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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31699-8.txt b/31699-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c876841 --- /dev/null +++ b/31699-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10258 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bring Me His Ears, by Clarence E. Mulford + +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: Bring Me His Ears + +Author: Clarence E. Mulford + +Release Date: March 19, 2010 [EBook #31699] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRING ME HIS EARS *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Graeme Mackreth and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Tom pushed on ahead to reconnoiter the Upper Spring + +[_Page 262_]] + + + + +"Bring Me His Ears" + +By CLARENCE E. MULFORD + + +AUTHOR OF + +"Bar 20," "Bar 20 Days," "Bar 20-Three," "Buck Peters, Ranchman," "The +Coming of Cassidy," "Hopalong Cassidy," "Johnny Nelson," "The Man from +Bar 20," "Tex," etc. + + +A.L. BURT COMPANY + +Publishers New York + +Published by arrangement with A.C. McClurg & Co. + +Printed in U.S.A. + + + + +Copyright A.C. McClurg & Co. 1922 + +Published October, 1922 + +_Copyrighted in Great Britain_ + + +_Printed in the United States of America_ + + + + +"Bring Me His Ears" + + + + +CHAPTER I + +HAWKENS' GUN STORE + + +The tall, lanky Missourian leaning against the corner of a ramshackle +saloon on Locust Street, St. Louis, Missouri--the St. Louis of the early +forties--turned his whiskey-marked face toward his companion, a short +and slender Mexican trader, sullenly listening to the latter's torrent +of words, which was accompanied by many and excitable gesticulations. +The Missourian shook his head in reply to the accusations of his +companion. + +"But he was on thee boat weeth us!" exclaimed the other. "An' you lose +heem--lak theese!" the sharp snap of his fingers denoted magic. + +"Thar ain't no use o' gittin' riled," replied Schoolcraft. "How in +tarnation kin a man keep th' trail o' a slippery critter like him in +these yere crowds? I'll git sight o' him, right yere." + +"That ees w'at you say," rejoined the Mexican, shrugging his shoulders. +"But w'at weel _I_ say to _le Gobernador_? Theese _hombre_ Tomaz +Boyd--he know vera many t'eengs--too vera many t'eengs--an' he ensult +_le Gobernador_. _Madre de Dios_--sooch ensult!" He shivered at the +thought. "W'en I get thee message, I tr-remble! It say 'Br-ring heem to +me--or breeng me his ears!' I am tol' to go to Seņor Schoolcr-raft at +Eendependence--he ees thee man. I go; an' then you lose heem! Bah! You +do not know theese Manuel Armijo, _le Gobernador de Santa Fe_, my +fren'--I tr-remble!" + +"You need a good swig, that's what _you_ need," growled Schoolcraft. +"An' if ye warn't a chuckle-head," he said with a flash of anger, "we +wouldn't 'a' come yere at all; I told ye he's got th' prairie fever an' +shore would come back to Independence, whar I got friends; but no--we +had ter foller him!" He spat emphatically. "Thar warn't no sense to it, +nohow!" + +The other waved his arms. "But w'y we stan' here, lak theese? W'y you do +no'teeng?" + +"Now you look a-here, Pedro," growled the Missourian, his sullen gaze +passing up and down the slender Mexican. "Ye don't want ter use no spurs +on _this_ critter. I ain't no greaser! If ye'll hold them arms still fer +a minute I'll tell ye somethin'. Thar's three ways o' gittin' a deer: +one is trailin'--which we've found ain't no good; another is layin' low +near a runway--which is _yer_ job; th' third is watchin' th' salt +lick--which is _my_ job. You go down ter th' levee, git cached among +them piles o' freight an' keep a lookout on th' landin' stage o' th' +_Belle_. I'll stick right yere on this corner an' watch th' lick, which +is Hawkens' gun store. He lost his pistol overboard, comin' down th' +river, didn't he? An' th' _Belle_ ain't sailin' till arter ten o'clock, +is she? One o' us is bound ter git sight o' him, fer he'll shore go back +by th' river; an' if thar's any place in this town whar a plainsman'll +go, it's that gun store, down th' street. You do what I say, or you an' +Armijo kin go plumb ter hell! An' don't ye wave yer fists under my nose +no more, Pedro; I might misunderstand ye." + +The Mexican's face brightened. "Eet ees good, vera good, Seņor +Schoolcraft. Hah! You have thee br-rains, my fren'. Armijo, he say: +'Pedro, get heem to Santa Fe, if you can. If you can't, then keel heem, +an' breeng me hees ears.' _Bueno!_ I go, seņor. I go _pronto_. _Buena +dia!_" + +"Then git," growled Schoolcraft. "Thar's that long-faced clerk o' +Hawkens' openin' th' shop. Now remember: this side o' th' junction o' +th' Oregon trail I'm only ter watch him. If he goes southwest from th' +junction, yer job begins; if he heads up fer th' Platte, my job starts. +I ain't got no love fer him, but I'm hopin' he heads fer Oregon an' gets +killed quick! I hate ter think o' a white man in Armijo's paws. An' if +he hangs 'round th' settlements, we toss up fer th' job. If that's +right, _vamoose_." + +"Eet ees r-right to thee vera letter," whispered the Mexican, rubbing +his hands. "Eef only I can get heem to Santa Fe--ah, my fren'!" + +"Yer wuss nor a weasel," grunted the Missourian, slight prickles playing +up and down his spine. "Better git down to them freight piles!" + +Schoolcraft watched his scurrying friend until he slipped around a +corner and was lost to sight; then he turned and looked up the street at +the gun shop of Jake and Samuel Hawken, whose weapons were renowned all +over that far-stretching western wilderness. Shrugging his shoulders, he +glanced in disgust at the heavy, patented repeating rifle in his hand +and, letting his personal affairs take precedence over those of the +distant Mexican tyrant, he swung down the street, crossed it, and +entered the famous gun shop. He risked nothing by the move, for the +store was the Mecca of frontiersmen, and a trip to St. Louis was hardly +complete without a visit to the shop. + +The Hawkens were established, so much so that they were to be singled +out by one of the famous Colt family with a partnership proposition. The +fame of their rifles had rolled westward to the Rockies and beyond. They +were to be found across the Canadian and Mexican boundaries and wherever +hunters and trappers congregated, who scorned the Northwest fusil as fit +only for trading purposes, laughed in their sleeves at the preposterous +length and general inefficiency of the Hudson Bay muskets, and +contentedly patted the stocks of their Hawkens'. There is a tradition +that the length of the Hudson Bay muskets, which often rose over the +head of a tall man while the butt rested on the ground, was due to the +fact that the ignorant Indians could obtain a white man's gun only by +stacking up beaver skins until the pile was as high as the musket. Even +worse than the flintlock trade guns were the _escopetas_ of the south, +matchlocks of prodigious bore and no accuracy or power, which were used +by many of the Mexicans. That swarthy-skinned race which suffered under +the tyranny of Armijo seemed to believe that anything which used powder +was a weapon. The rank and file of the Mexicans were courageous and +usually fought bravely until deserted by their officers, or until they +were fully convinced that the miscellaneous junk with which they were +armed was worse than useless. It can hardly be expected that men +shooting pebbles, nails, and what-not out of nearly useless +blunderbusses; or using bows, arrows, and lances will stand up very long +against straight-shooting troops armed with the best rifles; add to this +the great difference in morale, and the ever-present distrust of the +officers, and a fair and honest understanding may be arrived at. + +Hawkens' clerk took down one of the great rifles to go over it with an +oiled rag, which was another example of painting the lily. The weapon +was stocked to the muzzle and shot a bullet weighing thirty-two to the +pound, each thus being an honest half-ounce of lead. It was brass +mounted and had a poorly done engraving of a buffalo on the trap in its +stock. He turned to replace it and take down another when the sound of +the opening door made him pause and face the incoming customer. + +The newcomer was neither hunter nor trapper, gambler nor merchant, to +judge from his nondescript and mixed attire. His left hand had an ugly +welt running across the base of the palm and it had not been healed long +enough to have lost its distinctive color. In his right hand he carried +a rifle which was new to that part of the country, and he slid it onto +the counter. + +"Swap ye," he gruffly said, stepping back and leering at the clerk. "Too +ak'ard fer me. Can't git used ter it, nohow. I like a stock with a big +drop--this un makes me hump my head down like a bull buffaler. That's +th' wuss o' havin' a long neck." + +The clerk glanced at the repeating Colt and then at the injured hand. +The faintest possible suggestion of a knowing smile flitted across his +face, and he shook his head. + +"Those are too dangerous," he replied. "We don't handle them." + +"W'y, that's a fine rifle!" growled the customer, a heavy frown +settling on his coarse face. "Six shots, with them newfangled caps, +without re-loadin'. She's a plumb fine weapon!" + +"Looks good," laughed the clerk; "but we don't care to handle them." + +"They've sorta put yer nose outer j'int, ain't they?" sneered the +customer. "Wall, ye kin bet yer peltries I wouldn't be givin' ye th' +chanct to handle _this_ un," he angrily declared, "if it had a bigger +drop an' warn't so ak'ard fer a man like me. Ye can't find a rifle in +yer danged store as kin hold a candle ter it. I bet ye ain't never seen +one afore!" + +"It's our business to keep informed," responded the clerk, still +smiling. "We heard all about that rifle as soon as it was patented." + +"But ye allus could sell a gun like this un," persisted the scowling +owner. "Ye must have a hull passel o' tenderfeet a-comin' in yere." + +The clerk frowned and his voice became slightly edged. "The reputation +of Hawkens' is a valuable asset. It was acquired in two ways: honest +goods and fair dealing. Most tenderfeet ask us for a gun that we can +recommend; we cannot recommend that rifle. Do you care to look at one +that will not shoot through the palm of your extended hand after it gets +hot from rapid shooting?" + +"I got ye thar, pardner!" retorted the customer. "I done that with a +poker. Ye don't seem anxious ter do no business." + +"Our stock and my time are at your disposal," replied the clerk; "but we +cannot take that Colt in part payment." + +"Wall, ye don't have ter: I know a man as will; an' he ain't all +swelled up, neither. You an' yer rifles kin go ter h--l together!" He +jerked the Colt from the counter and stamped out, cursing at every step, +and slammed the door behind him so hard that it shook the shop. +Thoroughly angered, he strode down the street and had gone a block +before he remembered that he was to keep watch on the shop. Cursing +anew, he wheeled and went back on the other side of the street and +stopped at the corner of a ramshackle saloon. + +The clerk was taking down another rifle when the door opened again and +he wheeled aggressively, but his frown was swiftly wiped out by a smile. + +The newcomer was somewhere in the twenties, stood six feet two in his +moccasins, and had the broad, sloping shoulders that tell of great +strength. He was narrow waisted and sinewy and walked with a step light +and springy. Dressed in buckskin from the soles of his feet to the top +of his head, he had around his waist a broad belt, from which hung +powder horn, bullet pouch, a container for caps, a buckskin bag for +spare patches, a bullet mold, and a heavy, honest skinning knife. Slung +from a strap over one shoulder hung his "possible" bag, containing +various small articles necessary to his calling. In his hand was a +double-barreled rifle which he seemed to be excited about. + +"Mr. Jarvis!" he exclaimed, offering the weapon for inspection. "Tell me +what you think of this?" + +The clerk chuckled and his eyes lighted with pleasure. "I've seen it, or +its twin, before. English, fine sights, shooting about thirty-six balls +to the pound. They're pointed, aren't they? Ah-ha! I thought so." He +took the gun and examined it carefully. "Just what I've been trying to +tell Mr. Jacob Hawken. Look at those nipples: large diameter across the +threaded end, making it much easier to worry out wet powder by removing +them and working with a bent wire from that end. We have to work at the +ball with a screw, and that is no easy task after the patch paper +becomes swollen. With this rifle you can replace the wet powder with dry +and fire the ball out in much less time. Where did you get it, Mr. +Boyd?" + +The plainsman laughed exultingly. "Won it on the boat coming down, from +an English sportsman who was returning home. He said it was a fine +weapon, and I thought so; but I wanted your opinion." + +"Take it out on the Grand Prairie and try it out. From what I can see +here it is a remarkably fine rifle; but handsome is, you know." + +"I've tried it out already," laughed the other. "It's the best rifle in +this country, always excepting, of course, the Hawken!" + +"As long as you put it that way I shall have to agree with you. Did you +see the man who left a few moments before you came in?" + +Boyd nodded shortly. "Yes; but I don't care to discuss him beyond +warning you to look out for him. He deals in draft animals in +Independence, has the name of being slippery, and is known as Ephriam +Schoolcraft. However, I'm not an unprejudiced critic, for there is not +the best of feelings between us, due to an unprincipled trick he tried +to play on my partner." His face clouded for a moment. His partner had +joined the ill-fated Texan Santa Fe Expedition and had lost his life at +the hands of one of Armijo's brutal officers, for whom Tom Boyd had an +abiding hatred. On his last visit to Santa Fe he had shown it so +actively that only his wits and forthright courage had let him get out +of the city with his life. "Well, to change the subject, I lost my +pistol in the river, and I've heard a great deal about a revolving Colt +pistol from some Texans I met. It shoots six times without re-loading +and is fitted for caps. Got one?" + +"Two," chuckled Jarvis. "A large bore and a smaller. They are fine +weapons, but never rest the barrel on your other hand when you shoot." + +"I'll remember that. Which size would you recommend for me?" + +"The larger, by all means. We are expecting a shipment by express down +the Ohio and it should reach us almost any day now. It took the Texans +to prove their worth and give them their reputation." + +"Fit it with caps, mold and whatever it needs. I need caps and powder +for the rifle, too. First quality Kentucky, or Dupont, of course." + +The purchase completed Jarvis watched his friend and customer distribute +them over his person and then asked a question. + +"Where to now, Mr. Boyd?" + +"Independence and westward," answered the other. "Spring is upon us, the +prairie grass is getting longer all the time, and Independence is as +busy and crowded as an ant hill. All kinds of people are coming in by +train and river, bound for the trade to Santa Fe and Chihuahua, and for +far away Oregon." His eyes shone with enthusiasm. "The homesteaders +interest me the most, for it is to them that we will owe our western +empire. The trappers, hunters, and traders have prepared the way, but +they are only a passing phase. The first two will vanish and in their +places the homesteaders will take root and multiply. Think of it, Mr. +Jarvis, now our frontiers are only halfway across the continent; what an +empire that will some day become!" + +Jarvis nodded thoughtfully and looked up. "What does your father say to +all this, especially after the news last fall about your narrow escape +in Santa Fe?" + +Boyd shrugged his shoulders. "Father set his heart on me becoming his +junior partner, and to passing his work over to me when he was ready to +retire. Two generations of surgeons, is his boast; and in me he hoped to +make it three. Against that, the West needs men! Those Oregon-bound +wagons bring tears to my eyes. They have cast my die for me. I am on my +way to Fort Bridger and Fort Hall and the valley of the Columbia, to +lend my strength and little knowledge of the open to those who need it +most." + +Jarvis nodded his head in sympathy, for he had heard many speak nearly +the same thoughts; indeed, at times, the yearning to leave behind him +the dim old shop and the noisy, bustling city beset him strongly, +despite his years of a life unfitting him for the hardships of the +prairies and mountains. Being able to read Greek and Latin was no asset +on the open trail; although schoolmasters would be needed in that new +country. + +"I know how you feel, Mr. Boyd. Have you seen your father since you +landed?" + +Tom reluctantly shook his head. "It would only reopen the old bitterness +and lead to further estrangement. No man shall ever speak to me again as +he did--not even him. If you should see him, Jarvis, tell him I asked +you to assure him of my affection." + +"I shall be glad to do that," replied the clerk. "You missed him by only +two days. He asked for you and wished you success, and said your home +was open to you when you returned to resume your studies. I think, in +his heart, he is proud of you, but too stubborn to admit it." As he +spoke he chanced to glance through the window of the store. "Don't look +around," he warned. "I want to tell you that Schoolcraft and a Mexican +just passed the shop, peered in at you with more than passing interest +and went on. I suppose it's nothing, though." + +"It's enough to make me keep my eyes open," replied Tom, sighting his +new rifle at the great clock on the wall, which seemed to move a little +faster under the threat. "I thought they were watching me on the boat. +Armijo's vindictive enough to go to almost any length. He isn't +accustomed to having his beast face slapped." + +Jarvis' jaw dropped in sheer amazement. "You mean--do I understand--eh, +you mean--you slapped _his_ face?" + +"So hard that it hurt my hand; I'll wager his teeth are loose," replied +Tom, his interest on his new weapon. + +"Er--slapped _Governor_ Armijo's face?" persisted Jarvis from the +momentum of his amazement. + +"The Governor of the Department of New Mexico," replied the hunter. + +Jarvis drew a sleeve across his forehead and carefully felt for the high +stool behind him. Automatically climbing upon it he seated himself with +great care and then, remembering that his customer was standing, slid +off it apologetically. He was gazing at his companion as though he were +some strange, curious animal. + +"Eh--would you mind telling me _why_?" he asked. + +"He offended me; and if I'd known then what I found out later I would +have broken every bone in his pompous carcass and thrown him to the +dogs!" His face had reddened a little and the veins on his forehead were +beginning to stand out. + +Jarvis examined the clock with almost hypnotic interest. "And how did he +offend you, Mr. Boyd, if I may inquire?" + +"Oh, the beast came swaggering along the street, followed at a +respectful distance by a crowd of his boot-lickers, and pushed me out of +his way. I asked him who in hell he thought he was, in choice Spanish, +and the conceited turkey-gobbler reached for his saber. The more I see +of this gun, Jarvis, the more I like it." + +"Yes, indeed; and then what, Mr. Boyd?" + +"Huh?" + +"He reached for his saber--and then?" + +"Oh," laughed Tom. "I helped him draw it, and broke it across his own +knee. He called me a choice name and I slapped his face. You should have +seen the boot-lickers! Before they could get their senses back and make +up their minds about rushing my pistol I had slipped through a store, +out of the back and into a place I know well, where I waited till dark. +I understand there was quite a lot of excitement for a day or so." + +"I dare say--I dare say there might have been," admitted Jarvis. "In +fact, I am sure there would be. _Damn it_, Tom, would you mind shaking +hands with me?" