heads
+felt that he was entitled to a respectful and dignified reception, and
+Long Bear himself stepped forward and inquired, in due form, precisely
+how that wonderful rescue had been accomplished. Now that the question
+was asked of him, Two Arrows was willing enough to tell the entire
+story, and to point to all the animals as witnesses to the truth of it.
+As fast as he told it, the more or less distorted facts went swiftly
+round from lip to lip among the squaws and younger people. It was almost
+unlucky for the Big Tongue to remark, dignifiedly,
+
+"Boy find pony. Warrior ride him;" for a half-grown warrior near him
+added,
+
+"Boy _there_. Big Tongue _here_. Same way hunt buffalo."
+
+It sounded a little like Ha-ha-pah-no, and the Big Tongue was silenced.
+He and the rest now listened to the answers of Two Arrows as to his
+visit, and he gave a full account of the good treatment he had received.
+It looked as if honors had fairly been heaped upon him and Na-tee-kah,
+and, for their sakes, upon Ha-ha-pah-no. Some of the older squaws
+shortly picked up the annoying fact concerning the latter that she had
+learned how to make coffee, and that her hair was now brushed and combed
+and made shiny. They knew what combs were. She would probably wear one
+now. She would never again be the same woman in her own estimation, they
+were sure of that. She had always held her head high enough, for her
+husband was a renowned brave and her tongue was always in good order.
+
+The drove of ponies and mules was the centre of attraction, after Two
+Arrows had finished his recital, and every Nez Percé searched it
+eagerly for his own. It was decided to send off several braves at once,
+with some squaws and pack-ponies, to bring through the pass the lodges
+and other materials they had hidden near the camp of their starvation.
+Two Arrows ate his breakfast and dinner in one meal, and was then bidden
+to mount a pony at once and ride away after his pale-face friends, with
+the strongest assurances that the Nez Percés regarded them as so many
+brothers. Long Bear also sent a handsome cougar-skin to Sile, as a
+proper acknowledgment of the fact that he had been a looker-on at the
+rescue of the quadrupeds from the misguiding leadership of the bad old
+mule. Two Arrows rode gladly away upon his errand, and some of the
+braves set out at once after the "left baggage." All whom they left
+behind them had now abundant subject-matter for conversation and for
+unlimited "Ughs!" The entire future suddenly brightened up for that band
+of Nez Percés, and they were entirely confident of their ability to
+procure a new supply of dogs. As for One-eye, that sagacious brute
+wandered around the corral, from hoof to hoof, until he knew the facts
+of the case thoroughly. He would have followed Two Arrows, but for the
+stern refusal of Long Bear. He was needed at home all the more now that
+there would be additional watching and barking to be done. On the whole
+he was as well satisfied to have it so, for his accumulation of bone
+treasures was becoming an affair for any dog to think about seriously.
+
+Sile was not exactly a hero when he reached camp, but he was an
+uncommonly hungry boy. It seemed to him that he could eat as many trout
+as Ha-ha-pah-no could broil for him, and he certainly worked at it
+steadily for a long time. Every other human being in camp did the same,
+although some had already made a fair beginning upon venison cuts and
+coffee. All had room for some fresh trout, and all said they would be
+glad of a little bear-meat for a change. Sile was in the saddle promptly
+enough after breakfast, to go and see his bear brought in. He would not
+willingly have missed that, and was only afraid lest it should have been
+stolen in his absence, in spite of the care taken by Yellow Pine to
+throw bushes over it, and give any roving coyote an idea that a trap was
+there. Said Pine, in answer to a question,
+
+"Them critters is too cunnin' for their own good. One on 'em'd sit down
+in front of that there, and howl all day and all night before he'd make
+up his mind to scratch at the brush."
+
+"How'd he guess at a trap?"
+
+"Oh, they're laid on kind o' reg'lar, and he'd smell the b'ar too, and
+he'd know it was somethin' more than ordinary. There's jest one thing
+they ain't cunnin' enough for, and that's a rifle-bullet. They'd dodge
+that if they could see it a comin'."
+
+The bear was found all safe and was brought in and skinned, and Sile
+said to himself,
+
+"Now I've got something better than a deer to tell of when Two Arrows
+gets back again."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE GOLD MINE
+
+
+A proud girl was Na-tee-kah that bright September day, and she took an
+extraordinary amount of pains with her hair. So, for that matter, did
+Ha-ha-pah-no, and Sile could but discern that both treated him with much
+more respect than at first. He had been with Two Arrows at the recovery
+of the ponies, he had killed a buck and a bear, and was evidently able
+to use the weapons of grown-up white braves. He was therefore not a boy
+to be snubbed; and, if it had not been for his unfortunate light
+complexion, he was almost good-looking. At all events he was disposed to
+do his best to be polite, and they were willing to meet him as nearly
+half-way as was consistent with dignity and propriety. They were under
+the especial care of the judge himself, however, and Na-tee-kah derived
+a vast amount of comfort from an occasional look at his very fatherly
+and benevolent face. Her obvious respect for Yellow Pine was mingled
+with something like fear as yet, and she would not have a word to say to
+any of the miners. Horses were furnished to both of them when the camp
+broke up for the day's travelling, and no man in the party was more at
+home upon one, except that a side-saddle was an invention that they had
+never heard of and did not need.
+
+"We'll git to the mine afore night, jedge," said Yellow Pine, when they
+halted for their noon luncheon, and the further information he added
+stimulated all hands to push forward. Not one sign of peril or even of
+human presence, other than their own, did they encounter, and yet the
+other human beings of that region were hourly drawing nearer.
+
+The camp of the Apache marauders broke up at sunrise, with a
+considerable amount of discontented grumbling. A man familiar with their
+dialect, or with only a little of it, could easily have gathered that
+they were eager for news which did not come, and for scouts who did not
+return. Not all of them, to say the least, would ever again come into
+that or any other camp, news or no news. In the absence of any, it was
+plainly a due precaution to push forward even farther beyond the
+supposed pursuit of the men in blue.
+
+There was a good deal more than a mere supposition about that pursuit,
+for Captain Grover and his men were on the trail at as early an hour as
+was consistent with a proper care of their horses, and a hearty
+breakfast all around. They were a fine looking lot of men, bronzed and
+weather-beaten and soldierly. Their uniforms were not exactly in
+"parade" condition, but there was nothing slovenly about them, and their
+weapons were in excellent order. They had several "led-horses," to make
+good the places of any that might become over-wearied, and every animal
+in the troop showed signs of careful grooming. A captain, a lieutenant,
+and thirty men did not seem an overpowering force for a hundred and more
+of Apache warriors to run from, but neither of the two parties could
+have a correct knowledge of the strength of the other. Besides, the main
+object of an Indian raid is never a hard fight, but rather to pick up
+scalps and plunder and get away without serious loss. Red men are
+courageous enough, but they have a strong objection to being shot at or
+sabred, and know that it does not take a great many hard-won victories
+over cavalry, even if they should win them, to about wipe out the
+fighting strength of a tribe.
+
+As for Captain Grover, he had been ordered to follow and "strike" that
+band of Apaches, and compel them to return to their "reservation," and
+he had no other purpose in mind than to obey thoroughly.
+
+"I'll follow them," he remarked to the lieutenant, "as far as they
+choose to go. We've wiped out six of their scouts already."
+
+"Garry," said one of the men at the same moment, "reckon them 'Paches'll
+begin to think this 'ere's an unhealthy crowd to creep in on."
+
+"The more on 'em we can pick off," said Garry, "the fewer we'll have to
+fight at the close."
+
+"Sharp work when that comes, or I'm mistaken, but they can't take hoss
+plunder into the mountains."
+
+As they rode along so cheerily and confidently, it became plainer and
+plainer that those men had small doubt of their ability to deal with any
+ordinary band of red horse-thieves if they could meet them fairly. It
+would hardly have seemed so to an unprejudiced observer of the Apache
+cavalcade that morning. Every warrior was a perfect horseman, and was
+well mounted and well armed. There were lances instead of sabres, but
+the pistols and carbines, or rifles, were just as good as those carried
+by the cavalry. The red men were all trained and experienced soldiers,
+under capable leaders, and it looked as if all they had to do was to
+choose a good position and wait for Captain Grover and his men, and
+destroy them all. As it was, all they seemed to think of was to urge
+their drove of stolen quadrupeds forward. They could not make the best
+of time so encumbered, and when they again halted for the night, the men
+in blue were several miles nearer without one Apache knowing exactly
+where they were. The trail these had made told Captain Grover all he as
+yet needed to know, with the help of one used-up pony that the Indians
+had turned loose to shift for himself.
+
+"Beginning to break down, are they?" said the captain. "I'll strike them
+among the foothills of the ranges within three days."
+
+All that exciting chase was as yet hidden from the red and white men in
+the upper valley, and it was quite possible that they would never know
+anything about it. That depended, in fact, upon whether the Apaches
+should turn to the left or the right when they reached the "forks" of
+the little river.
+
+It was pretty late when Two Arrows again caught up with his pale-face
+friends, and his pony showed signs of very hard riding. If he had been a
+grown-up brave he could not possibly have had so warm a reception,
+except from Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no. These two considered him the
+tallest kind of a young chief already, but all the rest regarded him
+very much as Yellow Pine did, as "the likeliest young redskin he'd ever
+come across."
+
+"I believe he is," said Judge Parks, and Sile had added,
+
+"Father, what wouldn't he know pretty soon if he could learn to read and
+write? He understands everything he sees right away."
+
+"I'd like to try the experiment, Sile, but I don't believe he would ever
+take kindly to books. I'll talk about it some other time. There is
+something else on my mind just now."
+
+There was a good deal upon everybody's mind, and even Sile ceased to
+admire Long Bear's present when Yellow Pine rose in his stirrups and
+pointed forward, shouting.
+
+"There she is, jedge--right back in that there notch!"
+
+Away to the right of them the craggy mountain arose against the sky,
+facing the valley with an uncommonly precipitous wall. In this grim face
+of granite could be seen what looked like a mere indentation. When they
+came to it, however, they discovered that Yellow Pine's "notch" was much
+narrower at its mouth than beyond it, owing to some ancient overturn and
+"landslide" of great rocks and small, which almost shut it in. Beyond
+this barrier, the opening through which was a mere roadway, there were
+several acres of good grass and trees. There were springs of water also,
+and the whole place was a good one to camp in, so long as no more
+bowlders should break loose from the slopes above and come crashing down
+into it. It was plain that none had done so for a long time past, and
+the wagons were hauled fearlessly in. There was nobody with them but
+their drivers, for every other human being had galloped on after Yellow
+Pine and Judge Parks until the old miner drew rein in front of a great
+mass of shattered, ragged, dirty looking quartz rock. In front of this a
+deep hole had been dug by somebody, and near it were traces of old
+camp-fires, bones of deer and buffalo, some rusty tin cans, and a
+worn-out pickaxe.
+
+"That's the lode, jedge. It's all I ever told ye it was. Safest place in
+the world, too, now the 'Paches are gethered onto their reservation. We
+can go right to work to-morrow mornin'."
+
+Judge Parks was at that moment examining some bits of quartz he had
+picked up. He took from his pocket a magnifying-glass and closely
+inspected stone after stone.
+
+"It looks like it, Pine. I haven't a doubt of the value of that vein.
+Look at that, Sile."
+
+Sile looked with a face more deeply flushed than even his father's.
+
+"Why, it's exactly like Yellow Pine's old specimens, so far as I can
+see; no more gold in these than in them."
+
+"That's just the point, Sile. He brought me fair specimens. There isn't
+any humbug or delusion about it. It's all right, Pine, so far as I can
+see. As for safety, the mouth of this notch could be made a perfect fort
+of, if we had to quit mining and go to fighting."
+
+"Guess we won't ever have to do that. Game's plenty, and so is fish, and
+we won't have to use up our provisions. Chance for you, Sile. You can
+keep the camp-fires going. Fetch in some fish, first thing in the
+morning, and then go for all the fresh meat there is. What we don't eat
+we can cure and put away."
+
+"I'll do the hunting!" shouted Sile. "What are the men all chopping
+for? There's plenty of dry dead wood."
+
+"I'd call it!" exclaimed Yellow Pine. "If they ain't struck with the
+mine-fever now. Jest look at 'em, jedge."
+
+"Pine," shouted one of the men from a little distance, "this 'ere shelf
+by the spring's the spot you marked for the shelter, isn't it?"
+
+"All right, boys," he responded. "Thirty feet by twelve, and an ell for
+cooking and an ell for stowage."
+
+"Nine feet high to the front, and slope to seven and a half, and lay on
+the mud as you go?"
+
+"That's it. Pitch in, boys."
+
+"I declare," said the judge; "they haven't eaten a mouthful and they've
+begun building."
+
+"They're old hands, and the sight of that show of pay-rock has kind o'
+stirred 'em up. It's all correct, though, jedge. We can look for storms
+every now and then, and the shelter won't be up any too soon if one of
+them busters should happen to be on its way."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A NEW SETTLEMENT
+
+
+There is nothing else like enthusiasm. That band of bearded miners went
+into their work like a crowd of boys building a snow fort. Ha-ha-pah-no
+and Na-tee-kah took full possession of the camp-fires and cooked for
+dear life. Judge Parks and Yellow Pine finished their inspection of the
+hole in the rock and of the ore which had been dug out of it, and then
+they went to help Sile and Two Arrows care for the horses and mules.
+
+"We won't unpack much till the house is up," said the judge.
+
+"You're satisfied with the outcrop, are ye?" asked Pine, a little
+proudly.
+
+"It's all you said it was, and that is all I could ask for. We can run a
+tunnel right in now, so we can work straight along, under cover, in bad
+weather."
+
+"That's the thing to do. I believe it will pay for itself from the very
+start."
+
+"If it does," said the judge, "it will be an uncommonly good mine for a
+gold-mine. Not one in ten but what empties the pocket of its first
+owner."
+
+"This one won't, then. It's as good a property as there is, and we can
+cover all the ledge with claims and get a good title to 'em. It's fresh
+ground, and no kind of interference--"
+
+"Unless the Apaches interfere."
+
+"They don't often come east so far as this, 'specially now that most of
+'em have been cornered. Mining in these parts isn't the risky kind of
+business it used to be. Must say, though, that I felt kind o' streaked
+sometimes, last year, when I was a prospectin'."
+
+"There was risk in it, all alone; but nine rifles and a good breastwork
+will make a tremendous difference."
+
+"They will that, and there's no sech thing as takin' us in the rear.
+They can't climb over that ridge, nor that one."
+
+It was later than usual when anybody lay down that evening. Two Arrows
+and his sister had heard of mines before, but they had never seen one,
+and the whole matter was a great curiosity.
+
+These uncommonly well-behaved pale-faces meant to dig a hole into the
+side of that mountain and get gold out of it, and they were going to
+build a stone "lodge" and stay there. Sile explained to them, as well as
+he could, a purpose he had formed of making a great farm in that valley,
+and raising all sorts of things to feed the miners, and of having a town
+there, with schools and churches for the Indians, and a public library
+and a saw-mill and a grist-mill and a blacksmith-shop and a hotel. The
+main idea obtained by Two Arrows was that in a little while the valley
+would be full of horses of the best kinds. Na-tee-kah went beyond that
+and got a picture into her mind of a big stone lodge, where a trader
+would live and have for sale a wonderful heap of all such things as the
+white squaws dressed themselves up with. She went to sleep at last, with
+her black eyes half dazzled by a vision of bright colors and
+glitterings, and had a dream that the trader had come and was ready to
+trade almost anything for the skin of a grisly bear. As for Two Arrows,
+not all that could be said about mines and farms could drive from him
+one grand ambition, that had taken deep root as he studied the many
+possessions of those pale-faces. Somehow or other, he meant to obtain a
+rifle. His father had a good one, and so had each of the acknowledged
+warriors of his band, but all the boys were as yet forced to put up with
+bows and arrows. Some of the braves even carried revolvers, and the
+hunting had been so poor that they were well supplied with ammunition.
+Two Arrows had learned from Sile that there were extra rifles and
+pistols, and no end of cartridges, in those wagons, but everybody knew
+that all that sort of thing had to be paid for, and Two Arrows lay awake
+a long time, feverishly wondering what he could find among those
+mountains to buy a rifle with, and a revolver and some ammunition. He
+felt that he should be a mere boy, after all, and not a full-grown
+brave, until he could exchange his bow and arrows for weapons which
+would kill a bear at long range. He wished never to have to wait for
+another on the top of any rock. It was the only point in which he could
+see that Sile had any real advantage over him to balance the humiliation
+of being a pale-face instead of the son of a Nez Percé chief. He was
+compelled to admit one more in the morning, for he had forgotten the
+fishing-rods and hooks and lines, and Sile was up before it was light,
+ready to begin his duty of keeping the camp supplied with provisions.
+
+"We won't walk this time," he said, in a very business-like way. "We'll
+just ride across to the river and catch enough for breakfast and hurry
+back. None of the men can be spared from their work."
+
+The sun arose very grandly over the magnificent mountain ranges, but he
+showed them all that wonderful scenery in vain. Sile was fishing for
+provisions for his father's men, and Two Arrows thought of rifles and
+pistols every time he pulled in a trout. He did not speak of the weight
+upon his mind as yet, but he was gradually forming a purpose of doing so
+at the earliest opportunity. It was almost like going to an open market
+for fish, except that there was nothing to pay for them. As fast as a
+line could be thrown, and its little silvery trap set a whirling, the
+hook was seized by some trout or other, large or small. Some of them
+were so heavy as to test the toughness of the upper joints of the rods,
+and now Two Arrows made a discovery. He had watched Sile work his reel
+until he had caught the secret of it, and could let a strong fish run a
+little before he drew him in. It was an idea that suited him exactly,
+and it made the fun more exciting.
+
+"I say," exclaimed Sile, before a great while, "they're awful eaters,
+but they can't use up all we've got now. Let's just string 'em, and ride
+back to camp."
+
+The movements of his hands, along with his words, explained his meaning,
+and Two Arrows pulled in his last fish with an "Ugh! good," for answer.
+He was doing one thing more rapidly than anybody had an idea of. He was
+a born "linguist," as many Indians are, and he was gathering words of
+English at a great rate. He was not sure he could yet utter correctly
+quite a number that he fully understood on hearing them, and his pride
+forbade him to make blunders. His trouble was with his tongue and not
+with his ears, as many an older fellow has found when he undertook to
+make a speech before critical people.
+
+The camp was all astir when they rode in, and the coffee-pot was already
+upon the fire.
+
+"That's the checker, my boy," said Yellow Pine, when he saw the fish.
+"We sha'n't do any starving. Let your horse feed a while, and then you
+and he go for some fresh meat. Look at _them!"_
+
+There was a great grin upon his face as he pointed at Judge Parks and
+the miners. The judge had taken up a heavy hammer and was busily
+breaking masses of quartz to examine their quality, and the men had
+again gone at their building.
+
+"Nary one of 'em's eaten a mouthful," said Pine, just as a chopper
+rested from his work to shout,
+
+"We'll have enough shingles rived for the roof by the time them fellers
+gits their wall up;" and another said,
+
+"Pine, that there clay-bank by the spring's the very best kind. It's
+most as good as mortar."
+
+"'Tis if you temper it well," said Pine. "Call 'em to breakfast.
+There'll be fish br'iled and ready in no time."
+
+Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah each had a frying-pan, and the fish were put
+in as fast as they were cleaned, but some of the men could not wait for
+that. They insisted upon cleaning and cooking for themselves, for, as
+Jonas remarked,
+
+"We can't git at the mine till the shelter's done and the waggins are
+unpacked. We'll have it up in short order."
+
+As soon as he had finished his coffee and trout and "army bread," Sile
+went to take a look at what they were doing, and it made him open his
+eyes. The ground they had chosen, near a fine spring of water, was
+nearly level. They had marked out the lines of the walls they meant to
+build, and then along those lines they had dug a trench about a foot
+deep and two feet wide. No cellar was called for as yet, and the
+mason-work began at once. There was plenty of broken stone to be had,
+and it was rolled or carried with busy eagerness to the men who were
+laying the wall. One man at the clay-bank toiled zealously at the
+important task of mixing and tempering it, while another came and went
+with pailfuls that were used up as fast as he could bring them. The
+stones were laid with their smooth faces inward, and there was not a
+minute wasted in trimming anything for the sake of appearances. Sile
+could hardly believe that so much could have been done is so short a
+time, and he was again astonished when the men returned from breakfast.
+The wall grew at a tremendous rate. He went from that work to the place
+where the choppers were swinging their axes. A tall pine-tree, four feet
+in diameter at the base, was down shortly after the men went at it the
+previous evening, and now two sturdy fellows were making the chips fly
+as if they were chopping for a wager. They were evidently cutting the
+huge trunk into lengths of about three feet, and Sile was studying the
+matter when Two Arrows touched him on the elbow and pointed at the
+choppers.
+
+"Ugh! What for?"
+
+"Wait. Show him by-and-by," said Sile. "Make shingles to cover house."
+
+"Ugh! Big lodge. Heap hard. No fall down. Top?"
+
+"Yes. Make cover. Keep out rain."
+
+"Ugh! Pale-face do a heap. Go away and leave him all," said Two Arrows.
+
+It was the longest sentence he had yet attempted in English, and Sile
+looked at him with some surprise, but he should have remembered that Two
+Arrows had made a beginning long before that, and was but adding to it.
+At all events, he was correct in his conclusion that such a lodge could
+not be carried away, as could those for which Long Bear had sent his
+braves and squaws through the pass. It was perfectly certain that these
+would not loiter anywhere, but would go straight on their errand and
+return, and then the village would once more be under as good a shelter
+as it knew anything about or cared for.
+
+All that day the axes fell, the wall grew fast, and Judge Parks and
+Yellow Pine went on with their examinations and their other preparations
+for "opening the mine;" and all day long some other things went on
+without their knowing it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+DANGER
+
+
+The Apaches, in their encampment away down the river, cooked fish for
+breakfast at about the same hour that the miners did, but their trout
+had not been caught anything like so rapidly. It had required the work
+of several men, up and down the bank, for hours of the previous evening
+and for all the time since daylight, with their imperfect tackle, to get
+in enough for such a war-party. Nor had they cleaned or cooked so
+perfectly, and the fish had been eaten without pepper or salt. There was
+not a plate or a fork in the band, and there was not even a wish for
+coffee.
+
+It was a hasty meal, greedily devoured, and then the marauders were once
+more in the saddle, or riding barebacked, as the case might be. All the
+while that the miners were so enthusiastically raising their stone lodge
+a peril they hardly thought of was pushing nearer and nearer. They knew
+well enough that they were in an Indian country, but were well assured
+that as yet no hostile red men could be aware of their arrival. It was
+also pretty sure that every stroke of work they did added to their
+security, for neither arrow nor bullet will go through a wall of quartz
+and granite two feet in thickness. Judge Parks had ideas of his own as
+to the future protection of the "notch," but the time had not yet come
+to say anything about them.
+
+It was not many hours after the Apaches got in motion before they came
+to the forks of the stream, and here they halted for a general
+consultation. They already had well-mounted scouts ahead in both
+directions, and neither side had yet sent in any suggestion of danger
+discovered. They were evidently familiarly acquainted with the whole
+region, and there were arguments in favor of both lines of advance, but
+a gray-headed old warrior at last settled the question. He had been
+sitting quietly and listening to what others said until his turn seemed
+to come, but now he arose, and all seemed willing to listen. Pointing
+with his long, naked arm up the right fork of the river, he said, in his
+own harsh, gutteral tongue,
+
+"Mountains. When blue-coats come, lose horses. Caught in big trap."
+
+Turning and pointing up the other fork, he said,
+
+"Morning. Hole in mountains. Blue-coats come. Go through hole. Get away.
+Come back some day, when blue-coats go home sick. Ugh!"
+
+It was not a long speech, and it could hardly be described as "eloquent"
+but all the wiser and more influential braves said "Ugh!" and the road
+to the left was decided upon without any more discussion. That also
+decided in advance the course to be followed by Captain Grover and his
+cavalry, when they in their turn should reach the same point. Hour by
+hour they were slowly gaining upon the dangerous horse-thieves they were
+pursuing, and in due time they would surely learn whether or not they
+had a right to rejoice upon catching up with them. They were acting as
+the police and constables of a very disorderly community.
+
+As for Long Bear and his Nez Percés, they had a very good reason for
+lazily hunting and fishing around their present camp until the return of
+the party which had gone for the hidden lodges, and so forth. Very few
+Indians need anything better than an excuse for not doing anything.
+
+Two Arrows was not one of those Indians. Na-tee-kah continually called
+his attention to something new which she had discovered in the ways or
+in the possessions of those pale-faces. She was greatly interested in a
+curious wire "broiler." It opened, and a fish or a steak was put in, and
+it shut up and was put upon the coals, and when the cooking was
+finished, the long handles enabled you to take it off and not burn your
+fingers. There were twenty other things as wonderful as the broiler; and
+the judge had shown her how to wash her hands with soap, and had given
+her a pair of ear-rings and a silver buckle for her new blanket. She
+hardly knew what would come next, but she entirely sympathized with her
+brother in his own dream when he told her what it was.
+
+"Ask pale-face chief," she said.
+
+"Ugh! Laugh. Bow and arrows good enough for boy."
+
+He said it almost bitterly, and Na-tee-kah stamped on the ground sharply
+as she responded,
+
+"Two Arrows is a young chief. Big brave. Not a boy any more. Kill
+grisly. Kill cougar and big-horn. Bring back pony. Great chief in a
+little while. Give him rifle."
+
+Two Arrows had a good enough opinion of himself, but he perfectly
+understood the easy good-nature with which he was treated by Yellow Pine
+and the rest. They regarded Sile as one bright boy and him as another,
+and had no idea of wasting costly rifles and such things upon him. He
+grew almost sullen over it, and was glad to get away from the camp when
+Sile came and asked him to go on a hunt with him.
+
+This time there was a little pride as well as good-sense in his positive
+refusal to borrow a rifle. He was determined to shoot with his own
+weapons or none, and he rode away with no better ones than had been used
+by his tribe before they had ever heard of white men, and long before
+gunpowder had been invented. They were pretty good weapons yet, but
+there was one thing Two Arrows did not dream of. That was that it was
+not such a great number of years since the ancestors of these very
+pale-faces had gone to war and to hunt with bows and arrows vastly
+better than any ever carried by any red Indian in the world. The English
+race were bowmen once, just as they are riflemen now, shooting closer to
+the bull's-eye than any other.
+
+Two Arrows felt that there was a sort of fever upon him. It made him hot
+and restless, and his eyes wandered searchingly in all directions,
+longing for an opportunity to do something which would bring him nearer
+to the prizes he coveted. Sile also was watching keenly the tops and
+branches of every clump of bushes they came to, but it almost seemed as
+if the game had suddenly migrated. It was natural that none should
+linger near the smoke and smell of camp-fires and cookery, but it was
+queer that the two young hunters should canter quietly on for mile after
+mile, and not so much as get a shot at a deer.
+
+"We won't go back without something," said Sile. "I told father so. I
+mean to go right along. We can camp in the woods by ourselves if we
+don't kill anything early enough to get back to-night."
+
+He had some trouble in making his meaning clear to Two Arrows, and the
+ambitious young Nez Percé was in precisely the frame of mind to agree
+with him. They even rode a little faster, and were hardly aware of the
+distance they had travelled. Sile was beginning to grow nervous about
+his reputation as a hunter and to remember that the camp had only a
+three days' supply of fresh meat, in spite of the fish. He believed that
+he had seen everything there was to be seen, but he was mistaken.
+Suddenly Two Arrows uttered a loud, astonished "Ugh!" sprang from his
+pony, and beckoned Sile to do the same, leading him hurriedly towards
+the nearest bushes.
+
+Sile imitated his friend, without any idea of a reason for it, until Two
+Arrows took him by the arm and pointed away to the right towards the
+mountain range. They were on the crest of a high roll of ground, and
+could see for miles in some directions, except as the view was cut off
+by patches and strips of forest.
+
+"Look! 'Pache!"
+
+All that at first appeared to Sile's eyes were some moving black spots;
+but now he was able to show Two Arrows another of the advantages of a
+civilized man over a savage. Slung from his left shoulder was a small
+leathern case, and Two Arrows watched him closely while he opened it,
+took out something silver-mounted and handsome and put it to his eyes.
+Such things had been much discussed in his hearing, and he knew it was
+the "long eye of the pale-faces;" but he had no faith in it until Sile
+made him try it.
+
+"There they are; six of 'em," said Sile. "Then look away down yonder and
+you'll see some more."
+
+"No see us," said Two Arrows. "Come! Heap bad."
+
+So it was, for the dreaded strangers were between them and the
+mountains. For all they knew, they might have ridden past others unseen,
+and these might intercept their return. Sile was only a white boy, and
+in an instant he understood that the young chief was the "captain" of
+their squad of two.
+
+Two Arrows seemed to have the same notion instinctively, for anybody
+could read the look of blank uncertainty upon Sile's face. His binocular
+spy-glass could help him see farther and more accurately than the best
+pair of Indian eyes in the world, but it could not tell him what to do
+next.
+
+"Come!" said Two Arrows, as he led his pony back down the slope and
+towards the forest that skirted the river. This was less than half a
+mile away, but the horses were not mounted until both were well under
+cover of it. It struck Sile that they might safely ride homeward along
+the stream, but Nez Percé training and caution forbade any such risk as
+that. Even the operation of reaching the bank might be full of peril,
+for nobody could guess at what moment they might stumble upon Apache
+warriors, and no others were at all likely to be there. It was most
+unlikely, however, that their enemies were advancing upon both sides of
+the water, and as soon as Two Arrows reached it he rode in. It was a
+wide and therefore shallow place, easily forded, and Sile breathed more
+freely as soon as he was under the shade of the woods beyond. His guide
+and captain pushed right on until they were out in a comparatively open
+reach of country, and then he turned to Sile, his whole face gleaming
+with uncontrollable excitement, and exclaimed,
+
+"Ugh! Ride now. Kill hoss. Save pale-face. Save Nez Percé. Get there
+before Apache. All scalp gone if 'Pache come first."
+
+He suppressed a whoop, but the next bound of his pony explained his
+meaning, and Sile galloped, stride by stride, with him. It was a race
+for life and for the lives of many others; for Two Arrows had briefly
+read that problem when he said to Sile, as he handed him back his glass,
+
+"No squaw. Braves on war-path. No hunt. Kill. Take scalp."
+
+Both were well mounted, and Sile rode well, although by no means so
+completely at home on horseback as was his red friend. His rifle, too,
+was more tiresome to carry than was a light lance, and the bow and
+arrows were now tightly "slung," and required no handling. It would not
+do to wear out their horses in one rush, but they kept on at the highest
+speed at all consistent with a long ride. It was much faster, at all
+events, than the Apaches were likely to travel, unless something new
+should stir them up. By keeping well away from the stream, they were not
+compelled to follow its windings, and could ride more nearly in a
+straight line, only turning out for clumps of trees and similar
+obstructions and paying no attention to game, although they now saw gang
+after gang of deer and a respectable party of bisons.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+SILE'S VICTORY
+
+
+There had been no anxiety at the mine on account of the absent hunters.
+Judge Parks and Yellow Pine had their hands very full of an inspection
+of the cargoes of the two wagons. The men toiled vigorously at the stone
+wall and at the shingle riving. Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah were as busy
+as bees over the lengthening list of marvels put before their eyes. It
+seemed to Na-tee-kah as if Judge Parks must be a kind of magician, or
+else that he had a whole lodge full of "medicine-men" of a rare breed at
+home, who could conjure up for him almost anything he might chose to
+call for. It was no use to try to understand such things as he and
+Yellow Pine were examining. They belonged to the great mystery of
+pale-face life, and a Nez Percé girl could not be expected to guess very
+nearly at their uses. She could comb her hair more carefully, however,
+and discover a new way of doing it up, and she did not know how closely
+she was imitating many pale-face young ladies of about her age, not to
+speak of older ones.
+
+Noon came and went, and there were no signs of returning hunters or of
+game of any sort, but there was no danger of famine in that camp for
+days and days to come.
+
+Judge Parks would hardly have unpacked mining-tools and "fixings," as
+Pine called them, so composedly if he could have known what was going
+forward farther down the valley and on the other side of the little
+river.
+
+On, on rode Two Arrows and his companion, and it almost seemed as if
+both were growing older. It was no sort of boy-play to ride like that,
+with such tremendous consequences depending upon them. Sile's merry face
+put on a tremendously sober and earnest expression, while Two Arrows
+looked as if he were already a chief in command of a war-party. So he
+was, only that the party was a very small one.
+
+Mile after mile went by, and the horses held out capitally; but at last
+Two Arrows slackened his gait, seemed to make a silent calculation, and
+halted.
+
+"Pale-face camp there," he said, emphatically, pointing across towards
+the mountain range at their left. "Red-head cross water. Tell his
+people. Two Arrows ride. Tell Nez Percé. Red-head go straight, find
+camp. Ugh!"
+
+"I can find it," said Sile. "I was thinking we'd gone up river about far
+enough. We must have got away ahead of the Apaches. Hope I sha'n't meet
+any."
+
+"Shoot quick," said Two Arrows. "Kill. Take 'calp. Be great brave. Two
+Arrows kill grisly. Kill 'Pache some day. How!"
+
+He held out his hand, and Sile shook it hard in token of good-bye, and
+the two boys separated, each to carry his own tidings and face his own
+dangers. Two Arrows rode on in a straight line up the valley, and Sile
+wheeled towards the line of forest which bordered the river. It struck
+him that he was yet a little below the precise neighborhood of the mine,
+and he was correct, but as yet it was all guess-work. At all events, he
+was sure that his remaining ride could not be a long one; it could not
+fail to be intensely exciting. Again he saw plenty of game, and he was
+strangely tempted to try a shot at a deer until the idea came to him,
+
+"I can't say what ears might hear the report of my rifle."
+
+Deer did not seem to be of any account after that idea took form, and he
+galloped on. In a few minutes more his horse's feet were in the water,
+and he was almost immediately aware that he had not chosen a good ford.
+It grew deep too fast, and he had to ride out again.
+
+"I won't go into another pool," he said to himself. "I'll hunt for a
+wide place where it ripples well."
+
+He had not the experience and the quick eyes of Two Arrows, but he was
+learning fast, and it was easy to find a better crossing. Once over, he
+felt that the forest was itself a sort of protection, and there came a
+great thrill all over him at the thought of riding out from under it.
+What if the Apaches should be already there, and what if they had found
+the camp and destroyed it?
+
+"They haven't done that," said Sile, "unless they managed to take it by
+surprise. Guess they couldn't do that in broad daylight. Our men are all
+old hands, and Yellow Pine keeps his eyes about him. I'll get in a good
+while before dark--that is, if I make out to get in. I wish there was
+good cover all the way."
+
+He drew rein for a moment under the last line of trees, and he looked
+earnestly in all directions, but even his spy-glass could not reveal to
+him a sign of danger. He had never seen anything more absolutely quiet
+and peaceful than was that stretch of open valley, with its grass and
+its bushes, and its clusters of grand old trees. It encouraged him a
+good deal to see a buck and two does feeding within a quarter of a mile
+of him, and he at once rode watchfully onward. His horse was beginning
+to show signs of hard riding, and he noted it regretfully. There might
+yet be a race to run, for all he knew.
+
+There was to be something very different from a race, and the notice of
+it came to him very suddenly. Just as he rode out through a patch of
+willows in a long hollow, walking his horse because of their being in
+his way a little, his heart seemed to stop beating and stand still.
+Then it beat again, and like a trip-hammer, for a moment. The bridle
+fell from his hand, and he made ready his rifle as if by an instinctive
+movement.
+
+Right before him and hardly a hundred yards away, on the rising ground,
+sat an Indian brave, in his war-paint, upon a very fine looking horse,
+and Sile was sure at a glance that he could not be one of his Nez Percé
+friends. They had no such horses as that among all that he and Two
+Arrows had found for them. The warrior was looking in the opposite
+direction at the instant, but he was also wheeling his horse, and in a
+second or so more he caught sight of Sile. He had a lance, but it was
+slung behind him, and in his hands was as good a repeating-rifle as
+Sile's own, and he raised it like a flash.
+
+It was as if he lifted two, for Sile's rifle also came up with precisely
+the same quick, ready-handed motion.
+
+It was an awful moment for Sile. He had never before done as much real
+thinking in one hour as he did between his first glimpse of that redskin
+and the rising of the dark, threatening line of that rifle-barrel.
+
+He had thought of the men at the mine, and of their need of warning, and
+therefore of the necessity that he should protect himself and get to
+them alive. He had thought of his father and his mother, and of some
+other people, and he had also thought what a dreadful thing it was to
+shoot straight at a man, and perhaps to kill him. He had just said to
+himself,
+
+"I might just kill his horse, and then I could get away from him."
+
+At that very instant the two rifles came to a level, whether he would or
+not. He felt no symptoms of "buck ague" this time, for every nerve and
+muscle of his body was stiffening, while his tired horse stood as still
+as a stone. That was where he had a priceless advantage. The spirited
+animal ridden by his enemy was a trifle restive for some reason, and
+caused a shade of delay that was just enough to give Sile his only
+remaining chance.
+
+"If I hit his horse in the head," he was thinking as he pulled the
+trigger: but that would have been close shooting at a hundred yards, and
+just beyond the head of the horse was the naked breast of the warrior.
+
+There were two reports close together, and Sile felt something prick him
+sharply on the left arm near the shoulder. At the same moment he saw the
+red man reel to and fro upon his horse, and then pitch off head foremost
+into the grass.
+
+"Oh, dear me, I've shot him!" he exclaimed, and his first impulse was to
+ride away as fast as he could.
+
+Then came a suggestion that the brave might be only wounded, and that it
+was his duty to go and see if he could do anything for him. With that,
+too, there came a great gush of curiosity and a fierce and feverish
+sense of triumph. He had fought a duel on horseback with an Indian
+warrior, with rifles, and there were no other white boys who could say
+that they had done that. He sat still upon his horse for a moment, and
+his breath came and went very quickly, and then he somewhat cautiously
+rode forward. The Indian's horse had bounded away for a little distance
+when his master fell, but was now standing and looking at him, as if in
+doubt as to what he ought to do next. Not another human being of any
+kind was to be seen, but Sile looked around him anxiously enough to make
+sure that he was alone. Not one sound disturbed the peaceful silence of
+the valley after those two rifles had spoken.
+
+All irresolution passed out of Sile's mind as he rode forward, for he
+felt that he had behaved rightly, and had done nothing for which he
+could blame himself. He watched the fallen man narrowly as he drew near
+him, but there was no motion or any other sign of life.
+
+"I must have killed him outright!" He sprang from his horse and bent
+over the prostrate form, but he did not have to look more than once.
+"That hole--that's where the bullet went in. It must have gone right
+through his heart. Well, he would have killed me if I had not killed
+him. I would not have hurt him if I could have helped it."
+
+It seemed to Sile a matter of course that he should pick up the red
+warrior's rifle, unbuckle and take off the bead-worked belt that carried
+his knife and revolver, take his lance, catch his horse, and then ride
+onward, carrying with him all as "spoils of war." He did it coolly and
+steadily but rapidly, and without any idea how very fast he was growing.
+He was learning lessons in a great school, but any wise old man could
+have told him that no two boys learn the same lessons anywhere. A good
+deal more depends upon the boy himself than upon the school or the
+teacher.
+
+That tall, brawny Apache warrior had been a distinguished brave, and he
+had been sent upon a scouting trip away in advance of the rest merely as
+a customary precaution. There had been no expectation that he would
+discover anything remarkable. In meeting a solitary pale-face, he had
+undertaken to kill him very much as a matter of course, for he was just
+then at war with all white men. Sile had made the better shot of the
+two, and that was about all that could be said. As for Sile, he was in a
+greater hurry than ever to get to the mine, and again and again he
+wondered whether Two Arrows had met any Apaches.
+
+"I do hope he hasn't," he said to himself, "with only a bow and arrows.
+I wish he had a rifle."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A MIDNIGHT MARCH
+
+
+When Two Arrows parted from Sile he was well aware that the errand of
+the Red-head had more real peril in it than his own, and he would not
+have had him armed with only a bow and arrows; but oh how he did long
+for a repeating-rifle for his own use! He had been hungry enough for one
+before; but now that there was a promise of war it seemed to him that
+the only thing in the world worth the having, except a horse, was one of
+the white man's terrible weapons. With such as he now had he had killed
+wild animals and won for himself a name and fame, but in spite of that
+he almost despised them. What could he do now, for instance, against an
+Apache well armed, as all that warlike tribe were said to be?
+
+He also had a prejudiced idea that if Sile were to meet one of them he
+would be in a manner helpless--a mere ignorant, green, untaught,
+unready, white boy, not the son of a Nez Percé chief, nor skilled in the
+wiles and ways of Western warfare. As for himself, he felt quite
+confident that all he needed wherewith to meet and overcome anything or
+anybody was just such a perfect "repeater" as Sile carried. He somehow
+overlooked the fact that he had never practised much with one, while
+Sile belonged to the race that made them. He had been used to a bow and
+arrows from the time he had learned to ride, and almost from the time he
+had learned to walk; so that, after all, they might be his safest
+weapon.
+
+He rode on steadily for a few miles, and then he crossed the stream and
+proceeded under cover of the trees. It was time to travel more slowly,
+for his pony had no gallop left in him. The approach to the camp even
+was made with some caution, but there was no need of any.
+
+The sun was going down, and the fires were blazing brightly. The hunters
+had done well that day, and there were preparations for much eating. Two
+Arrows knew at a glance that all things were working prosperously, and
+that his people had no suspicion of any danger near them. The vast
+importance of his errand filled him very full, and he halted under the
+shadow of the trees.
+
+Warriors were stalking around here and there, or were lazily stretched
+upon the ground. Squaws were busily dressing skins, or cooking or
+chattering with one another, and children were hungrily watching the
+cookery and wishing that their turns to be fed might come pretty soon.
+Old One-eye was at work upon a well-covered bone before going out for
+his usual night-watch and patrol, but he was suddenly called upon to
+drop it and to raise his head for a howl.
+
+Out of the growing darkness in the edge of the woods there came a quick
+series of sharp, threatening, warning whoops, uttered in a shrill and
+youthful voice that the dog knew perfectly. So did others, for Long Bear
+sprang to his feet, exclaiming,
+
+"Ugh! Two Arrows!" and answered him with a whoop of such volume and
+meaning that every brave and boy who heard it understood it as a
+command, and ran for his weapons first, and then to the corral to see
+about his pony.
+
+Two Arrows dismounted and led his over-ridden pony into camp. Long Bear
+stood silently and dignifiedly in front of his lodge waiting for him,
+and the older warriors were gathering fast to hear the news. They knew
+very well that no Indian boy would have dared to give such a signal as
+that without good reason, and their faces were clouding seriously.
+
+"Two Arrows speak quick," said his father. "All hear him."
+
+The young scout felt deeply the pride of his position. He pointed
+towards the lower valley with all the dignity he could muster, and
+uttered only the words,
+
+"'Pache! War-path!"
+
+There was a dismal chorus of "Ugh!" from all who heard him, but there
+was not one war-whoop. He was at once called upon for a minute and
+careful account of the whole affair, including the locality and
+condition of Judge Parks and his party of miners. He made his report
+with a fullness and keenness of observation that stirred up the old
+chief's family pride amazingly.
+
+"Young chief," he remarked. "Do something more every time."
+
+It looked very much like it, and his return as an intelligent and
+successful scout added largely to all his other claims to distinction.
+Not another boy in the band had ever announced anything so very bad and
+so important.
+
+That was no time for anybody to spend a thought upon the fame of Two
+Arrows, however. All the old men said, one after another, that they
+wished they knew just how many Apaches there were in that war-party. Had
+they known how very strong it was, they might have been even worse
+puzzled, but Long Bear was really a clear-headed leader, and he decided
+the whole matter promptly and finally. He told his gathering braves that
+the place where they were was a bad one to fight in, while their
+pale-face friends had selected a peculiarly good one. They themselves
+had but twenty-three warriors armed with rifles, and nearly as many more
+young men and well-grown boys armed with bows and arrows. That was no
+force with which to meet Apaches, nobody knew how many, and all sure to
+be riflemen. To go back through the pass was to die of sure starvation,
+even if they were not followed and slaughtered among the rocks. The
+Apaches were plainly making for that very pass, he said; and he was only
+a keen-eyed chief and not at all a prophet when he read the matter
+correctly and said,
+
+"'Pache run away from blue-coats. All in a hurry. Not stop. Nez Percé
+hide and let them go by. Not fight. Keep pony. Keep hair. Good. Ugh!"
+
+The party which had been sent back after the lodges and things was a
+serious anxiety, and a light-footed youngster was started off at once to
+warn them. He would be sure to meet them on their way, returning, and
+could tell them to be on their guard, and very little more could be done
+for them.
+
+Long Bear finished his speech of explanation, and then, without a
+moment's pause, he gave the order to break up camp and prepare to march,
+carrying with them every pound of provisions. Not one moment was to be
+lost in gaining such protection as might be had from the good position
+of the miners, and from the fact that they were pale-faces of some
+importance, and from the other great fact that they were all good
+riflemen. There was hardly anybody in the band, old enough to understand
+what an Apache was, who did not fully appreciate the force of the
+chief's argument, and every squaw did her best to hasten the departure.
+Lodges came down, ponies were packed, children were gathered, warriors
+and braves and boys completed their preparations for fighting; the Big
+Tongue declared his readiness to kill a large number of Apaches, and
+One-eye was compelled to abandon forever all the bones he had buried
+since the people he barked for had settled upon the bank of that river.
+
+There was a good deal of quiet and sober efficiency in spite of the
+excitement. Two Arrows had further questions to answer from quite a
+number of his elders. He was furnished with one of the best ponies in
+the drove in acknowledgment of his services. He was now, also, to figure
+as a kind of guide, and he did not once think of or mention the fatigue
+of his long, hard ride. He very willingly ate, however, the whole of a
+buffalo steak, broiled for him by one of the squaws, and felt a good
+deal better afterwards. He almost felt that he had earned a rifle, or at
+least a pistol, but well knew that it was all in vain to ask for one,
+when the supply was insufficient to arm all the braves who were a full
+head taller than himself.
+
+Still, it was a magnificent thing, at last, to ride out at the head of
+the cavalcade, by the side of a tall warrior, as the one boy of all that
+band who was on first-rate terms with the pale-faces and knew perfectly
+the trail leading to them. As for that, any red man of them all could
+have followed the tracks of the wagon-wheels, even at night, but Two
+Arrows had no idea of surrendering that part of his growing importance.
+It would have done Na-tee-kah's proud heart good to have seen him in
+particular, and it would have been well worth the while of almost
+anybody else to have had a good look at the whole affair, as the motley
+array poured out into the moonlight from under the shadowy cover of the
+primeval forest.
+
+There were no sleepy ones except the pappooses, and they could sleep
+under the tightly-drawn blankets upon the backs of their mothers as well
+as anywhere else. All the rest were more or less hardened to the quick
+changes and migrations of the kind of life into which they had been
+born. They were not likely to be injured by being kept up pretty late
+for one night, and there was no need that anybody should walk, now that
+their four-footed wealth had returned.
+
+Two Arrows thought of that, and he could hardly help reminding some of
+his friends of his share in so good a thing. He received a reply from
+one gray-headed warrior which sounded very much like a snub:
+
+"Ugh! Two Arrows. Red-head. Boys find pony first. Pony there. Brave find
+next day. Boy talk too much. Kill 'Pache like warrior. Then talk a heap.
+Show scalp. Whoop. Ugh!"
+
+As for war and that sort of thing, there was no need for anybody to
+stir the ambition of Two Arrows up to a greater heat. He was ready
+enough now to do the wildest and rashest things he could think of. He
+felt as if he were out upon his first war-path, and that there must be
+somewhere a great heap of glory preparing for him.
+
+The Nez Percé camp had been broken up with great celerity, and no time
+had been lost, but after all the summons to move had come upon them most
+unexpectedly. There had been a great deal to do and but a dim light to
+do it by, and so it was pretty late before the picturesque caravan was
+in motion. It took a line of march towards the mountains until its head
+struck the well-marked tracks of the loaded wagons, and from that point
+forward its course required little guiding. By a stern command from Long
+Bear the utmost silence was maintained, and, after the moon went down,
+the movement might fairly be said to have been performed in secret.
+There was no danger that any small squad of Apache scouts would assail
+so strong a party. Even the squaws and children felt pretty safe, but it
+was very hard upon the Big Tongue, for that great brave soon found
+himself in an advanced party, commanded by Long Bear himself, and after
+that he was under an absolute necessity of not saying anything.
+
+[Illustration: THE MOONLIGHT MARCH OF NEZ PERCÉS]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+PREPARING FOR AN ATTACK
+
+
+A good while before Two Arrows reached the camp of his people Judge
+Parks and Yellow Pine discovered that they had done about as much as
+they could at the mouth of what was yet to be the mine until they should
+have men to help them. The judge handed to Na-tee-kah another book of
+pictures to wonder over, and then he and Pine went upon a tour of
+inspection. They found the choppers busy with beetles and wedges upon
+the lengths of easily-cloven pine, and the heap of long, wide slabs or
+shingles for the roof was growing rapidly.
+
+"We can make it weather-tight with moss-packing," said Pine, "and if we
+can't have sash and glass we can make good solid doors and shutters."
+
+"There will be storms," said the judge.
+
+"Yes, but the winters are never hard down here. Even if we got snowed in
+it wouldn't stay long, and the supply-train'll get here before the end
+of next month. Can't lose its way."
+
+"I should say not. But now just look at that wall."
+
+It was worth looking at, if only for the way in which it was rising.
+The mud and stones went into place with a perfect rush. At that rate
+there would quickly be a finished house there, such as it was to be. All
+was well and solidly laid, too, and the inner face was smooth enough.
+That was more than could be said for the outside, and Pine remarked,
+
+"Reckon nobody'll care to rub himself very hard against the side of that
+shelter when it's done."
+
+From the house they both strolled away for a look at the animals, and
+then on down to the mouth of the notch. They were noting with care the
+several peculiarities of the rocky elevations to the right and left,
+when the judge felt his arm gripped very hard, and Yellow Pine
+exclaimed,
+
+"Look there, jedge! Something's happened to the young redskin."
+
+Judge Parks carried a spy-glass as good as Sile's and it was up
+instantly. "That's Sile, but the horse he's leading isn't a pony. Look,
+Pine."
+
+"I'd call it--How close this thing does bring 'em. I could count his
+buttons. He's carrying two rifles and a lance. Something mighty queer
+has turned up, jedge, but you can see that Sile's all right. What can
+have become of Two Arrows? I hope he hasn't been wiped out. He was the
+likeliest kind of a young chap."
+
+"We'll know when he gets here."
+
+Waiting was about all they could do, but they grew more and more
+impatient until Sile came within hail. After that the questions and
+answers chased each other back and forth until the entire account of
+Sile's hunt and its ending was perfectly understood.
+
+Sile saw his father shudder and turn pale, and then flush fiery red,
+while he described his encounter with the Apache. He had dismounted
+before he got to that, and the next thing he felt was a pair of arms
+around him, and he heard Yellow Pine exclaim,
+
+"I could a'most hug the young rooster myself. It was jest the gamest
+kind of thing to do. I say, Sile, he barked ye on yer left arm. I'd call
+it, now, if that there wasn't close work. Take yer jacket off."
+
+Sile had hardly paid any attention to that matter, although his arm had
+felt a little stiff, and there was really not much of a hurt. In another
+instant his father was saying so, but he said it with a peculiar look
+upon his face. The Indian's bullet had been a "Minie-ball," of course,
+and, as it grazed his arm, one of its ragged edges had torn through the
+cloth and touched the flesh only just enough to break the skin and draw
+a little blood. Sile could fairly say he was "wounded," and no more, and
+Yellow Pine remarked,
+
+"Reckon we won't send ye to the hospital for that; but I'm all-fired
+glad it didn't go any nigher. It's jest on a line to where it would ha'
+knocked yer arm off, if it had struck onto the bone. It's the narrerest
+kind of an escape."
+
+Judge Parks had nothing more to say, for some reason, and seemed willing
+that Sile should go right on with further particulars of the day.
+
+"Two Arrows is right," said Pine. "He'd know a war-party, sure. It's war
+with us, anyhow, and there isn't but one thing to be done. The men must
+knock off from the house, and come right down and block this 'ere
+opening with logs and rocks. We can make the best kind of a rifle-pit.
+Only leave room for one man, or for one hoss at a time, to get in or
+out."
+
+"That's it," said the judge. "Now, Sile, come along. You must let the
+men see what you've been up to. They'll know exactly what it means."
+
+Sile had a curious sense of bashfulness about it, but he followed his
+father, and in a few minutes more the rough, bearded, red-shirted
+fellows were giving him three of the most ringing cheers he had ever
+heard. Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah looked at him with something that was
+half wonder. They could not have believed it, but for the horse and the
+lance, and the rifle and the belt. Here was the Red-head, a mere
+pale-face boy, bringing in trophies of which a great warrior might have
+been proud. Na-tee-kah had a sort of notion that Two Arrows must have
+done it somehow, until well assured that her brother had not been
+present, and that the Red-head had not taken the scalp of the slain
+Apache. She had heard that the pale-face warriors sometimes neglected
+that duty, but could not well understand why, even when Ha-ha-pah-no
+explained to her that it was "bad medicine" for a white man to scalp
+anybody.
+
+The situation called for something more than cheers, however, and the
+miners hurried to the mouth of the notch. To pack it breast-high with
+fragments of wood and stone was no great matter, and the breastwork was
+finished in time for a late supper.
+
+"Tell ye what, jedge," remarked one of the men, "if I was a redskin I
+wouldn't be in a hurry to ride up to that there bar, with a half a dozen
+rifles peepin' over it. Reckon it'd take the cleanest kind of grit. A
+feller could stand behind it and pepper away, and be a'most safe agin
+anything short of cannon."
+
+The wagons and other things were left as they were, and the entire notch
+was a perfectly safe corral for the animals. All the human beings moved
+their bivouac down towards the barrier they had made, leaving the fires
+behind them.
+
+"They're all right, there," said Pine, "and we needn't kindle any down
+hereaway to tell jest where we are."
+
+There was sense in that, and one sentry was as good as a dozen to keep
+watch at the narrow entrance left, for even that was securely closed
+until there should be a good reason for opening it.
+
+Sile found himself the hero of the camp, and that the scratch upon his
+arm excused him from guard duty. At first he was well pleased to lie
+down and go to sleep, after the severe fatigue and excitement of his
+great ride. Never before had he raced it after such a fashion, and every
+bone and muscle felt the effects of the long strain. He saw, too, that
+everybody else was taking the matter with perfect coolness. All those
+miners had been in tight places more than once, and they had great faith
+in the prudence of redskins about charging upon white riflemen hidden
+behind rocks. Sile ate a hearty supper. In fact, he was compelled at
+last to be very positive with Ha-ha-pah-no. She would have gone right on
+cooking for him until morning if he had let her, and so would
+Na-tee-kah. They were positively proud of the privilege of bringing him
+his coffee. He was assured that the horse and weapons of the Apache
+warrior were his own personal property, and he examined them again and
+again with a sense of ownership that he had never felt for anything
+else. He could not tell why, until Jonas remarked to him,
+
+"If you hadn't pulled straight, your plunder'd be in the 'Pache camp
+'bout now, scalp and all. It was jest a question of grit and shootin'.
+I'm powerful glad you made out to throw yer lead to the right spot."
+
+So was Sile, but it was not easy, somehow, for him to make up his mind
+that he had really killed anybody. He found a queer idea in his mind
+several times that before long that Apache warrior would wake up and
+wonder what had become of his horse and his weapons. Not long after
+supper he curled up in his blanket at the foot of a tree, and in a few
+minutes he was soundly asleep. He did not hear his father say to Yellow
+Pine, as the two bent over him,
+
+"My brave boy!"
+
+Nor did he hear Pine grumble,
+
+"If he hasn't earned a good snooze, then nobody has. Tell ye what,
+jedge, that feller'll be guv'ner of a State one of these days. I'd vote
+for him. I'd like to have seen him 'changing shots with that there
+redskin."
+
+They moved away, and the judge remarked,
+
+"We are safe enough for to-night, but they'll find us to-morrow."
+
+"Maybe, maybe not. I can't quite make it out as to what could bring 'em
+away up here. Two Arrows told Sile they was a war-party, and if that's
+so, they must have been licked somewhere. They'd never have cut it for
+these ranges without somebody was after 'em."
+
+"Perhaps so. We'll see. Anyhow, we can keep a sharp lookout."
+
+There was no danger that any sentry would sleep on his post that night,
+but all the first part and the middle of it went by as peacefully as if
+the valley were uninhabited.
+
+Sile slept and slept, and when at last he opened his eyes, he could not
+have told why he did so. The stars were shining. The night air was crisp
+and chilly, but he was warm under his blanket. It took him almost a
+minute to gather his thoughts and understand where he really was. That
+was partly because he had been sleeping heavily, and partly because, at
+the very last, he had dreamed of being at home, and of leading a
+remarkable horse into the sitting-room to show it to his mother.
+
+It was a strange place to wake up in, and he could dimly see the forms
+of other men, rolled in blankets, lying near, each with a rifle lying by
+him ready for prompt use.
+
+"They won't be taken by surprise," said Sile to himself. "I'm going down
+for a look at the barrier. I've lain still long enough."
+
+He felt a little stiff when he first rose to his feet, but it passed
+away when he stretched himself and began to walk. His left arm pained
+him more than he had expected, and he found it slightly swollen. It was
+not precisely like the same scratch made in any other way, and he was
+glad that there was no more of it. Still, he hardly knew what he had
+that he valued more highly than that light hurt upon his arm. It had
+made a sort of soldier of him. It was a promotion, and he vaguely hoped
+that it would leave a scar. Then he half wished that the scar might come
+out upon his face, where it would not be forever covered up by his
+coat-sleeve.
+
+"My new horse is in the corral, and I couldn't pick him out now. My
+lance and things are in the wagon. I'll go and have a look at the
+barrier. I'm feeling tip-top."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+FROM BOW TO RIFLE
+
+
+Leaning over the upper log of the barrier, rifle in hand, and peering
+out upon the starlit slope beyond him, stood the form of Jonas, the
+miner. Not a sound came to him from the mists and shadows of the valley,
+and he was just remarking, aloud,
+
+"It's as quiet as a cornfield," when a voice at his elbow explained,
+
+"Hist! Ha-ha-pah-no--sh-sh!" and Na-tee-kah dropped upon the ground, and
+pressed her little round ear against it. So, almost instantly, did
+Ha-ha-pah-no, and he heard Sile saying,
+
+"Their ears are better than yours or mine if they can hear anything."
+
+"Didn't know there was one of ye nigh me," said Jonas. "That's the way
+for a feller to lose his hair--looking too hard in one direction while
+somebody comes up behind him. No, Sile, I haven't heerd a thing."
+
+Na-tee-kah sprang to her feet.
+
+"Horse come. Ugh!" and she held up her hand for silence, while
+Ha-ha-pah-no also arose, listening intently.
+
+"Indian ears for it," said Jonas. "'Pears to me I can hear something now
+myself."
+
+"I can't, then," said another voice. It was that of a sleepy miner, who
+had waked up to follow Sile, just as he had been awakened by even the
+noiseless movements of the squaws.
+
+"Hark!" exclaimed Jonas.
+
+It was the sound of galloping, and then a shrill whoop.
+
+"Two Arrows!" screamed Na-tee-kah. "'Pache get him!"
+
+Jonas had already thrown down the logs of wood in the opening, and now
+he shouted,
+
+"Rifles, boys! Ready!"
+
+There was a great shout from the bivouac behind them, but it seemed
+almost no time before a pony and his rider dashed into dim view before
+them, followed by a larger shadow, from which came whoop after whoop.
+
+"Take the hind one. Give it to him," shouted Jonas, as a streak of fire
+sprang from his own rifle-muzzle. Two other shots followed, as if there
+were any chance of hitting a galloping horseman in such a half darkness
+as that. Hit or no hit, one Apache warrior was so utterly astounded that
+he drew rein, all but throwing his horse upon his haunches, and the
+pony-rider he was pursuing wheeled sharply to the right. Half a minute
+later and all would have been over with Two Arrows, in all probability,
+but, as matters had now turned, it was his enemy who had made a blunder.
+He sat for several precious seconds almost motionless, although not a
+shot had touched him, and by so doing he put himself up for a target at
+very short arrow range. The next instant he was dashing wildly away into
+the darkness, for the horse had an arrow in his flank to spur him, and
+the brave himself had a similar token of the skill of Two Arrows
+projecting from his right thigh.
+
+"Sile," said Jonas, "he got it. You can tell that by the yell he gave."
+
+"Come on in," shouted Sile. "There may be more of 'em. We're all up and
+ready for 'em."
+
+It looked like it, as man after man came hurrying forward, but Two
+Arrows quieted them on that head. He had been sent forward by Long Bear
+to announce the coming of the Nez Percés, and he had encountered the
+Apache less than half a mile from the notch. It had been a close race,
+although he had a fresh pony and a good start. Any hurt to his pride on
+account of arriving in that precise manner, followed instead of
+following, was more than cured by the undoubted fact that he had sent an
+arrow into his pursuer.
+
+"There wasn't really any show for bullet-work," said Jonas, "but lead'll
+hurt jest as bad in the dark, in case it gits there."
+
+"All come," said Na-tee-kah. "Good. Two Arrows great brave now. Strike
+warrior. Fight a heap."
+
+Judge Parks was not sorry to hear of such an addition to his little
+garrison, as the Nez Percé warriors could be fully depended upon to
+fight well for their ponies and lives. It was not a great while before
+the head of their cavalcade came out of the shadows, and deeper and more
+sonorous whoops answered that of Two Arrows.
+
+"Big Tongue," said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Heap mouth!"
+
+There surely was one whoop that seemed to have swallowed several others,
+and Jonas remarked,
+
+"That feller could do all the loose yelling for a small tribe. Hark to
+him, now."
+
+"Big Tongue great brave!" said Ha-ha-pah-no, tartly. "'Pache hear him,
+'Pache go dead. Run."
+
+In a few minutes more the Nez Percé ponies were squeezing their packs
+through the narrow entrance of the notch, and a succession of approving
+grunts from Long Bear testified the satisfaction he felt at getting into
+so secure a fort. He perfectly understood the value and uses of that
+barrier. When daylight came he again said "Ugh!" several times while he
+was examining the stone wall and the other evidences of the skill and
+zeal of his pale-face friends.
+
+There was no more sleeping done in the notch, but there was an immense
+amount of very early cooking and eating, not to speak of the smoking and
+consultation, and the very general expression of a bad opinion of the
+entire Apache nation. They and their works, past, present, and to come,
+were condemned unsparingly. At the same time their fighting qualities
+were freely admitted, and with them the certainty that no Apache
+war-party would turn away from a bit of war so well begun as was this.
+
+The sun arose, but almost to the astonishment of Sile, as well as the
+Nez Percés, the hardy miners behaved very much as if they had no war
+whatever on their hands.
+
+"Them 'Paches'll come and go," said Jonas, "but we've got to have this
+'ere wall finished."
+
+At it they went, well assured that the barrier and all the land near it
+would be well watched, and that it was an easy thing to do to pick up a
+rifle if an alarm should come.
+
+Sile felt less interest in the mine, somehow. The story of his exploit
+had been told, of course, to his Indian friends, and he could but see
+that it had made him an object of respectful admiration. There was not a
+warrior among them who would not have been proud of such a feather as
+that victory, but the effect upon Two Arrows was peculiar. He had
+regarded himself as Sile's superior in all things which did not belong
+especially to a young pale-face. It had not occurred to him that Sile
+was or ever could become a "great brave." Some of the "blue-coats" were,
+he knew, but Sile was not a blue-coat. He had heard stories of the
+prowess of other pale-faces, but Sile was a mere boy, and dreadfully
+green to the ways of the plains and mountains. He could not think of one
+boy of his band who really knew less of the things most important to be
+known, except rifle-shooting. His pride was touched in a tender spot,
+for although he was sure he had sent an arrow into an Apache, he had
+nothing to show for it. Na-tee-kah was enormously proud of that arrow,
+and Ha-ha-pah-no was compelled to remind her that her hero brother had
+brought in neither scalp nor horse, and had saved his own by the timely
+rifle practice of Sile and the men at the gap. For all that, Na-tee-kah
+had a vivid persuasion that, if the pale-faces had not interfered and
+driven away the Apache, there would have been more glory earned by the
+young chief of the Nez Percés. She could not be dissatisfied with Sile,
+however. After a brief consultation with his father, the Red-head went
+to the wagon and brought out the rifle he had won and with it a box of
+cartridges. It was a capital weapon, in good condition, and Sile showed
+it to Two Arrows with a great glow on his face and with a sense of
+standing up uncommonly straight. Several braves gathered to look at it
+and to declare it "heap good gun."
+
+Two Arrows held it for a moment, with a look which did not need any
+interpreter. It was intensely wistful, and had a quick flash of keen
+jealousy in it. What was there that he could not do with such a splendid
+tool of destruction as that, instead of his lance and bow? He was
+nothing but a poor red youngster, after all, compelled to wait, he could
+not guess how long, before he could hope to be armed as a complete
+brave. He held out the rifle to Sile dejectedly, but then something like
+a shiver went all over him, for Sile only pushed it back, saying,
+
+"No; Two Arrows keep it. Take present. Good friend." And then he held
+out the little waterproof box of copper cartridges of the size called
+for by that rifle.
+
+Two Arrows required a breath or so before he could believe that the
+thing was a reality, and then he broke out into a yell of delight.
+
+One-eye, standing behind him, began to bark vociferously, although
+nobody had given him anything except unlimited bones.
+
+Every Nez Percé brave present deemed it his duty to shake hands with
+Sile, and Long Bear was summoned at once to do the same. Two Arrows
+found himself terribly short of words to tell how he felt about it, but
+he flatly refused to make a trial of that gun then and there. He felt
+such a dancing in his head and in his fingers that he was hardly sure he
+could hit the side of the mountain, and he did not care to disgrace his
+marksmanship before so many crack shots. It even occurred to him that he
+was not likely to come out of a duel on horseback as well as Sile until
+he should have had some practice. He did not know how steadily Sile had
+insisted on trying several shots every day since the mining expedition
+started. At all events he had mounted one round more in the ladder of
+his ambition, and had a better prospect for the next.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE APACHES HAVE COME
+
+
+Just as the sun was rising that morning, an altogether used-up horse
+came staggering into the awaking camp of the Apache war-party. On the
+horse was a warrior who had been sent out, with others, on scouting duty
+the previous day, and he now seemed nearly as fatigued as did the animal
+he rode. He had strength for a whoop whose meaning startled all who
+heard it, and in a minute more it was understood by most of them that
+the horse had been so badly tired out by one arrow, and the brave by
+another; but they did not know of whom they were speaking when they
+gruffly remarked,
+
+"Two Arrows. Ugh! Nez Percé."
+
+The baffled scout was unable to testify to the presence of white men,
+although he could aver that he had retreated from several busy rifles.
+He had deemed it his duty to ride back with his news and for another
+horse. It would be a good while before he could do much walking, and the
+horse which had carried him in must be abandoned, whether it should live
+or die.
+
+There was nothing to dispirit such a company in the prospect of more
+plunder, many ponies and scalps, and an easy victory over a hunting
+party trespassing upon their acknowledged range. They did but eat
+breakfast more rapidly and push forward at once. The idea was yet strong
+upon them that they were pursued, but not one of their rearward scouts
+had come in, and a sense of false security had begun to creep over all
+but the very grayest heads among them. Even of these not one dreamed how
+dangerously near was the steady advance of Captain Grover and his
+blue-coats.
+
+It is an old proverb of sea-fighting that "a stern chase is a long
+chase," and it is nearly as true on land, but the cavalry had pushed
+along with steady persistency, in a thoroughly business-like and
+scientific economy of time and horses. They were therefore in pretty
+good condition, men and animals. As Captain Grover remarked so it had
+been:
+
+"I know about how fast the redskins can travel. They stole a whole grist
+of slow stock and that measures their gait."
+
+However swift might be their best, the Apaches had gone no farther any
+day than the slowest half-dozen of their plunder. Captain Grover was
+therefore almost justified in a firm conviction he expressed that
+morning:
+
+"Now for it, boys. We shall be among 'em before sunset."
+
+On pushed the cavalry with enthusiasm, but at the same hour the Apaches
+were also pressing forward with increasing eagerness. They were no
+longer in one body. All their drove of stolen quadrupeds and their own
+superfluous ponies made up a sort of rear-guard, driven and cared for by
+about a dozen of the less distinguished braves, with orders to make as
+good speed as possible. The remainder of the force, full of whooping and
+yelling and a great hunger for glory and ponies, rode forward to find
+the Nez Percés. It could not be hard to do that, with so clear an idea
+as to the locality of at least several of them, but there was a surprise
+ready.
+
+They had hardly ridden an hour when the foremost warriors made the air
+ring with whoops of wrath, and in a moment more the word "pale-face" was
+passing from rider to rider. They had found the victim of Sile's
+marksmanship, and the fact that he had not been scalped put away the
+idea that he had fallen before a Nez Percé. The trail of the two horses
+leading away to the left was plainly marked and could be followed, and
+there was no reason for special caution in so open a country. Still, the
+onward movement from that point was made in a more compact body and in
+something like silence. The trail before them led in the precise
+direction indicated by the brave shot by Sile, and the presence of both
+Nez Percés and pale-faces in that valley was of itself a sort of enigma.
+Word was left for the rear-guard to halt at the spot where the body lay
+until rejoined by the main force.
+
+The garrison at the notch was ignorant of all this, but while the
+house-builders toiled at their wall with undiminished energy Long Bear
+sent out several of his best braves to scout around as far as might seem
+safe, and there was no danger of any surprise. There was one effect of
+all this even now to be seen in the sides of that stone wall. Windows
+had formed a part of the original plan, of course, but not nearly so
+many shot-holes.
+
+"You see," said Jonas to Yellow Pine, "if any hostiles should ever make
+out to git inside the notch, this 'ere'd be the best kind of fort. Them
+holes are all big enough to poke a muzzle through."
+
+"We'll have a stockade, some day," said Pine; "and we'll put another
+down at the gap, reg'lar fort fashion, with a gate and loop-holes."
+
+Just then a whoop rang out from the braves at the gap and was followed
+by a chorus of them.
+
+"I'd call it!" said Pine. "Knock off work, boys. Time's come."
+
+Not quite, but a brave had ridden swiftly in with notice of the approach
+of the Apaches, and all the other scouts were fast following his good
+example. The first whoop had been given by the Big Tongue from behind
+the largest rocks of the barrier, but he was soon calmly walking up and
+down outside, as if waiting for the whole Apache nation, and also ready
+to be admired by somebody. One-eye was also beyond the barrier, for some
+reason, but he came in at the call of Two Arrows. There was no danger
+but what the Big Tongue would come in without any calling.
+
+Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no had done very little that morning but recite
+to their Nez Percé friends and relatives the wonders of their visit in
+the pale-face camp, and exhibit their rich store of ornaments and other
+presents. They had also combed and brushed each other's hair in a way
+that excited no little envy. They were yet busy at it when the voice of
+the Big Tongue was first heard at the barrier, and every squaw knew what
+it signified.
+
+"Two Arrows," exclaimed Na-tee-kah, "has rifle now; kill heap."
+
+"Big Tongue great brave," said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Shoot mouth; 'Pache heap
+die."
+
+The horses, mules, and ponies of both Nez Percés and miners were all
+driven by the squaws away up the notch, under some trees, to be as
+secure as might be from stray bullets, if any should be fired. The
+squaws themselves were generally very willing to be as safe as were the
+animals; but Na-tee-kah's dusky cheeks were almost red with excitement.
+In spite of all prohibition, she broke away from under the trees and
+darted off towards the rocks on the side of the notch opposite the mine.
+It was only a minute before Ha-ha-pah-no followed her, with no idea of
+bringing her back, whatever she said to the rest on starting.
+
+"See fight. Squaw shoot, too, sometime. Na-tee-kah heap brave."
+
+Na-tee-kah did not utter a sound until she had gained a spot behind a
+huge bowlder, from which she could peer out and down, and see what was
+going on at the barrier and beyond it. She felt well paid for her
+trouble. The braves of the Nez Percés were all there or behind the rocky
+fragments on either side, and mingled with them here and there were the
+red shirts and slouched hats of the miners. The Big Tongue was no longer
+parading over the slope in front of the gap. He had even cut short an
+uncommonly fine whoop in his retreat to a place as safe as that occupied
+by Na-tee-kah or Ha-ha-pah-no.
+
+There were excellent reasons for such a retreat, for several scores of
+Apaches were now riding back and forth, just out of good rifle-range, as
+if they were a little in doubt as to what they had better do next. Not
+an Apache among them had an idea how many might be the rifles among
+those rocks, but all were sure that they were there. It was just as
+Jonas had said, and Yellow Pine. It required an immense amount of
+courage to ride up to hidden sharpshooters, and the Apaches were
+disposed to whoop a good deal before they tried the experiment. Their
+head chief had commanded that there should be no random firing, and now
+he was disposed to try what could be done with a "talk." One solitary
+brave rode forward a distance in advance of his comrades, dismounted,
+laid down his rifle and lance, took off his pistol-belt ostentatiously,
+held up his hands wide open to declare himself unarmed, reached out his
+right hand with the palm up to say that he was peaceful, and then walked
+slowly forward.
+
+"Wants to get near enough to see what he can see," said Yellow Pine.
+"Snake trick. I'll go out and meet him, jedge."
+
+"No, Pine, I don't want you to run any risk."
+
+"Risk? Not a bit of it. I say, Jonas, I'll let him come into good fair
+range. Keep him covered. If he tries any bad game I'll just drop flat."
+
+"That's what he'll do next thing," said Jonas, as he rested his rifle
+over the log in front of him, and it seemed as if every other miner at
+once followed his example.
+
+"Go ahead then, Pine," said the judge; "see what he wants."
+
+"For that matter, jedge," said Pine, "I'd as lief as not try a
+hand-to-hand fight with any redskin in that lot."
+
+He left his weapons behind him as ostentatiously as the Apache had done,
+handing them back over the barrier after stepping out, and walked
+forward rapidly, so that he did not let his conference turn into too
+close an "examination."
+
+[Illustration: HIS RIGHT HAND WITH THE PALM UP TO SHOW THAT HE WAS
+PEACEFUL]
+
+The keen eyes of the warrior were searching every cranny of the rocks as
+well as they could, when Yellow Pine drew near and held out his hand.
+
+"How?" said Pine.
+
+"How? Where Nez Percé?"
+
+Pine answered by a sweep of his hand towards the notch, and added,
+
+"'Pache chief want pony? want scalp? Go other place. Too much heap
+shoot; kill 'em all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+STIRRING TIMES
+
+
+The idea of a great fight about to come off had quite turned the heads
+of Sile and Two Arrows, and the later was aching all over with anxiety
+to try his new rifle. They had found good places to shoot from. Even the
+judge did not hesitate a moment about bidding Sile to do his duty,
+although he had a pretty strong conviction that there would not be much
+to do right away. Na-tee-kah had singled out that pair as the particular
+braves in whose conduct she was interested, but had no doubt that her
+brother would win more glory than the Red-head, now that he had so good
+a rifle.
+
+The circumstances had even more completely turned the hot heads of the
+young Apache braves left in charge of their too numerous drove of
+horses. Every soul of them was crazy to be at the front and take part in
+whatever might turn up. They all seemed to drift naturally a little in
+that direction, and kept no kind of lookout, leaving their precious
+charge to take care of itself. The horses, therefore, at once began to
+take advantage of the grass.
+
+This state of things continued, and grew worse and worse every minute,
+until a good long hour after the main body had moved away along Sile's
+trail towards the notch. Then, altogether unexpectedly, but as by one
+impulse, all the Apache horse-guard gave a sudden start and turned their
+heads in one direction.
+
+Over the crest of the nearest knoll, stirring and clear and sweet, came
+the sound of a cavalry bugle. It was the signal to "charge," and was
+followed by the swift rush of Captain Grover and his men. In an instant
+they were between the feeding quadrupeds and their astonished keepers,
+and it was all in vain for the young hot-heads in their amazement to
+attempt to rally. One only wheeled his pony at once and rode away at the
+top of his speed. The nine or ten who dashed in the other direction
+suddenly all drew rein as they discovered the odds against them. A line
+of iron veterans, thirty strong, was thundering forward, and not an
+Apache was fool enough to fire a shot and be cut down for it.
+
+There was just enough of bewildered, leaderless indecision to settle the
+matter. The sabres swept flashingly around the squad of redskins, and
+all they had to do was to surrender. It is a mere novelist's blunder to
+suppose and to write that red men have not sense enough to give it up
+when there is no use in fighting any more. They can do it as readily as
+any white man in the world, and the reason why they do not do it more
+frequently is because they generally keep a good chance to run away, and
+make a treaty afterwards as to what presents they are to have for making
+peace. There was no time given the young braves to strike a bargain.
+They were all disarmed, and then, dreadfully to their disgust, they were
+all dismounted and tied up.
+
+"The plunder'll do well enough where it is," said Captain Grover, as he
+detailed Garry and a guard of four men to watch the prisoners. "If any
+of those chaps gets loose you'll have to shoot him. Men, by fours, left!
+Forward!"
+
+The pony-rider who escaped was sure to carry the news of the disaster,
+and of the arrival of the blue-coats, but several things could happen
+before the Apache chief received it. He had no spy-glass, and he was
+eagerly waiting such information as might be obtained by the brave
+standing face to face with Yellow Pine.
+
+That very cunning Apache found himself talking under difficulties. He
+could see distinctly that there were more than a few rifles at the
+barrier, but he could get no farther. The tall pale-face in front of him
+kept back any other information than that all the Apaches in this world
+or any other would be killed in case of an attack then and there. He
+even referred to Sile's exploit as an example, and to the lesson given
+by Two Arrows to the scout, and all the wild blood in the Apache brave
+was set boiling by that somewhat imprudent reference. He was a large,
+powerfully built warrior, and he had been as truthful as could be
+expected when he signified that he was unarmed. He kept up the idea of a
+"flag of truce" talk until sure he could gain no more by it, and then he
+uttered a shrill whoop and stooped, quick as a flash, for a long knife
+hidden in his leggings. He meant to carry back the scalp of Yellow Pine
+as a trophy of that conversation, but had not asked anybody how well
+Pine could box. The latter had no time to draw any weapon except his
+fist, but that was a hard one, and it struck the Apache on the side of
+his head as he was rising, knife in hand. Over and over he rolled, while
+Pine threw himself flat upon the earth, at the same moment digging both
+hands into the pockets of his pantaloons. His enemy recovered himself
+instantly and sprang to his feet with another whoop, lifting his long,
+glittering knife for a rush upon the prostrate pale-face. It might have
+been a perilous rush, for Pine's hands came right out of his pockets,
+and each held a short-barrelled "Derringer" pistol, ready cocked. They
+are terrible weapons, but the miner had no occasion to use either of
+them. The line of the barrier and of the adjacent rocks seemed to dance
+with blue flashes and with puffs of white smoke. Within three seconds
+not less than a score of rattling reports awoke the echoes of the notch,
+and every blue tube they came from had been aimed by a good marksman.