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ABOARD THE _MISSOURI BELLE_ + + +Tom wended his way to the levee and as he passed the last line of +buildings and faced the great slope leading to the water's edge his eyes +kindled. Two graceful stern-wheel packets were moving on the river, the +smaller close to the nearer bank on her way home from the treacherous +Missouri; the larger, curving well over toward the Illinois shore, was +heading downstream for New Orleans. Their graceful lines, open bow decks +with the great derricks supporting the huge landing stages, and the +thick, powerful masts on each edge of the lower deck toward the bow, +each holding up the great spar so necessary for Mississippi river +navigation; the tall stacks with the initials of the boat against a +lattice work between; the regular spacing of windows and doors in the +cabins, and the clean white of their hulls and superstructure, rendered +more vivid by contrast with the tawny flood on all sides of them, made a +striking and picturesque sight. Each had a curving tail of boiling brown +water behind, and a bone in its teeth. These river boats were modeled on +trim and beautiful lines and were far from being crude, frontier +makeshifts. + +Several Mackinaw boats moved anglingly across the current from the other +shore, and a keelboat glided down the river for New Orleans, or to turn +up the Ohio for Pittsburg, helped in the current by a dirty, square +sail. The little twin-hulled ferry was just coming in from the Illinois +shore, its catamaran construction giving it a safety which a casual +observation would have withheld. The passengers clung to its rails as it +pitched and bobbed in the rolling wake of the south-bound packet, a wake +dreaded by all small craft unfortunate enough to pass the slapping +paddle at too close a distance, for the following billows were high, +sharp, and close together. + +On the great levee wagons and carts rattled and rumbled; drivers shouted +and swore as they picked their impatient and erratic way through the +traffic; lazy negroes, momentarily spurred into energetic activity, +moved all kinds of merchandise between the boats and the great piles on +the sloping river bank, two long lines of them passing each other on the +bridging gangplanks reaching far ashore. Opposed to this scene of labor +and turmoil was a canoe well offshore, whose two occupants, drifting +with the current, lazily fished for the great channel catfish which the +negro population loved so much. + +On a packet, which we will call the _Missouri Belle_, a whistle blew +sharply and as the sound died away several groups of passengers hurried +across the levee, scurrying about like panicky bugs when a log is rolled +over, darting this way and that amid the careless bustle of the traffic, +as eager to reach a place of safety as are chickens affrighted by the +shadow of a drifting hawk. The crowd was cosmopolitan enough to suit the +most exacting critic. Freighters, merchants, hunters, trappers, and +Indians returning to the upper trading posts or to their own country; +gamblers; a frock-coated minister who suspiciously regarded every box +and barrel and bale that he saw rolled up the freight gangplank, and who +was a person of great interest to many pairs of eyes on and off the +boat; a priest; a voluble, chattering group of _coureurs des bois_; a +small crowd of soldiers going up to Fort Leavenworth; emigrants, +boatmen, and travelers made up the hurrying procession or stood at the +rails and watched the confusion on the levee. + +Tom joined the animated stream, swinging in behind an elderly gentleman +who escorted a young lady of unflurried demeanor through the maelstrom +of wagons, carts, mules, horses, passengers, and heavily laden negroes. +Caught in a jam and forced to make a quick decision and to follow it +instantly, the young lady dropped her glove in picking up her skirts and +a nervous horse was about to stamp it into the dirt and dust when Tom +leaped forward. Grasping the bridle with one hand, he bent swiftly and +reached for the glove with the other. As he was about to grasp it, a man +dressed in nondescript clothes left his Mexican companion and bent +forward on the other side of the horse, his lean, brown fingers eagerly +outstretched. + +Tom's surprise at this unexpected interference acted galvanically and +his hand, turning up from the glove, grasped the thrusting fingers of +the other in a grip which not only was powerful but doubly effective by +its unexpectedness. He swiftly straightened the wrist and forearm of his +rival into perfect alignment with the rest of the arm and then, with a +sudden dropping of his own elbow, he turned the other's arm throwing all +his strength and weight into the motion. The result was ludicrous. The +rival, bent forward, his other hand on the ground, had to give way in a +hurry or have his arm dislocated. His right foot arose swiftly into the +air and described a short arc as his whole body followed it; and +quicker than it takes to tell it he was bridged much the same as a +wrestler, his arched back to the ground. Tom grinned sardonically and +with a swift jerk yanked his adversary off his balance, and as the other +sprawled grotesquely in the dust, the victor of the little tilt picked +up the glove, leaped nimbly aside and looked eagerly around for its +owner. He no sooner stood erect than he saw her with a handkerchief +stuffed in her mouth and, bowing stiffly and with sober face he gravely +presented the glove to her. She had waited, despite all her escort could +do, somewhat breathlessly watching the rescue and the short, quick +comedy incidental to it; and now, with reddened cheeks and mischievous +eyes, she took the glove and murmured her thanks. The elderly gentleman, +grinning from ear to ear, raised his high beaver, thanked the plainsman, +and then hurried his charge onto the boat, fearful of the time lost. + +Tom stood in his tracks staring after them, hypnotized by the beauty of +the face and the timbre of the voice of the woman whose eyes had +challenged him as she had turned away. + +The profane remarks of the wagon driver, the more picturesque remarks of +other drivers, and the vociferous, white-toothed delight of the negroes +did not soothe Ephriam Schoolcraft's outraged dignity nor help to cool +his anger, and he arose from his dust bath seeking whom he might devour. +He did not have to seek far, for a negro's shouted warning reached Tom +in time to spin him around to await his adversary. The plainsman was +cool, imperturbable, and smiling slightly with amusement. + +Schoolcraft leaped for him and was sent spinning against a pile of +freight. As he recovered his balance his hand streaked for his belt, but +stopped in the air as he gazed down the barrel of the new Colt snuggling +against the hip of the younger man. It must have looked especially +vicious to a man accustomed to a single-shot pistol, or a +double-barreled Derringer, at best. + +"That was no killing matter," said Tom quietly. "Don't make it so, and +don't make us both miss that packet, and get locked up in a St. Louis +jail. I'll get out again quicker than you, but that hardly matters. If +you're going aboard, go ahead; I'm in no great hurry." Out of the corner +of his eye he was watching the Mexican, but found nothing threatening. + +Schoolcraft glared at him, allowed a hypocritical smile to mask his +feelings, bowed politely, and walked down the levee, the Mexican +following him, and Tom bringing up the rear. They were quickly separated +by the bustle on the boat, each giving his immediate attention to the +preparations necessary for his comfort during the voyage. + +A second blast of the whistle was followed by the groaning of the great +derrick as it lifted the landing stage and swung it aboard; lines were +hauled in and the passengers along the rails waved their adieus and +called last minute messages to those they were leaving behind. It would +be many years before some of them saw their friends again, and for a few +the reunion would not be on this earth. A bell rang aft and the great +stern paddle slapped and thrashed noisily as it bit and tore at the +yellow water beneath it. Showers of sparks, incandescent as they left +the towering stacks, fell in gray flakes on the decks and the river, the +bluish smoke of the wood fires trailing straighter and straighter astern +as the packet rounded into the boiling current and pushed upstream at a +constantly increasing speed, leaving behind her the western metropolis +on the left-hand bank and a straggling hamlet on the other. + +Here the Mississippi is a mighty river, approaching half a mile in width +between its limestone banks; deep, swift, its current boiling up the +muddy contribution of the great Missouri, as if eager to expose the +infamy of its pollution to the world. But whatever it lost in purity by +the addition of the muddy water, pouring in eighteen miles above the +city, it gained in greatness. Other large rivers have been tamed and +rendered nearly harmless, but these two have baffled man's labors and +ingenuity, and finally the contributing stream has been given up as +incorrigible. + +The confusion of the passengers attending to their baggage, places at +table and their sleeping quarters grew constantly less as mile followed +mile, and by the time the _Belle_ swung in a great, westward curve to +leave the Father of Waters for the more turbid and treacherous bosom of +the Big Muddy, many were eagerly looking for the line marking the +joining of the two great streams. It was plain to the eye, for the +jutting brown flood of the Missouri, dotted with great masses of drift, +was treated with proper suspicion by the clearer flood of the nobler +stream, and curved far out into the latter without losing the identity +of its outer edge for some distance below. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ARMIJO'S STRONG ARM + + +Piloting on the Mississippi was tricky enough, with the shifting bars +and the deadly, submerged logs, stumps, and trees; but the Missouri was +in a class by itself; indeed, at various stages of high water it seemed +hardly to know its own channels or, in some places, even its own bed. It +threw up an island today to remove it next week or ten years later, and +cut a new channel to close up an old one whenever the mood suited. +Gnawing off soft clay promontories or cutting in behind them was a +favorite pastime; and the sand and clay of its banks and the vast +expanses of its bottoms coaxed it into capricious excursions afield. +More than one innocent and unsuspecting settler, locating what he +considered to be a reasonable distance from its shores on some rich +bottom, found his particular portion of the earth's surface under the +river or on its further bank when he returned from a precipitate and +entirely willing flight. + +There were two tricks used on the river to get out of sandbar +difficulties that deserve mention. During certain stages of the river it +for some reason would cross over from one side of its bed to the other, +and between the old and the new deep channels would be a space of +considerable distance crossed by the water where there was no channel, +but only a number of shallow washes, none of which perhaps would be deep +enough to let a steamboat through. The deepest would be selected, and +if only two or three more inches of water were needed, the boat would be +run up as far as it could go, the crew would fix the two great spars +with their shoes against the bottom, slanting downstream, set the steam +capstans drawing on their ropes, and then reverse the paddle wheel. The +turning of the great wheel would force water under the hull while the +spars pushed backward and, raising a platform of water around her and +taking it with her, she would slide over the shallow place and go on +about her business. + +In case of a bar where there were no submerged banks to hold a platform +of water, and only a few more inches needed, the spars would be used as +before, but the paddle wheel would remain idle. The backward thrust of +the spars would force the boat ahead, while their lifting motion would +raise it a little. This being repeated again and again would eventually +"walk" the boat across and into deeper water on the other side. It was a +slow and laborious operation and sometimes took a day or two, but it was +preferable to lying tied to the bank and waiting for a rise, often a +matter of a week or more. + +All this was an old story to Tom, who now was on his fifth trip up the +river, for he was an observant young man and one who easily became +acquainted with persons he wished to know. These included the officers +and pilots, who took to the upstanding young plainsman at first sight +and gave painstaking answers to his many but sensible questions. In +consequence his knowledge of the river was wide and deep, although not +founded on practical experience. + +Long before the packet turned into the Missouri he had his affairs +attended to and was leaning against the rail enjoying the shifting +panorama. But the scenery did not take all of his attention, for he was +keeping a watch for a certain Mexican trader and for the young lady of +the glove; and after the boat had rounded into the Big Muddy, he caught +sight of the more interesting of the two as she walked forward on the +port side in the company of her escort. Waiting a few moments to see if +they would discover him, he soon gave it up and went in search of the +purser, who seemed to know about everyone of note in St. Louis. + +"Hello, Tom," called that officer, having recovered his breath after the +rush. "Yo're goin' back purty quick, ain't you?" + +"Reckon not. One night an' one day in th' city was enough. But this +cussed packet is near as lonesome. I don't know a passenger on board." + +"I can fix that," laughed the purser. "I know about three-quarters of +'em, an' can guess at th' rest. I counted seven professional gamblers +comin' up th' plank. They'll be in each other's way. You feelin' like +some excitement?" + +"Not with any of them," answered Tom, grinning. "I can count seven times +seven of them fellers in Independence; an' I hear some of 'em are +plannin' to join up with th' next outgoing train." + +"Well," mused the purser. His face cleared. "There's that sneakin' +minister. Havin' looked in everythin' but our mouths, he'll mebby have +time to convert a sinner. How 'bout him?" + +"Don't hardly think he can do much with me," muttered Tom. He considered +a moment and tried to hide his grin. "Now I noticed an elderly old +gentleman with a young lady, gettin' aboard jest before I did. They was +leavin' you when I showed up. Happen to know 'em?" + +"You shouldn't 'a' give back th' glove when you did," laughed the +officer. "You should 'a' had yore quarrel with Schoolcraft first, so you +could 'a' waited till we was under way before you handed it back to her. +That would 'a' give you a better chance to get acquainted. I've heard +that frontierin' sharpens a man's wits, but I dunno. Want to meet 'em? +Th' old sport's interesting when he ain't tryin' to beat th' gamblers at +their own game. An' he's plumb successful at it, too, if there ain't too +many ag'in him." + +Tom had the grace to flush under his tan, but he thankfully accepted the +bantering and the suggestion. "What you suppose I've risked wastin' my +time talkin' to you for?" he demanded. + +"You know cussed well you wasn't wastin' it," retorted the purser. "Come +on, an' meet one of th' finest young ladies in St. Louis. She won't care +if you pay more attention to her uncle." + +A few minutes later Tom had been made acquainted with the couple and +they soon discovered that they had mutual friends in the city. Time +passed rapidly and Patience Cooper and her uncle, Joseph, took a keen +interest in their companion's account of life on the prairies. He found +that the uncle was engaged in the overland trade and was going out to +Independence to complete arrangements for the starting of his wagons +with the Santa Fe caravan. Finding that they were to be seated at +different tables they had the obliging steward change their places so +they could be together, and after the meal the uncle begged to be +excused and headed for the card room, which brought a fleeting frown to +the face of his niece. Tom observed it without appearing to and led the +way to some chairs on deck near the rail. + +The blast of the whistle apprised them of a landing in sight and soon +they picked it out, as much by the great piles of firewood as by any +other sign. This was the little hamlet of St. Charles, and here came on +board several plainsmen and voyageurs who, having missed the packet at +St. Louis, had hastened across the neck of land to board it here. As +soon as the gangplank touched the bank a hurrying line of men depleted +the great wood pile, and in a few minutes the landing stage swung aboard +again and the _Missouri Belle_ circled out into mid-channel, a stream of +sparks falling astern. + +An annoying wind had been blowing when they left the parent stream, +annoying in a way a stranger to the river never would have dreamed. +There being no permanence to the channels, no fixity to the numerous +bars, no accurate knowledge covering the additions to the terrible, +destroying snags lurking under the surface, the pilot literally had to +read his way every yard and to read it anew every trip. All he had to go +by was the surface of the water, and it told him a true tale as long as +it was reasonably placid. From his high elevation he looked down into +the river and learned from it where the channel lay; and from arrow-head +ripples and little, rolling wavelets, where the snags were, for every +one close enough to the surface to merit attention was revealed by the +telltale "break" on the water. Let a moderate wind blow and his task +became harder and more of a gamble; but even then, knowing that the +waves run higher over deeper water, he still could go ahead; but above +a certain strength the wind not only baffled his reading, but gave such +a sidewise drift to the shallow-draft, high-riding vessel that he could +not hope to take it safely through some of the narrower channels. Rain +or hail, which turned the surface into a uniform area of disturbance, +instantly closed his book; and in this event he had no recourse except +to lie snugly moored to the south bank and wait until the weather +conditions changed. Sometimes these waits were for a few hours, +sometimes for a day or more; and when the persistent southwest prairie +gales blew day and night, moving great clouds of sand with them, the +boat remained a prisoner until they ceased or abated. + +There was good reason for choosing that south bank, for the stronger +winds almost invariably came from that direction during the navigation +season, and the bank gave a pleasing protection. While lying moored, +idleness in progress did not mean idleness all around, for the boilers +ate up great quantities of wood, and in many cases the fuel yards were +the growing trees and windfalls on the banks. Once the boat was moored +the crew leaped ashore and became wood-choppers, filling the fuel boxes +and stacking the remainder on shore for future use. In a pinch green +cottonwood sometimes had to be used, but it could be burned only by +adding pitch or resin. + +Nowhere on the river was a navigation mark, for nowhere was the channel +permanent enough to allow one to be placed. It was primitive, pioneer +navigation with a vengeance, requiring intelligent, sober, quickwitted +and courageous men to handle the boats. On the Missouri the word "pilot" +was a term of distinction. + +The river was high at this time of the year, caused less by the +excessive rains and melting snows in the mountains, being a little early +for them, than by the rains along the immediate valley; bottom lands +were flooded, giving the stream a width remarkable in places and adding +greatly to the amount of drift going down with the current. + +The afternoon waned and the wind died, the latter responsible for the +pilot's good nature, and the shadows of evening grew longer and longer +until they died, seeming to expand into a tenuity which automatically +effaced them. But sundown was not mooring time, for the twilight along +the river often lasted until nine o'clock, and not a minute was wasted. + +When St. Charles had been left astern Tom had led his companion up onto +the hurricane deck and placed two chairs against the pilot house just +forward of the texas, where the officers had their quarters. The water +was now smooth, barring the myriads of whirling, boiling eddies, and +from their elevated position they could see the configuration of the +submerged bars. The afterglow in the sky turned the mud-colored water +into a golden sheen, and the wind-distorted trees on the higher banks +and ridges were weirdly silhouetted against the colored sky. Gone was +the drab ugliness. The finely lined branches of the distant trees, the +full bulks of the pines and cedars and the towering cottonwoods, +standing out against the greenery of grass covered hills, provided a +soft beauty; while closer to the boat and astern where sky reflections +were not seen, the great, tawny river slipped past with a powerful, +compelling, and yet furtive suggestion of mystery, as well it might. + +Tom was telling of the characteristics of the river when the boat veered +sharply and caused him to glance ahead. A great, tumultuous ripple tore +the surface of the water, subsided somewhat and boiled anew, the +wavelets gold and crimson and steel blue against the uniform lavender +shade around them. The many-fanged snag barely had been avoided as it +reached the upward limit of its rhythmic rising and falling. + +Soon a bell rang below and the boat slowed as it headed in toward a +high, wooded bank. Nudging gently against it the packet stopped, men +hurried lines ashore, made them fast to the trees and then set a spring +line, which ran from the stern forward to the bank ahead of the bow, so +as to hold the boat offshore far enough to keep it afloat in case the +river should fall appreciably during the night. The pilot emerged behind +them, glanced down at the captain overseeing the mooring operations, and +then spoke to Tom, who made him acquainted with Patience and invited him +to join them. He gladly accepted the invitation and soon had interested +listeners to his store of knowledge about the river. Darkness now had +descended and he pointed at the stream. + +"There's somethin' peculiar to th' Missouri," he said. "Notice th' glow +of th' water, several shades lighter than th' darkness on th' bank? On +the Mississippi, now, th' water after dark only makes th' night all th' +blacker; but on this stream th' surface can be seen pretty plain, though +not far ahead. We take full advantage of that when we have to sail after +dark. We would be goin' on now, except that we got news of a new and +very bad place a little further on, an' we'd rather tackle it when we +can see good." + +"Oh," murmured Patience. "A ghost road leading through a void." + +A long, dark shape appeared on the "ghost road" and bore silently and +swiftly down upon the boat, struck the hull a glancing blow, scraped +noisily, ducked under, turned partly and scurried off astern. It was a +trimmed tree trunk, and by its lowness in the water it told of a journey +nearly ended. Before long one end would sink deeper and deeper, finally +fastening in the alluvial bottom and, anchoring securely, lie in wait to +play battering ram against some ill-fated craft surging boldly against +the current. + +The lanterns on shore began to move boatward as the last of the wooding +was finished and the fuel boxes again were full. Farther back among the +trees some trappers had started a fire and were enjoying themselves +around it, their growing hilarity and noise suggesting a bottle being +passed too often. Gradually the boat became quiet and after another +smoke the pilot arose and excused himself, saying that it was expected +that the journey would be resumed between three and four o'clock in the +morning. + +"How long will it take us to reach Independence Landing?" asked +Patience. + +The pilot shook his head. "That depends on wind, water, and th' strength +of th' current, though th' last don't make very much difference +sometimes." + +Tom looked up inquiringly. "I don't just understand th' last part," he +confessed. "Mebby I didn't hear it right." + +"Yes, you did," replied the pilot, grinning in the darkness. "When she's +high she's swift; but she's also a hull lot straighter. Th' bends of +this river are famous, an' they add a lot of miles to her length. They +also cut down th' slant of her surface, which cuts down th' strength of +th' current. At lower water we'd have a longer distance to sail, but a +gentler current. When she rises like she is now she cuts off, over or +behind a lot of th' bends an' makes herself a straighter road. An' th' +shorter she gits, th' steeper her pitch grows, which makes a stronger +current. She jest reg'lates herself accordin' to her needs, an' she gits +shet of her floods about as quick as any river on earth. Oh, I tell you, +she's a cute one; an' a mean one, too!" + +"She's shore movin' fast enough now," observed Tom, watching the +hurtling driftwood going spectrally down the almost luminous surface. +"How long will this high water last, anyhow?" + +"Considerable less than th' June rise," answered the pilot. "She's +fallin' now, which is one of th' reasons we're tied to th' bank instid +of goin' on all night. This here rise is short, but meaner than sin. Th' +June rise is slower an' not so bad, though it lasts longer. It comes +from th' rains an' meltin' snow in th' mountains up above. Down here th' +current ain't as swift as it is further up, for this slope is somethin' +less than a foot to th' mile; but if it warn't for th' big bottoms, that +let some of th' water wander around awhile instid of crowdin' along all +at once, we'd have a current that'd surprise you. Jest now I figger +she's steppin' along about seven miles an hour. Durin' low water it's +some'rs around two; but I've seen it nearer ten on some rises. There are +places where steamboats can't beat th' current an' have to kedge up or +wait for lower water. About gittin' to Independence Landin', or what's +left of it, I'll tell you that when we pass Liberty Landin'. Miles +through th' water ain't miles over th' bottom, an' it's th' last that +counts. Besides, th' weather has got a lot to say about our business. I +hope you ain't gittin' chilled, Miss Cooper, this spring air cuts in +amazin' after sundown." + +"I _am_ beginning to feel it," she replied, arising, "I'll say good +night, I believe, and 'turn in.'" + +Tom escorted her to the lower deck and watched her cross the cabin and +enter her room, for he had no illusions about some of the men on board. +As her door closed he wheeled and went to look at the engines, which +were connected directly to the huge paddle wheel. The engineer was +getting ready to climb into his bunk, but he smoked a pipe with his +visitor and chatted for a few minutes. Tom knew what it meant to be an +engineer on a Missouri river packet and he did not stay long. He knew +that his host scarcely took his hand from the throttle for a moment +while the boat was moving, for he had to be ready to check her instantly +and send her full speed astern. The over-worked system of communication +between the pilot house and the engine room had received its share of +his attention during his runs on the river. + +He next went forward along the main deck and looked at the boilers, the +heat from them distinctly pleasing. As he turned away he heard and felt +the impact from another great, trimmed log slipping along the faint, +gray highway. Some careless woodcutter upstream had worked in vain. He +stopped against the rail and looked at the scurrying water only a few +feet below him, listening to its swishing, burbling complaints as it +eddied along the hull, seeming in the darkness to have a speed +incredible. A huge cottonwood with its upflung branches and sunken +roots paused momentarily as it struck a shallow spot, shivered, lost a +snapping dead limb, collected a surprising amount of débris as it swung +slowly around and tore free from the clutching mud of the bottom and, +once more acquiring momentum, shot out of sight into the night, its +slowly rising branches telling of the heavy roots sinking to their +proper depth. Next came a tree stump like some huge squid, which must +have been well dried out and not in the water for very long, else it +would have found the bottom before this. Then a broken and waterlogged +keelboat, fully twenty-five feet long, scurried past, a great menace to +every boat afloat. Planks, rails from some pasture fence, a lean-to +outhouse, badly smashed, and a great mass of reeds and brush came along +like a floating island. The constantly changing procession and the gray +water fascinated him and he fairly had to tear himself away from it. +Strange splashings along the bank told him of undermined portions of it +tumbling into the river, and a louder splash marked the falling of some +tree not far above. + +"She's talkin' a-plenty tonight," said a rough voice behind him and he +turned, barely able to make out a figure dressed much the same as he +was; but he did not see another figure, in Mexican garb, standing in the +blackness against a partition and watching him. The speaker continued. +"More gentle, this hyar trip; ye should 'a' heard her pow-wowin' th' +last run up. I say she's wicked an' cruel as airy Injun; an' nothin' +stops her." + +"I can't hardly keep away from her," replied Tom, easily dropping into +the language of the other; "but I ain't likin' her a hull lot. A hard +trail suits me better." + +"Now yer plumb shoutin'," agreed the other. "If 'twarn't fer goin' +ashore every night, up in th' game country, I don't reckon I'd want ter +see another steamboat fer th' rest o' my days. Everythin' about 'em is +too onsartin." + +Tom nodded, understanding that his companion was a hunter employed by +the steamboat company to supply the boat's table with fresh meat. After +the game country, which really meant the buffalo range, was reached this +man went ashore almost every night and hunted until dawn or later, +always keeping ahead of the boat's mooring and within sight of the river +after daybreak. Whatever he shot he dragged to some easily seen spot on +the bank for the yawl to pick up, and when the steamboat finally +overtook him he went aboard by the same means. His occupation was +hazardous at all times because of the hostility of the Indians, some few +of which, even when their tribes were quiet and inclined to be friendly +for trade purposes, would not refuse a safe opportunity to add a white +man's scalp to their collection. The tribes along the lower sections of +the river were safer, but once in the country of the Pawnees and Sioux, +where his hunting really began, it was a far different matter. He did +not have much of the dangerous country to hunt in because the _Belle_ +did not go far enough up the river; but the hunters on the fur company's +boats went through the worst of it. + +"Goin' out this spring?" asked the hunter. + +"Yep; Oregon, this time," answered Tom. "My scalp ain't safe in Santa Fe +no more. Been thar?" + +"Santa Fe, yep; Oregon, no. Went to N'Mexico in '31, an' we got our fust +buffaler jest tother side o' Cottonwood Creek. It war a tough ol' bull. +Bet ye won't git one thar no more. We forded th' Arkansas at th' lower +crossin' an' follered th' dry route. Hear thar's a track acrost it now, +but thar warn't any then. Don't like that stretch, nohow. Longest way +'round is th' best fer _this_ critter. Ye got Bent's Fort handy ter bust +up th' trip, git supplies an' likker; an' I'd ruther tackle Raton Pass, +mean as it is, than cross that cussed dry plain atween th' Crossin' an' +th' Cimarron. I'd ruther have water than empty casks, airy time; an' +fur's th' Injuns air consarned, 'twon't be long afore ye'll have ter +fight 'em all th' way from th' frontier ter th' Mexican settlements. +They'll be gittin' wuss every year." + +"Yer talkin' good medicine," replied Tom, thoughtfully. "'Twon't be safe +fer any caravan ter run inter one o' them war parties. Thar cussin' th' +whites a'ready, an' thar bound ter jine han's ag'in us when th' buffaler +git scarce." + +The hunter slapped his thigh and laughed uproariously. "Cussed if that +ain't a good un! Why, th' man ain't alive that'll live ter see that day. +They won't git scarce till Kansas is settled solid, an' _then_ there'll +have ter be a bounty put on 'em ter save th' settlers' crops. Why, +thar's _miles_ o' 'em, pardner!" + +"I've _seen_ miles o' 'em," admitted Tom; "but they'll go, an' when they +once start ter, they'll go so fast that a few years will see 'em plumb +wiped out." + +"Shucks!" replied the hunter, "Why, th' wust enemies they got is th' +Injuns an' th' wolves. Both o' them will go fust, an' th' buffalers'll +git thicker an' thicker." + +"_We_ are thar worst enemies!" retorted Tom with spirit. "Th' few th' +Injuns kill don't matter--if it did they'd 'a' been gone long ago. They +only kill fer food an' clothin'; but we kill fer sport an' profit. Every +year that passes sees more whites on th' buffaler ranges an' more hides +comin' in ter th' settlements; an' most of them hides come from th' +cows. Look at th' beaver, man! Thar goin' so fast that in a few years +thar won't be none left. Thar's only one thing that'll save 'em, an' +that's a change in hats. Killin' fer sport is bad enough, but when th' +killin' is fer profit th' end's shore in sight. What do we do? We cut +out th' buffaler tongues an' a few choice bits an' leave th' rest for +th' wolves. Th' Injuns leave nothin' but th' bones. Why, last trip +acrost I saw one man come inter camp with sixteen tongues. He never even +bothered with th' hump ribs! I told him if he done it ag'in an' I saw +him, I'd bust his back; an' th' hull caravan roared at th' _joke_!" + +"Danged if it warn't a good un," admitted the hunter, chuckling. "Have +ter spring that on th' boys." He turned and looked around. "Them fellers +on th' bank air shore havin' a good time. They got likker enough, +anyhow. Cussed if it don't sound like a rendezvous! Come on, friend: +what ye say we jine 'em? It's too early to roll up, an' thar's only card +buzzards in th' cabin a-try-in' ter pick th' bones o' a merchant." + +"We might do wuss nor that," replied Tom; "but I don't reckon I'll go +ashore tonight." + +"Wall, if ye change yer mind ye know th' trail. I'm leavin' ye now, +afore th' bottles air all empty," and the hunter crossed the deck and +strode down the gangplank. + +Tom watched the hurrying, complaining water for a few moments and then +turned to go to the cabin. As he did so something whizzed past him and +struck the water with a hiss. Whirling, he leaped into the shadows +under the second deck, the new Colt in his hand; but after a hot, eager +search he had to give it up, and hasten to the cabin, to peer +searchingly around it from the door. The only enemy he had on board to +his knowledge was Schoolcraft--and then another thought came to him: was +Armijo reaching out his arm across the prairies? + +Joe Cooper was intent on his game; Schoolcraft and the Mexican trader +were taking things easy at a table in a corner, and both had their +knives at their belts. They did not give him more than a passing glance, +although a frown crept across the Independence horse-dealer's evil face. +Seating himself where he could watch all the doors, Tom tried to solve +the riddle while he waited to scrutinize anyone entering the cabin. At +last he gave up the attempt to unravel the mystery and turned his +attention to the card game, and was surprised to see that it was being +played with all the safeguards of an established gambling house. Having +a friend in the game he watched the dealer and the case-keeper, but +discovered nothing to repay him for his scrutiny. An hour later the game +broke up and Joe Cooper, cashing in his moderate winnings, arose and +joined Tom and suggested a turn about the deck before retiring. Tom +caught a furtive exchange of fleeting and ironical glances between the +case-keeper and the dealer, but thought little of it. He shrugged his +shoulders and followed his new friend toward the door. + +Ephriam Schoolcraft, somewhat the worse for liquor, made a slighting +remark as the two left the cabin, but it was so well disguised that it +provided no real peg on which to hang a quarrel; and Tom kept on toward +the deck, the horse-dealer's nasty laugh ringing in his ears. He could +see where he was going to have trouble, but he hoped it would wait until +Independence was reached, for always there were the makings of numerous +quarrels on board under even the best of conditions, and he determined +to overlook a great deal before starting one on his own account. It was +his wish that nothing should mar the pleasure of the trip up the river +for Patience Cooper. + +He and his companion stopped in the bow and looked at the merry camp on +shore, both sensing an undertone of trouble. Give the vile, frontier +liquor time to work in such men and anything might be the outcome. + +He put his lips close to his companion's ear: "Mr. Cooper, did you +notice anyone hurry into the cabin just before I came in? Anyone who +seemed excited and in a hurry?" + +Cooper considered a moment: "No," he replied. "I would have seen any +such person. Something wrong?" + +"Schoolcraft, now; and that Mexican friend of his," prompted Tom. "Did +they leave the cabin before you saw me come in?" + +"No; they both were where you saw them for an hour or two before you +showed up. I'm dead certain of that because of the interest Schoolcraft +seemed to be taking in me. I don't know why he should single me out for +his attentions, for he don't look like a gambler. I never saw him before +that little fracas you had with him on the levee. Something up?" + +"No," slowly answered Tom. "I was just wondering about something." + +"Nope; he was there all the time," the merchant assured him. "Seems to +me I heard about some trouble you had in Santa Fe last year. Anything +serious?" + +"Nothing more than a personal quarrel. I happened to get there after +they had started McLeod's Texans on the way to Mexico City, and learned +that they had been captured." He clenched his fists and scowled into the +night. "One of the pleasant things I learned from a man who saw it, was +the execution of Baker and Howland. Both shot in the back. Baker was not +killed, so a Mexican stepped up and shot him through the heart as he lay +writhing on the ground. The dogs tore their bodies to pieces that +night." He gripped the railing until the blood threatened to burst from +his finger tips. "I learned the rest of it, and the worst, a long time +later." + +Cooper turned and stared at him. "Why, man, that was in October! Late in +October! How could you have been there at that time, and here, in this +part of the country, now? You couldn't cross the prairies that late in +the year!" + +"No; I wintered at Bent's Fort," replied Tom. "I hadn't been in +Independence a week before I took the boat down to St Louis, where you +first saw me. There were four of us in the party and we had quite a time +making it. Well, reckon I'll be turning in. See you tomorrow." + +He walked rapidly toward the cabin, glanced in and then went to his +quarters. Neither Schoolcraft nor the Mexican were to be seen, for they +were in the former's stateroom with a third man, holding a tense and +whispered conversation. The horse-dealer apparently did not agree with +his two companions, for he kept doggedly shaking his head and +reiterating his contentions in drunken stubbornness that, no matter what +had been overheard, Tom Boyd was not going to Oregon, but back to Santa +Fe. He mentioned Patience Cooper several times and insisted that he was +right. While his companions were not convinced that they were wrong +they, nevertheless, agreed that there should be no more knife throwing +until they knew for certain that the young hunter was not going over the +southwest trail. + +Schoolcraft leered into the faces of his friends. "You jest wait an' +see!" He wagged a finger at them. "Th' young fool is head over heels in +love with her; an' he'll find it out afore she jines th' Santa Fe waggin +train. Whar she goes, _he'll_ go. I'm drunk; but I ain't so drunk I +don't know that!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOM CHANGES HIS PLANS + + +Dawn broke dull and cold, but without much wind, and when Tom awakened +he heard the churning of the great paddle wheel, the almost ceaseless +jangling of the engine room bell and the complaining squeaks of the +hard-worked steering gear. A faint whistle sounded from up river, was +answered by the _Missouri Belle_, and soon the latter lost headway while +the two pilots exchanged their information concerning the river. Again +the paddles thumped and thrashed and the boat shook as it gathered +momentum. + +On deck he found a few early risers, wrapped in coats and blankets +against the chill of the morning hour. The overcast sky was cold and +forbidding; the boiling, scurrying surface of the river, sullen and +threatening. Going up to the hurricane deck he poked his head in the +pilot house. + +"Come on in," said the pilot "We won't go fur today. See that?" + +Tom nodded. The small clouds of sand were easily seen by eyes such as +his and as he nodded a sudden gust tore the surface of the river into a +speeding army of wavelets. + +"Peterson jest hollered over an' said Clay Point's an island now, an' +that th' cut-off is bilin' like a rapids. Told me to look out for th' +whirlpool. They're bad, sometimes." + +"To a boat like this?" asked Tom in surprise. + +"Yep. We give 'em all a wide berth." The wheel rolled over quickly and +the V-shaped, tormented ripple ahead swung away from the bow. "That's +purty nigh to th' surface," commented the pilot. "Jest happened to swing +up an' show its break in time. Hope we kin git past Clay before th' wind +drives us to th' bank. Look there!" + +A great, low-lying cloud of sand suddenly rose high into the air like +some stricken thing, its base riven and torn into long streamers that +whipped and writhed. The gliding water leaped into short, angry waves, +which bore down on the boat with remarkable speed. As the blast struck +the _Missouri Belle_ she quivered, heeled a bit, slowed momentarily, and +then bore into it doggedly, but her side drift was plain to the pilot's +experienced eyes. + +"We got plenty o' room out here fer sidin'," he observed; "but 'twon't +be long afore th' water'll look th' same all over. We're in fer a bad +day." As he spoke gust after gust struck the water, and he headed the +boat into the heavier waves. "Got to keep to th' deepest water now," he +explained. "Th' snags' telltales are plumb wiped out. I shore wish we +war past Clay. There ain't a decent bank ter lie ag'in this side o' it." + +For the next hour he used his utmost knowledge of the river, which had +been developed almost into an instinct; and then he rounded one of the +endless bends and straightened out the course with Clay Point half a +mile ahead. + +"Great Jehovah!" he muttered. "Look at Clay!" + +The jutting point, stripped bare of trees, was cut as clean as though +some great knife had sliced it. Under its new front the river had cut +in until, as they looked, the whole face of the bluff slid down into the +stream, a slice twenty feet thick damming the current and turning it +into a raging fury. Some hundreds of yards behind the doomed point the +muddy torrent boiled and seethed through its new channel, vomiting +trees, stumps, brush and miscellaneous rubbish in an endless stream. Off +the point, and also where the two great currents came together again +behind it two great whirlpools revolved with sloping surfaces smooth as +ice, around which swept driftwood with a speed not unlike the horses of +some great merry-go-round. The vortex of the one off the point was +easily ten feet below the rim of its circumference, and the width of the +entire affair was greater than the length of the boat. A peeled log, not +quite water-soaked, reached the center and arose as vertical as a plumb +line, swayed in short, quick circles and then dove from sight. A moment +later it leaped from the water well away from the pool and fell back +with a smack which the noise of the wind did not drown. To starboard was +a rhythmic splashing of bare limbs, where a great cottonwood, partly +submerged, bared its fangs. To the right of that was a towhead, a newly +formed island of mud and sand partly awash. + +The pilot cursed softly and jerked on the bell handle, the boat +instantly falling into half speed. He did not dare to cut across the +whirlpool, the snag barred him dead ahead, and it was doubtful if there +was room to pass between it and the towhead; but he had no choice in the +matter and he rang again, the boat falling into bare steerageway. If he +ran aground he would do so gently and no harm would be done. So swift +was the current that the moment he put the wheel over a few spokes and +shifted the angle between the keel-line and the current direction, the +river sent the craft sideways so quickly that before he had stopped +turning the wheel in the first direction he had to spin it part way back +again. The snag now lay to port, the towhead to starboard, and holding a +straight course the _Missouri Belle_ crept slowly between them. There +came a slight tremor, a gentle lifting to port, and he met it by a quick +turn of the wheel. For a moment the boat hung pivoted, its bow caught by +a thrusting side current and slowly swinging to port and the snag. A +hard yank on the bell handle was followed by a sudden forward surge, a +perceptible side-slip, a gentle rocking, and the bow swung back as the +boat, entirely free again, surged past both dangers. + +The pilot heaved a sigh of relief. "Peterson didn't say nothin' about +th' snag or th' towhead," he growled. Then he grinned. "I bet he rounded +inter th' edge o' th' whirler afore he knowed it was thar! Now that I +recollect it he did seem a mite excited." + +"Somethin' like a boy explorin' a cave, an' comin' face to face with a +b'ar," laughed Tom. "I recken you fellers don't find pilotin' +monotonous." + +"Thar ain't no two trips alike; might say no two miles, up or down, trip +after trip. Here comes th' rain, an' by buckets; an' thar's th' place I +been a-lookin' fer. Th' bank's so high th' wind won't hardly tech us." + +He signaled for half speed and then for quarter and the boat no sooner +had fallen into the latter than her bow lifted and she came to a grating +stop. The crew, which had kept to shelter, sprang forward without a word +and as the captain crossed the bow deck the great spars were being +hauled forward. After the reversed paddles had shown the _Belle_ to be +aground beyond their help, the spars were put to work and it was not +long before they pushed her off again, and a few minutes later she nosed +against the bank. + +The pilot sighed and packed his pipe. "Thar!" he said, explosively. +"Hyar we air, an' we ain't a-goin' on ag'in till we kin see th' channel. +No, sir, not if we has ter stay hyar a week!" + +Tom led the way below and paused at the foot of the companionway as he +caught sight of Patience. He glowed slightly as he thought that she had +been waiting for him; and when he found that she had not yet entered the +cabin for breakfast, the glow became quite pronounced. He had seen many +pretty girls and had grown up with them, but the fact that she was +pretty was not the thing which made her so attractive to him. There was +a softness in her speaking voice, a quiet dignity and a certain reserve, +so honest that it needed no affectations to make it sensed; and under it +all he felt that there was a latent power of will that would make +panicky fears and actions impossible in her. And he never had perceived +such superb defenses against undue familiarity, superb in their +unobtrusiveness, which to him was proof of their sincerity and that they +were innate characteristics. He felt that she could repel much more +effectively without showing any tangible signs of it than could any +woman he ever had met. He promised himself that the study of her nature +would not be neglected, and he looked forward to it with eagerness. +There was, to him, a charm about her so complex, so subtle that it +almost completed the circle and became simple and apparent. + +She smiled slightly and acknowledged his bow as he approached her. + +"Good morning, Miss Cooper. Have you and your uncle breakfasted?" + +"Not yet," she answered, turning toward the cabin. "I think he is +waiting for us. Shall we go in?" + +The plural form of the personal pronoun sent a slight thrill through him +as he opened the door for her, showed her to the table, and seated her +so that she faced the wide expanse of the river. + +"I imagined that I felt bumps against the boat sometime during the +night," she remarked. She looked inquiringly at Tom and her uncle. "Did +we strike anything?" + +"Why," Tom answered in simulated surprise, "no one said anything about +it to me, and I've been with the pilot almost since dawn. The whole fact +of the matter is that this river's dangers are much over-estimated, +considering that boats of thirty feet and under have been navigating it +since before the beginning of this century. And they had no steam to +help them, neither." + +Uncle Joe appeared to be very preoccupied and took no part in the +conversation. + +"I have heard uncle and father speak many times about the great dangers +attending the navigation of the Missouri," she responded, smiling +enigmatically, and flashing her uncle a keen, swift glance. "They used +to dwell on it a great deal before father went out to Santa Fe. So many +of their friends were engaged in steamboat navigation that it was a +subject of deep interest to them both, and they seemed to be very well +informed about it." She laughed lightly and again glanced at her uncle. +"Since uncle learned that I might have to make the trip he has talked +in quite a different strain; but he did suggest, somewhat hopefully, +that we put up with the discomforts of the overland route and make the +trip in a wagon. Don't you believe, Mr. Boyd, that knowledge of possible +dangers might be a good thing?" + +Uncle Joe gulped the last of his watery coffee, pushed back, and arose. +"Want to see the captain," he said. "Meet you two later on deck," and he +lost no time in getting out of the cabin. + +"Well," came the slow and careful answer from Tom, "so many of us pass +numerous dangers in our daily lives, unknown, unsuspected, that we might +have a much less pleasant existence if we knew of them. If they are +dangers that we could guard against, knowledge of them certainly would +be a good thing." + +She nodded understandingly and looked out over the tawny, turbulent +flood, then leaned forward quickly; and her companion did not lose this +opportunity to admire her profile. Coming down the stream like an arrow, +with a small square sail set well forward, was a keelboat, its +hide-protected cargo rising a foot or more above the gunwale amidships. +Standing near the mast was a lookout, holding fast to it, and crouched +on top of the cargo, the long, extemporized addition to the tiller +grasped firmly in both hands, was the _patron_, or captain. Sitting +against the rear bulkhead of the hold and facing astern were several +figures covered with canvas and hides, the best shift the crew could +make against the weather. The French-Canadian at the mast waved his +hand, stopping his exultant song long enough to shout a bon voyage to +the steamboat as he shot past, and the little boat darted from their +sight into the rain and the rolling vapor of the river like a hunted +rabbit into a tangle of briars. + +"That's splendid!" she exclaimed, an exultant lilt in her voice. "That's +the spirit of this western country: direct, courageous, steadfast! Can't +you feel it, Mr. Boyd?" + +His eyes shone and he leaned forward over the table with a fierce +eagerness. In that one moment he had caught a glimpse into the heart and +soul of Patience Cooper that fanned fiercely the flame already lighted +in his heart. His own feelings about the West, the almost tearful +reverence which had possessed him at the sight of those pioneer women, +many with babes at their breasts, that he daily had seen come into +Independence from the East to leave it on the West, the hardships past +great enough to give pause to men of strength, but not shaking their +calm, quiet determination to face greater to the end of that testing +trail, and suffer privations in a vast wilderness; his feelings, his +hopes, his faith, had come back to him in those few words almost as +though from some spirit mirror. He choked as he fought to master himself +and to speak with a level voice. + +"Feel it?" he answered, his voice shaking. "I feel it sometimes until +the sheer joy of it hurts me! Wait until you stand on the outskirts of +Independence facing the sunset, and see those wagons, great and small, +plodding with the insistent determination of a wolverine to the distant +rendezvous! Close your eyes and picture that rendezvous, the caravan +slowly growing by the addition of straggling wagons from many feeding +roads. Wait until you stand on the edge of that trail, facing the west, +with rainbows in the mist of your eyes! Oh, Miss Cooper, I can't--but +perhaps we'd better go on deck and see what the weather promises." + +She did not look at him, but as she arose her hand for one brief instant +rested lightly on his outflung arm, and set him aquiver with an ecstatic +agony that hurt even while it glorified him. He shook his head savagely, +rose and led the way to the door; and only the moral fiber and training +passed on to him through generations of gentlemen kept him from taking +her in his arms and smothering her with kisses; and in his tense +struggle to hold himself in check he did not realize that such an +indiscretion might have served him well and that such a moment might +never come again. Holding open the door until she had passed through, he +closed it behind them and stumbled into a whirling gust of rain that +stung and chilled him to a better mastery of himself. Opportunity had +knocked in vain. + +"Our friends, the pilots, will not be good company on a day like this," +he said, gripping the rail and interposing his body between her and the +gusts. "The gangplank's out, but there seems to be a lack of warmth in +its invitation. Suppose we go around on the other side?" + +On the river side of the boat they found shelter against the slanting +rain and were soon comfortably seated against the cabin wall, wrapped in +the blankets he had coaxed from his friend, the purser. + +"Just look at that fury of wind and water!" exclaimed Patience. "I +wonder where that little keelboat is by now?" + +"Oh, it's scooting along like a sled down an icy slope," he answered, +hoping that it had escaped the hungry maw of the great whirlpool off +Clay Point. "They must have urgent reasons for driving ahead like that. +It must be an express from the upper Missouri posts to St. Louis. +McKenzie probably wants to get word to Chouteau before the fur company's +steamboat starts up the river. Or it may be the urging of the thrill +that comes with gambling with death." + +Behind them Uncle Joe poked his head out of the cabin door and regarded +them curiously. Satisfied that troublesome topics no longer were being +discussed he moved forward slowly. + +"Oh, here you are," he said, as though making a discovery. "I thought I +might find you out here. Captain Newell ain't fit company for a savage +wolf this morning. Have you heard how long we're going to be tied up?" + +Tom drew a chair toward him and looked up invitingly. "Sit down, Mr. +Cooper. Why, I understand we will stay here all day and night." He +understood the other man's restlessness and anxiety about the wait, but +did not sympathize with him. The longer they were in making the +river-run the better he would be suited. + +Uncle Joe glanced out over the wild water. "Oh, well," he sighed. "If we +must, then we must. That river's quite a sight; looks a lot worse than +it is. Hello! What's our reverend friend doing down there? Living in the +hold?" He chuckled. "If he is, it's a poor day to come up for air." + +They followed his glance and beheld a tall, austere, long-faced +clergyman emerging from the forward hatch, and behind him came the pilot +with whom they had talked the evening before. When both had reached the +deck and stepped out of the rain the clergyman shook his head stubbornly +and continued his argument. + +"I was told to come up on this packet and examine her carefully on the +way," he asserted, doggedly. "Liquor in vast quantities has been getting +past both Fort Leavenworth and Bellevue; and while the military +inspectors may be lax, or worse, that is an accusation which cannot +truthfully be brought against us at the upper agency. If I am not given +honest assistance in the prosecution of my search, your captain may +experience a delay at our levee that will not be to his liking. It's all +the same to me, for if it isn't found on our way up, it _will_ be found +after we reach the agency." + +"But, my reverend sir!" replied the pilot, in poorly hidden anger, +"you've been from one end of th' hold to th' other! You've crawled +'round like a worm, stuck yore nose an' fingers inter everythin' thar +war to stick 'em in; you've sounded th' flour barrels with a +wipin'-stick, an' jabbed it inter bags an' bales. Bein' a government +inspector we've had ter let ye do it, whether we liked it or not. I've +got no doubts th' captain will be glad ter take down th' engines, rip +open th' bilers, slit th' stacks an' mebby remove th' plankin' of th' +hull; but--air ye listenin' close, my reverend sir? If ye try ter git me +ter guide ye around in that thar hold ag'in, I'll prove ter ye that th' +life o' a perfect Christian leads ter martyrdom. Jest ram that down yore +skinny neck, an' be damned ter ye!" + +"I will not tolerate such language!" exclaimed the indignant shepherd. +"I shall report you, sir!" + +"You kin report an' be damned!" retorted the angry pilot. "Yo're too +cussed pious to be real. What's that a-stickin' outer yer pocket?" + +The inspector felt quickly of the pocket indicated and pulled out a +half-pint flask of liquor, and stared at it in stupefaction. +"Why--I----" + +"Yer a better actor than ye air a preacher," sneered the pilot, glancing +knowingly from the planted bottle around the faces of the crowd which +had quickly assembled. "O' course, you deal in precepts; but they'd be a +cussed sight more convincin' fer a few examples along with 'em. Good +day, my reverend sir!" + +The frocked inspector, tearing his eyes from the accusing bottle and +trying to close his mouth, gazed after the swaggering pilot and then +around the circle of grinning faces. A soft laugh from above made him +glance up to where Patience and her companions were thoroughly enjoying +the episode. + +"Parson, I'll have a snorter with ye," said a bewhiskered bullwhacker, +striding eagerly forward, his hand outstretched. "Go good on a mornin' +like this." + +"Save some fer me, brother," called a trapper, his keen eyes twinkling. +"Allus reckoned you fellers war sort o' baby-like; but thar's th' makin' +o' a man in you." He grinned. "'Sides, we dassn't let all that likker +git up ter th' Injuns." + +"Shucks!" exclaimed a raw-boned Missourian. "That's only a sample he's +takin' up ter Bellevue. He ain't worryin' none about a little bottle +like that, not with th' bar'ls they got up thar. What you boys up thar +do with all th' likker ye take off'n th' boats? Nobody ever saw none o' +it go back down th' river." + +The baited inspector hurled the bottle far out into the stream and tried +to find a way out of the circle, but he was not allowed to break +through. + +"You said somethin' about Leavenworth bein' careless, or wuss," said a +soldier who was going up to that post. "We use common sense, up thar. +Thar's as much likker gits past th' agencies on th' land side as ever +tried ter git past on th' river. Every man up-bound totes as much o' it +as he kin carry. Th' fur company uses judgment in passin' it out, fer it +don't want no drunken Injuns; but th' free traders don't care a rip. If +th' company ain't got it, then th' Injuns trade whar they kin git it; +an' that means they'll git robbed blind, an' bilin' drunk in th' +bargain. If I had my way, they'd throw th' hull kit of ye in th' river." + +"That's right," endorsed a trapper, chuckling, and slapping the +inspector on the back with hearty strength. "You hold this hyar boat to +th' bank at Bellevue jest as long as ye kin, parson. It makes better +time than th' boys goin' over th' land, an' 'tain't fair ter th' boys. +Think ye kin hold her a hull week, an' give my pardners a chanct ter +beat her ter th' Mandan villages?" He looked around, grinning. "Them +Injuns must have a hull passel o' furs a-waitin' fer th' first trader." + +"What's th' trouble here?" demanded the captain, pushing roughly through +the crowd. "What's th' trouble?" + +"Nothing but the baiting of a government inspector and a wearer of the +cloth," bitterly answered the encircled minister. + +"Oh," said the captain, relieved. "Wall, ye git as ye give. Are ye +through with th' hold?" + +The inspector sullenly regarded him. "I think so," he answered. + +The captain wheeled to one of the crew. "Joe, throw on that hatch, lock +it, and keep it locked until we get to Bellevue," he snapped. "We're +ready to comply with government regulations, at the proper time and +place. You and your friends can root around all you want after we get to +Bellevue. The next time I find you in the hold with a lighted candle +I'll take it away from you and lock you in there." He turned, ordered +the crowd to disperse and went back to the texas. + +It was an old story, this struggle to get liquor past the posts to the +upper Missouri, and there were tricks as yet untried. From the +unexpected passage of this up-bound inspector, going out to his station +at the agency, and his officious nosings, it was believed by many that +any liquor on board would not have a chance to get through. And why +should the _Belle_ be carrying it, since her destination and turning +point was Bellevue? + +"Is it true that liquor is smuggled up the river?" asked Patience as the +inspector became lost to sight below. + +Her companions laughed in unison. + +"They not only try to get it up," answered Tom, "but they succeed. I've +been watching that sour-faced parson on his restless ramblings about the +boat, and I knew at once that there must be a game on. Sometimes their +information is correct. However, I'll back the officers of this packet +against him, any time." + +"I'm afraid you'd win your bet, Mr. Boyd," choked the uncle. + +"Uncle Joe! What do you know about it?" asked his niece accusingly. + +"Nothing, my dear; not a single thing!" he expostulated, raising his +hands in mock horror, his eyes resting on three new yawls turned +bottomside up on the deck near the bow. He mentally pictured the +half-dozen bullboats stowed on the main deck near the stern, each +capable of carrying two tons if handled right, and he shook with +laughter. This year the fur company's boat carried no liquor and its +captain would insist on a most thorough inspection at Bellevue; but the +fur posts on the upper river would be overjoyed by what she would bring +to them. After the inspection she would proceed on her calm way, and tie +against the bank at a proper distance above the agency; just as the +_Belle_ would spend a night against the bank at a proper distance below +Bellevue; and what the latter would run ashore after midnight, when the +inquisitive minister was deep in sleep, would be smuggled upstream in +the smaller boats during the dark of the night following, and be put +aboard the fur boat above. + +"Uncle Joe!" said his niece. "You know something!" + +"God help the man that don't!" snorted her uncle. "Look there!" + +A heavily loaded Mackinaw boat had shot around the next bend. It was of +large size, nearly fifty feet long and a dozen wide. In the bow were +four men at the great oars and in the stern at the tiller was the +_patron_, singing in lusty and not unpleasant voice and in mixed French +and English, a song of his own composing. + +Patience put a finger to her lips and enjoined silence, leaning forward +to catch the words floating across the turbulent water, and to her they +sounded thus: + + _"Mon pčre Baptiste for Pierre Chouteau + He work lak dam in le ol' bateau; + From Union down le ol' Missou + Lak chased, by gar, by carcajou._ + + _"Le coureurs des bois, le voyageur, too, + He nevaire work so hard, mon Dieu, + Lak Baptiste pčre an' Baptiste fils, + Coureurs avant on le ol' Missou._ + + _"McKenzie say: 'Baptiste Ladeaux, + Thees lettaire you mus' geeve Chouteau; + Vous are one dam fine voyageur-- + So hurry down le ol' Missou._ + + _"Go get vous fils an' vous chapeau, + You mebby lak Mackinaw bateau'-- + Lak that he say, lak one dam day + Le voyage weel tak to ol' St. Lou!"_ + +As the square stern of the fur-laden boat came opposite the packet the +mercurial _patron_ stopped his song and shouted: "_Levez les perches!_" +and the four oars rose from the water and shot into the air, vertical +and rigid. The pilot of the steamboat, chancing to be in the pilot +house, blew a series of short blasts in recognition, causing the +engineer to growl something about wasting his steam. The crew of the +Mackinaw boat arose and cheered, the _patron_ firing his pistol into the +air. Gay vocal exchanges took place between the two boats, and the +patron, catching sight of Patience, placed a hand over his heart and +bowed, rattling off habitant French. She waved in reply and watched the +boat forge ahead under the thrust of the perfectly timed oars. + +"Mackinaw boat," said Tom, "and in a hurry. _There's_ the express. There +is a belief on the river that the square stern of those boats gives them +a speed in rapids greater than that of the current. They are very safe +and handy for this kind of navigation, and well built by skilled +artisans at the boat yards of the principal trading posts up the river. +They are a great advance over the bullboat, which preceded them." + +"And which are still in use, makeshifts though they are," said Captain +Newell as he stopped beside them. "But you can't beat the bullboat for +the purpose for which it was first made; that of navigating the +shallower streams. I thought you would be glad to know that we expect to +be under way again early in the morning. But, speaking of bullboats, did +you ever see one, Miss Cooper?" + +"I've had them pointed out to me at St. Louis, but at a distance," she +answered. "Somehow they did not impress me enough to cause me to +remember what they looked like." + +"Why, I'll show you some," offered Tom eagerly. "There's half a dozen on +the main deck." + +Uncle Joe squirmed as he glanced around, and arose to leave for the card +room, but the captain smiled and nodded. + +"Yes, that's so, Mr. Boyd. Take a look at them when the rain lets up. +We're always glad to carry a few of them back up the river, for we find +them very handy in lightering cargo in case we have mean shallows that +can be crossed in no other way. You'd be surprised how little water this +boat draws after its cargo is taken ashore." + +"But why do they call them bullboats?" asked Patience. + +"They're named after the hides of the bull buffalo, which are used for +the covering," explained the captain. "First a bundle of rather heavy +willow poles are fashioned into a bottom and bound together with +rawhide. To this other and more slender willow poles are fastened by +their smaller ends and curved up and out to make the ribs. Then two +heavy poles are bent on each side from stem to stern and lashed to the +ends of the ribs, forming the gunwale. Everything is lashed with rawhide +and not a bolt or screw or nail is used. Hides of buffalo bulls, usually +prepared by the Indians, although the hunters and trappers can do the +work as well, are sewn together with sinew after being well soaked. They +are stretched tightly over the frame and lashed securely to the gun'le, +and they dry tight as drumheads and show every rib. Then a pitch of +buffalo tallow and ashes is worked into the seams and over every +suspicious spot on the hides and the boat is ready. Usually a false +flooring of loosely laid willow poles, three or four inches deep, is +placed in the bottom to prevent the water, which is sure to leak in, +from wetting the cargo. In the morning the boat rides high and draws +only a few inches of water; but often at night there may be six or eight +inches slopping around inside. I doubt if any other kind of a boat can +be used very far up on the Platte, and sometimes even bullboats can't go +up." + +"How was it that the fur company's boat was tied at the levee at St. +Louis, after we left?" asked Tom. "Rather late for her, isn't it?" + +"Yes, it is," answered the captain. "The great event on this river has +always been the annual upstream fur packet. She is coming along +somewhere behind us, and very likely will pass us before we reach the +mouth of the Kaw. They take bigger chances with the river than we do +because they've got to get up to Fort Union and away again while +there's water enough." He looked at Patience. "Are you going far, Miss +Cooper?" he asked, anxious to get the conversation into channels more to +his liking. + +"Santa Fe, captain," she answered as placidly as though it were a +shopping trip from her home to the downtown stores of St. Louis. + +"Well, well!" he exclaimed, as if he had not known it. "That will be +quite an undertaking!" + +Tom Boyd was staring at her aghast, doubting his ears. The slowly +changing expression on his face caught her attention and she smiled at +him. + +"You look as if you had seen a ghost, Mr. Boyd," she laughed. + +"I'm going to do my very best not to see one, Miss Cooper; or let anyone +else see one," he answered mysteriously. "I am glad that I, too, am +bound for Santa Fe. It is a great surprise and pleasure to learn that +you are going over the same trail." + +"Why, didn't you say that you were going over the Oregon Trail this +year?" she quickly asked. "At least, I understood you that way." + +"I often let my enthusiasm run away with me," he answered. "Much as I +would like to go out to Oregon I will have to wait until my affairs will +permit me to follow my inclination. You see, I've made two trips to +Santa Fe, it has got into my blood, and there are reasons why I must go +over that trail again. And then, knowing the trail so well, it is +possible that I can make very good arrangements this year. But isn't it +a most remarkable coincidence?" + +"Very," drily answered the captain. "By the way, Mr. Boyd: you and Mr. +Cooper seem to be quite friendly, and neither of you waste much time in +the company of your present roommates. Seeing that you are both bunked +with strangers, how would it suit you if I put you together in the same +room? Good: then I'll speak to Mr. Cooper, and if it's agreeable to him +I'll have the change made. Sorry to tear myself away from you