+After all was over, the prevalent opinion was that not one of them had
+missed. At all events Yellow Pine was safe to jump up and run for the
+barrier, followed by hasty shots from startled and galloping horsemen,
+all as useless as so many pebbles. His arrival was greeted by all the
+shouting and whooping which could possibly be performed by the red and
+white garrison of the notch, aided by One-eye with a vigor that shook
+him all over. Even then, however, the voice of the Big Tongue could be
+distinguished from the rest.
+
+If the volume of sound did nothing else it deeply impressed the mind of
+the Apache chief with an idea of the strength of the force opposed to
+him. So had the promptness and number and accuracy of the rifle-shots
+which had prevented him from getting any report from his too treacherous
+"flag of truce" brave. As for him, Na-tee-kah had been watching Two
+Arrows and had seen the Apache fall just as his rifle went off. That was
+enough, and she was again proud of her brother. It was in vain for
+Ha-ha-pah-no to say,
+
+"Ugh! Heap shoot. All kill him. Go dead a heap."
+
+She as well as Na-tee-kah was taking every opportunity for practising
+all the small English words she could pick up, and some of her greatest
+successes would have puzzled a dictionary.
+
+The Apaches were all but silent and drew back a little at the end of
+their burst of angry whooping and useless shooting. They drew back still
+farther because of a steady whizzing of bullets from the barrier. It was
+too far for good marksmanship, but the rifles made nowadays will send a
+piece of lead a mile and hurt something with it.
+
+Suddenly a second burst of angry yells arose among the baffled marauders
+as a pony-rider in a great hurry dashed in among them, shouting forth
+the news of the arrival of the blue-coats and the loss of the drove and
+its protectors. Here was a blow indeed, and the escaped brave's estimate
+of the number of the cavalry he had run away from was very liberal. The
+Apache chief was necessarily a good captain, fully able to understand
+how bad it would be for him to be placed between two fires. The ground
+in front of the notch was therefore no place for him to fight in, and he
+did not know what precious minutes he had already been wasting. He threw
+away ten more in a sort of consultation with his wisest warriors, and at
+the same time his whole force rode up the valley a short distance. That
+move gave them the cover of some trees and took them out of range of
+bullets from the barrier, and at that very moment Judge Parks was
+startled by a yell from Sile.
+
+"What are you doing up there?" he shouted, for Sile had clambered away
+up among the rocks of the lodge and stood upon a sort of pinnacle,
+spy-glass in hand.
+
+"Cavalry, father! They are coming. Cavalry--"
+
+"Come down!"
+
+"Right in this direction. Riding hard. Hurrah!"
+
+The new rifle of Two Arrows could not have won him the glory of that
+discovery and announcement. Once more the peculiar advantages of
+pale-faces over red men were forced upon him, but somehow it did but
+stir up his ambition, and with it a quick, daring impulse. He sprang
+away up the valley for a horse. He rushed in among the gathered animals
+of the corral, and boldly picked out his father's best and swiftest
+mustang, a beast that could run like the wind. He asked for no saddle,
+and the bridle went on as if by magic.
+
+Sile came down from his perch at a rate that risked his neck, and made a
+report which drew from Yellow Pine,
+
+"I'd call it--Jedge, if we could only let them fellers know we're here,
+it would be wuth a heap."
+
+Before all who echoed that wish had finished speaking Two Arrows came
+dashing towards the barrier, all ready for the errand.
+
+"Give the youngster three cheers!" shouted Yellow Pine. "Hurrah for
+him!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+A DARING RIDE
+
+
+For the moment there was not one Apache horseman lingering within reach
+of the sharpshooters at the gap, and it was possible to get away from it
+unseen. All peril would come afterwards, but there was a vast amount of
+it, and the proposed errand of Two Arrows called for unlimited courage.
+His light weight upon a fresh racer gave him some advantage over heavy
+warriors upon horses already hard ridden, but this fact did not cover
+the whole question by any means, for a bullet will travel faster than
+the swiftest mustang. Sile did his best to communicate every fact that
+his spy-glass had given him; Long Bear said "Ugh!" with a deep and
+expressive intonation; the logs were removed from the entrance; and then
+Na-tee-kah's heart beat terribly, for she saw her hero brother dash
+forth all alone, she could not guess why nor whither. Then there was
+another sudden commotion, for Yellow Pine shouted, and Long Bear echoed
+it in his own tongue,
+
+"Mount, men! Mount and be ready, every mother's son of ye! I'm jest
+going to back that there young catamount if it costs me my hair!"
+
+There was the swiftest kind of saddling and mounting, and not a Nez
+Percé boy old enough to draw a bow was willing to be left behind. When,
+therefore, the whole force rode out upon the slope in front of the
+notch, it looked a good deal stronger than it really was. All that work
+required many minutes, and during all of these the daring young
+messenger had been doing capitally.
+
+Leaving the gap, he wheeled his fleet mustang to the right and dashed
+away until he deemed himself within reach of a small grove of trees,
+around which he could sweep back into the right course to reach the
+cavalry. It was an acute enough calculation, but out of that very bit of
+bushy timber came first a brace of rifle-bullets and then a pair of
+mounted Apaches, as soon as these believed that they had let him go far
+enough. That is, they rode out to cut off his return, and they both
+failed to do him or his horse any harm. It was a race now, with the
+chances against the pursuers, and Two Arrows sent back a derisive whoop
+as he struck out straight for what he believed to be his mark. He
+understood in an instant that he had escaped the main body of his
+enemies, but there was no telling when he might meet one of their
+smaller squads. He felt in every fibre of his body that he was now armed
+as a warrior, and was doing the work of a warrior and of an uncommonly
+daring brave. His heart beat with fierce delight and hope, and his very
+mustang seemed to feel the excitement, and went forward with long, eager
+bounds. The wind was in his face, and now it brought him something. It
+was a faint sound, and far away, but it was the bugle-note which bade
+Captain Grover's men to change their trot to a gallop.
+
+The little force of cavalry had taken upon them no small risk in dashing
+forward, now that they had a better knowledge of the strength of their
+opponents. It was almost rashness, but it was such a facing of odds as
+our gallant soldiers are all the while doing. There was nothing
+exceptional about it, terrible as have been the disasters now and then
+resulting. Captain Grover determined to gain whatever might be gained by
+promptly following up his first success, and so he had well used all the
+minutes the Apache chief was wasting. At about the time when the latter
+had decided that there must be an effort made to recover the lost
+plunder, unless the cavalry should prove too numerous, Captain Grover
+had ridden far enough to make good the military plan of a young Nez
+Percé chief. His own spy-glass was at work from every rising ground he
+came to, and now it brought an exclamation from him:
+
+"What's up now? One chased by two? Forward! Gallop!"
+
+Two Apache braves, already very sure they could not catch the rider they
+were chasing, wheeled quickly and rode in the opposite direction, and
+in a few moments more Two Arrows was rapidly explaining the situation to
+Captain Grover. It was a very plain one, and not a second was wasted in
+considering it. Again the word was "forward," and the remaining distance
+to be travelled was not great. The decision of the Apaches to advance
+was likely to make it shorter, but that was an unpleasant time for the
+chief in command of those unlucky red men. Just as two of his braves
+came in to inform him that a messenger from the men among the rocks had
+reached the cavalry, another announced that all the pale-faces and Nez
+Percés had come out from the rocks to fight and were "heap strong." Nor
+was that the whole of it, for one of his scouts from the rear dashed up
+with the news that yet another party of Nez Percés was coming, he did
+not know how many. These were the fellows sent through the pass for the
+"cached" property, but what Apache could say how many more might follow?
+or how many more blue-coated veterans might be at hand?
+
+It looked for all the world as if that enterprising band of Apache
+"business men" were surrounded and trapped. They had already lost all
+the proceeds of their season's hard work, and the rest of their stock in
+trade, of all sorts, was pretty sure to follow. More consultation was
+absolutely necessary, and before it was over Sile could announce, from
+his perch upon the rock,
+
+"Coming! I can see Two Arrows."
+
+Then there was a cheering, and Na-tee-kah felt all but proud of the
+noise made by the Big Tongue--there was so very much of it.
+
+"Forward, men!" shouted Judge Parks. "We must be on hand. Come down,
+Sile. Keep near _me_."
+
+Sile was down and mounted in a moment, but there was to be no great
+battle that day. The Apache "council of war" lasted until it could hear
+the cavalry bugle and the distant whoop of the Big Tongue. It could not
+hear the howl of One-eye, for that brave animal was sitting in the very
+entrance of the barrier guarding the notch, all alone except for the
+squaws. It was better to go upon any reservation, and to promise any
+amount and degree of good behavior, than to spend the remainder of that
+fine day in being shot and sabred. So the council decided, and so, in
+due and dignified form, they announced to Captain Grover, before he had
+an opportunity to bid his veterans charge.
+
+The official duty of the captain, after that, was to disarm his
+captives, the weapons to be all returned upon reaching the reservation,
+and to order them at once into a camp by themselves, under a guard. Word
+was sent to Garry and his men to move the quadrupeds down the river as
+fast as possible, the prisoners there being untied and sent to their
+main body. Rapid orders were given, and were mingled with as rapid
+conversations with Judge Parks, Yellow Pine, and Long Bear.
+
+"Where's that messenger?" suddenly exclaimed Captain Grover, after he
+had listened to the facts as to the sending of Two Arrows. There was a
+glow upon the brave soldier's face, and he was unbuckling the flap of
+one of his holsters, for he was yet in the saddle.
+
+Two Arrows was summoned and came forward, and a great many eyes were
+upon him.
+
+"Young brave!" said Captain Grover emphatically. "I never heard of a
+pluckier volunteer in all my life. Take that; keep your head level,
+that's all. You've more courage than you've any real need of."
+
+"That" was a handsome silver-mounted army revolver. Given in that way it
+was a mark of distinction for a great chief to be proud of, and Long
+Bear, indeed, was nearly as proud as was Two Arrows.
+
+"There, Sile," said his father; "see that you do as well with your
+advantages as that Nez Percé boy has done with his."
+
+"I will, father; but why could he not have some more? What is to hinder
+him from going to school? There's all my gold, now, in the wagon; I'd
+spend a good deal of it."
+
+"Sile, my boy, I've been thinking of it. We will do it. It's a good
+thing. The girl too."
+
+It was time now for Captain Grover to ride in and see the notch and the
+mine, and to get the best dinner the miners and Ha-ha-pah-no could cook
+for him and his men. Then it was time for Na-tee-kah to go nearly wild
+with pride over her brother and his revolver. After that there was a
+long consultation between Long Bear and his children and Judge Parks and
+Sile. Two Arrows seemed to be inclined to say very little at first. He
+sat with his new rifle across his lap, and his priceless revolver
+resting upon that, and One-eye came and sat down beside him. Long Bear
+himself seemed to be in doubt as his pale-face friends urged upon him
+the advantages of their offer. He was hardly able to see what good there
+could be in the learning of the white men for a red horseman of the
+plains; but at last Two Arrows motioned to Sile for his spy-glass,
+hanging at his side. He took it and looked through it at the distant
+mountains, and then turned to Long Bear and pointed at them, saying,
+
+"Look! See!"
+
+"Ugh!" said the old chief, "see heap."
+
+"Now look. See," said Two Arrows, "see big heap."
+
+"Ugh! Big medicine," said Long Bear, handing the glass to Sile, but Two
+Arrows arose and stood proudly erect, rifle in hand.
+
+"Will you go?" asked Sile.
+
+"Go," said Two Arrows. "Good friend. Go. Got Nez Percé eye now; want
+pale-face eye."
+
+"Ugh!" exclaimed Long Bear; "what Na-tee-kah say?"
+
+The question was put to her, but it was hardly needful, after she found
+that Two Arrows was to go. She was willing to learn anything he did, and
+she was not even daunted by quick mental vision of a white lady with her
+bonnet on. She would even wear the dress of a pale-face squaw if Two
+Arrows would put on such things as were worn by the Red-head. So it was
+settled, although it would be a number of weeks before the judge and
+Sile could set out for their eastern home.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At several points in the East there are schools designed and maintained
+for the special education of Indian girls and boys, only needing greater
+help from men and women who have money intrusted to them by the Giver.
+
+Among all the tribes of the West, and in every band, Na-tee-kah and Two
+Arrows wait to be found and enticed into a training that is for their
+everlasting good and for that of their race.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+    +-------------------------------------------------+
+    | Transcriber's Note:                             |
+    |                                                 |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:     |
+    |                                                 |
+    | Page   6  pursuasive changed to persuasive      |
+    | Page  12  acquainttance changed to acquaintance |
+    | Page  73  pappose changed to pappoose           |
+    | Page  83  if changed to it                      |
+    | Page 109  wherebouts changed to whereabouts     |
+    | Page 117  familar changed to familiar           |
+    | Page 121  necesary chaged to necessary          |
+    | Page 129  vension changed to venison            |
+    | Page 164  vension changed to venison            |
+    | Page 203  he changed to be                      |
+    |Page 220  condemmed changed to condemned         |
+    +-------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Arrows, by William O. Stoddard
+
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Two Arrows, by William O. Stoddard.
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+    .tr       {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */
+
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+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Arrows, by William O. Stoddard
+
+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: Two Arrows
+       A Story of Red and White
+
+Author: William O. Stoddard
+
+Release Date: August 5, 2009 [EBook #29616]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO ARROWS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Barbara Kosker, Linda McKeown
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="img">
+<img border="0" src="images/cover.jpg" width="55%" alt="Book Cover and Spine" />
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h1>TWO ARROWS</h1>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h3>HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE'S SERIES<br />
+<span class="smcap">New Large-type Edition</span></h3>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="65%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="book list">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="70%"></td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="30%"></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Toby Tyler</td>
+  <td class="tdr">James Otis</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mr. Stubbs's Brother</td>
+  <td class="tdr">James Otis</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Tim and Tip</td>
+  <td class="tdr">James Otis</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Raising the "Pearl"</td>
+  <td class="tdr">James Otis</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Adventures of Buffalo Bill</td>
+  <td class="tdr">W. F. Cody</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Diddie, Dumps and Tot</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Mrs. L. C. Pyrnelle</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Music and Musicians</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Lucy C. Lillie</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Cruise of the Canoe Club</td>
+  <td class="tdr">W. L. Alden</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Cruise of the "Ghost"</td>
+  <td class="tdr">W. L. Alden</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Moral Pirates</td>
+  <td class="tdr">W. L. Alden</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">A New Robinson Crusoe</td>
+  <td class="tdr">W. L. Alden</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Prince Lazybones</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Mrs. W. J. Hays</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Flamingo Feather</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Kirk Munroe</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Derrick Sterling</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Kirk Munroe</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Chrystal, Jack &amp; Co.</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Kirk Munroe</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wakulla</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Kirk Munroe</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Ice Queen</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Ernest Ingersoll</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Red Mustang</td>
+  <td class="tdr">W. O. Stoddard</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Talking Leaves</td>
+  <td class="tdr">W. O. Stoddard</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Two Arrows</td>
+  <td class="tdr">W. O. Stoddard</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<h3>HARPER &amp; BROTHERS<br />
+PUBLISHERS</h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="img"><a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a>
+<a href="images/frontis.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/frontis.jpg" width="95%" alt="TWO ARROWS EXPLORES THE RUINS" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">TWO ARROWS EXPLORES THE RUINS<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h1>TWO ARROWS</h1>
+
+<h3>A STORY OF RED AND WHITE</h3>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h4>BY</h4>
+
+<h2>WILLIAM O. STODDARD</h2>
+
+<h4>Author of &nbsp;"<span class="smcap">The Talking Leaves</span>"</h4>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h4>ILLUSTRATED</h4>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="img">
+<img border="0" src="images/deco.png" width="12%" alt="Publisher's Mark" />
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h4>NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />
+HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</h4>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h5>COPYRIGHT, 1886, BY HARPER &amp; BROTHERS<br />
+COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD<br />
+F.-Y.</h5>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp" width="8%"><span style="font-size: 80%;">CHAPTER</span></td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="82%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="10%"><span style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">I.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Hungry Camp</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Young Hero</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">III.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Brave Name</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">IV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Mining Expedition</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">V.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Very Old Trail</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Thirsty March</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Great Ca&ntilde;on</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Water! Water!</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">IX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Into a New World</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">X.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sile's Pocket</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Trapped Boy</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Errand of One-eye</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Great Scouting</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Wrestling Match</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Great Captain</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Visiting</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">More Fun</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XVIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Two War-parties</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XIX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Wonderful Fishing</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Full Corral</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Gold Mine</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A New Settlement</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Danger</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sile's Victory</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Midnight March</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Preparing for an Attack</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">From Bow to Rifle</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_216">216</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXVIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Apaches Have Come</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXIX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Stirring Times</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XXX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Daring Ride</span></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<a name="toi" id="toi"></a><hr />
+<br />
+<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="70%">"Two Arrows explores the ruins"</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="30%"><a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">"Not a boy or girl among themhad such a treasure as that mirror"</td>
+  <td class="tdrb"><a href="#imagep120"><i>Facing p.</i> 120</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">"The midnight march of the Nez Perc&eacute;s"</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#imagep206"><i>Facing p.</i> 206</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">"His right hand with his palm up to show that he was peaceful"</td>
+  <td class="tdrb"><a href="#imagep230"><i>Facing p.</i> 230</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h2>TWO ARROWS</h2>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>TWO ARROWS</h2>
+
+<h3>A STORY OF RED AND WHITE</h3>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter I</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">THE HUNGRY CAMP</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The mountain countries of all the earth
+have always been wonder-lands. The
+oldest and best known of them are to this day
+full of things that nobody has found out. That
+is the reason why people are always exploring
+them, but they keep their secrets remarkably
+well, particularly the great secret of how they
+happened to get there in that shape.</p>
+
+<p>The great western mountain country of the
+United States is made up of range after range
+of wonderful peaks and ridges, and men have
+peered in among them here and there, but for
+all the peering and searching nothing of the
+wonder to speak of has been rubbed away.</p>
+
+<p>Right in the eastern, edge of one of these mountain
+ridges, one warm September morning, not
+long ago, a band of Nez Perc&eacute; Indians were
+encamped. It was in what is commonly called
+"the Far West," because always when you get
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>there the West is as far away as ever. The
+camp was in a sort of nook, and it was not easy
+to say whether a spur of the mountain jutted
+out into the plain, or whether a spur of the plain
+made a dent in the ragged line of the mountains.
+More than a dozen "lodges," made of
+skins upheld by poles, were scattered around
+on the smoother spots, not far from a bubbling
+spring of water. There were some trees and
+bushes and patches of grass near the spring, but
+the little brook which trickled away from it did
+not travel a great way into the world, from the
+place where it was born, before it was soaked
+up and disappeared among the sand and gravel.
+Up and beyond the spring, the farther one chose
+to look, the rockier and the ruggeder everything
+seemed to be.</p>
+
+<p>Take it all together, it was a forlorn looking,
+hot, dried-up, and uncomfortable sort of place.
+The very lodges themselves, and the human beings
+around them, made it appear pitifully desolate.
+The spring was the only visible thing that
+seemed to be alive and cheerful and at work.</p>
+
+<p>There were Indians and squaws to be seen, a
+number of them, and boys and girls of all sizes,
+and some of the squaws carried pappooses, but
+they all looked as if they had given up entirely
+and did not expect to live any longer. Even
+some of the largest men had an air of not caring
+much, really, whether they lived or not; but that
+was the only regular and dignified way for a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>Nez Perc&eacute; or any other Indian warrior to take
+a thing he can't help or is too lazy to fight with.
+The women showed more signs of life than the
+men, for some of them were moving about
+among the children, and one poor, old, withered,
+ragged squaw sat in the door of her lodge,
+with her gray hair all down over her face, rocking
+backward and forward, and singing a sort
+of droning chant.</p>
+
+<p>There was not one quadruped of any kind to
+be seen in or about that camp. Behind this fact
+was the secret of the whole matter. Those
+Indians were starving! Days and days before
+that they had been away out upon the plains to
+the eastward, hunting for buffalo. They had
+not found any, but they had found all the grass
+dry and parched by a long drought, so that no
+buffalo in his senses was likely to be there, and
+so that their own ponies could hardly make a
+living by picking all night. Then one afternoon
+a great swarm of locusts found where they
+were and alighted upon them just as a westerly
+wind died out. The locusts remained long
+enough to eat up whatever grass there was left.
+All through the evening the Nez Perc&eacute;s had
+heard the harsh, tingling hum of those devourers,
+as they argued among themselves whether
+or not it were best to stay and dig for the roots
+of the grass. The wind came up suddenly and
+strongly about midnight, and the locusts decided
+to take advantage of it and sail away after better
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>grass, but they did not leave any behind them.
+They set out for the nearest white settlements in
+hope of getting corn and apple-tree leaves, and
+all that sort of thing.</p>
+
+<p>The band of Nez Perc&eacute;s would have moved
+away the next morning under any circumstances,
+but when morning came they were in a terribly
+bad predicament. Not one of them carried a
+watch, or he might have known that it was about
+three o'clock, and very dark, when a worse disaster
+than the visit of the locusts took place.
+By five or six minutes past three it was all done
+completely, and it was the work of a wicked old
+mule.</p>
+
+<p>All but a half a dozen of the ponies and mules
+of the band had been gathered and tethered in
+what is called a "corral," only that it had no
+fence, at a short distance from the lodges. Nobody
+dreamed of any danger to that corral, and
+there was none from the outside, even after
+the boys who were set to watch it had curled
+down and gone to sleep. All the danger was
+inside, and it was also inside of that mule. He
+was hungry and vicious. He had lived in the
+white "settlements," and knew something. He
+was fastened by a long hide lariat to a peg driven
+into the ground, as were all the others, and he
+knew that the best place to gnaw in two that
+lariat was close to the peg, where he could get a
+good pull upon it. As soon as he had freed himself
+he tried the lariat of another mule, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>found that the peg had been driven into loose
+earth and came right up. That was a scientific
+discovery, and he tried several other pegs. Some
+came up with more or less hard tugging, and as
+fast as they came up a pony or a mule was free.
+Then he came to a peg he could not pull, and he
+lost his temper. He squealed, and turned
+around and kicked the pony that belonged to
+that peg. Then he stood still and brayed, as
+if he were frightened to find himself loose, and
+that was all that was needed.</p>
+
+<p>It was after three o'clock, and in one minute
+the whole corral was kicking and squealing,
+braying, biting, and getting free, and joining
+in the general opinion that it was time to run
+away.</p>
+
+<p>That is what the western men call a "stampede,"
+and whenever one occurs there is pretty
+surely a mule or a thief at the bottom of it; but
+sometimes a hail-storm will do as well, or nearly
+so. By five or six minutes past three all of that
+herd were racing westward, with boys and men
+getting out of breath behind it, and all the
+squaws in the camp were holding hard upon the
+lariats of the ponies tethered among the lodges.
+When morning came there were hardly ponies
+enough to "pack" the lodges and other baggage
+and every soul of the band had to carry something
+as they all set off, bright and early, upon
+the trail of the stampeded drove of ponies.
+Some of the warriors had followed it without
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>any stopping for breakfast, and they might have
+caught up with it, perhaps, but for the good generalship
+of that old mule. He had decided in
+his own mind to trot right along until he came
+to something to eat and drink, and the idea was
+a persuasive one. All the rest determined to
+have something to eat and drink, and they followed
+their leader. It was not easy for men on
+foot to catch up with them, and before noon the
+warriors sat down and took a smoke, and held
+a council as to what it was best to do. Before
+they finished that council the ponies had gained
+several miles more the start of them. The next
+council the warriors held contained but three
+men, for all the rest had gone back as messengers
+to tell the band that the ponies had not
+been recovered. By nightfall the remaining
+three had faithfully carried back the same news,
+and were ready for a fresh start.</p>
+
+<p>After that there had been day after day of
+weary plodding and continual disappointment,
+with the weather growing hotter and the grass
+drier, until the trail they were following brought
+them to the spring in the edge of the mountain
+range without bringing them to the wicked old
+mule and his followers.</p>
+
+<p>That had not been the whole of the sad history.
+On the evening before the stampede that
+band of Nez Perc&eacute;s had been well supplied with
+riding ponies and pack-mules, and had also been
+rich in dogs. No other band of their size had
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>more, although their failure to find buffaloes
+had already begun to have its effect upon the
+number of their barking stock. Not a dog had
+been wasted by feeding him to the other dogs,
+but the human beings had not been allowed to
+starve, and after the march began towards the
+mountains there was less and less noise in that
+camp night after night.</p>
+
+<p>There was no help for it; the ponies ate the
+grass up at the spring, and then one of them had
+to be eaten, while the warriors rode all around
+the neighborhood vainly hunting for something
+better and not so expensive. They did secure
+a few rabbits and sage-hens and one small antelope,
+but all the signs of the times grew blacker
+and blacker, and it was about as well to kill and
+eat the remaining ponies as to let them die of
+starvation. A sort of apathy seemed to fall
+upon everybody, old and young, and the warriors
+hardly felt like doing any more hunting.
+Now at last they sat down to starve, without a
+dog or pony left, and with no prospect that game
+of any kind would come into camp to be killed.
+It is a curious fact, but whole bands of Indians,
+and sometimes whole tribes, get into precisely
+that sort of scrape almost every year. Now it is
+one band, and now it is another, and there would
+be vastly more of it if it were not for the United
+States Government.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing droll, nothing funny,
+nothing that was not savagely sad, about the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>Nez Perc&eacute;s' camp that September morning.
+Every member of the band, except two, was
+loafing around the lodges hopelessly and helplessly
+doing nothing, and miserably giving the
+matter up.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2 class="smcap">Chapter II</h2>
+
+<h2 class="smcap">A YOUNG HERO</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Away from the camp a long mile, and
+down in the edge of the dry, hot, desolate
+plain, there was a wide spread of sage-bushes.
+They were larger than usual, because of having
+ordinarily a better supply of water sent them
+from the mountains than if they had settled further
+out. In among such growths are apt to
+be found sage-hens and rabbits, and sometimes
+antelopes, but the warriors had decided that they
+had hunted out all of the game that had been
+there, and had given the bushes up. Two of
+the members of the band who were not warriors
+had not arrived at the same conclusion, and both
+of these were among the "sage-brush" that
+morning. The first had been greatly missed
+among the lodges, and had been much hunted
+for and shouted after, for he was the largest
+and most intelligent dog ever owned by that
+band. He was also about the ugliest ever owned
+by anybody, and his misfortunes had earned for
+him the name of One-eye. He could see more
+with the eye he had left&mdash;and it was his right&mdash;than
+any other animal they had ever had, or
+than most of the warriors. He saw what <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>became
+of the other dogs, for instance, and at once
+acquired a habit of not coming when an Indian
+called for him. He kept his eye about him all
+day, and was careful as to where he lay down.
+Just about the time when the ponies began to
+go into the camp-kettles he was a dog hard to
+find, although he managed to steal pony-bones
+and carry them away into the sage-brush. Perhaps
+it was for this reason that he was in even
+better condition than common that morning.
+He had no signs of famine about him, and he
+lay beside what was left of a jackass-rabbit,
+which he had managed to add to his stock of
+plunder. One-eye was a dog of uncommon
+sagacity; he had taken a look at the camp just
+before sunrise, and had confirmed his convictions
+that it was a bad place for him. He had
+been to the spring for water, drinking enough to
+last him a good while, and then he had made
+a race against time for the nearest bushes. He
+lay now with his sharp-pointed, wolfish ears
+pricked forward, listening to the tokens of another
+presence besides his own.</p>
+
+<p>Somebody else was there, but not in bodily
+condition to have made much of a race after
+One-eye. It was a well-grown boy of about
+fifteen years, and One-eye at once recognized
+him as his own particular master, but he was a
+very forlorn-looking boy. He wore no clothing,
+except the deer-skin "clout" that covered
+him from above his hips to the middle of his
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>thighs. He carried a light lance in one hand
+and a bow in the other, and there were arrows
+in the quiver slung over his shoulder. A
+good butcher-knife hung in its case by the thong
+around his waist, and he was evidently out on a
+hunting expedition. He was the one being,
+except One-eye, remaining in that band of Nez
+Perc&eacute;s, with life and energy enough to try and
+do something. He did not look as if he could
+do much. He was the son of the old chief in
+command of the band, but it was two whole days
+since he had eaten anything, and he had a faded,
+worn, drawn, hungry appearance, until you
+came to his black, brilliant eyes. These had an
+unusual fire in them, and glanced quickly, restlessly,
+piercingly in all directions. He might
+have been even good-looking if he had been well
+fed and well dressed, and he was tall and
+strongly built. Just such Indian boys grow up
+into the chiefs and leaders who make themselves
+famous, and get their exploits into the newspapers,
+but as yet this particular boy had not
+managed to earn for himself any name at all.
+Every Indian has to do something notable or
+have something memorable occur to him before
+his tribe gives him the honor of a distinguishing
+name. One-eye knew him, and knew that he
+was hungry and in trouble, but had no name
+for him except that he suggested a danger of the
+camp-kettle.</p>
+
+<p>There could be no doubt about that boy's
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>pluck and ambition, and he was a master for any
+dog to have been proud of as he resolutely and
+stealthily searched the sage-bushes. He found
+nothing, up to the moment when he came out
+into a small bit of open space, and then he suddenly
+stopped, for there was something facing
+him under the opposite bushes.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! One-eye."</p>
+
+<p>A low whine replied to him, and a wag of a
+dog's tail was added, but a watch was kept upon
+any motion he might make with his bow or
+lance.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! no. Not kill him," remarked the boy,
+after almost a minute of profound thinking.
+"Eat him? No dog then. All old fools. No
+dog hunt with. No pony. Starve. Keep One-eye.
+Try for rabbits."</p>
+
+<p>He called repeatedly, but his old acquaintance
+refused to come near him, whining a little
+but receding as the boy advanced.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! knows too much."</p>
+
+<p>It was a matter to lessen the value of One-eye
+that he understood his own interests, and his
+master ceased, wearily, his efforts to entice him.
+He pushed on through the bushes, but now he
+was instantly aware that One-eye was searching
+them with him, keeping at a safe distance, but
+performing regular hunter's duty. He even
+scared up a solitary sage-hen, but she did not fly
+within range of bow and arrow. She was an encouragement,
+however, and so were the remains
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>of the rabbit to which One-eye managed to pilot
+the way. They seemed like a promise of better
+things to come, and One-eye stood over them
+for a moment wagging his tail, as much as to say,</p>
+
+<p>"There; take that and let me up!"</p>
+
+<p>The boy picked up the rabbit and said several
+things to the dog in a clear, musical voice. He
+spoke the guttural, Nez Perc&eacute; dialect, which is
+one of the most difficult in the world, and One-eye
+seemed almost to understand him&mdash;and yet
+there are white boys of fifteen who stumble
+dreadfully over such easy tongues as Greek and
+Latin.</p>
+
+<p>The boy and dog seemed to be on better terms
+after that, and went on through the sage-brush
+towards where a straggling line of mesquite
+scrubs marked the plain. The dog was ranging
+the bushes right and left, while the boy slowly
+followed the narrow lane of an old, hard-beaten
+"buffalo path," with an arrow on the string,
+ready for anything that might turn up. They
+were nearly out of the mesquites when One-eye
+uttered a quick, sharp, low-voiced whine, which
+his master seemed to understand. It is not
+every dog that can whine in the Nez Perc&eacute; dialect,
+but the boy at once dropped upon his hands
+and knees and crept silently forward. He had
+been warned that something was the matter, and
+his natural instinct was to hide until he should
+discover what it might be. Again the dog whimpered,
+and the boy knew that he was hidden
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>ahead and beyond him. He crawled out of the
+trail and made his way under and through the
+bushes. He made no more sound or disturbance
+than a snake would have caused in doing the
+same thing, and in half a minute more he was
+peering out into the open country.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! buffalo!"</p>
+
+<p>His brilliant eyes served him well. Only an
+Indian or a dog would have rightly read the
+meaning of some very minute variations in the
+brown crest of a roll of the prairie, far away to
+the eastward. Only the keenest vision could
+have detected the fact that there was a movement
+in the low, dull line of desolation. Back
+shrank the boy, under the bushes at the side of
+the trail, and One-eye now had enough of restored
+confidence to come and crouch beside
+him. In a few minutes more the spots were
+noticeably larger, and it was plain that the buffalo
+were approaching and not receding. At
+another time and under different circumstances,
+even an Indian might have been unwise, and
+have tried to creep out and meet them, but the
+weakness of semistarvation brought with it a
+most prudent suggestion. It was manifestly
+better to lie still and let them come, so long as
+they were coming. There was no sort of fatigue
+in such a style of hunting, but there was a
+vast deal of excitement. It was a strain on any
+nerves, especially hungry ones, to lie still while
+those two great shaggy shapes came slowly out
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>upon the ridge. They did not pause for
+an instant, and there was no grass around
+them to give them an excuse for lingering.
+They were on their way after some, and
+some water, undoubtedly, and perhaps they
+knew a reason why there should be an ancient
+buffalo-trail in that direction, trodden by generation
+after generation of their grass-eating
+race. The boy was a born hunter, and knew
+that he was lurking in the right place, and he
+drew back farther and under deeper and more
+perfect cover, hardly seeming to breathe. One-eye
+did the same, had almost looked as if he
+wanted to put his paw over his mouth as he
+panted. On came the two bisons, and it was apparent
+soon that no more were following them.</p>
+
+<p>"Bull&mdash;cow," muttered the boy. "Get both.
+Laugh at old men then. Have name!"</p>
+
+<p>His black eyes flashed as he put his best arrow
+on the string and flattened himself upon the dry,
+hot earth. Nearer and nearer drew the gigantic
+game, and with steady, lumbering pace they
+followed the old trail. It was a breathless piece
+of business, but it was over at last. The bull
+was in front, and he was a splendid-looking
+old fellow, although somewhat thin in flesh.
+Neither he nor his companion seemed to have
+smelled or dreamed of danger, and they walked
+straight into it. The moment for action had
+come, and the boy's body rose a little, with a
+swift, pliant, graceful motion. With all the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>strength starvation had left in him he drew his
+arrow to the head. In another second it was
+buried to its very feathers in the broad
+breast of the buffalo bull, and the great
+animal stumbled forward upon his knees,
+pierced through the heart. The young
+hunter had known well the precise spot to
+aim at, and he had made a perfect shot. The
+cow halted for a moment, as if in amazement,
+and then charged forward along the trail.
+That moment had given the boy enough time to
+put another arrow on the string, and as she
+passed him he drove it into her just behind the
+shoulder, well and vigorously. Once more he
+had given a deadly wound, and now he caught
+up his lance. There was little need of it, but he
+could not be sure of that, and so, as the bull
+staggered to his feet in his death-struggle, he
+received a terrific thrust in the side and went
+down again. It was a complete victory, so far
+as the bull was concerned, and One-eye had
+darted away upon the path of the wounded cow.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! got both!" exclaimed the boy. "Have
+name now."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2 class="smcap">Chapter III</h2>
+
+<h2 class="smcap">A BRAVE NAME</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>One-eye followed the arrow-stricken cow,
+and he ran well. So did the cow, and
+she did not turn to the right or left from the old
+buffalo trail. There was but one road for either
+the trail or the cow or the dog, for the very
+formation of the land led them all into the mountains
+through the nook by the spring, and so by
+and by through the camp of the starving Nez
+Perc&eacute;s. On she went until, right in the middle
+of the camp and among the lodges, she stumbled
+and fell, and One-eye had her by the throat.</p>
+
+<p>It was time for somebody to wake up and do
+something, and a wiry-looking, undersized, lean-ribbed
+old warrior, with an immense head,
+whose bow and arrows had been hanging near
+him, at once rushed forward and began to make
+a sort of pin-cushion of that cow. He twanged
+arrow after arrow into her, yelling ferociously,
+and was just turning away to get his lance when
+a robust squaw, who had not been made very thin
+even by starvation, caught him by the arm,
+screeching,</p>
+
+<p>"Dead five times! What for kill any more?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>She held up a plump hand as she spoke, and
+spread her brown fingers almost against his nose.
+There was no denying it, but the victorious hunter
+at once struck an attitude and exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"No starve now, Big Tongue!"</p>
+
+<p>He had saved the whole band from ruin and
+he went on to say as much, while the warriors
+and squaws and smaller Indians crowded
+around the game so wonderfully brought within
+a few yards of their kettles. It was a grand occasion,
+and the Big Tongue was entitled to the
+everlasting gratitude of his nation quite as much
+as are a great many white statesmen and kings
+and generals who claim and in a manner get it.
+All went well with him until a gray-headed old
+warrior, who was examining the several arrows
+projecting from the side of the dead bison, came
+to one over which he paused thoughtfully.
+Then he raised his head, put his hand to his
+mouth, and sent forth a wild whoop of delight.
+He drew out the arrow with one sharp tug and
+held it up to the gaze of all.</p>
+
+<p>"Not Big Tongue. Boy!" For he was the
+father of the young hero who had faithfully
+stood up against hunger and despair and had
+gone for game to the very last. He was a proud
+old chief and father that day, and all that was
+left for the Big Tongue was to recover his own
+arrows as fast as he could for future use, while
+the squaws cut up the cow. They did it with a
+haste and skill quite remarkable, considering
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>how nearly dead they all were. The prospect
+of a good dinner seemed to put new life into
+them, and they plied their knives in half a dozen
+places at the same time.</p>
+
+<p>One-eye sat down and howled for a moment,
+and then started off upon the trail by which he
+had come.</p>
+
+<p>"Boy!" shouted the old chief. "All come.
+See what."</p>
+
+<p>Several braves and nearly all the other boys,
+one squaw and four half-grown girls at once followed
+him as he pursued the retreating form of
+One-eye. It was quite a procession, but some
+of its members staggered a little in their walk,
+and there was no running. Even the excitement
+of the moment could get no more than a
+rapid stride out of the old chief himself. He
+was well in advance of all others, and at the
+edge of the expanse of sage-brush in which One-eye
+disappeared he was compelled to pause for
+breath. Before it had fully come to him he
+needed it for another whoop of delight.</p>
+
+<p>Along the path in front of him, erect and
+proud, but using the shaft of his lance as a walking-stick,
+came his own triumphant boy hunter.
+Not one word did the youngster utter, but he
+silently turned in his tracks, beckoning his father
+to follow.</p>
+
+<p>It was but a few minutes after that and they
+stood together in front of the dead bull bison.
+The boy pointed at the arrow almost buried in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>the shaggy chest, and then he sat down; hunger
+and fatigue and excitement had done their work
+upon him, and he could keep his feet no longer.
+He even permitted One-eye to lick his hands and
+face in a way no Indian dog is in the habit of
+doing. Other warriors came crowding around
+the great trophy, and the old chief waited while
+they examined all and made their remarks.
+They were needed as witnesses of the exact state
+of affairs, and they all testified that this arrow,
+like the other, had been wonderfully well driven.
+The old chief sat down before the bull and
+slowly pulled out the weapon. He looked at
+it, held it up, streaming with the blood of the
+animal it had brought down, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Long Bear is a great chief. Great brave.
+Tell all people the young chief Two ARROWS.
+Boy got a name. Whoop!"</p>
+
+<p>The youngster was on his feet in a moment,
+and One-eye gave a sharp, fierce bark, as if he
+also was aware that something great had happened
+and that he had a share in it. It was
+glory enough for one day, and the next duty on
+hand was to repair the damages of their long
+fasting. Two Arrows and his dog walked
+proudly at the side of the Long Bear as he led
+the way back to the camp. No longer a nameless
+boy, he was still only in his apprenticeship;
+he was not yet a warrior, although almost to be
+counted as a "brave," as his title indicated. It
+would yet be a long time before he could be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>permitted
+to go upon any war-path, however he
+might be assured of a good pony when there
+should be hunting to be done.</p>
+
+<p>There had been all along an abundance of firewood,
+of fallen trees and dead mesquite-bushes,
+in the neighborhood of the camp, and there
+were fires burning in front of several lodges before
+the remainder of the good news came in.
+The cow had been thoroughly cut up, but the
+stern requirements of Indian law in such cases
+called for the presence of the chief and the leading
+warriors to divide and give out for use.
+Anything like theft or overreaching would have
+been visited with the sharp wrath of some very
+hungry men. The Big Tongue had seated himself
+in front of the "hump" and some other
+choice morsels, waiting the expected decision
+that they belonged to him. He also explained
+to all who could not help hearing him how surely
+that cow could have broken through the camp
+and escaped into the mountains if it had not been
+for him, until the same plump squaw pointed at
+the hump and ribs before him, remarking,
+cheerfully,</p>
+
+<p>"Go get arrow. Kill him again. Need
+some more. Boy kill him when he stood up."</p>
+
+<p>There was not strength left in the camp for
+a laugh, but the Big Tongue seemed to have
+wearied of the conversation. He looked wearier
+afterwards when the hump was unanimously
+assigned to the old chief's own lodge, that Two
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>Arrows might eat his share of it. Indian justice
+is a pretty fair article when it can be had at
+home, not interfered with by any kind of white
+man. The division was made to the entire satisfaction
+of everybody, after all, for the Big
+Tongue deserved and was awarded due credit
+and pay for his promptness. If the buffalo had
+not already been killed by somebody else, perhaps
+he might have killed it, and there was a
+good deal in that. He and his family had a
+very much encouraged and cheerful set of brown
+faces as they gathered around their fire and began
+to broil bits of meat over it.</p>
+
+<p>One fashion was absolutely without an exception,
+leaving out of the question the smaller
+pappooses: not one man, woman, or child but
+was diligently working away at a slice of raw
+meat, whatever else they were doing or trying to
+do. It was no time to wait for cookery, and it
+was wonderful what an enlivening effect the
+raw meat seemed to have.</p>
+
+<p>Indian etiquette required that Two Arrows
+should sit down before his father's lodge and
+patiently wait until his "token" should be given
+him. His first slice of meat was duly broiled
+by his mother, and handed him by his father,
+and he ate it in dignified silence. It was the
+proudest hour of his whole life thus far, and he
+well knew that the story would spread through
+the Nez Perc&eacute; nation and lead the old men of it
+to expect great things of him: it was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>beginning
+of fame, and it kindled in him a tremendous
+fever for more. His ambition grew and
+grew as his appetite went down, and his strength
+began to come back to him.</p>
+
+<p>It was a grand feast, and it was not long before
+there were braves and squaws ready to go
+and cut up the bull and bring every ounce of
+him to camp. Starvation had been defeated,
+and all that happiness had been earned by "Two
+Arrows."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter IV</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">THE MINING EXPEDITION</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The place away out upon the rolling plain,
+at which the unlucky hunting-camp of the
+Nez Perc&eacute; band had been pitched when the
+locusts visited them, was occupied again a few
+days after they left it. The new-comers were
+not Indians of any tribe but genuine white men,
+with an uncommonly good outfit for a small one.
+They were one of the hundreds of mining and
+exploring expeditions which every year set out
+for one range of mountains or another to try and
+find what there is in them. They are all sure
+to find a good deal of hard work, privation and
+danger, and some of them discover mines of
+gold and silver.</p>
+
+<p>This expedition consisted of two very strongly
+built but not heavy wagons, with canvas-covered
+tilts, and each drawn by four large
+mules. What was in the wagons except the
+drivers could only be guessed at, but riding at
+the side or ahead or behind them as they came
+towards the camping-place were six men and
+a boy. There were several spare horses and
+mules, and the whole affair looked as if it had
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>cost a good deal of money. It costs a great deal
+to bring up eight men and a boy so that these
+may be fairly included, but there were wide
+variations in the external garnishing of the
+riders and drivers.</p>
+
+<p>They had all been guided to that spot, partly
+by the general aim of their undertaking, partly
+by the trail they were following, and a good
+deal by a tall old fellow with a Roman nose and
+a long, muddy yellow beard, who rode in front
+upon a raw-boned, Roman-nosed sorrel mare,
+with an uncommon allowance of tail. When
+they reached that camping-ground it was not
+late in the afternoon, but it was not well to go
+on past a deep pool of water, surrounded by
+willows and cottonwood-trees, however little
+grass there was to be had in the neighborhood.
+They had found water and grass getting scarcer
+and scarcer for two or three days, and there was
+quite enough in the look of things to make men
+thoughtful. They knew nothing about the Nez
+Perc&eacute;s and the grasshoppers and the wicked old
+mule, but the tall man in front only looked
+around for one moment before he exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"I'd call it&mdash;Been some kind of Injins here
+lately. No game, I reckon, or they'd ha'
+stayed."</p>
+
+<p>"No kind of game'd stay long in such a
+burned-up country as this is," added a squarely
+made, gray-headed man who rode up alongside
+of him. "We've nothing to do but to push on.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>We must get out of this or we'll lose our whole
+outfit."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure as shootin'! I move we just unhitch
+long enough for a feed and a good drink, and
+lay in what water we can carry, and go on all
+night. There's a good moon to travel by, and
+it'll be cooler work for the critters."</p>
+
+<p>"It's our best hold. Sile, don't you gallop
+that horse of yours one rod. There's work
+enough before him. Save him up."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, father. But isn't this the camp?
+He can rest now."</p>
+
+<p>"No he can't, nor you either. It's an all-night
+job."</p>
+
+<p>Sile was not gray-headed. He was very
+nearly red-headed. Still, he looked enough like
+his father in several ways. He was broadly and
+heavily built, strong and hearty, with something
+in his merry, freckled face which seemed to indicate
+a very good opinion of himself. Boys
+of fourteen, or thereabout, who can ride and
+shoot, and who have travelled a little, are apt
+to get that kind of expression, and it never tells
+lies about them.</p>
+
+<p>Sile's horse was a roan, and looked like a fast
+one under a light weight like his. Just large
+enough not to be called "ponyish," and with
+signs of high spirit. The moment the youngster
+sprang from the saddle and began to remove it
+it became manifest that there was a good understanding
+between horse and boy. Any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>intelligent
+animal is inclined to make a pet of its master
+if it has a fair chance.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Hip, there isn't any grass, but you can
+make believe. I'll bring a nose-bag as soon as
+you've cooled off and have had a drink of
+water."</p>
+
+<p>He was as good as his word, and there were
+oats in the nose-bag when he brought it, and
+Hip shortly left it empty, but in less than two
+hours from that time the two tilted wagons were
+once more moving steadily onward towards the
+West and the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>There had been a hearty supper cooked and
+eaten, and there was not a human being in the
+party who seemed much the worse for fatigue.
+The spare horses and mules had taken the places
+of the first lot in harness, and it was plain that
+there was plenty of working power remaining,
+but there was a sort of serious air about the
+whole matter. The sun set after a while, and
+still, with occasional brief rests, the expedition
+pushed forward. It was a point to be noted
+that it travelled about twice as fast as the band
+of Nez Perc&eacute;s had been able to do after they had
+lost their ponies. It was not hampered by any
+heavily burdened foot-passengers. The moon
+arose, and now Sile was riding on in front with
+the muddy-bearded veteran.</p>
+
+<p>"Pine," said he, "s'pose we don't come to grass
+and water?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most likely we will before mornin', or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>before
+noon anyhow. If we don't, we must go
+on till we do."</p>
+
+<p>"Kill all the mules?"</p>
+
+<p>"They'll all die if we don't, sure's my name's
+Pine&mdash;Yellow Pine."</p>
+
+<p>"They can't stand it&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"They can stand anything but starvation.
+Did you ever try giving up water?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; did you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I did. I was glad to give up giving
+it up after a few days. It's the queerest feeling
+you ever had."</p>
+
+<p>"How'd it happen?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't feel like tellin' about it jest now.
+There's too good a chance for tryin' it again to
+suit me."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that so? Pine, do you know, I wish you'd
+tell me how they came to call you Yellow Pine."</p>
+
+<p>The fear of either thirst or hunger had plainly
+not yet fallen upon Sile, or he would not have
+asked that question just then. It sounded so
+much like fourteen years old and recklessness
+that the great, gaunt man turned in his saddle
+and looked at him.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd call it&mdash;Well, now, you're a customer.
+Some reckon it's my complexion, and I am
+turned kind o' yaller, but it ain't. It's my own
+name."</p>
+
+<p>"How'd you get it, anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"How? Well, my father was just like me;
+he was a wise man. He named me after his
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>brother, my uncle Ogden, and after Colonel
+Yell, that was killed in the Mexican war. So
+I'm Yell O. Pine, and nobody but you ever cared
+how it kem so."</p>
+
+<p>Sile was satisfied as to that one point, but
+there did not seem to be anything else on that
+prairie about which he was satisfied, and at last
+his companion remarked to him,</p>
+
+<p>"Now look here, Sile Parks, you go back and
+tell the judge, if I've got to answer questions for
+you all night, he'll hev to raise my wages. I'm
+thirsty with it now, and there's no water to
+spare."</p>
+
+<p>Sile was in no wise disconcerted, but rode back
+to the main body in excellent spirits. It was
+the first real danger of any sort that the expedition
+had encountered, and there was a keen excitement
+in it. He had read of such things, and
+now he was in one without the least idea in the
+world but what everything would come out all
+right, just as it does in a novel. Before midnight
+he had asked every other human being
+around him all the questions he could think of,
+and had dismounted four times to examine the
+grass at the wayside and see if it were of any
+better quality. Each time he was compelled to
+mount again and ride on to his father, "Chips."</p>
+
+<p>When bunch-grass gets to be so dry that it
+will crumble in the fingers it ceases to be of
+any use except to carry a prairie-fire in a great
+hurry. It will do that wonderfully, but it will
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>not do to feed animals on, and it was needful
+to have something better.</p>
+
+<p>When a halt was called, at about twelve
+o'clock, and a rest of two hours was decided on,
+the barrels of water in the wagons were drawn
+upon for only a moderate ration all around, and
+the animals plainly testified their eagerness for
+more. They were not at all distressed as yet,
+but they would have been if they had done that
+amount of work under sunshine. When the
+moment for again setting out arrived and the
+word was given, Judge Parks inquired,</p>
+
+<p>"Pine, where is Sile?"</p>
+
+<p>"Where? I'd call it&mdash;There he is on his
+blanket, sound asleep. I'll shake him up."</p>
+
+<p>"Do, while I put the saddle on his horse.
+Guess he's tired a little."</p>
+
+<p>A sharp shake of Sile's shoulder had to be
+followed by another, and then a sleepy voice
+responded,</p>
+
+<p>"Water? Why, Pine, there's a whole lake of
+it. Was you ever at sea?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sea be hanged! Git up; it's time to travel."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, halloo! I'm ready. I dreamed we'd
+got there. Riding so much makes me sleepy."</p>
+
+<p>He was quickly in the saddle again, and they
+went forward; but there were long faces among
+them at about breakfast-time that morning.
+They were halted by some clumps of sickly
+willows, and Yellow Pine said, mournfully,</p>
+
+<p>"Yer's where the redskins made their next
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>camp. They and their critters trod the pool
+down to nothin' and let the sun in onto it, and it's
+as dry as a bone. We're in for a hard time and
+no mistake."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter V</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A VERY OLD TRAIL</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>During all that was left of that happy day
+in the Nez Perc&eacute; camp there was an immense
+amount of broiling and boiling done.
+Whoever left the great business of eating enough
+and went and sat down or lay down got up again
+after a while and did some more remarkable
+eating. All the life of an Indian trains him for
+that kind of thing, for he goes on in a sort of continual
+vibration from feast to famine.</p>
+
+<p>All the other boys in camp were as hungry as
+Two Arrows, and as their hunger went down
+their envy of him went up; he had suddenly
+stepped ahead of them and had become an older
+boy in a moment. It was very much as if a boy
+of his age in the "settlements" had waked up,
+some fine morning, with a pair of mustaches and
+a military title, uniform and all.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows was entitled to strut a little, and
+so was One-eye, but for some reason neither of
+them was inclined to anything but eating and lying
+down. One-eye may have felt lonely, for he
+found himself the only dog in all that camp, and
+he knew very well what had become of the dogs
+he used to know: they had gone to the famine,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>and there had been no sort of funeral ceremonies,
+and now there could be no kind of neighborly
+quarrel over bones any more. There was a reason,
+why One-eye should attach himself more
+closely than ever to his master and follow his
+every movement. They had killed two buffaloes
+in company, and there was no telling
+what they might or might not yet do if they kept
+together.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows found the effects of his long fasting
+rapidly passing away, but he was like everybody
+else and needed a big sleep. One-eye had
+the only eye that did any watching all that night,
+and nobody but the fat squaw was up very early
+next morning. Her next company was the Big
+Tongue, and he at once began to talk about the
+game he intended to kill, now he had had something
+to eat. Two Arrows might not have been
+the next riser if it had not been for a friendly tug
+from One-eye, but the moment he was awake he
+knew that he was hungry again. He was hungry,
+but he was silent, and it was plain that he
+was thinking about something uncommonly interesting.
+He stood in front of his father's
+lodge, waiting for the breakfast that was now
+sure to come, when a light hand was laid upon
+his arm and a soft musical voice exclaimed,
+triumphantly,</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows! Name!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh," said he. "Na-tee-kah."</p>
+
+<p>He hardly looked around, but the pleasantest
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>face in all that band was smiling upon him. It
+bore a strong resemblance to his own, and belonged
+to an Indian girl a year or so younger
+than himself. She was well grown, slender,
+and graceful, and had a pair of eyes as brilliant
+as his, but a great deal more gentle and kindly
+in their expression. They lacked the restless,
+searching, eager look, and his, indeed were
+quieter than they had been the day before.</p>
+
+<p>"Got plenty to eat now," she said. "Not
+starve to death any more."</p>
+
+<p>"Eat all up," replied he. "Fool! Starve
+again, pretty soon."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Long Bear and old men say, keep all
+there is left. Work to-day. Dry meat. Go
+hunting somewhere else. Not stay here."</p>
+
+<p>There was a little more talk that indicated a
+very fair degree of affection between the brother
+and sister, and then Two Arrows said to her,</p>
+
+<p>"Keep tongue very still. Come."</p>
+
+<p>She followed him to the lower edge of the
+camp, and he silently pointed her to the place
+where the old buffalo trail came in.</p>
+
+<p>"Great many make that. Long time. All
+know why."</p>
+
+<p>"The cow came in there."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! now come."</p>
+
+<p>She followed him now to the upper end of the
+camp, and he pointed again to the trail, deeply
+and plainly made, going on into the gorges of the
+mountains.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>"Buffalo go that way; Two Arrows follow.
+Say no word. Not find him pretty soon."</p>
+
+<p>That was the meaning of all his thoughtfulness.
+He meant to set off on a hunt of his own
+planning, without asking permission of anybody.
+Two days earlier he would not have dreamed of
+such a piece of insubordination. Now he had
+won his right to do that very thing, and he
+meant to take advantage of it instantly. All the
+young ambition in him had been stirred to the
+boiling point, and his only remaining anxiety
+was to get a good supply of provisions and get
+out of the camp without being seen by anybody.
+He could look out for his weapons, including
+several of his father's best arrows, and Na-tee-kah
+at once promised to steal for him all the
+meat he wanted. She went right into his plan
+with the most sisterly devotion, and her eyes
+looked more and more like his when she next
+joined her mother and the other squaws at their
+camp-fire. There was no doubt but what her
+brother would have his marching rations supplied
+well, and of the best that was to be had.</p>
+
+<p>There was no need for Two Arrows to steal
+from Long Bear. What between pride and
+buffalo meat the old chief was ready to give or
+rather lend him anything, and he deemed it his
+heroic son's day to parade and show off. He
+was entitled to do so with the best weapons in
+his father's collection. The day would surely
+come when he would be allowed to paint <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>himself
+and do a great many other things belonging
+to full-grown braves and warriors. It was even
+lawful for him to wear a patch or two of paint
+now, and Na-tee-kah helped him to put it on.
+If he had been a white boy with his first standing-collar,
+he could not have been more particular,
+and every other boy in camp had something
+to say to the others about the fit of that vermilion.</p>
+
+<p>It was a day of drying and smoking meat,
+and of eating as much as the older men permitted,
+and everybody wore an aspect of extreme
+good-humor except One-eye and his master.
+The dog and the boy alike kept away from the
+camp-fires and from all grown-up Indians.
+Towards the middle of the afternoon, Na-tee-kah
+slipped quietly out at the upper end of the
+camp, carrying her own buckskin sack nearly
+full of something, and nobody thought of asking
+her what there might be in it. She had not
+been gone many minutes before anybody loafing
+at that end of the camp might have seen her
+brother was following her. He had been standing
+near the spring for some time, in full rig,
+for the other boys to admire him, and now he
+walked dignifiedly away as if he were weary
+of being looked at. Half a mile farther up the
+rugged valley he caught up with Na-tee-kah,
+and she returned to camp without her bead-worked
+sack. There was nothing at all noticeable
+in the whole affair, unless some suspicious
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>person had been closely watching them. It
+was after sunset before there was any special
+inquiry for Two Arrows, and it was dark before
+Na-tee-kah expressed her belief that he had
+"gone hunt." She replied freely to every question
+asked her, well knowing that there would
+be no pursuit, but she was more than a little relieved
+when the old chief, instead of getting
+angry about it, swelled up proudly and remarked,</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows! young brave. All like father,
+some day. Kill more buffalo."</p>
+
+<p>Then Na-tee-kah felt courage to speak about
+the trail and her brother's reasoning as to where
+it might lead to. She had her ears boxed for
+that, as it had a sound of giving advice to her
+elders, but it was not long before her father
+gravely informed a circle of the warriors and
+braves that the path pointed out by the buffalo
+cow was the one by which they must seek for
+more like her. It was very easy to convince
+them that they could do nothing upon the dry,
+sunburnt plains, or by staying to starve again
+in that camp. The objection made by Big
+Tongue that nobody knew where that old trail
+might carry them was met by Long Bear conclusively.
+He picked up a dry pony-bone that
+lay on the ground and held it out to Big Tongue.</p>
+
+<p>"All other trail go this way. Know all about
+it. Been there."</p>
+
+<p>It was enough. It was better to follow an
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>unknown trail than to starve, and it was not long
+before it leaked out that Two Arrows was
+believed to have gone ahead of them on that
+very road.</p>
+
+<p>Precisely how far he had gone nobody had
+any idea. They would hardly have believed if
+he had sent back word, for he had travelled
+most diligently. There were no longer any
+traces of starvation about him, except that he
+carried no superfluous weight of flesh. He had
+load enough, what with his provisions and his
+weapons, but he did not seem to mind it. He
+tramped right along, with a steady, springy step,
+which told a good deal of his desire to get as
+far away from camp as he could before his
+absence should be discovered.</p>
+
+<p>For a little distance he had found the trail
+rising gently with the land. Then it turned to
+the left and went up and over a rocky hill, and
+then it turned to the right again, and just about
+sunset it looked for all the world as if it were
+running right into the side of a great precipice
+of the mountain range. The light of the sinking
+sun fell clearly and brightly upon the grand
+masses of quartz and granite rocks, and showed
+him the very point where the pathway seemed
+to end. It looked so, but Two Arrows knew
+that you cannot cut off the end of a buffalo path
+in that way, and he pushed on, every moment
+finding the way steeper and more winding. He
+could not make any "short cuts" over such
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>ground as that, and every Indian boy knows a
+fact which the white engineers of the Pacific
+Railway found out for themselves&mdash;that is, that a
+herd of buffaloes will always find the best passes
+through mountain ranges, and then they will
+go over them by the best and easiest grades.
+Only by bridging a chasm, or blasting rocks, or
+by much digging, did the railway men ever improve
+upon the paths pointed out by the bisons.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows had carefully marked his point,
+and just as the last rays of daylight were leaving
+him he sat down to rest in the mouth of what
+was little better than a wide "notch" in the side
+of the vast barrier.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! pass," he said.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter VI</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A THIRSTY MARCH</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>That was a hard day's toil for the mining
+expedition. It was the second day of
+feasting by the Nez Perc&eacute;s upon the game won
+by Two Arrows, but there was no feasting done
+by Judge Parks and his men. Even Sile had
+no more questions to ask, and at nightfall their
+scanty supply of water was nearly gone. Every
+old watercourse and even "tow-heads" of dying
+bushes that they came to did but each give them
+another disappointment. The animals were
+holding out well, with frequent rests, for they
+had been taken care of even at the expense of
+the human beings.</p>
+
+<p>Just before sunset, as they were plodding
+wearily along, Yellow Pine drew his rein, turned
+in his saddle, and pointed away across the plain
+in advance and to the right of them, exclaiming,</p>
+
+<p>"Redskins!"</p>
+
+<p>There was no mistake about it. In a few
+minutes more a pretty long line of pony-riders
+could be seen travelling steadily southward.</p>
+
+<p>"Will they attack us, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess not. We are too strong, even if they
+were hostile."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>"They won't make any muss," said Pine, confidently,
+as he again rode forward. "There's
+only some two dozen on 'em, and it isn't a good
+time for a fight."</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that the two lines of travel,
+crossing each other at right angles, would bring
+the white and red men pretty near each other,
+and the latter even went out of their way to have
+it so. Sile all but forgot how thirsty he was
+when the train approached the straggling array
+of lances, and a bare-headed warrior rode out
+to meet Yellow Pine. The Roman-nosed sorrel
+mare sniffed at the pony as if she would have
+preferred a bucket of water, and the two riders
+held out their hands.</p>
+
+<p>"How?" said Pine.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! bad. No water. How?"</p>
+
+<p>A significant motion of his hand towards his
+mouth accompanied the response, and Pine made
+one like it. Then he pointed at the wagons, and
+again towards the west, and made motions as if
+he were digging. The Indian understood, and
+nodded and pointed at himself:</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Kiowa."</p>
+
+<p>He made a motion as if pulling a bow, pointed
+southward and pretended to drink something,
+but when he turned his finger towards the west
+he shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"How?" said Pine again, and the two shook
+hands and all the Kiowas rode on as if they were
+in a hurry.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>"That's a pretty bad report," said Pine to
+Judge Parks, and Sile muttered to himself:</p>
+
+<p>"Why, he hardly uttered a word."</p>
+
+<p>"What does he say?" asked his father.</p>
+
+<p>"Worst kind," said Pine. "He says they have
+been hunting northerly for several weeks.
+Little game, and the drought driving it all away.
+He doubts if we find any water between here
+and the mountains. Hopes to reach it by to-morrow
+night in the direction he's taking. The
+rest of his band are down there now."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he say all that?" exclaimed Sile in
+amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"You wasn't a-watchin' of him. I told him
+what I thought about it and what we meant to
+do. Tell you what, my boy, if you're to meet
+many redskins you've got to learn sign language.
+It beats words all holler."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I did see his hands and yours a-going."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and his face and mine too, and elbows
+and legs. It's as easy as fallin' off a log when
+you once get the hang of it."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think we had better do after
+that?" asked Judge Parks.</p>
+
+<p>"Read our own signs. Push on for water till
+we get some. It can't be more'n one day, now.
+I know just about where I am. Risk my life
+on it."</p>
+
+<p>So they went forward, but that night had to
+be taken for rest and the morning found men
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>and horses in a terrible plight. Not one drop
+of water had they left, and all they had been
+able to do for the horses and mules had been
+to sponge their parched mouths. They had
+camped near some trees and bushes, as usual,
+and it was just about daylight that Yellow Pine
+came to wake up his employer.</p>
+
+<p>"Look a' here, jedge. I was too much played
+out to find it last night, but here it is. Come."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what is it?" asked the judge, a moment
+later.</p>
+
+<p>Yellow Pine was pointing at a broad, deeply
+trodden, flinty looking rut in the surface of the
+prairie.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the old bufler path I follered last
+year, when I went into the mountains, or I'm
+the worst sold man you ever saw. It led me
+jest to where we all want to go, 'zackly as I told
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better hitch up and follow it now,
+then."</p>
+
+<p>"We had. It'll take us west on a bee-line,
+and it'll go to all the chances for water there
+are."</p>
+
+<p>The buffaloes could safely be trusted for that,
+and before the sun was up the mining party was
+following the very path which had led the big
+game within reach of Two Arrows and One-eye.
+It was less than two hours afterwards,
+without anybody to carry a report of it to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>anybody
+else, that the whole Nez Perc&eacute; camp disappeared,
+and all its human occupants also took
+the advice of the buffaloes. It was necessary to
+carry all the meat they had, and all the pappooses,
+and a number of other things, and so it
+had not been possible to take all the lodges
+with their lodge-poles. Two of the smaller and
+lighter found bearers, but there were not squaws
+enough for the rest, and a sort of hiding-place
+was made for them among the rocks until they
+could be sent for. Indians on a journey load
+their ponies first, then their squaws, then the
+boys, but never a "brave" unless it is a matter
+of life and death. A warrior would as soon
+work for a living as carry a burden. It never
+takes long to break up an Indian hunting-camp,
+for there are no carpets or stoves or beds or
+pianos, and the band of Long Bear was on its
+way after Two Arrows and his dog in remarkably
+short order.</p>
+
+<p>Judge Parks and his men and all his outfit
+would have travelled better and more cheerfully
+if they could have set out from beside a
+good spring of water. As it was, the best they
+could do was to dream of finding one before
+they should try to sleep again.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," said Sile, at about twelve o'clock,
+"are we to stop anywhere for dinner? I'm
+getting husky."</p>
+
+<p>"So is everybody. Imitate old Pine; he's
+chewing something."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>"All the men have stopped chewing tobacco;
+they say it makes 'em thirstier."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it does. Try a chip or a piece of
+leather or a bit of meat&mdash;not salt meat."</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't anything else."</p>
+
+<p>"The less we eat the better, till we get something
+to drink."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll all die, at this rate."</p>
+
+<p>"Stand it through, my boy. I hope Pine is
+right about his trail and where it leads to."</p>
+
+<p>He seemed confident enough about it, at any
+rate, and he and his Roman-nosed mare kept
+their place steadily at the head of the little
+column. So he was always the first to examine
+a hole or a hollow and look back and shake his
+head to let the rest know that it contained no
+water.</p>
+
+<p>The sun seemed to shine hotter and hotter,
+and not a living creature made its appearance
+upon the dry and desolate plain. Away in the
+western horizon, at last, some dim and cloud-like
+irregularities began to show themselves, and
+Sile urged his weary horse to the side of his
+father, pointing at them.</p>
+
+<p>"Will there be some rain?" he asked, in a dry
+and husky whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor boy! are you so thirsty as that?
+Those are the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>Sile's mind distinctly connected the idea of
+mountains with that of water, and he took off
+his hat and swung it, vainly trying to hurrah.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>"They're a long way off yet, but we can get
+there. Old Pine is right."</p>
+
+<p>It was wonderfully good news, but every man
+had been allowed to gather it for himself. Nobody
+cared to say an unnecessary word to anybody
+else. It was impossible to tell the horses,
+and the poor brutes were suffering painfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon they'll hold out," said Pine; "but
+they'll only jest do it. We're making the tightest
+kind of a squeeze."</p>
+
+<p>So they were, and it grew tighter and tighter
+as they went on. Sile managed finally to get
+up to Yellow Pine in the advance, and whisper,</p>
+
+<p>"Were you ever any thirstier than this in all
+your life?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir! This isn't much. Wait till you
+know yer tongue's a-turnin' to a dry sponge and
+there's coals of fire on the back of yer neck.
+Keep your courage up, my boy."</p>
+
+<p>Sile had done so. His father had said a good
+deal to him about the pluck with which young
+Indians endured that sort of thing, and he had
+determined to show "Indian blood," as if he had
+some in him. It was the hardest kind of hard
+work, and it kept him all the while thinking of
+rivers and lakes and ice and even lemonade.
+At last he saw a sage-hen, and he said to Pine,</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't that a sign of water?"</p>
+
+<p>"Them things never drink," said Pine
+"When you come to eat 'em they need to be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>b'iled twice. They're jest the driest bird there
+is. There's the mountains, though."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh dear me!" groaned Sile. "But they're
+getting bigger, and perhaps we'll reach 'em some
+time."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter VII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">THE GREAT CA&Ntilde;ON</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>It was not yet dark when Two Arrows and
+One-eye halted at the mouth of the pass.
+One-eye looked forward and whined, but his
+master looked back and thought the matter over.
+He had travelled well and over some pretty
+rough ground, but the trail had been wide and
+well marked. It was almost like a road, so far
+as room went, but Two Arrows knew nothing of
+wheels, neither did that trail. He was considering
+the curious fact that not a man of his band
+knew that such a path existed or where it led to.
+It was something to set his ambition on fire only
+to have discovered and followed anything so
+new and remarkable. It was a deed for an old
+brave rather than for a boy of fifteen. He
+needed rest, but when he again turned and
+looked into the pass he at once arose and walked
+on.</p>
+
+<p>"Dark soon. Maybe can't walk then. Do
+some more before that," said Two Arrows.</p>
+
+<p>He was in a spot worth looking at. Some
+old-time convulsion of nature had cleft the
+mountain barrier at that place so that giant walls
+of rock arose on either side of him for hundreds
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>of feet, almost perpendicularly. For some distance
+ahead the cleft was nearly straight, and
+its gravelly bottom was from ten to thirty yards
+wide. There were not many rocky fragments
+or bowlders, but it was evident that at some
+seasons of the year torrents of water came pouring
+through that gorge to keep it clean.</p>
+
+<p>"When snow melts," muttered Two Arrows,
+"pretty bad place."</p>
+
+<p>No doubt, or after any great storm or "cloud-burst"
+among the peaks beyond; but all was dry
+as a bone now. It was sure to become dark early
+in such a chasm as that, and there was no telling
+how much need there might be for seeing the
+way. On went the young explorer until he
+came to a point where the chasm suddenly
+widened. It was a gloomy sort of hollow and
+littered with fragments of trees, drift-wood of
+old torrents.</p>
+
+<p>"Camp," said Two Arrows to One-eye.
+"Make fire."</p>
+
+<p>If a dog could use flint and steel, no doubt
+One-eye would have obeyed; as it was, Two
+Arrows had to attend to that business for himself,
+and it was not long before a great blazing
+fire of mountain pine was throwing flashes of
+magnificent light upon the mighty precipices in
+all directions. The gray granite stood out like
+shadows, and the white quartz glittered marvellously,
+but the Nez Perc&eacute; boy had no time to
+admire them. He had his supper to cook and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>eat, and he had found some water in a hollow
+of the rocks; no sunshine hot enough to dry it
+up had ever found its way down there. Then
+drift-wood was gathered to keep some sort of a
+blaze burning all night. There was no danger
+from human enemies in that utter solitude, but
+there were wild beasts among the mountains;
+night would be their prowling-time, and not
+one among them would venture too near a fire.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows was well entitled to a sound
+sleep, and he had one; when he awoke, in the
+earliest gray of the next morning, the world was
+in fair daylight everywhere outside of that deep
+crack in the mountains. He ate heartily and at
+once pushed on, determined to have some fresh
+game before night if possible. Such thoughts
+as he sent back to the Nez Perc&eacute; camp did not
+include the idea that it was already breaking up
+to follow him; still less did he have any imagination
+of thirsty white people toiling across
+a waterless plain along that buffalo trail.</p>
+
+<p>He was in no danger of losing the way, for
+his path was walled in for him. Towards midday
+it ceased to go up, up, up, and the chasm
+widened into a great rocky ca&ntilde;on of wonderful
+ruggedness and beauty. Two Arrows had been
+among the mountains before, in other ranges,
+and this seemed to him very much like what he
+might have expected. Now, however, the trail
+turned to the right and picked its way along the
+steep side of the varying slopes. Here it was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>wider and there it was narrower, until it came to
+a reach of natural roadway that even a bison
+must have hunted for before he found it. Away
+up it went in zigzags, seeming to take skilful
+advantage of every natural help it came to, and
+then it shot along the mountain-side for a thousand
+feet, traversing a mere ledge, where one
+formation of rock projected out below another
+and made a shelf for it to go upon. If a man
+had fallen from that shelf he would have gone
+down a tremendous depth upon jagged rocks at
+the bottom of the ca&ntilde;on.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows wasted no time in useless observations
+or admiration. Where herd after herd
+of wild cattle had tramped before him he could
+surely follow, and at the end of that ledge the
+road began to descend. The descent was
+gradual, and uncommonly free from breakages.
+It led, before a great while, once more to the
+bottom of the gorge. Several times Two Arrows
+saw "big-horn" or Rocky Mountain sheep
+among the rocks above him, far out of the reach
+of his arrows. He felt a longing for antelope
+venison, but there was no use in trying to catch
+one of those fellows. Hotter than anything else
+he felt the fever and fire of his ambition, stirring
+him to push on and do more than he had ever
+heard of as done by any other boy of his age
+among all the bands of his nation. It made him
+walk fast and firmly in the bracing mountain air,
+and he drew his breath somewhat quickly at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>times, when he thought of the wonderful things
+which might be before him. He had no watch,
+but just as the sun stood nearly over his head,
+or, rather, over the middle of the great gorge,
+he could see that this was beginning to grow
+broader and not so steep. It was promising to
+lead out into something, and One-eye dashed
+on ahead as if to ascertain what it might be.
+Two Arrows stood still for a moment and
+watched him, and then he started as if something
+had pricked him. The dog was crouching
+and creeping as if he had his remaining eye
+upon game of some sort or on danger. His
+master also crouched and crept, slipping forward
+rapidly from rock to rock. In three
+minutes more he lay beside One-eye, and they
+both had something worth while to look at.
+Not more than three hundred yards beyond
+them, on the crest of a rocky ledge that came
+out from the mountain-side like an abutment,
+stood a big-horn antelope. He had seen One-eye
+and was looking at him. He may have been
+studying whether or not it could be needful for
+an antelope away up where he was to spring
+away any farther from a dog and an Indian boy.
+He had better have been looking behind him
+and above him, for his real danger was not in
+the quiver of Two Arrows; it was crouching
+upon a higher fragment of the very ledge which
+held him, and it was preparing for immediate
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>action. It was a cougar, or American panther,
+of full size, on the watch for antelopes, and now
+had crept almost within springing distance.
+Two Arrows laid his hand upon the head of
+One-eye to keep him silent, and watched breathlessly
+to see the end of that hunting. Nearer
+and nearer crept the cougar, and still the big-horn
+was absorbed in his study of matters down
+below. He stepped forward to the very edge,
+and below him the rock came down with a
+perpendicular face of a hundred feet. There
+was no danger that he would grow dizzy, but
+even the cougar would have done wisely to have
+ascertained beforehand the precise nature of the
+trap set for him. As it was, he gathered his
+lithe and graceful form for his leap, every
+muscle quivering with eagerness, and he put all
+his strength into one great, splendid bound. It
+was as sure as a rifle-shot, and it landed him
+upon the shoulders of the big-horn. He had
+seized his prize, but he had done too much: he
+had fallen with a weight and force which sent
+him and his antelope irresistibly over the rocky
+edge, and down, down, down they came together
+with a great thud upon the granite below.</p>
+
+<p>"Whoop!" The voice of Two Arrows ringing
+through the gorge was joined by the fierce
+bark of One-eye as they sprang forward. An
+older warrior might have waited to know the
+effect of that fall before he interfered between
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>a cougar and his game, but Two Arrows did
+not think of hesitation. It was just as well.
+What between the blow of the cougar and the
+force of the fall, the big-horn was dead. He
+had somewhat broken the effect of the terrible
+shock upon his enemy by falling under him, but
+even the tough body of the great "cat o' mountain"
+had not been made for such plunges, and
+he lay on the rock stunned and temporarily disabled.
+Whether it would, after all, have killed
+him, he was never to know, for, just as he was
+staggering to his feet, a Nez Perc&eacute; Indian boy
+charged upon him with a long lance, while a
+large and ambitious dog rushed in and seized
+him by the throat. He was taken at an advantage.</p>
+
+<p>Thrust, thrust, thrust, in fiercely rapid succession,
+came the keen blade of the lance, and
+One-eye bore down and throttled a brute that
+could have killed four such dogs in anything
+like a fair fight.</p>
+
+<p>It was tremendous hunting for a boy of fifteen.
+A cougar to bring down his antelope for
+him, and a precipice to help him kill his cougar,
+and only just enough work for his lance and dog
+to entitle him to the honor of closing, single-handed,
+with one of the most dangerous of wild
+animals. He had done that very thing, nevertheless,
+and was entitled to all the credit of it.
+If he had waited to consider the matter, he might
+have had a much harder fight for it. What
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>was more, his energy and enterprise and endurance
+had resulted in bringing him to the right
+place at the right time, instead of somewhere
+else.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">WATER! WATER!</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>By the time the band of Nez Perc&eacute;s was well
+on its way, the Big Tongue had persuaded
+himself that the movement was in large part
+a following of his own advice. He felt very
+free to say as much in the presence of several
+squaws. He even ruffled up and looked large
+when Na-tee-kah laughed and turned away her
+head. She was too young to say anything in
+reply to a grown-up brave, but just behind her
+was the fat squaw, and her tongue was habitually
+more at liberty.</p>
+
+<p>"Kill cow same way," said she. "Two
+Arrows kill him first; then Big Tongue. Great
+brave!"</p>
+
+<p>Big Tongue turned upon her almost fiercely,
+exclaiming.</p>
+
+<p>"Squaw no talk!"</p>
+
+<p>"Big Tongue keep still. Squaw-boy beat him.
+Big Tongue shoot arrows into dead cow. Ha-ha-pah-no
+not afraid of squaw-brave."</p>
+
+<p>Ha-ha-pah-no had a tongue and a reputation
+for it, and the Big Tongue did not threaten her
+any more. Too many squaws and girls joined
+in the laugh against him. Perhaps the fact that
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>Ha-ha-pah-no had a husband over six feet high
+had something to do with it, and that Na-tee-kah
+was the only daughter of Long Bear. It was
+not safe to quarrel overmuch with either of them.
+They were almost as safe as a large dog is if he
+is known to be quick-tempered. Nobody kicks
+him.</p>
+
+<p>There was an attempt made at pretty fast
+travelling, for all the wise warriors knew that
+the tramp across the mountains must be a hard
+one, however good the trail might be, and there
+were a good many very sober faces among them.
+They had lost their horses and their dogs, and
+now they were leaving behind them a great many
+other things, and they felt as if hard times had
+come. Starvation is a very severe school-master.</p>
+
+<p>So, for that matter, is thirst, even if provisions
+are plentiful, and Sile Parks learned a great
+lesson of endurance that day. His father had
+not uttered a word of complaint. Yellow Pine
+had not murmured, and when Sile said to him,</p>
+
+<p>"All the men seem to stand it the very best
+kind," he had all but contemptuously replied,</p>
+
+<p>"Them? Why, every soul on 'em's an old
+mountain man. Not a greenhorn or a tenderfoot
+among 'em. You won't catch one on 'em
+a whimperin', not if they die for it."</p>
+
+<p>So there were other men besides red Indians
+who were able to suffer and be silent, and Sile
+tried hard to be that kind of man; but long before
+sunset he felt as if he were choking.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>The mountains to the westward loomed up
+larger and less cloudily as the worn-out teams
+were urged forward. The trail pointed steadily
+towards them, and Yellow Pine unhesitatingly
+asserted that they were on the right track.</p>
+
+<p>"No mistake about it, jedge. It ain't no common
+cross-prairie trail. It's one of their old
+migration tracks. They've been a treadin' of it
+sence the year one."</p>
+
+<p>The "year one" was a good while ago, but a
+good deal of hard tramping, by many bisons,
+year after year, had been required to make that
+ancient cattle-path. No grass had grown upon
+it for nobody could guess how many generations,
+and it was likely to be in the way of ploughing
+whenever that plain should be turned into farming-land.</p>
+
+<p>The greatest care was taken of the animals,
+those in the traces being taken out and changed
+frequently, and at last all the riders dismounted
+and led their horses. Yellow Pine every now
+and then went around and examined to see how
+things were looking, and Sile went with him.</p>
+
+<p>"They'll stan' it, every critter of 'em," he said,
+repeatedly. "They're all good stock; good condition.
+I picked 'em out."</p>
+
+<p>"Your mare is the ugliest in the lot," said Sile,
+recklessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Best though. Out-walk, out-run, and out-starve
+any critter in the outfit, 'cepting me."</p>
+
+<p>"Can you out-travel a horse?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>"Course I can&mdash;most horses. I don't know
+'bout the old mare. She can out-travel anything.
+She's good tempered, too; knows just
+when it's the right time to kick and break things.
+Oh but can't she tear, though!"</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her affectionately, as if her very
+temper were one of her virtues, and she glanced
+back at him, showing the whites of her eyes
+in a way that indicated anything but a placid
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>"She's always riley when she doesn't get
+plenty to drink," said Pine, "but she hasn't
+kicked once in all this. Knows it isn't any fault
+of mine. We'll git there, old lady. Don't you
+go off the handle."</p>
+
+<p>Another hour and the mountains were very
+tall, and looked cool, and seemed to promise all
+sorts of things.</p>
+
+<p>"The mines we are after are in among 'em,"
+said Judge Parks to his son. "Our trip across
+the plains has been a quick one; all the quicker
+for this push."</p>
+
+<p>"Hope there'll be a good spring of water right
+in the edge of them," said Sile, but his voice was
+huskier than ever and he was struggling against
+a feeling of faintness.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor fellow!" said the judge to himself. "I
+mustn't say too much to him. It's an awful time
+for me."</p>
+
+<p>So it was, for every now and then the thought
+would come to him,</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>"What if, after all, we should not find water
+when we get there?"</p>
+
+<p>The sun sank lower and lower, and now at
+last Yellow Pine stood still and leaned against
+his mare, pointing forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Jedge! Jedge&mdash;there they are!"</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Pine?"</p>
+
+<p>The judge could hardly speak, and Sile had
+such a ringing in his ears that he could hardly
+hear, but Yellow Pine gasped out,</p>
+
+<p>"Them there mesquite scrubs. I was just a
+beginning to say to myself, what if I'd mistook
+the lay of the land, and there they are. I went
+through 'em last spring was a year ago. It's
+all right!"</p>
+
+<p>The men tried hard to cheer, but it was of
+no manner of use. All they could do was to
+plod on and drag their horses after them. The
+teams in the wagons halted again and again,
+panting and laboring, and every slight roll of
+the plain was a tremendous obstacle, but all was
+overcome, inch by inch.</p>
+
+<p>Yellow Pine had evidently felt his responsibility
+as guide more deeply than he had been
+willing to confess. He led on now with his
+mouth open and panting, for he had given his
+own last ration of water to Sile Parks and was
+thirstier than the rest of them. So, for that
+matter, had Sile's father, but some men suffer
+more from thirst than others and the judge had
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>held out remarkably. Just inside the range of
+mesquites Yellow Pine stopped short.</p>
+
+<p>"Bufler been killed here inside of two days,"
+he exclaimed. "Must be Indians nigh, somewhere.
+Keep an eye out, boys."</p>
+
+<p>It was no time for any caution that included
+delay, and he walked on like a man who knew
+exactly where he was, and all followed him, the
+men cutting away the bushes here and there to
+let the wagons pass more easily. On, on, until
+at last Yellow Pine reached the spring.</p>
+
+<p>"Here it is," he said faintly, and then he lay
+down by it and began to drink slowly, using his
+hand for a cup.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys," said Judge Parks, "be careful how
+you drink too much at first. Take it easy.
+Sponge the mouths of the horses and then let
+them have a little at a time. Sile, my poor boy,
+come with me."</p>
+
+<p>Sile was making a tremendous effort. He
+had been doing it all day. He almost wanted
+to cry when he saw that spring of water. Then
+he wanted to laugh, but his mouth was too dry
+for that. All he could do was to smile in a
+sickly sort of way and take the cup his father
+held out to him. There was only a little water
+in the bottom of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh father, give me some more."</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet, Sile. Sit right down and wait till
+you get the effect of that. Hold it in your mouth
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>before you swallow it. I don't mean to let you
+kill yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"Aha! But isn't it good? There isn't anything
+else quite so good as water."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a fact, Sile, but it's like a great many
+other good things, you don't know the value of
+it until you've had to go without it."</p>
+
+<p>A full hour was spent in getting men and
+animals ready to drink without injury, and
+Yellow Pine at last declared, triumphantly,</p>
+
+<p>"Jedge, we've won the riffle; we won't lose a
+hoof. All the men are doing first-rate too.
+This 'ere's my old campin'-ground, but there's
+been an Indian camp here since sun-up."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know that, Pine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Found live fire. There hasn't been any dew
+on it to put it out. What's more, they've gone
+on into the mountains. Hunting-party. We're
+all right, jedge."</p>
+
+<p>The mining expedition now kindled fires of
+its own, and something was done in the way of
+getting supper. There was no grass, but the
+horses and mules could attend fairly well to the
+contents of their nose-bags, and the men paid
+them all manner of attention. Only a greenhorn
+is careless of the comfort and welfare of his
+horse.</p>
+
+<p>Sile drank well at last, under his father's
+direction, and then he felt like eating something.
+After that it seemed to him as if the whole world
+had only been made as a good place to sleep in.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>He did not care whether the tents were pitched
+or not. All he wanted was a piece of ground
+large enough to lie on, and a blanket, and he
+was ready to sleep as soundly and silently as if
+he had been one of the mountains which raised
+their shadowy heads into the light of the rising
+moon. He had been without water for the first
+time in his life. He had stood it through heroically,
+he had found a spring, and now he
+needed a long sleep.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter IX</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">INTO A NEW WORLD</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Two Arrows wiped the blood of the
+cougar from the blade of his lance. He
+was glad it was a good lance. His father had
+traded a pony for it, as he well knew, with a
+Mexican, years before that, and it was no ordinary
+weapon. He had chosen it from among
+half a dozen, as the very thing with which to do
+something uncommon, and now it had proved
+its value. He almost felt an affection for that
+lance.</p>
+
+<p>One-eye had lain down close to the dead body
+of the cougar, as if watching him for any returning
+signs of life. If that great cat had quivered,
+there was a dog ready to shake the quiver out of
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all good meat," said Two Arrows, "but
+what shall I do with it?"</p>
+
+<p>There was but one answer to that question.
+He took off the skins of both animals, cut them
+up as well as he could, carried all the meat he
+did not need at once to a cool place among the
+rocks, piled stones over it and left it. He had
+no ice-house, and that was the best he could do,
+but he made a fire and ate plentifully of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>antelope
+venison, and of what the Western men
+call "painter meat." It was hard for him to say
+which he liked the best. Then he took a bit of
+charcoal and made his mark upon the rocks
+where he buried his game. He was immensely
+proud of his right to do that. He scored two
+very large and distinct arrows, heaped on some
+more heavy stones, shouted to One-eye, and again
+pushed forward. His exploring trip was already
+brimming full of glory and adventure,
+and he was ready to fight all the cougars in the
+mountains. So was One-eye, for he had had one
+of the biggest dinners he had ever eaten, and not
+another dog on hand to dispute it with him. He
+seemed to be possessed with an idea that that
+place must have more antelopes and mountain-cats
+in it, and that he was likely to find some of
+them behind rocks. He was doubtless right on
+the main point, but not a stone of the many he
+smelled under turned him out a cougar or
+a big-horn. Hunting was over for that day,
+and so much time had been consumed that Two
+Arrows felt like running to make it up. He did
+but walk, however, and as the road was now all
+the way downhill, like a bad man's life, he
+walked easily. The great gorge widened until
+its broken walls stretched away to the right and
+left, and the eager-hearted explorer came out
+from among the scattered rocks at a point from
+which he could suddenly see a great deal.
+Away beyond and below him spread such a scene
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>as he could hardly have hoped for, and yet
+which can be found in hundreds of places all
+over the mountain country of the American continent.
+Just such scenes are to be found among
+the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas, and every
+other similar group of rocky upheavals, but
+Two Arrows knew of no other country than
+his own, the one his band of Nez Perc&eacute;s had
+hunted and feasted and starved in.</p>
+
+<p>It was a great, deep, grassy, well-wooded,
+well-watered valley, the very home of game and
+a sure promise of all comfort to a hunter. How
+far it might reach to the westward no eye could
+tell, for the prospect was bounded by other
+mountains, and there were plain tokens that a
+considerable stream ran through the middle of
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"Much water, perhaps," said Two Arrows.
+"Must go somewhere. Find out some day."</p>
+
+<p>The idea of a river suggested the other idea
+that it could be followed until an ambitious boy
+could ascertain where it went to. All that was
+swallowed up at once by the immediate desire
+to get down upon that green grass and among
+those trees. One-eye had seen the valley, but
+was inclined to stick pretty closely at the side
+of his master. There were only two of them,
+and they might need each other's help at any
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>The road tramped by the bison herds did not
+wind much, as it went on down towards the level
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>ground, but it lazily picked out the easiest slopes
+and turned the corners of the great rocks on
+good curves. As Two Arrows and his faithful
+companion wound around one of these curves,
+almost at the bottom of the long descent, they
+suddenly came upon a discovery that startled
+them. Even the dog pricked up his ears and began
+to growl, and Two Arrows stepped quickly
+back behind the rock. He had never been in a
+white man's village, but he had seen a fort and a
+few houses around it, and he had seen the houses
+of Mexican Indians and some others, built of
+"adobe" or sunburnt brick. He was not, therefore,
+a judge of such matters, and what he saw
+filled him with astonishment. He was not exactly
+alarmed, for a house could not chase him,
+but he exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"Pale-face lodge. Good many. Very bad.
+What can he do now?"</p>
+
+<p>He peered silently forth for several minutes,
+but not a human being was in sight. There
+were no signs of life, no curling smoke, no barking
+dogs, no cattle, nothing but scattered structures
+of stone. These must have been put there
+by somebody, but it began to look as if whoever
+had built them had gone to some other hunting-ground.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows noted everything with eyes that
+grew more brilliant in their swift and searching
+glances. There could hardly be any danger in
+such a solitude as that, but the occasion required
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>caution, and the young "brave" made his advances
+from cover to cover as if there were
+eyes in every stone of those houses. One-eye
+crept at his side with his head and tail up, very
+much as if there had been game ahead. It was
+a curious piece of business. The nearer they
+drew to the objects of their curiosity the safer
+and lonelier became the appearance of all things.
+Some of the stone walls had tumbled down, and
+not one of them had a roof over it of any sort.
+That was nothing to Two Arrows. For all he
+knew there were tribes of cunning and wicked
+pale-faces who built their lodges without roofs.
+If the world contained anything cunning and
+wicked and dangerous, in the mind of Two Arrows
+it was a pale-face. He had been brought
+up to look upon a white man as a being to be
+watched, and as an evil to be avoided or destroyed,
+as the case might be, and yet as a sort
+of magician, capable of doing wonders, and of
+bringing the richest presents in all the earth.</p>
+
+<p>He now at last felt confidence and courage to
+actually crawl through an opening of one of
+those walls and look around him. It was one
+great, empty room, strewn with bits of stone, and
+growing thickly, here and there, were grass and
+tall weeds.</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody here for ever so long," had already
+been his conclusion, and he was thoroughly satisfied
+of it now. He arose and walked around
+and looked at things in that and every other
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>house. Some of them had windows so high up
+as to prove that they must have had two or even
+three stories in some old time when people
+used them, but those were "signs" that Two
+Arrows could not read. The main thing to him
+was that he was still all alone and in perfect
+safety. If the wisest white man in the world had
+been there with him, he could not have formed
+an idea by whom those houses were constructed.
+Just such ruins have been found in many places
+among the valleys of the western mountains, and
+all that learned people can yet do is to guess
+how they came to be there. The houses did not
+come up like so many mushrooms, and beyond
+that they have almost nothing to say for themselves.
+Two Arrows had no further questions
+to ask, and One-eye had searched nooks and
+corners with an assiduity which had been duly
+rewarded: he had captured a fine, fat rabbit, and
+he brought it to his master as a sort of token.
+No rabbit would have made a home in a place
+infested by white men, for rabbits have the same
+idea of them that Indians have and for somewhat
+similar reasons. The rabbits get very
+little good from them, however, and the Indians
+a great deal&mdash;that is, unless the rabbits live near
+a white man's farm and garden. In that case
+they come up fully to the Indian standard and
+help themselves to all they can get hold of.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows picked up the rabbit and walked
+out to what had been the door of that house. It
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>was nearly sunset, and there could be no more
+exploring done that day. He looked away off
+into the valley and saw another token that he was
+alone in that part of it: no less than three gangs
+of deer were feeding quietly between him and a
+bit of forest not more than half a mile away.</p>
+
+<p>Right past the group of old ruins ran a dancing
+brook of cool, pure water from the mountains,
+and a better place to camp in could not
+have been imagined. It was evidently safe to
+build a fire and cook the rabbit, but for more
+perfect safety Two Arrows made his blaze on a
+spot where some old walls prevented the light of
+it from being seen at too great a distance. After
+his supper was eaten there came over him a feeling
+that he had seen and done altogether too
+much for one boy in one day. He had come out
+into a sort of new world through a cleft in the
+mountains, and he did not know that precisely
+the same thing happens to every boy in the
+world who makes up his mind to be something.
+The boys who are contented not to be anything
+do not have much of a world to live in, anyhow,
+poor fellows; they only hang around and eat and
+wear clothes.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter X</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">SILE'S POCKET</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah had all the load a girl of
+her size could comfortably carry when
+she set out with her people. So had all the rest
+except the dignified warriors. For that reason
+all the urging in the world could not get out
+of that dispirited cavalcade one-half the speed
+attained by Two Arrows and One-eye the previous
+evening. Na-tee-kah thought continually
+of her pony, between thoughts of her daring
+brother and wonderings of what he had done
+and seen. She knew very well that there is
+nothing so disables a "plains Indian" as to dismount
+him. It is not so bad as to break both his
+legs, but he is so accustomed, from childhood,
+to use a horse's legs instead of his own that he is
+like a man lost when he is set on foot. He has
+learned to hunt on horseback mostly, and all his
+fighting has been done in the saddle. The old-time
+Indians of the East and of Cooper's novels
+had hardly any horses, and in their deep forests
+could not have used them to advantage. What
+the far Western tribes did in those days nobody
+knows, but all the tribes which have migrated
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>out of the woods into the prairie country have
+become "pony-men."</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah could not remember another time
+when she, daughter of a chief, had been compelled
+to carry so much, even for a short distance.
+She knew how to pack a pony capitally
+well, for that is one of the first arts of Nez Perc&eacute;
+house-keeping. When and where should they
+ever get some more ponies? Her father was a
+renowned horse-thief, and so were several others
+of the best warriors in the band, and there was
+hope in that thought; still there is a double difficulty
+before a man who sets out to steal horses
+without having one of his own to ride.</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows will steal horses some day," she
+said to Ha-ha-pah-no, confidently.</p>
+
+<p>"Big chief: steal a heap. No boy any more.
+Big Tongue find a horse; say he stole him. No
+brave. Pony come somehow."</p>
+
+<p>Nobody else in that band could have guessed
+how the mind of Long Bear himself was busy
+with plans concerning that very matter. He
+thought of all the horses of all the tribes at any
+kind of difference with the Nez Perc&eacute;s, and he
+thought of the white traders and their rich
+droves of quadrupeds of all sorts. He had won
+his rank fairly, as his son was likely to do after
+him, and he had a great deal of courage and
+ambition; just at present, however, he was a dismounted
+horse-thief, and he felt the disgrace of
+it even more than the inconvenience. It was a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>sad thing to be afoot at his time of life, and he
+brooded over it like some great white merchant
+who had suddenly failed in business. He feared
+that it would take some time to set up that band
+again, without any four-footed capital to begin
+on.</p>
+
+<p>It was pleasant to find the trail so good, at all
+events, and before dark they made out to reach
+the very spot where Two Arrows had camped.
+They had been more than twice as long in getting
+there, but the first brave who pushed on into
+the open space found the dead embers of a fire
+and began to study them. Not far behind him
+were Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no, and it was
+hard to say which of them was the first to point at
+the black coals and ashes, and exclaim, "Two
+Arrows!"</p>
+
+<p>The word was echoed from lip to lip until it
+came to Long Bear and his wife. For a wonder
+he was walking beside her, which was as near as
+he could come to carrying her load for her. She
+was only the step-mother of Na-tee-kah and her
+brother, and had a pappoose of her own as part of
+her burden, but she took her full share of the
+family pride when her husband drew himself
+grimly up and shut off the strong temptation to
+"whoop."</p>
+
+<p>"Young brave," he said to her with great calmness.
+"Great chief some day. All like father.
+Same. Go steal pony pretty soon."</p>
+
+<p>The camp was quickly made, and there was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>food for all in moderate allowance. They were
+certain of resting in perfect security, and in the
+morning they were as eager as Two Arrows had
+been to push on out of such narrow quarters.
+Nothing happened to any of them until late in
+the day, and then the whole band went suddenly
+into camp again.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Tongue had become almost a silent
+Indian under the effects of hard walking, but he
+had been stung again by remarks from Ha-ha-pah-no,
+and he had gone ahead. He had not
+gone far enough to make him look enterprising,
+but all at once the ca&ntilde;on fairly rang with a
+whoop he sent back, to let the rest know he had
+found something. At the same moment three
+great vultures, or buzzard-eagles, arose from a
+prize they had found, and soared away. They
+were wonderfully wide-winged birds, and each
+carried off a good dinner, for they had nearly
+finished the offal left upon the ground by the
+carcasses of the cougar and the big-horn.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Tongue pointed proudly at the discovery
+he had made, and was about to say something,
+when he was once more overwhelmed.
+His whooping had brought a swarm of the
+braves around him, but of course no squaws had
+presumed to push in. It was for that very cause
+that the eyes of Na-tee-kah had been busy among
+the rocks, and so she had discovered the charcoal
+"token" scored upon one of them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>"Two Arrows!" she screamed, and in a moment
+more there were warriors there, taking
+away the stones which covered the meat and the
+skins.</p>
+
+<p>It was time now for Long Bear to do all the
+whooping there was in him. His son had slain
+a cougar single-handed, and had killed a big-horn,
+and here were the proofs of it. The whole
+band could at once have another feast of fresh
+meat, provided by the young hero, for whom
+they were indebted to the great Long Bear.</p>
+
+<p>It was decided that they had travelled far
+enough for one day, but that an early start
+should be made the next morning. That had
+also been an interesting day at the camp by the
+spring.</p>
+
+<p>The over-wearied pale-faces slept well, but
+Yellow Pine arose three times to go around
+among the animals and see how they were doing.
+He had them all fed and rubbed down most
+carefully in the morning. It was a good thing
+to do, and when Sile Parks awoke and stretched
+himself, he felt as if he also wanted to be fed
+and rubbed down. Almost everybody else was
+already astir, and breakfast was soon ready for
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Yellow Pine did a deal of exploring, before
+and after he breakfasted, and Sile at once set out
+to imitate him. He asked some question or
+other of every one he saw, and believed that he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>had learned a great deal. At last he came to a
+heap of stones and bushes that seemed to him to
+have been piled up remarkably.</p>
+
+<p>"How could they ever have got there?" he
+said, as he began to pull upon a bush with green
+leaves yet clinging to its twigs. In five minutes
+more he knew where the Nez Perc&eacute;s had made
+their hasty "cache" for their lodges and other
+treasures, and he went at once to report it to his
+father and to Yellow Pine. The latter looked
+at Sile with positive respect, and exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"There now, jedge; that settles it. I know
+I'm right; them Indians had lost their ponies.
+I couldn't find a hoof-mark on their trail this
+morning; they dragged some lodge-poles along,
+though. I say, we must leave their cache jest as
+we found it. We must foller right along, too,
+or we'll run short of fodder. They've taken my
+old road. We needn't be afraid of 'em, only
+we'd best keep a sharp lookout."</p>
+
+<p>Horses and mules and all felt as if a day's rest
+would be as good as a treat; but after all was
+said and done it was decided to keep moving.
+The start made was not an early one, and there
+was work for all hands here and there. The
+herds of bisons had not prepared that road for
+the passage of wagon wheels, and it needed the
+axe in one place and the crow-bar in another before
+the teams could pass. There was no sort of
+danger that the Nez Perc&eacute;s would be caught
+up with by the mining-party, and Yellow Pine
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>seemed to breathe more freely at the end of
+every mile.</p>
+
+<p>"No, jedge," he said; "we won't have to leave
+the outfit anywhere. There'll be a heap of
+hard work at some spots, but we can make our
+way through, and we can come and go by this
+track forever after it's well opened."</p>
+
+<p>Sile Parks learned a great deal that day about
+the mysteries of road-making; he also learned
+how much a really well-built wagon will stand
+if it is not too heavily loaded. For all that,
+however, the best part of his time was expended
+in staring at the peaks, and in searching the
+walls of the ca&ntilde;on for traces of gold and silver
+ore.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," said he at last, at a place where the
+wagons were "stuck" for a while, "I'm going
+ahead to see what'll turn up."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't go too far, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep yer eye out for mines," shouted Yellow
+Pine, with a laugh, and Sile took it seriously.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a gold country," he said to himself, "and
+I might stumble upon some of it."</p>
+
+<p>That was precisely what he made out to do.
+He was marching along, with his eyes on all the
+rocky precipices, as if the mouth of a gold-mine
+might open to him at any moment, and he was
+not so careful of his feet as he should have been.
+A loose stone shot away from under him, and
+down he came upon a fairly level floor of sand
+and gravel. It was so sudden and so sharp a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>dropping that he sat still for a moment and
+looked around him.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloo, what's that?" Something bright
+and yellow had caught his eye, peering out at
+him from the gravel his boot-heel had disturbed.
+"Gold! gold! A chunk of gold!"</p>
+
+<p>Thousands upon thousands of "placer miners"
+have raised precisely such a shout in just such
+sandy gullies, but Sile felt as if he were the first
+being on earth to whom such an experience had
+ever happened. He at once began to dig and
+sift among the gravel fiercely. He took out his
+hunting-knife and plied it as a trowel. Little
+bits of dull yellow metal rewarded him every
+now and then until he worked along to where a
+ledge (or the edge of one) of quartz came nearly
+to the surface. On the upper side of that, and
+lying closely against it, he pried out something
+that made him shout "Hurrah!" and that then
+gave him almost a sick feeling. It was a gathering
+of golden nuggets and particles which
+would nearly have filled his hat, and there were
+others like it, only smaller, all along the edge
+of that stone. For unknown centuries it had
+been serving as a "bar" in the natural "washer"
+made by that ravine, and had caught and kept
+whatever the torrents had borne down from
+crumbling quartz rocks above and had drifted
+against it.</p>
+
+<p>Sile thought of Aladdin and his wonderful
+lamp; then he thought of the California miners;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>then he shut his eyes for a moment. Then he
+went on digging, and he was hard at it when a
+tall form stooped over him and the voice of
+Yellow Pine exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"I'd call it&mdash;If the youngster hasn't lighted
+onto a placer and scooped the biggest kind of a
+pocket! Sile, you've done it. You can jest ax
+me all the fool questions you've a mind to after
+this. You was really learnin' by 'em."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XI</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A TRAPPED BOY</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>When the light awoke Two Arrows, he
+found One-eye standing guard as if he
+did not like the look of things, but no danger
+showed itself. It was a new country&mdash;too much
+so, perhaps&mdash;and a dog with a high sense of
+duty could not be too careful. Two Arrows also
+had duties, and he felt that one of them was to
+go back at once and tell his band what he had
+discovered. He had no idea that they were already
+on the march, or he might have been less
+troubled in mind about them. His other duty,
+not quite so plain, was to explore the valley a
+little and see how many buffaloes and deer and
+all that sort of thing were in it. He wondered
+at the greenness of the grass, not knowing that
+the mountain range east of it took care of that,
+taking the water out of the winds from the west
+so that they were often sponge-dry when they
+passed over upon the parching plains beyond.
+He had never heard of Eden and he could not
+make any comparisons, but he roundly declared
+that he had never been in a place that promised
+better hunting. He did not even ask himself
+how a herd of bisons should remember what
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>their fathers had told them about that valley
+and come hundreds of miles to find grass there.
+He had not seen one yet, but he had caught a
+glimpse of a gang of deer in rapid motion.
+That fact set him to thinking and made him
+cautious, for it was an hour when deer are feeding
+unless they have been disturbed. He cooked
+and ate his breakfast, providing liberally for
+One-eye, but could hardly make up his mind in
+which direction to go. There was the mouth of
+the ca&ntilde;on, telling him one thing, and in all other
+directions were the possible secrets of that
+valley.</p>
+
+<p>His feet took him along, at last, and he wandered
+for nearly a mile before he came to any
+sort of adventure. Then he suddenly discovered
+why the deer were in motion, and why it was
+time for him and One-eye to wander back again.
+It was almost as bad as a war-party of another
+tribe or even a band of wicked pale-faces, for
+at the edge of a little grove of wild plum-trees
+One-eye broke out into something between a
+howl and a bark, and turned, running towards
+his master. Then Two Arrows himself turned
+and ran, for his quick eyes caught the meaning
+of it. The head of a grisly bear came out between
+two bushes, and no idea of heroism called
+for any waiting. The ca&ntilde;on, or the ruins, or almost
+any other place, would have been better,
+at that moment, than the spot where he was
+when Bruin saw him.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>The grisly may have had bad-luck that morning.
+At all events, he was out after game, and
+was in a bad temper. He hated all dogs, naturally,
+and he had seen One-eye. He hated men,
+as well, but his first rush was after the scared
+quadruped. That was an excellent thing for
+Two Arrows. He was the best runner of his
+age in his band, and never before had he done
+quite so well, but he stuck to his weapons. His
+bag of provisions had been hidden among the
+old houses, and he was glad of it as he bounded
+away across the grass. Every jump counted,
+for One-eye was doing the right thing. He was
+not following his master too closely, he was only
+thinking of getting away from that bear. He,
+too, had been the best runner of his tribe, when
+there had been other dogs to run with him, and
+he certainly was now. He ran well, but so did
+the bear, for a good horse does not too easily
+overtake a grisly, and a man on foot can never
+do it if the bear does his best.</p>
+
+<p>It was an exciting race, but Two Arrows knew
+it must have an end some time. He longed for
+a tree, and to be away up in the top of it, but
+there were none near enough to be of any use.
+He kept an eye on the other racers, and it was
+not many minutes before he saw that One-eye
+was doing almost too well. He was getting
+away so fast that the grisly gave him up and
+turned to his other chance for a breakfast. It
+was as if he had said to himself,</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>"Dogs are no good. They run too well. A
+nice, tender, well-fed Indian boy, now, and I'll
+get him in a moment."</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows had gained a pretty good start,
+and it led him towards the ca&ntilde;on. He tried to
+calculate the distance, and how long it would
+take him to get there, but his next thought was
+that he had never heard of a grisly that could
+gallop and rush like this one.</p>
+
+<p>"It'll all be over with me. I'd fight him, but
+he's too much for me. Got to die now."</p>
+
+<p>It was an awful moment, and all the courage
+in him did not make it any less so. The claws
+and jaws and hug of a mountain grisly are a
+terrible prospect to set before anybody's ambition.</p>
+
+<p>Just then another prospect and a ray of hope
+dawned upon him. Away to the right he saw
+a solitary bowlder of gray granite, with a round
+top, nearly thirty feet above the grass.</p>
+
+<p>"If it isn't too smooth to climb," flashed
+through the mind of Two Arrows, as he turned
+and ran for it. He was running now for his
+life, and the bear was rapidly gaining on him,
+but it told well for his valor that he did not drop
+lance or bow.</p>
+
+<p>Nearer, now, and he could see that the rock
+was one of those bald-headed, smooth-cheeked
+affairs that look as if they had been ground and
+polished in a mill.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Other side, maybe," groaned Two
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>Arrows, as he dodged around the hopeless side
+he came to. Away around, and the same mocking
+smoothness made his heart sink, while the
+fierce growl of the huge wild beast behind him
+thrilled him through and through.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! rough place! Climb."</p>
+
+<p>It was a mere crack at the surface of the
+ground, but at a few feet above it the granite
+surface was somewhat broken. A good spring,
+aided by the tough shaft of his lance, and Two
+Arrows managed to brace himself upon a tolerable
+holding. If he should slip there would be
+an end of it, for the grisly was close up now.
+He clung like a fly, and found place after place
+for his hands and feet. In a moment more he
+was sitting upon the round top of the rock safe,
+but a prisoner, with a guard set to keep him
+secure. He had come out after adventures and
+he had found one of the very largest kind. He
+had never heard such tremendous roaring growls
+as the disappointed grisly was now uttering.
+Between these he could also hear, at no great
+distance, the mournful howls of One-eye. The
+sagacious animal had not self-conceit enough to
+match his weight and size against a brute that
+could have whipped a lion in five minutes, but
+he could express his feelings concerning the
+state of affairs.</p>
+
+<p>"He can't get up here," said Two Arrows,
+but he said it doubtfully, for the grisly is a rock
+bear, and is made for climbing. He was now
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>studying the face of that rock at the cleft, and
+it was not long before he made up his mind that
+he could do something.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't waste any arrows on him," said the
+boy on the top of the bowlder. "Besides, if I
+don't get him too angry he may go off."</p>
+
+<p>Not without trying a climb for his human
+game; and it was wonderful with what care and
+consideration, as well as skill and strength,
+Bruin made his effort.</p>
+
+<p>Two-Arrows lay down, bow in hand, and
+watched him, as he raised his huge bulk against
+the side of the rock. The long, strong, cruel-looking
+claws took hold of crevices and roughnesses
+much more powerfully than a human
+hand or foot could have grasped them. A
+grunt, a growl, a great lift, and the grisly was
+off the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"He is coming. Let him come one length
+nearer."</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows did not know that he was testing
+his quality as a warrior and chief to be. It
+was a marvellous trial of cool courage to lie
+there, with an arrow on the string, and bide his
+time.</p>
+
+<p>"Now! Ugh!"</p>
+
+<p>The arrow went truly to its mark, but the hide
+of a grisly is a tough shield, and the shaft did not
+go as deeply as it might have gone into a deer or
+bison. Arrow after arrow sped in swift, unerring
+succession, and the bear received them with
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>roars of fury, struggling upward as his wrath
+and pain aroused him to greater efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"My last two arrows. One for that leg, just
+above the claw."</p>
+
+<p>Cool and correct again, and the last brace of
+shafts did their work to admiration. They did
+not kill the grisly nor even loosen the gripe of
+that great forearm and claw upon the rock, but
+the next struggle of the bear brought him upon
+smooth stone, gently rounding. He reached out
+over it with his wounded limb, and the black
+hooks at the end of it did not work well. His
+game was within a length of him, but it was
+game that held a long Mexican lance in its
+ready hand. Under other circumstances Bruin
+could have parried that thrust and closed with
+its giver, but not now. It went through his other
+forearm, and his gripe with that loosened for a
+second or so&mdash;only for an instant, but that was
+enough. Slip, slide, growl, tear, roar, and the
+immense monster rolled heavily to the ground
+below, full of rage and arrow-wounds, and altogether
+unfitted for another steep climb.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows drew a great breath of relief,
+but he well knew that he had not yet escaped.
+There were oceans of hate and fight in the
+wounded grisly, and there was no use whatever
+in going down for a fair match with him upon
+the grass. He was in his most dangerous state,
+and the top of the rock would have to answer all
+purposes for a season. There was no telling
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>how long that would be, for even when the bear
+arose and limped all the way around the bowlder,
+his ferocious growls plainly declared his
+purpose. He had not the least idea of letting
+the matter stop there. He meant to stay and
+watch it out. Perhaps more grislies would come
+to help him and keep guard while he should
+doctor himself. It was a most remarkable trap
+for a young explorer to get caught in, and he
+well knew that a grisly will take more killing
+and die longer and harder than any other known
+animal. Besides, he had no idea how much or
+how seriously his shafts had touched the vitals
+of his enemy.</p>
+
+<p>He must stay where he was, and now he felt
+something like a sensation of mortification.
+One-eye had deserted him. All the howling
+had died away while the bear was climbing the
+rock. The last dog of that band of Nez Perc&eacute;s
+had turned tail and left his master on the top of
+a bowlder to be starved out by a bear.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">THE ERRAND OF ONE-EYE</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The wagons came slowly on down the pass,
+but it was only a few moments before
+everybody but the two drivers had dismounted
+and stood gazing at Sile's remarkable "find."
+There were old "placer miners" among them,
+and they all declared that it was just the place
+in which they would have expected a "bonanza."
+Then they all added that without water to wash
+the sand and gravel with, there would be little
+use in doing anything more than to hunt for
+"pockets." There might be "pay dirt" in all
+directions, but a man might scratch and sift until
+he starved and not get more than enough to
+buy him a new hat. They had been through all
+that sort of experience, and their heads were
+not to be turned by it. Still, it was decided to
+try that level again some day, and the whole
+ca&ntilde;on, at a time of the year when water was to
+be had. All that could now be done was to
+carefully search for and gather up the odds and
+ends of Sile's "luck." Even the necessity of
+grass for the horses compelled the train to move
+onward.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>When they came to the rocky ledge, with the
+precipice on one side and the mountain wall on
+the other, Judge Parks turned to Yellow Pine
+with a face full of doubt.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you be skeered, jedge. I took a measure
+of it at the narrerest p'int, and it'll let the
+wheels go by and two feet to spare."</p>
+
+<p>That was close work, when they came to it,
+and Sile shuddered all over as he saw how near
+the wheels came to the edge of destruction.
+A restive mule, a scared horse, a little backing
+and plunging, and disaster was ready to come.
+Not an animal shied, however, though some of
+them trembled and sheered in towards the rock.
+It was hardest when they had to hold back going
+down and around some of the sharper curves.
+Sile had several tremendous shudders at such
+places and drew long breaths of relief afterwards,
+as the wagons rolled on in safety. Then,
+on the next level below, there was more axe and
+crow-bar work to be done, and it was late in the
+day when the train once more reached a deserted
+camping-ground of the band of Indians they
+seemed to be pursuing.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better take a rest here, jedge. It's
+been a hard day on the men and the hosses, and
+we've struck gold a'ready."</p>
+
+<p>Sile had been strangely aware of that fact for
+some hours, and it had dazed him a little. He
+had walked on without asking a question of anybody.
+He had a dim idea that the metal he had
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>found was worth a great deal of money, but he
+hardly cared to know how much. It was a new
+and wonderful sensation. His father told him
+there was enough of it to buy him a farm and
+stock it, and when Yellow Pine had finished his
+other duties, at going into camp, and had noted
+all the signs the Nez Perc&eacute;s left behind, he said
+to Sile,</p>
+
+<p>"Now, my boy, gather up all the charcoal you
+can rake from those dead fires and I'll show
+you something. Slugs are safer to carry than
+dust and nuggets. I allers used to slug my finds,
+first thing."</p>
+
+<p>That was Greek to Sile, but Yellow Pine rummaged
+one of the wagons and brought out a long-nosed
+bellows and a crucible and a sort of mould
+that opened with two handles. He put the
+crucible in among the coals, filled it from Sile's
+yellow heap, covered it, and began to work
+the bellows. Sile was astonished to find how
+speedily what Pine called "bullion" would melt,
+and how easy it was to run it into little bars.
+There did not seem to be so much of it, but
+there was less danger that any of the smaller
+chunks and scales and particles could get
+away.</p>
+
+<p>"There, Sile. There's your farm, cows,
+hosses, hogs and all, and it only cost you a gitten'
+thirsty."</p>
+
+<p>"They're wonderful," was all Sile could make
+out to say, and his father put them in a bag and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>locked them up in an iron-bound box in one of
+the wagons.</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't scratch into all the sand you
+come to after this," said Yellow Pine. "That's
+what takes the tuck out of placer miners. One
+good pocket'll most ginerally spile the eyes of
+a green hand."</p>
+
+<p>He assured the judge that one more push
+would bring them to good grass, and he added,</p>
+
+<p>"What's more, we ain't in any hurry to ketch
+up with no redskins till we know what they are.
+It's peace with most on 'em, but this 'ere isn't
+a strong band, and I kinder want to feel my
+way."</p>
+
+<p>There was sense in that, especially as he knew
+that Indians without horses are also Indians on
+the lookout for some. What he did not know
+was the state of mind that band of Nez Perc&eacute;s
+was in at that hour.</p>
+
+<p>They had set out very early that morning, and
+were plodding on steadily down the winding
+slopes of the ca&ntilde;on, when there came to them
+an unexpected sensation. It was a dog.</p>
+
+<p>Right up the trail trotted One-eye, all alone,
+and with an air of business anxiety. He neither
+paused nor turned until he came to Long Bear
+himself, and in front of the chief he sat
+down, threw up his head, and let out the most
+mournful howl he knew&mdash;and he knew a great
+many.</p>
+
+<p>"Where Two Arrows?" asked the chief, as if
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>the dog had been human, and he was answered
+first by another howl and then by an eager look
+and a tug at his deer-skin leggings. Then One-eye
+trotted off a little distance along the trail
+and looked back and barked, and the dullest
+man in the world could have understood him.
+It all plainly meant,</p>
+
+<p>"Come on. There's a fellow down this way
+that's in need of help. Follow me and help
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh!" exclaimed Long Bear, and he added
+the names of half a dozen of the leading braves.
+"Two Arrows send dog after warrior. Come."</p>
+
+<p>That was somewhat more than the truth, seeing
+that all the credit belonged to One-eye, but
+in a minute or so the old chief was leading his
+men rapidly down the pass. There was nothing
+whatever to be said, and One-eye kept well
+ahead of them, every now and then trying to
+express an idea he had that no time was to be
+wasted.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh!" was all the remark made by any brave
+when the valley came in sight, and hardly more
+was remarked upon the ruins of the ancient
+village, but every grunt meant a great deal.</p>
+
+<p>"Not here. Dog go right on," said Long
+Bear. "Follow. Find Two Arrows somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>They had not far to go now before they halted
+as if with one accord. From the summit of a
+granite bowlder, a hundred yards in advance of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>them, came a shrill whoop, and there stood the
+object of their search, firmly erect and seemingly
+unharmed.</p>
+
+<p>"Boy all right," said Big Tongue. "Better
+come down."</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows no fool," said Long Bear.
+"Go slow. Watch dog."</p>
+
+<p>One-eye still trotted on, but more slowly, until
+he turned the corner of the rock. He reappeared
+in a second, with a sharp, warning
+yelp, followed by the fierce growling charge of
+an uncommonly large grisly bear.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh!" said Long Bear. "Stand still. Boy
+been treed."</p>
+
+<p>He had not been "treed," he had been bowldered,
+and the grisly had been arrowed and
+lanced thoroughly. His angry charge had been
+made with his last energies, and before he advanced
+half-way he reeled and fell.</p>
+
+<p>There was no boy upon the rock now. Two
+Arrows darted down from his perch, slipping,
+sliding the instant the bear followed One-eye.
+He had waited up there for hour after hour,
+looking down at his half disabled enemy, and
+he was tired of it. He had seen that the strength
+of the bear was failing and that he bled freely,
+and was not far behind him when he fell.</p>
+
+<p>"Whoop! whoop! whoop! I have killed a
+grisly. My bear!" he shouted, and it was all in
+vain that the Big Tongue ran faster than even
+the Long Bear himself, for Two Arrows had
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>the advantage of them. His lance was the first
+to be plunged into the dying monster, and the
+great brute tore up the sod around him for only
+half a minute before he stretched himself out
+and all was over. With the help of several
+hours of quiet bleeding, which cannot always be
+provided for in such cases, Two Arrows had
+fought and killed a grisly single-handed, and
+again Long Bear was the proudest man in the
+whole Nez Perc&eacute; nation. The steepness of the
+rock had helped a good deal, and the bear had
+hardly had a fair chance, but after all he had
+been whipped by a boy of fifteen. It was a disgrace
+to the grisly but it was a great honor to
+the young hero, for by all Indian law he was
+thenceforth entitled to wear the claws of that
+bear on state occasions. Adding all things together,
+bisons and big-horn and cougar and
+grisly, Two Arrows was rapidly getting to be a
+middle-aged warrior, and the other boys had no
+hope of catching up with him. He might also
+fairly be said to have led his band into that
+valley, and now the pity of it was that they had
+no ponies to eat such excellent grass.</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of the band came down the
+pass remarkably, with Na-tee-kah well in advance
+of everybody else.</p>
+
+<p>"Could anything terrible have happened to
+Two Arrows?"</p>
+
+<p>Her heart beat hard with exertion and anxiety,
+and when she reached the level she hurried
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>right along upon the trail of the braves. It was
+not many minutes before she could see them,
+and a sort of mist came before her eyes. They
+were all sitting upon the grass around something,
+and she could hear her father's voice
+chanting. It was a curious kind of song of
+triumph, belonging especially to a case of large
+grisly bear slaying, but Na-tee-kah could not
+hear it clearly at first, and it might have been a
+funeral song for all the music there was in it.
+All out of breath she toiled on, as near as an
+Indian girl might come to a party of warriors,
+and then she understood it like a flash. Red or
+white, she was only a girl, and she sat down on
+the grass and began to cry. The Big Tongue
+had risen as she came near, and he was polite
+enough to say to her,</p>
+
+<p>"Squaw not cry. Boy all right. We have
+killed a bear. Ugh!"</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">GREAT SCOUTING</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The quadrupeds of the mining expedition
+showed many signs of the hard time they
+had been having, and it was needful to get out
+from among the rocks quickly. It was yet quite
+shadowy in the deep ca&ntilde;on when the wagons
+were set in motion, but not a great deal of "road
+mending" was called for from that point onward.
+Early in the day they came out upon the level,
+and before noon the horses and mules were picking
+the rich grass around the ancient ruins.</p>
+
+<p>It was a grand time, and Sile had a dim idea
+that he only drew his breath now and then, the
+great, long ones came so frequently. He had
+felt one kind of awe in the ca&ntilde;on and in looking
+at the mountain peaks. Now he felt quite another
+kind of awe in looking at the rude mason-work
+of those houses.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," he asked, "do you s'pose they were
+people anything like us?"</p>
+
+<p>"They built three-story houses. No Indians
+ever did that."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there nothing at all about them in
+history?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>"Yes, here are the ruins. Here are little
+books like this."</p>
+
+<p>He handed Sile what looked for all the world
+like a broken piece of an old pot, and Sile said
+so.</p>
+
+<p>"That's it. If it is one, it shows that they
+understood making pottery. Nobody has ever
+found anything to prove that they were miners,
+and all the stones of these houses are only broken.
+None of them are cut or trimmed."</p>
+
+<p>It was a wonder of wonders to stand there and
+talk about a lost and vanished people, but Yellow
+Pine was thinking of a people who had vanished
+without being lost. They were the Indians
+whose camp-grounds he had moved into
+and out of, and he had an idea that they might
+be found again at any hour. He advised the
+judge not to move on again until some exploring
+and scouting should have been done. Meantime
+the "critters," as he called them, did their feeding
+under a strong guard and close watching.</p>
+
+<p>"Sile," he said, "as soon as your horse has had
+a good feed, you and I will ride a circuit and
+see what we can find."</p>
+
+<p>Sile's blood danced a little. Scouting after
+Indians was a thing he had read about, and he
+did not dwell too much upon the fact that he
+was chosen to go with Pine rather because his
+horse was a fast one and had not pulled wagons
+than for any reason. Pine said to him,</p>
+
+<p>"Your eyes are pretty good ones, too. Who
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>knows but what you might see something.
+Jedge, I won't run him into any danger. Them
+Indians is all on foot."</p>
+
+<p>Sile set to work at once upon his repeating-rifle,
+his revolver, and the edge of his hunting-knife,
+as if he had a battle with Pawnees on
+hand. He gave up studying the ruins at once,
+and even forgot how many nuggets his gold had
+been run into. He had never before felt precisely
+that kind of excitement, and was too young
+to know that every entirely new enthusiasm is
+worth a whole book in the way of education, if
+it comes rightly. People who have never been
+waked up are apt to be dull people.</p>
+
+<p>It was an old story to Yellow Pine, and when
+at last they both were mounted and ready to ride
+away, it was worth while to look at his cast-iron
+face and then at that of Sile Parks.</p>
+
+<p>"Sile," said his father, as he looked at him,
+"bring me in some Indians; not a whole tribe;
+just a few."</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, Sile," said Pine. "We'll bring all
+we find, I reckon."</p>
+
+<p>He showed no disposition to ride fast, but
+cantered away to the right, skirting the edge of
+the mountain slope, and seeming to study every
+clump of trees and bushes they came to. It was
+mostly grassy "open" for quite a distance from
+the mouth of the ca&ntilde;on.</p>
+
+<p>"No smoke anywhere," said Pine. "They're
+not camped hereaway."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>"I walked out along their trail, at the ruins,"
+said Sile. "Why didn't you follow it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's a fair question, Sile. It looks as if
+I'd orter ha' done it, but you see, I don't want
+to ketch up with 'em or let 'em know we're here.
+I want to find 'em without telling 'em what road
+I kem by."</p>
+
+<p>It was a sort of half-Indian cunning, but it
+was not quite equal to the needs of the matter.
+Full-blooded Indian cunning beat it all to
+pieces, as they were to find out before morning.
+It came to pass in a perfectly easy and natural
+sort of way.</p>
+
+<p>When the entire band of Nez Perc&eacute;s had arrived,
+and every soul in it had taken a look at
+the dead grisly, they had no notion of walking
+back a single rod. The braves had noted the
+indications of running water in the distance, and
+they pushed on until they found a camp-ground
+on the border of a swift, bright stream, almost
+alive with trout. It was bordered by a wide
+band of forest, and the trees were magnificent.
+Here at last they could all sit down in a kind
+of peace and plenty, and mourn for their dogs
+and ponies.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows had no mourning to do. What
+he really needed was to be hooped, like a barrel,
+for fear his pride and ambition might burst him.
+He felt as if he were about ten feet high and
+weighed more than a horse. All the other
+Indians he had heard of were nothing at all to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>what he was or was pretty soon going to be.
+He almost despised cougars and even grislies
+until he recalled how he had felt when the open
+jaws of the one which had hunted him came up
+over the curve of the bowlder.</p>
+
+<p>It occurred to him that he had better have a
+rock or something to help him next time, but his
+vanity suggested that after all he had invented
+that rock. The other Indian boys hardly felt
+like speaking to him, and Na-tee-kah called
+him to supper as respectfully as if he had been
+a full-grown warrior. He felt like one, and as
+if the camp were too small for him; so he
+walked out of it after supper, and his feet carried
+him farther. They seemed to have an idea of
+their own that it would be good for him to take
+another look at the bowlder where he had been
+watched for by the grisly. A thorough understanding
+of that matter might have taken him
+down a little, but he was to have better medicine
+yet before he again reached his father's lodge.
+He had his bow and arrows with him but no
+lance, and it was getting too dusky for hunting.
+The ground he was walking over was pretty
+level but it had its hollows, and as he came up
+out of one of these he suddenly dropped flat upon
+the grass. He had not been hurt, but he had
+seen something that in a manner knocked him
+down. It was the biggest surprise he had had
+since he came through the ca&ntilde;on, for two pale-faces
+on horseback were cantering along at no
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>great distance. They had not seen him, he was
+sure of that, although they were evidently looking
+for something. He let them pass and go on
+until he felt safe in following. Every nerve in
+his body tingled with fierce excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"War-path!" he exclaimed. "Ugh! Two
+Arrows a brave now. Get horse. Big warrior.
+Grow a heap. Find pale-face camp."</p>
+
+<p>Running, walking, creeping, as the mists of
+evening deepened, the young Nez Perc&eacute; followed
+those two horsemen, cunningly avoiding
+all detection. He followed them to the edge
+of the rocky ground at the foot of the mountain
+slope, and there he saw them turn to the left.</p>
+
+<p>"Know now," he muttered. "Pale-face came
+through ca&ntilde;on. Follow Nez Perc&eacute;. Got plenty
+horse. Two Arrows great brave. Ugh!"</p>
+
+<p>He should have gone for help and have performed
+the rest of his task in older company,
+but he was full to over-flowing with the vanity
+of winning another "heap" of glory. He felt
+entirely competent to deal with one band of
+white men, and to carry all their horses into
+his own camp. His rapid successes had been too
+much for him, and it is sometimes very nearly
+the same with young fellows of a different color.</p>
+
+<p>He lost sight of his human game several times,
+and it was now pretty dark, but his keen eyes
+caught the glow of camp-fires at last, and he
+knew what that meant. What he did not know
+was that Yellow Pine and Sile had ridden a wide
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>circuit across that open and had discovered no
+sign of danger.</p>
+
+<p>"Them Indians," said Pine, as they were riding
+in, "have gone on to the timber. They can't
+have the least idee that we're here, on the
+ground they passed over. To-morrer we must
+make another scout, though I sha'n't be easy till
+I know jest what kind of neighbors we're to
+have."</p>
+
+<p>That was common-sense, and so was the
+extreme care with which the quadrupeds were
+gathered and hobbled and "corralled" between
+the protecting masses of the ruins. The members
+of the mining party were already divided
+into "watches," taking regular turns, and Sile
+and a man named Jonas were in the first watch
+with Yellow Pine. That gave him a chance
+for an unbroken sleep when his work was done.
+What was also good, it gave him a rest to get
+sleepy in, and to let all the steam of his excitement
+get away from his head. He ate well, and
+he felt somewhat weary afterwards, but there
+was a queer idea growing in his mind that he
+was in the neighborhood of strange Indians, and
+that nobody could tell what might turn up.</p>
+
+<p>"Pine," said he, "if I see an Indian shall I
+kill him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yell first, and get out of his way, unless he
+holds out his hand and says 'How?' But you
+won't have any chance this night."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A WRESTLING MATCH</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The moon was to come up late that night,
+and all the first part of it would be lighted
+only by stars and camp-fires. The mining party
+had but two of these latter burning low, and the
+Nez Perc&eacute; band had not any, after they had
+done their cooking, but the stars sent down
+enough light to make things visible at short distances.
+The two camps were not over four
+miles apart.</p>
+
+<p>The only really wide-awake watchman in
+one of them was One-eye, and he patrolled in
+all directions as if he had an idea that matters
+must be less secure in the absence of his wonderful
+young master. Only one dog to do the barking
+for a whole village was something very uncommon
+in Indian history, but it was well to
+have the great duty given to an entirely competent
+dog.</p>
+
+<p>The boy whom One-eye considered the greatest
+personage in all that valley had now crept
+near enough to the mining camp to get a fair
+idea of what it contained. He saw a wealth of
+horse-flesh and mule-flesh, every quadruped of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>it worth half a dozen Indian ponies, and his
+ambition almost lifted him up from the grass.
+It stirred any amount of reckless daring, and it
+made him remember all the stories he had ever
+heard of famous chiefs who stole into camps and
+then stripped them clean of everything. He
+was already that kind of chief in his own estimation,
+and did not know that within a hundred
+yards of him there sat a white boy, of about his
+own age, not so tall but broader in the shoulders,
+who was at that moment recalling a long list
+of just such stories.</p>
+
+<p>Sile had fairly read up on Indian fiction before
+he left home, and his ideas of the way some
+things could be done were a little misty. He
+could hardly sit still for one moment, and preferred
+to stroll around among the horses to make
+sure no red man's hand was reaching out for one
+of them. Old Pine smiled grimly now and then,
+for he felt perfectly safe on the Indian question,
+but at last he heard an unaccountable rustling
+at one end of the corral, and then a loud hurrah
+from Sile.</p>
+
+<p>The idea had been in Sile's head that his
+proper course was to go about very much as if
+he were himself about to steal the horses, and his
+noiseless movements carried him to the outer
+edge of the corral at exactly the right moment.
+He was standing at the side of a tall mule, in
+the shadow of it and completely hidden, when
+he saw something darker than a shadow glide
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>out from between two tall weeds and swiftly
+writhe its way forward. His heart beat like a
+trip-hammer. His first thought was to use his
+rifle, but it was a new and dreadful thing to take
+a human life, and he could not lift his weapon.
+His eyes said, "Not a large Indian," and his
+hands let go of the rifle. The next instant, and
+just as Two Arrows rose to his feet, Sile sprang
+forward and grappled with him.</p>
+
+<p>It was a most perilous thing to do, considering
+that Two Arrows carried a knife; but the
+young Nez Perc&eacute; had also been thinking, and
+had made up his mind that "war" was no part
+of his errand. His tribe was at peace with the
+pale-faces, except as to horse-flesh, and that fact
+saved Sile's life. He had been accounted the
+best wrestler in his set, at home and at school,
+and his muscles were in capital order. It was
+not by any means an uneven match, therefore,
+and Two Arrows would have been glad enough
+to get away. He had no clothing for Sile to
+hold him by, and there was more and more
+danger of losing him every moment, but the
+shout of warning had hardly begun to rouse the
+general camp before a pair of long, sinewy arms
+wound around poor Two Arrows from behind.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got him," said Yellow Pine. "Run for
+a rope. You're jest the luckiest youngster I
+ever knowed."</p>
+
+<p>By the time the rope was there, every man in
+camp was up and out, and the grass and weeds
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>within sight had rifle muzzles pointed at everything
+among them as big as a human head.</p>
+
+<p>"No whoopin' sounded," said Yellow Pine.
+"This cub was alone. I say, you young coyote,
+you jest answer my questions now, or I'll tan the
+hide clean off ye."</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows drew himself up proudly and
+looked at him in silence, but Pine led his captive
+on into the fire-light and picked up a heavy
+"black-snake" whip, for he was justly angry.</p>
+
+<p>It was a terrible come-down for the ambition
+of a young chief. Captured on his first raid
+and threatened with a horsewhipping. He felt
+ready to burst, but it was not with vanity this
+time.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's yer band? Where's their camp?"
+asked Pine, with a significant flourish of the
+black-snake, but the Indian boy looked him unflinchingly
+in the face without a sound or a
+motion.</p>
+
+<p>"Speak, now," began Pine; but Sile had
+finished answering some hurried questions from
+his father, and he now asked one for himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I say, Yellow Pine, didn't I grab him first?
+Isn't he my prisoner as much as he is yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now, I don't want him flogged. He
+didn't use his knife. You always said it was
+best to be friends with 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd call it&mdash;&mdash; Jedge, it's jest so. Sile's right.
+I'd kinder lost my head. Look a-here, redskin,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>next time you come for hosses you won't get off
+so easy. I'll unhitch ye now, and let ye up.
+There now, Sile, shake hands with him."</p>
+
+<p>"How?" said Sile, as he held out his hand to
+the loosened captive.</p>
+
+<p>"How?" said Two Arrows, and he said it a
+little sullenly, but he had been glancing from
+Pine's face to Sile's and understood pretty well
+that the latter had stopped the proposed work of
+the black-snake.</p>
+
+<p>"Make him a present of something, Sile,"
+said his father. "Here&mdash;give him this."</p>
+
+<p>It was a small round pocket-mirror, worth
+twenty-five cents, but there was no telling what
+it was worth in the estimation of such a boy as
+Two Arrows&mdash;perhaps a pound or so of gold
+nuggets, if he had them, or the skin of his grisly
+bear, after the glory of killing it had worn a
+little thin. At all events, he was a most astonished
+Indian. Evidently these monsters in
+human form were disposed to be friends with
+him&mdash;particularly this red-headed young chief
+who had proved himself so good a wrestler.
+All he had ever heard of pale-faces was against
+believing it, but there was no chance of escaping
+from the ring of riflemen now gathered around
+him, and he gave it up. He answered Yellow
+Pine's questions by signs only, until something
+he said brought an exclamation from the old
+miner Jonas.</p>
+
+<p>"Nez Perc&eacute;! He's a Nez Perc&eacute;, Pine. I
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>know their lingo. He can talk some English,
+too. He needn't play 'possum any longer."</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows felt that he was completely
+beaten, and even pride failed to carry him any
+farther. It came to his mind, also, with a peculiar
+force, that he was by no means sure of the
+approval of Long Bear and his warriors. They
+had not sent him out to kill pale-faces and bring
+upon them the vengeance of the terrible "brass-button
+men" he had heard of. He had seen a
+few of them, and had wondered at their great
+knives, twice as long as his arm. He decided to
+speak out now, and in a few moments Jonas had
+pumped him thoroughly.</p>
+
+<p>"He isn't on any war-path," said Yellow Pine
+to Judge Parks; "he's jest a fool of a boy.
+We'll keep him till mornin' and carry him over
+to his own camp. It's the best way in the world
+to make friends with 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," replied the judge; "we must get
+out some presents. See that he doesn't get
+away."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll look out for that&mdash;you bet I will."</p>
+
+<p>So he did, and Two Arrows had now no knife
+with which to cut the rope whereby he was tied
+to Yellow Pine's elbow when that "big brave"
+lay down again. Sile rolled himself up in a
+blanket, only a few feet from them, and hardly
+slept a wink. He had captured a wild red Indian<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">and it beat all the novels he had ever seen.</span><br />
+He did not hear his father chuckle to himself,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>nor could he read the thoughts of the old judge.
+Long Bear himself was not prouder of Two
+Arrows and his grisly than was Sile's father of
+the manner in which his own boy had met and
+grappled with a sudden peril.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll be at the head of something or other
+some day," he muttered, as he was dropping
+asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Not even Na-tee-kah knew anything of the
+movements or whereabouts of Two Arrows this
+time, and her father questioned her in vain.
+His absence was "irregular," and when the
+hours went by and he did not return, the Long
+Bear's face put on an expression of stern displeasure.</p>
+
+<p>"Boy too big," he said; "grow too fast. Brave
+too soon. Young chief, though. Great warrior
+by-and-by, like father. Come back. Talk
+hard to him."</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah's thoughts followed her hero
+brother so long as her eyes were open. She had
+no doubt whatever that he would quickly turn up
+again with a great heap of new glory. She
+dreamed of his performing all sorts of marvellous
+things. All the other boys in camp were
+planning to catch up and get ahead of him, she
+knew, for she had heard some of them say so.
+The Big Tongue had told her of a large number
+of bears belonging to his record, and he was
+going on to tell of more when Ha-ha-pah-no
+overheard and asked him,</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>"Kill bear all with tongue? Shoot big lie
+right through? Catch old bear and talk to him;
+bear die!"</p>
+
+<p>Her tongue was sharp enough, and she
+strongly sympathized with Na-tee-kah's enthusiasm
+for Two Arrows. The Big Tongue got
+away from her and the camp grew more and
+more quiet.</p>
+
+<p>The spot chosen for it, in a curve of the
+stream, was one of rare beauty, and the loop
+formed by the long sweep of the rippling water
+would have been just the place for a secure corral,
+if that band of Nez Perc&eacute;s had had any four-footed
+property to be anxious about. It was not
+needful to keep a guard over their hope of stealing
+some thereafter.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XV</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A GREAT CAPTAIN</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The band of Nez Perc&eacute;s had done very well
+thus far, and so had the band of white
+miners, but there had been one other band of
+travellers which had accomplished a good deal
+by reason of having an uncommonly good commander.</p>
+
+<p>The wicked old mule that had engineered the
+stampede of the Nez Perc&eacute; ponies had continued
+to hold his position as captain. He
+could out-kick and out-bray any other mule
+there, and no mere pony would have dreamed
+of disputing him. There was some grass to be
+had, next day after the escape, and there was yet
+a little water in the pools rapidly drying away,
+but there was nothing anywhere to tempt to a
+stoppage. On he went, and on went the rest after
+him, and the reason why the warriors could not
+find his trail was because he did not leave any.
+He obeyed the strong instinct of all large animals,
+and some smaller ones, to "follow a beaten
+path and keep in a travelled road." He struck
+the well-made buffalo trail and did not find any
+reason for wandering from it. Multitudes of
+men have a precisely similar instinct, and keep in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>any particular path in life mainly because they
+are in it; they stick all the closer if they can see
+anybody else doing the same thing. That was
+what the wicked old mule saw, and he may have
+imagined that the squad or rather string of bisons
+ahead of him knew where they were going and
+what for. At all events he led his band closely
+behind them, and they plodded on in a way that
+carried them ahead quite rapidly. It carried
+them into the pass and through it, mule, ponies
+and all, and there was no one to tell them of
+what had happened there before or what was
+about to occur.</p>
+
+<p>Something had happened&mdash;something that is
+pretty sure to come to all bisons, sooner or later.
+In due season their great bodies reel and fall,
+and the wolves and buzzards are fed. But for
+such things the wolves would all die, and they
+have an unerring judgment as to the condition
+of an ailing bison. They never attack a healthy
+bull or cow unless they are in great force and
+the animal is alone.</p>
+
+<p>The migration of bisons from the parching
+plain to better pasture had been going on for
+some time, and the coyotes had followed it as a
+matter of course. The very day that the old
+mule halted his runaways at the spring for all the
+water they could hold, there should have been a
+painter on the great ledge which was followed
+by the trail in the middle of the pass. There
+was a tragedy there worth sketching.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>Herd after herd of bisons had gone along that
+ledge road in clumsy safety, but right there now,
+at the curve of the projecting rock, stood one who
+could go no farther. A fragment of an arrow
+still sticking through one of his hind-legs told
+what had made him lame in the first place, and
+the marks of wolf-teeth explained why he had
+grown lamer and lamer until all he could do was
+to turn his back to the rock and stand at bay.</p>
+
+<p>Mile after mile of weary walking and painful
+struggling the poor old beast had contended
+with the enemies now swarming around him;
+they had assailed him always from behind, and
+they had altogether crippled him. His great,
+terrible head was lowered threateningly, and
+his deep, sonorous bellow was thick with pain
+and fury. The watching coyotes sat down or
+walked around, barking, yelping, howling,
+snapping their teeth like castanets, sure of a feast
+to come and hungrily impatient for its beginning.
+One, hungrier or bolder than the rest,
+made a rush too soon, and the quick horn of the
+old bison caught him. Up, up he went, whirling
+over and over, and his last yelp went down
+with him into the deep ca&ntilde;on. The head of the
+bison sank again, and his bloodshot eyes grew
+filmy; he was faint and sinking, and he swayed
+staggeringly to and fro. He gave a great lurch
+forward as his faintness grew upon him, and in
+an instant he seemed to be all but covered with
+wolves. They attacked every square foot of him
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>at the same moment, climbing over each other,
+yelling, tearing, and the bison's time had come.
+The terror and agony stirred all his remaining
+life for one last, blinded rush. His instinct was
+to "charge" and he made one lumbering plunge.
+The trail at that point afterwards but barely
+passed the wagon-wheels, and there was no room
+to spare for the bison's last effort. It bore him
+heavily, helplessly over the sickening edge, and
+half a dozen of clinging coyotes went down with
+him. Hundreds of whirling feet the hunters
+and the hunted-down bison fell together, to be
+dashed to pieces upon the rocks at the bottom.</p>
+
+<p>A chorus of howls arose from the remaining
+wolves, but it did not express pity or horror.
+Only for a moment did they seem to be in doubt
+as to what was best to be done. After that it
+was a wolf-race as to which should first get back
+to the point at which they could safely clamber
+and tumble to the bottom of the pass. Their
+feast had been provided for them, and they ate
+every part of it, buffalo meat and wolf meat
+alike, with the help of some buzzards, before
+Two Arrows or any other human being entered
+the ca&ntilde;on to disturb them. Then they followed
+their prospect of further feasting, and it led them
+on into the grassy valley.</p>
+
+<p>The wicked old mule knew nothing of all this.
+No coyotes annoyed him or his command, but
+not a mouthful to eat did they find until they
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>came out where they could see the ancient ruins.
+At sight of these, hinting of human presence,
+they halted briefly and then sheered away so as
+not to approach too nearly so very unpleasant a
+suggestion. The bisons had led them well,
+whether or not the mule got the credit of it.
+Also, there was a fair degree of justification of
+the instinct concerning beaten paths. New ones
+may be better, and somebody must hunt them up
+all the while, but the old roads will do very well
+for most people until the new ones are fairly
+mapped out. Christopher Columbus had a hard
+time of it, and Captain Cook got himself eaten
+up at last, after finding ever so many new things.</p>
+
+<p>It was a matter of course that the runaways
+should feel their way farther and farther down
+the valley, and all sorts of happiness seemed to
+be before them. Grass, water, nice weather, no
+masters, no responsibilities, and plenty of good
+company among themselves. It was a time to
+grow fat, and to think well of the world they
+lived in.</p>
+
+<p>The wicked old mule had done his work, but
+he had gained neither name nor fame by it.
+He looked sidewise more slyly, whisked his
+ropy tail more demurely, and kicked his nearest
+neighbors more viciously than ever. Still, all
+he or they had gained was a vacation; no work
+to do for anybody but themselves, but with
+winter only a few months ahead and with a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>certainty
+that wolves, buzzards, coyotes, cougars,
+grislies, frost, snow-storms, and all the other unknown
+possibilities of the mountain country
+were only holding off for a season.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XVI</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">VISITING</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Two Arrows was treated to an excellent
+breakfast the morning after his capture.
+He also saw a white man eat with a knife and
+fork, and had all the sugar he wanted for the
+first time. It was a wonderful morning, and a
+very brilliant pair of eyes were drinking in its
+marvels greedily.</p>
+
+<p>Rifles, pistols, and all that sort of thing were
+familiar enough to the young Nez Perc&eacute;, but he
+saw new patterns of them and gained tremendous
+notions of the wealth and skill of the pale-faces
+who could make such weapons.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," said Sile, "I wish he could read.
+He's a bright fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"Show him everything you have with a
+picture in it."</p>
+
+<p>There was no fear that Two Arrows would try
+to run away after that process began. The
+printed matter of any sort did not convey to him
+an idea; it was so much mud; it meant nothing
+whatever. The pictures were another thing, and
+Sile had provided himself well with illustrated
+reading. Two Arrows almost gave up the sullen
+pride that refused to be astonished, and Sile
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>began to understand "sign language." At all
+events he nearly twisted himself out of shape in
+an effort to explain to his captive the nature of
+ships, cannon, camels, and steam-engines. He
+felt as if he were a sort of missionary. At last
+Judge Parks himself handed Two Arrows a
+photograph of an Indian chief, given him at one
+of the frontier agencies a few weeks before.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Pawnee!" said Two Arrows.</p>
+
+<p>"I told you so," exclaimed Yellow Pine. "If
+you showed him dogerrytypes of every tribe
+there is, he'd name 'em at sight. Jedge, it's
+about time we set out. I've got a mount ready
+for him."</p>
+
+<p>Jonas more fully explained to Two Arrows
+that a visit of peace was planned, and that he
+was to be marched home again, but the face of
+the young Indian clouded. That was the one
+thing he stood in mortal dread of. He thought
+of the jeers and derision sure to greet him from
+all other Nez Perc&eacute; boys when they should see
+him come home without any glory, and he hung
+back.</p>
+
+<p>"Mount now," shouted Yellow Pine, with a
+motion towards the animal he had selected.</p>
+
+<p>A horse! To ride back, instead of returning
+tired and on foot. That was quite another matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Whoop!" he could not have restrained that
+yell of relief, and in an instant he was in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>saddle. He had been used to riding a barebacked
+pony, and that made his present outfit
+the more splendid. All his vanity and ambition
+came pouring back upon him, and he almost
+felt as if he had captured that squad of pale-faces
+and was bringing them in as prisoners. He
+dashed forward at once, with Sile on one side,
+Yellow Pine on the other, and the rest following,
+except a camp-guard of two miners.</p>
+
+<p>Less than an hour later all the Nez Perc&eacute; band
+came out under the trees to see what was coming.</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows!" almost breathlessly exclaimed
+Na-tee-kah. "Caught some pale-faces
+this time."</p>
+
+<p>"Got horse," said Ha-ha-pah-no.</p>
+
+<p>Long Bear and his warriors did not say a
+word, for they were all but dumb with astonishment
+from the moment that they recognized the
+returning wanderer. What would not that remarkable
+boy do next? Had he killed anybody?
+Had he really stolen all those white
+men, or had they stolen him? There he was,
+anyway, and in a few moments more Yellow
+Pine and Judge Parks had said "How?" to
+Long Bear and his best men. Indian manners
+required that Two Arrows should be silent before
+his elders until spoken to, but Long Bear
+almost instantly inquired,</p>
+
+<p>"Where find boy?"</p>
+
+<p>"In camp," said Yellow Pine. "Try to steal
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>horse. Too many pale-face. Catch him. All
+safe. Big thief some day. Boy now."</p>
+
+<p>All of Two Arrows's dream of glory went out
+of sight before the grim smiles with which the
+Nez Perc&eacute; warriors heard that explanation.
+They perfectly understood the matter, and that
+the pale-faces before them wished to be good
+friends. On their part, they were a good deal
+more than willing, for they had much to gain
+from peace and very little from war with
+mounted riflemen.</p>
+
+<p>"Prisoner?" groaned Na-tee-kah.</p>
+
+<p>"Boy all right," grumbled Ha-ha-pah-no,
+indignantly. "Find pale-face camp anyhow.
+Go right in. Old brave all asleep. Never find
+anything. Big chief by-and-by."</p>
+
+<p>There was some truth in that view of the matter,
+and Long Bear made a remark that had a
+little the same sound. At all events Two Arrows
+was permitted to dismount and walk away,
+while the conference with his captors went on.
+In ten seconds he was exhibiting his little hand-mirror
+to Na-tee-kah and a crowd of other
+young people, and found his importance coming
+back to him. None of them had ever ventured
+to creep, all alone, into a white man's corral.
+Not a boy or girl among them had such a treasure
+as the mirror. He had made friends with
+the pale-faces, at all events. In fact, his standing
+in that community was rising with tremendous
+rapidity, until somehow or other the story
+of his wrestling match with Sile Parks began to
+be whispered around, and it became necessary for
+Two Arrows to point at Yellow Pine as the great
+brave who had really pinioned him. There
+was not a Nez Perc&eacute; in the band, old or young,
+who felt any longing for a grapple with the
+sinewy, big-boned old miner and all would have
+been right but for the fact that Two Arrows
+had not at once escaped from Sile.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep120" id="imagep120"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep120.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep120.jpg" width="60%" alt="NOT A BOY OR GIRL AMONG THEM HAD SUCH A TREASURE AS THAT MIRROR" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">NOT A BOY OR GIRL AMONG THEM HAD SUCH A TREASURE AS THAT MIRROR<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>A good understanding was easily established
+between the miners and the red men, and it was
+not long before Sile was off his horse and was
+going around among the young people. He
+used his eyes as busily as Two Arrows had done,
+but it is to be doubted if he saw as much, even
+in what there was to see. It was not long before
+Na-tee-kah had as good a looking-glass as
+her brother, and a general distribution of small
+presents sealed the arrangement that the miners
+were not to be plundered by that particular
+band.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, jedge," said Yellow Pine at last, "it's
+time we moved. S'pose we fetch along that
+young cub and his sister. Company for Sile.
+Make the old chief feel fine."</p>
+
+<p>Long Bear gave several grunts of assent when
+spoken to, and once more Two Arrows felt as
+if he were growing very fast indeed.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll go back and move the wagons," said
+Pine to Sile. "You and your young redskin
+can scout on down the valley. You've got your
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>directions 'bout finding us. Don't go too fast
+nor too far. The Indian'll smell any danger
+long before you will. He won't be roped in
+by anybody in broad daylight, I can tell ye."</p>
+
+<p>He did not look like it as he rode proudly
+away from the village. Jonas had mounted
+Na-tee-kah behind him, but Ha-ha-pah-no was
+to follow the wagons on foot, that the chief's
+daughter might have somebody to superintend
+her visit. When Ha-ha-pah-no set out in her
+turn nearly half the village went with her uninvited,
+and it took all the authority of Long
+Bear to keep the other half from keeping them
+company.</p>
+
+<p>"Come," said Two Arrows to Sile, after a
+few minutes of silent riding. "We go. Ugh!
+Shoot a heap."</p>
+
+<p>He had picked up more English words, somehow
+or other, than he had at first acknowledged,
+but Sile found it needful to work the sign language
+pretty industriously for all that.</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah had spent her life in the close retirement
+of an Indian village. She had been
+housed up among plains and mountains from
+all the world, and knew nothing about it. She
+had lived in a narrower prison than the smallest
+country village in all the East. The idea of
+visiting a white man's camp and seeing all there
+was in it made her tremble all over. She knew
+her father and ever so many others would be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>there in an hour or so, and that her wonderful
+brother had gone on a hunt with the son of the
+pale-face chief, but she was to enter a strange
+place with only white warriors for company.
+It was an awful thing to do, and she could not
+have done it, nor would Long Bear have consented
+to it, but for something they both saw
+in the face of old Judge Parks when he patted
+her on the head and said,</p>
+
+<p>"Be my daughter a little while. Make a
+white girl of her for a week. Take good care
+of her."</p>
+
+<p>Red men have keen eyes for character, and
+Long Bear understood. So did Na-tee-kah, and
+yet she would have run away and hidden but
+for her curiosity, stirred up by what Two
+Arrows had told her of the contents of that camp
+and its wagons. An offer to a white girl of a
+trip to Paris might be something like it, but it
+would not be much more. Her eyes danced
+and her fingers tingled as they drew near, and
+yet the only thing she could see was a couple
+of commonplace tilted wagons and a lot of horses
+and mules. The moment she was on the ground
+the old judge came to her assistance.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Na-tee-kah, I'll show you something.
+Come this way."</p>
+
+<p>She stood as straight as an arrow and walked
+along courageously, but it required all her
+strength of mind and will to do so. She watched
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>him in silence, as he went into and came out of
+one of those mysterious rolling tents full of all
+unknown riches.</p>
+
+<p>"There, now. That'll keep you busy while
+we're getting ready to move."</p>
+
+<p>She held out both her hands, and when Ha-ha-pah-no
+at last put her own hand upon her
+shoulder and said "Ugh!" Na-tee-kah started
+as if she had been waked from a dream. She
+had been looking at pictures that told her of
+another world.</p>
+
+<p>"Heap lie," said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Pale-face
+tell 'em. Make lie about squaw. There!"</p>
+
+<p>It was a picture of several ladies in evening
+dress, and Na-tee-kah had been looking at it
+for five minutes. No such woman as those
+could possibly be, nor could any human beings
+get themselves up so wonderfully. It was all
+a lie, and any intelligent squaw could detect
+the fraud at a glance.</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah drew a long breath that sounded
+like a sigh, and just then the shout of Yellow
+Pine announced that all was ready for a move.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll reach that mine to-morrow night,
+jedge, if we're lively. Everything's goin' prime
+now."</p>
+
+<p>With or without an invitation the relatives of
+Na-tee-kah trudged along with the wagons mile
+after mile, and Long Bear gained an extra
+pound of tobacco by sticking to Yellow Pine
+until the train halted at noon.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>Ha-ha-pah-no scolded Na-tee-kah pretty
+nearly all the way for not knowing more about
+pale-faces, but she broke down at the noon camp-fire.
+She undertook to play cook, and in half
+a minute Jonas discovered that she did not know
+how to make coffee.</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't you have b'iled a black soup?"
+he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor old squaw!" said Ha-ha-pah-no.
+"Know all about him. Drink some once; bitter.
+Put sweet in. Stir him up, so."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh!" said Na-tee-kah. "Know so much.
+Ask Two Arrows when he come."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XVII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">MORE FUN</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Sile Parks and Two Arrows had the
+whole valley before them and all the mountains
+and valleys beyond, and one knew as much
+about them as did the other. Neither had ever
+been just there before, and yet the young Nez
+Perc&eacute; was at home, and Sile was in a new
+country. Sile could ride well and he could
+shoot well, but here at his side was a born hunter.
+With all sorts of descriptive signs he asked him,</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever kill a deer?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! heap deer. Heap bear. Heap buffalo.
+Big heap."</p>
+
+<p>And then all the pride of Two Arrows came
+to help him explain that he had killed a cougar
+all alone, and a big-horn and a grisly. By the
+time he had succeeded in doing so Sile regarded
+him as a red-skinned wonder, but had so interpreted
+some of his signs as to include a big snake,
+a land-turtle, and a kangaroo in the list of asserted
+victories. It gave him some doubts as to
+the others, for he said to himself,</p>
+
+<p>"No rabbit can jump as far as he says that
+thing did. There are no kangaroos here, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>they have no horns. I give it up. Maybe he is
+lying, but he doesn't look so."</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows was boasting quite truthfully,
+and the trouble was with Sile's translation.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! look. Rifle&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Sile's eyes followed the pointing finger in vain
+for a moment. At first he saw nothing but a
+clump of sumach bushes, but for once he asked
+no questions. What could be among them?
+One seemed to move a little. Could it be
+possible? the horns of a buck!</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe I can hit him. I've heard of such
+a thing. I'll aim below them; his body is there
+somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows could have told him just how
+that deer was standing, but Sile's guess-work was
+pretty good. He let his rifle-muzzle sink on a
+line with one of those antlers, and had lowered
+it a little too much when he pulled the trigger.
+The kicking of the rifle made the aim a good
+one, for the sharp report was answered by a
+great bound from the cover of the sumachs, and
+in an instant a mortally-wounded buck was dashing
+across the open, with One-eye close at his
+heels.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! got him," said Two Arrows. "Heap
+shoot. Bow not so good."</p>
+
+<p>Sile had offered to lend him a rifle at starting,
+but Two Arrows had prudently refused
+to disgrace himself. He had never owned one
+and did not care to show his lack of skill.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>That was a fine dash after One-eye and the
+wounded buck, but it was a short one. The
+bullet had done its work so thoroughly that there
+was little trouble left for the dog when he seized
+his victim's throat to pull him down.</p>
+
+<p>There had been some hunting done by the
+mining party on their long journey, but Sile
+could have told Two Arrows if he had chosen
+to do so, that here lay the first deer he had ever
+killed. He could also have told him that it
+appeared to be the largest, fattest, finest, most
+miraculous buck that anybody in the world had
+ever killed; as it really was even Two Arrows
+spoke well of the buck and thought well of the
+shot which had brought it down.</p>
+
+<p>"If I knew where to find our train I'd take it
+right in," said Sile, as they hoisted the buck to
+his own saddle. "I'd just as lief walk."</p>
+
+<p>"Find him," said Two Arrows, understanding
+the searching look Sile gave towards the
+mountains. "Go so. Come. Get on horse;
+ride."</p>
+
+<p>He took the lead at once, but it seemed to
+Sile that he was going in the wrong direction.
+He was not at all aware that his friend had skilfully
+directed their hunt on a line nearly
+parallel, at no great distance, from that which
+the train must follow. He was therefore doubly
+astonished when a brief ride brought them
+within sight of the wagon-tilts. They had
+halted, and Sile had double comfort: he could
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>show his father his first deer and he could get
+a hot dinner, for Ha-ha-pah-no could do very
+well with a steak if not with coffee.</p>
+
+<p>"Which of you killed the deer?" asked the
+judge, as they rode in.</p>
+
+<p>Sile was silent long enough for Two Arrows
+to point at him and remark,</p>
+
+<p>"Heap shoot."</p>
+
+<p>"So I did, father, but he pointed him out.
+I'd never have seen him if I'd been alone."</p>
+
+<p>"Jest so," said Yellow Pine. "There isn't
+anything else on the earth like the eyesight of
+an Indian. I've had 'em sight game more'n
+once that I'd ha' missed sure."</p>
+
+<p>It puzzled Na-tee-kah somewhat that anybody
+else should have won anything while her
+wonderful brother was near by, but Ha-ha-pah-no
+relieved her by remarking,</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! The red-head kill deer. Two Arrows
+show him how. Good."</p>
+
+<p>One of the miners had ridden out from the
+line of march and returned with another deer,
+so that fresh venison was plentiful in the camp.