two, but I +must be leaving now." He bowed and stepped into the cabin, smiling to +himself. He distinctly remembered his conversation with the young man, +only the day before, when Tom had assured him with great earnestness +that he no longer could resist the call of the emigrant trail and that +he was going to follow it with the first outgoing caravan. The captain +was well pleased by the change in the young man's plans, for he knew +that the niece of his old friend would be safer on her long journey +across the plains if Tom Boyd was a member of the caravan. He turned his +steps toward the gaming tables to find her uncle, whom he expected would +be surrounded by the members of a profession which Joe Cooper had +forsaken many years before for a more reputable means of earning a +living. + +The reputation of "St. Louis Joe" was known to almost everyone but his +niece; and the ex-gambler was none too sure that she did not know it. +While his name was well-known, there were large numbers of gamblers on +both rivers, newcomers to the streams, who did not know him by sight; +and it was his delight to play the part of an innocent and unsuspecting +merchant and watch them try to fleece him. Not one of the professionals +on the _Missouri Belle_ knew he was playing against a man who could +tutor him in the finer points of his chosen art; but by this time they +had held a conference or two in a vain attempt to figure why their +concerted efforts had borne bitter fruit. One of them, smarting over his +moderate, but annoyingly persistent losses, was beginning to get ugly. +While his pocketbook was lightly touched, his pride was raw and +bleeding. Elias Stevens was known as a quick-tempered man whom it were +well not to prod; and Joseph Cooper was prodding him again and again, +and appearing to take a quiet but deep satisfaction in the operation. At +first Stevens had hungered only for the large sum of money his older +adversary had shown openly and carelessly; but now it was becoming +secondary, and the desire for revenge burning in Stevens was making him +more and more reckless in his play. + +The careless way in which Joe Cooper had shown his money to arouse the +avarice of the gamblers had awakened quick interest in others outside +the fraternity, and other heads were planning other ways of getting +possession of it. Two men in particular, believing that the best chance +of stealing it was while the owner of it was on the boat, decided to +make the attempt on this night. If the boat should remain tied to the +bank their escape would be easy; and if it started before daylight they +could make use of the yawl, which was towed most of the time, and always +during a run after dark. + +Captain Newell looked in at the gambling tables and did not see his +friend, but as he turned to look about the upper end of the cabin he +caught sight of him coming along the deck, and stepped out to wait for +him. + +"Looking for me?" asked Uncle Joe, smiling. + +"Yes; want to tell you that your young friend Boyd has changed his mind +and is going out to Santa Fe to look after his numerous interests +there. Ordinarily I would keep my mouth shut, but I know his father and +the whole family, and no finer people live in St. Louis. Who have you in +mind to go in charge of your wagons?" + +Uncle Joe scratched his chin reflectively. "Well, I'd thought of Boyd +and was kinda sorry he was going out over the other trail. I'll keep my +eyes on the scamp. Strikes me he'd take _my_ wagons through for his +keep, under the circumstances! He-he-he! Changed his mind, has he? +D----d if I blame him; I'd 'a' gone farther'n that, at his age, for a +girl like Patience. How about a little nip, for good luck?" + +"Not now. How would you like to change sleeping partners?" asked the +captain, quickly explaining the matter. + +"First rate idea; th' partner I got now spends most of his nights +scratching. Better shift me instead of him, or Boyd'll get cussed little +sleep in that bunk." + +Captain Newell leaned against the cabin and laughed. "All right, Joe; +I'll have your things taken out and the change made by supper time, at +the latest. Look out those gamblers in there don't skin you." + + * * * * * + +True to his word the captain shifted Joe Cooper to the room of his new +friend, and sent the bull-necked, bullwhacking bully who had shared +Tom's cabin to take the ex-gambler's former berth. This arrangement was +suitable both ways, for not only were the two friends put together, but +the two loud-voiced, cursing, frontier toughs found each other very +agreeable. They had made each other's acquaintance at the camp-fire on +the bank the night previous and like many new and hastily made +friendships, it had not had time to show its weaknesses. One of them had +stolen a bottle of liquor at the camp-fire carousal and upon learning of +the change shortly after supper, had led his new roommate to their joint +quarters to celebrate the event; where they both remained. + +The early part of the night was passed as usual, Uncle Joe at the card +tables, Tom Boyd with Patience and later mingling with the hunters and +trappers in the cabin until his eyes became heavy and threatened to +close. Leaving his friend at the table, he went to their room and in a +few moments was so fast asleep that he did not hear the merchant come +in. It seemed to him that he had barely closed his eyes when he awakened +with a start, sitting up in the berth so suddenly that he soundly +whacked his head against the ceiling. He rolled out and landed on the +floor like a cat, pistol in hand, just as his roommate groped under the +pillow for his own pistol and asked what the trouble was all about. + +The sound of it seemed to fill the boat. Shouts, curses, crashes against +the thin partition located it for them as being in the next room, and +lighting a candle, the two friends, pistols in hands, cautiously opened +the door just as one of the boat's officers came running down the +passage-way with a lantern in his hand. There was a terrific crash in +the stateroom and they saw him put down the light and leap into a dark +shadow, and roll out into sight again in a tangle of legs and arms. +Other doors opened and night-shirted men poured out and filled the +passage. + +The battle in the stateroom had taken an unexpected turn the moment the +officer appeared, for the door sagged suddenly, burst from its hinges +and flew across the narrow way, followed by a soaring figure, to one +leg of which Ebenezer Whittaker, bully bullwhacker of the Santa Fe +trail, was firmly fastened. After him dived his new friend, who once had +ruled a winter-bound party of his kind in Brown's hole with a high and +mighty hand. The trapper went head first into the growling pair rolling +over the floor, his liquor-stimulated zeal not permitting him to waste +valuable time in so small a matter as the identity of the combatants. He +knew that one of them was his new roommate, the other a prowling thief, +and being uncertain in the poor light as to which was which, he let the +Goddess of Chance direct his energies. + +At the other end of the passage-way the boat's officer, now reinforced +by so many willing helpers that the affair was fast taking on the air of +a riot, at last managed to drag the thief's lookout from the human +tangle and hustle him into the eager hands of three of the crew, leaving +the rescuers to fight it out among themselves, which they were doing +with praiseworthy energy and impartial and indefinite aims. Considering +that they did not know whom they were fighting, nor why, they were doing +so well that Tom wondered what force could withstand them if they should +become united in a compelling cause and concerted in their attack. + +At the inner end of the passage, having beaten, choked, and gouged the +thief into an inert and senseless mass, the bullwhacker turned his +overflowing energies against his new and too enthusiastic friend, and +they rolled into the stateroom, out again, and toward the heaving pile +at the upper end of the hall. Striking it in a careless, haphazard but +solid manner, just as it was beginning to disintegrate into its bruised +and angry units, the fighting pair acted upon it like a galvanic current +on a reflex center; and forthwith the scramble became scrambled anew. + +Finally, by the aid of capstan-bars, boat hooks, axe handles, and +cordwood, the boat's officers and crew managed to pry the mass apart and +drag out one belligerent at a time. They lined them up just as Captain +Newell galloped down the passage-way, dressed in a pair of trousers, +reversed; one rubber boot and one red sock and a night shirt partly +thrust inside the waistband of the trousers; but he was carefully and +precisely hatted with a high-crowned beaver. He looked as if he were +coming from a wake and going to a masquerade. Notwithstanding the very +recent and exciting events he received a great amount of attention. + +"What-in-hell's-th'-matter?" he angrily demanded, glaring around him, a +pistol upraised in one hand, the other gripping a seasoned piece of ash. +"Answer-me-I-say-what-in-hell's-th'-matter-down-here?" + +"There was a fight," carefully explained the weary officer. + +"Hell's-bells-I-thought-it-was-a-prayer-meetin'!" yelped the captain. +"Who-was-fightin'?" + +"_They_ was," answered the officer, waving both hands in all directions. + +"What-about?" + +The officer looked blank and scratched his head, carefully avoiding the +twin knobs rising over one ear. "Damned if _I_ know, sir!" + +"Were _you_ fightin', Flynn?" demanded the captain aggressively and with +raging suspicion. "Come, up with it, were you?" + +"No, sir; I was a-stoppin' it." + +"My G-d! Then don't you never dare start one!" snapped the captain, +staring around. "You look like the British at N'Orleans," he told the +line-up. "What was it all about? Hell's bells! It _must_ 'a' had a +beginning!" + +"Yessir," replied the officer. "It sorta begun all at once, right after +th' explosion." + +"What explosion?" + +"I dunno. I heard it, 'way up on th' hurricane deck, an' hustled right +down here fast as I could run. Just as I got right over there," and he +stepped forward and with his foot touched the exact spot, "that there +stateroom door come bustin' out right at me. I sorta ducked to one side, +an' plumb inter somebody that hit me on th' eye. I reckon th' fightin' +was from then on. Excuse me, sir; but you got yore pants on +upside-down--I means stern-foremost, sir." + +"What's my pants got to do with this disgraceful riot, or mebby mutiny?" +blazed the reddening captain. He couldn't resist a downward glance over +his person, and hastily slipped the red-socked foot behind its booted +mate. + +Somebody snickered and the sound ran along the line, gathering volume. +Glaring at the battle-scarred line-up, Captain Newell waved the pistol +and seemed at a loss for words. + +Uncle Joe stepped forward with the bullwhacker. "Captain, this man says +he woke up an' found a thief reachin' under his pillow, where he keeps +his bottle. I think the thief is against the wall, there; and his +partner, who doubtless acted as his lookout, is in the hands of those +two men. The rest of th' fightin' was promiscuous, but well meant. I +reckon if you put those two thieves in irons an' let th' rest of us go +back to our berths it'll be th' right thing to do. As for Flynn, he +deserves credit for his part in it." + +"That's my understanding of it, captain," said Tom, and again burst out +laughing. "Evidently they were after Mr. Cooper's money, which he has +shown recklessly, and they did not know that he had changed staterooms." + +"Reckon that's it, captain!" shouted someone, laughingly. "Anyhow, it's +good enough. Come on, captain; it's time for a drink all 'round!" + +In another moment a shirt-tailed picnic was in full swing, the bottles +passing rapidly. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE INSULT + + +Shortly after dawn Tom awakened and became conscious of a steady +vibration and the rhythmical splash of the paddle wheel. Hurriedly +dressing he went out on deck and glanced shoreward. The +cream-and-chocolate colored water, of an opacity dense enough to hide a +piece of shell only a quarter of an inch below its surface, rioted past; +to port was a low-lying island covered with an amazing mass of piled-up +trees, logs and débris, deposited there by the racing current of the +rapidly-falling stream; and the distant shore was covered with dense +forests of walnut and cottonwood, interspersed with rich bottoms masked +by tangles of brush. Farther up he knew the sight would change into an +almost treeless expanse of green prairies, gashed by scored bluffs of +clay. The surface of the river was not smooth and the wind already had +reached disturbing strength, while an occasional gust of chilling rain +peppered the water and assaulted the boat. From the beat of the paddles +and the high frequency of the vibrations he knew the _Belle_ was going +ahead under full steam, but his momentary frown was effaced by the +thought that the pilot was competent and knew what he was doing. Still, +he felt a little uneasy, and went forward to pay the pilot a visit. + +Reaching the hurricane deck he saw both pilots at the wheel and also a +lookout on the roof of the little house, while in the very point of the +bow, on the main deck, another lookout was scrutinizing the river ahead. + +"We're makin' good time," said Tom pleasantly as he poked his head in +the pilot house. + +"Yes," came an answering grunt; "too good, mebby." + +His words and manner were not calculated to encourage conversation and +the visitor went down to see about breakfast. Fortified by a cup of +coffee he felt able to wait until the meal was ready and went out on +deck again, standing in the shelter of an angle of the cabin, pretending +to be interested in the slowly shifting panorama, but really impatiently +waiting for the appearance of Patience Cooper. He had waited for about +an hour, hardly stirring from his post near the door which she had used +the morning before, when he caught sight of her crossing the cabin. +Turning from the window and stepping forward he opened the door for her +and after a short, cheerful talk about being under way again, led her to +the breakfast table, ignoring the scowling horse-dealer who sat at a +table in a corner talking to Elias Stevens. + +Their breakfast did not take as long as it had on the previous morning, +one reason being that while they ate they sensed the boat turn toward +the shore and before they had finished it stopped along the bank and +moored again. + +"I do believe the rain has ceased for the day," Patience observed, +peering out of the window by her side. "It is growing brighter every +minute. I wonder why the boat has stopped?" + +"Too much wind," answered her companion, nodding at the waves running +past the boat. + +"If that is all, I'm going ashore," she declared. + +"You may find it disagreeable," warned Tom, delighted by the prospect of +a tramp with her. "It is bound to be wet under foot and the wind will be +cold and penetrating; but if you don't mind it, I'm sure _I_ don't." He +finished his coffee and smiled. "It will be a great relief to get off +this boat." + +"Come on, then; I'll meet you at the landing stage in ten minutes," she +exclaimed. "This will be a good opportunity to get accustomed to the +heavy boots Uncle Joe had made for me. They smell like tallow candles +with leather wicks, if you can imagine the combination." + +He saw her enter her stateroom and then went to his own, got his rifle +and stood at the gangplank like a sentry. In less than the allotted time +she joined him, waved gaily at her uncle and the captain, who were +talking together near the pilot house, and went down the sloping plank, +eager to explore the river bank. As they reached the top of the +terrace-like bank and turned to wave again, the sun broke through the +clouds and turned the moisture-laden trees and brush into a jeweled +fairyland. They did not go far south since they were restricted to the +more open spaces where they could walk without rubbing against wet +foliage, but they found comparatively open lanes along the top of the +bank, from where they could keep watch over the packet and get back +without undue haste at the sound of her warning whistle. + +They crossed the trails of several animals and she listened with +interest to her companion's description of their makers, wondering at +his intimate knowledge of animal habits. Finally, coming to a great +cottonwood log, stripped of its bark and shining in the sunlight, he +helped her upon it and sat down by her side. + +"You surprised me, Miss Cooper, when you mentioned you were going to +Santa Fe," he said, turning to one of the subjects uppermost in his +mind. "It is a long, tedious, trying journey to men, and it might prove +infinitely more so to a woman." + +"I suppose so," she replied reflectively. "But you know, Mr. Boyd, I +haven't seen my father in five years, and his letter, sent back by the +eastbound caravan from Santa Fe last year, told us how he missed me and +how dissatisfied he was with his housekeeping arrangements and how he +dreaded to spend another winter away from us. It was too late then, of +course, to make the trip, but I determined to go to him with the first +caravan leaving Independence this spring. Uncle Joe fumed and fussed +about it and collected all the stories of privation, loss of sanity and +sudden death, and everything else of a deterring nature and brought them +home to me to serve as warnings. I can do anything I want with him +except keep him from gambling, and when he really understood that +nothing could stop me, he gave in and I soon had him so busy explaining +away the woeful tales he had brought me, and hunting up new ones of a +bright and cheerful aspect that he half believed them himself. I learned +that all the Indians were pets, that there were miles of flowers all the +way, that people near death from all kinds of causes miraculously +recovered their health by the end of the first two days, and that the +caravan had to watch closely to keep its members from leaving it and +settling all along the trail." + +They burst out laughing together. He could easily picture her uncle +frantically reversing himself. He had taken a great liking to Joseph +Cooper, who was a humorous, warm-hearted old fox among his friends, +delighting in their pleasures and sunning himself complacently in their +approbation. No trouble was too great for him to go through if it would +bring happiness to those he cared for. + +They laughed and chatted and enjoyed themselves greatly, and were very +much surprised when his lean figure appeared beside the pilot house and +they saw him wave his hat and motion toward his mouth with animation and +great exaggeration. + +"Good heavens! Is it dinner time already?" exclaimed Tom, sliding from +the log, and becoming aware for the first time that the log had been far +from as dry as he thought. + +Laughing and scampering, they hurried back toward the landing, racing +down the hill that led to the little opening in the grove not far from +the water's edge. As they started down it Tom caught sight of several +figures sprawled on the sand, which had dried quickly under the combined +attacks of sun and wind. Among them he saw the lank form of Ephriam +Schoolcraft slowly arising to one elbow as the horse-dealer turned and +watched them come down the incline. + +Patience stumbled, her heavy boots bothering her, and her companion +checked himself and caught her as she pitched forward. Swinging her +through the air, he put her down again on the other side of him and +laughingly offered his arm. + +"Thar ain't nothin' like 'lasses fer to draw flies," came the drawling, +unpleasant voice of the sneering figure on the ground. "Blow flies air +included. Wrap it in skirts an' young fellers make plumb fools o' +theirselves. Any flirt kin pull th' wool over thar eyes like it war a +loose skin cap." His raucous laugh was doubly disagreeable because of +the sneer envenoming it, and Tom stiffened. + +"I seed an example o' that right yere on this hyar packet; an' most +likely I'll see a hull lot more o' it if I has patience. He-he-he!" + +Tom checked his stride, but the quick, reassuring pressure on his arm +made him keep on, his burning face held rigidly toward the boat. He +dared not look at his companion. They walked silently up the landing +stage and into the cabin, Tom waiting with ill concealed impatience +until his companion should join her uncle at the table. But he was +surprised, for she spoke in a pleasant, soft tone and ordered him to +remain where he was for a few minutes. Before he could make up his mind +what she meant he saw her lean over her uncle's table and say something. +The ex-gambler pushed suddenly back, patted her on the head and walked +briskly but nonchalantly toward the curious onlooker. + +"You young folks never have any regard for an old man's comfort," he +chuckled as he took hold of Tom's arm. "Now, sir, I'll take great +pleasure in stretching my legs in any direction you may select, and in +stretching the neck of any officious meddler. I am at your service, Tom; +and, damn it, I'm not too old to become a principal!" + +Tom stared at him for a moment as the words sunk in. "By G-d!" he +murmured. "There ain't another like her in th' whole, wide world! Thank +you, Mr. Cooper: if you'll be kind enough to stand on one side and keep +the affair strictly between myself and that polecat, I'll try not to +keep you from your dinner very long. He might have been decent enough +to have picked his quarrel in some other way!" + +Schoolcraft arose alertly as they entered the little clearing, and +watched Tom hand the double-barreled rifle to his companion, slip off +his belt and throw his coat over it. The horse-dealer grinned with +savage elation as he discarded his own weapons and coat, hardly +believing in his good fortune. Not many men along the border cared to +meet him unarmed. + +Tom stepped forward. "Every time I look at that terbaccer juice +a-dribblin' down yer chin, Schoolcraft, it riles me," he said evenly. +"I'm a-goin' ter wipe it off," and his open hand struck his enemy's jaw +with a resounding whack as he stepped swiftly to one side. "You've allus +had a sneakin' grudge ag'in me," he asserted, giving ground before the +infuriated horse-dealer, "since I caught ye cheatin' at Independence. +You've been tryin' ter work it off ever since we left th' levee. I +reckon this belongs to you!" + +He stepped in quickly and drove his right fist into Schoolcraft's mouth, +avoiding the flailing blows. "If ye'll stand up ter it an' make it a +fight," he jeered, "I'll be much obliged to ye, fer I've promised my +friend not ter keep him from his dinner." Again he stepped in and struck +the bleeding lips. He boxed correctly according to the times, except +that he used his feet to good advantage. His