+Two Arrows felt no longing for any more hunting
+that day, and he bluntly said so. It was ten
+times more to his liking to ride along with the
+train and keep his eyes busy. He was studying
+white men, and all the world knows what a
+curious study they are. One white boy was also
+studying him and his sister, and could not understand
+them at all. Sile's eyes and thoughts ran
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>about over everything he heard or saw until he
+almost had a headache.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell you what, father," he said to the judge,
+"when we go into camp again I'm going to show
+them my box."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a curiosity box. Show it to them."</p>
+
+<p>The road was necessarily somewhat rough,
+and wagoning was slow work, and before sunset
+a place was chosen for an all-night camp. Then
+came Sile's experiment. He hauled a stoutly-made,
+leather-covered trunk out of one of the
+wagons, before the eyes of Two Arrows and Na-tee-kah,
+and it was instantly evident that neither
+had ever seen one, but that both understood its
+use. He unstrapped it, but it did not open,
+and he made them try it. Lock and key were
+mysteries they had no thought of, and they almost
+started back with surprise when Sile pushed
+a thin bit of steel into one side of that contrivance
+and all the upper part of it could be tipped
+right over.</p>
+
+<p>Sile's "box" would have been first-rate rummaging
+for any boy of his acquaintance, and it
+was a mine of wonders to the two young savages.
+He had put into it some things which could
+hardly be useful to him, even if he should be
+cast away upon a mountain, as Robinson Crusoe
+was upon an island, and it was so much the
+better fun for Two Arrows and Na-tee-kah.
+The fishing-hooks, lines, reel, etc., made the eyes
+of the former fairly dance, and Sile brought out
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>a joint-rod and put it together, with a reel on,
+to show him how the machine worked. Two
+Arrows grew thoughtful over that affair.</p>
+
+<p>"Big fish break him."</p>
+
+<p>"No. Show you about that to-morrow morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! ugh!" suddenly exclaimed Ha-ha-pah-no.
+"Red-head got squaw? Boy!"</p>
+
+<p>He did look young to be married, but she
+was pointing straight at a brush and comb and
+some other articles which, to her notion, did not
+belong in the treasury of a young warrior. Sile
+at once explained that he used them himself,
+but there were several brushes and combs, and
+she added,</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Beat squaw. Take 'em away from
+her. What she do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Try it on," said Sile, handing a brush and
+comb to Na-tee-kah, and a peal of laughter
+announced the pleasure of the two Indian ladies,
+old and young. Even Two Arrows dropped a
+"spoon-hook" to take an interest in that proceeding.</p>
+
+<p>"Come," said Ha-ha-pah-no, with a long
+string of merry gutturals of explanation that
+she had seen a white lady at one of the forts
+putting up the hair of another. She herself
+could do it, and in twenty seconds more there
+was a yell from Na-tee-kah and a tooth out of
+the comb.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me show you," said Sile, and from that
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>moment there was not one sound from the lips
+of Na-tee-kah. Whether she was hurt or not
+nobody knew, for if the comb had extracted hair
+by the handful she would not have whimpered.
+Ha-ha-pah-no insisted on having her hair
+combed by Na-tee-kah. She must know how
+now, it was evident, and she did, for the comb
+lost another tooth in the very first tangles of
+Ha-ha-pah-no's hair.</p>
+
+<p>"That's fun," said Yellow Pine. "Jest look
+at them critters. That there squaw'll crack
+that lookin'-glass, twistin' her face, 'fore her
+combin' is done."</p>
+
+<p>She stood it pretty well, but the other contents
+of the box had less interest now. She and
+Na-tee-kah preferred to go on with the brush
+and comb. Even Two Arrows looked at them
+so enviously that Sile told him the white chiefs
+did comb their hair. It was enough. Squaws
+were made to serve braves, and they were both
+commanded to take charge of his long, bushy,
+and decidedly tangled barbering. Not for his
+life would he have uttered a cry of pain, but he
+made up his mind that a pale-face can endure a
+great deal before they got through with him.</p>
+
+<p>Supper had to be eaten, and sharp appetites
+helped them to get away long enough for that
+duty, but then the brush and comb began again
+under Sile's instruction.</p>
+
+<p>"That there comb won't last long," said <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>Yellow
+Pine. "Tell 'em to put on some grease,
+Sile, and some ribbons. Ribbons, Sile, and
+some beads, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And some red flannel," said Jonas, "and
+some tinware."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd forgotten all about that," exclaimed Sile,
+springing up.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments his visitors were in a new
+state of excitement, for they were tying up their
+now glossy locks with brilliant ribbons and strips
+of gay cloth. To these were added some of the
+brilliant white-metal ornaments that pass for
+silver among the very youngest pale-face children.
+Two Arrows put on his full share of all
+that was offered and became a very gay-looking
+young Indian. There was no danger that he
+would stand on his head and spoil his ribbons,
+but he felt almost too proud to stand on his feet.
+He felt more and more sure that the world did
+not contain quite such another hero, and longed
+for the presence of his whole band, and of his
+entire tribe, and of several other tribes, that he
+might walk up and down in front of them and
+be admired. No white boy with a new stovepipe
+hat and a pair of yellow kid gloves ever
+wanted to walk through so many streets or past
+quite so many "boarding-schools" as did Two
+Arrows&mdash;only that his showing-off places were
+such as he was best acquainted with.</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah was more quiet than even <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>Ha-ha-pah-no,
+for that highly respectable squaw had
+done up her head remarkably.</p>
+
+<p>"All she wants to finish it off is two tin
+dippers and a set of sleigh-bells. I saw a squaw
+do that once. There's no telling what they
+won't put on. But I say, jedge, that there littler
+one is a born lady, and she's right down good-lookin'
+too. All she needs is good dressin' and
+she'd kind o' shine."</p>
+
+<p>There was not a doubt of it, and her highly-colored
+ribbons had been put on with better
+taste than those of Ha-ha-pah-no, and they
+showed to good advantage her clear, dark complexion,
+brilliant eyes, and regular features.
+Old Long Bear had a right to be proud of both
+his children.</p>
+
+<p>It was grand fun, but there came an end to
+it at last. Two Arrows went out to share with
+Sile his camp-watch, and Ha-ha-pah-no and
+Na-tee-kah were shown to a small tent which
+had been pitched for them. It was something
+of a trial to take all that finery away from the
+admiring blaze of the camp-fire and carry it
+into the dark hiding-place of that tent, but it
+had to be done. At all events they could rise
+early in the morning and comb their hair again
+and arrange the ribbons and things in some other
+way.</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah's new world was opening to her
+wonderfully, and she lay for a long time wide
+awake, staring into the darkness and trying to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>imagine pale-face squaws and their ways of
+doing up their hair and painting themselves and
+putting on whole heaps of blankets of the most
+striking colors and patterns.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">TWO WAR-PARTIES</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>That was a time of uncommon interest and
+excitement to the entire Nez Perc&eacute; hunting
+village. They had plenty to eat and to
+drink, and some of them had received presents,
+and the prospect ahead seemed to brighten a
+little. By nightfall all the warriors were returned
+from accompanying the mining party,
+and it was a time for a grand smoke. Some of
+them had begged Yellow Pine for "fire-water,"
+but not a drop had been obtained. Instead of
+it they had been informed,</p>
+
+<p>"We're not jest that kind of white men.
+There isn't a pint of tangle-foot in this 'ere outfit.
+Ef I want to murder a feller I'll take a
+rifle to him and do the job clean. I won't go
+around the bush and massacre him with a
+whiskey-jug."</p>
+
+<p>The red men understood perfectly well that
+there was no "fire-water," but that was all they
+gathered. Plenty of smoking tobacco they did
+obtain, and it was a grand addition to the
+dignity of their "council," if every half-naked
+brave with a pipe in his mouth had a right to
+consider himself a councillor. They all smoked,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>and they all wondered what it was best to do
+next, and they all said so, and every brave among
+them regretted that it was out of the question
+for them to acquire possession of the quadrupeds
+ridden and driven by Judge Parks and his men.
+The Big Tongue and a few of the younger braves
+even went so far as to "talk war," but the wiser
+heads merely grunted at the suggestions volunteered.
+The Big Tongue had much to say to
+the smokers nearest him concerning a pale-face
+warrior whose scalp was among his own treasures.
+Ha-ha-pah-no was not there to make
+any sly remarks as to how he actually obtained
+such a trophy as that and some others on which
+his reputation as a warrior mainly rested. They
+sat up until they had smoked all the wisdom
+out of several pipes of tobacco to each warrior,
+but did not seem to be any nearer a conclusion.
+The camp was under the special charge of One-eye,
+but that dog was becoming quiet and
+solemn. His especial master had departed, he
+knew not whither. All the bones in camp now
+belonged to him, and he had no time to bury
+so much as one of them. He was not fond of
+tobacco, and as soon as the smoking began he
+walked out of camp to patrol the edge of the
+woods and to keep all the eye left him on duty
+against possible intruders. He had no faith
+in a country which was evidently infested by
+pale-faces.</p>
+
+<p>If he had known more about that valley and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>the region into which it led, he would have had
+an even worse opinion of it. The fact that it
+contained a large stream of water had already
+suggested many things to the experienced mind
+of Long Bear. All such water, he well knew,
+kept on running, no matter what might be its
+crooks and turnings. If he and his braves could
+have followed that stream far enough while
+they were smoking and talking over plans, they
+might have reached a place where it turned a
+corner of the mountains and was joined by another
+and larger stream. The two in partnership
+were able to float a canoe. There was no
+canoe afloat there, but there was something yet
+more important away on down, a pretty long
+way, below the fork made by the junction of the
+two streams. There was a camp occupied by
+red warriors only, without one squaw to be seen
+in it, and it was therefore the camp of a "war-party."
+It was accompanied by a large drove
+of ponies, horses, and mules, and some of these
+had saddles and others carried packs. These
+were signs that the war-party had been successful
+and that pale-faces had been the sufferers.
+Every quadruped visible wore an air of being
+more or less fatigued, in token of having been
+driven or ridden both fast and far. From this
+it might have been gathered that these red men,
+however successful had been their expedition,
+believed or feared that they were followed by
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>somebody whom they preferred to get away
+from. All these signs told the exact truth; it
+was also true that some pains had been taken
+to discover whether or not the supposed pursuit
+continued.</p>
+
+<p>At the very hour when One-eye was making
+the best use he could of the bright moonshine
+in front of his own camp, and knew nothing at
+all about this other, a tall man stood in the deep
+shadow of a pine-tree, miles and miles down
+stream from the resting-place of the war-party.
+The bridle of a horse hung over his right arm,
+but the animal stood as motionless as did his
+master, and both were intently watching a dark
+shape that rode nearer and could be seen more
+and more clearly, and that paused at last upon
+the river-bank within thirty yards. Just as it
+did so there came from under the shadow of the
+pine-tree a flash and a sharp report, and all the
+upper part of the dark shape on the bank fell
+suddenly to the earth, uttering a loud, fierce
+yell.</p>
+
+<p>"Got him!" was shouted from under the pine-tree,
+and the man walked out, leading his horse,
+while instantly there could be heard the sound
+of galloping hoofs beyond him. In a minute
+or so more a stern, hoarse voice rang out.</p>
+
+<p>"Halt! What is it, Garry?"</p>
+
+<p>"Got him, captain. 'Nother of them 'Paches.
+He won't carry back no news. Dead as a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>mackerel. Reckon they can't be far away now."</p>
+
+<p>"We've taken pretty good care of their scouts,
+anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"Jest so many the less to fight when we come
+up with 'em. They'll outnumber us bad enough,
+I reckon, best we can make of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Back to camp, Garry. Corporal Peters,
+take the same post, with two men. There may
+be more of them."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, captain."</p>
+
+<p>There was a little more talking done, but
+these seemed to be a somewhat quiet set of men.
+There were six of them besides the captain.
+They were all dressed in blue, and wore brass
+buttons and carried short-barrelled carbines and
+sabres. A good look at them would have recalled
+to the mind of Two Arrows all the arguments
+he had ever heard as to the wisdom of
+keeping the peace with the pale-faces. When
+they reached the camp, after "changing the
+guard" at Garry's river-side post, it was easy
+to see that their entire force consisted of several
+times as many men of the same sort. Every
+man was on his feet, wide awake and waiting
+for orders. One squad of five stood with each
+man's hand upon the bridle of a saddled horse,
+ready to mount, just as the first squad must have
+been, when it heard the warning report of
+Garry's carbine. A company of United States
+cavalry, veteran Indian fighters, following a
+"hot trail," keeps itself wonderfully ready for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>action. It is not easy to take such men by
+surprise. Now, however, at the word of command,
+all was instantly quiet again. The actual
+meaning of the alarm was rapidly told from
+man to man, and several remarked:</p>
+
+<p>"Good for Garry! We'll catch 'em yet."</p>
+
+<p>All who had a right to go to sleep, did so as
+unconcernedly as if they had been in a hotel.
+On the whole, it looked as if something else than
+peace were on its way into the valley where
+One-eye was keeping watch for the smokers.
+The last man to lie down was the captain, and
+one of the wide-awake squad nodded at him and
+said to another,</p>
+
+<p>"If there was forty alarms 'fore sun-up, old
+Grover'd be the first man to turn out every
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"Not much reg'lation 'bout him."</p>
+
+<p>"But there's lots of fight."</p>
+
+<p>"He can get more hard work out of men and
+hosses, and he can do more himself, and he can
+sleep less, and say less about it all, than any
+other captain I ever served under."</p>
+
+<p>That, therefore, was the kind of soldiers from
+whom the Apaches were wisely trying to get
+away, and Garry's carbine had destroyed their
+prospect of learning how very near he and his
+might be. It looked very much as if two days
+more of hard riding would bring them into a
+sort of trap, with the mountains before and the
+cavalry behind. Still, even then, there would be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>the pass, if they knew where to find it. There
+also were One-eye and all of his men and Sile
+Parks and his party; and the wicked old mule,
+too, with his command, was in the valley somewhere.
+Only a few days earlier the entire sweep
+of forest and "open and mountain-side" had been
+unoccupied by anything more dangerous or more
+interesting than wild game and the wild animals
+that fed on it. It is very curious how suddenly
+immigrants will sometimes pour into a new
+country if there is a good trail pointing out the
+way.</p>
+
+<p>The spot chosen by Yellow Pine for the camp
+of the mining party was by a dancing little
+brook which came down from the mountain
+to the right of them, and the path by which they
+travelled that day had barely kept them outside
+of the rocky slopes. Some coyotes came prowling
+around, to yelp over the faint smell of roasted
+meat that floated out to them from the camp-fires.
+Once during the night the cry of a wandering
+cougar came wailing through the silence
+and was followed by that of a horned owl who
+had noiselessly flapped near enough to blink his
+great eyes at the blaze. For all that, it was the
+loneliest kind of a place, and the hours went by
+until sunrise without the smallest real disturbance
+or hint of perils to come.</p>
+
+<p>Judge Parks himself was on the watch in the
+first gray of dawn, and the camp was dim enough
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>even after there were rosy tints upon the distant
+mountain summits. He stood gazing at these
+and leaning upon his rifle, when Yellow Pine
+walked out to take his customary survey of matters.</p>
+
+<p>"We're going to have a fine day, jedge."</p>
+
+<p>"Splendid weather. Pine, just think of all
+this magnificent country as it will be when it's
+settled. Farms, towns, villages, mines, railways,
+factories&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"There won't be any game, then, or any red
+Indians, either."</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't a finer country in all the world.
+The new time is coming, Pine."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is. Our mine's coming first
+thing. We'll get there 'fore sundown. Wish I
+knew what else was coming."</p>
+
+<p>"Afraid of anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"Got a curious feeling in my back. Always
+have it when there's something up. It's as much
+like the rheumatiz as it is like anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Guess that's what it is, then."</p>
+
+<p>"I dunno 'bout that. I've had all sorts of
+things happen when I had this 'ere feeling onto
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly, Pine. I've had dinner happen to
+me a good many times just when I had a sort of
+feeling it was coming. Soon as I got right
+down hungry I knew it was a sure sign. I say,
+look at those boys."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>"Going a-fishing. I'd call it&mdash;Well, it's a
+good thing for 'em to do. They can't miss
+bringing in a good string. Sile, see here."</p>
+
+<p>"Halloo!"</p>
+
+<p>"Get back with some for breakfast if you can.
+We'll be right here till the critters have done
+feeding. Catch a heap."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," shouted Sile. "He says the
+water's full of 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is."</p>
+
+<p>"Sile," said his father, "don't throw away your
+time on fly-fishing. Use bait, and pull 'em right
+in. They'll bite."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to spoon for 'em. Can't find any
+bait."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, jedge," said Pine. "I've seen
+trout in some of these mountain streams jump
+for a bare hook quick as it tetched the water.
+There's too many on 'em, and they get the hungriest
+kind."</p>
+
+<p>"They won't mind much what they jump at,
+that's sure. I must say I'd like some for breakfast,
+though."</p>
+
+<p>Yellow Pine and the judge had other matters
+on hand, and the latter had a short nap to take,
+after his "watch." The animals had to be cared
+for, moreover, before any mere human being
+had a right to be fed.</p>
+
+<p>The first noise that was made in camp
+brought Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no out of
+their tent, comb and brush in hand. They both
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>made sure of their ribbons and that all was in
+order before they had a word to say to anybody.
+It could not be denied that they were a very
+bright looking and highly ornamented pair, Ha-ha-pah-no
+being perhaps a little ahead.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XIX</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">WONDERFUL FISHING</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>There had been a good deal of discussion
+of the fishing question between the two
+young friends, for Two Arrows knew nothing
+of the powers of a "spoon-hook." Sile had
+them of several sizes, and Two Arrows admitted
+to himself that anything so very bright and
+pretty must have special effectiveness. Any of
+those spoons was brilliant enough to have been
+worn in the hat of a great chief, but the doubt
+remaining was as to what the trout would think
+of them. The gaudy assortment of artificial flies
+Two Arrows quite turned up his nose at. The
+fish of the western mountains were not in the
+habit of biting at such things, and could not be
+taught to do so. As to the hooks, however, large
+and small, anybody could see their superiority
+over such as he was accustomed to using, and the
+lines were elegant. Sile provided him with a
+rod, and when he marched away with it he felt
+a strong desire to carry it to and through his own
+camp, that everybody he knew might see what
+an extraordinary thing he was doing. No Nez
+Perc&eacute; boy that he had ever heard of had been
+able to go a-fishing with a joint-rod and a spoon-hook.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>They had but a mile or so to walk in order to
+reach the nearest bend of the little river, and
+they startled more than one gang of deer on the
+way. Sile had his rifle and Two Arrows had
+his bow, but the morning had been given up to
+fish, and they stuck to their original purpose in
+spite of all temptation. On the bank of the
+stream they paused for a moment and took a
+survey of the situation. The water was not
+more than fifty yards wide, and did not seem to
+be deep, but it ran with rippling swiftness.</p>
+
+<p>"That'll do," said Sile. "It's plenty strong
+enough to carry a spoon. You won't have to
+skitter it a bit."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Heap fish," said Two Arrows, but he
+did not understand Sile's remark and wondered
+what was to come next. During all his life
+thus far he had never thought of the pale-faces
+as fishermen, or that they really knew anything
+valuable about such matters. The contents of
+Sile's box had staggered him, and now he looked
+on in silence while the "Red-head" (as Ha-ha-pah-no
+had named him) put his rod together,
+setting the reel firmly in its socket, and then
+deftly fitted on the spoon-hook with its fine
+wire "snell." Sile's father was an enthusiastic
+fisherman and had given his son more than a
+little good schooling. Up went the rod, and
+the line swing lightly back for a second, and
+then, with a perfect cast, the brilliant "spoon"
+flew over the water and alighted among the swift
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>ripples. The current caught it and whirled it
+away, the polished silver glittering and dancing
+near the surface, but it was visible only for an
+instant. There came a rush and a plunge, and
+away out of the water sprang a splendid trout
+with Sile's hook fastened firmly in his too hasty
+jaw.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah!" shouted Sile. "Got him!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Good," said Two Arrows. "Break!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, he won't break any line. See!"</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows did see a great deal in a very
+few moments. The tough rod bent, and Sile
+gave a little line at first; but the trout made an
+up-stream rush and was guided to the shore.
+He was lying on the grass, quietly enough, just
+after that. So was another and another, and
+now Two Arrows had mastered the idea and was
+at work with energy. It surprised Sile to see
+how perfectly his red friend could handle his
+new tools, but it was well that the rod was a
+stout one, for the reel and its uses were as yet
+an enigma. It was exciting sport, for there was
+hardly any waiting for bites whatever. The
+trout were on the lookout for their breakfasts,
+and nobody had ever before offered them such
+attractive little silvery fish as they now saw,
+every now and then struggling through the
+water, all ready to be seized upon.</p>
+
+<p>It was a great lesson to Two Arrows, and it
+promised a capital breakfast to the mining
+party.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>"Guess we've got enough," said Sile at last.
+"We'd better hurry back to camp."</p>
+
+<p>At that moment a strange and unexpected
+sound came to his ears from some point lower
+down the stream, and Two Arrows came near to
+dropping his rod into the water.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Catch now!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you've caught your fish, but what's
+that? It sounds for all the world like a mule
+braying."</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows know him. Heap bad mule.
+Nez Perc&eacute; lose all pony. Find 'em now. Red-head
+come?"</p>
+
+<p>Sile looked with admiration upon the fiercely
+excited face of the young Nez Perc&eacute;. The dark
+eyes fairly glittered with pleasure and expectation,
+and he was striving, with all the words and
+signs he was master of, to convey an idea of the
+loss his band had sustained, and now once more,
+and more sonorously, the "morning bugle" of
+a mule in command of something came ringing
+up the river.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll string the trout," said Sile, as he began to
+do so, "then I'll go with you. It'll be grand if
+we can really catch them."</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows catch 'em all, heap time. Get
+one, get all tribe."</p>
+
+<p>"Wish we were mounted. Better go to camp
+and get some horses."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! No wait. Find now."</p>
+
+<p>There was no such thing as resisting his eager
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>urgency, and Sile himself began to get excited.
+The trout made two magnificent "strings," but
+were pretty heavy to carry, and it was decided
+to hang them and the two rods upon the limb
+of a tree until a visit should have been paid to
+the owner of that bray. All this was quickly
+attended to, and then the two fishermen were instantly
+changed into pony-hunters.</p>
+
+<p>Not even his adventure with the grisly, or
+his timely success with the two bisons when his
+people were starving, had so aroused the ambition
+of Two Arrows. The future fortunes
+of his entire band seemed to him to depend once
+more upon his own individual good-conduct.
+Sile thought he had never seen so proud looking
+a human being.</p>
+
+<p>The speckled beauties from the river swung
+heavily from the high but bending branch as
+the two boys hurried away, but these were almost
+forgotten by both in the course of a few
+minutes. They did not have to follow far the
+windings of the stream before Two Arrows,
+who was somewhat in the advance, dodged behind
+a tree and beckoned eagerly to Sile:</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Look! Pony!"</p>
+
+<p>Just beyond him was a grassy glade glistening
+with morning dew, and scattered over it was
+the entire command of the wicked old mule, the
+wealth and the comfort together of the Nez
+Perc&eacute; pony-riders. To have been seen by them
+prematurely would have been a pretty sure way
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>of stampeding them again, and the occasion
+called for prudence and good management.
+Some of the animals still had their long hide
+lariats hanging and dragging from their necks
+and some had not, but Two Arrows noted one of
+the former, a very good-looking pony, feeding at
+no great distance from a clump of hazel and willows
+beyond him. He made Sile understand
+his purpose of getting into that cover, and then
+all that Sile had to do was to watch him. Down
+dropped the young Nez Perc&eacute;, and from that
+moment there was little of him to be seen, except
+when his gayly ribboned head now and
+then showed itself, peering over the wet, luxuriant
+grass and weeds. Then a slight movement
+among the willows told of his safe arrival,
+and still the runaways were feeding quietly, unaware
+of the nearness of human beings or other
+enemies. Sile peered from behind his tree and
+watched the movements of the particular pony
+his friend had pointed out. He was a brisk
+sort of fellow, and he was working at his
+breakfast busily. Nearer and nearer he fed his
+way towards a projecting growth of the hazel-bushes
+and Sile perceived a promising shake in
+one of these. There was something more than
+a shake hidden by them, for in about one minute
+more a light, lithe, graceful human form sprang
+suddenly out. A quick grasp at the trailing
+lariat, a rapid twist of a loop of it around the
+animal's face, a buoyant leap, and Two Arrows
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>was a mounted Indian once more. Every beast
+of the wicked old mule's startled command was
+familiar with the tones of the whoop of triumph
+which called them all away from their grass
+and their freedom. They had many a time been
+driven in from other pastures by that particular
+yell, and it seemed now as if each of them took
+a swift look around him and listened for the expected
+voice of One-eye. It should naturally
+have followed that whoop. After that it was
+as if they had only been waiting for somebody
+to come, and wished to say as much. Their
+commander put out his head and brayed lustily,
+and so did all the other mules, but the ponies
+took the matter more soberly. Whether or not
+they had already begun to discover warning
+signs of cougars, wolves, grislies and other insecurities
+of their situation, they actually felt
+better to be once more in the company of a
+human being whom they knew. Sile wondered
+greatly to see how readily the whole drove
+obeyed the shouts of Two Arrows, and permitted
+themselves to be gathered and driven. He refused
+the invitation given him to mount one of
+the ponies, for he had doubts of his success in
+managing it barebacked and with such a halter-bridle.
+He explained as well as he could that
+he preferred to carry the fish and the rods and
+the news to his own camp, leaving Two Arrows
+to handle his captives as best he could. That
+was just what Two Arrows wanted. He was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>almost afraid lest the pale-faces should send
+him some help and so take from him part of
+the glory of his fresh achievement. There was
+little danger of that, as Sile was soon to discover.
+He hurried back after his fish in a state of such
+excitement that he very nearly forgot that he
+was in a new country. He would have forgotten
+it more completely if it had not been for something
+he heard as he drew nearer the spot where
+he had left his speckled game.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" he suddenly exclaimed, stopping
+short and listening. "What's all that
+growling? I never heard a bear, but it might
+be one."</p>
+
+<p>So it might be, indeed, in a country where
+they were so plentiful, but it was not a grisly
+this time. It was only a common black bear,
+very fond of fish, and tremendously disgusted
+at the failure of his efforts to get hold of some
+which had plainly been caught and left expressly
+for him. Standing upon his hind-feet, and
+springing up as far as he was able, his paws just
+reached the end of the longest string of trout
+and set it a swinging. Two Arrows had wisely
+insisted upon bending down a branch and hanging
+the fish pretty high, Indian fashion, and
+Sile now saw the reason of it.</p>
+
+<p>"He'd bring 'em all down as it is if I should
+let him take his time to it. What shall I do
+now? Oh, but ain't I glad I brought along my
+rifle!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>He was glad of it, very; but when he raised
+it in the direction of that bear the sight seemed
+to dance in all directions, and he could not get
+a good aim, short as was the distance.</p>
+
+<p>Sile had the "buck ague."</p>
+
+<p>Even old hunters sometimes find their nerves
+playing tricks on them. It would not do to
+miss a shot then and there, and Sile lowered
+his rifle.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll try a rest and see about this thing. I
+must hit that bear in the head the first time,
+sure." He stepped behind a tree and put his
+rifle through the crotch of a projecting branch.
+That tree had no shake in it; and the barrel
+grew steady. "He is getting up on his hind-feet
+again. Now for him."</p>
+
+<p>The bear poised himself, with uplifted head,
+and, just as he lifted his paw for another scratch
+at the fish, Sile pulled the trigger.</p>
+
+<p>The range was very short, the rest was a good
+one, the sight was quick but careful, and the bit
+of lead went straight to its intended place under
+the ear of that black bear. He would need no
+more fish from that time forth, and he pitched
+heavily forward upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a moment, Sile! Never run in on a
+b'ar till yer sure of him. Reckon he's dead,
+though. Stand where you are, my boy!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, father! Yellow Pine! You here?
+I never expected to see you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my son," said the judge, "we thought
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>we'd come over and see what luck you were
+having. Where's Two Arrows?"</p>
+
+<p>"We watched ye jest a moment," said Pine.
+"Allers take sight from a rest if you can get one.
+You did that thing fine. There's the making
+of a prime good shot in ye."</p>
+
+<p>"I shook all over at first," said Sile, walking
+a little nearer the bear.</p>
+
+<p>"Buck ager. I've had it. He won't come to.
+If he does it's no matter, now we've got here.
+I'll come back after breakfast with a hoss and
+fetch him in. Where's the redskin?"</p>
+
+<p>Sile rapidly explained the cause of his delay
+in getting back to camp; but what he did not
+know or explain was the fact that the Nez
+Perc&eacute;s had had no idea that their drove of lost
+ponies had wandered into that valley.</p>
+
+<p>"Glad they've got 'em," said Yellow Pine.
+"Every hoof of ourn'll be safer from this time
+on, treaty or no treaty, good Indians or bad."</p>
+
+<p>"Would they really steal from us, after all?"
+asked Sile, soberly.</p>
+
+<p>"Steal hosses? Well, now, that isn't jest the
+way it looks to them. They're brought up to
+it. All hoss-flesh is fair game to a plains redskin.
+The more they have of their own, the
+easier it is to get 'em to keep their hands off
+from them that you have and to make believe
+good. These 'ere Nez Perc&eacute;s ain't a bad lot.
+Hope we won't run afoul of any that's worse
+than they are, and more of 'em."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>Sile was proud of his fish, and tenfold prouder
+of his bear, but the proudest person in the mining-camp
+that morning was Na-tee-kah. Her
+wonderful brother had earned some more glory.
+The next proudest being was probably Ha-ha-pah-no,
+and she asked, several times in succession,
+of both herself and Na-tee-kah, and without
+any satisfactory answer,</p>
+
+<p>"What Big Tongue say, now? Tell how he
+caught pony?"</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XX</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A FULL CORRAL</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Two arrows was a born horseman.
+About the earliest memory he had was of
+riding rather than walking. The pony he was
+now on was one which had carried him many
+a time. As soon as he had cut and trimmed a
+very long and serviceable tree-branch all the
+other ponies and the mules perfectly understood
+what it was for.</p>
+
+<p>He was in a serious hurry. It was the most
+important affair of his life. So far as he could
+see, the only ponies now missing from the drove
+were the ones which had not been stampeded,
+but had remained in camp to be eaten. All the
+rest had been rescued and kept in good order
+by the genius and generalship of the wicked old
+mule. Two Arrows could but wish that a dozen
+or so of the best dogs had been stampeded at the
+same time. He rode busily hither and thither,
+shouting vigorously and lashing his charges
+away from every tuft of grass they lingered over.
+He knew exactly where to find his people, and
+he meant to find them quickly. The distance
+was nearly the same that had been travelled the
+day before by the mining party, but the loaded
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>wagons had taken more time upon it than loose
+ponies would, followed by an excited boy with
+a long "gad."</p>
+
+<p>The fact that he had eaten no breakfast was
+one which hardly occurred to Two Arrows, in
+his eager determination to get his runaways
+home in the shortest possible order. Once they
+were headed in the right direction there was but
+little difficulty in guiding them rightly, and
+now the old mule took his accustomed place in
+the advance. It was as if he had repented and
+was even willing to get some credit for leading
+his reformed command in the way they should
+go.</p>
+
+<p>The Nez Perc&eacute; community had all eaten a
+good breakfast that morning; there had been
+no vegetables, to be sure, but not a soul had
+missed them. With plenty of fish and fresh
+meat they had all that red Indians expect to be
+provided with, and they asked for no more.
+Their kind of human life can be kept a-going
+upon a very narrow diet. The laziest brave in
+camp was well fed, but for all that there was
+a general air of dejection and despondency.
+Long Bear himself sat in front of his lodge,
+cross-legged and moody, all the forenoon: his
+children were away from him, on a visit to the
+pale-faces; his ponies were away upon another
+visit, he could not guess with whom; his dogs,
+with the solitary exception of One-eye, had all
+visited the camp-kettles. His only remaining
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>consolation seemed to be his pipe, and he was
+rapidly and extravagantly using up all the tobacco
+he had obtained from Yellow Pine. The
+shadow of the mighty maple near him grew
+shorter until it had little more left to lose and
+could almost announce the arrival of midday.
+Just then there arose, at the edge of the woods,
+a long, ear-piercing howl, followed by such a
+volley of yelps and barking as can only be fired
+off by a very remarkable dog. One-eye was informing
+the camp that something great was
+drawing near, and was doing his best to make
+up for the absence of the other dogs.</p>
+
+<p>The Nez Perc&eacute; warriors went for their weapons
+instinctively but somewhat listlessly, until
+they heard a tremendous whoop join in with the
+barking of One-eye and recognized the powerful
+voice of the Big Tongue. He could out-whoop
+any other brave he knew of, and he was
+now doing his best. He had been strolling out
+towards the open country when One-eye began,
+and had found and seized upon a sudden heap
+of unexpected glory.</p>
+
+<p>Away in advance of his command, farther
+and farther, had wisely trotted the long-legged,
+long-eared, long-absent wicked old mule. Not
+another quadruped was in sight when One-eye
+gave the alarm. The Big Tongue bounded forward
+as if he were charging upon a beaten
+enemy, and the mule did but whinny affectionately
+when he caught the remains of the lariat
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>at the place where it had been gnawed asunder,
+and sprang triumphantly upon the back of the
+recaptured mule.</p>
+
+<p>Whoop followed whoop as the happy warrior
+rode his prize towards the camp, and the entire
+band, squaws and children included, poured out
+under the trees to rejoice that they now had a
+mule as well as a dog. Long Bear came among
+the rest. Ha-ha-pah-no was not there to make
+unpleasant remarks, but the old chief knew that
+mule very well and he knew that by no chance
+had he returned to his owners of his own free will.
+He would have remained more contentedly
+with a man who had found or stolen him.
+Long Bear was positive that he had not followed
+his masters lovingly across the mountains, and
+that he need not make any pretence of having
+done so. He could hardly have believed that
+the mule was there at all but that he could see
+him, with the Big Tongue sitting upon him to
+be admired.</p>
+
+<p>The old chief turned and looked keenly and
+wistfully across the grassy rolls, and so did
+several others of the wiser warriors. There was
+quite a rise of ground at a little distance and
+One-eye was making for it as fast as his legs
+could carry him. Suddenly, as if by a common
+impulse, all the woods rang with a full chorus
+of whooping. Over the crest of that green
+ridge came galloping pony after pony and mule
+after mule, in a confused rush, and then a shrill
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>shout arose beyond, and they could shortly see
+Two Arrows, gayly ribboned, ornamented,
+mounted, dashing madly back and forth and
+lashing forward the rear-guard of that battalion.</p>
+
+<p>Long Bear folded his arms and stood erect
+and still, as if he were trying to hold himself
+in. His own boy, and therefore he himself,
+had done another mighty deed.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Two Arrows! Young chief! Find
+pony all alone."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Tongue tried hard to look as if he
+had found the mule, but it did not seem to fit,
+somehow, and twice he opened his mouth widely
+and shut it again in silence; there was no whoop
+ready to come. Every other brave had a score
+or more quite ready, but Two Arrows grew
+silent as he came nearer and rode more sedately.
+There was almost an air of stateliness about him
+when at last he followed the trail of his important
+cavalcade in under the shadows of the
+forest.</p>
+
+<p>It was not becoming for him to volunteer, in
+boyish haste, an explanation of his utterly unlooked-for
+exploit. Even the gray-heads felt
+that he was entitled to a respectful and dignified
+reception, and Long Bear himself stepped forward
+and inquired, in due form, precisely how
+that wonderful rescue had been accomplished.
+Now that the question was asked of him, Two
+Arrows was willing enough to tell the entire
+story, and to point to all the animals as witnesses
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>to the truth of it. As fast as he told it, the
+more or less distorted facts went swiftly round
+from lip to lip among the squaws and younger
+people. It was almost unlucky for the Big
+Tongue to remark, dignifiedly,</p>
+
+<p>"Boy find pony. Warrior ride him;" for a
+half-grown warrior near him added,</p>
+
+<p>"Boy <i>there</i>. Big Tongue <i>here</i>. Same way
+hunt buffalo."</p>
+
+<p>It sounded a little like Ha-ha-pah-no, and the
+Big Tongue was silenced. He and the rest
+now listened to the answers of Two Arrows as
+to his visit, and he gave a full account of the
+good treatment he had received. It looked as
+if honors had fairly been heaped upon him and
+Na-tee-kah, and, for their sakes, upon Ha-ha-pah-no.
+Some of the older squaws shortly
+picked up the annoying fact concerning the
+latter that she had learned how to make coffee,
+and that her hair was now brushed and combed
+and made shiny. They knew what combs were.
+She would probably wear one now. She would
+never again be the same woman in her own
+estimation, they were sure of that. She had
+always held her head high enough, for her husband
+was a renowned brave and her tongue was
+always in good order.</p>
+
+<p>The drove of ponies and mules was the centre
+of attraction, after Two Arrows had finished
+his recital, and every Nez Perc&eacute; searched it
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>eagerly for his own. It was decided to send
+off several braves at once, with some squaws and
+pack-ponies, to bring through the pass the lodges
+and other materials they had hidden near the
+camp of their starvation. Two Arrows ate his
+breakfast and dinner in one meal, and was then
+bidden to mount a pony at once and ride away
+after his pale-face friends, with the strongest
+assurances that the Nez Perc&eacute;s regarded them
+as so many brothers. Long Bear also sent a
+handsome cougar-skin to Sile, as a proper acknowledgment
+of the fact that he had been a
+looker-on at the rescue of the quadrupeds from
+the misguiding leadership of the bad old mule.
+Two Arrows rode gladly away upon his errand,
+and some of the braves set out at once after the
+"left baggage." All whom they left behind
+them had now abundant subject-matter for
+conversation and for unlimited "Ughs!" The
+entire future suddenly brightened up for that
+band of Nez Perc&eacute;s, and they were entirely confident
+of their ability to procure a new supply
+of dogs. As for One-eye, that sagacious brute
+wandered around the corral, from hoof to hoof,
+until he knew the facts of the case thoroughly.
+He would have followed Two Arrows, but for
+the stern refusal of Long Bear. He was needed
+at home all the more now that there would be
+additional watching and barking to be done.
+On the whole he was as well satisfied to have it
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>so, for his accumulation of bone treasures was
+becoming an affair for any dog to think about
+seriously.</p>
+
+<p>Sile was not exactly a hero when he reached
+camp, but he was an uncommonly hungry boy.
+It seemed to him that he could eat as many
+trout as Ha-ha-pah-no could broil for him, and
+he certainly worked at it steadily for a long
+time. Every other human being in camp did
+the same, although some had already made a
+fair beginning upon venison cuts and coffee.
+All had room for some fresh trout, and all said
+they would be glad of a little bear-meat for
+a change. Sile was in the saddle promptly
+enough after breakfast, to go and see his bear
+brought in. He would not willingly have
+missed that, and was only afraid lest it should
+have been stolen in his absence, in spite of the
+care taken by Yellow Pine to throw bushes over
+it, and give any roving coyote an idea that a
+trap was there. Said Pine, in answer to a
+question,</p>
+
+<p>"Them critters is too cunnin' for their own
+good. One on 'em'd sit down in front of that
+there, and howl all day and all night before
+he'd make up his mind to scratch at the brush."</p>
+
+<p>"How'd he guess at a trap?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, they're laid on kind o' reg'lar, and he'd
+smell the b'ar too, and he'd know it was somethin'
+more than ordinary. There's jest one
+thing they ain't cunnin' enough for, and that's
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>a rifle-bullet. They'd dodge that if they could
+see it a comin'."</p>
+
+<p>The bear was found all safe and was brought
+in and skinned, and Sile said to himself,</p>
+
+<p>"Now I've got something better than a deer
+to tell of when Two Arrows gets back again."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXI</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">THE GOLD MINE</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>A proud girl was Na-tee-kah that bright
+September day, and she took an extraordinary
+amount of pains with her hair. So, for
+that matter, did Ha-ha-pah-no, and Sile could
+but discern that both treated him with much
+more respect than at first. He had been with
+Two Arrows at the recovery of the ponies, he
+had killed a buck and a bear, and was evidently
+able to use the weapons of grown-up white
+braves. He was therefore not a boy to be
+snubbed; and, if it had not been for his unfortunate
+light complexion, he was almost good-looking.
+At all events he was disposed to do his
+best to be polite, and they were willing to meet
+him as nearly half-way as was consistent with
+dignity and propriety. They were under the
+especial care of the judge himself, however, and
+Na-tee-kah derived a vast amount of comfort
+from an occasional look at his very fatherly
+and benevolent face. Her obvious respect for
+Yellow Pine was mingled with something like
+fear as yet, and she would not have a word to
+say to any of the miners. Horses were furnished
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>to both of them when the camp broke up for
+the day's travelling, and no man in the party
+was more at home upon one, except that a side-saddle
+was an invention that they had never
+heard of and did not need.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll git to the mine afore night, jedge,"
+said Yellow Pine, when they halted for their
+noon luncheon, and the further information he
+added stimulated all hands to push forward.
+Not one sign of peril or even of human presence,
+other than their own, did they encounter,
+and yet the other human beings of that region
+were hourly drawing nearer.</p>
+
+<p>The camp of the Apache marauders broke up
+at sunrise, with a considerable amount of discontented
+grumbling. A man familiar with
+their dialect, or with only a little of it, could
+easily have gathered that they were eager for
+news which did not come, and for scouts who
+did not return. Not all of them, to say the
+least, would ever again come into that or any
+other camp, news or no news. In the absence
+of any, it was plainly a due precaution to push
+forward even farther beyond the supposed pursuit
+of the men in blue.</p>
+
+<p>There was a good deal more than a mere supposition
+about that pursuit, for Captain Grover
+and his men were on the trail at as early an hour
+as was consistent with a proper care of their
+horses, and a hearty breakfast all around. They
+were a fine looking lot of men, bronzed and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>weather-beaten and soldierly. Their uniforms
+were not exactly in "parade" condition, but
+there was nothing slovenly about them, and their
+weapons were in excellent order. They had
+several "led-horses," to make good the places of
+any that might become over-wearied, and every
+animal in the troop showed signs of careful
+grooming. A captain, a lieutenant, and thirty
+men did not seem an overpowering force for a
+hundred and more of Apache warriors to run
+from, but neither of the two parties could have
+a correct knowledge of the strength of the other.
+Besides, the main object of an Indian raid is
+never a hard fight, but rather to pick up scalps
+and plunder and get away without serious loss.
+Red men are courageous enough, but they have
+a strong objection to being shot at or sabred, and
+know that it does not take a great many hard-won
+victories over cavalry, even if they should
+win them, to about wipe out the fighting
+strength of a tribe.</p>
+
+<p>As for Captain Grover, he had been ordered
+to follow and "strike" that band of Apaches, and
+compel them to return to their "reservation,"
+and he had no other purpose in mind than to
+obey thoroughly.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll follow them," he remarked to the lieutenant,
+"as far as they choose to go. We've
+wiped out six of their scouts already."</p>
+
+<p>"Garry," said one of the men at the same
+moment, "reckon them 'Paches'll begin to think
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>this 'ere's an unhealthy crowd to creep in on."</p>
+
+<p>"The more on 'em we can pick off," said
+Garry, "the fewer we'll have to fight at the
+close."</p>
+
+<p>"Sharp work when that comes, or I'm mistaken,
+but they can't take hoss plunder into the
+mountains."</p>
+
+<p>As they rode along so cheerily and confidently,
+it became plainer and plainer that those men
+had small doubt of their ability to deal with
+any ordinary band of red horse-thieves if they
+could meet them fairly. It would hardly have
+seemed so to an unprejudiced observer of the
+Apache cavalcade that morning. Every warrior
+was a perfect horseman, and was well mounted
+and well armed. There were lances instead
+of sabres, but the pistols and carbines, or rifles,
+were just as good as those carried by the cavalry.
+The red men were all trained and experienced
+soldiers, under capable leaders, and it looked as
+if all they had to do was to choose a good position
+and wait for Captain Grover and his men,
+and destroy them all. As it was, all they seemed
+to think of was to urge their drove of stolen
+quadrupeds forward. They could not make the
+best of time so encumbered, and when they
+again halted for the night, the men in blue were
+several miles nearer without one Apache knowing
+exactly where they were. The trail these
+had made told Captain Grover all he as yet
+needed to know, with the help of one used-up
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>pony that the Indians had turned loose to shift
+for himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Beginning to break down, are they?" said
+the captain. "I'll strike them among the foothills
+of the ranges within three days."</p>
+
+<p>All that exciting chase was as yet hidden from
+the red and white men in the upper valley, and
+it was quite possible that they would never know
+anything about it. That depended, in fact,
+upon whether the Apaches should turn to the
+left or the right when they reached the "forks"
+of the little river.</p>
+
+<p>It was pretty late when Two Arrows again
+caught up with his pale-face friends, and his
+pony showed signs of very hard riding. If he
+had been a grown-up brave he could not possibly
+have had so warm a reception, except from Na-tee-kah
+and Ha-ha-pah-no. These two considered
+him the tallest kind of a young chief already,
+but all the rest regarded him very much
+as Yellow Pine did, as "the likeliest young redskin
+he'd ever come across."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe he is," said Judge Parks, and Sile
+had added,</p>
+
+<p>"Father, what wouldn't he know pretty soon
+if he could learn to read and write? He understands
+everything he sees right away."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to try the experiment, Sile, but I
+don't believe he would ever take kindly to
+books. I'll talk about it some other time.
+There is something else on my mind just now."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>There was a good deal upon everybody's
+mind, and even Sile ceased to admire Long
+Bear's present when Yellow Pine rose in his
+stirrups and pointed forward, shouting.</p>
+
+<p>"There she is, jedge&mdash;right back in that there
+notch!"</p>
+
+<p>Away to the right of them the craggy mountain
+arose against the sky, facing the valley with
+an uncommonly precipitous wall. In this grim
+face of granite could be seen what looked like
+a mere indentation. When they came to it,
+however, they discovered that Yellow Pine's
+"notch" was much narrower at its mouth than
+beyond it, owing to some ancient overturn and
+"landslide" of great rocks and small, which almost
+shut it in. Beyond this barrier, the opening
+through which was a mere roadway, there
+were several acres of good grass and trees.
+There were springs of water also, and the whole
+place was a good one to camp in, so long as no
+more bowlders should break loose from the
+slopes above and come crashing down into it. It
+was plain that none had done so for a long time
+past, and the wagons were hauled fearlessly in.
+There was nobody with them but their drivers,
+for every other human being had galloped on
+after Yellow Pine and Judge Parks until the
+old miner drew rein in front of a great mass of
+shattered, ragged, dirty looking quartz rock.
+In front of this a deep hole had been dug by
+somebody, and near it were traces of old <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>camp-fires,
+bones of deer and buffalo, some rusty tin
+cans, and a worn-out pickaxe.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the lode, jedge. It's all I ever told
+ye it was. Safest place in the world, too, now
+the 'Paches are gethered onto their reservation.
+We can go right to work to-morrow mornin'."</p>
+
+<p>Judge Parks was at that moment examining
+some bits of quartz he had picked up. He took
+from his pocket a magnifying-glass and closely
+inspected stone after stone.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks like it, Pine. I haven't a doubt of
+the value of that vein. Look at that, Sile."</p>
+
+<p>Sile looked with a face more deeply flushed
+than even his father's.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's exactly like Yellow Pine's old
+specimens, so far as I can see; no more gold in
+these than in them."</p>
+
+<p>"That's just the point, Sile. He brought me
+fair specimens. There isn't any humbug or
+delusion about it. It's all right, Pine, so far
+as I can see. As for safety, the mouth of this
+notch could be made a perfect fort of, if we
+had to quit mining and go to fighting."</p>
+
+<p>"Guess we won't ever have to do that.
+Game's plenty, and so is fish, and we won't have
+to use up our provisions. Chance for you,
+Sile. You can keep the camp-fires going.
+Fetch in some fish, first thing in the morning,
+and then go for all the fresh meat there is.
+What we don't eat we can cure and put away."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll do the hunting!" shouted Sile. "What
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>are the men all chopping for? There's plenty
+of dry dead wood."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd call it!" exclaimed Yellow Pine. "If
+they ain't struck with the mine-fever now.
+Jest look at 'em, jedge."</p>
+
+<p>"Pine," shouted one of the men from a little
+distance, "this 'ere shelf by the spring's the spot
+you marked for the shelter, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"All right, boys," he responded. "Thirty
+feet by twelve, and an ell for cooking and an ell
+for stowage."</p>
+
+<p>"Nine feet high to the front, and slope to
+seven and a half, and lay on the mud as you
+go?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's it. Pitch in, boys."</p>
+
+<p>"I declare," said the judge; "they haven't
+eaten a mouthful and they've begun building."</p>
+
+<p>"They're old hands, and the sight of that
+show of pay-rock has kind o' stirred 'em up.
+It's all correct, though, jedge. We can look for
+storms every now and then, and the shelter
+won't be up any too soon if one of them busters
+should happen to be on its way."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A NEW SETTLEMENT</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>There is nothing else like enthusiasm.
+That band of bearded miners went into
+their work like a crowd of boys building a snow
+fort. Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah took full
+possession of the camp-fires and cooked for
+dear life. Judge Parks and Yellow Pine finished
+their inspection of the hole in the rock
+and of the ore which had been dug out of it,
+and then they went to help Sile and Two Arrows
+care for the horses and mules.</p>
+
+<p>"We won't unpack much till the house is up,"
+said the judge.</p>
+
+<p>"You're satisfied with the outcrop, are ye?"
+asked Pine, a little proudly.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all you said it was, and that is all I
+could ask for. We can run a tunnel right in
+now, so we can work straight along, under cover,
+in bad weather."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the thing to do. I believe it will pay
+for itself from the very start."</p>
+
+<p>"If it does," said the judge, "it will be an uncommonly
+good mine for a gold-mine. Not
+one in ten but what empties the pocket of its
+first owner."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>"This one won't, then. It's as good a property
+as there is, and we can cover all the ledge with
+claims and get a good title to 'em. It's fresh
+ground, and no kind of interference&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Unless the Apaches interfere."</p>
+
+<p>"They don't often come east so far as this,
+'specially now that most of 'em have been
+cornered. Mining in these parts isn't the risky
+kind of business it used to be. Must say,
+though, that I felt kind o' streaked sometimes,
+last year, when I was a prospectin'."</p>
+
+<p>"There was risk in it, all alone; but nine rifles
+and a good breastwork will make a tremendous
+difference."</p>
+
+<p>"They will that, and there's no sech thing as
+takin' us in the rear. They can't climb over
+that ridge, nor that one."</p>
+
+<p>It was later than usual when anybody lay
+down that evening. Two Arrows and his sister
+had heard of mines before, but they had never
+seen one, and the whole matter was a great
+curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>These uncommonly well-behaved pale-faces
+meant to dig a hole into the side of that mountain
+and get gold out of it, and they were going
+to build a stone "lodge" and stay there. Sile explained
+to them, as well as he could, a purpose
+he had formed of making a great farm in that
+valley, and raising all sorts of things to feed the
+miners, and of having a town there, with schools
+and churches for the Indians, and a public
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>library and a saw-mill and a grist-mill and a
+blacksmith-shop and a hotel. The main idea
+obtained by Two Arrows was that in a little
+while the valley would be full of horses of the
+best kinds. Na-tee-kah went beyond that and
+got a picture into her mind of a big stone lodge,
+where a trader would live and have for sale a
+wonderful heap of all such things as the white
+squaws dressed themselves up with. She went
+to sleep at last, with her black eyes half dazzled
+by a vision of bright colors and glitterings, and
+had a dream that the trader had come and was
+ready to trade almost anything for the skin of a
+grisly bear. As for Two Arrows, not all that
+could be said about mines and farms could drive
+from him one grand ambition, that had taken
+deep root as he studied the many possessions of
+those pale-faces. Somehow or other, he meant
+to obtain a rifle. His father had a good one,
+and so had each of the acknowledged warriors
+of his band, but all the boys were as yet forced to
+put up with bows and arrows. Some of the
+braves even carried revolvers, and the hunting
+had been so poor that they were well supplied
+with ammunition. Two Arrows had learned
+from Sile that there were extra rifles and pistols,
+and no end of cartridges, in those wagons, but
+everybody knew that all that sort of thing had
+to be paid for, and Two Arrows lay awake a long
+time, feverishly wondering what he could find
+among those mountains to buy a rifle with, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>a revolver and some ammunition. He felt that
+he should be a mere boy, after all, and not a
+full-grown brave, until he could exchange his
+bow and arrows for weapons which would kill
+a bear at long range. He wished never to have
+to wait for another on the top of any rock. It
+was the only point in which he could see that
+Sile had any real advantage over him to balance
+the humiliation of being a pale-face instead of
+the son of a Nez Perc&eacute; chief. He was compelled
+to admit one more in the morning, for he had
+forgotten the fishing-rods and hooks and lines,
+and Sile was up before it was light, ready to begin
+his duty of keeping the camp supplied with
+provisions.</p>
+
+<p>"We won't walk this time," he said, in a very
+business-like way. "We'll just ride across to
+the river and catch enough for breakfast and
+hurry back. None of the men can be spared
+from their work."</p>
+
+<p>The sun arose very grandly over the magnificent
+mountain ranges, but he showed them
+all that wonderful scenery in vain. Sile was
+fishing for provisions for his father's men, and
+Two Arrows thought of rifles and pistols every
+time he pulled in a trout. He did not speak of
+the weight upon his mind as yet, but he was
+gradually forming a purpose of doing so at the
+earliest opportunity. It was almost like going
+to an open market for fish, except that there
+was nothing to pay for them. As fast as a line
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>could be thrown, and its little silvery trap set
+a whirling, the hook was seized by some trout
+or other, large or small. Some of them were
+so heavy as to test the toughness of the upper
+joints of the rods, and now Two Arrows made
+a discovery. He had watched Sile work his
+reel until he had caught the secret of it, and
+could let a strong fish run a little before he
+drew him in. It was an idea that suited him
+exactly, and it made the fun more exciting.</p>
+
+<p>"I say," exclaimed Sile, before a great while,
+"they're awful eaters, but they can't use up all
+we've got now. Let's just string 'em, and ride
+back to camp."</p>
+
+<p>The movements of his hands, along with his
+words, explained his meaning, and Two Arrows
+pulled in his last fish with an "Ugh! good," for
+answer. He was doing one thing more rapidly
+than anybody had an idea of. He was a born
+"linguist," as many Indians are, and he was
+gathering words of English at a great rate.
+He was not sure he could yet utter correctly
+quite a number that he fully understood on
+hearing them, and his pride forbade him to
+make blunders. His trouble was with his
+tongue and not with his ears, as many an older
+fellow has found when he undertook to make
+a speech before critical people.</p>
+
+<p>The camp was all astir when they rode in,
+and the coffee-pot was already upon the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the checker, my boy," said Yellow
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>Pine, when he saw the fish. "We sha'n't do
+any starving. Let your horse feed a while, and
+then you and he go for some fresh meat. Look
+at <i>them!"</i></p>
+
+<p>There was a great grin upon his face as he
+pointed at Judge Parks and the miners. The
+judge had taken up a heavy hammer and was
+busily breaking masses of quartz to examine
+their quality, and the men had again gone at
+their building.</p>
+
+<p>"Nary one of 'em's eaten a mouthful," said
+Pine, just as a chopper rested from his work to
+shout,</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have enough shingles rived for the
+roof by the time them fellers gits their wall
+up;" and another said,</p>
+
+<p>"Pine, that there clay-bank by the spring's
+the very best kind. It's most as good as
+mortar."</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis if you temper it well," said Pine. "Call
+'em to breakfast. There'll be fish br'iled and
+ready in no time."</p>
+
+<p>Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah each had a
+frying-pan, and the fish were put in as fast as
+they were cleaned, but some of the men could
+not wait for that. They insisted upon cleaning
+and cooking for themselves, for, as Jonas remarked,</p>
+
+<p>"We can't git at the mine till the shelter's
+done and the waggins are unpacked. We'll have
+it up in short order."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>As soon as he had finished his coffee and trout
+and "army bread," Sile went to take a look at
+what they were doing, and it made him open
+his eyes. The ground they had chosen, near a
+fine spring of water, was nearly level. They
+had marked out the lines of the walls they meant
+to build, and then along those lines they had dug
+a trench about a foot deep and two feet wide.
+No cellar was called for as yet, and the mason-work
+began at once. There was plenty of broken
+stone to be had, and it was rolled or carried with
+busy eagerness to the men who were laying the
+wall. One man at the clay-bank toiled zealously
+at the important task of mixing and tempering
+it, while another came and went with
+pailfuls that were used up as fast as he could
+bring them. The stones were laid with their
+smooth faces inward, and there was not a minute
+wasted in trimming anything for the sake of
+appearances. Sile could hardly believe that so
+much could have been done is so short a time,
+and he was again astonished when the men returned
+from breakfast. The wall grew at a
+tremendous rate. He went from that work to
+the place where the choppers were swinging
+their axes. A tall pine-tree, four feet in
+diameter at the base, was down shortly after
+the men went at it the previous evening, and
+now two sturdy fellows were making the chips
+fly as if they were chopping for a wager. They
+were evidently cutting the huge trunk into
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>lengths of about three feet, and Sile was studying
+the matter when Two Arrows touched him
+on the elbow and pointed at the choppers.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! What for?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait. Show him by-and-by," said Sile.
+"Make shingles to cover house."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Big lodge. Heap hard. No fall
+down. Top?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Make cover. Keep out rain."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Pale-face do a heap. Go away and
+leave him all," said Two Arrows.</p>
+
+<p>It was the longest sentence he had yet
+attempted in English, and Sile looked at him
+with some surprise, but he should have remembered
+that Two Arrows had made a beginning
+long before that, and was but adding to it. At
+all events, he was correct in his conclusion that
+such a lodge could not be carried away, as could
+those for which Long Bear had sent his braves
+and squaws through the pass. It was perfectly
+certain that these would not loiter anywhere,
+but would go straight on their errand and return,
+and then the village would once more be
+under as good a shelter as it knew anything
+about or cared for.</p>
+
+<p>All that day the axes fell, the wall grew fast,
+and Judge Parks and Yellow Pine went on with
+their examinations and their other preparations
+for "opening the mine;" and all day long some
+other things went on without their knowing it.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXIII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">DANGER</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The Apaches, in their encampment away
+down the river, cooked fish for breakfast
+at about the same hour that the miners did, but
+their trout had not been caught anything like
+so rapidly. It had required the work of several
+men, up and down the bank, for hours of the
+previous evening and for all the time since daylight,
+with their imperfect tackle, to get in
+enough for such a war-party. Nor had they
+cleaned or cooked so perfectly, and the fish had
+been eaten without pepper or salt. There was
+not a plate or a fork in the band, and there was
+not even a wish for coffee.</p>
+
+<p>It was a hasty meal, greedily devoured, and
+then the marauders were once more in the
+saddle, or riding barebacked, as the case might
+be. All the while that the miners were so
+enthusiastically raising their stone lodge a peril
+they hardly thought of was pushing nearer and
+nearer. They knew well enough that they were
+in an Indian country, but were well assured that
+as yet no hostile red men could be aware of their
+arrival. It was also pretty sure that every
+stroke of work they did added to their security,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>for neither arrow nor bullet will go through a
+wall of quartz and granite two feet in thickness.
+Judge Parks had ideas of his own as to the
+future protection of the "notch," but the time
+had not yet come to say anything about them.</p>
+
+<p>It was not many hours after the Apaches got
+in motion before they came to the forks of the
+stream, and here they halted for a general consultation.
+They already had well-mounted
+scouts ahead in both directions, and neither side
+had yet sent in any suggestion of danger discovered.
+They were evidently familiarly acquainted
+with the whole region, and there were
+arguments in favor of both lines of advance, but
+a gray-headed old warrior at last settled the
+question. He had been sitting quietly and
+listening to what others said until his turn
+seemed to come, but now he arose, and all
+seemed willing to listen. Pointing with his
+long, naked arm up the right fork of the river,
+he said, in his own harsh, gutteral tongue,</p>
+
+<p>"Mountains. When blue-coats come, lose
+horses. Caught in big trap."</p>
+
+<p>Turning and pointing up the other fork, he
+said,</p>
+
+<p>"Morning. Hole in mountains. Blue-coats
+come. Go through hole. Get away. Come
+back some day, when blue-coats go home sick.
+Ugh!"</p>
+
+<p>It was not a long speech, and it could hardly
+be described as "eloquent" but all the wiser and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>more influential braves said "Ugh!" and the
+road to the left was decided upon without any
+more discussion. That also decided in advance
+the course to be followed by Captain Grover
+and his cavalry, when they in their turn should
+reach the same point. Hour by hour they were
+slowly gaining upon the dangerous horse-thieves
+they were pursuing, and in due time they would
+surely learn whether or not they had a right to
+rejoice upon catching up with them. They
+were acting as the police and constables of a
+very disorderly community.</p>
+
+<p>As for Long Bear and his Nez Perc&eacute;s, they
+had a very good reason for lazily hunting and
+fishing around their present camp until the return
+of the party which had gone for the hidden
+lodges, and so forth. Very few Indians need
+anything better than an excuse for not doing
+anything.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows was not one of those Indians.
+Na-tee-kah continually called his attention to
+something new which she had discovered in the
+ways or in the possessions of those pale-faces.
+She was greatly interested in a curious wire
+"broiler." It opened, and a fish or a steak was
+put in, and it shut up and was put upon the coals,
+and when the cooking was finished, the long
+handles enabled you to take it off and not burn
+your fingers. There were twenty other things
+as wonderful as the broiler; and the judge had
+shown her how to wash her hands with soap,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>and had given her a pair of ear-rings and a
+silver buckle for her new blanket. She hardly
+knew what would come next, but she entirely
+sympathized with her brother in his own dream
+when he told her what it was.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask pale-face chief," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Laugh. Bow and arrows good
+enough for boy."</p>
+
+<p>He said it almost bitterly, and Na-tee-kah
+stamped on the ground sharply as she responded,</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows is a young chief. Big brave.
+Not a boy any more. Kill grisly. Kill cougar
+and big-horn. Bring back pony. Great chief
+in a little while. Give him rifle."</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows had a good enough opinion of
+himself, but he perfectly understood the easy
+good-nature with which he was treated by
+Yellow Pine and the rest. They regarded Sile
+as one bright boy and him as another, and had
+no idea of wasting costly rifles and such things
+upon him. He grew almost sullen over it, and
+was glad to get away from the camp when Sile
+came and asked him to go on a hunt with him.</p>
+
+<p>This time there was a little pride as well as
+good-sense in his positive refusal to borrow a
+rifle. He was determined to shoot with his own
+weapons or none, and he rode away with no
+better ones than had been used by his tribe before
+they had ever heard of white men, and long
+before gunpowder had been invented. They
+were pretty good weapons yet, but there was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>one thing Two Arrows did not dream of. That
+was that it was not such a great number of years
+since the ancestors of these very pale-faces had
+gone to war and to hunt with bows and arrows
+vastly better than any ever carried by any red
+Indian in the world. The English race were
+bowmen once, just as they are riflemen now,
+shooting closer to the bull's-eye than any other.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows felt that there was a sort of
+fever upon him. It made him hot and restless,
+and his eyes wandered searchingly in all
+directions, longing for an opportunity to do
+something which would bring him nearer to the
+prizes he coveted. Sile also was watching
+keenly the tops and branches of every clump of
+bushes they came to, but it almost seemed as
+if the game had suddenly migrated. It was
+natural that none should linger near the smoke
+and smell of camp-fires and cookery, but it was
+queer that the two young hunters should canter
+quietly on for mile after mile, and not so much
+as get a shot at a deer.</p>
+
+<p>"We won't go back without something," said
+Sile. "I told father so. I mean to go right
+along. We can camp in the woods by ourselves
+if we don't kill anything early enough to get
+back to-night."</p>
+
+<p>He had some trouble in making his meaning
+clear to Two Arrows, and the ambitious young
+Nez Perc&eacute; was in precisely the frame of mind
+to agree with him. They even rode a little
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>faster, and were hardly aware of the distance
+they had travelled. Sile was beginning to grow
+nervous about his reputation as a hunter and to
+remember that the camp had only a three days'
+supply of fresh meat, in spite of the fish. He
+believed that he had seen everything there was
+to be seen, but he was mistaken. Suddenly
+Two Arrows uttered a loud, astonished "Ugh!"
+sprang from his pony, and beckoned Sile to do
+the same, leading him hurriedly towards the
+nearest bushes.</p>
+
+<p>Sile imitated his friend, without any idea of
+a reason for it, until Two Arrows took him by
+the arm and pointed away to the right towards
+the mountain range. They were on the crest
+of a high roll of ground, and could see for miles
+in some directions, except as the view was cut
+off by patches and strips of forest.</p>
+
+<p>"Look! 'Pache!"</p>
+
+<p>All that at first appeared to Sile's eyes were
+some moving black spots; but now he was able
+to show Two Arrows another of the advantages
+of a civilized man over a savage. Slung from
+his left shoulder was a small leathern case, and
+Two Arrows watched him closely while he
+opened it, took out something silver-mounted
+and handsome and put it to his eyes. Such
+things had been much discussed in his hearing,
+and he knew it was the "long eye of the pale-faces;"
+but he had no faith in it until Sile made
+him try it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>"There they are; six of 'em," said Sile.
+"Then look away down yonder and you'll see
+some more."</p>
+
+<p>"No see us," said Two Arrows. "Come!
+Heap bad."</p>
+
+<p>So it was, for the dreaded strangers were between
+them and the mountains. For all they
+knew, they might have ridden past others unseen,
+and these might intercept their return.
+Sile was only a white boy, and in an instant he
+understood that the young chief was the "captain"
+of their squad of two.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows seemed to have the same notion
+instinctively, for anybody could read the look
+of blank uncertainty upon Sile's face. His
+binocular spy-glass could help him see farther
+and more accurately than the best pair of Indian
+eyes in the world, but it could not tell him what
+to do next.</p>
+
+<p>"Come!" said Two Arrows, as he led his pony
+back down the slope and towards the forest that
+skirted the river. This was less than half a
+mile away, but the horses were not mounted
+until both were well under cover of it. It
+struck Sile that they might safely ride homeward
+along the stream, but Nez Perc&eacute; training
+and caution forbade any such risk as that.
+Even the operation of reaching the bank might
+be full of peril, for nobody could guess at what
+moment they might stumble upon Apache
+warriors, and no others were at all likely to be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>there. It was most unlikely, however, that
+their enemies were advancing upon both sides
+of the water, and as soon as Two Arrows reached
+it he rode in. It was a wide and therefore shallow
+place, easily forded, and Sile breathed more
+freely as soon as he was under the shade of the
+woods beyond. His guide and captain pushed
+right on until they were out in a comparatively
+open reach of country, and then he turned to
+Sile, his whole face gleaming with uncontrollable
+excitement, and exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Ride now. Kill hoss. Save pale-face.
+Save Nez Perc&eacute;. Get there before
+Apache. All scalp gone if 'Pache come first."</p>
+
+<p>He suppressed a whoop, but the next bound
+of his pony explained his meaning, and Sile
+galloped, stride by stride, with him. It was a
+race for life and for the lives of many others;
+for Two Arrows had briefly read that problem
+when he said to Sile, as he handed him back his
+glass,</p>
+
+<p>"No squaw. Braves on war-path. No hunt.
+Kill. Take scalp."</p>
+
+<p>Both were well mounted, and Sile rode well,
+although by no means so completely at home on
+horseback as was his red friend. His rifle, too,
+was more tiresome to carry than was a light
+lance, and the bow and arrows were now tightly
+"slung," and required no handling. It would
+not do to wear out their horses in one rush, but
+they kept on at the highest speed at all consistent
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>with a long ride. It was much faster, at all
+events, than the Apaches were likely to travel,
+unless something new should stir them up. By
+keeping well away from the stream, they were
+not compelled to follow its windings, and could
+ride more nearly in a straight line, only turning
+out for clumps of trees and similar obstructions
+and paying no attention to game, although
+they now saw gang after gang of deer and a
+respectable party of bisons.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXIV</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">SILE'S VICTORY</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>There had been no anxiety at the mine on
+account of the absent hunters. Judge
+Parks and Yellow Pine had their hands very
+full of an inspection of the cargoes of the two
+wagons. The men toiled vigorously at the stone
+wall and at the shingle riving. Ha-ha-pah-no
+and Na-tee-kah were as busy as bees over the
+lengthening list of marvels put before their eyes.
+It seemed to Na-tee-kah as if Judge Parks must
+be a kind of magician, or else that he had a
+whole lodge full of "medicine-men" of a rare
+breed at home, who could conjure up for him
+almost anything he might chose to call for. It
+was no use to try to understand such things as
+he and Yellow Pine were examining. They
+belonged to the great mystery of pale-face life,
+and a Nez Perc&eacute; girl could not be expected to
+guess very nearly at their uses. She could comb
+her hair more carefully, however, and discover a
+new way of doing it up, and she did not know
+how closely she was imitating many pale-face
+young ladies of about her age, not to speak of
+older ones.</p>
+
+<p>Noon came and went, and there were no signs
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>of returning hunters or of game of any sort, but
+there was no danger of famine in that camp for
+days and days to come.</p>
+
+<p>Judge Parks would hardly have unpacked
+mining-tools and "fixings," as Pine called them,
+so composedly if he could have known what was
+going forward farther down the valley and on
+the other side of the little river.</p>
+
+<p>On, on rode Two Arrows and his companion,
+and it almost seemed as if both were growing
+older. It was no sort of boy-play to ride like
+that, with such tremendous consequences depending
+upon them. Sile's merry face put on
+a tremendously sober and earnest expression,
+while Two Arrows looked as if he were already
+a chief in command of a war-party. So he was,
+only that the party was a very small one.</p>
+
+<p>Mile after mile went by, and the horses held
+out capitally; but at last Two Arrows slackened
+his gait, seemed to make a silent calculation,
+and halted.</p>
+
+<p>"Pale-face camp there," he said, emphatically,
+pointing across towards the mountain range at
+their left. "Red-head cross water. Tell his
+people. Two Arrows ride. Tell Nez Perc&eacute;.
+Red-head go straight, find camp. Ugh!"</p>
+
+<p>"I can find it," said Sile. "I was thinking
+we'd gone up river about far enough. We must
+have got away ahead of the Apaches. Hope
+I sha'n't meet any."</p>
+
+<p>"Shoot quick," said Two Arrows. "Kill.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>Take 'calp. Be great brave. Two Arrows kill
+grisly. Kill 'Pache some day. How!"</p>
+
+<p>He held out his hand, and Sile shook it hard
+in token of good-bye, and the two boys separated,
+each to carry his own tidings and face his own
+dangers. Two Arrows rode on in a straight
+line up the valley, and Sile wheeled towards the
+line of forest which bordered the river. It
+struck him that he was yet a little below the
+precise neighborhood of the mine, and he was
+correct, but as yet it was all guess-work. At
+all events, he was sure that his remaining ride
+could not be a long one; it could not fail to be
+intensely exciting. Again he saw plenty of
+game, and he was strangely tempted to try a
+shot at a deer until the idea came to him,</p>
+
+<p>"I can't say what ears might hear the report
+of my rifle."</p>
+
+<p>Deer did not seem to be of any account after
+that idea took form, and he galloped on. In a
+few minutes more his horse's feet were in the
+water, and he was almost immediately aware
+that he had not chosen a good ford. It grew
+deep too fast, and he had to ride out again.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't go into another pool," he said to
+himself. "I'll hunt for a wide place where it
+ripples well."</p>
+
+<p>He had not the experience and the quick eyes
+of Two Arrows, but he was learning fast, and
+it was easy to find a better crossing. Once over,
+he felt that the forest was itself a sort of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>protection,
+and there came a great thrill all over
+him at the thought of riding out from under it.
+What if the Apaches should be already there,
+and what if they had found the camp and destroyed
+it?</p>
+
+<p>"They haven't done that," said Sile, "unless
+they managed to take it by surprise. Guess they
+couldn't do that in broad daylight. Our men
+are all old hands, and Yellow Pine keeps his
+eyes about him. I'll get in a good while before
+dark&mdash;that is, if I make out to get in. I
+wish there was good cover all the way."</p>
+
+<p>He drew rein for a moment under the last
+line of trees, and he looked earnestly in all
+directions, but even his spy-glass could not reveal
+to him a sign of danger. He had never
+seen anything more absolutely quiet and peaceful
+than was that stretch of open valley, with
+its grass and its bushes, and its clusters of grand
+old trees. It encouraged him a good deal to
+see a buck and two does feeding within a quarter
+of a mile of him, and he at once rode watchfully
+onward. His horse was beginning to show
+signs of hard riding, and he noted it regretfully.
+There might yet be a race to run, for
+all he knew.</p>
+
+<p>There was to be something very different from
+a race, and the notice of it came to him very suddenly.
+Just as he rode out through a patch of
+willows in a long hollow, walking his horse
+because of their being in his way a little, his
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>heart seemed to stop beating and stand still.
+Then it beat again, and like a trip-hammer, for
+a moment. The bridle fell from his hand, and
+he made ready his rifle as if by an instinctive
+movement.</p>
+
+<p>Right before him and hardly a hundred yards
+away, on the rising ground, sat an Indian brave,
+in his war-paint, upon a very fine looking horse,
+and Sile was sure at a glance that he could not
+be one of his Nez Perc&eacute; friends. They had no
+such horses as that among all that he and Two
+Arrows had found for them. The warrior
+was looking in the opposite direction at the instant,
+but he was also wheeling his horse, and in
+a second or so more he caught sight of Sile.
+He had a lance, but it was slung behind him,
+and in his hands was as good a repeating-rifle as
+Sile's own, and he raised it like a flash.</p>
+
+<p>It was as if he lifted two, for Sile's rifle also
+came up with precisely the same quick, ready-handed
+motion.</p>
+
+<p>It was an awful moment for Sile. He had
+never before done as much real thinking in one
+hour as he did between his first glimpse of that
+redskin and the rising of the dark, threatening
+line of that rifle-barrel.</p>
+
+<p>He had thought of the men at the mine, and
+of their need of warning, and therefore of the
+necessity that he should protect himself and get
+to them alive. He had thought of his father
+and his mother, and of some other people, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>he had also thought what a dreadful thing it
+was to shoot straight at a man, and perhaps to
+kill him. He had just said to himself,</p>
+
+<p>"I might just kill his horse, and then I could
+get away from him."</p>
+
+<p>At that very instant the two rifles came to a
+level, whether he would or not. He felt no
+symptoms of "buck ague" this time, for every
+nerve and muscle of his body was stiffening,
+while his tired horse stood as still as a stone.
+That was where he had a priceless advantage.
+The spirited animal ridden by his enemy was a
+trifle restive for some reason, and caused a shade
+of delay that was just enough to give Sile his
+only remaining chance.</p>
+
+<p>"If I hit his horse in the head," he was thinking
+as he pulled the trigger: but that would
+have been close shooting at a hundred yards,
+and just beyond the head of the horse was the
+naked breast of the warrior.</p>
+
+<p>There were two reports close together, and
+Sile felt something prick him sharply on the
+left arm near the shoulder. At the same
+moment he saw the red man reel to and fro
+upon his horse, and then pitch off head foremost
+into the grass.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear me, I've shot him!" he exclaimed,
+and his first impulse was to ride away as fast
+as he could.</p>
+
+<p>Then came a suggestion that the brave might
+be only wounded, and that it was his duty to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>go and see if he could do anything for him.
+With that, too, there came a great gush of curiosity
+and a fierce and feverish sense of triumph.
+He had fought a duel on horseback with an
+Indian warrior, with rifles, and there were no
+other white boys who could say that they had
+done that. He sat still upon his horse for a
+moment, and his breath came and went very
+quickly, and then he somewhat cautiously rode
+forward. The Indian's horse had bounded away
+for a little distance when his master fell, but was
+now standing and looking at him, as if in doubt
+as to what he ought to do next. Not another
+human being of any kind was to be seen, but
+Sile looked around him anxiously enough to
+make sure that he was alone. Not one sound
+disturbed the peaceful silence of the valley
+after those two rifles had spoken.</p>
+
+<p>All irresolution passed out of Sile's mind as
+he rode forward, for he felt that he had behaved
+rightly, and had done nothing for which he
+could blame himself. He watched the fallen
+man narrowly as he drew near him, but there
+was no motion or any other sign of life.</p>
+
+<p>"I must have killed him outright!" He
+sprang from his horse and bent over the prostrate
+form, but he did not have to look more
+than once. "That hole&mdash;that's where the bullet
+went in. It must have gone right through
+his heart. Well, he would have killed
+me if I had not killed him. I would not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>have hurt him if I could have helped it."</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to Sile a matter of course that he
+should pick up the red warrior's rifle, unbuckle
+and take off the bead-worked belt that carried
+his knife and revolver, take his lance, catch his
+horse, and then ride onward, carrying with him
+all as "spoils of war." He did it coolly and
+steadily but rapidly, and without any idea how
+very fast he was growing. He was learning
+lessons in a great school, but any wise old man
+could have told him that no two boys learn the
+same lessons anywhere. A good deal more depends
+upon the boy himself than upon the school
+or the teacher.</p>
+
+<p>That tall, brawny Apache warrior had been
+a distinguished brave, and he had been sent
+upon a scouting trip away in advance of the rest
+merely as a customary precaution. There had
+been no expectation that he would discover anything
+remarkable. In meeting a solitary pale-face,
+he had undertaken to kill him very much
+as a matter of course, for he was just then at
+war with all white men. Sile had made the
+better shot of the two, and that was about all
+that could be said. As for Sile, he was in a
+greater hurry than ever to get to the mine, and
+again and again he wondered whether Two
+Arrows had met any Apaches.</p>
+
+<p>"I do hope he hasn't," he said to himself,
+"with only a bow and arrows. I wish he had
+a rifle."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXV</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A MIDNIGHT MARCH</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>When Two Arrows parted from Sile he
+was well aware that the errand of the
+Red-head had more real peril in it than his own,
+and he would not have had him armed with
+only a bow and arrows; but oh how he did long
+for a repeating-rifle for his own use! He had
+been hungry enough for one before; but now
+that there was a promise of war it seemed to
+him that the only thing in the world worth the
+having, except a horse, was one of the white
+man's terrible weapons. With such as he now
+had he had killed wild animals and won for
+himself a name and fame, but in spite of that
+he almost despised them. What could he do
+now, for instance, against an Apache well armed,
+as all that warlike tribe were said to be?</p>
+
+<p>He also had a prejudiced idea that if Sile were
+to meet one of them he would be in a manner
+helpless&mdash;a mere ignorant, green, untaught, unready,
+white boy, not the son of a Nez Perc&eacute;
+chief, nor skilled in the wiles and ways of
+Western warfare. As for himself, he felt quite
+confident that all he needed wherewith to meet
+and overcome anything or anybody was just
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>such a perfect "repeater" as Sile carried. He
+somehow overlooked the fact that he had never
+practised much with one, while Sile belonged to
+the race that made them. He had been used
+to a bow and arrows from the time he had
+learned to ride, and almost from the time he had
+learned to walk; so that, after all, they might be
+his safest weapon.</p>
+
+<p>He rode on steadily for a few miles, and then
+he crossed the stream and proceeded under
+cover of the trees. It was time to travel more
+slowly, for his pony had no gallop left in him.