education at an eastern +university had been well rounded and he never allowed himself to get out +of condition. + +Schoolcraft, stung to fury, leaped forward to grapple, hoping to make it +a rough-and-tumble affair, at which style of fighting he had but few +equals. Instead of his adversary stepping to one side, he now stood +solidly planted in one spot, his left foot a little advanced, and drove +in a series of straight-arm blows that sent the horse-dealer staggering +back. The younger man pressed his advantage, moving forward with +unswerving determination, his straight punches invariably beating the +ill-timed and terrific swings of his bleeding opponent, who showed a +vitality and an ability to take punishment not unusual among the men of +his breed. The horse-dealer knew that if the fight remained an open +affair he would not last long, and he got command over his rage and +began to use his head. + +Suddenly he dropped to hands and knees under a right-hand blow that was +a little short of hurting him, and sprang up under his enemy's guard, +and brought exultant ejaculations from his little group of friends. But +for the warning conveyed to Tom by the knowledge that he barely had +touched the horse-dealer's jaw with that blow, and could not have +knocked him down, the trick might have worked; and as it was it +succeeded in bringing the two men to close grips. Schoolcraft's right +arm slid around his enemy's waist and hugged him close, while the left +slipped up between them until the hand went under the younger man's chin +and began to push it up and back. It was the horse-dealer's favorite and +most deadly trick and he exulted as he arched his back and threw his +full strength into the task. Never had it failed to win, for the victim +of that hold must either quit or have his neck broken; and the choice +did not rest with the victim. + +The muscles of Tom's neck stood out as though they would burst, the +veins of his forehead and throat swelling into tiny serpents, and his +crimson face grew darker and darker, a purplish tint creeping into it. +But Schoolcraft found that he was dealing with a man who had studied +wrestling as eagerly as its sister science. He also found that there was +a counter to his favorite hold, always providing that it had been robbed +of its greatest factor: surprise. For it to be deadly effective his +whole strength had to be thrown into it instantly and meet no ready, +rigid opposition; and in this he had failed because of the subtle +warning conveyed to his adversary when he fell before a harmless blow. +Almost before he knew it Tom's left arm, circling high in air, jammed in +between their heads and forced its way down to Schoolcraft's cheek. At +the same instant the right hand dashed down and got a hold inside his +left thigh, close up against the crotch; and as the left arm thrust his +head sidewise with a power not to be withstood, the right hand lifted +suddenly to the right and he struck the ground on his head and shoulder +with a shock which rendered him senseless. + +The winner staggered back, braced himself and swayed a little on his +feet as he sucked in great gulps of air. He wheeled savagely as he heard +a shuffling step to one side and slightly behind him, but the precaution +was not necessary, for simultaneously with the shuffling came Joe +Cooper's snapped warning, cold and deadly. + +"Better stop, Stevens! I'm only lookin' for an excuse to blow you open!" + +Elias Stevens obeyed, standing irresolute and scowling. "You talk d----d +big behind a gun!" he sneered. + +"Only half as big as I might, seeing it's a double gun," retorted the +older man. "If it don't suit you we can turn, step off ten paces an' +fire when we're ready. Might as well make a good job of it while we're +about it. I ain't no Mike Fink; but you ain't no Carpenter, so I reckon +it's purty even." + +"I'll take care of any objectors, in any fashion," said Tom, facing +Stevens and the others. "I'll be ready fer you, Stevens, by th' time you +get your weapons an' coat off, if you choose that way. Pickin' on an old +man don't go while there's a younger one around; an', besides, it's my +quarrel. There it is, in your teeth; take it, and eat it!" + +"It war a fair fight," said an onlooker in grudging admiration. He +expressed the ethics of the fighting current at that time in that part +of the country. Any kind of fighting, be it with hands, feet, nails, +teeth or other weapons was fair as long as no outsider took a hand in +it. It had been the rule of the keelboatmen and they had carried it up +and down the waterways, from New Orleans to the upper Mississippi and +from Pittsburg to the Rockies. + +Tom nodded. "All right. You can tell him that he won't get in close, +next time," he said, glancing at the stirring loser. "Come on, Uncle +Joe; your dinner's plumb cold an' ruined." + +"I'm hot enough to warm it as I chaw!" snapped his friend. "I was scared +for a moment, though; fighting out in this country don't get you nothin' +but a tombstone, generally, an' you'll be cussed lucky if you get that. +But you did what you started out to do; I couldn't see no tobacco juice +on his chin th' last time I looked." He followed his companion down the +bank and as they crossed the gangplank he chuckled. "I won't eat no +liver for a long time, I reckon: his face near made me sick!" + +"I shouldn't 'a' cut him up so," admitted Tom; "but I was forking off a +grudge. Next time, I'll kill him." Then he thought of Patience and +glowed all over. "There ain't another like her, nowhere!" he muttered. + +Uncle Joe glanced sideways at the slightly marked face of his companion, +shrewdly noting the expression of reverent awe and adoration. + +"Young man," he said, "you're a little mite hasty, but I like 'em that +way. I reckon if you took my waggins inter Santa Fe you'd get patience." + +At this second play on her name within the last half hour Tom whirled in +his tracks and held out his hand. "Uncle Joe, if you think I'm able to +handle 'em, I'll take 'em through h--l if I have to, without a +blister--" then he faltered and his face grew hard as he shook his head +in regret. "I can't do it," he growled. "It wouldn't be fair to bring +down Armijo's wrath on your niece and brother. He'd hound them like the +savage brute he is. No; you'll have to keep to whatever arrangements you +had in mind." + +Uncle Joe shook his head. "That's too bad, Tom. I was counting on you +keeping an eye on Patience and seeing her through. It's too cussed bad." + +Tom's laugh rang out across the water. "Oh I'm going to do that! I'm +bound for Santa Fe, either as a free lance or with trade goods of my +own; but I am not going with your wagons. I got it pretty well figured +out." + +"I'm allus gettin' into places where I've got to back out," grumbled +Uncle Joe. "Now I reckon I'll have to tell Patience you're too young an' +giddy to handle my outfit. An' _then_ mebby I'll have to back out ag'in! +Tell you one thing, this here Santa Fe trip may be fine for invalids, +but it ain't done _my_ health no good!" While Tom laughed at him he +considered. "Huh! I don't reckon it'll be a good thing to let her know +that you an' Armijo are as friendly as a Cheyenne an' a Comanche. Cuss +it! Oh, well; put away this gun an' come on in an' eat, if there's +anything left." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +INDIANS AND GAMBLERS + + +Shortly after noon the wind died down enough to let the packet resume +her upstream labors, and expectations ran high that she would make a +long, peaceful run. They were not to be realized. + +The first unpleasant incident occurred when the boat had been run +against a bank at a woodpile to replenish her fuel. The lines were made +fast and the first of the wood-carriers had reached the stacked cordwood +when from behind it arose a dozen renegade Indians, willing to turn +momentarily from their horse-stealing expedition long enough to levy a +tribute of firewater on the boat. They refused to allow a stick to be +removed without either a fight or a supply of liquor and trade goods, +and the leader of the band grappled with the foremost member of the crew +and tried to drag him behind the shelter of the pile and so gain a +hostage to give additional weight to their demands and to save them from +being fired on. + +Goaded by despair and fright from the unexpectedness of the attack and +what might be in store for him the white man struggled desperately and, +with the return of a measure of calmness, worked a neat cross-buttock on +his red adversary and threw him sprawling out in plain sight of the +boat. Half a dozen plainsmen on board had leaped for their rifles and +shouted the alarm; a four pound carronade was wheeled swiftly into +position and a charge of canister sent crashing over the woodpile into +the brush and trees. The roar of the gun and the racket caused by the +charge as it rattled through the branches and brush filled the savages +with dismay and, not daring to run from the pile and up the bank under +the cannon and the rapidly augmented rifles on the decks of the boat, +they raised their hands and slowly emerged from their worthless +breastwork. + +Captain Newell shouted frantic instructions to his grim and accurate +volunteers, ordering and begging in one breath for them not to fire, for +he knew that bloodshed would start a remorseless sniping warfare along +the river that might last for several seasons. At such a game the +snipers on the banks, concealed as they would be, could reasonably be +expected to run up quite a list of casualties on the boat. This was no +new experience for him and he knew that nothing serious would grow out +of it as long as none of the Indians were injured. This little party was +composed of the renegade scourings of the frontier tribes which had been +debauched by their contact with the liquor-selling whites and they were +more fitted for petty thievery than the rôle of warriors. He shouted and +argued and cursed and pleaded with the eager riflemen, most of whom +burned with the remembrance of stolen packs of furs and equipment at the +hands of such Indians as these. + +The growling plainsmen, knowing that he was right and understanding his +position, reluctantly kept their trigger fingers extended and finally +lowered their pieces, hoping that the Indians would lose their heads and +do some overt act; but the Indians were not fools, whatever else they +might have been. With eager alertness on one side and sullen +acquiescence on the other the wooding was finished, ropes cast off and +the _Missouri Belle_ pushed quickly out into the stream, her grim faced +defenders manning the stern decks and praying for an excuse to open +fire. + +No sooner had a reasonable distance been opened between the boat and the +bank than the Indians, at a signal from their leader, leaped behind the +woodpile and opened fire on the boat with muskets and bows and arrows, +the latter weapons far more accurate than the miserable trade guns which +a few of the braves carried. With them dropping an arrow is an instinct +and they have developed it to a degree that is remarkable, to say the +least; while with the smooth-bore trade guns, with varying charges of +trade powder and sizes of balls, they were poor shots at any distance. +Instantly two score rifles replied from the boat, pouring their leaden +hail into the stacked wood, but without any noticeable result; and +before a second round could be fired the distance had been increased to +such an extent that only one or two excitable tenderfeet tried a second +shot. The chief result of the incident was the breaking of the monotony +of the trip and the starting of chains of reminiscences among the +hunters and trappers to which the tenderfeet listened with eager ears. + +After this flurry of excitement interest slowly swung far astern, where +the American Fur Company's boat was supposed to be breasting the current +on her long voyage to Fort Union and beyond, and many eyes were on the +lookout for a glimpse of her smoke. A sight of the boat itself, except +at close range, was almost hopeless because the bends in the river were +so numerous and close together that the stream seemed like a narrow +lake. + +The surface of the water was becoming different from what it had been, +for the great masses of floating débris had thinned and no longer came +down in raft-like formations. This was due to the rapid falling of the +water, which had stranded more and more of the bulkier drift and piled +it up at the head of every island, emerging bar and jutting point. At +the height of the freshets, especially the April rise, often the logs +and trees came down so thick and solid that they resembled floating +islands. This was in large measure due to the simultaneous floating of +the vast accumulations piled up all along the banks, and it aroused +disgust and anxiety in the hearts of the boatmen, who feared for hulls +and paddle wheels. + +The harmless brush with the Indians and the stories the affair had +started quickened interest in firearms, and during the rest of the +afternoon there was considerable target practice against the ducks, +geese, and débris, and an occasional long shot at some animal on the +distant bank. + +Tom Boyd did his share of this, glad of the opportunity to try out his +new and strange weapons, and to put off meeting Patience Cooper as long +as he could, fearing her attitude concerning his fight with Schoolcraft. +He found that the newly marketed Colt six-shooter was accurate and +powerful at all reasonable ranges, beautifully balanced and well +behaving. It attracted a great deal of attention from fellow travelers, +for it was not as well-known in Missouri as it was in other parts of the +country. The English rifle, not much heavier than the great Hawken +weapons of his companions, despite its two barrels, shot true and +strong, and the two ready shots at his command easily recompensed him +for the additional weight. At this time, in the country into which he +was going, an instantly available second shot had an importance not to +be overlooked. To the Indians, especially, was it disconcerting, and its +moral effect partook of the nature of magic and made a white man's +"medicine" that demanded and received a wholesome respect. He found that +it followed the rough and ready rule of the frontier that up to a +hundred yards the proper charge was as much powder as would cover the +bullet in the palm of the hand. In the long range shots the weapon was +surprisingly accurate, and one thoughtful and intelligent hunter, who +had guided several English sporting parties, gave the credit to the +pointed bullets. + +"Thar ain't no doubt about it, pardner," he confided to Tom as he slyly +produced his own bullet mold, and showed it to his companion. "I've +tried 'em out in my own rifle, an' they shore do shoot straighter an' +further. This hyar mold war give ter me by a city hunter I had in my +party when we found it would fit my rifle. I ain't usin' th' old un no +more. Rub a leetle b'ar grease or buffaler tallow on th' patch paper, +young man, ter make 'em go down easier. Thar good beaver." + +The sun set in a gold and crimson glory, working its magic metamorphosis +on river, banks, and bottoms, painting the colored cliffs and setting +afire the crystals in which their clay was rich. Though usually the +scenery along this river at this time of the year was nothing to boast +of, there were certain conditions under which it resembled a fairyland. +The rolling wavelets bore their changing colors across the glowing water +and set dancing myriad flashes of sunlight; streaks of sunlight reached +in under the trees along the bank and made fairy paths among the +trunks, while the imbedded crystals in the clay bluffs glittered in +thousands of pin-points of iridescent flame. + +When supper time came around Tom still felt a little reluctant to meet +Patience, worried by how she might greet him, although her actions +preceding the fight should have told him that his fears were groundless. +To his great relief she met him as graciously as she had before, and as +a matter of fact he thought he detected a little more warmth and +interest, but discounted this because he feared that his judgment might +be biased in his favor by his hopes. + +Uncle Joe apparently had forgotten all about the affair and did not +refer to it in any way, confining himself to subjects connected with the +great southwest highway, its trade, outfitting, the organization of the +caravans, the merchandising at Santa Fe and bits of historical and +personal incidents, not forgetting to comment on the personality of +Armijo and his arbitrary impost of five hundred dollars on each wagon to +cross the boundary, regardless of what its contents might be. He +chuckled over the impost, for the goods which he had sent up to +Independence by an earlier boat had been selected with that tax in mind. +He had his own ideas about the payment of the impost, and although he +could not entirely avoid it, he intended to take a great deal of the +sting out of it. + +He contended that the beating of unlawful duties was not cheating, since +it was purely a game of one individual outwitting another, one being an +arbitrary tyrant who was strongly suspected of pocketing the wagon tax +for his own uses. The only trouble with his philosophy was what it set +going, for having proved one evasion of tax to be honest it tended to go +farther and justify other evasions which fairly crossed the ethical +boundaries. One of these was the rumored prohibition of Mackinaw +blankets and the export tax on specie. This last would be something of a +hardship, for coin was the best and most easily carried of all mediums +of payment, and the Mexican government, in levying this tax, would tend +to force the traders to barter rather than sell their goods. If payment +were had in specie, the wagons could be disposed of at a fair profit and +mules used to pack it back to Missouri. When sewed tightly in rawhide +bags it became an unshifting mass by the shrinking of the leather under +the rays of the sun. Some of the traders took mules in exchange for +their goods which, if they could be safely delivered in the Missouri +settlements, would give an additional profit of no mean per centum; but +losses in mules were necessarily suffered on the long return trip, and +the driving, corralling, and guarding of a herd was a task to try the +patience of a saint and the ingenuity of the devil. The Indians would +take almost any kind of chances to stampede a herd of mules, and they +were adepts at the game. + +Uncle Joe had been over the trail, having gone out with that band of +Missourians who took the first wagons across from Franklin in 1824, and +he had kept in close touch with the New Mexican and Chihuahuan trade +ever since. He knew the tricks, and had invented some of his own, which +he guarded well. For the despotic Armijo he had a vast contempt, which +was universal among the great majority of the men who knew anything at +all about the cruel, conceited, and dishonest Governor of the +Department of New Mexico. The unfortunate Texan Santa Fe Expedition had +aroused bitter feelings among Americans and Texans against the Mexican, +many of them having had friends and relatives in that terrible winter +march of two thousand miles on foot from Santa Fe to the City of Mexico, +which followed so close upon the heart-breaking and disastrous northward +march from Texas to a vile betrayal and barbarous treatment. Anything +American or Texas plainsmen could do to hurt or discredit the inhuman +pomposity whose rise to power had been through black treachery and +coldly planned murder, would be done with enthusiastic zeal. + +At the close of the leisurely eaten meal they went on deck in time to +see the _John Auld_ round the next upstream bend and forge forward, soon +stopping, however, to drift past the slowed _Missouri Belle_ while their +pilots exchanged terse information about the channels and snags. The +_John Auld_ carried a small cargo of fur packs on her main deck and a +few free hunters and trappers on their way to St. Louis to dispose of +their goods and to outfit anew. By this time the fur of the pelts +slipped and the fur taking season was over, but there was always the +buffalo to lure them afield again. + +The evening was delightful and hopes ran high for an uninterrupted +voyage. Uncle Joe expressed the belief that the boat would run all night +in view of the favorable weather; Tom demurring on the grounds of the +rapidly falling river and the blackness of the nights. The boat curved +sharply to avoid a jutting bar and straightened out again. Prompted by +sight of some of the passengers who promenaded past them the talk swung +to the fur trade in general and to the end of it, which was rapidly +being brought nearer by the great tide of emigration setting in. +Discussions regarding the emigrants and the great Oregon Trail followed +as a matter of course and almost before they knew it it was time for +Patience to retire, and her companions soon followed her example, Uncle +Joe foregoing his usual night game. + +When morning broke they found that they had sailed nearly all the night, +and the boat kept on all day, stopping only at a few landings and to +take on wood, of which she burned an amazing quantity. Another night's +run brought them well up the river, but the following day found them +tied to a bank, because of adverse weather. In the afternoon, the wind +dying out, they were on the way again and another night's sail was +looked for. Patience retired earlier than usual and when Tom returned +from seeing her safely into her room he found Uncle Joe impatiently +waiting for him. + +"Come on, Tom," said the merchant. "I've still got a lot to learn about +gamblin' an' there ain't much time left to do it in. Let's go back an' +see if there's a game runnin'. I might as well let somebody else pay th' +expenses of this trip." + +Tom nodded and followed his companion into the cabin set apart for men +and sat down at a table with two trappers, from where he could watch the +game at close range, for he realized that the time for the gamblers to +get the merchant's money also was getting short. Under the conditions +almost anything might occur and he felt that he owed a debt to his +friend for the part he had played during the fight with Schoolcraft. + +Uncle Joe joined Stevens and a companion, who were idly playing and who +seemed to be impatiently and nervously waiting for his appearance; soon +a tense game was in progress. At a table in a corner from where the +players could be closely watched Ephriam Schoolcraft, his face still +badly bruised, was talking in sullen undertones to the little Mexican +and another companion, while hunters, traders, trappers, and men of +various other callings kept up a low hum of conversation throughout the +cabin. + +From one group came fragments of fur trade gossip: "Th' American Fur +Company's talkin' about abandonin' Fort Van Buren. Thar's been a lot o' +posts let go to grass th' last two years. Th' business ain't what it was +ten year ago." + +"On th' other hand," replied a companion, "Fox an' Livingston air goin' +fer to put up a post at th' mouth o' th' Little Bighorn, which evens up +fer Van Buren; an' Chardon's aimin' fer to put one up at th' mouth o' +th' Judith. Th' trade's all right, only th' American's got more buckin' +agin' it." + +"'Tain't what it onct was, though," said a third trader. "Thar's too +many posts an' private parties. Ye can't go nowhere hardly in th' Injun +country without comin' slap up ag'in a post o' some kind. Thar's Zack: +hey, Zack! Come over hyar!" + +Zack, a mountain hunter and a free one, swung over and joined the group. + +"Jest been palaverin' with some Canucks," he said. "Fur's I could git +th' hang o' thar parley-vouz thar goin' up ter help open Fort William, +at th' mouth o' th' Yallerstun, fer Fox an' Livingston. They sez Pratte +an' Cabanne had took over Fort Platte, up nigh th' Laramie. How fur ye +goin' on this packet, Smith?" + +"Bellevue," answered Smith. "I'm headin' up th' Platte a-ways, if th' +danged Pawnees let me git past. Pardner's waitin' near th' mouth with a +bullboat. Reckon we kin count on enough water, this time o' year, fer +ter float _that_; 'though I shore ain't bettin' on it," he chuckled. + +Zack laughed. "Th' Platte shore comes close ter bein' all shadder an' no +substance. Dangest stream _I_ ever seen, an' I've seen a-plenty." + +"Don't think a hull lot o' that country, nohow," said a third. "Them +Pawnees air th' worst thieves an' murderers this side o' th' Comanchees. +They kin steal yer shirt without techin' yer coat, danged if they can't. +Blast 'em, I _know_ 'em!" + +Zack laughed shortly. "They ain't no-whar with th' Crows when it comes +ter stealin'," he averred. + +Smith chuckled again. "Yer right, Zack. He's pizen set ag'in 'em ever +sence they stole his packs an' everythin' that wasn't a-hangin' ter him. +'Twarn't much o' a walk he had, though, only a couple hundred miles." + +"Ye kin bet I'm pizen ag'in 'em sence then," retorted the Pawnee-hater +vehemently. "If I tuk scalps I could show ye somethin'. They've paid a +lot fer what they stole that time." + +From another group came the mention of a name which took Tom's instant +attention. + +"I hears Ol' Jim Bridger's quit tradin' in furs as a reg'lar thing," +said the voice. "They say he's gone in fer tinkerin' an' outfittin' up +nigh Teton Pass. Got a fust rate post too, they say." + +"Tinkerin' what?" demanded a listener. "What kin he outfit 'way up +thar?" + +"Emigrants!" snorted the first speaker. "Figgers on sellin' 'em supplies +an' sich, an' repairin' fer 'em at his smithy. I shore reckon they'll +need him a hull lot more'n he'll need them. That's a long haul fer +wagons, tenderfeet's 'spacially--Independence ter th' Divide--'though it +ain't what it was when Hunt an' Crooks went out thirty year ago." + +"No, 'tain't," replied a third man. "An' it's a lucky thing fer th' +tenderfeet that Nat Wyeth went an' built Fort Hall whar he did, even if +'twas fer th' Hudson Bay. I'm tellin' ye these hyar emigrants would be +stayin' ter home from Oregon an' Californy if 'twarn't fer what us +trappers has did fer th' country. Thar ain't nary a trail that we didn't +locate fer 'em." + +The first man nodded. "Not mentionin' th' Injuns afore us, we found thar +roads, passes, an' drinkin' water fer 'em; an' now thar flockin' in ter +spile our business. One thing, though, thar goin' straight acrost, most +on 'em. It could be a hull lot worse." + +While Tom's ears caught bits of the conversation roundabout his eyes +paid attention to the gambling table and on two occasions he half arose +from his chair to object profanely to the way Stevens played; but each +time he was not quite sure. On the third occasion one of the trappers +glanced at him, smiled grimly, and nodded at the hard-pressed gambler. + +"Th' fur trade ain't th' only skin game, young feller," he softly said. +"Ol' man a friend o' yourn?" + +Tom nodded and watched more closely, and a moment later he stiffened +again. + +"Why, h--l!" growled the trapper, sympathizing with one of his own +calling. "Go fur him, young feller, an' chuck him inter th' river! I'll +hold off his pardner fer ye!" + +An older trapper sauntered over and seated himself at Tom's side. "Been +watchin' them fer quite a spell," he said in a low voice. "Ain't that +ol' feller St Louis Joe?" + +Tom shrugged his shoulders, and saw a great light. Who hadn't heard of +St. Louis Joe? His new friend's love of gambling, and his success +against Stevens and his crowd would be accounted for if the trapper was +right. He glanced at the speaker and replied: "Don't know. I never saw +him till I crossed th' levee at St. Louis jest afore we sailed." + +"Looks a heap like him, anyhow," muttered the newcomer. "Fair an' squar, +_he_ war. I seen him play when I war goin' down to N'Orleans, ten year +ago. Never fergit a face, an' I shore remember _his_, fer he war playin' +that time fer 'most all th' money in th' Mississippi Valley, I reckon. +Consarn it, I _know_ it's him! Fer ol' times' sake, if he gits inter +trouble with that skunk, I'm with him ter th' hilt." He started to leave +the table, thought better of it and slid forward to the edge of his +chair. "He's bein' cheated blind. I saw that skunk palm a card!" + +Tom nodded, his hand resting on his belt, but he did not take his eyes +from the game. He suspected that Uncle Joe was pretty well informed +about what was going on and would object when it suited him. + +The first trapper leaned over the table and whispered to his friend. +"This young feller is watchin' the cheat, an' I'm watchin' th' pardner. +You might keep an eye on that Independence hoss-thief over thar--that +feller with th' raw meat face, that _this_ youngster gave him. From th' +way he's lookin' thar ain't no tellin' how this hyar party is goin' ter +bust up." + +The second plainsman nodded and after a moment dropped his pipe on the +floor. He shifted in his chair as he reached down for it and when he sat +up again he was in a little different position, and not a thing at +Schoolcraft's table escaped his eyes. + +"I'll take th' greaser 'longside him," muttered the third plainsman. +"W'ich is a plain duty an' a pleasure. Bet ye a plew I nail him atween +his eyes, fust crack, if he gits hostile." + +Suddenly there came a loud smack as Uncle Joe's left hand smashed down +on the cards in Stevens' hand, holding them against the table while his +right hand flashed under the partly buttoned edge of his long frock +coat. It hung there, struggling with something in the inside pocket. +Stevens had jerked his own hand loose, relinquishing the cards, and with +the sharp motion a small, compact percussion pistol slid out of his +sleeve and into his grasp as his hand stopped. He was continuing the +motion, swinging the weapon up and forward when Tom, leaning suddenly +forward in his chair, sent his heavy skinning knife flashing through the +air. The first trapper had thrown a pistol down on the gambler's +partner, the second stopped Ephriam Schoolcraft's attempted draw against +Tom, and the third plainsman was peering eagerly along the barrel of his +pistol at a spot between the Mexican's eyes. Had it been a well +rehearsed act things could not have happened quicker or smoother. + +Not five other persons in the cabin had any intimation of what was +coming until Tom's knife, flying butt first through the air, knocked +the pistol from Stevens' hand. The weapon struck the floor and exploded, +the bullet passing through a cabin window. As the knife left his hand +the thrower had leaped after it and he grabbed the desperate gambler in +a grip against which it was useless to struggle. Uncle Joe, loosening +his hold on the pocket pistol tangled in the lining of his coat, leaped +around the table and quickly passed his hands over the clothing of the +prisoner. + +"What's th' trouble here?" demanded the quick, authoritative voice of +the captain as he ran in from the deck. "Who fired that shot, an' why?" + +He soon was made familiar with the whole affair and stepped to the +table, picked up the cards and spread them for everyone to see. Asking a +few questions of disinterested eye-witnesses, he looked about the cabin +and spoke. + +"I've nothing to say about gambling on this boat as long as gentlemen +play," he said sharply. "When the play is crooked, _I_ take a hand. I +can't overlook this." He motioned to the group of boat hands crowding +about the door and they took hold of Stevens and his partner. "Take +these men and get their effects, and then put them ashore in the yawl. +I'll have provisions put aboard while you're gone. Stevens, due south +not many miles is the St. Louis-Independence wagon road. It is heavily +traveled this time of the year. You can't miss it. Besides that there +are numerous cabins scattered about the bottoms, and not far upstream is +a settlement. Take 'em away." Glancing over the cabin again and letting +his eyes rest for a moment on Ephriam Schoolcraft, he wheeled and +started for the door, but paused as he reached it. "If there's any +further trouble I'll be on the hurricane deck, for'rd. We're going to +run all night if we can. I don't want any more disturbance on this +packet." + +As the captain left, Uncle Joe thanked Tom and the trappers and joined +them at their table, providing the refreshment most liked by the +plainsmen, and the reminiscences became so interesting that the little +group scarcely noticed Tom arise and leave it. He was too restless to +stay indoors and soon found a place to his liking on the deck below, +near the bow, where he paced to and fro in the darkness, wrestling with +a tumult of hopes and fears. Reaching one end of his beat, he wheeled +and started back again, and as he passed the cabin door he suddenly +stopped and peered at the figure framed in the opening, and tore off his +hat, too surprised to speak. + +"Mr. Boyd?" came a soft, inquiring, and anxious voice. + +"Yes, Miss Cooper; but I thought you were fast asleep long ago!" + +"I was," she replied; "but something that sounded like a shot awakened +me, and thinking that it seemed to come from the card tables, I became +fearful and dressed as hurriedly as I could in the dark. Is--is Uncle +Joe--all right?" + +"In good health, good company, and in the best of spirits," replied Tom, +smiling at how the last word might be interpreted. "I left him only a +moment ago, swapping tales with some trappers." + +"But the shot. Surely it _was_ a shot that awakened me?" + +Tom chuckled. "Sleeve pistol fell to the floor and went off +accidentally," he explained. "Luckily no one was hurt, for the ball +passed out of a window and went over the river. Are you warm enough? +This wind is cutting." At her assent he took a step forward. "I'll see +you to your room if you wish." + +"I'm too wide awake now to sleep for awhile," she replied, joining him. +"Didn't the boat stop?" + +"Yes; two passengers went ashore in the yawl," he answered. "These +packets are certainly accommodating and deserve patronage. Why, Miss +Cooper, you're shivering! Are you sure you are warm enough?" + +"Yes," she answered. "Something is bothering me. I don't know what it +is. I wish we were at Independence though. Day and night this river +fascinates me and almost frightens me. It is so swift, so treacherous, +so changeful. It reminds me of some great cat, slipping through a +jungle; and I can't throw the feeling off. If you don't mind, I'll join +you in your sentry-go, you seem to give me the assurance I lack; but +perhaps I'll interfere with your thoughts?" + +"Hardly that," he laughed, thrilling as she took his arm for safety +against stumbles in the dark. "You stimulate them, instead. I really was +pacing off a fit of restlessness; but it's gone now. Look here; I wonder +if you fully realize the certain hardships and probable dangers of the +overland journey you are about to make?" + +"Perfectly, Mr. Boyd," she answered, quietly. "You'll find me a +different person on land. I underestimate nothing, but hope for the +best. From little things I've picked up here and there I really believe +that the dangers of the trail will be incidental when compared with +those at the other end--at Santa Fe. I have reason to believe that +father has had a great deal of trouble, along with other Americans, with +Governor Armijo. Why is it that American citizens are insulted with +impunity by Mexican officials? I understand that an Englishman may +safely travel from one end of Mexico to the other, secure from +annoyance, unless it be at the hands of Indians over whom the government +exercises but little control." + +"It's a universal complaint along the frontier," he replied. "It seems +to be the policy of this country to avoid hurting the sensibilities of +any vicious officialdom or ignorant populace. We seem to prefer to have +our citizens harassed, insulted, and denied justice, rather than assert +unequivocally that the flag goes in spirit with every one of us so long +as we obey the laws of any country we are in. If it were not for the +banding together of the American traders and merchants in Santa Fe, it +would be very hazardous for an American to remain there. Armijo has had +a few clashes with our people and is beginning to have a little respect +for their determination and ability to defend their rights. Since the +sufferings of the Texans have become known, there are any number of +Americans in frontier garb who would cheerfully choke him to death. It +would be a godsend to the New Mexican people if----" + +There came a terrific crash, the boat stopped suddenly and the deck +arose under their feet as a huge log smashed up through it. They were +torn apart and thrown down, and as Tom scrambled to his feet, calling +his companion's name, he felt a great relief surge through him as he +heard her answer. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE WRECKING OF THE MISSOURI BELLE + + +Tom grasped his companion's arm and hurried her toward the place where +the yawl was tied as shouts, curses, tearing wood and a panic-stricken +crowd of passengers pouring out of the cabins and rooms turned the night +into a pandemonium, over which the hysterical blasts of the whistle +bellowed its raucous calls for help far and wide across water and land. +There came a rush of feet and several groups of passengers dashed toward +the yawl, but stopped abruptly and hesitated as the Colt in Tom's hand +glinted coldly in the soft light of a cabin window. + +"Women first!" he snarled, savage as an animal at bay. "I'll kill th' +first man that comes any closer! Get those bullboats overside, an' +somebody round up th' other women an' bring 'em here! Keep cool, an' +everybody'll be saved--lose yore heads an' we'll all die, _some_ +quicker'n others! Not another step forward!" + +"Right ye air, friend," said a voice, and Zack, pistol in hand, dropped +from the deck above and alighted at Tom's side like a fighting bobcat. +"Put over them bullboats--an' be shore ye get hold o' th' ropes when ye +do. _Lady!_" he shouted, catching sight of an emigrant and his wife. +"Come hyar! An' you," he commanded her husband, "stan' by us--shoot ter +kill if ye pulls trigger. Fine bunch o' cattle!" he sneered, and the +rapidly growing crowd, finding that the guns facing them did not waver, +turned and stampeded for the bullboats, every man of it bellowing orders +and getting in the way of everyone else. There came a splash, a chorus +of curses as a bullboat, thrown overboard upside down, slipped away in +the darkness. + +"Right side up, ye tarnation fools!" roared a voice, accompanied by a +solid smash as a hunter near the boats knocked down a frantic freighter +and took charge of the mob. "I'm fixin' fer to kill somebody!" he +yelled. "Hang onter that rope or I'll spatter yer brains all over +creation! Right side up, damn ye! Hold her! Thar! Now then, put over +another--if ye git in that boat till I says so ye won't have no need fer +it!" + +Friends coming to his aid helped him hold the milling mob, and their +coolness and determination, tried in many ticklish situations, stood +them in good stead. + +"Ask th' captain how bad she is!" shouted Tom as he caught sight of Joe +Cooper tearing through the crowd like a madman. "I got Patience an' +another woman here!" + +"I might 'a' known it," yelled Uncle Joe, fighting back the way he had +come. In a moment he returned and shouted until the frantic crowd gave +him heed. "Cap'n says she can't sink! Cap'n says she can't sink! Listen, +damn ye! Cap'n says she can't sink. He's groundin' her on a bar! Keep +'em out of them boats, boys! _Don't_ let them fools get in th' boats! +Not till th' very last thing! They'll only swamp 'em." + +"Good fer you, St. Louis!" roared a mountaineer, playing with a skinning +knife in most suggestive manner. + +"Th' boilers'll blow up! Th' boilers'll blow up! Look out for th' +boilers!" yelled a tenderfoot, fighting to get to the boats. "They'll +blow up! They'll blow----" + +Zack took one swift step sideways and brought the butt of his pistol +down on the jumping jack's head. "Let 'em blow, sister!" he shouted. +"_You_ won't hear 'em! Any more scared o' th' boilers?" he yelled, +facing the crowd menacingly. "They won't blow up till th' water gits to +'em, an' when it does we'll all be knee-deep in it. Thar on this hyar +deck, ye sheep!" + +One man was running around in a circle not five feet across, moaning and +blubbering. Tom glanced at him as he came around and stepped quickly +forward, his foot streaking out and up. It caught the human pinwheel on +the chest and he turned a beautiful back flip into the crowd. Zack's +booming laugh roared out over the water and he slapped Tom resoundingly +on the shoulder. + +"More fun right hyar than in a free-fer-all at a winter rendyvoo, +pardner. You kick wuss nor a mule. An' whar _you_ goin'?" he asked a +tin-horn gambler who took advantage of his lapse of alertness to dart +past him. Zack swung his stiff arm and the gambler bounced back as +though he had been struck with a club. "Thar's plenty o' it hyar if yer +lookin' fer it," he shouted, raising his pistol. + +Uncle Joe clawed his way back again, Tom's double-barreled rifle in his +hands, and grimly took his place at his friend's side. Suddenly he +cocked his head and then heard Tom's voice bellow past his ear. + +"Listen, you fools! Th' fur boat! Th' fur boat!" he yelled at the top of +his lungs. His companions and the other little group of resolute men +took up the cry, and as the furor of the crowd died down, the answering +blasts rolled up the river. Suddenly a light, and then an orderly series +of them pushed out from behind the last bend downstream, and showers of +sparks from the belching stacks of the oncoming fur company boat danced +and whirled high into the night, the splashing tattoo of her churning +paddles sounding like music between the reassuring blasts of her +whistle. The two stokers hanging from the levers of her safety valves +kicked their feet in time with her whistle, not knowing which kick would +usher them on an upward journey ending at St. Peter's eager gate. Their +skins were as black as the rods they swung from, but their souls were as +white as their rolling eyes. + +"Thank God!" screamed a woman who was fighting her way through the crowd +toward Tom's post, her clothing nearly torn from her; and at the words +she sagged to the deck, inert, unresisting. Tom leaped forward and +hauled her back with him, passed her on to Patience and resumed his grim +guard. + +A great shout, still tinged with horror and edged with fear, arose from +the decks of the _Belle_ and thundered across the river, the answering +roar chopped up by the insistent whistle. Several red, stringy, +rapier-like flashes pierced the night and the heavy reports barked +across the hurrying water, to be juggled by a great cliff on the north +bank. + +Captain Newell had been busy. Learning that cool minds were dominating +the panicky crowd, and that the bullboats were being properly launched +and were ready for use if the worst came, he gave his undivided +attention to the saving of the _Belle_. Her paddle still thrashed, but +at a speed just great enough to overcome the current and to hold the +snag in the wound it had made. Experience told him that once she drew +back from that slimy assassin blade and fully opened the rent in her +hull her sinking would follow swiftly. Already men had sounded the river +on both sides and reported a steep slant to the bottom, twenty feet of +water on the port side and fifteen on the starboard. One of the spare +yawls, manned by two officers and a deck hand, shot away from the boat +and made hurried soundings to starboard, the called depths bringing a +look of hope to the captain's face. Forty yards to the right lay a +nearly flat bar; but could he make that forty yards? There remained no +choice but to try, for while the _Missouri Belle_, if she sank in her +present position, would not be entirely submerged, she would be even +less so every foot she made toward the shallows. + +Part of the crew already had weighted one edge of a buffalo hide and +stood in the bow, directly over the snag, which luckily had pierced the +hull more above than below the water line. The captain signalled and the +great paddle wheel turned swiftly full speed astern. The grating, +splitting sound of the snag leaving the hull was followed by a shouted +order and the hide was lowered overside and instantly sucked against the +rent; and the paddle wheel, quickly reversing, pushed the boat ahead at +an angle to the current until, low in the water, she grounded solidly on +the edge of the flat bar. Anchors were set and cables made taut while +the _Belle_ settled firmly on the sandy bottom and rested almost on an +even keel. There she would stay if the river continued to fall, until +the rent was fully exposed and repaired; and there she would stay, +repaired, until another rise floated her. The captain signalled for the +paddles to stop and then drew a heavy arm across his forehead, sighed, +and turned to face the fur company packet. + +The passengers were becoming calm by stages, but the calm was largely +the reaction of hysteria for a few moments until common sense walled up +the breach. Every eye now watched the oncoming steamboat, which had +sailed doggedly ahead for the past two nights and days while the _Belle_ +had loitered against the banks. Even the most timid were now calmed by +the sight of her lighted cabins as she ploughed toward her stricken +sister. Fearful of the snag, she came to a stop when nearly abreast of +the _Belle_ and the two captains held a short and shouted conversation. +Her yawl soon returned and reported the water safe, but shoaling +rapidly; and at this information she turned slightly oblique to the +current