+The approach to the camp even was made with
+some caution, but there was no need of any.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was going down, and the fires were
+blazing brightly. The hunters had done well
+that day, and there were preparations for much
+eating. Two Arrows knew at a glance that all
+things were working prosperously, and that his
+people had no suspicion of any danger near
+them. The vast importance of his errand filled
+him very full, and he halted under the shadow
+of the trees.</p>
+
+<p>Warriors were stalking around here and there,
+or were lazily stretched upon the ground.
+Squaws were busily dressing skins, or cooking or
+chattering with one another, and children were
+hungrily watching the cookery and wishing that
+their turns to be fed might come pretty soon.
+Old One-eye was at work upon a well-covered
+bone before going out for his usual night-watch
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>and patrol, but he was suddenly called upon to
+drop it and to raise his head for a howl.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the growing darkness in the edge of
+the woods there came a quick series of sharp,
+threatening, warning whoops, uttered in a shrill
+and youthful voice that the dog knew perfectly.
+So did others, for Long Bear sprang to his feet,
+exclaiming,</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Two Arrows!" and answered him
+with a whoop of such volume and meaning that
+every brave and boy who heard it understood
+it as a command, and ran for his weapons first,
+and then to the corral to see about his pony.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows dismounted and led his over-ridden
+pony into camp. Long Bear stood silently
+and dignifiedly in front of his lodge waiting
+for him, and the older warriors were gathering
+fast to hear the news. They knew very well
+that no Indian boy would have dared to give
+such a signal as that without good reason, and
+their faces were clouding seriously.</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows speak quick," said his father.
+"All hear him."</p>
+
+<p>The young scout felt deeply the pride of his
+position. He pointed towards the lower valley
+with all the dignity he could muster, and uttered
+only the words,</p>
+
+<p>"'Pache! War-path!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a dismal chorus of "Ugh!" from
+all who heard him, but there was not one war-whoop.
+He was at once called upon for a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>minute and careful account of the whole affair,
+including the locality and condition of Judge
+Parks and his party of miners. He made his
+report with a fullness and keenness of observation
+that stirred up the old chief's family pride
+amazingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Young chief," he remarked. "Do something
+more every time."</p>
+
+<p>It looked very much like it, and his return
+as an intelligent and successful scout added
+largely to all his other claims to distinction.
+Not another boy in the band had ever announced
+anything so very bad and so important.</p>
+
+<p>That was no time for anybody to spend a
+thought upon the fame of Two Arrows, however.
+All the old men said, one after another,
+that they wished they knew just how many
+Apaches there were in that war-party. Had
+they known how very strong it was, they might
+have been even worse puzzled, but Long Bear
+was really a clear-headed leader, and he decided
+the whole matter promptly and finally. He told
+his gathering braves that the place where they
+were was a bad one to fight in, while their pale-face
+friends had selected a peculiarly good one.
+They themselves had but twenty-three warriors
+armed with rifles, and nearly as many more
+young men and well-grown boys armed with
+bows and arrows. That was no force with
+which to meet Apaches, nobody knew how many,
+and all sure to be riflemen. To go back through
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>the pass was to die of sure starvation, even if
+they were not followed and slaughtered among
+the rocks. The Apaches were plainly making
+for that very pass, he said; and he was only a
+keen-eyed chief and not at all a prophet when
+he read the matter correctly and said,</p>
+
+<p>"'Pache run away from blue-coats. All in a
+hurry. Not stop. Nez Perc&eacute; hide and let
+them go by. Not fight. Keep pony. Keep
+hair. Good. Ugh!"</p>
+
+<p>The party which had been sent back after the
+lodges and things was a serious anxiety, and a
+light-footed youngster was started off at once to
+warn them. He would be sure to meet them on
+their way, returning, and could tell them to be
+on their guard, and very little more could be
+done for them.</p>
+
+<p>Long Bear finished his speech of explanation,
+and then, without a moment's pause, he gave
+the order to break up camp and prepare to
+march, carrying with them every pound of
+provisions. Not one moment was to be lost in
+gaining such protection as might be had from
+the good position of the miners, and from the
+fact that they were pale-faces of some importance,
+and from the other great fact that they
+were all good riflemen. There was hardly anybody
+in the band, old enough to understand what
+an Apache was, who did not fully appreciate
+the force of the chief's argument, and every
+squaw did her best to hasten the departure.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>Lodges came down, ponies were packed, children
+were gathered, warriors and braves and
+boys completed their preparations for fighting;
+the Big Tongue declared his readiness to kill a
+large number of Apaches, and One-eye was compelled
+to abandon forever all the bones he had
+buried since the people he barked for had
+settled upon the bank of that river.</p>
+
+<p>There was a good deal of quiet and sober
+efficiency in spite of the excitement. Two Arrows
+had further questions to answer from quite
+a number of his elders. He was furnished with
+one of the best ponies in the drove in acknowledgment
+of his services. He was now, also, to
+figure as a kind of guide, and he did not once
+think of or mention the fatigue of his long, hard
+ride. He very willingly ate, however, the whole
+of a buffalo steak, broiled for him by one of the
+squaws, and felt a good deal better afterwards.
+He almost felt that he had earned a rifle, or at
+least a pistol, but well knew that it was all in
+vain to ask for one, when the supply was insufficient
+to arm all the braves who were a full
+head taller than himself.</p>
+
+<p>Still, it was a magnificent thing, at last, to
+ride out at the head of the cavalcade, by the side
+of a tall warrior, as the one boy of all that band
+who was on first-rate terms with the pale-faces
+and knew perfectly the trail leading to them.
+As for that, any red man of them all could have
+followed the tracks of the wagon-wheels, even
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>at night, but Two Arrows had no idea of surrendering
+that part of his growing importance.
+It would have done Na-tee-kah's proud heart
+good to have seen him in particular, and it
+would have been well worth the while of almost
+anybody else to have had a good look at
+the whole affair, as the motley array poured
+out into the moonlight from under the shadowy
+cover of the primeval forest.</p>
+
+<p>There were no sleepy ones except the pappooses,
+and they could sleep under the tightly-drawn
+blankets upon the backs of their mothers
+as well as anywhere else. All the rest were
+more or less hardened to the quick changes and
+migrations of the kind of life into which they
+had been born. They were not likely to be injured
+by being kept up pretty late for one night,
+and there was no need that anybody should
+walk, now that their four-footed wealth had
+returned.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows thought of that, and he could
+hardly help reminding some of his friends of
+his share in so good a thing. He received a reply
+from one gray-headed warrior which
+sounded very much like a snub:</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Two Arrows. Red-head. Boys
+find pony first. Pony there. Brave find next
+day. Boy talk too much. Kill 'Pache like warrior.
+Then talk a heap. Show scalp. Whoop.
+Ugh!"</p>
+
+<p>As for war and that sort of thing, there was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>no need for anybody to stir the ambition of
+Two Arrows up to a greater heat. He was
+ready enough now to do the wildest and rashest
+things he could think of. He felt as if he were
+out upon his first war-path, and that there must
+be somewhere a great heap of glory preparing
+for him.</p>
+
+<p>The Nez Perc&eacute; camp had been broken up
+with great celerity, and no time had been lost,
+but after all the summons to move had come
+upon them most unexpectedly. There had been
+a great deal to do and but a dim light to do it
+by, and so it was pretty late before the picturesque
+caravan was in motion. It took a line of
+march towards the mountains until its head
+struck the well-marked tracks of the loaded
+wagons, and from that point forward its course
+required little guiding. By a stern command
+from Long Bear the utmost silence was maintained,
+and, after the moon went down, the
+movement might fairly be said to have been performed
+in secret. There was no danger that
+any small squad of Apache scouts would assail
+so strong a party. Even the squaws and children
+felt pretty safe, but it was very hard upon
+the Big Tongue, for that great brave soon found
+himself in an advanced party, commanded by
+Long Bear himself, and after that he was under
+an absolute necessity of not saying anything.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep206" id="imagep206"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep206.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep206.jpg" width="95%" alt="THE MOONLIGHT MARCH OF NEZ PERC&Eacute;S" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">THE MOONLIGHT MARCH OF NEZ PERC&Eacute;S<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXVI</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">PREPARING FOR AN ATTACK</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>A good while before Two Arrows reached
+the camp of his people Judge Parks and
+Yellow Pine discovered that they had done
+about as much as they could at the mouth of
+what was yet to be the mine until they should
+have men to help them. The judge handed to
+Na-tee-kah another book of pictures to wonder
+over, and then he and Pine went upon a tour of
+inspection. They found the choppers busy with
+beetles and wedges upon the lengths of easily-cloven
+pine, and the heap of long, wide slabs
+or shingles for the roof was growing rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>"We can make it weather-tight with moss-packing,"
+said Pine, "and if we can't have sash
+and glass we can make good solid doors and
+shutters."</p>
+
+<p>"There will be storms," said the judge.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but the winters are never hard down
+here. Even if we got snowed in it wouldn't
+stay long, and the supply-train'll get here before
+the end of next month. Can't lose its way."</p>
+
+<p>"I should say not. But now just look at that
+wall."</p>
+
+<p>It was worth looking at, if only for the way
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>in which it was rising. The mud and stones
+went into place with a perfect rush. At that
+rate there would quickly be a finished house
+there, such as it was to be. All was well and
+solidly laid, too, and the inner face was smooth
+enough. That was more than could be said for
+the outside, and Pine remarked,</p>
+
+<p>"Reckon nobody'll care to rub himself very
+hard against the side of that shelter when it's
+done."</p>
+
+<p>From the house they both strolled away for a
+look at the animals, and then on down to the
+mouth of the notch. They were noting with
+care the several peculiarities of the rocky elevations
+to the right and left, when the judge felt
+his arm gripped very hard, and Yellow Pine exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"Look there, jedge! Something's happened
+to the young redskin."</p>
+
+<p>Judge Parks carried a spy-glass as good as
+Sile's and it was up instantly. "That's Sile, but
+the horse he's leading isn't a pony. Look,
+Pine."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd call it&mdash;How close this thing does
+bring 'em. I could count his buttons. He's
+carrying two rifles and a lance. Something
+mighty queer has turned up, jedge, but you can
+see that Sile's all right. What can have become
+of Two Arrows? I hope he hasn't been wiped
+out. He was the likeliest kind of a young
+chap."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>"We'll know when he gets here."</p>
+
+<p>Waiting was about all they could do, but they
+grew more and more impatient until Sile came
+within hail. After that the questions and answers
+chased each other back and forth until
+the entire account of Sile's hunt and its ending
+was perfectly understood.</p>
+
+<p>Sile saw his father shudder and turn pale,
+and then flush fiery red, while he described
+his encounter with the Apache. He had dismounted
+before he got to that, and the next thing
+he felt was a pair of arms around him, and he
+heard Yellow Pine exclaim,</p>
+
+<p>"I could a'most hug the young rooster myself.
+It was jest the gamest kind of thing to
+do. I say, Sile, he barked ye on yer left arm.
+I'd call it, now, if that there wasn't close work.
+Take yer jacket off."</p>
+
+<p>Sile had hardly paid any attention to that matter,
+although his arm had felt a little stiff, and
+there was really not much of a hurt. In another
+instant his father was saying so, but he
+said it with a peculiar look upon his face. The
+Indian's bullet had been a "Minie-ball," of
+course, and, as it grazed his arm, one of its
+ragged edges had torn through the cloth and
+touched the flesh only just enough to break the
+skin and draw a little blood. Sile could fairly
+say he was "wounded," and no more, and Yellow
+Pine remarked,</p>
+
+<p>"Reckon we won't send ye to the hospital for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>that; but I'm all-fired glad it didn't go any
+nigher. It's jest on a line to where it would ha'
+knocked yer arm off, if it had struck onto the
+bone. It's the narrerest kind of an escape."</p>
+
+<p>Judge Parks had nothing more to say, for
+some reason, and seemed willing that Sile should
+go right on with further particulars of the day.</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows is right," said Pine. "He'd
+know a war-party, sure. It's war with us, anyhow,
+and there isn't but one thing to be done.
+The men must knock off from the house, and
+come right down and block this 'ere opening
+with logs and rocks. We can make the best
+kind of a rifle-pit. Only leave room for one
+man, or for one hoss at a time, to get in or out."</p>
+
+<p>"That's it," said the judge. "Now, Sile,
+come along. You must let the men see what
+you've been up to. They'll know exactly what
+it means."</p>
+
+<p>Sile had a curious sense of bashfulness about
+it, but he followed his father, and in a few minutes
+more the rough, bearded, red-shirted fellows
+were giving him three of the most ringing
+cheers he had ever heard. Ha-ha-pah-no and
+Na-tee-kah looked at him with something that
+was half wonder. They could not have believed
+it, but for the horse and the lance, and the rifle
+and the belt. Here was the Red-head, a mere
+pale-face boy, bringing in trophies of which a
+great warrior might have been proud. Na-tee-kah
+had a sort of notion that Two Arrows
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>must have done it somehow, until well assured
+that her brother had not been present, and that
+the Red-head had not taken the scalp of the slain
+Apache. She had heard that the pale-face warriors
+sometimes neglected that duty, but could
+not well understand why, even when Ha-ha-pah-no
+explained to her that it was "bad medicine"
+for a white man to scalp anybody.</p>
+
+<p>The situation called for something more than
+cheers, however, and the miners hurried to the
+mouth of the notch. To pack it breast-high
+with fragments of wood and stone was no
+great matter, and the breastwork was finished in
+time for a late supper.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell ye what, jedge," remarked one of the
+men, "if I was a redskin I wouldn't be in a hurry
+to ride up to that there bar, with a half a dozen
+rifles peepin' over it. Reckon it'd take the
+cleanest kind of grit. A feller could stand behind
+it and pepper away, and be a'most safe
+agin anything short of cannon."</p>
+
+<p>The wagons and other things were left as they
+were, and the entire notch was a perfectly safe
+corral for the animals. All the human beings
+moved their bivouac down towards the barrier
+they had made, leaving the fires behind them.</p>
+
+<p>"They're all right, there," said Pine, "and
+we needn't kindle any down hereaway to tell
+jest where we are."</p>
+
+<p>There was sense in that, and one sentry was as
+good as a dozen to keep watch at the narrow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>entrance
+left, for even that was securely closed
+until there should be a good reason for opening
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Sile found himself the hero of the camp, and
+that the scratch upon his arm excused him from
+guard duty. At first he was well pleased to lie
+down and go to sleep, after the severe fatigue
+and excitement of his great ride. Never before
+had he raced it after such a fashion, and
+every bone and muscle felt the effects of the
+long strain. He saw, too, that everybody else
+was taking the matter with perfect coolness.
+All those miners had been in tight places more
+than once, and they had great faith in the prudence
+of redskins about charging upon white
+riflemen hidden behind rocks. Sile ate a hearty
+supper. In fact, he was compelled at last to be
+very positive with Ha-ha-pah-no. She would
+have gone right on cooking for him until morning
+if he had let her, and so would Na-tee-kah.
+They were positively proud of the privilege of
+bringing him his coffee. He was assured that
+the horse and weapons of the Apache warrior
+were his own personal property, and he examined
+them again and again with a sense of
+ownership that he had never felt for anything
+else. He could not tell why, until Jonas remarked
+to him,</p>
+
+<p>"If you hadn't pulled straight, your plunder'd
+be in the 'Pache camp 'bout now, scalp and all.
+It was jest a question of grit and shootin'. I'm
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>powerful glad you made out to throw yer lead
+to the right spot."</p>
+
+<p>So was Sile, but it was not easy, somehow,
+for him to make up his mind that he had really
+killed anybody. He found a queer idea in his
+mind several times that before long that Apache
+warrior would wake up and wonder what had
+become of his horse and his weapons. Not long
+after supper he curled up in his blanket at the
+foot of a tree, and in a few minutes he was
+soundly asleep. He did not hear his father say
+to Yellow Pine, as the two bent over him,</p>
+
+<p>"My brave boy!"</p>
+
+<p>Nor did he hear Pine grumble,</p>
+
+<p>"If he hasn't earned a good snooze, then nobody
+has. Tell ye what, jedge, that feller'll
+be guv'ner of a State one of these days. I'd
+vote for him. I'd like to have seen him 'changing
+shots with that there redskin."</p>
+
+<p>They moved away, and the judge remarked,</p>
+
+<p>"We are safe enough for to-night, but they'll
+find us to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe, maybe not. I can't quite make it
+out as to what could bring 'em away up here.
+Two Arrows told Sile they was a war-party,
+and if that's so, they must have been licked somewhere.
+They'd never have cut it for these
+ranges without somebody was after 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps so. We'll see. Anyhow, we can
+keep a sharp lookout."</p>
+
+<p>There was no danger that any sentry would
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>sleep on his post that night, but all the first
+part and the middle of it went by as peacefully
+as if the valley were uninhabited.</p>
+
+<p>Sile slept and slept, and when at last he opened
+his eyes, he could not have told why he did so.
+The stars were shining. The night air was crisp
+and chilly, but he was warm under his blanket.
+It took him almost a minute to gather his
+thoughts and understand where he really was.
+That was partly because he had been sleeping
+heavily, and partly because, at the very last, he
+had dreamed of being at home, and of leading
+a remarkable horse into the sitting-room to show
+it to his mother.</p>
+
+<p>It was a strange place to wake up in, and he
+could dimly see the forms of other men, rolled
+in blankets, lying near, each with a rifle lying
+by him ready for prompt use.</p>
+
+<p>"They won't be taken by surprise," said Sile
+to himself. "I'm going down for a look at the
+barrier. I've lain still long enough."</p>
+
+<p>He felt a little stiff when he first rose to his
+feet, but it passed away when he stretched himself
+and began to walk. His left arm pained
+him more than he had expected, and he found
+it slightly swollen. It was not precisely like
+the same scratch made in any other way, and he
+was glad that there was no more of it. Still,
+he hardly knew what he had that he valued more
+highly than that light hurt upon his arm. It
+had made a sort of soldier of him. It was a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>promotion, and he vaguely hoped that it would
+leave a scar. Then he half wished that the scar
+might come out upon his face, where it would
+not be forever covered up by his coat-sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>"My new horse is in the corral, and I couldn't
+pick him out now. My lance and things are in
+the wagon. I'll go and have a look at the
+barrier. I'm feeling tip-top."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXVII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">FROM BOW TO RIFLE</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Leaning over the upper log of the barrier,
+rifle in hand, and peering out upon the
+starlit slope beyond him, stood the form of
+Jonas, the miner. Not a sound came to him
+from the mists and shadows of the valley, and
+he was just remarking, aloud,</p>
+
+<p>"It's as quiet as a cornfield," when a voice
+at his elbow explained,</p>
+
+<p>"Hist! Ha-ha-pah-no&mdash;sh-sh!" and Na-tee-kah
+dropped upon the ground, and pressed her
+little round ear against it. So, almost instantly,
+did Ha-ha-pah-no, and he heard Sile saying,</p>
+
+<p>"Their ears are better than yours or mine if
+they can hear anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't know there was one of ye nigh me,"
+said Jonas. "That's the way for a feller to lose
+his hair&mdash;looking too hard in one direction while
+somebody comes up behind him. No, Sile, I
+haven't heerd a thing."</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah sprang to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Horse come. Ugh!" and she held up her
+hand for silence, while Ha-ha-pah-no also arose,
+listening intently.</p>
+
+<p>"Indian ears for it," said Jonas. "'Pears to
+me I can hear something now myself."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>"I can't, then," said another voice. It was
+that of a sleepy miner, who had waked up to
+follow Sile, just as he had been awakened by
+even the noiseless movements of the squaws.</p>
+
+<p>"Hark!" exclaimed Jonas.</p>
+
+<p>It was the sound of galloping, and then a
+shrill whoop.</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows!" screamed Na-tee-kah.
+"'Pache get him!"</p>
+
+<p>Jonas had already thrown down the logs of
+wood in the opening, and now he shouted,</p>
+
+<p>"Rifles, boys! Ready!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a great shout from the bivouac behind
+them, but it seemed almost no time before
+a pony and his rider dashed into dim view before
+them, followed by a larger shadow, from
+which came whoop after whoop.</p>
+
+<p>"Take the hind one. Give it to him," shouted
+Jonas, as a streak of fire sprang from his own
+rifle-muzzle. Two other shots followed, as if
+there were any chance of hitting a galloping
+horseman in such a half darkness as that. Hit
+or no hit, one Apache warrior was so utterly
+astounded that he drew rein, all but throwing
+his horse upon his haunches, and the pony-rider
+he was pursuing wheeled sharply to the right.
+Half a minute later and all would have been
+over with Two Arrows, in all probability, but,
+as matters had now turned, it was his enemy
+who had made a blunder. He sat for several
+precious seconds almost motionless, although not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>a shot had touched him, and by so doing he put
+himself up for a target at very short arrow range.
+The next instant he was dashing wildly away
+into the darkness, for the horse had an arrow
+in his flank to spur him, and the brave himself
+had a similar token of the skill of Two Arrows
+projecting from his right thigh.</p>
+
+<p>"Sile," said Jonas, "he got it. You can tell
+that by the yell he gave."</p>
+
+<p>"Come on in," shouted Sile. "There may
+be more of 'em. We're all up and ready for
+'em."</p>
+
+<p>It looked like it, as man after man came
+hurrying forward, but Two Arrows quieted
+them on that head. He had been sent forward
+by Long Bear to announce the coming of the
+Nez Perc&eacute;s, and he had encountered the Apache
+less than half a mile from the notch. It had
+been a close race, although he had a fresh pony
+and a good start. Any hurt to his pride on account
+of arriving in that precise manner, followed
+instead of following, was more than cured
+by the undoubted fact that he had sent an arrow
+into his pursuer.</p>
+
+<p>"There wasn't really any show for bullet-work,"
+said Jonas, "but lead'll hurt jest as bad
+in the dark, in case it gits there."</p>
+
+<p>"All come," said Na-tee-kah. "Good. Two
+Arrows great brave now. Strike warrior.
+Fight a heap."</p>
+
+<p>Judge Parks was not sorry to hear of such an
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>addition to his little garrison, as the Nez Perc&eacute;
+warriors could be fully depended upon to fight
+well for their ponies and lives. It was not a
+great while before the head of their cavalcade
+came out of the shadows, and deeper and more
+sonorous whoops answered that of Two Arrows.</p>
+
+<p>"Big Tongue," said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Heap
+mouth!"</p>
+
+<p>There surely was one whoop that seemed to
+have swallowed several others, and Jonas remarked,</p>
+
+<p>"That feller could do all the loose yelling
+for a small tribe. Hark to him, now."</p>
+
+<p>"Big Tongue great brave!" said Ha-ha-pah-no,
+tartly. "'Pache hear him, 'Pache go dead.
+Run."</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes more the Nez Perc&eacute; ponies
+were squeezing their packs through the narrow
+entrance of the notch, and a succession of
+approving grunts from Long Bear testified the
+satisfaction he felt at getting into so secure a
+fort. He perfectly understood the value and
+uses of that barrier. When daylight came he
+again said "Ugh!" several times while he was
+examining the stone wall and the other evidences
+of the skill and zeal of his pale-face friends.</p>
+
+<p>There was no more sleeping done in the
+notch, but there was an immense amount of very
+early cooking and eating, not to speak of the
+smoking and consultation, and the very general
+expression of a bad opinion of the entire Apache
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>nation. They and their works, past, present,
+and to come, were condemned unsparingly.
+At the same time their fighting qualities were
+freely admitted, and with them the certainty
+that no Apache war-party would turn away
+from a bit of war so well begun as was this.</p>
+
+<p>The sun arose, but almost to the astonishment
+of Sile, as well as the Nez Perc&eacute;s, the hardy
+miners behaved very much as if they had no
+war whatever on their hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Them 'Paches'll come and go," said Jonas,
+"but we've got to have this 'ere wall finished."</p>
+
+<p>At it they went, well assured that the barrier
+and all the land near it would be well watched,
+and that it was an easy thing to do to pick up
+a rifle if an alarm should come.</p>
+
+<p>Sile felt less interest in the mine, somehow.
+The story of his exploit had been told, of course,
+to his Indian friends, and he could but see that
+it had made him an object of respectful admiration.
+There was not a warrior among them
+who would not have been proud of such a
+feather as that victory, but the effect upon Two
+Arrows was peculiar. He had regarded himself
+as Sile's superior in all things which did
+not belong especially to a young pale-face. It
+had not occurred to him that Sile was or ever
+could become a "great brave." Some of the
+"blue-coats" were, he knew, but Sile was not
+a blue-coat. He had heard stories of the
+prowess of other pale-faces, but Sile was a mere
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>boy, and dreadfully green to the ways of the
+plains and mountains. He could not think of
+one boy of his band who really knew less of the
+things most important to be known, except rifle-shooting.
+His pride was touched in a tender
+spot, for although he was sure he had sent an arrow
+into an Apache, he had nothing to show for
+it. Na-tee-kah was enormously proud of that arrow,
+and Ha-ha-pah-no was compelled to remind
+her that her hero brother had brought in
+neither scalp nor horse, and had saved his own
+by the timely rifle practice of Sile and the men at
+the gap. For all that, Na-tee-kah had a vivid
+persuasion that, if the pale-faces had not interfered
+and driven away the Apache, there would
+have been more glory earned by the young
+chief of the Nez Perc&eacute;s. She could not be dissatisfied
+with Sile, however. After a brief
+consultation with his father, the Red-head went
+to the wagon and brought out the rifle he had
+won and with it a box of cartridges. It was a
+capital weapon, in good condition, and Sile
+showed it to Two Arrows with a great glow on
+his face and with a sense of standing up uncommonly
+straight. Several braves gathered to
+look at it and to declare it "heap good gun."</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows held it for a moment, with a
+look which did not need any interpreter. It
+was intensely wistful, and had a quick flash of
+keen jealousy in it. What was there that he
+could not do with such a splendid tool of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>destruction
+as that, instead of his lance and bow?
+He was nothing but a poor red youngster, after
+all, compelled to wait, he could not guess how
+long, before he could hope to be armed as a
+complete brave. He held out the rifle to Sile
+dejectedly, but then something like a shiver
+went all over him, for Sile only pushed it back,
+saying,</p>
+
+<p>"No; Two Arrows keep it. Take present.
+Good friend." And then he held out the little
+waterproof box of copper cartridges of the size
+called for by that rifle.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows required a breath or so before
+he could believe that the thing was a reality,
+and then he broke out into a yell of delight.</p>
+
+<p>One-eye, standing behind him, began to bark
+vociferously, although nobody had given him
+anything except unlimited bones.</p>
+
+<p>Every Nez Perc&eacute; brave present deemed it
+his duty to shake hands with Sile, and Long
+Bear was summoned at once to do the same.
+Two Arrows found himself terribly short of
+words to tell how he felt about it, but he flatly
+refused to make a trial of that gun then and
+there. He felt such a dancing in his head and
+in his fingers that he was hardly sure he could
+hit the side of the mountain, and he did not
+care to disgrace his marksmanship before so
+many crack shots. It even occurred to him that
+he was not likely to come out of a duel on horseback
+as well as Sile until he should have had
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>some practice. He did not know how steadily
+Sile had insisted on trying several shots every
+day since the mining expedition started. At all
+events he had mounted one round more in the
+ladder of his ambition, and had a better prospect
+for the next.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXVIII</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">THE APACHES HAVE COME</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Just as the sun was rising that morning, an
+altogether used-up horse came staggering
+into the awaking camp of the Apache war-party.
+On the horse was a warrior who had been sent
+out, with others, on scouting duty the previous
+day, and he now seemed nearly as fatigued as
+did the animal he rode. He had strength for
+a whoop whose meaning startled all who heard
+it, and in a minute more it was understood by
+most of them that the horse had been so badly
+tired out by one arrow, and the brave by another;
+but they did not know of whom they were
+speaking when they gruffly remarked,</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows. Ugh! Nez Perc&eacute;."</p>
+
+<p>The baffled scout was unable to testify to the
+presence of white men, although he could aver
+that he had retreated from several busy rifles.
+He had deemed it his duty to ride back with his
+news and for another horse. It would be a
+good while before he could do much walking,
+and the horse which had carried him in must be
+abandoned, whether it should live or die.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing to dispirit such a company
+in the prospect of more plunder, many ponies
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>and scalps, and an easy victory over a hunting
+party trespassing upon their acknowledged
+range. They did but eat breakfast more rapidly
+and push forward at once. The idea was yet
+strong upon them that they were pursued, but
+not one of their rearward scouts had come in,
+and a sense of false security had begun to creep
+over all but the very grayest heads among them.
+Even of these not one dreamed how dangerously
+near was the steady advance of Captain
+Grover and his blue-coats.</p>
+
+<p>It is an old proverb of sea-fighting that "a
+stern chase is a long chase," and it is nearly as
+true on land, but the cavalry had pushed along
+with steady persistency, in a thoroughly business-like
+and scientific economy of time and horses.
+They were therefore in pretty good condition,
+men and animals. As Captain Grover remarked
+so it had been:</p>
+
+<p>"I know about how fast the redskins can
+travel. They stole a whole grist of slow stock
+and that measures their gait."</p>
+
+<p>However swift might be their best, the
+Apaches had gone no farther any day than the
+slowest half-dozen of their plunder. Captain
+Grover was therefore almost justified in a firm
+conviction he expressed that morning:</p>
+
+<p>"Now for it, boys. We shall be among 'em
+before sunset."</p>
+
+<p>On pushed the cavalry with enthusiasm, but
+at the same hour the Apaches were also <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>pressing
+forward with increasing eagerness. They
+were no longer in one body. All their drove
+of stolen quadrupeds and their own superfluous
+ponies made up a sort of rear-guard,
+driven and cared for by about a dozen of the
+less distinguished braves, with orders to make
+as good speed as possible. The remainder of
+the force, full of whooping and yelling and a
+great hunger for glory and ponies, rode forward
+to find the Nez Perc&eacute;s. It could not be hard
+to do that, with so clear an idea as to the locality
+of at least several of them, but there was a surprise
+ready.</p>
+
+<p>They had hardly ridden an hour when the
+foremost warriors made the air ring with whoops
+of wrath, and in a moment more the word
+"pale-face" was passing from rider to rider.
+They had found the victim of Sile's marksmanship,
+and the fact that he had not been scalped
+put away the idea that he had fallen before a
+Nez Perc&eacute;. The trail of the two horses leading
+away to the left was plainly marked and
+could be followed, and there was no reason for
+special caution in so open a country. Still, the
+onward movement from that point was made in
+a more compact body and in something like
+silence. The trail before them led in the precise
+direction indicated by the brave shot by
+Sile, and the presence of both Nez Perc&eacute;s and
+pale-faces in that valley was of itself a sort of
+enigma. Word was left for the rear-guard to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>halt at the spot where the body lay until rejoined
+by the main force.</p>
+
+<p>The garrison at the notch was ignorant of all
+this, but while the house-builders toiled at their
+wall with undiminished energy Long Bear sent
+out several of his best braves to scout around
+as far as might seem safe, and there was no
+danger of any surprise. There was one effect
+of all this even now to be seen in the sides of
+that stone wall. Windows had formed a part
+of the original plan, of course, but not nearly
+so many shot-holes.</p>
+
+<p>"You see," said Jonas to Yellow Pine, "if any
+hostiles should ever make out to git inside the
+notch, this 'ere'd be the best kind of fort.
+Them holes are all big enough to poke a muzzle
+through."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have a stockade, some day," said Pine;
+"and we'll put another down at the gap, reg'lar
+fort fashion, with a gate and loop-holes."</p>
+
+<p>Just then a whoop rang out from the braves
+at the gap and was followed by a chorus of them.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd call it!" said Pine. "Knock off work,
+boys. Time's come."</p>
+
+<p>Not quite, but a brave had ridden swiftly in
+with notice of the approach of the Apaches,
+and all the other scouts were fast following his
+good example. The first whoop had been given
+by the Big Tongue from behind the largest
+rocks of the barrier, but he was soon calmly
+walking up and down outside, as if waiting for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>the whole Apache nation, and also ready to be
+admired by somebody. One-eye was also beyond
+the barrier, for some reason, but he came
+in at the call of Two Arrows. There was no
+danger but what the Big Tongue would come
+in without any calling.</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no had done very
+little that morning but recite to their Nez
+Perc&eacute; friends and relatives the wonders of their
+visit in the pale-face camp, and exhibit their
+rich store of ornaments and other presents.
+They had also combed and brushed each other's
+hair in a way that excited no little envy. They
+were yet busy at it when the voice of the Big
+Tongue was first heard at the barrier, and every
+squaw knew what it signified.</p>
+
+<p>"Two Arrows," exclaimed Na-tee-kah, "has
+rifle now; kill heap."</p>
+
+<p>"Big Tongue great brave," said Ha-ha-pah-no.
+"Shoot mouth; 'Pache heap die."</p>
+
+<p>The horses, mules, and ponies of both Nez
+Perc&eacute;s and miners were all driven by the squaws
+away up the notch, under some trees, to be as
+secure as might be from stray bullets, if any
+should be fired. The squaws themselves were
+generally very willing to be as safe as were the
+animals; but Na-tee-kah's dusky cheeks were almost
+red with excitement. In spite of all prohibition,
+she broke away from under the trees
+and darted off towards the rocks on the side of
+the notch opposite the mine. It was only a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>minute before Ha-ha-pah-no followed her, with
+no idea of bringing her back, whatever she said
+to the rest on starting.</p>
+
+<p>"See fight. Squaw shoot, too, sometime.
+Na-tee-kah heap brave."</p>
+
+<p>Na-tee-kah did not utter a sound until she
+had gained a spot behind a huge bowlder, from
+which she could peer out and down, and see
+what was going on at the barrier and beyond it.
+She felt well paid for her trouble. The braves
+of the Nez Perc&eacute;s were all there or behind the
+rocky fragments on either side, and mingled with
+them here and there were the red shirts and
+slouched hats of the miners. The Big Tongue
+was no longer parading over the slope in front
+of the gap. He had even cut short an uncommonly
+fine whoop in his retreat to a place as
+safe as that occupied by Na-tee-kah or Ha-ha-pah-no.</p>
+
+<p>There were excellent reasons for such a retreat,
+for several scores of Apaches were now
+riding back and forth, just out of good rifle-range,
+as if they were a little in doubt as to
+what they had better do next. Not an Apache
+among them had an idea how many might be
+the rifles among those rocks, but all were sure
+that they were there. It was just as Jonas had
+said, and Yellow Pine. It required an immense
+amount of courage to ride up to hidden sharpshooters,
+and the Apaches were disposed to
+whoop a good deal before they tried the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>experiment.
+Their head chief had commanded
+that there should be no random firing, and now
+he was disposed to try what could be done with
+a "talk." One solitary brave rode forward a
+distance in advance of his comrades, dismounted,
+laid down his rifle and lance, took off his pistol-belt
+ostentatiously, held up his hands wide open
+to declare himself unarmed, reached out his
+right hand with the palm up to say that he was
+peaceful, and then walked slowly forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Wants to get near enough to see what he
+can see," said Yellow Pine. "Snake trick.
+I'll go out and meet him, jedge."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Pine, I don't want you to run any risk."</p>
+
+<p>"Risk? Not a bit of it. I say, Jonas, I'll
+let him come into good fair range. Keep him
+covered. If he tries any bad game I'll just
+drop flat."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what he'll do next thing," said Jonas,
+as he rested his rifle over the log in front of
+him, and it seemed as if every other miner at
+once followed his example.</p>
+
+<p>"Go ahead then, Pine," said the judge; "see
+what he wants."</p>
+
+<p>"For that matter, jedge," said Pine, "I'd as
+lief as not try a hand-to-hand fight with any redskin
+in that lot."</p>
+
+<p>He left his weapons behind him as ostentatiously
+as the Apache had done, handing them
+back over the barrier after stepping out, and
+walked forward rapidly, so that he did not let
+his conference turn into too close an "examination."</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep230" id="imagep230"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep230.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep230.jpg" width="50%" alt="HIS RIGHT HAND WITH THE PALM UP TO SHOW THAT HE WAS PEACEFUL" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">HIS RIGHT HAND WITH THE PALM UP TO SHOW THAT HE WAS PEACEFUL<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>The keen eyes of the warrior were searching
+every cranny of the rocks as well as they
+could, when Yellow Pine drew near and held
+out his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"How?" said Pine.</p>
+
+<p>"How? Where Nez Perc&eacute;?"</p>
+
+<p>Pine answered by a sweep of his hand towards
+the notch, and added,</p>
+
+<p>"'Pache chief want pony? want scalp? Go
+other place. Too much heap shoot; kill 'em
+all."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXIX</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">STIRRING TIMES</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The idea of a great fight about to come off
+had quite turned the heads of Sile and
+Two Arrows, and the later was aching all over
+with anxiety to try his new rifle. They had
+found good places to shoot from. Even the
+judge did not hesitate a moment about bidding
+Sile to do his duty, although he had a pretty
+strong conviction that there would not be much
+to do right away. Na-tee-kah had singled out
+that pair as the particular braves in whose
+conduct she was interested, but had no doubt
+that her brother would win more glory than the
+Red-head, now that he had so good a rifle.</p>
+
+<p>The circumstances had even more completely
+turned the hot heads of the young Apache
+braves left in charge of their too numerous drove
+of horses. Every soul of them was crazy to be at
+the front and take part in whatever might turn
+up. They all seemed to drift naturally a little
+in that direction, and kept no kind of lookout,
+leaving their precious charge to take care of itself.
+The horses, therefore, at once began to
+take advantage of the grass.</p>
+
+<p>This state of things continued, and grew
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>worse and worse every minute, until a good long
+hour after the main body had moved away
+along Sile's trail towards the notch. Then, altogether
+unexpectedly, but as by one impulse,
+all the Apache horse-guard gave a sudden start
+and turned their heads in one direction.</p>
+
+<p>Over the crest of the nearest knoll, stirring
+and clear and sweet, came the sound of a cavalry
+bugle. It was the signal to "charge," and was
+followed by the swift rush of Captain Grover
+and his men. In an instant they were between
+the feeding quadrupeds and their astonished
+keepers, and it was all in vain for the young
+hot-heads in their amazement to attempt to
+rally. One only wheeled his pony at once and
+rode away at the top of his speed. The nine or
+ten who dashed in the other direction suddenly
+all drew rein as they discovered the odds against
+them. A line of iron veterans, thirty strong,
+was thundering forward, and not an Apache
+was fool enough to fire a shot and be cut down
+for it.</p>
+
+<p>There was just enough of bewildered, leaderless
+indecision to settle the matter. The sabres
+swept flashingly around the squad of redskins,
+and all they had to do was to surrender. It is a
+mere novelist's blunder to suppose and to write
+that red men have not sense enough to give it
+up when there is no use in fighting any more.
+They can do it as readily as any white man in
+the world, and the reason why they do not do it
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>more frequently is because they generally keep
+a good chance to run away, and make a treaty
+afterwards as to what presents they are to have
+for making peace. There was no time given
+the young braves to strike a bargain. They
+were all disarmed, and then, dreadfully to their
+disgust, they were all dismounted and tied up.</p>
+
+<p>"The plunder'll do well enough where it is,"
+said Captain Grover, as he detailed Garry and
+a guard of four men to watch the prisoners.
+"If any of those chaps gets loose you'll have to
+shoot him. Men, by fours, left! Forward!"</p>
+
+<p>The pony-rider who escaped was sure to
+carry the news of the disaster, and of the arrival
+of the blue-coats, but several things could happen
+before the Apache chief received it. He had
+no spy-glass, and he was eagerly waiting such
+information as might be obtained by the brave
+standing face to face with Yellow Pine.</p>
+
+<p>That very cunning Apache found himself
+talking under difficulties. He could see distinctly
+that there were more than a few rifles
+at the barrier, but he could get no farther. The
+tall pale-face in front of him kept back any
+other information than that all the Apaches in
+this world or any other would be killed in case
+of an attack then and there. He even referred
+to Sile's exploit as an example, and to the lesson
+given by Two Arrows to the scout, and all the
+wild blood in the Apache brave was set boiling
+by that somewhat imprudent reference. He
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>was a large, powerfully built warrior, and he
+had been as truthful as could be expected when
+he signified that he was unarmed. He kept up
+the idea of a "flag of truce" talk until sure he
+could gain no more by it, and then he uttered a
+shrill whoop and stooped, quick as a flash, for
+a long knife hidden in his leggings. He meant
+to carry back the scalp of Yellow Pine as a
+trophy of that conversation, but had not asked
+anybody how well Pine could box. The latter
+had no time to draw any weapon except his
+fist, but that was a hard one, and it struck the
+Apache on the side of his head as he was rising,
+knife in hand. Over and over he rolled, while
+Pine threw himself flat upon the earth, at the
+same moment digging both hands into the
+pockets of his pantaloons. His enemy recovered
+himself instantly and sprang to his feet with
+another whoop, lifting his long, glittering knife
+for a rush upon the prostrate pale-face. It
+might have been a perilous rush, for Pine's
+hands came right out of his pockets, and each
+held a short-barrelled "Derringer" pistol, ready
+cocked. They are terrible weapons, but the
+miner had no occasion to use either of them.
+The line of the barrier and of the adjacent
+rocks seemed to dance with blue flashes and with
+puffs of white smoke. Within three seconds
+not less than a score of rattling reports awoke
+the echoes of the notch, and every blue tube they
+came from had been aimed by a good marksman.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>After all was over, the prevalent opinion was
+that not one of them had missed. At all events
+Yellow Pine was safe to jump up and run for
+the barrier, followed by hasty shots from startled
+and galloping horsemen, all as useless as so
+many pebbles. His arrival was greeted by all
+the shouting and whooping which could possibly
+be performed by the red and white garrison
+of the notch, aided by One-eye with a vigor
+that shook him all over. Even then, however,
+the voice of the Big Tongue could be distinguished
+from the rest.</p>
+
+<p>If the volume of sound did nothing else it
+deeply impressed the mind of the Apache chief
+with an idea of the strength of the force opposed
+to him. So had the promptness and number
+and accuracy of the rifle-shots which had prevented
+him from getting any report from his
+too treacherous "flag of truce" brave. As for
+him, Na-tee-kah had been watching Two Arrows
+and had seen the Apache fall just as his
+rifle went off. That was enough, and she was
+again proud of her brother. It was in vain for
+Ha-ha-pah-no to say,</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Heap shoot. All kill him. Go
+dead a heap."</p>
+
+<p>She as well as Na-tee-kah was taking every
+opportunity for practising all the small English
+words she could pick up, and some of her greatest
+successes would have puzzled a dictionary.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>The Apaches were all but silent and drew
+back a little at the end of their burst of angry
+whooping and useless shooting. They drew
+back still farther because of a steady whizzing
+of bullets from the barrier. It was too far for
+good marksmanship, but the rifles made nowadays
+will send a piece of lead a mile and hurt
+something with it.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a second burst of angry yells arose
+among the baffled marauders as a pony-rider in
+a great hurry dashed in among them, shouting
+forth the news of the arrival of the blue-coats
+and the loss of the drove and its protectors.
+Here was a blow indeed, and the escaped brave's
+estimate of the number of the cavalry he had
+run away from was very liberal. The Apache
+chief was necessarily a good captain, fully able
+to understand how bad it would be for him to be
+placed between two fires. The ground in front
+of the notch was therefore no place for him to
+fight in, and he did not know what precious
+minutes he had already been wasting. He
+threw away ten more in a sort of consultation
+with his wisest warriors, and at the same time
+his whole force rode up the valley a short distance.
+That move gave them the cover of some
+trees and took them out of range of bullets from
+the barrier, and at that very moment Judge
+Parks was startled by a yell from Sile.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing up there?" he shouted,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>for Sile had clambered away up among the
+rocks of the lodge and stood upon a sort of
+pinnacle, spy-glass in hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Cavalry, father! They are coming. Cavalry&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Come down!"</p>
+
+<p>"Right in this direction. Riding hard.
+Hurrah!"</p>
+
+<p>The new rifle of Two Arrows could not have
+won him the glory of that discovery and announcement.
+Once more the peculiar advantages
+of pale-faces over red men were forced
+upon him, but somehow it did but stir up his
+ambition, and with it a quick, daring impulse.
+He sprang away up the valley for a horse. He
+rushed in among the gathered animals of the
+corral, and boldly picked out his father's best
+and swiftest mustang, a beast that could run like
+the wind. He asked for no saddle, and the
+bridle went on as if by magic.</p>
+
+<p>Sile came down from his perch at a rate that
+risked his neck, and made a report which drew
+from Yellow Pine,</p>
+
+<p>"I'd call it&mdash;Jedge, if we could only let
+them fellers know we're here, it would be wuth
+a heap."</p>
+
+<p>Before all who echoed that wish had finished
+speaking Two Arrows came dashing towards
+the barrier, all ready for the errand.</p>
+
+<p>"Give the youngster three cheers!" shouted
+Yellow Pine. "Hurrah for him!"</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XXX</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">A DARING RIDE</span></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>For the moment there was not one Apache
+horseman lingering within reach of the
+sharpshooters at the gap, and it was possible to
+get away from it unseen. All peril would come
+afterwards, but there was a vast amount of it,
+and the proposed errand of Two Arrows called
+for unlimited courage. His light weight upon
+a fresh racer gave him some advantage over
+heavy warriors upon horses already hard ridden,
+but this fact did not cover the whole question
+by any means, for a bullet will travel faster than
+the swiftest mustang. Sile did his best to communicate
+every fact that his spy-glass had given
+him; Long Bear said "Ugh!" with a deep and
+expressive intonation; the logs were removed
+from the entrance; and then Na-tee-kah's heart
+beat terribly, for she saw her hero brother dash
+forth all alone, she could not guess why nor
+whither. Then there was another sudden commotion,
+for Yellow Pine shouted, and Long
+Bear echoed it in his own tongue,</p>
+
+<p>"Mount, men! Mount and be ready, every
+mother's son of ye! I'm jest going to back that
+there young catamount if it costs me my hair!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>There was the swiftest kind of saddling and
+mounting, and not a Nez Perc&eacute; boy old enough
+to draw a bow was willing to be left behind.
+When, therefore, the whole force rode out upon
+the slope in front of the notch, it looked a good
+deal stronger than it really was. All that work
+required many minutes, and during all of these
+the daring young messenger had been doing
+capitally.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving the gap, he wheeled his fleet mustang
+to the right and dashed away until he deemed
+himself within reach of a small grove of trees,
+around which he could sweep back into the
+right course to reach the cavalry. It was an
+acute enough calculation, but out of that very
+bit of bushy timber came first a brace of rifle-bullets
+and then a pair of mounted Apaches, as
+soon as these believed that they had let him go
+far enough. That is, they rode out to cut off
+his return, and they both failed to do him or
+his horse any harm. It was a race now, with
+the chances against the pursuers, and Two Arrows
+sent back a derisive whoop as he struck
+out straight for what he believed to be his mark.
+He understood in an instant that he had escaped
+the main body of his enemies, but there was no
+telling when he might meet one of their smaller
+squads. He felt in every fibre of his body that
+he was now armed as a warrior, and was doing
+the work of a warrior and of an uncommonly
+daring brave. His heart beat with fierce <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>delight
+and hope, and his very mustang seemed to
+feel the excitement, and went forward with long,
+eager bounds. The wind was in his face, and
+now it brought him something. It was a faint
+sound, and far away, but it was the bugle-note
+which bade Captain Grover's men to change
+their trot to a gallop.</p>
+
+<p>The little force of cavalry had taken upon
+them no small risk in dashing forward, now that
+they had a better knowledge of the strength of
+their opponents. It was almost rashness, but
+it was such a facing of odds as our gallant soldiers
+are all the while doing. There was nothing
+exceptional about it, terrible as have been the
+disasters now and then resulting. Captain
+Grover determined to gain whatever might be
+gained by promptly following up his first
+success, and so he had well used all the minutes
+the Apache chief was wasting. At about the
+time when the latter had decided that there
+must be an effort made to recover the lost
+plunder, unless the cavalry should prove too
+numerous, Captain Grover had ridden far
+enough to make good the military plan of a
+young Nez Perc&eacute; chief. His own spy-glass was
+at work from every rising ground he came to,
+and now it brought an exclamation from him:</p>
+
+<p>"What's up now? One chased by two? Forward!
+Gallop!"</p>
+
+<p>Two Apache braves, already very sure they
+could not catch the rider they were chasing,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>wheeled quickly and rode in the opposite
+direction, and in a few moments more Two Arrows
+was rapidly explaining the situation to
+Captain Grover. It was a very plain one, and
+not a second was wasted in considering it.
+Again the word was "forward," and the remaining
+distance to be travelled was not great. The
+decision of the Apaches to advance was likely
+to make it shorter, but that was an unpleasant
+time for the chief in command of those unlucky
+red men. Just as two of his braves came in to
+inform him that a messenger from the men
+among the rocks had reached the cavalry, another
+announced that all the pale-faces and Nez
+Perc&eacute;s had come out from the rocks to fight and
+were "heap strong." Nor was that the whole
+of it, for one of his scouts from the rear dashed
+up with the news that yet another party of Nez
+Perc&eacute;s was coming, he did not know how many.
+These were the fellows sent through the pass
+for the "cached" property, but what Apache
+could say how many more might follow? or how
+many more blue-coated veterans might be at
+hand?</p>
+
+<p>It looked for all the world as if that enterprising
+band of Apache "business men" were surrounded
+and trapped. They had already lost
+all the proceeds of their season's hard work,
+and the rest of their stock in trade, of all sorts,
+was pretty sure to follow. More consultation
+was absolutely necessary, and before it was over
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>Sile could announce, from his perch upon the
+rock,</p>
+
+<p>"Coming! I can see Two Arrows."</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a cheering, and Na-tee-kah
+felt all but proud of the noise made by the Big
+Tongue&mdash;there was so very much of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Forward, men!" shouted Judge Parks.
+"We must be on hand. Come down, Sile.
+Keep near <i>me</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Sile was down and mounted in a moment, but
+there was to be no great battle that day. The
+Apache "council of war" lasted until it could
+hear the cavalry bugle and the distant whoop
+of the Big Tongue. It could not hear the howl
+of One-eye, for that brave animal was sitting in
+the very entrance of the barrier guarding the
+notch, all alone except for the squaws. It was
+better to go upon any reservation, and to promise
+any amount and degree of good behavior, than
+to spend the remainder of that fine day in being
+shot and sabred. So the council decided, and
+so, in due and dignified form, they announced
+to Captain Grover, before he had an opportunity
+to bid his veterans charge.</p>
+
+<p>The official duty of the captain, after that, was
+to disarm his captives, the weapons to be all returned
+upon reaching the reservation, and to
+order them at once into a camp by themselves,
+under a guard. Word was sent to Garry and
+his men to move the quadrupeds down the river
+as fast as possible, the prisoners there being
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>untied and sent to their main body. Rapid
+orders were given, and were mingled with as
+rapid conversations with Judge Parks, Yellow
+Pine, and Long Bear.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's that messenger?" suddenly exclaimed
+Captain Grover, after he had listened
+to the facts as to the sending of Two Arrows.
+There was a glow upon the brave soldier's face,
+and he was unbuckling the flap of one of his
+holsters, for he was yet in the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>Two Arrows was summoned and came forward,
+and a great many eyes were upon him.</p>
+
+<p>"Young brave!" said Captain Grover emphatically.
+"I never heard of a pluckier
+volunteer in all my life. Take that; keep your
+head level, that's all. You've more courage
+than you've any real need of."</p>
+
+<p>"That" was a handsome silver-mounted army
+revolver. Given in that way it was a mark of
+distinction for a great chief to be proud of, and
+Long Bear, indeed, was nearly as proud as was
+Two Arrows.</p>
+
+<p>"There, Sile," said his father; "see that you
+do as well with your advantages as that Nez
+Perc&eacute; boy has done with his."</p>
+
+<p>"I will, father; but why could he not have
+some more? What is to hinder him from going
+to school? There's all my gold, now, in the
+wagon; I'd spend a good deal of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Sile, my boy, I've been thinking of it. We
+will do it. It's a good thing. The girl too."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>It was time now for Captain Grover to ride
+in and see the notch and the mine, and to get
+the best dinner the miners and Ha-ha-pah-no
+could cook for him and his men. Then it was
+time for Na-tee-kah to go nearly wild with
+pride over her brother and his revolver. After
+that there was a long consultation between Long
+Bear and his children and Judge Parks and
+Sile. Two Arrows seemed to be inclined to
+say very little at first. He sat with his new
+rifle across his lap, and his priceless revolver
+resting upon that, and One-eye came and sat
+down beside him. Long Bear himself seemed
+to be in doubt as his pale-face friends urged
+upon him the advantages of their offer. He
+was hardly able to see what good there could
+be in the learning of the white men for a red
+horseman of the plains; but at last Two Arrows
+motioned to Sile for his spy-glass, hanging at
+his side. He took it and looked through it at
+the distant mountains, and then turned to Long
+Bear and pointed at them, saying,</p>
+
+<p>"Look! See!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh!" said the old chief, "see heap."</p>
+
+<p>"Now look. See," said Two Arrows, "see
+big heap."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh! Big medicine," said Long Bear,
+handing the glass to Sile, but Two Arrows arose
+and stood proudly erect, rifle in hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you go?" asked Sile.</p>
+
+<p>"Go," said Two Arrows. "Good friend.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>Go. Got Nez Perc&eacute; eye now; want pale-face
+eye."</p>
+
+<p>"Ugh!" exclaimed Long Bear; "what Na-tee-kah
+say?"</p>
+
+<p>The question was put to her, but it was hardly
+needful, after she found that Two Arrows was
+to go. She was willing to learn anything he
+did, and she was not even daunted by quick
+mental vision of a white lady with her bonnet
+on. She would even wear the dress of a pale-face
+squaw if Two Arrows would put on such
+things as were worn by the Red-head. So it
+was settled, although it would be a number of
+weeks before the judge and Sile could set out
+for their eastern home.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>At several points in the East there are schools
+designed and maintained for the special education
+of Indian girls and boys, only needing
+greater help from men and women who have
+money intrusted to them by the Giver.</p>
+
+<p>Among all the tribes of the West, and in every
+band, Na-tee-kah and Two Arrows wait to be
+found and enticed into a training that is for
+their everlasting good and for that of their race.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE END</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="tr">
+<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p>
+<br />
+Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br />
+<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   6&nbsp;  pursuasive changed to persuasive<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  12&nbsp;  acquainttance changed to acquaintance<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  73&nbsp;  pappose changed to pappoose<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  83&nbsp;  if changed to it<br />
+Page&nbsp; 109&nbsp;  wherebouts changed to whereabouts<br />
+Page&nbsp; 117&nbsp;  familar changed to familiar<br />
+Page&nbsp; 121&nbsp;  necesary chaged to necessary<br />
+Page&nbsp; 129&nbsp;  vension changed to venison<br />
+Page&nbsp; 164&nbsp;  vension changed to venison<br />
+Page&nbsp; 203&nbsp;  he changed to be<br />
+Page&nbsp; 220&nbsp;  condemmed changed to condemned
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Arrows, by William O. Stoddard
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,6411 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Arrows, by William O. Stoddard
+
+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: Two Arrows
+       A Story of Red and White
+
+Author: William O. Stoddard
+
+Release Date: August 5, 2009 [EBook #29616]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO ARROWS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Barbara Kosker, Linda McKeown
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TWO ARROWS
+
+
+
+
+
+HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE'S SERIES
+
+NEW LARGE-TYPE EDITION
+
+  TOBY TYLER                            James Otis
+  MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER                  James Otis
+  TIM AND TIP                           James Otis
+  RAISING THE "PEARL"                   James Otis
+  ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL            W. F. Cody
+  DIDDIE, DUMPS AND TOT                 Mrs. L. C. Pyrnelle
+  MUSIC AND MUSICIANS                   Lucy C. Lillie
+  THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB          W. L. Alden
+  THE CRUISE OF THE "GHOST"             W. L. Alden
+  MORAL PIRATES                         W. L. Alden
+  A NEW ROBINSON CRUSOE                 W. L. Alden
+  PRINCE LAZYBONES                      Mrs. W. J. Hays
+  THE FLAMINGO FEATHER                  Kirk Munroe
+  DERRICK STERLING                      Kirk Munroe
+  CHRYSTAL, JACK & CO.                  Kirk Munroe
+  WAKULLA                               Kirk Munroe
+  THE ICE QUEEN                         Ernest Ingersoll
+  THE RED MUSTANG                       W. O. Stoddard
+  THE TALKING LEAVES                    W. O. Stoddard
+  TWO ARROWS                            W. O. Stoddard
+
+  HARPER & BROTHERS
+  PUBLISHERS
+
+[Illustration: TWO ARROWS EXPLORES THE RUINS]
+
+
+
+
+  TWO ARROWS
+
+  A STORY OF RED AND WHITE
+
+
+
+
+  BY
+
+  WILLIAM O. STODDARD
+
+  Author of "THE TALKING LEAVES"
+
+
+
+
+  ILLUSTRATED
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  NEW YORK AND LONDON
+  HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1886, BY HARPER & BROTHERS
+  COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD
+  F.-Y.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                        PAGE
+
+       I. THE HUNGRY CAMP                           1
+
+      II. A YOUNG HERO                              9
+
+     III. A BRAVE NAME                             17
+
+      IV. THE MINING EXPEDITION                    24
+
+       V. A VERY OLD TRAIL                         32
+
+      VI. A THIRSTY MARCH                          40
+
+     VII. THE GREAT CANON                          48
+
+    VIII. WATER! WATER!                            56
+
+      IX. INTO A NEW WORLD                         64
+
+       X. SILE'S POCKET                            71
+
+      XI. A TRAPPED BOY                            80
+
+     XII. THE ERRAND OF ONE-EYE                    88
+
+    XIII. GREAT SCOUTING                           96
+
+     XIV. A WRESTLING MATCH                       103
+
+      XV. A GREAT CAPTAIN                         111
+
+     XVI. VISITING                                117
+
+    XVII. MORE FUN                                126
+
+   XVIII. TWO WAR-PARTIES                         136
+
+     XIX. WONDERFUL FISHING                       146
+
+      XX. A FULL CORRAL                           157
+
+     XXI. THE GOLD MINE                           166
+
+    XXII. A NEW SETTLEMENT                        174
+
+   XXIII. DANGER                                  182
+
+    XXIV. SILE'S VICTORY                          191
+
+     XXV. A MIDNIGHT MARCH                        199
+
+    XXVI. PREPARING FOR AN ATTACK                 207
+
+   XXVII. FROM BOW TO RIFLE                       216
+
+  XXVIII. THE APACHES HAVE COME                   224
+
+    XXIX. STIRRING TIMES                          232
+
+     XXX. A DARING RIDE                           239
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  "Two arrows explores the ruins"                     _Frontispiece_
+
+  "Not a boy or girl among them had such a
+  treasure as that mirror"                           _Facing p._ 120
+
+  "The midnight march of the Nez Perces"                "        206
+
+  "His right hand with his palm up to show
+  that he was peaceful"                                 "        230
+
+
+
+
+TWO ARROWS
+
+
+
+
+
+TWO ARROWS
+
+A STORY OF RED AND WHITE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE HUNGRY CAMP
+
+
+The mountain countries of all the earth have always been wonder-lands.
+The oldest and best known of them are to this day full of things that
+nobody has found out. That is the reason why people are always exploring
+them, but they keep their secrets remarkably well, particularly the
+great secret of how they happened to get there in that shape.
+
+The great western mountain country of the United States is made up of
+range after range of wonderful peaks and ridges, and men have peered in
+among them here and there, but for all the peering and searching nothing
+of the wonder to speak of has been rubbed away.
+
+Right in the eastern, edge of one of these mountain ridges, one warm
+September morning, not long ago, a band of Nez Perce Indians were
+encamped. It was in what is commonly called "the Far West," because
+always when you get there the West is as far away as ever. The camp was
+in a sort of nook, and it was not easy to say whether a spur of the
+mountain jutted out into the plain, or whether a spur of the plain made
+a dent in the ragged line of the mountains. More than a dozen "lodges,"
+made of skins upheld by poles, were scattered around on the smoother
+spots, not far from a bubbling spring of water. There were some trees
+and bushes and patches of grass near the spring, but the little brook
+which trickled away from it did not travel a great way into the world,
+from the place where it was born, before it was soaked up and
+disappeared among the sand and gravel. Up and beyond the spring, the
+farther one chose to look, the rockier and the ruggeder everything
+seemed to be.
+
+Take it all together, it was a forlorn looking, hot, dried-up, and
+uncomfortable sort of place. The very lodges themselves, and the human
+beings around them, made it appear pitifully desolate. The spring was
+the only visible thing that seemed to be alive and cheerful and at work.
+
+There were Indians and squaws to be seen, a number of them, and boys and
+girls of all sizes, and some of the squaws carried pappooses, but they
+all looked as if they had given up entirely and did not expect to live
+any longer. Even some of the largest men had an air of not caring much,
+really, whether they lived or not; but that was the only regular and
+dignified way for a Nez Perce or any other Indian warrior to take a
+thing he can't help or is too lazy to fight with. The women showed more
+signs of life than the men, for some of them were moving about among the
+children, and one poor, old, withered, ragged squaw sat in the door of
+her lodge, with her gray hair all down over her face, rocking backward
+and forward, and singing a sort of droning chant.
+
+There was not one quadruped of any kind to be seen in or about that
+camp. Behind this fact was the secret of the whole matter. Those Indians
+were starving! Days and days before that they had been away out upon the
+plains to the eastward, hunting for buffalo. They had not found any, but
+they had found all the grass dry and parched by a long drought, so that
+no buffalo in his senses was likely to be there, and so that their own
+ponies could hardly make a living by picking all night. Then one
+afternoon a great swarm of locusts found where they were and alighted
+upon them just as a westerly wind died out. The locusts remained long
+enough to eat up whatever grass there was left. All through the evening
+the Nez Perces had heard the harsh, tingling hum of those devourers, as
+they argued among themselves whether or not it were best to stay and dig
+for the roots of the grass. The wind came up suddenly and strongly about
+midnight, and the locusts decided to take advantage of it and sail away
+after better grass, but they did not leave any behind them. They set
+out for the nearest white settlements in hope of getting corn and
+apple-tree leaves, and all that sort of thing.
+
+The band of Nez Perces would have moved away the next morning under any
+circumstances, but when morning came they were in a terribly bad
+predicament. Not one of them carried a watch, or he might have known
+that it was about three o'clock, and very dark, when a worse disaster
+than the visit of the locusts took place. By five or six minutes past
+three it was all done completely, and it was the work of a wicked old
+mule.
+
+All but a half a dozen of the ponies and mules of the band had been
+gathered and tethered in what is called a "corral," only that it had no
+fence, at a short distance from the lodges. Nobody dreamed of any danger
+to that corral, and there was none from the outside, even after the boys
+who were set to watch it had curled down and gone to sleep. All the
+danger was inside, and it was also inside of that mule. He was hungry
+and vicious. He had lived in the white "settlements," and knew
+something. He was fastened by a long hide lariat to a peg driven into
+the ground, as were all the others, and he knew that the best place to
+gnaw in two that lariat was close to the peg, where he could get a good
+pull upon it. As soon as he had freed himself he tried the lariat of
+another mule, and found that the peg had been driven into loose earth
+and came right up. That was a scientific discovery, and he tried several
+other pegs. Some came up with more or less hard tugging, and as fast as
+they came up a pony or a mule was free. Then he came to a peg he could
+not pull, and he lost his temper. He squealed, and turned around and
+kicked the pony that belonged to that peg. Then he stood still and
+brayed, as if he were frightened to find himself loose, and that was all
+that was needed.
+
+It was after three o'clock, and in one minute the whole corral was
+kicking and squealing, braying, biting, and getting free, and joining in
+the general opinion that it was time to run away.
+
+That is what the western men call a "stampede," and whenever one occurs
+there is pretty surely a mule or a thief at the bottom of it; but
+sometimes a hail-storm will do as well, or nearly so. By five or six
+minutes past three all of that herd were racing westward, with boys and
+men getting out of breath behind it, and all the squaws in the camp were
+holding hard upon the lariats of the ponies tethered among the lodges.
+When morning came there were hardly ponies enough to "pack" the lodges
+and other baggage and every soul of the band had to carry something as
+they all set off, bright and early, upon the trail of the stampeded
+drove of ponies. Some of the warriors had followed it without any
+stopping for breakfast, and they might have caught up with it, perhaps,
+but for the good generalship of that old mule. He had decided in his own
+mind to trot right along until he came to something to eat and drink,
+and the idea was a persuasive one. All the rest determined to have
+something to eat and drink, and they followed their leader. It was not
+easy for men on foot to catch up with them, and before noon the warriors
+sat down and took a smoke, and held a council as to what it was best to
+do. Before they finished that council the ponies had gained several
+miles more the start of them. The next council the warriors held
+contained but three men, for all the rest had gone back as messengers to
+tell the band that the ponies had not been recovered. By nightfall the
+remaining three had faithfully carried back the same news, and were
+ready for a fresh start.
+
+After that there had been day after day of weary plodding and continual
+disappointment, with the weather growing hotter and the grass drier,
+until the trail they were following brought them to the spring in the
+edge of the mountain range without bringing them to the wicked old mule
+and his followers.
+
+That had not been the whole of the sad history. On the evening before
+the stampede that band of Nez Perces had been well supplied with riding
+ponies and pack-mules, and had also been rich in dogs. No other band of
+their size had more, although their failure to find buffaloes had
+already begun to have its effect upon the number of their barking stock.
+Not a dog had been wasted by feeding him to the other dogs, but the
+human beings had not been allowed to starve, and after the march began
+towards the mountains there was less and less noise in that camp night
+after night.
+
+There was no help for it; the ponies ate the grass up at the spring, and
+then one of them had to be eaten, while the warriors rode all around the
+neighborhood vainly hunting for something better and not so expensive.
+They did secure a few rabbits and sage-hens and one small antelope, but
+all the signs of the times grew blacker and blacker, and it was about as
+well to kill and eat the remaining ponies as to let them die of
+starvation. A sort of apathy seemed to fall upon everybody, old and
+young, and the warriors hardly felt like doing any more hunting. Now at
+last they sat down to starve, without a dog or pony left, and with no
+prospect that game of any kind would come into camp to be killed. It is
+a curious fact, but whole bands of Indians, and sometimes whole tribes,
+get into precisely that sort of scrape almost every year. Now it is one
+band, and now it is another, and there would be vastly more of it if it
+were not for the United States Government.
+
+There was nothing droll, nothing funny, nothing that was not savagely
+sad, about the Nez Perces' camp that September morning. Every member of
+the band, except two, was loafing around the lodges hopelessly and
+helplessly doing nothing, and miserably giving the matter up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A YOUNG HERO
+
+
+Away from the camp a long mile, and down in the edge of the dry, hot,
+desolate plain, there was a wide spread of sage-bushes. They were larger
+than usual, because of having ordinarily a better supply of water sent
+them from the mountains than if they had settled further out. In among
+such growths are apt to be found sage-hens and rabbits, and sometimes
+antelopes, but the warriors had decided that they had hunted out all of
+the game that had been there, and had given the bushes up. Two of the
+members of the band who were not warriors had not arrived at the same
+conclusion, and both of these were among the "sage-brush" that morning.
+The first had been greatly missed among the lodges, and had been much
+hunted for and shouted after, for he was the largest and most
+intelligent dog ever owned by that band. He was also about the ugliest
+ever owned by anybody, and his misfortunes had earned for him the name
+of One-eye. He could see more with the eye he had left--and it was his
+right--than any other animal they had ever had, or than most of the
+warriors. He saw what became of the other dogs, for instance, and at
+once acquired a habit of not coming when an Indian called for him. He
+kept his eye about him all day, and was careful as to where he lay down.
+Just about the time when the ponies began to go into the camp-kettles he
+was a dog hard to find, although he managed to steal pony-bones and
+carry them away into the sage-brush. Perhaps it was for this reason that
+he was in even better condition than common that morning. He had no
+signs of famine about him, and he lay beside what was left of a
+jackass-rabbit, which he had managed to add to his stock of plunder.
+One-eye was a dog of uncommon sagacity; he had taken a look at the camp
+just before sunrise, and had confirmed his convictions that it was a bad
+place for him. He had been to the spring for water, drinking enough to
+last him a good while, and then he had made a race against time for the
+nearest bushes. He lay now with his sharp-pointed, wolfish ears pricked
+forward, listening to the tokens of another presence besides his own.
+
+Somebody else was there, but not in bodily condition to have made much
+of a race after One-eye. It was a well-grown boy of about fifteen years,
+and One-eye at once recognized him as his own particular master, but he
+was a very forlorn-looking boy. He wore no clothing, except the
+deer-skin "clout" that covered him from above his hips to the middle of
+his thighs. He carried a light lance in one hand and a bow in the
+other, and there were arrows in the quiver slung over his shoulder. A
+good butcher-knife hung in its case by the thong around his waist, and
+he was evidently out on a hunting expedition. He was the one being,
+except One-eye, remaining in that band of Nez Perces, with life and
+energy enough to try and do something. He did not look as if he could do
+much. He was the son of the old chief in command of the band, but it was
+two whole days since he had eaten anything, and he had a faded, worn,
+drawn, hungry appearance, until you came to his black, brilliant eyes.
+These had an unusual fire in them, and glanced quickly, restlessly,
+piercingly in all directions. He might have been even good-looking if he
+had been well fed and well dressed, and he was tall and strongly built.
+Just such Indian boys grow up into the chiefs and leaders who make
+themselves famous, and get their exploits into the newspapers, but as
+yet this particular boy had not managed to earn for himself any name at
+all. Every Indian has to do something notable or have something
+memorable occur to him before his tribe gives him the honor of a
+distinguishing name. One-eye knew him, and knew that he was hungry and
+in trouble, but had no name for him except that he suggested a danger of
+the camp-kettle.
+
+There could be no doubt about that boy's pluck and ambition, and he was
+a master for any dog to have been proud of as he resolutely and
+stealthily searched the sage-bushes. He found nothing, up to the moment
+when he came out into a small bit of open space, and then he suddenly
+stopped, for there was something facing him under the opposite bushes.
+
+"Ugh! One-eye."
+
+A low whine replied to him, and a wag of a dog's tail was added, but a
+watch was kept upon any motion he might make with his bow or lance.
+
+"Ugh! no. Not kill him," remarked the boy, after almost a minute of
+profound thinking. "Eat him? No dog then. All old fools. No dog hunt
+with. No pony. Starve. Keep One-eye. Try for rabbits."
+
+He called repeatedly, but his old acquaintance refused to come near him,
+whining a little but receding as the boy advanced.
+
+"Ugh! knows too much."
+
+It was a matter to lessen the value of One-eye that he understood his
+own interests, and his master ceased, wearily, his efforts to entice
+him. He pushed on through the bushes, but now he was instantly aware
+that One-eye was searching them with him, keeping at a safe distance,
+but performing regular hunter's duty. He even scared up a solitary
+sage-hen, but she did not fly within range of bow and arrow. She was an
+encouragement, however, and so were the remains of the rabbit to which
+One-eye managed to pilot the way. They seemed like a promise of better
+things to come, and One-eye stood over them for a moment wagging his
+tail, as much as to say,
+
+"There; take that and let me up!"
+
+The boy picked up the rabbit and said several things to the dog in a
+clear, musical voice. He spoke the guttural, Nez Perce dialect, which is
+one of the most difficult in the world, and One-eye seemed almost to
+understand him--and yet there are white boys of fifteen who stumble
+dreadfully over such easy tongues as Greek and Latin.
+
+The boy and dog seemed to be on better terms after that, and went on
+through the sage-brush towards where a straggling line of mesquite
+scrubs marked the plain. The dog was ranging the bushes right and left,
+while the boy slowly followed the narrow lane of an old, hard-beaten
+"buffalo path," with an arrow on the string, ready for anything that
+might turn up. They were nearly out of the mesquites when One-eye
+uttered a quick, sharp, low-voiced whine, which his master seemed to
+understand. It is not every dog that can whine in the Nez Perce dialect,
+but the boy at once dropped upon his hands and knees and crept silently
+forward. He had been warned that something was the matter, and his
+natural instinct was to hide until he should discover what it might be.
+Again the dog whimpered, and the boy knew that he was hidden ahead and
+beyond him. He crawled out of the trail and made his way under and
+through the bushes. He made no more sound or disturbance than a snake
+would have caused in doing the same thing, and in half a minute more he
+was peering out into the open country.
+
+"Ugh! buffalo!"
+
+His brilliant eyes served him well. Only an Indian or a dog would have
+rightly read the meaning of some very minute variations in the brown
+crest of a roll of the prairie, far away to the eastward. Only the
+keenest vision could have detected the fact that there was a movement in
+the low, dull line of desolation. Back shrank the boy, under the bushes
+at the side of the trail, and One-eye now had enough of restored
+confidence to come and crouch beside him. In a few minutes more the
+spots were noticeably larger, and it was plain that the buffalo were
+approaching and not receding. At another time and under different
+circumstances, even an Indian might have been unwise, and have tried to
+creep out and meet them, but the weakness of semistarvation brought with
+it a most prudent suggestion. It was manifestly better to lie still and
+let them come, so long as they were coming. There was no sort of fatigue
+in such a style of hunting, but there was a vast deal of excitement. It
+was a strain on any nerves, especially hungry ones, to lie still while
+those two great shaggy shapes came slowly out upon the ridge. They did
+not pause for an instant, and there was no grass around them to give
+them an excuse for lingering. They were on their way after some, and
+some water, undoubtedly, and perhaps they knew a reason why there should
+be an ancient buffalo-trail in that direction, trodden by generation
+after generation of their grass-eating race. The boy was a born hunter,
+and knew that he was lurking in the right place, and he drew back
+farther and under deeper and more perfect cover, hardly seeming to
+breathe. One-eye did the same, had almost looked as if he wanted to put
+his paw over his mouth as he panted. On came the two bisons, and it was
+apparent soon that no more were following them.
+
+"Bull--cow," muttered the boy. "Get both. Laugh at old men then. Have
+name!"
+
+His black eyes flashed as he put his best arrow on the string and
+flattened himself upon the dry, hot earth. Nearer and nearer drew the
+gigantic game, and with steady, lumbering pace they followed the old
+trail. It was a breathless piece of business, but it was over at last.
+The bull was in front, and he was a splendid-looking old fellow,
+although somewhat thin in flesh. Neither he nor his companion seemed to
+have smelled or dreamed of danger, and they walked straight into it. The
+moment for action had come, and the boy's body rose a little, with a
+swift, pliant, graceful motion. With all the strength starvation had
+left in him he drew his arrow to the head. In another second it was
+buried to its very feathers in the broad breast of the buffalo bull, and
+the great animal stumbled forward upon his knees, pierced through the
+heart. The young hunter had known well the precise spot to aim at, and
+he had made a perfect shot. The cow halted for a moment, as if in
+amazement, and then charged forward along the trail. That moment had
+given the boy enough time to put another arrow on the string, and as she
+passed him he drove it into her just behind the shoulder, well and
+vigorously. Once more he had given a deadly wound, and now he caught up
+his lance. There was little need of it, but he could not be sure of
+that, and so, as the bull staggered to his feet in his death-struggle,
+he received a terrific thrust in the side and went down again. It was a
+complete victory, so far as the bull was concerned, and One-eye had
+darted away upon the path of the wounded cow.
+
+"Ugh! got both!" exclaimed the boy. "Have name now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A BRAVE NAME
+
+
+One-eye followed the arrow-stricken cow, and he ran well. So did the
+cow, and she did not turn to the right or left from the old buffalo
+trail. There was but one road for either the trail or the cow or the
+dog, for the very formation of the land led them all into the mountains
+through the nook by the spring, and so by and by through the camp of the
+starving Nez Perces. On she went until, right in the middle of the camp
+and among the lodges, she stumbled and fell, and One-eye had her by the
+throat.
+
+It was time for somebody to wake up and do something, and a
+wiry-looking, undersized, lean-ribbed old warrior, with an immense head,
+whose bow and arrows had been hanging near him, at once rushed forward
+and began to make a sort of pin-cushion of that cow. He twanged arrow
+after arrow into her, yelling ferociously, and was just turning away to
+get his lance when a robust squaw, who had not been made very thin even
+by starvation, caught him by the arm, screeching,
+
+"Dead five times! What for kill any more?"
+
+She held up a plump hand as she spoke, and spread her brown fingers
+almost against his nose. There was no denying it, but the victorious
+hunter at once struck an attitude and exclaimed,
+
+"No starve now, Big Tongue!"
+
+He had saved the whole band from ruin and he went on to say as much,
+while the warriors and squaws and smaller Indians crowded around the
+game so wonderfully brought within a few yards of their kettles. It was
+a grand occasion, and the Big Tongue was entitled to the everlasting
+gratitude of his nation quite as much as are a great many white
+statesmen and kings and generals who claim and in a manner get it. All
+went well with him until a gray-headed old warrior, who was examining
+the several arrows projecting from the side of the dead bison, came to
+one over which he paused thoughtfully. Then he raised his head, put his
+hand to his mouth, and sent forth a wild whoop of delight. He drew out
+the arrow with one sharp tug and held it up to the gaze of all.
+
+"Not Big Tongue. Boy!" For he was the father of the young hero who had
+faithfully stood up against hunger and despair and had gone for game to
+the very last. He was a proud old chief and father that day, and all
+that was left for the Big Tongue was to recover his own arrows as fast
+as he could for future use, while the squaws cut up the cow. They did it
+with a haste and skill quite remarkable, considering how nearly dead
+they all were. The prospect of a good dinner seemed to put new life into
+them, and they plied their knives in half a dozen places at the same
+time.
+
+One-eye sat down and howled for a moment, and then started off upon the
+trail by which he had come.
+
+"Boy!" shouted the old chief. "All come. See what."
+
+Several braves and nearly all the other boys, one squaw and four
+half-grown girls at once followed him as he pursued the retreating form
+of One-eye. It was quite a procession, but some of its members staggered
+a little in their walk, and there was no running. Even the excitement of
+the moment could get no more than a rapid stride out of the old chief
+himself. He was well in advance of all others, and at the edge of the
+expanse of sage-brush in which One-eye disappeared he was compelled to
+pause for breath. Before it had fully come to him he needed it for
+another whoop of delight.
+
+Along the path in front of him, erect and proud, but using the shaft of
+his lance as a walking-stick, came his own triumphant boy hunter. Not
+one word did the youngster utter, but he silently turned in his tracks,
+beckoning his father to follow.
+
+It was but a few minutes after that and they stood together in front of
+the dead bull bison. The boy pointed at the arrow almost buried in the
+shaggy chest, and then he sat down; hunger and fatigue and excitement
+had done their work upon him, and he could keep his feet no longer. He
+even permitted One-eye to lick his hands and face in a way no Indian dog
+is in the habit of doing. Other warriors came crowding around the great
+trophy, and the old chief waited while they examined all and made their
+remarks. They were needed as witnesses of the exact state of affairs,
+and they all testified that this arrow, like the other, had been
+wonderfully well driven. The old chief sat down before the bull and
+slowly pulled out the weapon. He looked at it, held it up, streaming
+with the blood of the animal it had brought down, and said:
+
+"Long Bear is a great chief. Great brave. Tell all people the young
+chief Two ARROWS. Boy got a name. Whoop!"
+
+The youngster was on his feet in a moment, and One-eye gave a sharp,
+fierce bark, as if he also was aware that something great had happened
+and that he had a share in it. It was glory enough for one day, and the
+next duty on hand was to repair the damages of their long fasting. Two
+Arrows and his dog walked proudly at the side of the Long Bear as he led
+the way back to the camp. No longer a nameless boy, he was still only in
+his apprenticeship; he was not yet a warrior, although almost to be
+counted as a "brave," as his title indicated. It would yet be a long
+time before he could be permitted to go upon any war-path, however he
+might be assured of a good pony when there should be hunting to be done.
+
+There had been all along an abundance of firewood, of fallen trees and
+dead mesquite-bushes, in the neighborhood of the camp, and there were
+fires burning in front of several lodges before the remainder of the
+good news came in. The cow had been thoroughly cut up, but the stern
+requirements of Indian law in such cases called for the presence of the
+chief and the leading warriors to divide and give out for use. Anything
+like theft or overreaching would have been visited with the sharp wrath
+of some very hungry men. The Big Tongue had seated himself in front of
+the "hump" and some other choice morsels, waiting the expected decision
+that they belonged to him. He also explained to all who could not help
+hearing him how surely that cow could have broken through the camp and
+escaped into the mountains if it had not been for him, until the same
+plump squaw pointed at the hump and ribs before him, remarking,
+cheerfully,
+
+"Go get arrow. Kill him again. Need some more. Boy kill him when he
+stood up."
+
+There was not strength left in the camp for a laugh, but the Big Tongue
+seemed to have wearied of the conversation. He looked wearier afterwards
+when the hump was unanimously assigned to the old chief's own lodge,
+that Two Arrows might eat his share of it. Indian justice is a pretty
+fair article when it can be had at home, not interfered with by any kind
+of white man. The division was made to the entire satisfaction of
+everybody, after all, for the Big Tongue deserved and was awarded due
+credit and pay for his promptness. If the buffalo had not already been
+killed by somebody else, perhaps he might have killed it, and there was
+a good deal in that. He and his family had a very much encouraged and
+cheerful set of brown faces as they gathered around their fire and began
+to broil bits of meat over it.
+
+One fashion was absolutely without an exception, leaving out of the
+question the smaller pappooses: not one man, woman, or child but was
+diligently working away at a slice of raw meat, whatever else they were
+doing or trying to do. It was no time to wait for cookery, and it was
+wonderful what an enlivening effect the raw meat seemed to have.
+
+Indian etiquette required that Two Arrows should sit down before his
+father's lodge and patiently wait until his "token" should be given him.
+His first slice of meat was duly broiled by his mother, and handed him
+by his father, and he ate it in dignified silence. It was the proudest
+hour of his whole life thus far, and he well knew that the story would
+spread through the Nez Perce nation and lead the old men of it to expect
+great things of him: it was a beginning of fame, and it kindled in him
+a tremendous fever for more. His ambition grew and grew as his appetite
+went down, and his strength began to come back to him.
+
+It was a grand feast, and it was not long before there were braves and
+squaws ready to go and cut up the bull and bring every ounce of him to
+camp. Starvation had been defeated, and all that happiness had been
+earned by "Two Arrows."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE MINING EXPEDITION
+
+
+The place away out upon the rolling plain, at which the unlucky
+hunting-camp of the Nez Perce band had been pitched when the locusts
+visited them, was occupied again a few days after they left it. The
+new-comers were not Indians of any tribe but genuine white men, with an
+uncommonly good outfit for a small one. They were one of the hundreds of
+mining and exploring expeditions which every year set out for one range
+of mountains or another to try and find what there is in them. They are
+all sure to find a good deal of hard work, privation and danger, and
+some of them discover mines of gold and silver.
+
+This expedition consisted of two very strongly built but not heavy
+wagons, with canvas-covered tilts, and each drawn by four large mules.
+What was in the wagons except the drivers could only be guessed at, but
+riding at the side or ahead or behind them as they came towards the
+camping-place were six men and a boy. There were several spare horses
+and mules, and the whole affair looked as if it had cost a good deal of
+money. It costs a great deal to bring up eight men and a boy so that
+these may be fairly included, but there were wide variations in the
+external garnishing of the riders and drivers.
+
+They had all been guided to that spot, partly by the general aim of
+their undertaking, partly by the trail they were following, and a good
+deal by a tall old fellow with a Roman nose and a long, muddy yellow
+beard, who rode in front upon a raw-boned, Roman-nosed sorrel mare, with
+an uncommon allowance of tail. When they reached that camping-ground it
+was not late in the afternoon, but it was not well to go on past a deep
+pool of water, surrounded by willows and cottonwood-trees, however
+little grass there was to be had in the neighborhood. They had found
+water and grass getting scarcer and scarcer for two or three days, and
+there was quite enough in the look of things to make men thoughtful.
+They knew nothing about the Nez Perces and the grasshoppers and the
+wicked old mule, but the tall man in front only looked around for one
+moment before he exclaimed,
+
+"I'd call it--Been some kind of Injins here lately. No game, I reckon,
+or they'd ha' stayed."
+
+"No kind of game'd stay long in such a burned-up country as this is,"
+added a squarely made, gray-headed man who rode up alongside of him.
+"We've nothing to do but to push on. We must get out of this or we'll
+lose our whole outfit."
+
+"Sure as shootin'! I move we just unhitch long enough for a feed and a
+good drink, and lay in what water we can carry, and go on all night.
+There's a good moon to travel by, and it'll be cooler work for the
+critters."
+
+"It's our best hold. Sile, don't you gallop that horse of yours one rod.
+There's work enough before him. Save him up."
+
+"All right, father. But isn't this the camp? He can rest now."
+
+"No he can't, nor you either. It's an all-night job."
+
+Sile was not gray-headed. He was very nearly red-headed. Still, he
+looked enough like his father in several ways. He was broadly and
+heavily built, strong and hearty, with something in his merry, freckled
+face which seemed to indicate a very good opinion of himself. Boys of
+fourteen, or thereabout, who can ride and shoot, and who have travelled
+a little, are apt to get that kind of expression, and it never tells
+lies about them.
+
+Sile's horse was a roan, and looked like a fast one under a light weight
+like his. Just large enough not to be called "ponyish," and with signs
+of high spirit. The moment the youngster sprang from the saddle and
+began to remove it it became manifest that there was a good
+understanding between horse and boy. Any intelligent animal is inclined
+to make a pet of its master if it has a fair chance.
+
+"Now, Hip, there isn't any grass, but you can make believe. I'll bring a
+nose-bag as soon as you've cooled off and have had a drink of water."
+
+He was as good as his word, and there were oats in the nose-bag when he
+brought it, and Hip shortly left it empty, but in less than two hours
+from that time the two tilted wagons were once more moving steadily
+onward towards the West and the mountains.
+
+There had been a hearty supper cooked and eaten, and there was not a
+human being in the party who seemed much the worse for fatigue. The
+spare horses and mules had taken the places of the first lot in harness,
+and it was plain that there was plenty of working power remaining, but
+there was a sort of serious air about the whole matter. The sun set
+after a while, and still, with occasional brief rests, the expedition
+pushed forward. It was a point to be noted that it travelled about twice
+as fast as the band of Nez Perces had been able to do after they had
+lost their ponies. It was not hampered by any heavily burdened
+foot-passengers. The moon arose, and now Sile was riding on in front
+with the muddy-bearded veteran.
+
+"Pine," said he, "s'pose we don't come to grass and water?"
+
+"Most likely we will before mornin', or before noon anyhow. If we
+don't, we must go on till we do."
+
+"Kill all the mules?"
+
+"They'll all die if we don't, sure's my name's Pine--Yellow Pine."
+
+"They can't stand it--"
+
+"They can stand anything but starvation. Did you ever try giving up
+water?"
+
+"No; did you?"
+
+"Well, I did. I was glad to give up giving it up after a few days. It's
+the queerest feeling you ever had."
+
+"How'd it happen?"
+
+"I don't feel like tellin' about it jest now. There's too good a chance
+for tryin' it again to suit me."
+
+"Is that so? Pine, do you know, I wish you'd tell me how they came to
+call you Yellow Pine."
+
+The fear of either thirst or hunger had plainly not yet fallen upon
+Sile, or he would not have asked that question just then. It sounded so
+much like fourteen years old and recklessness that the great, gaunt man
+turned in his saddle and looked at him.
+
+"I'd call it--Well, now, you're a customer. Some reckon it's my
+complexion, and I am turned kind o' yaller, but it ain't. It's my own
+name."
+
+"How'd you get it, anyway?"
+
+"How? Well, my father was just like me; he was a wise man. He named me
+after his brother, my uncle Ogden, and after Colonel Yell, that was
+killed in the Mexican war. So I'm Yell O. Pine, and nobody but you ever
+cared how it kem so."
+
+Sile was satisfied as to that one point, but there did not seem to be
+anything else on that prairie about which he was satisfied, and at last
+his companion remarked to him,
+
+"Now look here, Sile Parks, you go back and tell the judge, if I've got
+to answer questions for you all night, he'll hev to raise my wages. I'm
+thirsty with it now, and there's no water to spare."
+
+Sile was in no wise disconcerted, but rode back to the main body in
+excellent spirits. It was the first real danger of any sort that the
+expedition had encountered, and there was a keen excitement in it. He
+had read of such things, and now he was in one without the least idea in
+the world but what everything would come out all right, just as it does
+in a novel. Before midnight he had asked every other human being around
+him all the questions he could think of, and had dismounted four times
+to examine the grass at the wayside and see if it were of any better
+quality. Each time he was compelled to mount again and ride on to his
+father, "Chips."
+
+When bunch-grass gets to be so dry that it will crumble in the fingers
+it ceases to be of any use except to carry a prairie-fire in a great
+hurry. It will do that wonderfully, but it will not do to feed animals
+on, and it was needful to have something better.
+
+When a halt was called, at about twelve o'clock, and a rest of two hours
+was decided on, the barrels of water in the wagons were drawn upon for
+only a moderate ration all around, and the animals plainly testified
+their eagerness for more. They were not at all distressed as yet, but
+they would have been if they had done that amount of work under
+sunshine. When the moment for again setting out arrived and the word was
+given, Judge Parks inquired,
+
+"Pine, where is Sile?"
+
+"Where? I'd call it--There he is on his blanket, sound asleep. I'll
+shake him up."
+
+"Do, while I put the saddle on his horse. Guess he's tired a little."
+
+A sharp shake of Sile's shoulder had to be followed by another, and then
+a sleepy voice responded,
+
+"Water? Why, Pine, there's a whole lake of it. Was you ever at sea?"
+
+"Sea be hanged! Git up; it's time to travel."
+
+"Ah, halloo! I'm ready. I dreamed we'd got there. Riding so much makes
+me sleepy."
+
+He was quickly in the saddle again, and they went forward; but there
+were long faces among them at about breakfast-time that morning. They
+were halted by some clumps of sickly willows, and Yellow Pine said,
+mournfully,
+
+"Yer's where the redskins made their next camp. They and their critters
+trod the pool down to nothin' and let the sun in onto it, and it's as
+dry as a bone. We're in for a hard time and no mistake."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A VERY OLD TRAIL
+
+
+During all that was left of that happy day in the Nez Perce camp there
+was an immense amount of broiling and boiling done. Whoever left the
+great business of eating enough and went and sat down or lay down got up
+again after a while and did some more remarkable eating. All the life of
+an Indian trains him for that kind of thing, for he goes on in a sort of
+continual vibration from feast to famine.
+
+All the other boys in camp were as hungry as Two Arrows, and as their
+hunger went down their envy of him went up; he had suddenly stepped
+ahead of them and had become an older boy in a moment. It was very much
+as if a boy of his age in the "settlements" had waked up, some fine
+morning, with a pair of mustaches and a military title, uniform and all.
+
+Two Arrows was entitled to strut a little, and so was One-eye, but for
+some reason neither of them was inclined to anything but eating and
+lying down. One-eye may have felt lonely, for he found himself the only
+dog in all that camp, and he knew very well what had become of the dogs
+he used to know: they had gone to the famine, and there had been no
+sort of funeral ceremonies, and now there could be no kind of neighborly
+quarrel over bones any more. There was a reason, why One-eye should
+attach himself more closely than ever to his master and follow his every
+movement. They had killed two buffaloes in company, and there was no
+telling what they might or might not yet do if they kept together.
+
+Two Arrows found the effects of his long fasting rapidly passing away,
+but he was like everybody else and needed a big sleep. One-eye had the
+only eye that did any watching all that night, and nobody but the fat
+squaw was up very early next morning. Her next company was the Big
+Tongue, and he at once began to talk about the game he intended to kill,
+now he had had something to eat. Two Arrows might not have been the next
+riser if it had not been for a friendly tug from One-eye, but the moment
+he was awake he knew that he was hungry again. He was hungry, but he was
+silent, and it was plain that he was thinking about something uncommonly
+interesting. He stood in front of his father's lodge, waiting for the
+breakfast that was now sure to come, when a light hand was laid upon his
+arm and a soft musical voice exclaimed, triumphantly,
+
+"Two Arrows! Name!"
+
+"Ugh," said he. "Na-tee-kah."
+
+He hardly looked around, but the pleasantest face in all that band was
+smiling upon him. It bore a strong resemblance to his own, and belonged
+to an Indian girl a year or so younger than himself. She was well grown,
+slender, and graceful, and had a pair of eyes as brilliant as his, but a
+great deal more gentle and kindly in their expression. They lacked the
+restless, searching, eager look, and his, indeed were quieter than they
+had been the day before.
+
+"Got plenty to eat now," she said. "Not starve to death any more."
+
+"Eat all up," replied he. "Fool! Starve again, pretty soon."
+
+"No, Long Bear and old men say, keep all there is left. Work to-day. Dry
+meat. Go hunting somewhere else. Not stay here."
+
+There was a little more talk that indicated a very fair degree of
+affection between the brother and sister, and then Two Arrows said to
+her,
+
+"Keep tongue very still. Come."
+
+She followed him to the lower edge of the camp, and he silently pointed
+her to the place where the old buffalo trail came in.
+
+"Great many make that. Long time. All know why."
+
+"The cow came in there."
+
+"Ugh! now come."
+
+She followed him now to the upper end of the camp, and he pointed again
+to the trail, deeply and plainly made, going on into the gorges of the
+mountains.
+
+"Buffalo go that way; Two Arrows follow. Say no word. Not find him
+pretty soon."
+
+That was the meaning of all his thoughtfulness. He meant to set off on a
+hunt of his own planning, without asking permission of anybody. Two days
+earlier he would not have dreamed of such a piece of insubordination.
+Now he had won his right to do that very thing, and he meant to take
+advantage of it instantly. All the young ambition in him had been
+stirred to the boiling point, and his only remaining anxiety was to get
+a good supply of provisions and get out of the camp without being seen
+by anybody. He could look out for his weapons, including several of his
+father's best arrows, and Na-tee-kah at once promised to steal for him
+all the meat he wanted. She went right into his plan with the most
+sisterly devotion, and her eyes looked more and more like his when she
+next joined her mother and the other squaws at their camp-fire. There
+was no doubt but what her brother would have his marching rations
+supplied well, and of the best that was to be had.
+
+There was no need for Two Arrows to steal from Long Bear. What between
+pride and buffalo meat the old chief was ready to give or rather lend
+him anything, and he deemed it his heroic son's day to parade and show
+off. He was entitled to do so with the best weapons in his father's
+collection. The day would surely come when he would be allowed to paint
+himself and do a great many other things belonging to full-grown braves
+and warriors. It was even lawful for him to wear a patch or two of paint
+now, and Na-tee-kah helped him to put it on. If he had been a white boy
+with his first standing-collar, he could not have been more particular,
+and every other boy in camp had something to say to the others about the
+fit of that vermilion.
+
+It was a day of drying and smoking meat, and of eating as much as the
+older men permitted, and everybody wore an aspect of extreme good-humor
+except One-eye and his master. The dog and the boy alike kept away from
+the camp-fires and from all grown-up Indians. Towards the middle of the
+afternoon, Na-tee-kah slipped quietly out at the upper end of the camp,
+carrying her own buckskin sack nearly full of something, and nobody
+thought of asking her what there might be in it. She had not been gone
+many minutes before anybody loafing at that end of the camp might have
+seen her brother was following her. He had been standing near the spring
+for some time, in full rig, for the other boys to admire him, and now he
+walked dignifiedly away as if he were weary of being looked at. Half a
+mile farther up the rugged valley he caught up with Na-tee-kah, and she
+returned to camp without her bead-worked sack. There was nothing at all
+noticeable in the whole affair, unless some suspicious person had been
+closely watching them. It was after sunset before there was any special
+inquiry for Two Arrows, and it was dark before Na-tee-kah expressed her
+belief that he had "gone hunt." She replied freely to every question
+asked her, well knowing that there would be no pursuit, but she was more
+than a little relieved when the old chief, instead of getting angry
+about it, swelled up proudly and remarked,
+
+"Two Arrows! young brave. All like father, some day. Kill more buffalo."
+
+Then Na-tee-kah felt courage to speak about the trail and her brother's
+reasoning as to where it might lead to. She had her ears boxed for that,
+as it had a sound of giving advice to her elders, but it was not long
+before her father gravely informed a circle of the warriors and braves
+that the path pointed out by the buffalo cow was the one by which they
+must seek for more like her. It was very easy to convince them that they
+could do nothing upon the dry, sunburnt plains, or by staying to starve
+again in that camp. The objection made by Big Tongue that nobody knew
+where that old trail might carry them was met by Long Bear conclusively.
+He picked up a dry pony-bone that lay on the ground and held it out to
+Big Tongue.
+
+"All other trail go this way. Know all about it. Been there."
+
+It was enough. It was better to follow an unknown trail than to starve,
+and it was not long before it leaked out that Two Arrows was believed to
+have gone ahead of them on that very road.
+
+Precisely how far he had gone nobody had any idea. They would hardly
+have believed if he had sent back word, for he had travelled most
+diligently. There were no longer any traces of starvation about him,
+except that he carried no superfluous weight of flesh. He had load
+enough, what with his provisions and his weapons, but he did not seem to
+mind it. He tramped right along, with a steady, springy step, which told
+a good deal of his desire to get as far away from camp as he could
+before his absence should be discovered.
+
+For a little distance he had found the trail rising gently with the
+land. Then it turned to the left and went up and over a rocky hill, and
+then it turned to the right again, and just about sunset it looked for
+all the world as if it were running right into the side of a great
+precipice of the mountain range. The light of the sinking sun fell
+clearly and brightly upon the grand masses of quartz and granite rocks,
+and showed him the very point where the pathway seemed to end. It looked
+so, but Two Arrows knew that you cannot cut off the end of a buffalo
+path in that way, and he pushed on, every moment finding the way steeper
+and more winding. He could not make any "short cuts" over such ground
+as that, and every Indian boy knows a fact which the white engineers of
+the Pacific Railway found out for themselves--that is, that a herd of
+buffaloes will always find the best passes through mountain ranges, and
+then they will go over them by the best and easiest grades. Only by
+bridging a chasm, or blasting rocks, or by much digging, did the railway
+men ever improve upon the paths pointed out by the bisons.
+
+Two Arrows had carefully marked his point, and just as the last rays of
+daylight were leaving him he sat down to rest in the mouth of what was
+little better than a wide "notch" in the side of the vast barrier.
+
+"Ugh! pass," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A THIRSTY MARCH
+
+
+That was a hard day's toil for the mining expedition. It was the second
+day of feasting by the Nez Perces upon the game won by Two Arrows, but
+there was no feasting done by Judge Parks and his men. Even Sile had no
+more questions to ask, and at nightfall their scanty supply of water was
+nearly gone. Every old watercourse and even "tow-heads" of dying bushes
+that they came to did but each give them another disappointment. The
+animals were holding out well, with frequent rests, for they had been
+taken care of even at the expense of the human beings.
+
+Just before sunset, as they were plodding wearily along, Yellow Pine
+drew his rein, turned in his saddle, and pointed away across the plain
+in advance and to the right of them, exclaiming,
+
+"Redskins!"
+
+There was no mistake about it. In a few minutes more a pretty long line
+of pony-riders could be seen travelling steadily southward.
+
+"Will they attack us, father?"
+
+"I guess not. We are too strong, even if they were hostile."
+
+"They won't make any muss," said Pine, confidently, as he again rode
+forward. "There's only some two dozen on 'em, and it isn't a good time
+for a fight."
+
+It was evident that the two lines of travel, crossing each other at
+right angles, would bring the white and red men pretty near each other,
+and the latter even went out of their way to have it so. Sile all but
+forgot how thirsty he was when the train approached the straggling array
+of lances, and a bare-headed warrior rode out to meet Yellow Pine. The
+Roman-nosed sorrel mare sniffed at the pony as if she would have
+preferred a bucket of water, and the two riders held out their hands.
+
+"How?" said Pine.
+
+"Ugh! bad. No water. How?"
+
+A significant motion of his hand towards his mouth accompanied the
+response, and Pine made one like it. Then he pointed at the wagons, and
+again towards the west, and made motions as if he were digging. The
+Indian understood, and nodded and pointed at himself:
+
+"Ugh! Kiowa."
+
+He made a motion as if pulling a bow, pointed southward and pretended to
+drink something, but when he turned his finger towards the west he shook
+his head.
+
+"How?" said Pine again, and the two shook hands and all the Kiowas rode
+on as if they were in a hurry.
+
+"That's a pretty bad report," said Pine to Judge Parks, and Sile
+muttered to himself:
+
+"Why, he hardly uttered a word."
+
+"What does he say?" asked his father.
+
+"Worst kind," said Pine. "He says they have been hunting northerly for
+several weeks. Little game, and the drought driving it all away. He
+doubts if we find any water between here and the mountains. Hopes to
+reach it by to-morrow night in the direction he's taking. The rest of
+his band are down there now."
+
+"Did he say all that?" exclaimed Sile in amazement.
+
+"You wasn't a-watchin' of him. I told him what I thought about it and
+what we meant to do. Tell you what, my boy, if you're to meet many
+redskins you've got to learn sign language. It beats words all holler."
+
+"Well, I did see his hands and yours a-going."
+
+"Yes, and his face and mine too, and elbows and legs. It's as easy as
+fallin' off a log when you once get the hang of it."
+
+"What do you think we had better do after that?" asked Judge Parks.
+
+"Read our own signs. Push on for water till we get some. It can't be
+more'n one day, now. I know just about where I am. Risk my life on it."
+
+So they went forward, but that night had to be taken for rest and the
+morning found men and horses in a terrible plight. Not one drop of
+water had they left, and all they had been able to do for the horses and
+mules had been to sponge their parched mouths. They had camped near some
+trees and bushes, as usual, and it was just about daylight that Yellow
+Pine came to wake up his employer.
+
+"Look a' here, jedge. I was too much played out to find it last night,
+but here it is. Come."
+
+"Well, what is it?" asked the judge, a moment later.
+
+Yellow Pine was pointing at a broad, deeply trodden, flinty looking rut
+in the surface of the prairie.
+
+"That's the old bufler path I follered last year, when I went into the
+mountains, or I'm the worst sold man you ever saw. It led me jest to
+where we all want to go, 'zackly as I told you."
+
+"We'd better hitch up and follow it now, then."
+
+"We had. It'll take us west on a bee-line, and it'll go to all the
+chances for water there are."
+
+The buffaloes could safely be trusted for that, and before the sun was
+up the mining party was following the very path which had led the big
+game within reach of Two Arrows and One-eye. It was less than two hours
+afterwards, without anybody to carry a report of it to anybody else,
+that the whole Nez Perce camp disappeared, and all its human occupants
+also took the advice of the buffaloes. It was necessary to carry all the
+meat they had, and all the pappooses, and a number of other things, and
+so it had not been possible to take all the lodges with their
+lodge-poles. Two of the smaller and lighter found bearers, but there
+were not squaws enough for the rest, and a sort of hiding-place was made
+for them among the rocks until they could be sent for. Indians on a
+journey load their ponies first, then their squaws, then the boys, but
+never a "brave" unless it is a matter of life and death. A warrior would
+as soon work for a living as carry a burden. It never takes long to
+break up an Indian hunting-camp, for there are no carpets or stoves or
+beds or pianos, and the band of Long Bear was on its way after Two
+Arrows and his dog in remarkably short order.
+
+Judge Parks and his men and all his outfit would have travelled better
+and more cheerfully if they could have set out from beside a good spring
+of water. As it was, the best they could do was to dream of finding one
+before they should try to sleep again.
+
+"Father," said Sile, at about twelve o'clock, "are we to stop anywhere
+for dinner? I'm getting husky."
+
+"So is everybody. Imitate old Pine; he's chewing something."
+
+"All the men have stopped chewing tobacco; they say it makes 'em
+thirstier."
+
+"Of course it does. Try a chip or a piece of leather or a bit of
+meat--not salt meat."
+
+"There isn't anything else."
+
+"The less we eat the better, till we get something to drink."
+
+"We'll all die, at this rate."
+
+"Stand it through, my boy. I hope Pine is right about his trail and
+where it leads to."
+
+He seemed confident enough about it, at any rate, and he and his
+Roman-nosed mare kept their place steadily at the head of the little
+column. So he was always the first to examine a hole or a hollow and
+look back and shake his head to let the rest know that it contained no
+water.
+
+The sun seemed to shine hotter and hotter, and not a living creature
+made its appearance upon the dry and desolate plain. Away in the western
+horizon, at last, some dim and cloud-like irregularities began to show
+themselves, and Sile urged his weary horse to the side of his father,
+pointing at them.
+
+"Will there be some rain?" he asked, in a dry and husky whisper.
+
+"My poor boy! are you so thirsty as that? Those are the mountains."
+
+Sile's mind distinctly connected the idea of mountains with that of
+water, and he took off his hat and swung it, vainly trying to hurrah.
+
+"They're a long way off yet, but we can get there. Old Pine is right."
+
+It was wonderfully good news, but every man had been allowed to gather
+it for himself. Nobody cared to say an unnecessary word to anybody else.
+It was impossible to tell the horses, and the poor brutes were suffering
+painfully.
+
+"I reckon they'll hold out," said Pine; "but they'll only jest do it.
+We're making the tightest kind of a squeeze."
+
+So they were, and it grew tighter and tighter as they went on. Sile
+managed finally to get up to Yellow Pine in the advance, and whisper,
+
+"Were you ever any thirstier than this in all your life?"
+
+"Yes, sir! This isn't much. Wait till you know yer tongue's a-turnin' to
+a dry sponge and there's coals of fire on the back of yer neck. Keep
+your courage up, my boy."
+
+Sile had done so. His father had said a good deal to him about the pluck
+with which young Indians endured that sort of thing, and he had
+determined to show "Indian blood," as if he had some in him. It was the
+hardest kind of hard work, and it kept him all the while thinking of
+rivers and lakes and ice and even lemonade. At last he saw a sage-hen,
+and he said to Pine,
+
+"Isn't that a sign of water?"
+
+"Them things never drink," said Pine "When you come to eat 'em they need
+to be b'iled twice. They're jest the driest bird there is. There's the
+mountains, though."
+
+"Oh dear me!" groaned Sile. "But they're getting bigger, and perhaps
+we'll reach 'em some time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE GREAT CANON
+
+
+It was not yet dark when Two Arrows and One-eye halted at the mouth of
+the pass. One-eye looked forward and whined, but his master looked back
+and thought the matter over. He had travelled well and over some pretty
+rough ground, but the trail had been wide and well marked. It was almost
+like a road, so far as room went, but Two Arrows knew nothing of wheels,
+neither did that trail. He was considering the curious fact that not a
+man of his band knew that such a path existed or where it led to. It was
+something to set his ambition on fire only to have discovered and
+followed anything so new and remarkable. It was a deed for an old brave
+rather than for a boy of fifteen. He needed rest, but when he again
+turned and looked into the pass he at once arose and walked on.
+
+"Dark soon. Maybe can't walk then. Do some more before that," said Two
+Arrows.
+
+He was in a spot worth looking at. Some old-time convulsion of nature
+had cleft the mountain barrier at that place so that giant walls of rock
+arose on either side of him for hundreds of feet, almost
+perpendicularly. For some distance ahead the cleft was nearly straight,
+and its gravelly bottom was from ten to thirty yards wide. There were
+not many rocky fragments or bowlders, but it was evident that at some
+seasons of the year torrents of water came pouring through that gorge to
+keep it clean.
+
+"When snow melts," muttered Two Arrows, "pretty bad place."
+
+No doubt, or after any great storm or "cloud-burst" among the peaks
+beyond; but all was dry as a bone now. It was sure to become dark early
+in such a chasm as that, and there was no telling how much need there
+might be for seeing the way. On went the young explorer until he came to
+a point where the chasm suddenly widened. It was a gloomy sort of hollow
+and littered with fragments of trees, drift-wood of old torrents.
+
+"Camp," said Two Arrows to One-eye. "Make fire."
+
+If a dog could use flint and steel, no doubt One-eye would have obeyed;
+as it was, Two Arrows had to attend to that business for himself, and it
+was not long before a great blazing fire of mountain pine was throwing
+flashes of magnificent light upon the mighty precipices in all
+directions. The gray granite stood out like shadows, and the white
+quartz glittered marvellously, but the Nez Perce boy had no time to
+admire them. He had his supper to cook and eat, and he had found some
+water in a hollow of the rocks; no sunshine hot enough to dry it up had
+ever found its way down there. Then drift-wood was gathered to keep some
+sort of a blaze burning all night. There was no danger from human
+enemies in that utter solitude, but there were wild beasts among the
+mountains; night would be their prowling-time, and not one among them
+would venture too near a fire.
+
+Two Arrows was well entitled to a sound sleep, and he had one; when he
+awoke, in the earliest gray of the next morning, the world was in fair
+daylight everywhere outside of that deep crack in the mountains. He ate
+heartily and at once pushed on, determined to have some fresh game
+before night if possible. Such thoughts as he sent back to the Nez Perce
+camp did not include the idea that it was already breaking up to follow
+him; still less did he have any imagination of thirsty white people
+toiling across a waterless plain along that buffalo trail.
+
+He was in no danger of losing the way, for his path was walled in for
+him. Towards midday it ceased to go up, up, up, and the chasm widened
+into a great rocky canon of wonderful ruggedness and beauty. Two Arrows
+had been among the mountains before, in other ranges, and this seemed to
+him very much like what he might have expected. Now, however, the trail
+turned to the right and picked its way along the steep side of the
+varying slopes. Here it was wider and there it was narrower, until it
+came to a reach of natural roadway that even a bison must have hunted
+for before he found it. Away up it went in zigzags, seeming to take
+skilful advantage of every natural help it came to, and then it shot
+along the mountain-side for a thousand feet, traversing a mere ledge,
+where one formation of rock projected out below another and made a shelf
+for it to go upon. If a man had fallen from that shelf he would have
+gone down a tremendous depth upon jagged rocks at the bottom of the
+canon.
+
+Two Arrows wasted no time in useless observations or admiration. Where
+herd after herd of wild cattle had tramped before him he could surely
+follow, and at the end of that ledge the road began to descend. The
+descent was gradual, and uncommonly free from breakages. It led, before
+a great while, once more to the bottom of the gorge. Several times Two
+Arrows saw "big-horn" or Rocky Mountain sheep among the rocks above him,
+far out of the reach of his arrows. He felt a longing for antelope
+venison, but there was no use in trying to catch one of those fellows.
+Hotter than anything else he felt the fever and fire of his ambition,
+stirring him to push on and do more than he had ever heard of as done by
+any other boy of his age among all the bands of his nation. It made him
+walk fast and firmly in the bracing mountain air, and he drew his breath
+somewhat quickly at times, when he thought of the wonderful things
+which might be before him. He had no watch, but just as the sun stood
+nearly over his head, or, rather, over the middle of the great gorge, he
+could see that this was beginning to grow broader and not so steep. It
+was promising to lead out into something, and One-eye dashed on ahead as
+if to ascertain what it might be. Two Arrows stood still for a moment
+and watched him, and then he started as if something had pricked him.
+The dog was crouching and creeping as if he had his remaining eye upon
+game of some sort or on danger. His master also crouched and crept,
+slipping forward rapidly from rock to rock. In three minutes more he lay
+beside One-eye, and they both had something worth while to look at. Not
+more than three hundred yards beyond them, on the crest of a rocky ledge
+that came out from the mountain-side like an abutment, stood a big-horn
+antelope. He had seen One-eye and was looking at him. He may have been
+studying whether or not it could be needful for an antelope away up
+where he was to spring away any farther from a dog and an Indian boy. He
+had better have been looking behind him and above him, for his real
+danger was not in the quiver of Two Arrows; it was crouching upon a
+higher fragment of the very ledge which held him, and it was preparing
+for immediate action. It was a cougar, or American panther, of full
+size, on the watch for antelopes, and now had crept almost within
+springing distance. Two Arrows laid his hand upon the head of One-eye to
+keep him silent, and watched breathlessly to see the end of that
+hunting. Nearer and nearer crept the cougar, and still the big-horn was
+absorbed in his study of matters down below. He stepped forward to the
+very edge, and below him the rock came down with a perpendicular face of
+a hundred feet. There was no danger that he would grow dizzy, but even
+the cougar would have done wisely to have ascertained beforehand the
+precise nature of the trap set for him. As it was, he gathered his lithe
+and graceful form for his leap, every muscle quivering with eagerness,
+and he put all his strength into one great, splendid bound. It was as
+sure as a rifle-shot, and it landed him upon the shoulders of the
+big-horn. He had seized his prize, but he had done too much: he had
+fallen with a weight and force which sent him and his antelope
+irresistibly over the rocky edge, and down, down, down they came
+together with a great thud upon the granite below.
+
+"Whoop!" The voice of Two Arrows ringing through the gorge was joined by
+the fierce bark of One-eye as they sprang forward. An older warrior
+might have waited to know the effect of that fall before he interfered
+between a cougar and his game, but Two Arrows did not think of
+hesitation. It was just as well. What between the blow of the cougar and
+the force of the fall, the big-horn was dead. He had somewhat broken the
+effect of the terrible shock upon his enemy by falling under him, but
+even the tough body of the great "cat o' mountain" had not been made for
+such plunges, and he lay on the rock stunned and temporarily disabled.
+Whether it would, after all, have killed him, he was never to know, for,
+just as he was staggering to his feet, a Nez Perce Indian boy charged
+upon him with a long lance, while a large and ambitious dog rushed in
+and seized him by the throat. He was taken at an advantage.
+
+Thrust, thrust, thrust, in fiercely rapid succession, came the keen
+blade of the lance, and One-eye bore down and throttled a brute that
+could have killed four such dogs in anything like a fair fight.
+
+It was tremendous hunting for a boy of fifteen. A cougar to bring down
+his antelope for him, and a precipice to help him kill his cougar, and
+only just enough work for his lance and dog to entitle him to the honor
+of closing, single-handed, with one of the most dangerous of wild
+animals. He had done that very thing, nevertheless, and was entitled to
+all the credit of it. If he had waited to consider the matter, he might
+have had a much harder fight for it. What was more, his energy and
+enterprise and endurance had resulted in bringing him to the right place
+at the right time, instead of somewhere else.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+WATER! WATER!
+
+
+By the time the band of Nez Perces was well on its way, the Big Tongue
+had persuaded himself that the movement was in large part a following of
+his own advice. He felt very free to say as much in the presence of
+several squaws. He even ruffled up and looked large when Na-tee-kah
+laughed and turned away her head. She was too young to say anything in
+reply to a grown-up brave, but just behind her was the fat squaw, and
+her tongue was habitually more at liberty.
+
+"Kill cow same way," said she. "Two Arrows kill him first; then Big
+Tongue. Great brave!"
+
+Big Tongue turned upon her almost fiercely, exclaiming.
+
+"Squaw no talk!"
+
+"Big Tongue keep still. Squaw-boy beat him. Big Tongue shoot arrows into
+dead cow. Ha-ha-pah-no not afraid of squaw-brave."
+
+Ha-ha-pah-no had a tongue and a reputation for it, and the Big Tongue
+did not threaten her any more. Too many squaws and girls joined in the
+laugh against him. Perhaps the fact that Ha-ha-pah-no had a husband
+over six feet high had something to do with it, and that Na-tee-kah was
+the only daughter of Long Bear. It was not safe to quarrel overmuch with
+either of them. They were almost as safe as a large dog is if he is
+known to be quick-tempered. Nobody kicks him.
+
+There was an attempt made at pretty fast travelling, for all the wise
+warriors knew that the tramp across the mountains must be a hard one,
+however good the trail might be, and there were a good many very sober
+faces among them. They had lost their horses and their dogs, and now
+they were leaving behind them a great many other things, and they felt
+as if hard times had come. Starvation is a very severe school-master.
+
+So, for that matter, is thirst, even if provisions are plentiful, and
+Sile Parks learned a great lesson of endurance that day. His father had
+not uttered a word of complaint. Yellow Pine had not murmured, and when
+Sile said to him,
+
+"All the men seem to stand it the very best kind," he had all but
+contemptuously replied,
+
+"Them? Why, every soul on 'em's an old mountain man. Not a greenhorn or
+a tenderfoot among 'em. You won't catch one on 'em a whimperin', not if
+they die for it."
+
+So there were other men besides red Indians who were able to suffer and
+be silent, and Sile tried hard to be that kind of man; but long before
+sunset he felt as if he were choking.
+
+The mountains to the westward loomed up larger and less cloudily as the
+worn-out teams were urged forward. The trail pointed steadily towards
+them, and Yellow Pine unhesitatingly asserted that they were on the
+right track.
+
+"No mistake about it, jedge. It ain't no common cross-prairie trail.
+It's one of their old migration tracks. They've been a treadin' of it
+sence the year one."
+
+The "year one" was a good while ago, but a good deal of hard tramping,
+by many bisons, year after year, had been required to make that ancient
+cattle-path. No grass had grown upon it for nobody could guess how many
+generations, and it was likely to be in the way of ploughing whenever
+that plain should be turned into farming-land.
+
+The greatest care was taken of the animals, those in the traces being
+taken out and changed frequently, and at last all the riders dismounted
+and led their horses. Yellow Pine every now and then went around and
+examined to see how things were looking, and Sile went with him.
+
+"They'll stan' it, every critter of 'em," he said, repeatedly. "They're
+all good stock; good condition. I picked 'em out."
+
+"Your mare is the ugliest in the lot," said Sile, recklessly.
+
+"Best though. Out-walk, out-run, and out-starve any critter in the
+outfit, 'cepting me."
+
+"Can you out-travel a horse?"
+
+"Course I can--most horses. I don't know 'bout the old mare. She can
+out-travel anything. She's good tempered, too; knows just when it's the
+right time to kick and break things. Oh but can't she tear, though!"
+
+He looked at her affectionately, as if her very temper were one of her
+virtues, and she glanced back at him, showing the whites of her eyes in
+a way that indicated anything but a placid mind.
+
+"She's always riley when she doesn't get plenty to drink," said Pine,
+"but she hasn't kicked once in all this. Knows it isn't any fault of
+mine. We'll git there, old lady. Don't you go off the handle."
+
+Another hour and the mountains were very tall, and looked cool, and
+seemed to promise all sorts of things.
+
+"The mines we are after are in among 'em," said Judge Parks to his son.
+"Our trip across the plains has been a quick one; all the quicker for
+this push."
+
+"Hope there'll be a good spring of water right in the edge of them,"
+said Sile, but his voice was huskier than ever and he was struggling
+against a feeling of faintness.
+
+"Poor fellow!" said the judge to himself. "I mustn't say too much to
+him. It's an awful time for me."
+
+So it was, for every now and then the thought would come to him,
+
+"What if, after all, we should not find water when we get there?"
+
+The sun sank lower and lower, and now at last Yellow Pine stood still
+and leaned against his mare, pointing forward.
+
+"Jedge! Jedge--there they are!"
+
+"What is it, Pine?"
+
+The judge could hardly speak, and Sile had such a ringing in his ears
+that he could hardly hear, but Yellow Pine gasped out,
+
+"Them there mesquite scrubs. I was just a beginning to say to myself,
+what if I'd mistook the lay of the land, and there they are. I went
+through 'em last spring was a year ago. It's all right!"
+
+The men tried hard to cheer, but it was of no manner of use. All they
+could do was to plod on and drag their horses after them. The teams in
+the wagons halted again and again, panting and laboring, and every
+slight roll of the plain was a tremendous obstacle, but all was
+overcome, inch by inch.
+
+Yellow Pine had evidently felt his responsibility as guide more deeply
+than he had been willing to confess. He led on now with his mouth open
+and panting, for he had given his own last ration of water to Sile Parks
+and was thirstier than the rest of them. So, for that matter, had Sile's
+father, but some men suffer more from thirst than others and the judge
+had held out remarkably. Just inside the range of mesquites Yellow Pine
+stopped short.
+
+"Bufler been killed here inside of two days," he exclaimed. "Must be
+Indians nigh, somewhere. Keep an eye out, boys."
+
+It was no time for any caution that included delay, and he walked on
+like a man who knew exactly where he was, and all followed him, the men
+cutting away the bushes here and there to let the wagons pass more
+easily. On, on, until at last Yellow Pine reached the spring.
+
+"Here it is," he said faintly, and then he lay down by it and began to
+drink slowly, using his hand for a cup.
+
+"Boys," said Judge Parks, "be careful how you drink too much at first.
+Take it easy. Sponge the mouths of the horses and then let them have a
+little at a time. Sile, my poor boy, come with me."
+
+Sile was making a tremendous effort. He had been doing it all day. He
+almost wanted to cry when he saw that spring of water. Then he wanted to
+laugh, but his mouth was too dry for that. All he could do was to smile
+in a sickly sort of way and take the cup his father held out to him.
+There was only a little water in the bottom of it.
+
+"Oh father, give me some more."
+
+"Not yet, Sile. Sit right down and wait till you get the effect of that.
+Hold it in your mouth before you swallow it. I don't mean to let you
+kill yourself."
+
+"Aha! But isn't it good? There isn't anything else quite so good as
+water."
+
+"That's a fact, Sile, but it's like a great many other good things, you
+don't know the value of it until you've had to go without it."
+
+A full hour was spent in getting men and animals ready to drink without
+injury, and Yellow Pine at last declared, triumphantly,
+
+"Jedge, we've won the riffle; we won't lose a hoof. All the men are
+doing first-rate too. This 'ere's my old campin'-ground, but there's
+been an Indian camp here since sun-up."
+
+"How do you know that, Pine?"
+
+"Found live fire. There hasn't been any dew on it to put it out. What's
+more, they've gone on into the mountains. Hunting-party. We're all
+right, jedge."
+
+The mining expedition now kindled fires of its own, and something was
+done in the way of getting supper. There was no grass, but the horses
+and mules could attend fairly well to the contents of their nose-bags,
+and the men paid them all manner of attention. Only a greenhorn is
+careless of the comfort and welfare of his horse.
+
+Sile drank well at last, under his father's direction, and then he felt
+like eating something. After that it seemed to him as if the whole world
+had only been made as a good place to sleep in. He did not care whether
+the tents were pitched or not. All he wanted was a piece of ground large
+enough to lie on, and a blanket, and he was ready to sleep as soundly
+and silently as if he had been one of the mountains which raised their
+shadowy heads into the light of the rising moon. He had been without
+water for the first time in his life. He had stood it through
+heroically, he had found a spring, and now he needed a long sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+INTO A NEW WORLD
+
+
+Two Arrows wiped the blood of the cougar from the blade of his lance. He
+was glad it was a good lance. His father had traded a pony for it, as he
+well knew, with a Mexican, years before that, and it was no ordinary
+weapon. He had chosen it from among half a dozen, as the very thing with
+which to do something uncommon, and now it had proved its value. He
+almost felt an affection for that lance.
+
+One-eye had lain down close to the dead body of the cougar, as if
+watching him for any returning signs of life. If that great cat had
+quivered, there was a dog ready to shake the quiver out of him.
+
+"It's all good meat," said Two Arrows, "but what shall I do with it?"
+
+There was but one answer to that question. He took off the skins of both
+animals, cut them up as well as he could, carried all the meat he did
+not need at once to a cool place among the rocks, piled stones over it
+and left it. He had no ice-house, and that was the best he could do, but
+he made a fire and ate plentifully of antelope venison, and of what the
+Western men call "painter meat." It was hard for him to say which he
+liked the best. Then he took a bit of charcoal and made his mark upon
+the rocks where he buried his game. He was immensely proud of his right
+to do that. He scored two very large and distinct arrows, heaped on some
+more heavy stones, shouted to One-eye, and again pushed forward. His
+exploring trip was already brimming full of glory and adventure, and he
+was ready to fight all the cougars in the mountains. So was One-eye, for
+he had had one of the biggest dinners he had ever eaten, and not another
+dog on hand to dispute it with him. He seemed to be possessed with an
+idea that that place must have more antelopes and mountain-cats in it,
+and that he was likely to find some of them behind rocks. He was
+doubtless right on the main point, but not a stone of the many he
+smelled under turned him out a cougar or a big-horn. Hunting was over
+for that day, and so much time had been consumed that Two Arrows felt
+like running to make it up. He did but walk, however, and as the road
+was now all the way downhill, like a bad man's life, he walked easily.
+The great gorge widened until its broken walls stretched away to the
+right and left, and the eager-hearted explorer came out from among the
+scattered rocks at a point from which he could suddenly see a great
+deal. Away beyond and below him spread such a scene as he could hardly
+have hoped for, and yet which can be found in hundreds of places all
+over the mountain country of the American continent. Just such scenes
+are to be found among the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas, and every
+other similar group of rocky upheavals, but Two Arrows knew of no other
+country than his own, the one his band of Nez Perces had hunted and
+feasted and starved in.
+
+It was a great, deep, grassy, well-wooded, well-watered valley, the very
+home of game and a sure promise of all comfort to a hunter. How far it
+might reach to the westward no eye could tell, for the prospect was
+bounded by other mountains, and there were plain tokens that a
+considerable stream ran through the middle of it.
+
+"Much water, perhaps," said Two Arrows. "Must go somewhere. Find out
+some day."
+
+The idea of a river suggested the other idea that it could be followed
+until an ambitious boy could ascertain where it went to. All that was
+swallowed up at once by the immediate desire to get down upon that green
+grass and among those trees. One-eye had seen the valley, but was
+inclined to stick pretty closely at the side of his master. There were
+only two of them, and they might need each other's help at any moment.
+
+The road tramped by the bison herds did not wind much, as it went on
+down towards the level ground, but it lazily picked out the easiest
+slopes and turned the corners of the great rocks on good curves. As Two
+Arrows and his faithful companion wound around one of these curves,
+almost at the bottom of the long descent, they suddenly came upon a
+discovery that startled them. Even the dog pricked up his ears and began
+to growl, and Two Arrows stepped quickly back behind the rock. He had
+never been in a white man's village, but he had seen a fort and a few
+houses around it, and he had seen the houses of Mexican Indians and some
+others, built of "adobe" or sunburnt brick. He was not, therefore, a
+judge of such matters, and what he saw filled him with astonishment. He
+was not exactly alarmed, for a house could not chase him, but he
+exclaimed,
+
+"Pale-face lodge. Good many. Very bad. What can he do now?"
+
+He peered silently forth for several minutes, but not a human being was
+in sight. There were no signs of life, no curling smoke, no barking
+dogs, no cattle, nothing but scattered structures of stone. These must
+have been put there by somebody, but it began to look as if whoever had
+built them had gone to some other hunting-ground.
+
+Two Arrows noted everything with eyes that grew more brilliant in their
+swift and searching glances. There could hardly be any danger in such a
+solitude as that, but the occasion required caution, and the young
+"brave" made his advances from cover to cover as if there were eyes in
+every stone of those houses. One-eye crept at his side with his head and
+tail up, very much as if there had been game ahead. It was a curious
+piece of business. The nearer they drew to the objects of their
+curiosity the safer and lonelier became the appearance of all things.
+Some of the stone walls had tumbled down, and not one of them had a roof
+over it of any sort. That was nothing to Two Arrows. For all he knew
+there were tribes of cunning and wicked pale-faces who built their
+lodges without roofs. If the world contained anything cunning and wicked
+and dangerous, in the mind of Two Arrows it was a pale-face. He had been
+brought up to look upon a white man as a being to be watched, and as an
+evil to be avoided or destroyed, as the case might be, and yet as a sort
+of magician, capable of doing wonders, and of bringing the richest
+presents in all the earth.
+
+He now at last felt confidence and courage to actually crawl through an
+opening of one of those walls and look around him. It was one great,
+empty room, strewn with bits of stone, and growing thickly, here and
+there, were grass and tall weeds.
+
+"Nobody here for ever so long," had already been his conclusion, and he
+was thoroughly satisfied of it now. He arose and walked around and
+looked at things in that and every other house. Some of them had
+windows so high up as to prove that they must have had two or even three
+stories in some old time when people used them, but those were "signs"
+that Two Arrows could not read. The main thing to him was that he was
+still all alone and in perfect safety. If the wisest white man in the
+world had been there with him, he could not have formed an idea by whom
+those houses were constructed. Just such ruins have been found in many
+places among the valleys of the western mountains, and all that learned
+people can yet do is to guess how they came to be there. The houses did
+not come up like so many mushrooms, and beyond that they have almost
+nothing to say for themselves. Two Arrows had no further questions to
+ask, and One-eye had searched nooks and corners with an assiduity which
+had been duly rewarded: he had captured a fine, fat rabbit, and he
+brought it to his master as a sort of token. No rabbit would have made a
+home in a place infested by white men, for rabbits have the same idea of
+them that Indians have and for somewhat similar reasons. The rabbits get
+very little good from them, however, and the Indians a great deal--that
+is, unless the rabbits live near a white man's farm and garden. In that
+case they come up fully to the Indian standard and help themselves to
+all they can get hold of.
+
+Two Arrows picked up the rabbit and walked out to what had been the door
+of that house. It was nearly sunset, and there could be no more
+exploring done that day. He looked away off into the valley and saw
+another token that he was alone in that part of it: no less than three
+gangs of deer were feeding quietly between him and a bit of forest not
+more than half a mile away.
+
+Right past the group of old ruins ran a dancing brook of cool, pure
+water from the mountains, and a better place to camp in could not have
+been imagined. It was evidently safe to build a fire and cook the
+rabbit, but for more perfect safety Two Arrows made his blaze on a spot
+where some old walls prevented the light of it from being seen at too
+great a distance. After his supper was eaten there came over him a
+feeling that he had seen and done altogether too much for one boy in one
+day. He had come out into a sort of new world through a cleft in the
+mountains, and he did not know that precisely the same thing happens to
+every boy in the world who makes up his mind to be something. The boys
+who are contented not to be anything do not have much of a world to live
+in, anyhow, poor fellows; they only hang around and eat and wear
+clothes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+SILE'S POCKET
+
+
+Na-tee-kah had all the load a girl of her size could comfortably carry
+when she set out with her people. So had all the rest except the
+dignified warriors. For that reason all the urging in the world could
+not get out of that dispirited cavalcade one-half the speed attained by
+Two Arrows and One-eye the previous evening. Na-tee-kah thought
+continually of her pony, between thoughts of her daring brother and
+wonderings of what he had done and seen. She knew very well that there
+is nothing so disables a "plains Indian" as to dismount him. It is not
+so bad as to break both his legs, but he is so accustomed, from
+childhood, to use a horse's legs instead of his own that he is like a
+man lost when he is set on foot. He has learned to hunt on horseback
+mostly, and all his fighting has been done in the saddle. The old-time
+Indians of the East and of Cooper's novels had hardly any horses, and in
+their deep forests could not have used them to advantage. What the far
+Western tribes did in those days nobody knows, but all the tribes which
+have migrated out of the woods into the prairie country have become
+"pony-men."
+
+Na-tee-kah could not remember another time when she, daughter of a
+chief, had been compelled to carry so much, even for a short distance.
+She knew how to pack a pony capitally well, for that is one of the first
+arts of Nez Perce house-keeping. When and where should they ever get
+some more ponies? Her father was a renowned horse-thief, and so were
+several others of the best warriors in the band, and there was hope in
+that thought; still there is a double difficulty before a man who sets
+out to steal horses without having one of his own to ride.
+
+"Two Arrows will steal horses some day," she said to Ha-ha-pah-no,
+confidently.
+
+"Big chief: steal a heap. No boy any more. Big Tongue find a horse; say
+he stole him. No brave. Pony come somehow."
+
+Nobody else in that band could have guessed how the mind of Long Bear
+himself was busy with plans concerning that very matter. He thought of
+all the horses of all the tribes at any kind of difference with the Nez
+Perces, and he thought of the white traders and their rich droves of
+quadrupeds of all sorts. He had won his rank fairly, as his son was
+likely to do after him, and he had a great deal of courage and ambition;
+just at present, however, he was a dismounted horse-thief, and he felt
+the disgrace of it even more than the inconvenience. It was a sad thing
+to be afoot at his time of life, and he brooded over it like some great
+white merchant who had suddenly failed in business. He feared that it
+would take some time to set up that band again, without any four-footed
+capital to begin on.
+
+It was pleasant to find the trail so good, at all events, and before
+dark they made out to reach the very spot where Two Arrows had camped.
+They had been more than twice as long in getting there, but the first
+brave who pushed on into the open space found the dead embers of a fire
+and began to study them. Not far behind him were Na-tee-kah and
+Ha-ha-pah-no, and it was hard to say which of them was the first to
+point at the black coals and ashes, and exclaim, "Two Arrows!"
+
+The word was echoed from lip to lip until it came to Long Bear and his
+wife. For a wonder he was walking beside her, which was as near as he
+could come to carrying her load for her. She was only the step-mother of
+Na-tee-kah and her brother, and had a pappoose of her own as part of her
+burden, but she took her full share of the family pride when her husband
+drew himself grimly up and shut off the strong temptation to "whoop."
+
+"Young brave," he said to her with great calmness. "Great chief some
+day. All like father. Same. Go steal pony pretty soon."
+
+The camp was quickly made, and there was food for all in moderate
+allowance. They were certain of resting in perfect security, and in the
+morning they were as eager as Two Arrows had been to push on out of such
+narrow quarters. Nothing happened to any of them until late in the day,
+and then the whole band went suddenly into camp again.
+
+The Big Tongue had become almost a silent Indian under the effects of
+hard walking, but he had been stung again by remarks from Ha-ha-pah-no,
+and he had gone ahead. He had not gone far enough to make him look
+enterprising, but all at once the canon fairly rang with a whoop he sent
+back, to let the rest know he had found something. At the same moment
+three great vultures, or buzzard-eagles, arose from a prize they had
+found, and soared away. They were wonderfully wide-winged birds, and
+each carried off a good dinner, for they had nearly finished the offal
+left upon the ground by the carcasses of the cougar and the big-horn.
+
+The Big Tongue pointed proudly at the discovery he had made, and was
+about to say something, when he was once more overwhelmed. His whooping
+had brought a swarm of the braves around him, but of course no squaws
+had presumed to push in. It was for that very cause that the eyes of
+Na-tee-kah had been busy among the rocks, and so she had discovered the
+charcoal "token" scored upon one of them.
+
+"Two Arrows!" she screamed, and in a moment more there were warriors
+there, taking away the stones which covered the meat and the skins.
+
+It was time now for Long Bear to do all the whooping there was in him.
+His son had slain a cougar single-handed, and had killed a big-horn, and
+here were the proofs of it. The whole band could at once have another
+feast of fresh meat, provided by the young hero, for whom they were
+indebted to the great Long Bear.
+
+It was decided that they had travelled far enough for one day, but that
+an early start should be made the next morning. That had also been an
+interesting day at the camp by the spring.
+
+The over-wearied pale-faces slept well, but Yellow Pine arose three
+times to go around among the animals and see how they were doing. He had
+them all fed and rubbed down most carefully in the morning. It was a
+good thing to do, and when Sile Parks awoke and stretched himself, he
+felt as if he also wanted to be fed and rubbed down. Almost everybody
+else was already astir, and breakfast was soon ready for him.
+
+Yellow Pine did a deal of exploring, before and after he breakfasted,
+and Sile at once set out to imitate him. He asked some question or other
+of every one he saw, and believed that he had learned a great deal. At
+last he came to a heap of stones and bushes that seemed to him to have
+been piled up remarkably.
+
+"How could they ever have got there?" he said, as he began to pull upon
+a bush with green leaves yet clinging to its twigs. In five minutes more
+he knew where the Nez Perces had made their hasty "cache" for their
+lodges and other treasures, and he went at once to report it to his
+father and to Yellow Pine. The latter looked at Sile with positive
+respect, and exclaimed,
+
+"There now, jedge; that settles it. I know I'm right; them Indians had
+lost their ponies. I couldn't find a hoof-mark on their trail this
+morning; they dragged some lodge-poles along, though. I say, we must
+leave their cache jest as we found it. We must foller right along, too,
+or we'll run short of fodder. They've taken my old road. We needn't be
+afraid of 'em, only we'd best keep a sharp lookout."
+
+Horses and mules and all felt as if a day's rest would be as good as a
+treat; but after all was said and done it was decided to keep moving.
+The start made was not an early one, and there was work for all hands
+here and there. The herds of bisons had not prepared that road for the
+passage of wagon wheels, and it needed the axe in one place and the
+crow-bar in another before the teams could pass. There was no sort of
+danger that the Nez Perces would be caught up with by the mining-party,
+and Yellow Pine seemed to breathe more freely at the end of every mile.
+
+"No, jedge," he said; "we won't have to leave the outfit anywhere.
+There'll be a heap of hard work at some spots, but we can make our way
+through, and we can come and go by this track forever after it's well
+opened."
+
+Sile Parks learned a great deal that day about the mysteries of
+road-making; he also learned how much a really well-built wagon will
+stand if it is not too heavily loaded. For all that, however, the best
+part of his time was expended in staring at the peaks, and in searching
+the walls of the canon for traces of gold and silver ore.
+
+"Father," said he at last, at a place where the wagons were "stuck" for
+a while, "I'm going ahead to see what'll turn up."
+
+"Don't go too far, that's all."
+
+"Keep yer eye out for mines," shouted Yellow Pine, with a laugh, and
+Sile took it seriously.
+
+"It's a gold country," he said to himself, "and I might stumble upon
+some of it."
+
+That was precisely what he made out to do. He was marching along, with
+his eyes on all the rocky precipices, as if the mouth of a gold-mine
+might open to him at any moment, and he was not so careful of his feet
+as he should have been. A loose stone shot away from under him, and down
+he came upon a fairly level floor of sand and gravel. It was so sudden
+and so sharp a dropping that he sat still for a moment and looked
+around him.
+
+"Halloo, what's that?" Something bright and yellow had caught his eye,
+peering out at him from the gravel his boot-heel had disturbed. "Gold!
+gold! A chunk of gold!"
+
+Thousands upon thousands of "placer miners" have raised precisely such a
+shout in just such sandy gullies, but Sile felt as if he were the first
+being on earth to whom such an experience had ever happened. He at once
+began to dig and sift among the gravel fiercely. He took out his
+hunting-knife and plied it as a trowel. Little bits of dull yellow metal
+rewarded him every now and then until he worked along to where a ledge
+(or the edge of one) of quartz came nearly to the surface. On the upper
+side of that, and lying closely against it, he pried out something that
+made him shout "Hurrah!" and that then gave him almost a sick feeling.
+It was a gathering of golden nuggets and particles which would nearly
+have filled his hat, and there were others like it, only smaller, all
+along the edge of that stone. For unknown centuries it had been serving
+as a "bar" in the natural "washer" made by that ravine, and had caught
+and kept whatever the torrents had borne down from crumbling quartz
+rocks above and had drifted against it.
+
+Sile thought of Aladdin and his wonderful lamp; then he thought of the
+California miners; then he shut his eyes for a moment. Then he went on
+digging, and he was hard at it when a tall form stooped over him and the
+voice of Yellow Pine exclaimed,
+
+"I'd call it--If the youngster hasn't lighted onto a placer and scooped
+the biggest kind of a pocket! Sile, you've done it. You can jest ax me
+all the fool questions you've a mind to after this. You was really
+learnin' by 'em."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A TRAPPED BOY
+
+
+When the light awoke Two Arrows, he found One-eye standing guard as if
+he did not like the look of things, but no danger showed itself. It was
+a new country--too much so, perhaps--and a dog with a high sense of duty
+could not be too careful. Two Arrows also had duties, and he felt that
+one of them was to go back at once and tell his band what he had
+discovered. He had no idea that they were already on the march, or he
+might have been less troubled in mind about them. His other duty, not
+quite so plain, was to explore the valley a little and see how many
+buffaloes and deer and all that sort of thing were in it. He wondered at
+the greenness of the grass, not knowing that the mountain range east of
+it took care of that, taking the water out of the winds from the west so
+that they were often sponge-dry when they passed over upon the parching
+plains beyond. He had never heard of Eden and he could not make any
+comparisons, but he roundly declared that he had never been in a place
+that promised better hunting. He did not even ask himself how a herd of
+bisons should remember what their fathers had told them about that
+valley and come hundreds of miles to find grass there. He had not seen
+one yet, but he had caught a glimpse of a gang of deer in rapid motion.
+That fact set him to thinking and made him cautious, for it was an hour
+when deer are feeding unless they have been disturbed. He cooked and ate
+his breakfast, providing liberally for One-eye, but could hardly make up
+his mind in which direction to go. There was the mouth of the canon,
+telling him one thing, and in all other directions were the possible
+secrets of that valley.
+
+His feet took him along, at last, and he wandered for nearly a mile
+before he came to any sort of adventure. Then he suddenly discovered why
+the deer were in motion, and why it was time for him and One-eye to
+wander back again. It was almost as bad as a war-party of another tribe
+or even a band of wicked pale-faces, for at the edge of a little grove
+of wild plum-trees One-eye broke out into something between a howl and a
+bark, and turned, running towards his master. Then Two Arrows himself
+turned and ran, for his quick eyes caught the meaning of it. The head of
+a grisly bear came out between two bushes, and no idea of heroism called
+for any waiting. The canon, or the ruins, or almost any other place,
+would have been better, at that moment, than the spot where he was when
+Bruin saw him.
+
+The grisly may have had bad-luck that morning. At all events, he was out
+after game, and was in a bad temper. He hated all dogs, naturally, and
+he had seen One-eye. He hated men, as well, but his first rush was after
+the scared quadruped. That was an excellent thing for Two Arrows. He was
+the best runner of his age in his band, and never before had he done
+quite so well, but he stuck to his weapons. His bag of provisions had
+been hidden among the old houses, and he was glad of it as he bounded
+away across the grass. Every jump counted, for One-eye was doing the
+right thing. He was not following his master too closely, he was only
+thinking of getting away from that bear. He, too, had been the best
+runner of his tribe, when there had been other dogs to run with him, and
+he certainly was now. He ran well, but so did the bear, for a good horse
+does not too easily overtake a grisly, and a man on foot can never do it
+if the bear does his best.
+
+It was an exciting race, but Two Arrows knew it must have an end some
+time. He longed for a tree, and to be away up in the top of it, but
+there were none near enough to be of any use. He kept an eye on the
+other racers, and it was not many minutes before he saw that One-eye was
+doing almost too well. He was getting away so fast that the grisly gave
+him up and turned to his other chance for a breakfast. It was as if he
+had said to himself,
+
+"Dogs are no good. They run too well. A nice, tender, well-fed Indian
+boy, now, and I'll get him in a moment."
+
+Two Arrows had gained a pretty good start, and it led him towards the
+canon. He tried to calculate the distance, and how long it would take
+him to get there, but his next thought was that he had never heard of a
+grisly that could gallop and rush like this one.
+
+"It'll all be over with me. I'd fight him, but he's too much for me. Got
+to die now."
+
+It was an awful moment, and all the courage in him did not make it any
+less so. The claws and jaws and hug of a mountain grisly are a terrible
+prospect to set before anybody's ambition.
+
+Just then another prospect and a ray of hope dawned upon him. Away to
+the right he saw a solitary bowlder of gray granite, with a round top,
+nearly thirty feet above the grass.
+
+"If it isn't too smooth to climb," flashed through the mind of Two
+Arrows, as he turned and ran for it. He was running now for his life,
+and the bear was rapidly gaining on him, but it told well for his valor
+that he did not drop lance or bow.
+
+Nearer, now, and he could see that the rock was one of those
+bald-headed, smooth-cheeked affairs that look as if they had been ground
+and polished in a mill.
+
+"Ugh! Other side, maybe," groaned Two Arrows, as he dodged around the
+hopeless side he came to. Away around, and the same mocking smoothness
+made his heart sink, while the fierce growl of the huge wild beast
+behind him thrilled him through and through.
+
+"Ugh! rough place! Climb."
+
+It was a mere crack at the surface of the ground, but at a few feet
+above it the granite surface was somewhat broken. A good spring, aided
+by the tough shaft of his lance, and Two Arrows managed to brace himself
+upon a tolerable holding. If he should slip there would be an end of it,
+for the grisly was close up now. He clung like a fly, and found place
+after place for his hands and feet. In a moment more he was sitting upon
+the round top of the rock safe, but a prisoner, with a guard set to keep
+him secure. He had come out after adventures and he had found one of the
+very largest kind. He had never heard such tremendous roaring growls as
+the disappointed grisly was now uttering. Between these he could also
+hear, at no great distance, the mournful howls of One-eye. The sagacious
+animal had not self-conceit enough to match his weight and size against
+a brute that could have whipped a lion in five minutes, but he could
+express his feelings concerning the state of affairs.
+
+"He can't get up here," said Two Arrows, but he said it doubtfully, for
+the grisly is a rock bear, and is made for climbing. He was now
+studying the face of that rock at the cleft, and it was not long before
+he made up his mind that he could do something.
+
+"I won't waste any arrows on him," said the boy on the top of the
+bowlder. "Besides, if I don't get him too angry he may go off."
+
+Not without trying a climb for his human game; and it was wonderful with
+what care and consideration, as well as skill and strength, Bruin made
+his effort.
+
+Two-Arrows lay down, bow in hand, and watched him, as he raised his huge
+bulk against the side of the rock. The long, strong, cruel-looking claws
+took hold of crevices and roughnesses much more powerfully than a human
+hand or foot could have grasped them. A grunt, a growl, a great lift,
+and the grisly was off the ground.
+
+"He is coming. Let him come one length nearer."
+
+Two Arrows did not know that he was testing his quality as a warrior and
+chief to be. It was a marvellous trial of cool courage to lie there,
+with an arrow on the string, and bide his time.
+
+"Now! Ugh!"
+
+The arrow went truly to its mark, but the hide of a grisly is a tough
+shield, and the shaft did not go as deeply as it might have gone into a
+deer or bison. Arrow after arrow sped in swift, unerring succession, and
+the bear received them with roars of fury, struggling upward as his
+wrath and pain aroused him to greater efforts.
+
+"My last two arrows. One for that leg, just above the claw."
+
+Cool and correct again, and the last brace of shafts did their work to
+admiration. They did not kill the grisly nor even loosen the gripe of
+that great forearm and claw upon the rock, but the next struggle of the
+bear brought him upon smooth stone, gently rounding. He reached out over
+it with his wounded limb, and the black hooks at the end of it did not
+work well. His game was within a length of him, but it was game that
+held a long Mexican lance in its ready hand. Under other circumstances
+Bruin could have parried that thrust and closed with its giver, but not
+now. It went through his other forearm, and his gripe with that loosened
+for a second or so--only for an instant, but that was enough. Slip,
+slide, growl, tear, roar, and the immense monster rolled heavily to the
+ground below, full of rage and arrow-wounds, and altogether unfitted for
+another steep climb.
+
+Two Arrows drew a great breath of relief, but he well knew that he had
+not yet escaped. There were oceans of hate and fight in the wounded
+grisly, and there was no use whatever in going down for a fair match
+with him upon the grass. He was in his most dangerous state, and the top
+of the rock would have to answer all purposes for a season. There was no
+telling how long that would be, for even when the bear arose and limped
+all the way around the bowlder, his ferocious growls plainly declared
+his purpose. He had not the least idea of letting the matter stop there.
+He meant to stay and watch it out. Perhaps more grislies would come to
+help him and keep guard while he should doctor himself. It was a most
+remarkable trap for a young explorer to get caught in, and he well knew
+that a grisly will take more killing and die longer and harder than any
+other known animal. Besides, he had no idea how much or how seriously
+his shafts had touched the vitals of his enemy.
+
+He must stay where he was, and now he felt something like a sensation of
+mortification. One-eye had deserted him. All the howling had died away
+while the bear was climbing the rock. The last dog of that band of Nez
+Perces had turned tail and left his master on the top of a bowlder to be
+starved out by a bear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE ERRAND OF ONE-EYE
+
+
+The wagons came slowly on down the pass, but it was only a few moments
+before everybody but the two drivers had dismounted and stood gazing at
+Sile's remarkable "find." There were old "placer miners" among them, and
+they all declared that it was just the place in which they would have
+expected a "bonanza." Then they all added that without water to wash the
+sand and gravel with, there would be little use in doing anything more
+than to hunt for "pockets." There might be "pay dirt" in all directions,
+but a man might scratch and sift until he starved and not get more than
+enough to buy him a new hat. They had been through all that sort of
+experience, and their heads were not to be turned by it. Still, it was
+decided to try that level again some day, and the whole canon, at a time
+of the year when water was to be had. All that could now be done was to
+carefully search for and gather up the odds and ends of Sile's "luck."
+Even the necessity of grass for the horses compelled the train to move
+onward.
+
+When they came to the rocky ledge, with the precipice on one side and
+the mountain wall on the other, Judge Parks turned to Yellow Pine with a
+face full of doubt.
+
+"Don't you be skeered, jedge. I took a measure of it at the narrerest
+p'int, and it'll let the wheels go by and two feet to spare."
+
+That was close work, when they came to it, and Sile shuddered all over
+as he saw how near the wheels came to the edge of destruction. A restive
+mule, a scared horse, a little backing and plunging, and disaster was
+ready to come. Not an animal shied, however, though some of them
+trembled and sheered in towards the rock. It was hardest when they had
+to hold back going down and around some of the sharper curves. Sile had
+several tremendous shudders at such places and drew long breaths of
+relief afterwards, as the wagons rolled on in safety. Then, on the next
+level below, there was more axe and crow-bar work to be done, and it was
+late in the day when the train once more reached a deserted
+camping-ground of the band of Indians they seemed to be pursuing.
+
+"We'd better take a rest here, jedge. It's been a hard day on the men
+and the hosses, and we've struck gold a'ready."
+
+Sile had been strangely aware of that fact for some hours, and it had
+dazed him a little. He had walked on without asking a question of
+anybody. He had a dim idea that the metal he had found was worth a
+great deal of money, but he hardly cared to know how much. It was a new
+and wonderful sensation. His father told him there was enough of it to
+buy him a farm and stock it, and when Yellow Pine had finished his other
+duties, at going into camp, and had noted all the signs the Nez Perces
+left behind, he said to Sile,
+
+"Now, my boy, gather up all the charcoal you can rake from those dead
+fires and I'll show you something. Slugs are safer to carry than dust
+and nuggets. I allers used to slug my finds, first thing."
+
+That was Greek to Sile, but Yellow Pine rummaged one of the wagons and
+brought out a long-nosed bellows and a crucible and a sort of mould that
+opened with two handles. He put the crucible in among the coals, filled
+it from Sile's yellow heap, covered it, and began to work the bellows.
+Sile was astonished to find how speedily what Pine called "bullion"
+would melt, and how easy it was to run it into little bars. There did
+not seem to be so much of it, but there was less danger that any of the
+smaller chunks and scales and particles could get away.
+
+"There, Sile. There's your farm, cows, hosses, hogs and all, and it only
+cost you a gitten' thirsty."
+
+"They're wonderful," was all Sile could make out to say, and his father
+put them in a bag and locked them up in an iron-bound box in one of the
+wagons.
+
+"You needn't scratch into all the sand you come to after this," said
+Yellow Pine. "That's what takes the tuck out of placer miners. One good
+pocket'll most ginerally spile the eyes of a green hand."
+
+He assured the judge that one more push would bring them to good grass,
+and he added,
+
+"What's more, we ain't in any hurry to ketch up with no redskins till we
+know what they are. It's peace with most on 'em, but this 'ere isn't a
+strong band, and I kinder want to feel my way."
+
+There was sense in that, especially as he knew that Indians without
+horses are also Indians on the lookout for some. What he did not know
+was the state of mind that band of Nez Perces was in at that hour.
+
+They had set out very early that morning, and were plodding on steadily
+down the winding slopes of the canon, when there came to them an
+unexpected sensation. It was a dog.
+
+Right up the trail trotted One-eye, all alone, and with an air of
+business anxiety. He neither paused nor turned until he came to Long
+Bear himself, and in front of the chief he sat down, threw up his head,
+and let out the most mournful howl he knew--and he knew a great many.
+
+"Where Two Arrows?" asked the chief, as if the dog had been human, and
+he was answered first by another howl and then by an eager look and a
+tug at his deer-skin leggings. Then One-eye trotted off a little
+distance along the trail and looked back and barked, and the dullest man
+in the world could have understood him. It all plainly meant,
+
+"Come on. There's a fellow down this way that's in need of help. Follow
+me and help him."
+
+"Ugh!" exclaimed Long Bear, and he added the names of half a dozen of
+the leading braves. "Two Arrows send dog after warrior. Come."
+
+That was somewhat more than the truth, seeing that all the credit
+belonged to One-eye, but in a minute or so the old chief was leading his
+men rapidly down the pass. There was nothing whatever to be said, and
+One-eye kept well ahead of them, every now and then trying to express an
+idea he had that no time was to be wasted.
+
+"Ugh!" was all the remark made by any brave when the valley came in
+sight, and hardly more was remarked upon the ruins of the ancient
+village, but every grunt meant a great deal.
+
+"Not here. Dog go right on," said Long Bear. "Follow. Find Two Arrows
+somewhere."
+
+They had not far to go now before they halted as if with one accord.
+From the summit of a granite bowlder, a hundred yards in advance of
+them, came a shrill whoop, and there stood the object of their search,
+firmly erect and seemingly unharmed.
+
+"Boy all right," said Big Tongue. "Better come down."
+
+"Two Arrows no fool," said Long Bear. "Go slow. Watch dog."
+
+One-eye still trotted on, but more slowly, until he turned the corner of
+the rock. He reappeared in a second, with a sharp, warning yelp,
+followed by the fierce growling charge of an uncommonly large grisly
+bear.
+
+"Ugh!" said Long Bear. "Stand still. Boy been treed."
+
+He had not been "treed," he had been bowldered, and the grisly had been
+arrowed and lanced thoroughly. His angry charge had been made with his
+last energies, and before he advanced half-way he reeled and fell.
+
+There was no boy upon the rock now. Two Arrows darted down from his
+perch, slipping, sliding the instant the bear followed One-eye. He had
+waited up there for hour after hour, looking down at his half disabled
+enemy, and he was tired of it. He had seen that the strength of the bear
+was failing and that he bled freely, and was not far behind him when he
+fell.
+
+"Whoop! whoop! whoop! I have killed a grisly. My bear!" he shouted, and
+it was all in vain that the Big Tongue ran faster than even the Long
+Bear himself, for Two Arrows had the advantage of them. His lance was
+the first to be plunged into the dying monster, and the great brute tore
+up the sod around him for only half a minute before he stretched himself
+out and all was over. With the help of several hours of quiet bleeding,
+which cannot always be provided for in such cases, Two Arrows had fought
+and killed a grisly single-handed, and again Long Bear was the proudest
+man in the whole Nez Perce nation. The steepness of the rock had helped
+a good deal, and the bear had hardly had a fair chance, but after all he
+had been whipped by a boy of fifteen. It was a disgrace to the grisly
+but it was a great honor to the young hero, for by all Indian law he was
+thenceforth entitled to wear the claws of that bear on state occasions.
+Adding all things together, bisons and big-horn and cougar and grisly,
+Two Arrows was rapidly getting to be a middle-aged warrior, and the
+other boys had no hope of catching up with him. He might also fairly be
+said to have led his band into that valley, and now the pity of it was
+that they had no ponies to eat such excellent grass.
+
+The remainder of the band came down the pass remarkably, with Na-tee-kah
+well in advance of everybody else.
+
+"Could anything terrible have happened to Two Arrows?"
+
+Her heart beat hard with exertion and anxiety, and when she reached the
+level she hurried right along upon the trail of the braves. It was not
+many minutes before she could see them, and a sort of mist came before
+her eyes. They were all sitting upon the grass around something, and she
+could hear her father's voice chanting. It was a curious kind of song of
+triumph, belonging especially to a case of large grisly bear slaying,
+but Na-tee-kah could not hear it clearly at first, and it might have
+been a funeral song for all the music there was in it. All out of breath
+she toiled on, as near as an Indian girl might come to a party of
+warriors, and then she understood it like a flash. Red or white, she was
+only a girl, and she sat down on the grass and began to cry. The Big
+Tongue had risen as she came near, and he was polite enough to say to
+her,
+
+"Squaw not cry. Boy all right. We have killed a bear. Ugh!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+GREAT SCOUTING
+
+
+The quadrupeds of the mining expedition showed many signs of the hard
+time they had been having, and it was needful to get out from among the
+rocks quickly. It was yet quite shadowy in the deep canon when the
+wagons were set in motion, but not a great deal of "road mending" was
+called for from that point onward. Early in the day they came out upon
+the level, and before noon the horses and mules were picking the rich
+grass around the ancient ruins.
+
+It was a grand time, and Sile had a dim idea that he only drew his
+breath now and then, the great, long ones came so frequently. He had
+felt one kind of awe in the canon and in looking at the mountain peaks.
+Now he felt quite another kind of awe in looking at the rude mason-work
+of those houses.
+
+"Father," he asked, "do you s'pose they were people anything like us?"
+
+"They built three-story houses. No Indians ever did that."
+
+"Is there nothing at all about them in history?"
+
+"Yes, here are the ruins. Here are little books like this."
+
+He handed Sile what looked for all the world like a broken piece of an
+old pot, and Sile said so.
+
+"That's it. If it is one, it shows that they understood making pottery.
+Nobody has ever found anything to prove that they were miners, and all
+the stones of these houses are only broken. None of them are cut or
+trimmed."
+
+It was a wonder of wonders to stand there and talk about a lost and
+vanished people, but Yellow Pine was thinking of a people who had
+vanished without being lost. They were the Indians whose camp-grounds he
+had moved into and out of, and he had an idea that they might be found
+again at any hour. He advised the judge not to move on again until some
+exploring and scouting should have been done. Meantime the "critters,"
+as he called them, did their feeding under a strong guard and close
+watching.
+
+"Sile," he said, "as soon as your horse has had a good feed, you and I
+will ride a circuit and see what we can find."
+
+Sile's blood danced a little. Scouting after Indians was a thing he had
+read about, and he did not dwell too much upon the fact that he was
+chosen to go with Pine rather because his horse was a fast one and had
+not pulled wagons than for any reason. Pine said to him,
+
+"Your eyes are pretty good ones, too. Who knows but what you might see
+something. Jedge, I won't run him into any danger. Them Indians is all
+on foot."
+
+Sile set to work at once upon his repeating-rifle, his revolver, and the
+edge of his hunting-knife, as if he had a battle with Pawnees on hand.
+He gave up studying the ruins at once, and even forgot how many nuggets
+his gold had been run into. He had never before felt precisely that kind
+of excitement, and was too young to know that every entirely new
+enthusiasm is worth a whole book in the way of education, if it comes
+rightly. People who have never been waked up are apt to be dull people.
+
+It was an old story to Yellow Pine, and when at last they both were
+mounted and ready to ride away, it was worth while to look at his
+cast-iron face and then at that of Sile Parks.
+
+"Sile," said his father, as he looked at him, "bring me in some Indians;
+not a whole tribe; just a few."
+
+"Come on, Sile," said Pine. "We'll bring all we find, I reckon."
+
+He showed no disposition to ride fast, but cantered away to the right,
+skirting the edge of the mountain slope, and seeming to study every
+clump of trees and bushes they came to. It was mostly grassy "open" for
+quite a distance from the mouth of the canon.
+
+"No smoke anywhere," said Pine. "They're not camped hereaway."
+
+"I walked out along their trail, at the ruins," said Sile. "Why didn't
+you follow it?"
+
+"That's a fair question, Sile. It looks as if I'd orter ha' done it, but
+you see, I don't want to ketch up with 'em or let 'em know we're here. I
+want to find 'em without telling 'em what road I kem by."
+
+It was a sort of half-Indian cunning, but it was not quite equal to the
+needs of the matter. Full-blooded Indian cunning beat it all to pieces,
+as they were to find out before morning. It came to pass in a perfectly
+easy and natural sort of way.
+
+When the entire band of Nez Perces had arrived, and every soul in it had
+taken a look at the dead grisly, they had no notion of walking back a
+single rod. The braves had noted the indications of running water in the
+distance, and they pushed on until they found a camp-ground on the
+border of a swift, bright stream, almost alive with trout. It was
+bordered by a wide band of forest, and the trees were magnificent. Here
+at last they could all sit down in a kind of peace and plenty, and mourn
+for their dogs and ponies.
+
+Two Arrows had no mourning to do. What he really needed was to be
+hooped, like a barrel, for fear his pride and ambition might burst him.
+He felt as if he were about ten feet high and weighed more than a horse.
+All the other Indians he had heard of were nothing at all to what he
+was or was pretty soon going to be. He almost despised cougars and even
+grislies until he recalled how he had felt when the open jaws of the one
+which had hunted him came up over the curve of the bowlder.
+
+It occurred to him that he had better have a rock or something to help
+him next time, but his vanity suggested that after all he had invented
+that rock. The other Indian boys hardly felt like speaking to him, and
+Na-tee-kah called him to supper as respectfully as if he had been a
+full-grown warrior. He felt like one, and as if the camp were too small
+for him; so he walked out of it after supper, and his feet carried him
+farther. They seemed to have an idea of their own that it would be good
+for him to take another look at the bowlder where he had been watched
+for by the grisly. A thorough understanding of that matter might have
+taken him down a little, but he was to have better medicine yet before
+he again reached his father's lodge. He had his bow and arrows with him
+but no lance, and it was getting too dusky for hunting. The ground he
+was walking over was pretty level but it had its hollows, and as he came
+up out of one of these he suddenly dropped flat upon the grass. He had
+not been hurt, but he had seen something that in a manner knocked him
+down. It was the biggest surprise he had had since he came through the
+canon, for two pale-faces on horseback were cantering along at no great
+distance. They had not seen him, he was sure of that, although they were
+evidently looking for something. He let them pass and go on until he
+felt safe in following. Every nerve in his body tingled with fierce
+excitement.
+
+"War-path!" he exclaimed. "Ugh! Two Arrows a brave now. Get horse. Big
+warrior. Grow a heap. Find pale-face camp."
+
+Running, walking, creeping, as the mists of evening deepened, the young
+Nez Perce followed those two horsemen, cunningly avoiding all detection.
+He followed them to the edge of the rocky ground at the foot of the
+mountain slope, and there he saw them turn to the left.
+
+"Know now," he muttered. "Pale-face came through canon. Follow Nez
+Perce. Got plenty horse. Two Arrows great brave. Ugh!"
+
+He should have gone for help and have performed the rest of his task in
+older company, but he was full to over-flowing with the vanity of
+winning another "heap" of glory. He felt entirely competent to deal with
+one band of white men, and to carry all their horses into his own camp.
+His rapid successes had been too much for him, and it is sometimes very
+nearly the same with young fellows of a different color.
+
+He lost sight of his human game several times, and it was now pretty
+dark, but his keen eyes caught the glow of camp-fires at last, and he
+knew what that meant. What he did not know was that Yellow Pine and Sile
+had ridden a wide circuit across that open and had discovered no sign
+of danger.
+
+"Them Indians," said Pine, as they were riding in, "have gone on to the
+timber. They can't have the least idee that we're here, on the ground
+they passed over. To-morrer we must make another scout, though I sha'n't
+be easy till I know jest what kind of neighbors we're to have."
+
+That was common-sense, and so was the extreme care with which the
+quadrupeds were gathered and hobbled and "corralled" between the
+protecting masses of the ruins. The members of the mining party were
+already divided into "watches," taking regular turns, and Sile and a man
+named Jonas were in the first watch with Yellow Pine. That gave him a
+chance for an unbroken sleep when his work was done. What was also good,
+it gave him a rest to get sleepy in, and to let all the steam of his
+excitement get away from his head. He ate well, and he felt somewhat
+weary afterwards, but there was a queer idea growing in his mind that he
+was in the neighborhood of strange Indians, and that nobody could tell
+what might turn up.
+
+"Pine," said he, "if I see an Indian shall I kill him?"
+
+"Yell first, and get out of his way, unless he holds out his hand and
+says 'How?' But you won't have any chance this night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A WRESTLING MATCH
+
+
+The moon was to come up late that night, and all the first part of it
+would be lighted only by stars and camp-fires. The mining party had but
+two of these latter burning low, and the Nez Perce band had not any,
+after they had done their cooking, but the stars sent down enough light
+to make things visible at short distances. The two camps were not over
+four miles apart.
+
+The only really wide-awake watchman in one of them was One-eye, and he
+patrolled in all directions as if he had an idea that matters must be
+less secure in the absence of his wonderful young master. Only one dog
+to do the barking for a whole village was something very uncommon in
+Indian history, but it was well to have the great duty given to an
+entirely competent dog.
+
+The boy whom One-eye considered the greatest personage in all that
+valley had now crept near enough to the mining camp to get a fair idea
+of what it contained. He saw a wealth of horse-flesh and mule-flesh,
+every quadruped of it worth half a dozen Indian ponies, and his
+ambition almost lifted him up from the grass. It stirred any amount of
+reckless daring, and it made him remember all the stories he had ever
+heard of famous chiefs who stole into camps and then stripped them clean
+of everything. He was already that kind of chief in his own estimation,
+and did not know that within a hundred yards of him there sat a white
+boy, of about his own age, not so tall but broader in the shoulders, who
+was at that moment recalling a long list of just such stories.
+
+Sile had fairly read up on Indian fiction before he left home, and his
+ideas of the way some things could be done were a little misty. He could
+hardly sit still for one moment, and preferred to stroll around among
+the horses to make sure no red man's hand was reaching out for one of
+them. Old Pine smiled grimly now and then, for he felt perfectly safe on
+the Indian question, but at last he heard an unaccountable rustling at
+one end of the corral, and then a loud hurrah from Sile.
+
+The idea had been in Sile's head that his proper course was to go about
+very much as if he were himself about to steal the horses, and his
+noiseless movements carried him to the outer edge of the corral at
+exactly the right moment. He was standing at the side of a tall mule, in
+the shadow of it and completely hidden, when he saw something darker
+than a shadow glide out from between two tall weeds and swiftly writhe
+its way forward. His heart beat like a trip-hammer. His first thought
+was to use his rifle, but it was a new and dreadful thing to take a
+human life, and he could not lift his weapon. His eyes said, "Not a
+large Indian," and his hands let go of the rifle. The next instant, and
+just as Two Arrows rose to his feet, Sile sprang forward and grappled
+with him.
+
+It was a most perilous thing to do, considering that Two Arrows carried
+a knife; but the young Nez Perce had also been thinking, and had made up
+his mind that "war" was no part of his errand. His tribe was at peace
+with the pale-faces, except as to horse-flesh, and that fact saved
+Sile's life. He had been accounted the best wrestler in his set, at home
+and at school, and his muscles were in capital order. It was not by any
+means an uneven match, therefore, and Two Arrows would have been glad
+enough to get away. He had no clothing for Sile to hold him by, and
+there was more and more danger of losing him every moment, but the shout
+of warning had hardly begun to rouse the general camp before a pair of
+long, sinewy arms wound around poor Two Arrows from behind.
+
+"I've got him," said Yellow Pine. "Run for a rope. You're jest the
+luckiest youngster I ever knowed."
+
+By the time the rope was there, every man in camp was up and out, and
+the grass and weeds within sight had rifle muzzles pointed at
+everything among them as big as a human head.
+
+"No whoopin' sounded," said Yellow Pine. "This cub was alone. I say, you
+young coyote, you jest answer my questions now, or I'll tan the hide
+clean off ye."
+
+Two Arrows drew himself up proudly and looked at him in silence, but
+Pine led his captive on into the fire-light and picked up a heavy
+"black-snake" whip, for he was justly angry.
+
+It was a terrible come-down for the ambition of a young chief. Captured
+on his first raid and threatened with a horsewhipping. He felt ready to
+burst, but it was not with vanity this time.
+
+"Where's yer band? Where's their camp?" asked Pine, with a significant
+flourish of the black-snake, but the Indian boy looked him unflinchingly
+in the face without a sound or a motion.
+
+"Speak, now," began Pine; but Sile had finished answering some hurried
+questions from his father, and he now asked one for himself.
+
+"I say, Yellow Pine, didn't I grab him first? Isn't he my prisoner as
+much as he is yours?"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Well, now, I don't want him flogged. He didn't use his knife. You
+always said it was best to be friends with 'em."
+
+"I'd call it---- Jedge, it's jest so. Sile's right. I'd kinder lost my
+head. Look a-here, redskin, next time you come for hosses you won't get
+off so easy. I'll unhitch ye now, and let ye up. There now, Sile, shake
+hands with him."
+
+"How?" said Sile, as he held out his hand to the loosened captive.
+
+"How?" said Two Arrows, and he said it a little sullenly, but he had
+been glancing from Pine's face to Sile's and understood pretty well that
+the latter had stopped the proposed work of the black-snake.
+
+"Make him a present of something, Sile," said his father. "Here--give
+him this."
+
+It was a small round pocket-mirror, worth twenty-five cents, but there
+was no telling what it was worth in the estimation of such a boy as Two
+Arrows--perhaps a pound or so of gold nuggets, if he had them, or the
+skin of his grisly bear, after the glory of killing it had worn a little
+thin. At all events, he was a most astonished Indian. Evidently these
+monsters in human form were disposed to be friends with
+him--particularly this red-headed young chief who had proved himself so
+good a wrestler. All he had ever heard of pale-faces was against
+believing it, but there was no chance of escaping from the ring of
+riflemen now gathered around him, and he gave it up. He answered Yellow
+Pine's questions by signs only, until something he said brought an
+exclamation from the old miner Jonas.
+
+"Nez Perce! He's a Nez Perce, Pine. I know their lingo. He can talk
+some English, too. He needn't play 'possum any longer."
+
+Two Arrows felt that he was completely beaten, and even pride failed to
+carry him any farther. It came to his mind, also, with a peculiar force,
+that he was by no means sure of the approval of Long Bear and his
+warriors. They had not sent him out to kill pale-faces and bring upon
+them the vengeance of the terrible "brass-button men" he had heard of.
+He had seen a few of them, and had wondered at their great knives, twice
+as long as his arm. He decided to speak out now, and in a few moments
+Jonas had pumped him thoroughly.
+
+"He isn't on any war-path," said Yellow Pine to Judge Parks; "he's jest
+a fool of a boy. We'll keep him till mornin' and carry him over to his
+own camp. It's the best way in the world to make friends with 'em."
+
+"All right," replied the judge; "we must get out some presents. See that
+he doesn't get away."
+
+"I'll look out for that--you bet I will."
+
+So he did, and Two Arrows had now no knife with which to cut the rope
+whereby he was tied to Yellow Pine's elbow when that "big brave" lay
+down again. Sile rolled himself up in a blanket, only a few feet from
+them, and hardly slept a wink. He had captured a wild red Indian and it
+beat all the novels he had ever seen. He did not hear his father chuckle
+to himself, nor could he read the thoughts of the old judge. Long Bear
+himself was not prouder of Two Arrows and his grisly than was Sile's
+father of the manner in which his own boy had met and grappled with a
+sudden peril.
+
+"He'll be at the head of something or other some day," he muttered, as
+he was dropping asleep.
+
+Not even Na-tee-kah knew anything of the movements or whereabouts of Two
+Arrows this time, and her father questioned her in vain. His absence was
+"irregular," and when the hours went by and he did not return, the Long
+Bear's face put on an expression of stern displeasure.
+
+"Boy too big," he said; "grow too fast. Brave too soon. Young chief,
+though. Great warrior by-and-by, like father. Come back. Talk hard to
+him."
+
+Na-tee-kah's thoughts followed her hero brother so long as her eyes were
+open. She had no doubt whatever that he would quickly turn up again with
+a great heap of new glory. She dreamed of his performing all sorts of
+marvellous things. All the other boys in camp were planning to catch up
+and get ahead of him, she knew, for she had heard some of them say so.
+The Big Tongue had told her of a large number of bears belonging to his
+record, and he was going on to tell of more when Ha-ha-pah-no overheard
+and asked him,
+
+"Kill bear all with tongue? Shoot big lie right through? Catch old bear
+and talk to him; bear die!"
+
+Her tongue was sharp enough, and she strongly sympathized with
+Na-tee-kah's enthusiasm for Two Arrows. The Big Tongue got away from her
+and the camp grew more and more quiet.
+
+The spot chosen for it, in a curve of the stream, was one of rare
+beauty, and the loop formed by the long sweep of the rippling water
+would have been just the place for a secure corral, if that band of Nez
+Perces had had any four-footed property to be anxious about. It was not
+needful to keep a guard over their hope of stealing some thereafter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A GREAT CAPTAIN
+
+
+The band of Nez Perces had done very well thus far, and so had the band
+of white miners, but there had been one other band of travellers which
+had accomplished a good deal by reason of having an uncommonly good
+commander.
+
+The wicked old mule that had engineered the stampede of the Nez Perce
+ponies had continued to hold his position as captain. He could out-kick
+and out-bray any other mule there, and no mere pony would have dreamed
+of disputing him. There was some grass to be had, next day after the
+escape, and there was yet a little water in the pools rapidly drying
+away, but there was nothing anywhere to tempt to a stoppage. On he went,
+and on went the rest after him, and the reason why the warriors could
+not find his trail was because he did not leave any. He obeyed the
+strong instinct of all large animals, and some smaller ones, to "follow
+a beaten path and keep in a travelled road." He struck the well-made
+buffalo trail and did not find any reason for wandering from it.
+Multitudes of men have a precisely similar instinct, and keep in any
+particular path in life mainly because they are in it; they stick all
+the closer if they can see anybody else doing the same thing. That was
+what the wicked old mule saw, and he may have imagined that the squad or
+rather string of bisons ahead of him knew where they were going and what
+for. At all events he led his band closely behind them, and they plodded
+on in a way that carried them ahead quite rapidly. It carried them into
+the pass and through it, mule, ponies and all, and there was no one to
+tell them of what had happened there before or what was about to occur.
+
+Something had happened--something that is pretty sure to come to all
+bisons, sooner or later. In due season their great bodies reel and fall,
+and the wolves and buzzards are fed. But for such things the wolves
+would all die, and they have an unerring judgment as to the condition of
+an ailing bison. They never attack a healthy bull or cow unless they are
+in great force and the animal is alone.
+
+The migration of bisons from the parching plain to better pasture had
+been going on for some time, and the coyotes had followed it as a matter
+of course. The very day that the old mule halted his runaways at the
+spring for all the water they could hold, there should have been a
+painter on the great ledge which was followed by the trail in the middle
+of the pass. There was a tragedy there worth sketching.
+
+Herd after herd of bisons had gone along that ledge road in clumsy
+safety, but right there now, at the curve of the projecting rock, stood
+one who could go no farther. A fragment of an arrow still sticking
+through one of his hind-legs told what had made him lame in the first
+place, and the marks of wolf-teeth explained why he had grown lamer and
+lamer until all he could do was to turn his back to the rock and stand
+at bay.
+
+Mile after mile of weary walking and painful struggling the poor old
+beast had contended with the enemies now swarming around him; they had
+assailed him always from behind, and they had altogether crippled him.
+His great, terrible head was lowered threateningly, and his deep,
+sonorous bellow was thick with pain and fury. The watching coyotes sat
+down or walked around, barking, yelping, howling, snapping their teeth
+like castanets, sure of a feast to come and hungrily impatient for its
+beginning. One, hungrier or bolder than the rest, made a rush too soon,
+and the quick horn of the old bison caught him. Up, up he went, whirling
+over and over, and his last yelp went down with him into the deep canon.
+The head of the bison sank again, and his bloodshot eyes grew filmy; he
+was faint and sinking, and he swayed staggeringly to and fro. He gave a
+great lurch forward as his faintness grew upon him, and in an instant he
+seemed to be all but covered with wolves. They attacked every square
+foot of him at the same moment, climbing over each other, yelling,
+tearing, and the bison's time had come. The terror and agony stirred all
+his remaining life for one last, blinded rush. His instinct was to
+"charge" and he made one lumbering plunge. The trail at that point
+afterwards but barely passed the wagon-wheels, and there was no room to
+spare for the bison's last effort. It bore him heavily, helplessly over
+the sickening edge, and half a dozen of clinging coyotes went down with
+him. Hundreds of whirling feet the hunters and the hunted-down bison
+fell together, to be dashed to pieces upon the rocks at the bottom.
+
+A chorus of howls arose from the remaining wolves, but it did not
+express pity or horror. Only for a moment did they seem to be in doubt
+as to what was best to be done. After that it was a wolf-race as to
+which should first get back to the point at which they could safely
+clamber and tumble to the bottom of the pass. Their feast had been
+provided for them, and they ate every part of it, buffalo meat and wolf
+meat alike, with the help of some buzzards, before Two Arrows or any
+other human being entered the canon to disturb them. Then they followed
+their prospect of further feasting, and it led them on into the grassy
+valley.
+
+The wicked old mule knew nothing of all this. No coyotes annoyed him or
+his command, but not a mouthful to eat did they find until they came
+out where they could see the ancient ruins. At sight of these, hinting
+of human presence, they halted briefly and then sheered away so as not
+to approach too nearly so very unpleasant a suggestion. The bisons had
+led them well, whether or not the mule got the credit of it. Also, there
+was a fair degree of justification of the instinct concerning beaten
+paths. New ones may be better, and somebody must hunt them up all the
+while, but the old roads will do very well for most people until the new
+ones are fairly mapped out. Christopher Columbus had a hard time of it,
+and Captain Cook got himself eaten up at last, after finding ever so
+many new things.
+
+It was a matter of course that the runaways should feel their way
+farther and farther down the valley, and all sorts of happiness seemed
+to be before them. Grass, water, nice weather, no masters, no
+responsibilities, and plenty of good company among themselves. It was a
+time to grow fat, and to think well of the world they lived in.
+
+The wicked old mule had done his work, but he had gained neither name
+nor fame by it. He looked sidewise more slyly, whisked his ropy tail
+more demurely, and kicked his nearest neighbors more viciously than
+ever. Still, all he or they had gained was a vacation; no work to do for
+anybody but themselves, but with winter only a few months ahead and with
+a certainty that wolves, buzzards, coyotes, cougars, grislies, frost,
+snow-storms, and all the other unknown possibilities of the mountain
+country were only holding off for a season.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+VISITING
+
+
+Two Arrows was treated to an excellent breakfast the morning after his
+capture. He also saw a white man eat with a knife and fork, and had all
+the sugar he wanted for the first time. It was a wonderful morning, and
+a very brilliant pair of eyes were drinking in its marvels greedily.
+
+Rifles, pistols, and all that sort of thing were familiar enough to the
+young Nez Perce, but he saw new patterns of them and gained tremendous
+notions of the wealth and skill of the pale-faces who could make such
+weapons.
+
+"Father," said Sile, "I wish he could read. He's a bright fellow."
+
+"Show him everything you have with a picture in it."
+
+There was no fear that Two Arrows would try to run away after that
+process began. The printed matter of any sort did not convey to him an
+idea; it was so much mud; it meant nothing whatever. The pictures were
+another thing, and Sile had provided himself well with illustrated
+reading. Two Arrows almost gave up the sullen pride that refused to be
+astonished, and Sile began to understand "sign language." At all events
+he nearly twisted himself out of shape in an effort to explain to his
+captive the nature of ships, cannon, camels, and steam-engines. He felt
+as if he were a sort of missionary. At last Judge Parks himself handed
+Two Arrows a photograph of an Indian chief, given him at one of the
+frontier agencies a few weeks before.
+
+"Ugh! Pawnee!" said Two Arrows.
+
+"I told you so," exclaimed Yellow Pine. "If you showed him dogerrytypes
+of every tribe there is, he'd name 'em at sight. Jedge, it's about time
+we set out. I've got a mount ready for him."
+
+Jonas more fully explained to Two Arrows that a visit of peace was
+planned, and that he was to be marched home again, but the face of the
+young Indian clouded. That was the one thing he stood in mortal dread
+of. He thought of the jeers and derision sure to greet him from all
+other Nez Perce boys when they should see him come home without any
+glory, and he hung back.
+
+"Mount now," shouted Yellow Pine, with a motion towards the animal he
+had selected.
+
+A horse! To ride back, instead of returning tired and on foot. That was
+quite another matter.
+
+"Whoop!" he could not have restrained that yell of relief, and in an
+instant he was in the saddle. He had been used to riding a barebacked
+pony, and that made his present outfit the more splendid. All his vanity
+and ambition came pouring back upon him, and he almost felt as if he had
+captured that squad of pale-faces and was bringing them in as prisoners.
+He dashed forward at once, with Sile on one side, Yellow Pine on the
+other, and the rest following, except a camp-guard of two miners.
+
+Less than an hour later all the Nez Perce band came out under the trees
+to see what was coming.
+
+"Two Arrows!" almost breathlessly exclaimed Na-tee-kah. "Caught some
+pale-faces this time."
+
+"Got horse," said Ha-ha-pah-no.
+
+Long Bear and his warriors did not say a word, for they were all but
+dumb with astonishment from the moment that they recognized the
+returning wanderer. What would not that remarkable boy do next? Had he
+killed anybody? Had he really stolen all those white men, or had they
+stolen him? There he was, anyway, and in a few moments more Yellow Pine
+and Judge Parks had said "How?" to Long Bear and his best men. Indian
+manners required that Two Arrows should be silent before his elders
+until spoken to, but Long Bear almost instantly inquired,
+
+"Where find boy?"
+
+"In camp," said Yellow Pine. "Try to steal horse. Too many pale-face.
+Catch him. All safe. Big thief some day. Boy now."
+
+All of Two Arrows's dream of glory went out of sight before the grim
+smiles with which the Nez Perce warriors heard that explanation. They
+perfectly understood the matter, and that the pale-faces before them
+wished to be good friends. On their part, they were a good deal more
+than willing, for they had much to gain from peace and very little from
+war with mounted riflemen.
+
+"Prisoner?" groaned Na-tee-kah.
+
+"Boy all right," grumbled Ha-ha-pah-no, indignantly. "Find pale-face
+camp anyhow. Go right in. Old brave all asleep. Never find anything. Big
+chief by-and-by."
+
+There was some truth in that view of the matter, and Long Bear made a
+remark that had a little the same sound. At all events Two Arrows was
+permitted to dismount and walk away, while the conference with his
+captors went on. In ten seconds he was exhibiting his little hand-mirror
+to Na-tee-kah and a crowd of other young people, and found his
+importance coming back to him. None of them had ever ventured to creep,
+all alone, into a white man's corral. Not a boy or girl among them had
+such a treasure as the mirror. He had made friends with the pale-faces,
+at all events. In fact, his standing in that community was rising with
+tremendous rapidity, until somehow or other the story of his
+wrestling match with Sile Parks began to be whispered around, and it
+became necessary for Two Arrows to point at Yellow Pine as the great
+brave who had really pinioned him. There was not a Nez Perce in the
+band, old or young, who felt any longing for a grapple with the sinewy,
+big-boned old miner and all would have been right but for the fact that
+Two Arrows had not at once escaped from Sile.
+
+[Illustration: NOT A BOY OR GIRL AMONG THEM HAD SUCH A TREASURE AS THAT
+MIRROR]
+
+A good understanding was easily established between the miners and the
+red men, and it was not long before Sile was off his horse and was going
+around among the young people. He used his eyes as busily as Two Arrows
+had done, but it is to be doubted if he saw as much, even in what there
+was to see. It was not long before Na-tee-kah had as good a
+looking-glass as her brother, and a general distribution of small
+presents sealed the arrangement that the miners were not to be plundered
+by that particular band.
+
+"Now, jedge," said Yellow Pine at last, "it's time we moved. S'pose we
+fetch along that young cub and his sister. Company for Sile. Make the
+old chief feel fine."
+
+Long Bear gave several grunts of assent when spoken to, and once more
+Two Arrows felt as if he were growing very fast indeed.
+
+"We'll go back and move the wagons," said Pine to Sile. "You and your
+young redskin can scout on down the valley. You've got your directions
+'bout finding us. Don't go too fast nor too far. The Indian'll smell any
+danger long before you will. He won't be roped in by anybody in broad
+daylight, I can tell ye."
+
+He did not look like it as he rode proudly away from the village. Jonas
+had mounted Na-tee-kah behind him, but Ha-ha-pah-no was to follow the
+wagons on foot, that the chief's daughter might have somebody to
+superintend her visit. When Ha-ha-pah-no set out in her turn nearly half
+the village went with her uninvited, and it took all the authority of
+Long Bear to keep the other half from keeping them company.
+
+"Come," said Two Arrows to Sile, after a few minutes of silent riding.
+"We go. Ugh! Shoot a heap."
+
+He had picked up more English words, somehow or other, than he had at
+first acknowledged, but Sile found it needful to work the sign language
+pretty industriously for all that.
+
+Na-tee-kah had spent her life in the close retirement of an Indian
+village. She had been housed up among plains and mountains from all the
+world, and knew nothing about it. She had lived in a narrower prison
+than the smallest country village in all the East. The idea of visiting
+a white man's camp and seeing all there was in it made her tremble all
+over. She knew her father and ever so many others would be there in an
+hour or so, and that her wonderful brother had gone on a hunt with the
+son of the pale-face chief, but she was to enter a strange place with
+only white warriors for company. It was an awful thing to do, and she
+could not have done it, nor would Long Bear have consented to it, but
+for something they both saw in the face of old Judge Parks when he
+patted her on the head and said,
+
+"Be my daughter a little while. Make a white girl of her for a week.
+Take good care of her."
+
+Red men have keen eyes for character, and Long Bear understood. So did
+Na-tee-kah, and yet she would have run away and hidden but for her
+curiosity, stirred up by what Two Arrows had told her of the contents of
+that camp and its wagons. An offer to a white girl of a trip to Paris
+might be something like it, but it would not be much more. Her eyes
+danced and her fingers tingled as they drew near, and yet the only thing
+she could see was a couple of commonplace tilted wagons and a lot of
+horses and mules. The moment she was on the ground the old judge came to
+her assistance.
+
+"Now, Na-tee-kah, I'll show you something. Come this way."
+
+She stood as straight as an arrow and walked along courageously, but it
+required all her strength of mind and will to do so. She watched him in
+silence, as he went into and came out of one of those mysterious rolling
+tents full of all unknown riches.
+
+"There, now. That'll keep you busy while we're getting ready to move."
+
+She held out both her hands, and when Ha-ha-pah-no at last put her own
+hand upon her shoulder and said "Ugh!" Na-tee-kah started as if she had
+been waked from a dream. She had been looking at pictures that told her
+of another world.
+
+"Heap lie," said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Pale-face tell 'em. Make lie about
+squaw. There!"
+
+It was a picture of several ladies in evening dress, and Na-tee-kah had
+been looking at it for five minutes. No such woman as those could
+possibly be, nor could any human beings get themselves up so
+wonderfully. It was all a lie, and any intelligent squaw could detect
+the fraud at a glance.
+
+Na-tee-kah drew a long breath that sounded like a sigh, and just then
+the shout of Yellow Pine announced that all was ready for a move.
+
+"We'll reach that mine to-morrow night, jedge, if we're lively.
+Everything's goin' prime now."
+
+With or without an invitation the relatives of Na-tee-kah trudged along
+with the wagons mile after mile, and Long Bear gained an extra pound of
+tobacco by sticking to Yellow Pine until the train halted at noon.
+
+Ha-ha-pah-no scolded Na-tee-kah pretty nearly all the way for not
+knowing more about pale-faces, but she broke down at the noon camp-fire.
+She undertook to play cook, and in half a minute Jonas discovered that
+she did not know how to make coffee.
+
+"Wouldn't you have b'iled a black soup?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Poor old squaw!" said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Know all about him. Drink some
+once; bitter. Put sweet in. Stir him up, so."
+
+"Ugh!" said Na-tee-kah. "Know so much. Ask Two Arrows when he come."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+MORE FUN
+
+
+Sile Parks and Two Arrows had the whole valley before them and all the
+mountains and valleys beyond, and one knew as much about them as did the
+other. Neither had ever been just there before, and yet the young Nez
+Perce was at home, and Sile was in a new country. Sile could ride well
+and he could shoot well, but here at his side was a born hunter. With
+all sorts of descriptive signs he asked him,
+
+"Did you ever kill a deer?"
+
+"Ugh! heap deer. Heap bear. Heap buffalo. Big heap."
+
+And then all the pride of Two Arrows came to help him explain that he
+had killed a cougar all alone, and a big-horn and a grisly. By the time
+he had succeeded in doing so Sile regarded him as a red-skinned wonder,
+but had so interpreted some of his signs as to include a big snake, a
+land-turtle, and a kangaroo in the list of asserted victories. It gave
+him some doubts as to the others, for he said to himself,
+
+"No rabbit can jump as far as he says that thing did. There are no
+kangaroos here, and they have no horns. I give it up. Maybe he is
+lying, but he doesn't look so."
+
+Two Arrows was boasting quite truthfully, and the trouble was with
+Sile's translation.
+
+"Ugh! look. Rifle--"
+
+Sile's eyes followed the pointing finger in vain for a moment. At first
+he saw nothing but a clump of sumach bushes, but for once he asked no
+questions. What could be among them? One seemed to move a little. Could
+it be possible? the horns of a buck!
+
+"Maybe I can hit him. I've heard of such a thing. I'll aim below them;
+his body is there somewhere."
+
+Two Arrows could have told him just how that deer was standing, but
+Sile's guess-work was pretty good. He let his rifle-muzzle sink on a
+line with one of those antlers, and had lowered it a little too much
+when he pulled the trigger. The kicking of the rifle made the aim a good
+one, for the sharp report was answered by a great bound from the cover
+of the sumachs, and in an instant a mortally-wounded buck was dashing
+across the open, with One-eye close at his heels.
+
+"Ugh! got him," said Two Arrows. "Heap shoot. Bow not so good."
+
+Sile had offered to lend him a rifle at starting, but Two Arrows had
+prudently refused to disgrace himself. He had never owned one and did
+not care to show his lack of skill.
+
+That was a fine dash after One-eye and the wounded buck, but it was a
+short one. The bullet had done its work so thoroughly that there was
+little trouble left for the dog when he seized his victim's throat to
+pull him down.
+
+There had been some hunting done by the mining party on their long
+journey, but Sile could have told Two Arrows if he had chosen to do so,
+that here lay the first deer he had ever killed. He could also have told
+him that it appeared to be the largest, fattest, finest, most miraculous
+buck that anybody in the world had ever killed; as it really was even
+Two Arrows spoke well of the buck and thought well of the shot which had
+brought it down.
+
+"If I knew where to find our train I'd take it right in," said Sile, as
+they hoisted the buck to his own saddle. "I'd just as lief walk."
+
+"Find him," said Two Arrows, understanding the searching look Sile gave
+towards the mountains. "Go so. Come. Get on horse; ride."
+
+He took the lead at once, but it seemed to Sile that he was going in the
+wrong direction. He was not at all aware that his friend had skilfully
+directed their hunt on a line nearly parallel, at no great distance,
+from that which the train must follow. He was therefore doubly
+astonished when a brief ride brought them within sight of the
+wagon-tilts. They had halted, and Sile had double comfort: he could
+show his father his first deer and he could get a hot dinner, for
+Ha-ha-pah-no could do very well with a steak if not with coffee.
+
+"Which of you killed the deer?" asked the judge, as they rode in.
+
+Sile was silent long enough for Two Arrows to point at him and remark,
+
+"Heap shoot."
+
+"So I did, father, but he pointed him out. I'd never have seen him if
+I'd been alone."
+
+"Jest so," said Yellow Pine. "There isn't anything else on the earth
+like the eyesight of an Indian. I've had 'em sight game more'n once that
+I'd ha' missed sure."
+
+It puzzled Na-tee-kah somewhat that anybody else should have won
+anything while her wonderful brother was near by, but Ha-ha-pah-no
+relieved her by remarking,
+
+"Ugh! The red-head kill deer. Two Arrows show him how. Good."
+
+One of the miners had ridden out from the line of march and returned
+with another deer, so that fresh venison was plentiful in the camp. Two
+Arrows felt no longing for any more hunting that day, and he bluntly
+said so. It was ten times more to his liking to ride along with the
+train and keep his eyes busy. He was studying white men, and all the
+world knows what a curious study they are. One white boy was also
+studying him and his sister, and could not understand them at all.
+Sile's eyes and thoughts ran about over everything he heard or saw
+until he almost had a headache.
+
+"Tell you what, father," he said to the judge, "when we go into camp
+again I'm going to show them my box."
+
+"It's a curiosity box. Show it to them."
+
+The road was necessarily somewhat rough, and wagoning was slow work, and
+before sunset a place was chosen for an all-night camp. Then came Sile's
+experiment. He hauled a stoutly-made, leather-covered trunk out of one
+of the wagons, before the eyes of Two Arrows and Na-tee-kah, and it was
+instantly evident that neither had ever seen one, but that both
+understood its use. He unstrapped it, but it did not open, and he made
+them try it. Lock and key were mysteries they had no thought of, and
+they almost started back with surprise when Sile pushed a thin bit of
+steel into one side of that contrivance and all the upper part of it
+could be tipped right over.
+
+Sile's "box" would have been first-rate rummaging for any boy of his
+acquaintance, and it was a mine of wonders to the two young savages. He
+had put into it some things which could hardly be useful to him, even if
+he should be cast away upon a mountain, as Robinson Crusoe was upon an
+island, and it was so much the better fun for Two Arrows and Na-tee-kah.
+The fishing-hooks, lines, reel, etc., made the eyes of the former fairly
+dance, and Sile brought out a joint-rod and put it together, with a
+reel on, to show him how the machine worked. Two Arrows grew thoughtful
+over that affair.
+
+"Big fish break him."
+
+"No. Show you about that to-morrow morning."
+
+"Ugh! ugh!" suddenly exclaimed Ha-ha-pah-no. "Red-head got squaw? Boy!"
+
+He did look young to be married, but she was pointing straight at a
+brush and comb and some other articles which, to her notion, did not
+belong in the treasury of a young warrior. Sile at once explained that
+he used them himself, but there were several brushes and combs, and she
+added,
+
+"Ugh! Beat squaw. Take 'em away from her. What she do?"
+
+"Try it on," said Sile, handing a brush and comb to Na-tee-kah, and a
+peal of laughter announced the pleasure of the two Indian ladies, old
+and young. Even Two Arrows dropped a "spoon-hook" to take an interest in
+that proceeding.
+
+"Come," said Ha-ha-pah-no, with a long string of merry gutturals of
+explanation that she had seen a white lady at one of the forts putting
+up the hair of another. She herself could do it, and in twenty seconds
+more there was a yell from Na-tee-kah and a tooth out of the comb.
+
+"Let me show you," said Sile, and from that moment there was not one
+sound from the lips of Na-tee-kah. Whether she was hurt or not nobody
+knew, for if the comb had extracted hair by the handful she would not
+have whimpered. Ha-ha-pah-no insisted on having her hair combed by
+Na-tee-kah. She must know how now, it was evident, and she did, for the
+comb lost another tooth in the very first tangles of Ha-ha-pah-no's
+hair.
+
+"That's fun," said Yellow Pine. "Jest look at them critters. That there
+squaw'll crack that lookin'-glass, twistin' her face, 'fore her combin'
+is done."
+
+She stood it pretty well, but the other contents of the box had less
+interest now. She and Na-tee-kah preferred to go on with the brush and
+comb. Even Two Arrows looked at them so enviously that Sile told him the
+white chiefs did comb their hair. It was enough. Squaws were made to
+serve braves, and they were both commanded to take charge of his long,
+bushy, and decidedly tangled barbering. Not for his life would he have
+uttered a cry of pain, but he made up his mind that a pale-face can
+endure a great deal before they got through with him.
+
+Supper had to be eaten, and sharp appetites helped them to get away long
+enough for that duty, but then the brush and comb began again under
+Sile's instruction.
+
+"That there comb won't last long," said Yellow Pine. "Tell 'em to put
+on some grease, Sile, and some ribbons. Ribbons, Sile, and some beads,
+and--"
+
+"And some red flannel," said Jonas, "and some tinware."
+
+"I'd forgotten all about that," exclaimed Sile, springing up.
+
+In a few moments his visitors were in a new state of excitement, for
+they were tying up their now glossy locks with brilliant ribbons and
+strips of gay cloth. To these were added some of the brilliant
+white-metal ornaments that pass for silver among the very youngest
+pale-face children. Two Arrows put on his full share of all that was
+offered and became a very gay-looking young Indian. There was no danger
+that he would stand on his head and spoil his ribbons, but he felt
+almost too proud to stand on his feet. He felt more and more sure that
+the world did not contain quite such another hero, and longed for the
+presence of his whole band, and of his entire tribe, and of several
+other tribes, that he might walk up and down in front of them and be
+admired. No white boy with a new stovepipe hat and a pair of yellow kid
+gloves ever wanted to walk through so many streets or past quite so many
+"boarding-schools" as did Two Arrows--only that his showing-off places
+were such as he was best acquainted with.
+
+Na-tee-kah was more quiet than even Ha-ha-pah-no, for that highly
+respectable squaw had done up her head remarkably.
+
+"All she wants to finish it off is two tin dippers and a set of
+sleigh-bells. I saw a squaw do that once. There's no telling what they
+won't put on. But I say, jedge, that there littler one is a born lady,
+and she's right down good-lookin' too. All she needs is good dressin'
+and she'd kind o' shine."
+
+There was not a doubt of it, and her highly-colored ribbons had been put
+on with better taste than those of Ha-ha-pah-no, and they showed to good
+advantage her clear, dark complexion, brilliant eyes, and regular
+features. Old Long Bear had a right to be proud of both his children.
+
+It was grand fun, but there came an end to it at last. Two Arrows went
+out to share with Sile his camp-watch, and Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah
+were shown to a small tent which had been pitched for them. It was
+something of a trial to take all that finery away from the admiring
+blaze of the camp-fire and carry it into the dark hiding-place of that
+tent, but it had to be done. At all events they could rise early in the
+morning and comb their hair again and arrange the ribbons and things in
+some other way.
+
+Na-tee-kah's new world was opening to her wonderfully, and she lay for a
+long time wide awake, staring into the darkness and trying to imagine
+pale-face squaws and their ways of doing up their hair and painting
+themselves and putting on whole heaps of blankets of the most striking
+colors and patterns.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+TWO WAR-PARTIES
+
+
+That was a time of uncommon interest and excitement to the entire Nez
+Perce hunting village. They had plenty to eat and to drink, and some of
+them had received presents, and the prospect ahead seemed to brighten a
+little. By nightfall all the warriors were returned from accompanying
+the mining party, and it was a time for a grand smoke. Some of them had
+begged Yellow Pine for "fire-water," but not a drop had been obtained.
+Instead of it they had been informed,
+
+"We're not jest that kind of white men. There isn't a pint of
+tangle-foot in this 'ere outfit. Ef I want to murder a feller I'll take
+a rifle to him and do the job clean. I won't go around the bush and
+massacre him with a whiskey-jug."
+
+The red men understood perfectly well that there was no "fire-water,"
+but that was all they gathered. Plenty of smoking tobacco they did
+obtain, and it was a grand addition to the dignity of their "council,"
+if every half-naked brave with a pipe in his mouth had a right to
+consider himself a councillor. They all smoked, and they all wondered
+what it was best to do next, and they all said so, and every brave among
+them regretted that it was out of the question for them to acquire
+possession of the quadrupeds ridden and driven by Judge Parks and his
+men. The Big Tongue and a few of the younger braves even went so far as
+to "talk war," but the wiser heads merely grunted at the suggestions
+volunteered. The Big Tongue had much to say to the smokers nearest him
+concerning a pale-face warrior whose scalp was among his own treasures.
+Ha-ha-pah-no was not there to make any sly remarks as to how he actually
+obtained such a trophy as that and some others on which his reputation
+as a warrior mainly rested. They sat up until they had smoked all the
+wisdom out of several pipes of tobacco to each warrior, but did not seem
+to be any nearer a conclusion. The camp was under the special charge of
+One-eye, but that dog was becoming quiet and solemn. His especial master
+had departed, he knew not whither. All the bones in camp now belonged to
+him, and he had no time to bury so much as one of them. He was not fond
+of tobacco, and as soon as the smoking began he walked out of camp to
+patrol the edge of the woods and to keep all the eye left him on duty
+against possible intruders. He had no faith in a country which was
+evidently infested by pale-faces.
+
+If he had known more about that valley and the region into which it
+led, he would have had an even worse opinion of it. The fact that it
+contained a large stream of water had already suggested many things to
+the experienced mind of Long Bear. All such water, he well knew, kept on
+running, no matter what might be its crooks and turnings. If he and his
+braves could have followed that stream far enough while they were
+smoking and talking over plans, they might have reached a place where it
+turned a corner of the mountains and was joined by another and larger
+stream. The two in partnership were able to float a canoe. There was no
+canoe afloat there, but there was something yet more important away on
+down, a pretty long way, below the fork made by the junction of the two
+streams. There was a camp occupied by red warriors only, without one
+squaw to be seen in it, and it was therefore the camp of a "war-party."
+It was accompanied by a large drove of ponies, horses, and mules, and
+some of these had saddles and others carried packs. These were signs
+that the war-party had been successful and that pale-faces had been the
+sufferers. Every quadruped visible wore an air of being more or less
+fatigued, in token of having been driven or ridden both fast and far.
+From this it might have been gathered that these red men, however
+successful had been their expedition, believed or feared that they were
+followed by somebody whom they preferred to get away from. All these
+signs told the exact truth; it was also true that some pains had been
+taken to discover whether or not the supposed pursuit continued.
+
+At the very hour when One-eye was making the best use he could of the
+bright moonshine in front of his own camp, and knew nothing at all about
+this other, a tall man stood in the deep shadow of a pine-tree, miles
+and miles down stream from the resting-place of the war-party. The
+bridle of a horse hung over his right arm, but the animal stood as
+motionless as did his master, and both were intently watching a dark
+shape that rode nearer and could be seen more and more clearly, and that
+paused at last upon the river-bank within thirty yards. Just as it did
+so there came from under the shadow of the pine-tree a flash and a sharp
+report, and all the upper part of the dark shape on the bank fell
+suddenly to the earth, uttering a loud, fierce yell.
+
+"Got him!" was shouted from under the pine-tree, and the man walked out,
+leading his horse, while instantly there could be heard the sound of
+galloping hoofs beyond him. In a minute or so more a stern, hoarse voice
+rang out.
+
+"Halt! What is it, Garry?"
+
+"Got him, captain. 'Nother of them 'Paches. He won't carry back no news.
+Dead as a mackerel. Reckon they can't be far away now."
+
+"We've taken pretty good care of their scouts, anyhow."
+
+"Jest so many the less to fight when we come up with 'em. They'll
+outnumber us bad enough, I reckon, best we can make of it."
+
+"Back to camp, Garry. Corporal Peters, take the same post, with two men.
+There may be more of them."
+
+"All right, captain."
+
+There was a little more talking done, but these seemed to be a somewhat
+quiet set of men. There were six of them besides the captain. They were
+all dressed in blue, and wore brass buttons and carried short-barrelled
+carbines and sabres. A good look at them would have recalled to the mind
+of Two Arrows all the arguments he had ever heard as to the wisdom of
+keeping the peace with the pale-faces. When they reached the camp, after
+"changing the guard" at Garry's river-side post, it was easy to see that
+their entire force consisted of several times as many men of the same
+sort. Every man was on his feet, wide awake and waiting for orders. One
+squad of five stood with each man's hand upon the bridle of a saddled
+horse, ready to mount, just as the first squad must have been, when it
+heard the warning report of Garry's carbine. A company of United States
+cavalry, veteran Indian fighters, following a "hot trail," keeps itself
+wonderfully ready for action. It is not easy to take such men by
+surprise. Now, however, at the word of command, all was instantly quiet
+again. The actual meaning of the alarm was rapidly told from man to man,
+and several remarked:
+
+"Good for Garry! We'll catch 'em yet."
+
+All who had a right to go to sleep, did so as unconcernedly as if they
+had been in a hotel. On the whole, it looked as if something else than
+peace were on its way into the valley where One-eye was keeping watch
+for the smokers. The last man to lie down was the captain, and one of
+the wide-awake squad nodded at him and said to another,
+
+"If there was forty alarms 'fore sun-up, old Grover'd be the first man
+to turn out every time."
+
+"Not much reg'lation 'bout him."
+
+"But there's lots of fight."
+
+"He can get more hard work out of men and hosses, and he can do more
+himself, and he can sleep less, and say less about it all, than any
+other captain I ever served under."
+
+That, therefore, was the kind of soldiers from whom the Apaches were
+wisely trying to get away, and Garry's carbine had destroyed their
+prospect of learning how very near he and his might be. It looked very
+much as if two days more of hard riding would bring them into a sort of
+trap, with the mountains before and the cavalry behind. Still, even
+then, there would be the pass, if they knew where to find it. There
+also were One-eye and all of his men and Sile Parks and his party; and
+the wicked old mule, too, with his command, was in the valley somewhere.
+Only a few days earlier the entire sweep of forest and "open and
+mountain-side" had been unoccupied by anything more dangerous or more
+interesting than wild game and the wild animals that fed on it. It is
+very curious how suddenly immigrants will sometimes pour into a new
+country if there is a good trail pointing out the way.
+
+The spot chosen by Yellow Pine for the camp of the mining party was by a
+dancing little brook which came down from the mountain to the right of
+them, and the path by which they travelled that day had barely kept them
+outside of the rocky slopes. Some coyotes came prowling around, to yelp
+over the faint smell of roasted meat that floated out to them from the
+camp-fires. Once during the night the cry of a wandering cougar came
+wailing through the silence and was followed by that of a horned owl who
+had noiselessly flapped near enough to blink his great eyes at the
+blaze. For all that, it was the loneliest kind of a place, and the hours
+went by until sunrise without the smallest real disturbance or hint of
+perils to come.
+
+Judge Parks himself was on the watch in the first gray of dawn, and the
+camp was dim enough even after there were rosy tints upon the distant
+mountain summits. He stood gazing at these and leaning upon his rifle,
+when Yellow Pine walked out to take his customary survey of matters.
+
+"We're going to have a fine day, jedge."
+
+"Splendid weather. Pine, just think of all this magnificent country as
+it will be when it's settled. Farms, towns, villages, mines, railways,
+factories--"
+
+"There won't be any game, then, or any red Indians, either."
+
+"There isn't a finer country in all the world. The new time is coming,
+Pine."
+
+"Of course it is. Our mine's coming first thing. We'll get there 'fore
+sundown. Wish I knew what else was coming."
+
+"Afraid of anything?"
+
+"Got a curious feeling in my back. Always have it when there's something
+up. It's as much like the rheumatiz as it is like anything."
+
+"Guess that's what it is, then."
+
+"I dunno 'bout that. I've had all sorts of things happen when I had this
+'ere feeling onto me."
+
+"Exactly, Pine. I've had dinner happen to me a good many times just when
+I had a sort of feeling it was coming. Soon as I got right down hungry I
+knew it was a sure sign. I say, look at those boys."
+
+"Going a-fishing. I'd call it--Well, it's a good thing for 'em to do.
+They can't miss bringing in a good string. Sile, see here."
+
+"Halloo!"
+
+"Get back with some for breakfast if you can. We'll be right here till
+the critters have done feeding. Catch a heap."
+
+"All right," shouted Sile. "He says the water's full of 'em."
+
+"Of course it is."
+
+"Sile," said his father, "don't throw away your time on fly-fishing. Use
+bait, and pull 'em right in. They'll bite."
+
+"I'm going to spoon for 'em. Can't find any bait."
+
+"Never mind, jedge," said Pine. "I've seen trout in some of these
+mountain streams jump for a bare hook quick as it tetched the water.
+There's too many on 'em, and they get the hungriest kind."
+
+"They won't mind much what they jump at, that's sure. I must say I'd
+like some for breakfast, though."
+
+Yellow Pine and the judge had other matters on hand, and the latter had
+a short nap to take, after his "watch." The animals had to be cared for,
+moreover, before any mere human being had a right to be fed.
+
+The first noise that was made in camp brought Na-tee-kah and
+Ha-ha-pah-no out of their tent, comb and brush in hand. They both made
+sure of their ribbons and that all was in order before they had a word
+to say to anybody. It could not be denied that they were a very bright
+looking and highly ornamented pair, Ha-ha-pah-no being perhaps a little
+ahead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+WONDERFUL FISHING
+
+
+There had been a good deal of discussion of the fishing question between
+the two young friends, for Two Arrows knew nothing of the powers of a
+"spoon-hook." Sile had them of several sizes, and Two Arrows admitted to
+himself that anything so very bright and pretty must have special
+effectiveness. Any of those spoons was brilliant enough to have been
+worn in the hat of a great chief, but the doubt remaining was as to what
+the trout would think of them. The gaudy assortment of artificial flies
+Two Arrows quite turned up his nose at. The fish of the western
+mountains were not in the habit of biting at such things, and could not
+be taught to do so. As to the hooks, however, large and small, anybody
+could see their superiority over such as he was accustomed to using, and
+the lines were elegant. Sile provided him with a rod, and when he
+marched away with it he felt a strong desire to carry it to and through
+his own camp, that everybody he knew might see what an extraordinary
+thing he was doing. No Nez Perce boy that he had ever heard of had been
+able to go a-fishing with a joint-rod and a spoon-hook.
+
+They had but a mile or so to walk in order to reach the nearest bend of
+the little river, and they startled more than one gang of deer on the
+way. Sile had his rifle and Two Arrows had his bow, but the morning had
+been given up to fish, and they stuck to their original purpose in spite
+of all temptation. On the bank of the stream they paused for a moment
+and took a survey of the situation. The water was not more than fifty
+yards wide, and did not seem to be deep, but it ran with rippling
+swiftness.
+
+"That'll do," said Sile. "It's plenty strong enough to carry a spoon.
+You won't have to skitter it a bit."
+
+"Ugh! Heap fish," said Two Arrows, but he did not understand Sile's
+remark and wondered what was to come next. During all his life thus far
+he had never thought of the pale-faces as fishermen, or that they really
+knew anything valuable about such matters. The contents of Sile's box
+had staggered him, and now he looked on in silence while the "Red-head"
+(as Ha-ha-pah-no had named him) put his rod together, setting the reel
+firmly in its socket, and then deftly fitted on the spoon-hook with its
+fine wire "snell." Sile's father was an enthusiastic fisherman and had
+given his son more than a little good schooling. Up went the rod, and
+the line swing lightly back for a second, and then, with a perfect cast,
+the brilliant "spoon" flew over the water and alighted among the swift
+ripples. The current caught it and whirled it away, the polished silver
+glittering and dancing near the surface, but it was visible only for an
+instant. There came a rush and a plunge, and away out of the water
+sprang a splendid trout with Sile's hook fastened firmly in his too
+hasty jaw.
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted Sile. "Got him!"
+
+"Ugh! Good," said Two Arrows. "Break!"
+
+"No, he won't break any line. See!"
+
+Two Arrows did see a great deal in a very few moments. The tough rod
+bent, and Sile gave a little line at first; but the trout made an
+up-stream rush and was guided to the shore. He was lying on the grass,
+quietly enough, just after that. So was another and another, and now Two
+Arrows had mastered the idea and was at work with energy. It surprised
+Sile to see how perfectly his red friend could handle his new tools, but
+it was well that the rod was a stout one, for the reel and its uses were
+as yet an enigma. It was exciting sport, for there was hardly any
+waiting for bites whatever. The trout were on the lookout for their
+breakfasts, and nobody had ever before offered them such attractive
+little silvery fish as they now saw, every now and then struggling
+through the water, all ready to be seized upon.
+
+It was a great lesson to Two Arrows, and it promised a capital breakfast
+to the mining party.
+
+"Guess we've got enough," said Sile at last. "We'd better hurry back to
+camp."
+
+At that moment a strange and unexpected sound came to his ears from some
+point lower down the stream, and Two Arrows came near to dropping his
+rod into the water.
+
+"Ugh! Catch now!"
+
+"Yes, you've caught your fish, but what's that? It sounds for all the
+world like a mule braying."
+
+"Two Arrows know him. Heap bad mule. Nez Perce lose all pony. Find 'em
+now. Red-head come?"
+
+Sile looked with admiration upon the fiercely excited face of the young
+Nez Perce. The dark eyes fairly glittered with pleasure and expectation,
+and he was striving, with all the words and signs he was master of, to
+convey an idea of the loss his band had sustained, and now once more,
+and more sonorously, the "morning bugle" of a mule in command of
+something came ringing up the river.
+
+"I'll string the trout," said Sile, as he began to do so, "then I'll go
+with you. It'll be grand if we can really catch them."
+
+"Two Arrows catch 'em all, heap time. Get one, get all tribe."
+
+"Wish we were mounted. Better go to camp and get some horses."
+
+"Ugh! No wait. Find now."
+
+There was no such thing as resisting his eager urgency, and Sile
+himself began to get excited. The trout made two magnificent "strings,"
+but were pretty heavy to carry, and it was decided to hang them and the
+two rods upon the limb of a tree until a visit should have been paid to
+the owner of that bray. All this was quickly attended to, and then the
+two fishermen were instantly changed into pony-hunters.
+
+Not even his adventure with the grisly, or his timely success with the
+two bisons when his people were starving, had so aroused the ambition of
+Two Arrows. The future fortunes of his entire band seemed to him to
+depend once more upon his own individual good-conduct. Sile thought he
+had never seen so proud looking a human being.
+
+The speckled beauties from the river swung heavily from the high but
+bending branch as the two boys hurried away, but these were almost
+forgotten by both in the course of a few minutes. They did not have to
+follow far the windings of the stream before Two Arrows, who was
+somewhat in the advance, dodged behind a tree and beckoned eagerly to
+Sile:
+
+"Ugh! Look! Pony!"
+
+Just beyond him was a grassy glade glistening with morning dew, and
+scattered over it was the entire command of the wicked old mule, the
+wealth and the comfort together of the Nez Perce pony-riders. To have
+been seen by them prematurely would have been a pretty sure way of
+stampeding them again, and the occasion called for prudence and good
+management. Some of the animals still had their long hide lariats
+hanging and dragging from their necks and some had not, but Two Arrows
+noted one of the former, a very good-looking pony, feeding at no great
+distance from a clump of hazel and willows beyond him. He made Sile
+understand his purpose of getting into that cover, and then all that
+Sile had to do was to watch him. Down dropped the young Nez Perce, and
+from that moment there was little of him to be seen, except when his
+gayly ribboned head now and then showed itself, peering over the wet,
+luxuriant grass and weeds. Then a slight movement among the willows told
+of his safe arrival, and still the runaways were feeding quietly,
+unaware of the nearness of human beings or other enemies. Sile peered
+from behind his tree and watched the movements of the particular pony
+his friend had pointed out. He was a brisk sort of fellow, and he was
+working at his breakfast busily. Nearer and nearer he fed his way
+towards a projecting growth of the hazel-bushes and Sile perceived a
+promising shake in one of these. There was something more than a shake
+hidden by them, for in about one minute more a light, lithe, graceful
+human form sprang suddenly out. A quick grasp at the trailing lariat, a
+rapid twist of a loop of it around the animal's face, a buoyant leap,
+and Two Arrows was a mounted Indian once more. Every beast of the
+wicked old mule's startled command was familiar with the tones of the
+whoop of triumph which called them all away from their grass and their
+freedom. They had many a time been driven in from other pastures by that
+particular yell, and it seemed now as if each of them took a swift look
+around him and listened for the expected voice of One-eye. It should
+naturally have followed that whoop. After that it was as if they had
+only been waiting for somebody to come, and wished to say as much. Their
+commander put out his head and brayed lustily, and so did all the other
+mules, but the ponies took the matter more soberly. Whether or not they
+had already begun to discover warning signs of cougars, wolves, grislies
+and other insecurities of their situation, they actually felt better to
+be once more in the company of a human being whom they knew. Sile
+wondered greatly to see how readily the whole drove obeyed the shouts of
+Two Arrows, and permitted themselves to be gathered and driven. He
+refused the invitation given him to mount one of the ponies, for he had
+doubts of his success in managing it barebacked and with such a
+halter-bridle. He explained as well as he could that he preferred to
+carry the fish and the rods and the news to his own camp, leaving Two
+Arrows to handle his captives as best he could. That was just what Two
+Arrows wanted. He was almost afraid lest the pale-faces should send him
+some help and so take from him part of the glory of his fresh
+achievement. There was little danger of that, as Sile was soon to
+discover. He hurried back after his fish in a state of such excitement
+that he very nearly forgot that he was in a new country. He would have
+forgotten it more completely if it had not been for something he heard
+as he drew nearer the spot where he had left his speckled game.
+
+"What's that?" he suddenly exclaimed, stopping short and listening.
+"What's all that growling? I never heard a bear, but it might be one."
+
+So it might be, indeed, in a country where they were so plentiful, but
+it was not a grisly this time. It was only a common black bear, very
+fond of fish, and tremendously disgusted at the failure of his efforts
+to get hold of some which had plainly been caught and left expressly for
+him. Standing upon his hind-feet, and springing up as far as he was
+able, his paws just reached the end of the longest string of trout and
+set it a swinging. Two Arrows had wisely insisted upon bending down a
+branch and hanging the fish pretty high, Indian fashion, and Sile now
+saw the reason of it.
+
+"He'd bring 'em all down as it is if I should let him take his time to
+it. What shall I do now? Oh, but ain't I glad I brought along my
+rifle!"
+
+He was glad of it, very; but when he raised it in the direction of that
+bear the sight seemed to dance in all directions, and he could not get a
+good aim, short as was the distance.
+
+Sile had the "buck ague."
+
+Even old hunters sometimes find their nerves playing tricks on them. It
+would not do to miss a shot then and there, and Sile lowered his rifle.
+
+"I'll try a rest and see about this thing. I must hit that bear in the
+head the first time, sure." He stepped behind a tree and put his rifle
+through the crotch of a projecting branch. That tree had no shake in it;
+and the barrel grew steady. "He is getting up on his hind-feet again.
+Now for him."
+
+The bear poised himself, with uplifted head, and, just as he lifted his
+paw for another scratch at the fish, Sile pulled the trigger.
+
+The range was very short, the rest was a good one, the sight was quick
+but careful, and the bit of lead went straight to its intended place
+under the ear of that black bear. He would need no more fish from that
+time forth, and he pitched heavily forward upon the ground.
+
+"Wait a moment, Sile! Never run in on a b'ar till yer sure of him.
+Reckon he's dead, though. Stand where you are, my boy!"
+
+"Why, father! Yellow Pine! You here? I never expected to see you."
+
+"Well, my son," said the judge, "we thought we'd come over and see what
+luck you were having. Where's Two Arrows?"
+
+"We watched ye jest a moment," said Pine. "Allers take sight from a rest
+if you can get one. You did that thing fine. There's the making of a
+prime good shot in ye."
+
+"I shook all over at first," said Sile, walking a little nearer the
+bear.
+
+"Buck ager. I've had it. He won't come to. If he does it's no matter,
+now we've got here. I'll come back after breakfast with a hoss and fetch
+him in. Where's the redskin?"
+
+Sile rapidly explained the cause of his delay in getting back to camp;
+but what he did not know or explain was the fact that the Nez Perces had
+had no idea that their drove of lost ponies had wandered into that
+valley.
+
+"Glad they've got 'em," said Yellow Pine. "Every hoof of ourn'll be
+safer from this time on, treaty or no treaty, good Indians or bad."
+
+"Would they really steal from us, after all?" asked Sile, soberly.
+
+"Steal hosses? Well, now, that isn't jest the way it looks to them.
+They're brought up to it. All hoss-flesh is fair game to a plains
+redskin. The more they have of their own, the easier it is to get 'em to
+keep their hands off from them that you have and to make believe good.
+These 'ere Nez Perces ain't a bad lot. Hope we won't run afoul of any
+that's worse than they are, and more of 'em."
+
+Sile was proud of his fish, and tenfold prouder of his bear, but the
+proudest person in the mining-camp that morning was Na-tee-kah. Her
+wonderful brother had earned some more glory. The next proudest being
+was probably Ha-ha-pah-no, and she asked, several times in succession,
+of both herself and Na-tee-kah, and without any satisfactory answer,
+
+"What Big Tongue say, now? Tell how he caught pony?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+A FULL CORRAL
+
+
+Two arrows was a born horseman. About the earliest memory he had was of
+riding rather than walking. The pony he was now on was one which had
+carried him many a time. As soon as he had cut and trimmed a very long
+and serviceable tree-branch all the other ponies and the mules perfectly
+understood what it was for.
+
+He was in a serious hurry. It was the most important affair of his life.
+So far as he could see, the only ponies now missing from the drove were
+the ones which had not been stampeded, but had remained in camp to be
+eaten. All the rest had been rescued and kept in good order by the
+genius and generalship of the wicked old mule. Two Arrows could but wish
+that a dozen or so of the best dogs had been stampeded at the same time.
+He rode busily hither and thither, shouting vigorously and lashing his
+charges away from every tuft of grass they lingered over. He knew
+exactly where to find his people, and he meant to find them quickly. The
+distance was nearly the same that had been travelled the day before by
+the mining party, but the loaded wagons had taken more time upon it
+than loose ponies would, followed by an excited boy with a long "gad."
+
+The fact that he had eaten no breakfast was one which hardly occurred to
+Two Arrows, in his eager determination to get his runaways home in the
+shortest possible order. Once they were headed in the right direction
+there was but little difficulty in guiding them rightly, and now the old
+mule took his accustomed place in the advance. It was as if he had
+repented and was even willing to get some credit for leading his
+reformed command in the way they should go.
+
+The Nez Perce community had all eaten a good breakfast that morning;
+there had been no vegetables, to be sure, but not a soul had missed
+them. With plenty of fish and fresh meat they had all that red Indians
+expect to be provided with, and they asked for no more. Their kind of
+human life can be kept a-going upon a very narrow diet. The laziest
+brave in camp was well fed, but for all that there was a general air of
+dejection and despondency. Long Bear himself sat in front of his lodge,
+cross-legged and moody, all the forenoon: his children were away from
+him, on a visit to the pale-faces; his ponies were away upon another
+visit, he could not guess with whom; his dogs, with the solitary
+exception of One-eye, had all visited the camp-kettles. His only
+remaining consolation seemed to be his pipe, and he was rapidly and
+extravagantly using up all the tobacco he had obtained from Yellow Pine.
+The shadow of the mighty maple near him grew shorter until it had little
+more left to lose and could almost announce the arrival of midday. Just
+then there arose, at the edge of the woods, a long, ear-piercing howl,
+followed by such a volley of yelps and barking as can only be fired off
+by a very remarkable dog. One-eye was informing the camp that something
+great was drawing near, and was doing his best to make up for the
+absence of the other dogs.
+
+The Nez Perce warriors went for their weapons instinctively but somewhat
+listlessly, until they heard a tremendous whoop join in with the barking
+of One-eye and recognized the powerful voice of the Big Tongue. He could
+out-whoop any other brave he knew of, and he was now doing his best. He
+had been strolling out towards the open country when One-eye began, and
+had found and seized upon a sudden heap of unexpected glory.
+
+Away in advance of his command, farther and farther, had wisely trotted
+the long-legged, long-eared, long-absent wicked old mule. Not another
+quadruped was in sight when One-eye gave the alarm. The Big Tongue
+bounded forward as if he were charging upon a beaten enemy, and the mule
+did but whinny affectionately when he caught the remains of the lariat
+at the place where it had been gnawed asunder, and sprang triumphantly
+upon the back of the recaptured mule.
+
+Whoop followed whoop as the happy warrior rode his prize towards the
+camp, and the entire band, squaws and children included, poured out
+under the trees to rejoice that they now had a mule as well as a dog.
+Long Bear came among the rest. Ha-ha-pah-no was not there to make
+unpleasant remarks, but the old chief knew that mule very well and he
+knew that by no chance had he returned to his owners of his own free
+will. He would have remained more contentedly with a man who had found
+or stolen him. Long Bear was positive that he had not followed his
+masters lovingly across the mountains, and that he need not make any
+pretence of having done so. He could hardly have believed that the mule
+was there at all but that he could see him, with the Big Tongue sitting
+upon him to be admired.
+
+The old chief turned and looked keenly and wistfully across the grassy
+rolls, and so did several others of the wiser warriors. There was quite
+a rise of ground at a little distance and One-eye was making for it as
+fast as his legs could carry him. Suddenly, as if by a common impulse,
+all the woods rang with a full chorus of whooping. Over the crest of
+that green ridge came galloping pony after pony and mule after mule, in
+a confused rush, and then a shrill shout arose beyond, and they could
+shortly see Two Arrows, gayly ribboned, ornamented, mounted, dashing
+madly back and forth and lashing forward the rear-guard of that
+battalion.
+
+Long Bear folded his arms and stood erect and still, as if he were
+trying to hold himself in. His own boy, and therefore he himself, had
+done another mighty deed.
+
+"Ugh! Two Arrows! Young chief! Find pony all alone."
+
+The Big Tongue tried hard to look as if he had found the mule, but it
+did not seem to fit, somehow, and twice he opened his mouth widely and
+shut it again in silence; there was no whoop ready to come. Every other
+brave had a score or more quite ready, but Two Arrows grew silent as he
+came nearer and rode more sedately. There was almost an air of
+stateliness about him when at last he followed the trail of his
+important cavalcade in under the shadows of the forest.
+
+It was not becoming for him to volunteer, in boyish haste, an
+explanation of his utterly unlooked-for exploit. Even the gray-heads
+felt that he was entitled to a respectful and dignified reception, and
+Long Bear himself stepped forward and inquired, in due form, precisely
+how that wonderful rescue had been accomplished. Now that the question
+was asked of him, Two Arrows was willing enough to tell the entire
+story, and to point to all the animals as witnesses to the truth of it.
+As fast as he told it, the more or less distorted facts went swiftly
+round from lip to lip among the squaws and younger people. It was almost
+unlucky for the Big Tongue to remark, dignifiedly,
+
+"Boy find pony. Warrior ride him;" for a half-grown warrior near him
+added,
+
+"Boy _there_. Big Tongue _here_. Same way hunt buffalo."
+
+It sounded a little like Ha-ha-pah-no, and the Big Tongue was silenced.
+He and the rest now listened to the answers of Two Arrows as to his
+visit, and he gave a full account of the good treatment he had received.
+It looked as if honors had fairly been heaped upon him and Na-tee-kah,
+and, for their sakes, upon Ha-ha-pah-no. Some of the older squaws
+shortly picked up the annoying fact concerning the latter that she had
+learned how to make coffee, and that her hair was now brushed and combed
+and made shiny. They knew what combs were. She would probably wear one
+now. She would never again be the same woman in her own estimation, they
+were sure of that. She had always held her head high enough, for her
+husband was a renowned brave and her tongue was always in good order.
+
+The drove of ponies and mules was the centre of attraction, after Two
+Arrows had finished his recital, and every Nez Perce searched it
+eagerly for his own. It was decided to send off several braves at once,
+with some squaws and pack-ponies, to bring through the pass the lodges
+and other materials they had hidden near the camp of their starvation.
+Two Arrows ate his breakfast and dinner in one meal, and was then bidden
+to mount a pony at once and ride away after his pale-face friends, with
+the strongest assurances that the Nez Perces regarded them as so many
+brothers. Long Bear also sent a handsome cougar-skin to Sile, as a
+proper acknowledgment of the fact that he had been a looker-on at the
+rescue of the quadrupeds from the misguiding leadership of the bad old
+mule. Two Arrows rode gladly away upon his errand, and some of the
+braves set out at once after the "left baggage." All whom they left
+behind them had now abundant subject-matter for conversation and for
+unlimited "Ughs!" The entire future suddenly brightened up for that band
+of Nez Perces, and they were entirely confident of their ability to
+procure a new supply of dogs. As for One-eye, that sagacious brute
+wandered around the corral, from hoof to hoof, until he knew the facts
+of the case thoroughly. He would have followed Two Arrows, but for the
+stern refusal of Long Bear. He was needed at home all the more now that
+there would be additional watching and barking to be done. On the whole
+he was as well satisfied to have it so, for his accumulation of bone
+treasures was becoming an affair for any dog to think about seriously.
+
+Sile was not exactly a hero when he reached camp, but he was an
+uncommonly hungry boy. It seemed to him that he could eat as many trout
+as Ha-ha-pah-no could broil for him, and he certainly worked at it
+steadily for a long time. Every other human being in camp did the same,
+although some had already made a fair beginning upon venison cuts and
+coffee. All had room for some fresh trout, and all said they would be
+glad of a little bear-meat for a change. Sile was in the saddle promptly
+enough after breakfast, to go and see his bear brought in. He would not
+willingly have missed that, and was only afraid lest it should have been
+stolen in his absence, in spite of the care taken by Yellow Pine to
+throw bushes over it, and give any roving coyote an idea that a trap was
+there. Said Pine, in answer to a question,
+
+"Them critters is too cunnin' for their own good. One on 'em'd sit down
+in front of that there, and howl all day and all night before he'd make
+up his mind to scratch at the brush."
+
+"How'd he guess at a trap?"
+
+"Oh, they're laid on kind o' reg'lar, and he'd smell the b'ar too, and
+he'd know it was somethin' more than ordinary. There's jest one thing
+they ain't cunnin' enough for, and that's a rifle-bullet. They'd dodge
+that if they could see it a comin'."
+
+The bear was found all safe and was brought in and skinned, and Sile
+said to himself,
+
+"Now I've got something better than a deer to tell of when Two Arrows
+gets back again."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE GOLD MINE
+
+
+A proud girl was Na-tee-kah that bright September day, and she took an
+extraordinary amount of pains with her hair. So, for that matter, did
+Ha-ha-pah-no, and Sile could but discern that both treated him with much
+more respect than at first. He had been with Two Arrows at the recovery
+of the ponies, he had killed a buck and a bear, and was evidently able
+to use the weapons of grown-up white braves. He was therefore not a boy
+to be snubbed; and, if it had not been for his unfortunate light
+complexion, he was almost good-looking. At all events he was disposed to
+do his best to be polite, and they were willing to meet him as nearly
+half-way as was consistent with dignity and propriety. They were under
+the especial care of the judge himself, however, and Na-tee-kah derived
+a vast amount of comfort from an occasional look at his very fatherly
+and benevolent face. Her obvious respect for Yellow Pine was mingled
+with something like fear as yet, and she would not have a word to say to
+any of the miners. Horses were furnished to both of them when the camp
+broke up for the day's travelling, and no man in the party was more at
+home upon one, except that a side-saddle was an invention that they had
+never heard of and did not need.
+
+"We'll git to the mine afore night, jedge," said Yellow Pine, when they
+halted for their noon luncheon, and the further information he added
+stimulated all hands to push forward. Not one sign of peril or even of
+human presence, other than their own, did they encounter, and yet the
+other human beings of that region were hourly drawing nearer.
+
+The camp of the Apache marauders broke up at sunrise, with a
+considerable amount of discontented grumbling. A man familiar with their
+dialect, or with only a little of it, could easily have gathered that
+they were eager for news which did not come, and for scouts who did not
+return. Not all of them, to say the least, would ever again come into
+that or any other camp, news or no news. In the absence of any, it was
+plainly a due precaution to push forward even farther beyond the
+supposed pursuit of the men in blue.
+
+There was a good deal more than a mere supposition about that pursuit,
+for Captain Grover and his men were on the trail at as early an hour as
+was consistent with a proper care of their horses, and a hearty
+breakfast all around. They were a fine looking lot of men, bronzed and
+weather-beaten and soldierly. Their uniforms were not exactly in
+"parade" condition, but there was nothing slovenly about them, and their
+weapons were in excellent order. They had several "led-horses," to make
+good the places of any that might become over-wearied, and every animal
+in the troop showed signs of careful grooming. A captain, a lieutenant,
+and thirty men did not seem an overpowering force for a hundred and more
+of Apache warriors to run from, but neither of the two parties could
+have a correct knowledge of the strength of the other. Besides, the main
+object of an Indian raid is never a hard fight, but rather to pick up
+scalps and plunder and get away without serious loss. Red men are
+courageous enough, but they have a strong objection to being shot at or
+sabred, and know that it does not take a great many hard-won victories
+over cavalry, even if they should win them, to about wipe out the
+fighting strength of a tribe.
+
+As for Captain Grover, he had been ordered to follow and "strike" that
+band of Apaches, and compel them to return to their "reservation," and
+he had no other purpose in mind than to obey thoroughly.
+
+"I'll follow them," he remarked to the lieutenant, "as far as they
+choose to go. We've wiped out six of their scouts already."
+
+"Garry," said one of the men at the same moment, "reckon them 'Paches'll
+begin to think this 'ere's an unhealthy crowd to creep in on."
+
+"The more on 'em we can pick off," said Garry, "the fewer we'll have to
+fight at the close."
+
+"Sharp work when that comes, or I'm mistaken, but they can't take hoss
+plunder into the mountains."
+
+As they rode along so cheerily and confidently, it became plainer and
+plainer that those men had small doubt of their ability to deal with any
+ordinary band of red horse-thieves if they could meet them fairly. It
+would hardly have seemed so to an unprejudiced observer of the Apache
+cavalcade that morning. Every warrior was a perfect horseman, and was
+well mounted and well armed. There were lances instead of sabres, but
+the pistols and carbines, or rifles, were just as good as those carried
+by the cavalry. The red men were all trained and experienced soldiers,
+under capable leaders, and it looked as if all they had to do was to
+choose a good position and wait for Captain Grover and his men, and
+destroy them all. As it was, all they seemed to think of was to urge
+their drove of stolen quadrupeds forward. They could not make the best
+of time so encumbered, and when they again halted for the night, the men
+in blue were several miles nearer without one Apache knowing exactly
+where they were. The trail these had made told Captain Grover all he as
+yet needed to know, with the help of one used-up pony that the Indians
+had turned loose to shift for himself.
+
+"Beginning to break down, are they?" said the captain. "I'll strike them
+among the foothills of the ranges within three days."
+
+All that exciting chase was as yet hidden from the red and white men in
+the upper valley, and it was quite possible that they would never know
+anything about it. That depended, in fact, upon whether the Apaches
+should turn to the left or the right when they reached the "forks" of
+the little river.
+
+It was pretty late when Two Arrows again caught up with his pale-face
+friends, and his pony showed signs of very hard riding. If he had been a
+grown-up brave he could not possibly have had so warm a reception,
+except from Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no. These two considered him the
+tallest kind of a young chief already, but all the rest regarded him
+very much as Yellow Pine did, as "the likeliest young redskin he'd ever
+come across."
+
+"I believe he is," said Judge Parks, and Sile had added,
+
+"Father, what wouldn't he know pretty soon if he could learn to read and
+write? He understands everything he sees right away."
+
+"I'd like to try the experiment, Sile, but I don't believe he would ever
+take kindly to books. I'll talk about it some other time. There is
+something else on my mind just now."
+
+There was a good deal upon everybody's mind, and even Sile ceased to
+admire Long Bear's present when Yellow Pine rose in his stirrups and
+pointed forward, shouting.
+
+"There she is, jedge--right back in that there notch!"
+
+Away to the right of them the craggy mountain arose against the sky,
+facing the valley with an uncommonly precipitous wall. In this grim face
+of granite could be seen what looked like a mere indentation. When they
+came to it, however, they discovered that Yellow Pine's "notch" was much
+narrower at its mouth than beyond it, owing to some ancient overturn and
+"landslide" of great rocks and small, which almost shut it in. Beyond
+this barrier, the opening through which was a mere roadway, there were
+several acres of good grass and trees. There were springs of water also,
+and the whole place was a good one to camp in, so long as no more
+bowlders should break loose from the slopes above and come crashing down
+into it. It was plain that none had done so for a long time past, and
+the wagons were hauled fearlessly in. There was nobody with them but
+their drivers, for every other human being had galloped on after Yellow
+Pine and Judge Parks until the old miner drew rein in front of a great
+mass of shattered, ragged, dirty looking quartz rock. In front of this a
+deep hole had been dug by somebody, and near it were traces of old
+camp-fires, bones of deer and buffalo, some rusty tin cans, and a
+worn-out pickaxe.
+
+"That's the lode, jedge. It's all I ever told ye it was. Safest place in
+the world, too, now the 'Paches are gethered onto their reservation. We
+can go right to work to-morrow mornin'."
+
+Judge Parks was at that moment examining some bits of quartz he had
+picked up. He took from his pocket a magnifying-glass and closely
+inspected stone after stone.
+
+"It looks like it, Pine. I haven't a doubt of the value of that vein.
+Look at that, Sile."
+
+Sile looked with a face more deeply flushed than even his father's.
+
+"Why, it's exactly like Yellow Pine's old specimens, so far as I can
+see; no more gold in these than in them."
+
+"That's just the point, Sile. He brought me fair specimens. There isn't
+any humbug or delusion about it. It's all right, Pine, so far as I can
+see. As for safety, the mouth of this notch could be made a perfect fort
+of, if we had to quit mining and go to fighting."
+
+"Guess we won't ever have to do that. Game's plenty, and so is fish, and
+we won't have to use up our provisions. Chance for you, Sile. You can
+keep the camp-fires going. Fetch in some fish, first thing in the
+morning, and then go for all the fresh meat there is. What we don't eat
+we can cure and put away."
+
+"I'll do the hunting!" shouted Sile. "What are the men all chopping
+for? There's plenty of dry dead wood."
+
+"I'd call it!" exclaimed Yellow Pine. "If they ain't struck with the
+mine-fever now. Jest look at 'em, jedge."
+
+"Pine," shouted one of the men from a little distance, "this 'ere shelf
+by the spring's the spot you marked for the shelter, isn't it?"
+
+"All right, boys," he responded. "Thirty feet by twelve, and an ell for
+cooking and an ell for stowage."
+
+"Nine feet high to the front, and slope to seven and a half, and lay on
+the mud as you go?"
+
+"That's it. Pitch in, boys."
+
+"I declare," said the judge; "they haven't eaten a mouthful and they've
+begun building."
+
+"They're old hands, and the sight of that show of pay-rock has kind o'
+stirred 'em up. It's all correct, though, jedge. We can look for storms
+every now and then, and the shelter won't be up any too soon if one of
+them busters should happen to be on its way."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A NEW SETTLEMENT
+
+
+There is nothing else like enthusiasm. That band of bearded miners went
+into their work like a crowd of boys building a snow fort. Ha-ha-pah-no
+and Na-tee-kah took full possession of the camp-fires and cooked for
+dear life. Judge Parks and Yellow Pine finished their inspection of the
+hole in the rock and of the ore which had been dug out of it, and then
+they went to help Sile and Two Arrows care for the horses and mules.
+
+"We won't unpack much till the house is up," said the judge.
+
+"You're satisfied with the outcrop, are ye?" asked Pine, a little
+proudly.
+
+"It's all you said it was, and that is all I could ask for. We can run a
+tunnel right in now, so we can work straight along, under cover, in bad
+weather."
+
+"That's the thing to do. I believe it will pay for itself from the very
+start."
+
+"If it does," said the judge, "it will be an uncommonly good mine for a
+gold-mine. Not one in ten but what empties the pocket of its first
+owner."
+
+"This one won't, then. It's as good a property as there is, and we can
+cover all the ledge with claims and get a good title to 'em. It's fresh
+ground, and no kind of interference--"
+
+"Unless the Apaches interfere."
+
+"They don't often come east so far as this, 'specially now that most of
+'em have been cornered. Mining in these parts isn't the risky kind of
+business it used to be. Must say, though, that I felt kind o' streaked
+sometimes, last year, when I was a prospectin'."
+
+"There was risk in it, all alone; but nine rifles and a good breastwork
+will make a tremendous difference."
+
+"They will that, and there's no sech thing as takin' us in the rear.
+They can't climb over that ridge, nor that one."
+
+It was later than usual when anybody lay down that evening. Two Arrows
+and his sister had heard of mines before, but they had never seen one,
+and the whole matter was a great curiosity.
+
+These uncommonly well-behaved pale-faces meant to dig a hole into the
+side of that mountain and get gold out of it, and they were going to
+build a stone "lodge" and stay there. Sile explained to them, as well as
+he could, a purpose he had formed of making a great farm in that valley,
+and raising all sorts of things to feed the miners, and of having a town
+there, with schools and churches for the Indians, and a public library
+and a saw-mill and a grist-mill and a blacksmith-shop and a hotel. The
+main idea obtained by Two Arrows was that in a little while the valley
+would be full of horses of the best kinds. Na-tee-kah went beyond that
+and got a picture into her mind of a big stone lodge, where a trader
+would live and have for sale a wonderful heap of all such things as the
+white squaws dressed themselves up with. She went to sleep at last, with
+her black eyes half dazzled by a vision of bright colors and
+glitterings, and had a dream that the trader had come and was ready to
+trade almost anything for the skin of a grisly bear. As for Two Arrows,
+not all that could be said about mines and farms could drive from him
+one grand ambition, that had taken deep root as he studied the many
+possessions of those pale-faces. Somehow or other, he meant to obtain a
+rifle. His father had a good one, and so had each of the acknowledged
+warriors of his band, but all the boys were as yet forced to put up with
+bows and arrows. Some of the braves even carried revolvers, and the
+hunting had been so poor that they were well supplied with ammunition.
+Two Arrows had learned from Sile that there were extra rifles and
+pistols, and no end of cartridges, in those wagons, but everybody knew
+that all that sort of thing had to be paid for, and Two Arrows lay awake
+a long time, feverishly wondering what he could find among those
+mountains to buy a rifle with, and a revolver and some ammunition. He
+felt that he should be a mere boy, after all, and not a full-grown
+brave, until he could exchange his bow and arrows for weapons which
+would kill a bear at long range. He wished never to have to wait for
+another on the top of any rock. It was the only point in which he could
+see that Sile had any real advantage over him to balance the humiliation
+of being a pale-face instead of the son of a Nez Perce chief. He was
+compelled to admit one more in the morning, for he had forgotten the
+fishing-rods and hooks and lines, and Sile was up before it was light,
+ready to begin his duty of keeping the camp supplied with provisions.
+
+"We won't walk this time," he said, in a very business-like way. "We'll
+just ride across to the river and catch enough for breakfast and hurry
+back. None of the men can be spared from their work."
+
+The sun arose very grandly over the magnificent mountain ranges, but he
+showed them all that wonderful scenery in vain. Sile was fishing for
+provisions for his father's men, and Two Arrows thought of rifles and
+pistols every time he pulled in a trout. He did not speak of the weight
+upon his mind as yet, but he was gradually forming a purpose of doing so
+at the earliest opportunity. It was almost like going to an open market
+for fish, except that there was nothing to pay for them. As fast as a
+line could be thrown, and its little silvery trap set a whirling, the
+hook was seized by some trout or other, large or small. Some of them
+were so heavy as to test the toughness of the upper joints of the rods,
+and now Two Arrows made a discovery. He had watched Sile work his reel
+until he had caught the secret of it, and could let a strong fish run a
+little before he drew him in. It was an idea that suited him exactly,
+and it made the fun more exciting.
+
+"I say," exclaimed Sile, before a great while, "they're awful eaters,
+but they can't use up all we've got now. Let's just string 'em, and ride
+back to camp."
+
+The movements of his hands, along with his words, explained his meaning,
+and Two Arrows pulled in his last fish with an "Ugh! good," for answer.
+He was doing one thing more rapidly than anybody had an idea of. He was
+a born "linguist," as many Indians are, and he was gathering words of
+English at a great rate. He was not sure he could yet utter correctly
+quite a number that he fully understood on hearing them, and his pride
+forbade him to make blunders. His trouble was with his tongue and not
+with his ears, as many an older fellow has found when he undertook to
+make a speech before critical people.
+
+The camp was all astir when they rode in, and the coffee-pot was already
+upon the fire.
+
+"That's the checker, my boy," said Yellow Pine, when he saw the fish.
+"We sha'n't do any starving. Let your horse feed a while, and then you
+and he go for some fresh meat. Look at _them!"_
+
+There was a great grin upon his face as he pointed at Judge Parks and
+the miners. The judge had taken up a heavy hammer and was busily
+breaking masses of quartz to examine their quality, and the men had
+again gone at their building.
+
+"Nary one of 'em's eaten a mouthful," said Pine, just as a chopper
+rested from his work to shout,
+
+"We'll have enough shingles rived for the roof by the time them fellers
+gits their wall up;" and another said,
+
+"Pine, that there clay-bank by the spring's the very best kind. It's
+most as good as mortar."
+
+"'Tis if you temper it well," said Pine. "Call 'em to breakfast.
+There'll be fish br'iled and ready in no time."
+
+Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah each had a frying-pan, and the fish were put
+in as fast as they were cleaned, but some of the men could not wait for
+that. They insisted upon cleaning and cooking for themselves, for, as
+Jonas remarked,
+
+"We can't git at the mine till the shelter's done and the waggins are
+unpacked. We'll have it up in short order."
+
+As soon as he had finished his coffee and trout and "army bread," Sile
+went to take a look at what they were doing, and it made him open his
+eyes. The ground they had chosen, near a fine spring of water, was
+nearly level. They had marked out the lines of the walls they meant to
+build, and then along those lines they had dug a trench about a foot
+deep and two feet wide. No cellar was called for as yet, and the
+mason-work began at once. There was plenty of broken stone to be had,
+and it was rolled or carried with busy eagerness to the men who were
+laying the wall. One man at the clay-bank toiled zealously at the
+important task of mixing and tempering it, while another came and went
+with pailfuls that were used up as fast as he could bring them. The
+stones were laid with their smooth faces inward, and there was not a
+minute wasted in trimming anything for the sake of appearances. Sile
+could hardly believe that so much could have been done is so short a
+time, and he was again astonished when the men returned from breakfast.
+The wall grew at a tremendous rate. He went from that work to the place
+where the choppers were swinging their axes. A tall pine-tree, four feet
+in diameter at the base, was down shortly after the men went at it the
+previous evening, and now two sturdy fellows were making the chips fly
+as if they were chopping for a wager. They were evidently cutting the
+huge trunk into lengths of about three feet, and Sile was studying the
+matter when Two Arrows touched him on the elbow and pointed at the
+choppers.
+
+"Ugh! What for?"
+
+"Wait. Show him by-and-by," said Sile. "Make shingles to cover house."
+
+"Ugh! Big lodge. Heap hard. No fall down. Top?"
+
+"Yes. Make cover. Keep out rain."
+
+"Ugh! Pale-face do a heap. Go away and leave him all," said Two Arrows.
+
+It was the longest sentence he had yet attempted in English, and Sile
+looked at him with some surprise, but he should have remembered that Two
+Arrows had made a beginning long before that, and was but adding to it.
+At all events, he was correct in his conclusion that such a lodge could
+not be carried away, as could those for which Long Bear had sent his
+braves and squaws through the pass. It was perfectly certain that these
+would not loiter anywhere, but would go straight on their errand and
+return, and then the village would once more be under as good a shelter
+as it knew anything about or cared for.
+
+All that day the axes fell, the wall grew fast, and Judge Parks and
+Yellow Pine went on with their examinations and their other preparations
+for "opening the mine;" and all day long some other things went on
+without their knowing it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+DANGER
+
+
+The Apaches, in their encampment away down the river, cooked fish for
+breakfast at about the same hour that the miners did, but their trout
+had not been caught anything like so rapidly. It had required the work
+of several men, up and down the bank, for hours of the previous evening
+and for all the time since daylight, with their imperfect tackle, to get
+in enough for such a war-party. Nor had they cleaned or cooked so
+perfectly, and the fish had been eaten without pepper or salt. There was
+not a plate or a fork in the band, and there was not even a wish for
+coffee.
+
+It was a hasty meal, greedily devoured, and then the marauders were once
+more in the saddle, or riding barebacked, as the case might be. All the
+while that the miners were so enthusiastically raising their stone lodge
+a peril they hardly thought of was pushing nearer and nearer. They knew
+well enough that they were in an Indian country, but were well assured
+that as yet no hostile red men could be aware of their arrival. It was
+also pretty sure that every stroke of work they did added to their
+security, for neither arrow nor bullet will go through a wall of quartz
+and granite two feet in thickness. Judge Parks had ideas of his own as
+to the future protection of the "notch," but the time had not yet come
+to say anything about them.
+
+It was not many hours after the Apaches got in motion before they came
+to the forks of the stream, and here they halted for a general
+consultation. They already had well-mounted scouts ahead in both
+directions, and neither side had yet sent in any suggestion of danger
+discovered. They were evidently familiarly acquainted with the whole
+region, and there were arguments in favor of both lines of advance, but
+a gray-headed old warrior at last settled the question. He had been
+sitting quietly and listening to what others said until his turn seemed
+to come, but now he arose, and all seemed willing to listen. Pointing
+with his long, naked arm up the right fork of the river, he said, in his
+own harsh, gutteral tongue,
+
+"Mountains. When blue-coats come, lose horses. Caught in big trap."
+
+Turning and pointing up the other fork, he said,
+
+"Morning. Hole in mountains. Blue-coats come. Go through hole. Get away.
+Come back some day, when blue-coats go home sick. Ugh!"
+
+It was not a long speech, and it could hardly be described as "eloquent"
+but all the wiser and more influential braves said "Ugh!" and the road
+to the left was decided upon without any more discussion. That also
+decided in advance the course to be followed by Captain Grover and his
+cavalry, when they in their turn should reach the same point. Hour by
+hour they were slowly gaining upon the dangerous horse-thieves they were
+pursuing, and in due time they would surely learn whether or not they
+had a right to rejoice upon catching up with them. They were acting as
+the police and constables of a very disorderly community.
+
+As for Long Bear and his Nez Perces, they had a very good reason for
+lazily hunting and fishing around their present camp until the return of
+the party which had gone for the hidden lodges, and so forth. Very few
+Indians need anything better than an excuse for not doing anything.
+
+Two Arrows was not one of those Indians. Na-tee-kah continually called
+his attention to something new which she had discovered in the ways or
+in the possessions of those pale-faces. She was greatly interested in a
+curious wire "broiler." It opened, and a fish or a steak was put in, and
+it shut up and was put upon the coals, and when the cooking was
+finished, the long handles enabled you to take it off and not burn your
+fingers. There were twenty other things as wonderful as the broiler; and
+the judge had shown her how to wash her hands with soap, and had given
+her a pair of ear-rings and a silver buckle for her new blanket. She
+hardly knew what would come next, but she entirely sympathized with her
+brother in his own dream when he told her what it was.
+
+"Ask pale-face chief," she said.
+
+"Ugh! Laugh. Bow and arrows good enough for boy."
+
+He said it almost bitterly, and Na-tee-kah stamped on the ground sharply
+as she responded,
+
+"Two Arrows is a young chief. Big brave. Not a boy any more. Kill
+grisly. Kill cougar and big-horn. Bring back pony. Great chief in a
+little while. Give him rifle."
+
+Two Arrows had a good enough opinion of himself, but he perfectly
+understood the easy good-nature with which he was treated by Yellow Pine
+and the rest. They regarded Sile as one bright boy and him as another,
+and had no idea of wasting costly rifles and such things upon him. He
+grew almost sullen over it, and was glad to get away from the camp when
+Sile came and asked him to go on a hunt with him.
+
+This time there was a little pride as well as good-sense in his positive
+refusal to borrow a rifle. He was determined to shoot with his own
+weapons or none, and he rode away with no better ones than had been used
+by his tribe before they had ever heard of white men, and long before
+gunpowder had been invented. They were pretty good weapons yet, but
+there was one thing Two Arrows did not dream of. That was that it was
+not such a great number of years since the ancestors of these very
+pale-faces had gone to war and to hunt with bows and arrows vastly
+better than any ever carried by any red Indian in the world. The English
+race were bowmen once, just as they are riflemen now, shooting closer to
+the bull's-eye than any other.
+
+Two Arrows felt that there was a sort of fever upon him. It made him hot
+and restless, and his eyes wandered searchingly in all directions,
+longing for an opportunity to do something which would bring him nearer
+to the prizes he coveted. Sile also was watching keenly the tops and
+branches of every clump of bushes they came to, but it almost seemed as
+if the game had suddenly migrated. It was natural that none should
+linger near the smoke and smell of camp-fires and cookery, but it was
+queer that the two young hunters should canter quietly on for mile after
+mile, and not so much as get a shot at a deer.
+
+"We won't go back without something," said Sile. "I told father so. I
+mean to go right along. We can camp in the woods by ourselves if we
+don't kill anything early enough to get back to-night."
+
+He had some trouble in making his meaning clear to Two Arrows, and the
+ambitious young Nez Perce was in precisely the frame of mind to agree
+with him. They even rode a little faster, and were hardly aware of the
+distance they had travelled. Sile was beginning to grow nervous about
+his reputation as a hunter and to remember that the camp had only a
+three days' supply of fresh meat, in spite of the fish. He believed that
+he had seen everything there was to be seen, but he was mistaken.
+Suddenly Two Arrows uttered a loud, astonished "Ugh!" sprang from his
+pony, and beckoned Sile to do the same, leading him hurriedly towards
+the nearest bushes.
+
+Sile imitated his friend, without any idea of a reason for it, until Two
+Arrows took him by the arm and pointed away to the right towards the
+mountain range. They were on the crest of a high roll of ground, and
+could see for miles in some directions, except as the view was cut off
+by patches and strips of forest.
+
+"Look! 'Pache!"
+
+All that at first appeared to Sile's eyes were some moving black spots;
+but now he was able to show Two Arrows another of the advantages of a
+civilized man over a savage. Slung from his left shoulder was a small
+leathern case, and Two Arrows watched him closely while he opened it,
+took out something silver-mounted and handsome and put it to his eyes.
+Such things had been much discussed in his hearing, and he knew it was
+the "long eye of the pale-faces;" but he had no faith in it until Sile
+made him try it.
+
+"There they are; six of 'em," said Sile. "Then look away down yonder and
+you'll see some more."
+
+"No see us," said Two Arrows. "Come! Heap bad."
+
+So it was, for the dreaded strangers were between them and the
+mountains. For all they knew, they might have ridden past others unseen,
+and these might intercept their return. Sile was only a white boy, and
+in an instant he understood that the young chief was the "captain" of
+their squad of two.
+
+Two Arrows seemed to have the same notion instinctively, for anybody
+could read the look of blank uncertainty upon Sile's face. His binocular
+spy-glass could help him see farther and more accurately than the best
+pair of Indian eyes in the world, but it could not tell him what to do
+next.
+
+"Come!" said Two Arrows, as he led his pony back down the slope and
+towards the forest that skirted the river. This was less than half a
+mile away, but the horses were not mounted until both were well under
+cover of it. It struck Sile that they might safely ride homeward along
+the stream, but Nez Perce training and caution forbade any such risk as
+that. Even the operation of reaching the bank might be full of peril,
+for nobody could guess at what moment they might stumble upon Apache
+warriors, and no others were at all likely to be there. It was most
+unlikely, however, that their enemies were advancing upon both sides of
+the water, and as soon as Two Arrows reached it he rode in. It was a
+wide and therefore shallow place, easily forded, and Sile breathed more
+freely as soon as he was under the shade of the woods beyond. His guide
+and captain pushed right on until they were out in a comparatively open
+reach of country, and then he turned to Sile, his whole face gleaming
+with uncontrollable excitement, and exclaimed,
+
+"Ugh! Ride now. Kill hoss. Save pale-face. Save Nez Perce. Get there
+before Apache. All scalp gone if 'Pache come first."
+
+He suppressed a whoop, but the next bound of his pony explained his
+meaning, and Sile galloped, stride by stride, with him. It was a race
+for life and for the lives of many others; for Two Arrows had briefly
+read that problem when he said to Sile, as he handed him back his glass,
+
+"No squaw. Braves on war-path. No hunt. Kill. Take scalp."
+
+Both were well mounted, and Sile rode well, although by no means so
+completely at home on horseback as was his red friend. His rifle, too,
+was more tiresome to carry than was a light lance, and the bow and
+arrows were now tightly "slung," and required no handling. It would not
+do to wear out their horses in one rush, but they kept on at the highest
+speed at all consistent with a long ride. It was much faster, at all
+events, than the Apaches were likely to travel, unless something new
+should stir them up. By keeping well away from the stream, they were not
+compelled to follow its windings, and could ride more nearly in a
+straight line, only turning out for clumps of trees and similar
+obstructions and paying no attention to game, although they now saw gang
+after gang of deer and a respectable party of bisons.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+SILE'S VICTORY
+
+
+There had been no anxiety at the mine on account of the absent hunters.
+Judge Parks and Yellow Pine had their hands very full of an inspection
+of the cargoes of the two wagons. The men toiled vigorously at the stone
+wall and at the shingle riving. Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah were as busy
+as bees over the lengthening list of marvels put before their eyes. It
+seemed to Na-tee-kah as if Judge Parks must be a kind of magician, or
+else that he had a whole lodge full of "medicine-men" of a rare breed at
+home, who could conjure up for him almost anything he might chose to
+call for. It was no use to try to understand such things as he and
+Yellow Pine were examining. They belonged to the great mystery of
+pale-face life, and a Nez Perce girl could not be expected to guess very
+nearly at their uses. She could comb her hair more carefully, however,
+and discover a new way of doing it up, and she did not know how closely
+she was imitating many pale-face young ladies of about her age, not to
+speak of older ones.
+
+Noon came and went, and there were no signs of returning hunters or of
+game of any sort, but there was no danger of famine in that camp for
+days and days to come.
+
+Judge Parks would hardly have unpacked mining-tools and "fixings," as
+Pine called them, so composedly if he could have known what was going
+forward farther down the valley and on the other side of the little
+river.
+
+On, on rode Two Arrows and his companion, and it almost seemed as if
+both were growing older. It was no sort of boy-play to ride like that,
+with such tremendous consequences depending upon them. Sile's merry face
+put on a tremendously sober and earnest expression, while Two Arrows
+looked as if he were already a chief in command of a war-party. So he
+was, only that the party was a very small one.
+
+Mile after mile went by, and the horses held out capitally; but at last
+Two Arrows slackened his gait, seemed to make a silent calculation, and
+halted.
+
+"Pale-face camp there," he said, emphatically, pointing across towards
+the mountain range at their left. "Red-head cross water. Tell his
+people. Two Arrows ride. Tell Nez Perce. Red-head go straight, find
+camp. Ugh!"
+
+"I can find it," said Sile. "I was thinking we'd gone up river about far
+enough. We must have got away ahead of the Apaches. Hope I sha'n't meet
+any."
+
+"Shoot quick," said Two Arrows. "Kill. Take 'calp. Be great brave. Two
+Arrows kill grisly. Kill 'Pache some day. How!"
+
+He held out his hand, and Sile shook it hard in token of good-bye, and
+the two boys separated, each to carry his own tidings and face his own
+dangers. Two Arrows rode on in a straight line up the valley, and Sile
+wheeled towards the line of forest which bordered the river. It struck
+him that he was yet a little below the precise neighborhood of the mine,
+and he was correct, but as yet it was all guess-work. At all events, he
+was sure that his remaining ride could not be a long one; it could not
+fail to be intensely exciting. Again he saw plenty of game, and he was
+strangely tempted to try a shot at a deer until the idea came to him,
+
+"I can't say what ears might hear the report of my rifle."
+
+Deer did not seem to be of any account after that idea took form, and he
+galloped on. In a few minutes more his horse's feet were in the water,
+and he was almost immediately aware that he had not chosen a good ford.
+It grew deep too fast, and he had to ride out again.
+
+"I won't go into another pool," he said to himself. "I'll hunt for a
+wide place where it ripples well."
+
+He had not the experience and the quick eyes of Two Arrows, but he was
+learning fast, and it was easy to find a better crossing. Once over, he
+felt that the forest was itself a sort of protection, and there came a
+great thrill all over him at the thought of riding out from under it.
+What if the Apaches should be already there, and what if they had found
+the camp and destroyed it?
+
+"They haven't done that," said Sile, "unless they managed to take it by
+surprise. Guess they couldn't do that in broad daylight. Our men are all
+old hands, and Yellow Pine keeps his eyes about him. I'll get in a good
+while before dark--that is, if I make out to get in. I wish there was
+good cover all the way."
+
+He drew rein for a moment under the last line of trees, and he looked
+earnestly in all directions, but even his spy-glass could not reveal to
+him a sign of danger. He had never seen anything more absolutely quiet
+and peaceful than was that stretch of open valley, with its grass and
+its bushes, and its clusters of grand old trees. It encouraged him a
+good deal to see a buck and two does feeding within a quarter of a mile
+of him, and he at once rode watchfully onward. His horse was beginning
+to show signs of hard riding, and he noted it regretfully. There might
+yet be a race to run, for all he knew.
+
+There was to be something very different from a race, and the notice of
+it came to him very suddenly. Just as he rode out through a patch of
+willows in a long hollow, walking his horse because of their being in
+his way a little, his heart seemed to stop beating and stand still.
+Then it beat again, and like a trip-hammer, for a moment. The bridle
+fell from his hand, and he made ready his rifle as if by an instinctive
+movement.
+
+Right before him and hardly a hundred yards away, on the rising ground,
+sat an Indian brave, in his war-paint, upon a very fine looking horse,
+and Sile was sure at a glance that he could not be one of his Nez Perce
+friends. They had no such horses as that among all that he and Two
+Arrows had found for them. The warrior was looking in the opposite
+direction at the instant, but he was also wheeling his horse, and in a
+second or so more he caught sight of Sile. He had a lance, but it was
+slung behind him, and in his hands was as good a repeating-rifle as
+Sile's own, and he raised it like a flash.
+
+It was as if he lifted two, for Sile's rifle also came up with precisely
+the same quick, ready-handed motion.
+
+It was an awful moment for Sile. He had never before done as much real
+thinking in one hour as he did between his first glimpse of that redskin
+and the rising of the dark, threatening line of that rifle-barrel.
+
+He had thought of the men at the mine, and of their need of warning, and
+therefore of the necessity that he should protect himself and get to
+them alive. He had thought of his father and his mother, and of some
+other people, and he had also thought what a dreadful thing it was to
+shoot straight at a man, and perhaps to kill him. He had just said to
+himself,
+
+"I might just kill his horse, and then I could get away from him."
+
+At that very instant the two rifles came to a level, whether he would or
+not. He felt no symptoms of "buck ague" this time, for every nerve and
+muscle of his body was stiffening, while his tired horse stood as still
+as a stone. That was where he had a priceless advantage. The spirited
+animal ridden by his enemy was a trifle restive for some reason, and
+caused a shade of delay that was just enough to give Sile his only
+remaining chance.
+
+"If I hit his horse in the head," he was thinking as he pulled the
+trigger: but that would have been close shooting at a hundred yards, and
+just beyond the head of the horse was the naked breast of the warrior.
+
+There were two reports close together, and Sile felt something prick him
+sharply on the left arm near the shoulder. At the same moment he saw the
+red man reel to and fro upon his horse, and then pitch off head foremost
+into the grass.
+
+"Oh, dear me, I've shot him!" he exclaimed, and his first impulse was to
+ride away as fast as he could.
+
+Then came a suggestion that the brave might be only wounded, and that it
+was his duty to go and see if he could do anything for him. With that,
+too, there came a great gush of curiosity and a fierce and feverish
+sense of triumph. He had fought a duel on horseback with an Indian
+warrior, with rifles, and there were no other white boys who could say
+that they had done that. He sat still upon his horse for a moment, and
+his breath came and went very quickly, and then he somewhat cautiously
+rode forward. The Indian's horse had bounded away for a little distance
+when his master fell, but was now standing and looking at him, as if in
+doubt as to what he ought to do next. Not another human being of any
+kind was to be seen, but Sile looked around him anxiously enough to make
+sure that he was alone. Not one sound disturbed the peaceful silence of
+the valley after those two rifles had spoken.
+
+All irresolution passed out of Sile's mind as he rode forward, for he
+felt that he had behaved rightly, and had done nothing for which he
+could blame himself. He watched the fallen man narrowly as he drew near
+him, but there was no motion or any other sign of life.
+
+"I must have killed him outright!" He sprang from his horse and bent
+over the prostrate form, but he did not have to look more than once.
+"That hole--that's where the bullet went in. It must have gone right
+through his heart. Well, he would have killed me if I had not killed
+him. I would not have hurt him if I could have helped it."
+
+It seemed to Sile a matter of course that he should pick up the red
+warrior's rifle, unbuckle and take off the bead-worked belt that carried
+his knife and revolver, take his lance, catch his horse, and then ride
+onward, carrying with him all as "spoils of war." He did it coolly and
+steadily but rapidly, and without any idea how very fast he was growing.
+He was learning lessons in a great school, but any wise old man could
+have told him that no two boys learn the same lessons anywhere. A good
+deal more depends upon the boy himself than upon the school or the
+teacher.
+
+That tall, brawny Apache warrior had been a distinguished brave, and he
+had been sent upon a scouting trip away in advance of the rest merely as
+a customary precaution. There had been no expectation that he would
+discover anything remarkable. In meeting a solitary pale-face, he had
+undertaken to kill him very much as a matter of course, for he was just
+then at war with all white men. Sile had made the better shot of the
+two, and that was about all that could be said. As for Sile, he was in a
+greater hurry than ever to get to the mine, and again and again he
+wondered whether Two Arrows had met any Apaches.
+
+"I do hope he hasn't," he said to himself, "with only a bow and arrows.
+I wish he had a rifle."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A MIDNIGHT MARCH
+
+
+When Two Arrows parted from Sile he was well aware that the errand of
+the Red-head had more real peril in it than his own, and he would not
+have had him armed with only a bow and arrows; but oh how he did long
+for a repeating-rifle for his own use! He had been hungry enough for one
+before; but now that there was a promise of war it seemed to him that
+the only thing in the world worth the having, except a horse, was one of
+the white man's terrible weapons. With such as he now had he had killed
+wild animals and won for himself a name and fame, but in spite of that
+he almost despised them. What could he do now, for instance, against an
+Apache well armed, as all that warlike tribe were said to be?
+
+He also had a prejudiced idea that if Sile were to meet one of them he
+would be in a manner helpless--a mere ignorant, green, untaught,
+unready, white boy, not the son of a Nez Perce chief, nor skilled in the
+wiles and ways of Western warfare. As for himself, he felt quite
+confident that all he needed wherewith to meet and overcome anything or
+anybody was just such a perfect "repeater" as Sile carried. He somehow
+overlooked the fact that he had never practised much with one, while
+Sile belonged to the race that made them. He had been used to a bow and
+arrows from the time he had learned to ride, and almost from the time he
+had learned to walk; so that, after all, they might be his safest
+weapon.
+
+He rode on steadily for a few miles, and then he crossed the stream and
+proceeded under cover of the trees. It was time to travel more slowly,
+for his pony had no gallop left in him. The approach to the camp even
+was made with some caution, but there was no need of any.
+
+The sun was going down, and the fires were blazing brightly. The hunters
+had done well that day, and there were preparations for much eating. Two
+Arrows knew at a glance that all things were working prosperously, and
+that his people had no suspicion of any danger near them. The vast
+importance of his errand filled him very full, and he halted under the
+shadow of the trees.
+
+Warriors were stalking around here and there, or were lazily stretched
+upon the ground. Squaws were busily dressing skins, or cooking or
+chattering with one another, and children were hungrily watching the
+cookery and wishing that their turns to be fed might come pretty soon.
+Old One-eye was at work upon a well-covered bone before going out for
+his usual night-watch and patrol, but he was suddenly called upon to
+drop it and to raise his head for a howl.
+
+Out of the growing darkness in the edge of the woods there came a quick
+series of sharp, threatening, warning whoops, uttered in a shrill and
+youthful voice that the dog knew perfectly. So did others, for Long Bear
+sprang to his feet, exclaiming,
+
+"Ugh! Two Arrows!" and answered him with a whoop of such volume and
+meaning that every brave and boy who heard it understood it as a
+command, and ran for his weapons first, and then to the corral to see
+about his pony.
+
+Two Arrows dismounted and led his over-ridden pony into camp. Long Bear
+stood silently and dignifiedly in front of his lodge waiting for him,
+and the older warriors were gathering fast to hear the news. They knew
+very well that no Indian boy would have dared to give such a signal as
+that without good reason, and their faces were clouding seriously.
+
+"Two Arrows speak quick," said his father. "All hear him."
+
+The young scout felt deeply the pride of his position. He pointed
+towards the lower valley with all the dignity he could muster, and
+uttered only the words,
+
+"'Pache! War-path!"
+
+There was a dismal chorus of "Ugh!" from all who heard him, but there
+was not one war-whoop. He was at once called upon for a minute and
+careful account of the whole affair, including the locality and
+condition of Judge Parks and his party of miners. He made his report
+with a fullness and keenness of observation that stirred up the old
+chief's family pride amazingly.
+
+"Young chief," he remarked. "Do something more every time."
+
+It looked very much like it, and his return as an intelligent and
+successful scout added largely to all his other claims to distinction.
+Not another boy in the band had ever announced anything so very bad and
+so important.
+
+That was no time for anybody to spend a thought upon the fame of Two
+Arrows, however. All the old men said, one after another, that they
+wished they knew just how many Apaches there were in that war-party. Had
+they known how very strong it was, they might have been even worse
+puzzled, but Long Bear was really a clear-headed leader, and he decided
+the whole matter promptly and finally. He told his gathering braves that
+the place where they were was a bad one to fight in, while their
+pale-face friends had selected a peculiarly good one. They themselves
+had but twenty-three warriors armed with rifles, and nearly as many more
+young men and well-grown boys armed with bows and arrows. That was no
+force with which to meet Apaches, nobody knew how many, and all sure to
+be riflemen. To go back through the pass was to die of sure starvation,
+even if they were not followed and slaughtered among the rocks. The
+Apaches were plainly making for that very pass, he said; and he was only
+a keen-eyed chief and not at all a prophet when he read the matter
+correctly and said,
+
+"'Pache run away from blue-coats. All in a hurry. Not stop. Nez Perce
+hide and let them go by. Not fight. Keep pony. Keep hair. Good. Ugh!"
+
+The party which had been sent back after the lodges and things was a
+serious anxiety, and a light-footed youngster was started off at once to
+warn them. He would be sure to meet them on their way, returning, and
+could tell them to be on their guard, and very little more could be done
+for them.
+
+Long Bear finished his speech of explanation, and then, without a
+moment's pause, he gave the order to break up camp and prepare to march,
+carrying with them every pound of provisions. Not one moment was to be
+lost in gaining such protection as might be had from the good position
+of the miners, and from the fact that they were pale-faces of some
+importance, and from the other great fact that they were all good
+riflemen. There was hardly anybody in the band, old enough to understand
+what an Apache was, who did not fully appreciate the force of the
+chief's argument, and every squaw did her best to hasten the departure.
+Lodges came down, ponies were packed, children were gathered, warriors
+and braves and boys completed their preparations for fighting; the Big
+Tongue declared his readiness to kill a large number of Apaches, and
+One-eye was compelled to abandon forever all the bones he had buried
+since the people he barked for had settled upon the bank of that river.
+
+There was a good deal of quiet and sober efficiency in spite of the
+excitement. Two Arrows had further questions to answer from quite a
+number of his elders. He was furnished with one of the best ponies in
+the drove in acknowledgment of his services. He was now, also, to figure
+as a kind of guide, and he did not once think of or mention the fatigue
+of his long, hard ride. He very willingly ate, however, the whole of a
+buffalo steak, broiled for him by one of the squaws, and felt a good
+deal better afterwards. He almost felt that he had earned a rifle, or at
+least a pistol, but well knew that it was all in vain to ask for one,
+when the supply was insufficient to arm all the braves who were a full
+head taller than himself.
+
+Still, it was a magnificent thing, at last, to ride out at the head of
+the cavalcade, by the side of a tall warrior, as the one boy of all that
+band who was on first-rate terms with the pale-faces and knew perfectly
+the trail leading to them. As for that, any red man of them all could
+have followed the tracks of the wagon-wheels, even at night, but Two
+Arrows had no idea of surrendering that part of his growing importance.
+It would have done Na-tee-kah's proud heart good to have seen him in
+particular, and it would have been well worth the while of almost
+anybody else to have had a good look at the whole affair, as the motley
+array poured out into the moonlight from under the shadowy cover of the
+primeval forest.
+
+There were no sleepy ones except the pappooses, and they could sleep
+under the tightly-drawn blankets upon the backs of their mothers as well
+as anywhere else. All the rest were more or less hardened to the quick
+changes and migrations of the kind of life into which they had been
+born. They were not likely to be injured by being kept up pretty late
+for one night, and there was no need that anybody should walk, now that
+their four-footed wealth had returned.
+
+Two Arrows thought of that, and he could hardly help reminding some of
+his friends of his share in so good a thing. He received a reply from
+one gray-headed warrior which sounded very much like a snub:
+
+"Ugh! Two Arrows. Red-head. Boys find pony first. Pony there. Brave find
+next day. Boy talk too much. Kill 'Pache like warrior. Then talk a heap.
+Show scalp. Whoop. Ugh!"
+
+As for war and that sort of thing, there was no need for anybody to
+stir the ambition of Two Arrows up to a greater heat. He was ready
+enough now to do the wildest and rashest things he could think of. He
+felt as if he were out upon his first war-path, and that there must be
+somewhere a great heap of glory preparing for him.
+
+The Nez Perce camp had been broken up with great celerity, and no time
+had been lost, but after all the summons to move had come upon them most
+unexpectedly. There had been a great deal to do and but a dim light to
+do it by, and so it was pretty late before the picturesque caravan was
+in motion. It took a line of march towards the mountains until its head
+struck the well-marked tracks of the loaded wagons, and from that point
+forward its course required little guiding. By a stern command from Long
+Bear the utmost silence was maintained, and, after the moon went down,
+the movement might fairly be said to have been performed in secret.
+There was no danger that any small squad of Apache scouts would assail
+so strong a party. Even the squaws and children felt pretty safe, but it
+was very hard upon the Big Tongue, for that great brave soon found
+himself in an advanced party, commanded by Long Bear himself, and after
+that he was under an absolute necessity of not saying anything.
+
+[Illustration: THE MOONLIGHT MARCH OF NEZ PERCES]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+PREPARING FOR AN ATTACK
+
+
+A good while before Two Arrows reached the camp of his people Judge
+Parks and Yellow Pine discovered that they had done about as much as
+they could at the mouth of what was yet to be the mine until they should
+have men to help them. The judge handed to Na-tee-kah another book of
+pictures to wonder over, and then he and Pine went upon a tour of
+inspection. They found the choppers busy with beetles and wedges upon
+the lengths of easily-cloven pine, and the heap of long, wide slabs or
+shingles for the roof was growing rapidly.
+
+"We can make it weather-tight with moss-packing," said Pine, "and if we
+can't have sash and glass we can make good solid doors and shutters."
+
+"There will be storms," said the judge.
+
+"Yes, but the winters are never hard down here. Even if we got snowed in
+it wouldn't stay long, and the supply-train'll get here before the end
+of next month. Can't lose its way."
+
+"I should say not. But now just look at that wall."
+
+It was worth looking at, if only for the way in which it was rising.
+The mud and stones went into place with a perfect rush. At that rate
+there would quickly be a finished house there, such as it was to be. All
+was well and solidly laid, too, and the inner face was smooth enough.
+That was more than could be said for the outside, and Pine remarked,
+
+"Reckon nobody'll care to rub himself very hard against the side of that
+shelter when it's done."
+
+From the house they both strolled away for a look at the animals, and
+then on down to the mouth of the notch. They were noting with care the
+several peculiarities of the rocky elevations to the right and left,
+when the judge felt his arm gripped very hard, and Yellow Pine
+exclaimed,
+
+"Look there, jedge! Something's happened to the young redskin."
+
+Judge Parks carried a spy-glass as good as Sile's and it was up
+instantly. "That's Sile, but the horse he's leading isn't a pony. Look,
+Pine."
+
+"I'd call it--How close this thing does bring 'em. I could count his
+buttons. He's carrying two rifles and a lance. Something mighty queer
+has turned up, jedge, but you can see that Sile's all right. What can
+have become of Two Arrows? I hope he hasn't been wiped out. He was the
+likeliest kind of a young chap."
+
+"We'll know when he gets here."
+
+Waiting was about all they could do, but they grew more and more
+impatient until Sile came within hail. After that the questions and
+answers chased each other back and forth until the entire account of
+Sile's hunt and its ending was perfectly understood.
+
+Sile saw his father shudder and turn pale, and then flush fiery red,
+while he described his encounter with the Apache. He had dismounted
+before he got to that, and the next thing he felt was a pair of arms
+around him, and he heard Yellow Pine exclaim,
+
+"I could a'most hug the young rooster myself. It was jest the gamest
+kind of thing to do. I say, Sile, he barked ye on yer left arm. I'd call
+it, now, if that there wasn't close work. Take yer jacket off."
+
+Sile had hardly paid any attention to that matter, although his arm had
+felt a little stiff, and there was really not much of a hurt. In another
+instant his father was saying so, but he said it with a peculiar look
+upon his face. The Indian's bullet had been a "Minie-ball," of course,
+and, as it grazed his arm, one of its ragged edges had torn through the
+cloth and touched the flesh only just enough to break the skin and draw
+a little blood. Sile could fairly say he was "wounded," and no more, and
+Yellow Pine remarked,
+
+"Reckon we won't send ye to the hospital for that; but I'm all-fired
+glad it didn't go any nigher. It's jest on a line to where it would ha'
+knocked yer arm off, if it had struck onto the bone. It's the narrerest
+kind of an escape."
+
+Judge Parks had nothing more to say, for some reason, and seemed willing
+that Sile should go right on with further particulars of the day.
+
+"Two Arrows is right," said Pine. "He'd know a war-party, sure. It's war
+with us, anyhow, and there isn't but one thing to be done. The men must
+knock off from the house, and come right down and block this 'ere
+opening with logs and rocks. We can make the best kind of a rifle-pit.
+Only leave room for one man, or for one hoss at a time, to get in or
+out."
+
+"That's it," said the judge. "Now, Sile, come along. You must let the
+men see what you've been up to. They'll know exactly what it means."
+
+Sile had a curious sense of bashfulness about it, but he followed his
+father, and in a few minutes more the rough, bearded, red-shirted
+fellows were giving him three of the most ringing cheers he had ever
+heard. Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah looked at him with something that was
+half wonder. They could not have believed it, but for the horse and the
+lance, and the rifle and the belt. Here was the Red-head, a mere
+pale-face boy, bringing in trophies of which a great warrior might have
+been proud. Na-tee-kah had a sort of notion that Two Arrows must have
+done it somehow, until well assured that her brother had not been
+present, and that the Red-head had not taken the scalp of the slain
+Apache. She had heard that the pale-face warriors sometimes neglected
+that duty, but could not well understand why, even when Ha-ha-pah-no
+explained to her that it was "bad medicine" for a white man to scalp
+anybody.
+
+The situation called for something more than cheers, however, and the
+miners hurried to the mouth of the notch. To pack it breast-high with
+fragments of wood and stone was no great matter, and the breastwork was
+finished in time for a late supper.
+
+"Tell ye what, jedge," remarked one of the men, "if I was a redskin I
+wouldn't be in a hurry to ride up to that there bar, with a half a dozen
+rifles peepin' over it. Reckon it'd take the cleanest kind of grit. A
+feller could stand behind it and pepper away, and be a'most safe agin
+anything short of cannon."
+
+The wagons and other things were left as they were, and the entire notch
+was a perfectly safe corral for the animals. All the human beings moved
+their bivouac down towards the barrier they had made, leaving the fires
+behind them.
+
+"They're all right, there," said Pine, "and we needn't kindle any down
+hereaway to tell jest where we are."
+
+There was sense in that, and one sentry was as good as a dozen to keep
+watch at the narrow entrance left, for even that was securely closed
+until there should be a good reason for opening it.
+
+Sile found himself the hero of the camp, and that the scratch upon his
+arm excused him from guard duty. At first he was well pleased to lie
+down and go to sleep, after the severe fatigue and excitement of his
+great ride. Never before had he raced it after such a fashion, and every
+bone and muscle felt the effects of the long strain. He saw, too, that
+everybody else was taking the matter with perfect coolness. All those
+miners had been in tight places more than once, and they had great faith
+in the prudence of redskins about charging upon white riflemen hidden
+behind rocks. Sile ate a hearty supper. In fact, he was compelled at
+last to be very positive with Ha-ha-pah-no. She would have gone right on
+cooking for him until morning if he had let her, and so would
+Na-tee-kah. They were positively proud of the privilege of bringing him
+his coffee. He was assured that the horse and weapons of the Apache
+warrior were his own personal property, and he examined them again and
+again with a sense of ownership that he had never felt for anything
+else. He could not tell why, until Jonas remarked to him,
+
+"If you hadn't pulled straight, your plunder'd be in the 'Pache camp
+'bout now, scalp and all. It was jest a question of grit and shootin'.
+I'm powerful glad you made out to throw yer lead to the right spot."
+
+So was Sile, but it was not easy, somehow, for him to make up his mind
+that he had really killed anybody. He found a queer idea in his mind
+several times that before long that Apache warrior would wake up and
+wonder what had become of his horse and his weapons. Not long after
+supper he curled up in his blanket at the foot of a tree, and in a few
+minutes he was soundly asleep. He did not hear his father say to Yellow
+Pine, as the two bent over him,
+
+"My brave boy!"
+
+Nor did he hear Pine grumble,
+
+"If he hasn't earned a good snooze, then nobody has. Tell ye what,
+jedge, that feller'll be guv'ner of a State one of these days. I'd vote
+for him. I'd like to have seen him 'changing shots with that there
+redskin."
+
+They moved away, and the judge remarked,
+
+"We are safe enough for to-night, but they'll find us to-morrow."
+
+"Maybe, maybe not. I can't quite make it out as to what could bring 'em
+away up here. Two Arrows told Sile they was a war-party, and if that's
+so, they must have been licked somewhere. They'd never have cut it for
+these ranges without somebody was after 'em."
+
+"Perhaps so. We'll see. Anyhow, we can keep a sharp lookout."
+
+There was no danger that any sentry would sleep on his post that night,
+but all the first part and the middle of it went by as peacefully as if
+the valley were uninhabited.
+
+Sile slept and slept, and when at last he opened his eyes, he could not
+have told why he did so. The stars were shining. The night air was crisp
+and chilly, but he was warm under his blanket. It took him almost a
+minute to gather his thoughts and understand where he really was. That
+was partly because he had been sleeping heavily, and partly because, at
+the very last, he had dreamed of being at home, and of leading a
+remarkable horse into the sitting-room to show it to his mother.
+
+It was a strange place to wake up in, and he could dimly see the forms
+of other men, rolled in blankets, lying near, each with a rifle lying by
+him ready for prompt use.
+
+"They won't be taken by surprise," said Sile to himself. "I'm going down
+for a look at the barrier. I've lain still long enough."
+
+He felt a little stiff when he first rose to his feet, but it passed
+away when he stretched himself and began to walk. His left arm pained
+him more than he had expected, and he found it slightly swollen. It was
+not precisely like the same scratch made in any other way, and he was
+glad that there was no more of it. Still, he hardly knew what he had
+that he valued more highly than that light hurt upon his arm. It had
+made a sort of soldier of him. It was a promotion, and he vaguely hoped
+that it would leave a scar. Then he half wished that the scar might come
+out upon his face, where it would not be forever covered up by his
+coat-sleeve.
+
+"My new horse is in the corral, and I couldn't pick him out now. My
+lance and things are in the wagon. I'll go and have a look at the
+barrier. I'm feeling tip-top."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+FROM BOW TO RIFLE
+
+
+Leaning over the upper log of the barrier, rifle in hand, and peering
+out upon the starlit slope beyond him, stood the form of Jonas, the
+miner. Not a sound came to him from the mists and shadows of the valley,
+and he was just remarking, aloud,
+
+"It's as quiet as a cornfield," when a voice at his elbow explained,
+
+"Hist! Ha-ha-pah-no--sh-sh!" and Na-tee-kah dropped upon the ground, and
+pressed her little round ear against it. So, almost instantly, did
+Ha-ha-pah-no, and he heard Sile saying,
+
+"Their ears are better than yours or mine if they can hear anything."
+
+"Didn't know there was one of ye nigh me," said Jonas. "That's the way
+for a feller to lose his hair--looking too hard in one direction while
+somebody comes up behind him. No, Sile, I haven't heerd a thing."
+
+Na-tee-kah sprang to her feet.
+
+"Horse come. Ugh!" and she held up her hand for silence, while
+Ha-ha-pah-no also arose, listening intently.
+
+"Indian ears for it," said Jonas. "'Pears to me I can hear something now
+myself."
+
+"I can't, then," said another voice. It was that of a sleepy miner, who
+had waked up to follow Sile, just as he had been awakened by even the
+noiseless movements of the squaws.
+
+"Hark!" exclaimed Jonas.
+
+It was the sound of galloping, and then a shrill whoop.
+
+"Two Arrows!" screamed Na-tee-kah. "'Pache get him!"
+
+Jonas had already thrown down the logs of wood in the opening, and now
+he shouted,
+
+"Rifles, boys! Ready!"
+
+There was a great shout from the bivouac behind them, but it seemed
+almost no time before a pony and his rider dashed into dim view before
+them, followed by a larger shadow, from which came whoop after whoop.
+
+"Take the hind one. Give it to him," shouted Jonas, as a streak of fire
+sprang from his own rifle-muzzle. Two other shots followed, as if there
+were any chance of hitting a galloping horseman in such a half darkness
+as that. Hit or no hit, one Apache warrior was so utterly astounded that
+he drew rein, all but throwing his horse upon his haunches, and the
+pony-rider he was pursuing wheeled sharply to the right. Half a minute
+later and all would have been over with Two Arrows, in all probability,
+but, as matters had now turned, it was his enemy who had made a blunder.
+He sat for several precious seconds almost motionless, although not a
+shot had touched him, and by so doing he put himself up for a target at
+very short arrow range. The next instant he was dashing wildly away into
+the darkness, for the horse had an arrow in his flank to spur him, and
+the brave himself had a similar token of the skill of Two Arrows
+projecting from his right thigh.
+
+"Sile," said Jonas, "he got it. You can tell that by the yell he gave."
+
+"Come on in," shouted Sile. "There may be more of 'em. We're all up and
+ready for 'em."
+
+It looked like it, as man after man came hurrying forward, but Two
+Arrows quieted them on that head. He had been sent forward by Long Bear
+to announce the coming of the Nez Perces, and he had encountered the
+Apache less than half a mile from the notch. It had been a close race,
+although he had a fresh pony and a good start. Any hurt to his pride on
+account of arriving in that precise manner, followed instead of
+following, was more than cured by the undoubted fact that he had sent an
+arrow into his pursuer.
+
+"There wasn't really any show for bullet-work," said Jonas, "but lead'll
+hurt jest as bad in the dark, in case it gits there."
+
+"All come," said Na-tee-kah. "Good. Two Arrows great brave now. Strike
+warrior. Fight a heap."
+
+Judge Parks was not sorry to hear of such an addition to his little
+garrison, as the Nez Perce warriors could be fully depended upon to
+fight well for their ponies and lives. It was not a great while before
+the head of their cavalcade came out of the shadows, and deeper and more
+sonorous whoops answered that of Two Arrows.
+
+"Big Tongue," said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Heap mouth!"
+
+There surely was one whoop that seemed to have swallowed several others,
+and Jonas remarked,
+
+"That feller could do all the loose yelling for a small tribe. Hark to
+him, now."
+
+"Big Tongue great brave!" said Ha-ha-pah-no, tartly. "'Pache hear him,
+'Pache go dead. Run."
+
+In a few minutes more the Nez Perce ponies were squeezing their packs
+through the narrow entrance of the notch, and a succession of approving
+grunts from Long Bear testified the satisfaction he felt at getting into
+so secure a fort. He perfectly understood the value and uses of that
+barrier. When daylight came he again said "Ugh!" several times while he
+was examining the stone wall and the other evidences of the skill and
+zeal of his pale-face friends.
+
+There was no more sleeping done in the notch, but there was an immense
+amount of very early cooking and eating, not to speak of the smoking and
+consultation, and the very general expression of a bad opinion of the
+entire Apache nation. They and their works, past, present, and to come,
+were condemned unsparingly. At the same time their fighting qualities
+were freely admitted, and with them the certainty that no Apache
+war-party would turn away from a bit of war so well begun as was this.
+
+The sun arose, but almost to the astonishment of Sile, as well as the
+Nez Perces, the hardy miners behaved very much as if they had no war
+whatever on their hands.
+
+"Them 'Paches'll come and go," said Jonas, "but we've got to have this
+'ere wall finished."
+
+At it they went, well assured that the barrier and all the land near it
+would be well watched, and that it was an easy thing to do to pick up a
+rifle if an alarm should come.
+
+Sile felt less interest in the mine, somehow. The story of his exploit
+had been told, of course, to his Indian friends, and he could but see
+that it had made him an object of respectful admiration. There was not a
+warrior among them who would not have been proud of such a feather as
+that victory, but the effect upon Two Arrows was peculiar. He had
+regarded himself as Sile's superior in all things which did not belong
+especially to a young pale-face. It had not occurred to him that Sile
+was or ever could become a "great brave." Some of the "blue-coats" were,
+he knew, but Sile was not a blue-coat. He had heard stories of the
+prowess of other pale-faces, but Sile was a mere boy, and dreadfully
+green to the ways of the plains and mountains. He could not think of one
+boy of his band who really knew less of the things most important to be
+known, except rifle-shooting. His pride was touched in a tender spot,
+for although he was sure he had sent an arrow into an Apache, he had
+nothing to show for it. Na-tee-kah was enormously proud of that arrow,
+and Ha-ha-pah-no was compelled to remind her that her hero brother had
+brought in neither scalp nor horse, and had saved his own by the timely
+rifle practice of Sile and the men at the gap. For all that, Na-tee-kah
+had a vivid persuasion that, if the pale-faces had not interfered and
+driven away the Apache, there would have been more glory earned by the
+young chief of the Nez Perces. She could not be dissatisfied with Sile,
+however. After a brief consultation with his father, the Red-head went
+to the wagon and brought out the rifle he had won and with it a box of
+cartridges. It was a capital weapon, in good condition, and Sile showed
+it to Two Arrows with a great glow on his face and with a sense of
+standing up uncommonly straight. Several braves gathered to look at it
+and to declare it "heap good gun."
+
+Two Arrows held it for a moment, with a look which did not need any
+interpreter. It was intensely wistful, and had a quick flash of keen
+jealousy in it. What was there that he could not do with such a splendid
+tool of destruction as that, instead of his lance and bow? He was
+nothing but a poor red youngster, after all, compelled to wait, he could
+not guess how long, before he could hope to be armed as a complete
+brave. He held out the rifle to Sile dejectedly, but then something like
+a shiver went all over him, for Sile only pushed it back, saying,
+
+"No; Two Arrows keep it. Take present. Good friend." And then he held
+out the little waterproof box of copper cartridges of the size called
+for by that rifle.
+
+Two Arrows required a breath or so before he could believe that the
+thing was a reality, and then he broke out into a yell of delight.
+
+One-eye, standing behind him, began to bark vociferously, although
+nobody had given him anything except unlimited bones.
+
+Every Nez Perce brave present deemed it his duty to shake hands with
+Sile, and Long Bear was summoned at once to do the same. Two Arrows
+found himself terribly short of words to tell how he felt about it, but
+he flatly refused to make a trial of that gun then and there. He felt
+such a dancing in his head and in his fingers that he was hardly sure he
+could hit the side of the mountain, and he did not care to disgrace his
+marksmanship before so many crack shots. It even occurred to him that he
+was not likely to come out of a duel on horseback as well as Sile until
+he should have had some practice. He did not know how steadily Sile had
+insisted on trying several shots every day since the mining expedition
+started. At all events he had mounted one round more in the ladder of
+his ambition, and had a better prospect for the next.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE APACHES HAVE COME
+
+
+Just as the sun was rising that morning, an altogether used-up horse
+came staggering into the awaking camp of the Apache war-party. On the
+horse was a warrior who had been sent out, with others, on scouting duty
+the previous day, and he now seemed nearly as fatigued as did the animal
+he rode. He had strength for a whoop whose meaning startled all who
+heard it, and in a minute more it was understood by most of them that
+the horse had been so badly tired out by one arrow, and the brave by
+another; but they did not know of whom they were speaking when they
+gruffly remarked,
+
+"Two Arrows. Ugh! Nez Perce."
+
+The baffled scout was unable to testify to the presence of white men,
+although he could aver that he had retreated from several busy rifles.
+He had deemed it his duty to ride back with his news and for another
+horse. It would be a good while before he could do much walking, and the
+horse which had carried him in must be abandoned, whether it should live
+or die.
+
+There was nothing to dispirit such a company in the prospect of more
+plunder, many ponies and scalps, and an easy victory over a hunting
+party trespassing upon their acknowledged range. They did but eat
+breakfast more rapidly and push forward at once. The idea was yet strong
+upon them that they were pursued, but not one of their rearward scouts
+had come in, and a sense of false security had begun to creep over all
+but the very grayest heads among them. Even of these not one dreamed how
+dangerously near was the steady advance of Captain Grover and his
+blue-coats.
+
+It is an old proverb of sea-fighting that "a stern chase is a long
+chase," and it is nearly as true on land, but the cavalry had pushed
+along with steady persistency, in a thoroughly business-like and
+scientific economy of time and horses. They were therefore in pretty
+good condition, men and animals. As Captain Grover remarked so it had
+been:
+
+"I know about how fast the redskins can travel. They stole a whole grist
+of slow stock and that measures their gait."
+
+However swift might be their best, the Apaches had gone no farther any
+day than the slowest half-dozen of their plunder. Captain Grover was
+therefore almost justified in a firm conviction he expressed that
+morning:
+
+"Now for it, boys. We shall be among 'em before sunset."
+
+On pushed the cavalry with enthusiasm, but at the same hour the Apaches
+were also pressing forward with increasing eagerness. They were no
+longer in one body. All their drove of stolen quadrupeds and their own
+superfluous ponies made up a sort of rear-guard, driven and cared for by
+about a dozen of the less distinguished braves, with orders to make as
+good speed as possible. The remainder of the force, full of whooping and
+yelling and a great hunger for glory and ponies, rode forward to find
+the Nez Perces. It could not be hard to do that, with so clear an idea
+as to the locality of at least several of them, but there was a surprise
+ready.
+
+They had hardly ridden an hour when the foremost warriors made the air
+ring with whoops of wrath, and in a moment more the word "pale-face" was
+passing from rider to rider. They had found the victim of Sile's
+marksmanship, and the fact that he had not been scalped put away the
+idea that he had fallen before a Nez Perce. The trail of the two horses
+leading away to the left was plainly marked and could be followed, and
+there was no reason for special caution in so open a country. Still, the
+onward movement from that point was made in a more compact body and in
+something like silence. The trail before them led in the precise
+direction indicated by the brave shot by Sile, and the presence of both
+Nez Perces and pale-faces in that valley was of itself a sort of enigma.
+Word was left for the rear-guard to halt at the spot where the body lay
+until rejoined by the main force.
+
+The garrison at the notch was ignorant of all this, but while the
+house-builders toiled at their wall with undiminished energy Long Bear
+sent out several of his best braves to scout around as far as might seem
+safe, and there was no danger of any surprise. There was one effect of
+all this even now to be seen in the sides of that stone wall. Windows
+had formed a part of the original plan, of course, but not nearly so
+many shot-holes.
+
+"You see," said Jonas to Yellow Pine, "if any hostiles should ever make
+out to git inside the notch, this 'ere'd be the best kind of fort. Them
+holes are all big enough to poke a muzzle through."
+
+"We'll have a stockade, some day," said Pine; "and we'll put another
+down at the gap, reg'lar fort fashion, with a gate and loop-holes."
+
+Just then a whoop rang out from the braves at the gap and was followed
+by a chorus of them.
+
+"I'd call it!" said Pine. "Knock off work, boys. Time's come."
+
+Not quite, but a brave had ridden swiftly in with notice of the approach
+of the Apaches, and all the other scouts were fast following his good
+example. The first whoop had been given by the Big Tongue from behind
+the largest rocks of the barrier, but he was soon calmly walking up and
+down outside, as if waiting for the whole Apache nation, and also ready
+to be admired by somebody. One-eye was also beyond the barrier, for some
+reason, but he came in at the call of Two Arrows. There was no danger
+but what the Big Tongue would come in without any calling.
+
+Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no had done very little that morning but recite
+to their Nez Perce friends and relatives the wonders of their visit in
+the pale-face camp, and exhibit their rich store of ornaments and other
+presents. They had also combed and brushed each other's hair in a way
+that excited no little envy. They were yet busy at it when the voice of
+the Big Tongue was first heard at the barrier, and every squaw knew what
+it signified.
+
+"Two Arrows," exclaimed Na-tee-kah, "has rifle now; kill heap."
+
+"Big Tongue great brave," said Ha-ha-pah-no. "Shoot mouth; 'Pache heap
+die."
+
+The horses, mules, and ponies of both Nez Perces and miners were all
+driven by the squaws away up the notch, under some trees, to be as
+secure as might be from stray bullets, if any should be fired. The
+squaws themselves were generally very willing to be as safe as were the
+animals; but Na-tee-kah's dusky cheeks were almost red with excitement.
+In spite of all prohibition, she broke away from under the trees and
+darted off towards the rocks on the side of the notch opposite the mine.
+It was only a minute before Ha-ha-pah-no followed her, with no idea of
+bringing her back, whatever she said to the rest on starting.
+
+"See fight. Squaw shoot, too, sometime. Na-tee-kah heap brave."
+
+Na-tee-kah did not utter a sound until she had gained a spot behind a
+huge bowlder, from which she could peer out and down, and see what was
+going on at the barrier and beyond it. She felt well paid for her
+trouble. The braves of the Nez Perces were all there or behind the rocky
+fragments on either side, and mingled with them here and there were the
+red shirts and slouched hats of the miners. The Big Tongue was no longer
+parading over the slope in front of the gap. He had even cut short an
+uncommonly fine whoop in his retreat to a place as safe as that occupied
+by Na-tee-kah or Ha-ha-pah-no.
+
+There were excellent reasons for such a retreat, for several scores of
+Apaches were now riding back and forth, just out of good rifle-range, as
+if they were a little in doubt as to what they had better do next. Not
+an Apache among them had an idea how many might be the rifles among
+those rocks, but all were sure that they were there. It was just as
+Jonas had said, and Yellow Pine. It required an immense amount of
+courage to ride up to hidden sharpshooters, and the Apaches were
+disposed to whoop a good deal before they tried the experiment. Their
+head chief had commanded that there should be no random firing, and now
+he was disposed to try what could be done with a "talk." One solitary
+brave rode forward a distance in advance of his comrades, dismounted,
+laid down his rifle and lance, took off his pistol-belt ostentatiously,
+held up his hands wide open to declare himself unarmed, reached out his
+right hand with the palm up to say that he was peaceful, and then walked
+slowly forward.
+
+"Wants to get near enough to see what he can see," said Yellow Pine.
+"Snake trick. I'll go out and meet him, jedge."
+
+"No, Pine, I don't want you to run any risk."
+
+"Risk? Not a bit of it. I say, Jonas, I'll let him come into good fair
+range. Keep him covered. If he tries any bad game I'll just drop flat."
+
+"That's what he'll do next thing," said Jonas, as he rested his rifle
+over the log in front of him, and it seemed as if every other miner at
+once followed his example.
+
+"Go ahead then, Pine," said the judge; "see what he wants."
+
+"For that matter, jedge," said Pine, "I'd as lief as not try a
+hand-to-hand fight with any redskin in that lot."
+
+He left his weapons behind him as ostentatiously as the Apache had done,
+handing them back over the barrier after stepping out, and walked
+forward rapidly, so that he did not let his conference turn into too
+close an "examination."
+
+[Illustration: HIS RIGHT HAND WITH THE PALM UP TO SHOW THAT HE WAS
+PEACEFUL]
+
+The keen eyes of the warrior were searching every cranny of the rocks as
+well as they could, when Yellow Pine drew near and held out his hand.
+
+"How?" said Pine.
+
+"How? Where Nez Perce?"
+
+Pine answered by a sweep of his hand towards the notch, and added,
+
+"'Pache chief want pony? want scalp? Go other place. Too much heap
+shoot; kill 'em all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+STIRRING TIMES
+
+
+The idea of a great fight about to come off had quite turned the heads
+of Sile and Two Arrows, and the later was aching all over with anxiety
+to try his new rifle. They had found good places to shoot from. Even the
+judge did not hesitate a moment about bidding Sile to do his duty,
+although he had a pretty strong conviction that there would not be much
+to do right away. Na-tee-kah had singled out that pair as the particular
+braves in whose conduct she was interested, but had no doubt that her
+brother would win more glory than the Red-head, now that he had so good
+a rifle.
+
+The circumstances had even more completely turned the hot heads of the
+young Apache braves left in charge of their too numerous drove of
+horses. Every soul of them was crazy to be at the front and take part in
+whatever might turn up. They all seemed to drift naturally a little in
+that direction, and kept no kind of lookout, leaving their precious
+charge to take care of itself. The horses, therefore, at once began to
+take advantage of the grass.
+
+This state of things continued, and grew worse and worse every minute,
+until a good long hour after the main body had moved away along Sile's
+trail towards the notch. Then, altogether unexpectedly, but as by one
+impulse, all the Apache horse-guard gave a sudden start and turned their
+heads in one direction.
+
+Over the crest of the nearest knoll, stirring and clear and sweet, came
+the sound of a cavalry bugle. It was the signal to "charge," and was
+followed by the swift rush of Captain Grover and his men. In an instant
+they were between the feeding quadrupeds and their astonished keepers,
+and it was all in vain for the young hot-heads in their amazement to
+attempt to rally. One only wheeled his pony at once and rode away at the
+top of his speed. The nine or ten who dashed in the other direction
+suddenly all drew rein as they discovered the odds against them. A line
+of iron veterans, thirty strong, was thundering forward, and not an
+Apache was fool enough to fire a shot and be cut down for it.
+
+There was just enough of bewildered, leaderless indecision to settle the
+matter. The sabres swept flashingly around the squad of redskins, and
+all they had to do was to surrender. It is a mere novelist's blunder to
+suppose and to write that red men have not sense enough to give it up
+when there is no use in fighting any more. They can do it as readily as
+any white man in the world, and the reason why they do not do it more
+frequently is because they generally keep a good chance to run away, and
+make a treaty afterwards as to what presents they are to have for making
+peace. There was no time given the young braves to strike a bargain.
+They were all disarmed, and then, dreadfully to their disgust, they were
+all dismounted and tied up.
+
+"The plunder'll do well enough where it is," said Captain Grover, as he
+detailed Garry and a guard of four men to watch the prisoners. "If any
+of those chaps gets loose you'll have to shoot him. Men, by fours, left!
+Forward!"
+
+The pony-rider who escaped was sure to carry the news of the disaster,
+and of the arrival of the blue-coats, but several things could happen
+before the Apache chief received it. He had no spy-glass, and he was
+eagerly waiting such information as might be obtained by the brave
+standing face to face with Yellow Pine.
+
+That very cunning Apache found himself talking under difficulties. He
+could see distinctly that there were more than a few rifles at the
+barrier, but he could get no farther. The tall pale-face in front of him
+kept back any other information than that all the Apaches in this world
+or any other would be killed in case of an attack then and there. He
+even referred to Sile's exploit as an example, and to the lesson given
+by Two Arrows to the scout, and all the wild blood in the Apache brave
+was set boiling by that somewhat imprudent reference. He was a large,
+powerfully built warrior, and he had been as truthful as could be
+expected when he signified that he was unarmed. He kept up the idea of a
+"flag of truce" talk until sure he could gain no more by it, and then he
+uttered a shrill whoop and stooped, quick as a flash, for a long knife
+hidden in his leggings. He meant to carry back the scalp of Yellow Pine
+as a trophy of that conversation, but had not asked anybody how well
+Pine could box. The latter had no time to draw any weapon except his
+fist, but that was a hard one, and it struck the Apache on the side of
+his head as he was rising, knife in hand. Over and over he rolled, while
+Pine threw himself flat upon the earth, at the same moment digging both
+hands into the pockets of his pantaloons. His enemy recovered himself
+instantly and sprang to his feet with another whoop, lifting his long,
+glittering knife for a rush upon the prostrate pale-face. It might have
+been a perilous rush, for Pine's hands came right out of his pockets,
+and each held a short-barrelled "Derringer" pistol, ready cocked. They
+are terrible weapons, but the miner had no occasion to use either of
+them. The line of the barrier and of the adjacent rocks seemed to dance
+with blue flashes and with puffs of white smoke. Within three seconds
+not less than a score of rattling reports awoke the echoes of the notch,
+and every blue tube they came from had been aimed by a good marksman.
+After all was over, the prevalent opinion was that not one of them had
+missed. At all events Yellow Pine was safe to jump up and run for the
+barrier, followed by hasty shots from startled and galloping horsemen,
+all as useless as so many pebbles. His arrival was greeted by all the
+shouting and whooping which could possibly be performed by the red and
+white garrison of the notch, aided by One-eye with a vigor that shook
+him all over. Even then, however, the voice of the Big Tongue could be
+distinguished from the rest.
+
+If the volume of sound did nothing else it deeply impressed the mind of
+the Apache chief with an idea of the strength of the force opposed to
+him. So had the promptness and number and accuracy of the rifle-shots
+which had prevented him from getting any report from his too treacherous
+"flag of truce" brave. As for him, Na-tee-kah had been watching Two
+Arrows and had seen the Apache fall just as his rifle went off. That was
+enough, and she was again proud of her brother. It was in vain for
+Ha-ha-pah-no to say,
+
+"Ugh! Heap shoot. All kill him. Go dead a heap."
+
+She as well as Na-tee-kah was taking every opportunity for practising
+all the small English words she could pick up, and some of her greatest
+successes would have puzzled a dictionary.
+
+The Apaches were all but silent and drew back a little at the end of
+their burst of angry whooping and useless shooting. They drew back still
+farther because of a steady whizzing of bullets from the barrier. It was
+too far for good marksmanship, but the rifles made nowadays will send a
+piece of lead a mile and hurt something with it.
+
+Suddenly a second burst of angry yells arose among the baffled marauders
+as a pony-rider in a great hurry dashed in among them, shouting forth
+the news of the arrival of the blue-coats and the loss of the drove and
+its protectors. Here was a blow indeed, and the escaped brave's estimate
+of the number of the cavalry he had run away from was very liberal. The
+Apache chief was necessarily a good captain, fully able to understand
+how bad it would be for him to be placed between two fires. The ground
+in front of the notch was therefore no place for him to fight in, and he
+did not know what precious minutes he had already been wasting. He threw
+away ten more in a sort of consultation with his wisest warriors, and at
+the same time his whole force rode up the valley a short distance. That
+move gave them the cover of some trees and took them out of range of
+bullets from the barrier, and at that very moment Judge Parks was
+startled by a yell from Sile.
+
+"What are you doing up there?" he shouted, for Sile had clambered away
+up among the rocks of the lodge and stood upon a sort of pinnacle,
+spy-glass in hand.
+
+"Cavalry, father! They are coming. Cavalry--"
+
+"Come down!"
+
+"Right in this direction. Riding hard. Hurrah!"
+
+The new rifle of Two Arrows could not have won him the glory of that
+discovery and announcement. Once more the peculiar advantages of
+pale-faces over red men were forced upon him, but somehow it did but
+stir up his ambition, and with it a quick, daring impulse. He sprang
+away up the valley for a horse. He rushed in among the gathered animals
+of the corral, and boldly picked out his father's best and swiftest
+mustang, a beast that could run like the wind. He asked for no saddle,
+and the bridle went on as if by magic.
+
+Sile came down from his perch at a rate that risked his neck, and made a
+report which drew from Yellow Pine,
+
+"I'd call it--Jedge, if we could only let them fellers know we're here,
+it would be wuth a heap."
+
+Before all who echoed that wish had finished speaking Two Arrows came
+dashing towards the barrier, all ready for the errand.
+
+"Give the youngster three cheers!" shouted Yellow Pine. "Hurrah for
+him!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+A DARING RIDE
+
+
+For the moment there was not one Apache horseman lingering within reach
+of the sharpshooters at the gap, and it was possible to get away from it
+unseen. All peril would come afterwards, but there was a vast amount of
+it, and the proposed errand of Two Arrows called for unlimited courage.
+His light weight upon a fresh racer gave him some advantage over heavy
+warriors upon horses already hard ridden, but this fact did not cover
+the whole question by any means, for a bullet will travel faster than
+the swiftest mustang. Sile did his best to communicate every fact that
+his spy-glass had given him; Long Bear said "Ugh!" with a deep and
+expressive intonation; the logs were removed from the entrance; and then
+Na-tee-kah's heart beat terribly, for she saw her hero brother dash
+forth all alone, she could not guess why nor whither. Then there was
+another sudden commotion, for Yellow Pine shouted, and Long Bear echoed
+it in his own tongue,
+
+"Mount, men! Mount and be ready, every mother's son of ye! I'm jest
+going to back that there young catamount if it costs me my hair!"
+
+There was the swiftest kind of saddling and mounting, and not a Nez
+Perce boy old enough to draw a bow was willing to be left behind. When,
+therefore, the whole force rode out upon the slope in front of the
+notch, it looked a good deal stronger than it really was. All that work
+required many minutes, and during all of these the daring young
+messenger had been doing capitally.
+
+Leaving the gap, he wheeled his fleet mustang to the right and dashed
+away until he deemed himself within reach of a small grove of trees,
+around which he could sweep back into the right course to reach the
+cavalry. It was an acute enough calculation, but out of that very bit of
+bushy timber came first a brace of rifle-bullets and then a pair of
+mounted Apaches, as soon as these believed that they had let him go far
+enough. That is, they rode out to cut off his return, and they both
+failed to do him or his horse any harm. It was a race now, with the
+chances against the pursuers, and Two Arrows sent back a derisive whoop
+as he struck out straight for what he believed to be his mark. He
+understood in an instant that he had escaped the main body of his
+enemies, but there was no telling when he might meet one of their
+smaller squads. He felt in every fibre of his body that he was now armed
+as a warrior, and was doing the work of a warrior and of an uncommonly
+daring brave. His heart beat with fierce delight and hope, and his very
+mustang seemed to feel the excitement, and went forward with long, eager
+bounds. The wind was in his face, and now it brought him something. It
+was a faint sound, and far away, but it was the bugle-note which bade
+Captain Grover's men to change their trot to a gallop.
+
+The little force of cavalry had taken upon them no small risk in dashing
+forward, now that they had a better knowledge of the strength of their
+opponents. It was almost rashness, but it was such a facing of odds as
+our gallant soldiers are all the while doing. There was nothing
+exceptional about it, terrible as have been the disasters now and then
+resulting. Captain Grover determined to gain whatever might be gained by
+promptly following up his first success, and so he had well used all the
+minutes the Apache chief was wasting. At about the time when the latter
+had decided that there must be an effort made to recover the lost
+plunder, unless the cavalry should prove too numerous, Captain Grover
+had ridden far enough to make good the military plan of a young Nez
+Perce chief. His own spy-glass was at work from every rising ground he
+came to, and now it brought an exclamation from him:
+
+"What's up now? One chased by two? Forward! Gallop!"
+
+Two Apache braves, already very sure they could not catch the rider they
+were chasing, wheeled quickly and rode in the opposite direction, and
+in a few moments more Two Arrows was rapidly explaining the situation to
+Captain Grover. It was a very plain one, and not a second was wasted in
+considering it. Again the word was "forward," and the remaining distance
+to be travelled was not great. The decision of the Apaches to advance
+was likely to make it shorter, but that was an unpleasant time for the
+chief in command of those unlucky red men. Just as two of his braves
+came in to inform him that a messenger from the men among the rocks had
+reached the cavalry, another announced that all the pale-faces and Nez
+Perces had come out from the rocks to fight and were "heap strong." Nor
+was that the whole of it, for one of his scouts from the rear dashed up
+with the news that yet another party of Nez Perces was coming, he did
+not know how many. These were the fellows sent through the pass for the
+"cached" property, but what Apache could say how many more might follow?
+or how many more blue-coated veterans might be at hand?
+
+It looked for all the world as if that enterprising band of Apache
+"business men" were surrounded and trapped. They had already lost all
+the proceeds of their season's hard work, and the rest of their stock in
+trade, of all sorts, was pretty sure to follow. More consultation was
+absolutely necessary, and before it was over Sile could announce, from
+his perch upon the rock,
+
+"Coming! I can see Two Arrows."
+
+Then there was a cheering, and Na-tee-kah felt all but proud of the
+noise made by the Big Tongue--there was so very much of it.
+
+"Forward, men!" shouted Judge Parks. "We must be on hand. Come down,
+Sile. Keep near _me_."
+
+Sile was down and mounted in a moment, but there was to be no great
+battle that day. The Apache "council of war" lasted until it could hear
+the cavalry bugle and the distant whoop of the Big Tongue. It could not
+hear the howl of One-eye, for that brave animal was sitting in the very
+entrance of the barrier guarding the notch, all alone except for the
+squaws. It was better to go upon any reservation, and to promise any
+amount and degree of good behavior, than to spend the remainder of that
+fine day in being shot and sabred. So the council decided, and so, in
+due and dignified form, they announced to Captain Grover, before he had
+an opportunity to bid his veterans charge.
+
+The official duty of the captain, after that, was to disarm his
+captives, the weapons to be all returned upon reaching the reservation,
+and to order them at once into a camp by themselves, under a guard. Word
+was sent to Garry and his men to move the quadrupeds down the river as
+fast as possible, the prisoners there being untied and sent to their
+main body. Rapid orders were given, and were mingled with as rapid
+conversations with Judge Parks, Yellow Pine, and Long Bear.
+
+"Where's that messenger?" suddenly exclaimed Captain Grover, after he
+had listened to the facts as to the sending of Two Arrows. There was a
+glow upon the brave soldier's face, and he was unbuckling the flap of
+one of his holsters, for he was yet in the saddle.
+
+Two Arrows was summoned and came forward, and a great many eyes were
+upon him.
+
+"Young brave!" said Captain Grover emphatically. "I never heard of a
+pluckier volunteer in all my life. Take that; keep your head level,
+that's all. You've more courage than you've any real need of."
+
+"That" was a handsome silver-mounted army revolver. Given in that way it
+was a mark of distinction for a great chief to be proud of, and Long
+Bear, indeed, was nearly as proud as was Two Arrows.
+
+"There, Sile," said his father; "see that you do as well with your
+advantages as that Nez Perce boy has done with his."
+
+"I will, father; but why could he not have some more? What is to hinder
+him from going to school? There's all my gold, now, in the wagon; I'd
+spend a good deal of it."
+
+"Sile, my boy, I've been thinking of it. We will do it. It's a good
+thing. The girl too."
+
+It was time now for Captain Grover to ride in and see the notch and the
+mine, and to get the best dinner the miners and Ha-ha-pah-no could cook
+for him and his men. Then it was time for Na-tee-kah to go nearly wild
+with pride over her brother and his revolver. After that there was a
+long consultation between Long Bear and his children and Judge Parks and
+Sile. Two Arrows seemed to be inclined to say very little at first. He
+sat with his new rifle across his lap, and his priceless revolver
+resting upon that, and One-eye came and sat down beside him. Long Bear
+himself seemed to be in doubt as his pale-face friends urged upon him
+the advantages of their offer. He was hardly able to see what good there
+could be in the learning of the white men for a red horseman of the
+plains; but at last Two Arrows motioned to Sile for his spy-glass,
+hanging at his side. He took it and looked through it at the distant
+mountains, and then turned to Long Bear and pointed at them, saying,
+
+"Look! See!"
+
+"Ugh!" said the old chief, "see heap."
+
+"Now look. See," said Two Arrows, "see big heap."
+
+"Ugh! Big medicine," said Long Bear, handing the glass to Sile, but Two
+Arrows arose and stood proudly erect, rifle in hand.
+
+"Will you go?" asked Sile.
+
+"Go," said Two Arrows. "Good friend. Go. Got Nez Perce eye now; want
+pale-face eye."
+
+"Ugh!" exclaimed Long Bear; "what Na-tee-kah say?"
+
+The question was put to her, but it was hardly needful, after she found
+that Two Arrows was to go. She was willing to learn anything he did, and
+she was not even daunted by quick mental vision of a white lady with her
+bonnet on. She would even wear the dress of a pale-face squaw if Two
+Arrows would put on such things as were worn by the Red-head. So it was
+settled, although it would be a number of weeks before the judge and
+Sile could set out for their eastern home.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At several points in the East there are schools designed and maintained
+for the special education of Indian girls and boys, only needing greater
+help from men and women who have money intrusted to them by the Giver.
+
+Among all the tribes of the West, and in every band, Na-tee-kah and Two
+Arrows wait to be found and enticed into a training that is for their
+everlasting good and for that of their race.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+    +-------------------------------------------------+
+    | Transcriber's Note:                             |
+    |                                                 |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:     |
+    |                                                 |
+    | Page   6  pursuasive changed to persuasive      |
+    | Page  12  acquainttance changed to acquaintance |
+    | Page  73  pappose changed to pappoose           |
+    | Page  83  if changed to it                      |
+    | Page 109  wherebouts changed to whereabouts     |
+    | Page 117  familar changed to familiar           |
+    | Page 121  necesary chaged to necessary          |
+    | Page 129  vension changed to venison            |
+    | Page 164  vension changed to venison            |
+    | Page 203  he changed to be                      |
+    |Page 220  condemmed changed to condemned         |
+    +-------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Arrows, by William O. Stoddard
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