and, sounding every few feet, crept up to within two gangplanks' +reach of the _Belle_ and anchored bow and stern. Her own great landing +stage swung out over the cheated waters and hung poised while that of +the _Belle_ circled out to meet it, waveringly, as though it had lost a +valuable sense. They soon touched, were made to coincide and then lashed +securely together. At once, women first, the passengers of the _Belle_ +began to cross the arched span a few at a time, and sighed with relief +as they reached the deck of the uninjured vessel. On the main deck of +the _Belle_ the crew already was piling up such freight as could be +taken from the hold and the sound of hammering at her bow told of +temporary repairs being made. + +Among the last to leave the _Belle_ were Uncle Joe and Tom and as they +started toward the gangplank, Captain Newell hurriedly passed them, +stopped, retraced his steps, and gripped their hands tightly as he +wished them a safe arrival at Independence. Then he plunged out of +sight toward the engine room. + +The transfer completed, the fur company boat cast free, raised her +anchors, and sidled cautiously back into the channel. Blowing a hoarse +salute, she straightened out into the current and surged ahead, +apparently in no way daunted by the fate of her sister. Captain Graves +had commanded a heavily loaded boat when he left St. Louis and the +addition of over a hundred passengers and their personal belongings, for +whom some sort of provision must be made in sleeping arrangements and +food, urged him to get to Independence Landing as quickly as he could. +Turning from his supervision of the housing of the gangplank, he bumped +into Uncle Joe, was about to apologize, and then peered into the face of +his new passenger. The few lights which had been placed on deck to help +in the transfer of the passengers, enabled him to recognize the next to +the last man across the plank and his greeting was sharp and friendly. + +"Joe Cooper, or I'm blind!" he exclaimed. "Alone, Joe?" + +"Got my niece with me, and my friend, Tom Boyd, here." + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Boyd--seems to me I've heard something about a +Tom Boyd fouling the official craft of the Government of New Mexico," +said the captain, shaking hands with the young plainsman. "We'll do our +best for you-all the rest of the night, and we'll put Miss Cooper in my +cabin. We ought to reach Independence early in the morning. I suppose +that's your destination? Take you on to Westport just as easily." + +"Independence is where I started for," said Uncle Joe. + +"Then we'll put you ashore there, no matter what the condition of the +landing is. It's easier to land passengers than cargo. But let me tell +you that if you are aiming to go in business there, that Westport is the +coming town since the river ruined the lower landing. Let's see if the +cook's got any hot coffee ready, and a bite to eat: he's had time +enough, anyhow. Come on. First we'll find Miss Cooper and the other +women. I had them all taken to one place. Come on." + +Shortly after dawn Tom awakened, rose on one elbow on the blanket he had +thrown on the deck and looked around. Uncle Joe snored softly and +rhythmically on his hard bed, having refused to rob any man of his +berth. He had accepted one concession, however, by throwing his blanket +on the floor of the texas, where he not only would be close to his +niece, but removed from the other men of the _Belle_, many of whom were +not at all reassuring in the matter of personal cleanliness. Arising, +Tom went to a window and looked out, seeing a clear sky and green, +rolling hills and patches of timber bathed in the slanting sunlight. A +close scrutiny of the bank apprised him that they were not far from +Independence Landing and he stepped to the rail to look up the river. +Far upstream on a sharp bend on the south bank were the remains of Old +Fort Clark, as it was often called. About twenty miles farther on the +same side of the river was his destination. He turned to call Uncle Joe +and met the captain at the door of the texas; and he thought he caught a +glimpse of a head bobbing back behind the corner of the cabin. As he +hesitated as to whether to go and verify his eyes, the captain accosted +him, and he stood where he was. + +"Fine day, Mr. Boyd," said the officer. "Sleep well on the soft side of +the deck?" + +Tom laughed. "I can sleep well any place, captain. If I could have +scooped out a hollow for my hips I wouldn't feel quite so stiff." + +"Let me know as soon as Miss Cooper appears and I'll have some breakfast +sent up to her. If you'd like a bite now, come with me." + +"Thank you; you are very considerate. I'll call Uncle Joe and bring him +with me." + +"You will, hey?" said a voice from the texas. "Uncle Joe is ready right +now, barring the aches of his old bones; and I've just been interrupted +by Patience. She says she can chew chunks out of the cups, she's so +hungry. What's that? You didn't? All right; all right; I'm backing up +again! Have it your own way; you will, anyhow, in the end." + +"You stay right where you are, Miss Cooper," called the captain. "I'll +send up breakfast enough for six, and if you keep an eye on this pair +perhaps you can get a bit of it. And let me tell you that it's lucky +that you're real hungry, for the fare on this boat is even worse than it +was on the _Belle_. I'll go right down and look to it." + +Breakfast over, the three went out to explore the boat, Patience taking +interest in its human cargo, especially its original passengers, and she +had a good chance to observe them during the absence of the rescued +passengers of the _Belle_, to whom had been given the courtesy of the +first use of the dining-room. + +Almost all of the original list on this boat were connected in some way +with the fur trade, the exceptions being a few travelers bound for the +upper Missouri, and two noncommissioned officers going out to Fort +Leavenworth, who had missed the _Belle_ at St Louis, missed her again at +St. Charles, and had been taken aboard by Captain Graves, who would have +to stop at the Fort for inspection. + +The others covered all the human phases of the fur business and included +one _bourgeois_, or factor; two partisans, or heads of expeditions; +several clerks, numerous hunters and trappers, both free and under +contract to the company; half a dozen "pork-eaters," who were green +hands engaged for long periods of service by the company and bound to it +almost as tightly and securely as though they were slaves. Some of them +found this to be true, when they tried to desert, later on. They were +called "pork-eaters" because the term now meant about the same as the +word "tenderfeet," and its use came from the habit of the company to +import green hands from Canada under contracts which not only made them +slaves for five years, but almost always left them in the company's debt +at the expiration of their term of service. On the way from Canada they +had been fed on a simple and monotonous diet, its chief article being +pork; and gradually the expression came to be used among the more +experienced voyageurs to express the abstract idea of greenness. There +were camp-keepers, voyageurs, a crew of keelboatmen going up to the +"navy yard" above Fort Union and two skilled boat-builders bound for the +same place; artisans, and several Indians returning either to one of the +posts or to their own country. They made a picturesque assemblage, and +their language, being Indian, English, and French, or rather, +combinations of all three, was not less so than their appearance. Over +them all the bully of the boat, who had reached his semi-official +position through elimination by consent and by combat, exercised a more +or less orderly supervision as to their bickerings and general behavior, +and relieved the boat's officers of much responsibility. + +The boat stopped a few minutes at Liberty Landing and then went on, +rounding the nearly circular bend, and as the last turn was made and the +steamboat headed westward again there was a pause in the flurry which +had been going on among the rescued passengers ever since Liberty +Landing had been left. Independence Landing was now close at hand and +the eager crowd marked time until the bank should be reached. + +Soon the boat headed in toward what was left of the once fine landing, +its slowly growing ruin being responsible for the rising importance of +the little hamlet of Westport not far above, and for the later and +pretentious Kansas City which was to arise on the bluff behind the +little frontier village. Independence was losing its importance as a +starting point for the overland traffic in the same way that she had +gained it. First it had been Franklin, then Fort Osage, then Blue Mills, +and then Independence; but now, despite its commanding position on one +of the highest bluffs along the river and its prestige from being the +county seat, the latter was slowly settling in the background and giving +way to Westport; but it was not to give up at once, nor entirely, for +the newer terminals had to share their prominence with it, and until the +end of the overland traffic Independence played its part. + +The landing was a busy place. Piles of cordwood and freight, the latter +in boxes, barrels, and crates, flanked the landing on three sides; +several kinds of new wagons in various stages of assembling were scenes +of great activity. Most of these were from Pittsburg and had come all +the way by water. A few were of the size first used on the great trail, +with a capacity of about a ton and a half; but most were much larger and +could carry nearly twice as much as the others. Great bales of Osnaburg +sheets, or wagon covers, were in a pile by themselves, glistening white +in their newness. It appeared that the cargo of the _John Auld_ had not +yet been transported up the bluff to the village on the summit. + +The landing became very much alive as the fur company's boat swung in +toward it, the workers who hourly expected the _Missouri Belle_ crowding +to the water's edge to welcome the rounding boat, whose whistle early +had apprised them that she was stopping. Free negroes romped and sang, +awaiting their hurried tasks under exacting masters, the bosses of the +gangs; but this time there was to be no work for them. Vehicles of all +kinds, drawn by oxen, mules, and horses, made a solid phalanx around the +freight piles, among them the wagons of Aull and Company, general +outfitters for all kinds of overland journeys. The narrow, winding road +from the water front up to and onto the great bluff well back from the +river was sticky with mud and lined with struggling teams pulling heavy +loads. + +When the fur company boat drew near enough for those on shore to see its +unusual human cargo, both as to numbers and kinds, conjecture ran high. +This hardy traveler of the whole navigable river was no common packet, +stopping almost any place to pick up any person who waved a hat, but a +supercilious thoroughbred which forged doggedly into the vast wilderness +of the upper river. Even her curving swing in toward the bank was made +with a swagger and hinted at contempt for any landing under a thousand +miles from her starting point. + +Shouts rang across the water and were followed by great excitement on +the bank. Because of the poor condition of the landing she worked her +way inshore with unusual care and when the great gangplank finally +bridged the gap her captain nodded with relief. In a few moments, her +extra passengers ashore, she backed out into the hurrying stream and +with a final blast of her whistle, pushed on up the river. + +Friends met friends, strangers advised strangers, and the accident to +the _Belle_ was discussed with great gusto. Impatiently pushing out of +the vociferous crowd, Joe Cooper and his two companions swiftly found a +Dearborn carriage which awaited them and, leaving their baggage to +follow in the wagon of a friend, started along the deeply rutted, +prairie road for the town; Schoolcraft, his partner, and his Mexican +friend sloping along behind them on saddle horses through the lane of +mud. The trip across the bottoms and up the great bluff was wearisome +and tiring. They no sooner lurched out of one rut than they dropped into +another, with the mud and water often to the axles, and they continually +were forced to climb out of the depressed road and risk upsettings on +the steep, muddy banks to pass great wagons hopelessly mired, +notwithstanding their teams of from six to a dozen mules or oxen. +Mud-covered drivers shouted and swore from their narrow seats, or waded +about their wagons up to the middle in the cold ooze. If there was +anything worse than a prairie road in the spring, these wagoners had yet +to learn of it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE NEW SIX-GUN + + +Independence was alive all over, humming with business, its muddy +streets filled with all kinds of vehicles drawn by various kinds and +numbers of animals. Here a three-yoke ox team pulled stolidly, there a +four-mule team balked on a turn, and around them skittish or dispirited +horses carried riders or drew high-seated carriages. The motley crowd on +foot picked its way as best it could. Indians in savage garb passed +Indians in civilization's clothes, or mixtures of both; gamblers rubbed +elbows with emigrants and made overtures to buckskin-covered trappers +and hunters just in from the prairies and mountains, many of whom were +going up to Westport, their main rendezvous. Traders came into and went +from Aull and Company's big store, wherein was everything the frontier +needed. Behind it were corrals filled with draft animals and sheds full +of carts and wagons. + +Boisterous traders and trappers, in all stages of drunkenness, who +thought nothing of spending their season's profits in a single week if +the mood struck them, were still coming in from the western foothills, +valleys, and mountains, their loud conversations replete with rough +phrases and such names as the South Park, Bent's Fort, The Pueblo, Fort +Laramie, Bayou Salade, Brown's Hole, and others. Many of them so much +resembled Indians as to leave a careless observer in doubt. Some were +driving mules almost buried under their two packs, each pack weighing +about one hundred pounds and containing eighty-odd beaver skins, +sixty-odd otter pelts or the equivalent number in other skins. Usually +they arrived in small parties, but here and there was a solitary +trapper. The skins would be sold to the outfitting merchants and would +establish a credit on which the trapper could draw until time to outfit +and go off on the fall hunt. Had he sold them to some far, outlying post +he would have received considerably less for them and have paid from two +hundred to six hundred per cent more for the articles he bought. As long +as there was nothing for him to do in his line until fall set in, he +might just as well spend some of the time on the long march to the +frontier, risking the loss of his goods, animals, and perhaps his life +in order to get better prices and enjoy a change of scene. + +The county seat looked good to him after his long stay in the solitudes. +Pack and wagon trains were coming and going, some of the wagons drawn by +as many as a dozen or fifteen yokes of oxen. All was noise, confusion, +life at high pressure, and made a fit surrounding for his coming +carousal; and here was all the liquor he could hope to drink, of better +quality and at better prices, guarantees of which, in the persons of +numerous passers-by, he saw on many sides. + +Rumors of all kinds were afloat, most of them concerning hostile Indians +lying in wait at certain known danger spots along the trails, and of the +hostile acts of the Mormons; but the Mormons were behind and the trail +was ahead, and the rumors of its dangers easily took precedence. It was +reported that the first caravan, already on the trail and pressing hard +on the heels of spring, was being escorted by a force of two hundred +United States dragoons, the third time in the history of the Santa Fe +trade that a United States military escort had been provided. Dangers +were magnified, dangers were scorned, dangers were courted, depending +upon the nature of the men relating them. There were many noisy +fire-eaters who took their innings now, in the security of the town, who +would become as wordless, later on, as some of the tight-lipped and +taciturn frontiersmen were now. Greenhorns from the far-distant East +were proving their greenness by buying all kinds of useless articles, +which later they would throw away one by one, and were armed in a manner +befitting buccaneers of the Spanish Main. To them, easiest of all, were +old and heavy oxen sold, animals certain to grow footsore and useless by +the time they had covered a few hundred miles. They bought anything and +everything that any wag suggested, and there were plenty of wags on +hand. The less they knew the more they talked; and experienced caravan +travelers shook their heads at sight of them, recognizing in them the +most prolific and hardest working trouble-makers in the whole, long +wagon train. Here and there an invalid was seen, hoping that the long +trip in the open would restore health, and in many cases the hopes +became realizations. + +Joseph Cooper installed his niece in the best hotel the town afforded +and went off to see about his wagons and goods, while Tom Boyd hurried +to a trapper's retreat to find his partner and his friends. The retreat +was crowded with frontiersmen and traders, among whom he recognized +many acquaintances. He no sooner had entered the place than he was +soundly slapped on the shoulder and turned to exchange grins with his +best friend, Hank Marshall, who forthwith led him to a corner where a +small group was seated around a table, and where he found Jim Ogden and +Zeb Houghton, two trapper friends of his who were going out to Bent's +trading post on the Arkansas; Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, two +veteran traders, and several others who would be identified with the +next caravan to leave. + +"Thar's one of them danged contraptions, now!" exclaimed Birdsall, +pointing to the holster swinging from Tom's broad belt. "I don't think +much o' these hyar newfangled weapons we're seein' more an' more every +year. An' cussed if he ain't got a double-bar'l rifle, too! Dang it, +Tom, don't put all yer aigs in one basket; ain't ye keepin' no weapons +ye kin be shore on?" + +"Thar both good, Enoch," replied Tom, smiling broadly. + +"Shore they air," grunted Birdsall's partner. "Enoch don't reckon +nothin's no good less'n it war foaled in th' Revolutionary War, an' has +got whiskers like a Mormon bishop. Fust he war dead sot ag'in +steamboats; said they war flyin' in th' face o' Providence an' wouldn't +work, nohow. Then he said it war plumb foolish ter try ter take waggins +inter Santer Fe. Next he war dead sot ag'in mules fer anythin' but +packin'. Now he's cold ter caps an' says flints war made 'special by th' +Lord fer ter strike fire with--_but_, he rides on th' steamboats when he +gits th' chanct; he's taken waggins clean ter Chihuahua, drivin' mules +ter 'em; an' he's sorter hankerin' fer ter use caps, though he won't +admit it open. Let him alone an' watch him try ter borrer yer new +pistol when th' Injuns try ter stampede th' animals. He's a danged old +fool in his talk, but you jest keep an eye on him. Thar, I've said my +say." + +"An' a danged long say it war!" snorted Enoch, belligerently. "It stands +ter reason that thar pistol can't shoot 'em out o' one bar'l plumb down +the dead center of another _every_ time! An' suppose ye want ter use a +double charge o' powder, whar ye goin' ter put it in them danged little +holes? Suppose yer caps hang fire--what then, I want ter know?" + +"S'posin' th' wind blows th' primin' out o' yer pan?" queried Zeb. +"S'posin' ye lose your flint? S'posin' yer powder ain't no good? +S'posin' ye ram down th' ball fust, like ye did that time them Crows +tried ter lift our cache. Fine mess ye nigh made o' that! Onct ye start +thar ain't no end o' s'posin', nohow. Caps is all right, _I_ use 'em!" + +"_He_ uses 'em!" chuckled Enoch. "Ain't that a sensible answer? Caps is +all right, if _he_ uses 'em! Danged if he don't make me laugh: but he's +a good ol' beaver, at that, Zeb is. As fur rammin' down th' ball fust, +that time; he never told ye about how he swallered a hull mouthful o' +balls when Singin' Fox sent a arrer through his cap, did he?" + +Zeb looked a little self-conscious. "Beaver's shore gittin' scarce," he +said. + +"Thar's a passel o' Oregoners rendyvouin' out ter Round Grove," said +Hank. "If we're goin' with 'em we better jine 'em purty quick." + +Tom shook his head. "I'm aimin' fer th' Arkansas this trip. Goin' ter +try it onct more." + +Hank's jaw dropped. "Thar!" he snorted. "Kin ye beat that?" + +"Glad ter hear it," said Jim Ogden. "We'll be with ye fur's th' +Crossin'; but ain't ye gamblin', Tom?" + +"Armijo shore will run up th' flags an' order out his barefoot army," +said Hank, grimly, "if he larns o' it. An' he'll mebby need th' army, +too." + +"He'll larn o' it," declared Birdsall. "Thar's a passel o' greasers +goin' over th' trail with us--an' shore as shootin' some o' 'em will go +ahead with th' news arter we reach th' Cimarron. Don't be a danged fool, +Tom; you better go 'long th' Platte with th' emigrants." + +"Can't do it," replied Tom. "I've give my word an' I'm goin' through ter +Santa Fe. Armijo'll larn o' it, all right. I've seen signs o' that +already. Some greaser fanned a knife at me on th' boat; but I couldn't +larn nothin' more about it." + +"Dang my hide if I ain't got a good notion ter let ye go alone!" snorted +Hank, whereat a roar of laughter arose. It seemed that he was very well +known. + +"I'll see how things bust," said Ogden. "I war aimin' fer Bent's, but +thar ain't no use o' gittin' thar much afore fall." He thought a moment, +and then slammed his hand on the table. "I'm goin' with ye, Tom!" + +"Talkin' like a blind fool!" growled Zeb Houghton, his inseparable +companion. "I'm startin' fer th' fort, an' I'm goin' thar! If you ain't +got no sense, _I_ has!" + +Hank laughed and winked at the others. "I'll go with ye, Zeb. Me an' +you'll go thar together an' let these two fools git stood up ag'in a +wall. Sarve 'em right if he cuts 'em up alive. We'll ask him ter send us +thar ears, fer ter remember 'em by." + +Zeb's remarks about the Governor of New Mexico caused every head in the +room to turn his way, and called forth a running fire of sympathetic +endorsements. He banged the table with his fists. "Hank Marshall, ye got +more brains nor I has, but I got ter go 'long an' keep that pore critter +out o' trouble. If I don't he'll lose hoss _an'_ beaver!" + +A stranger sauntered over, grinned at them and slid a revolving Colt +pistol on the table. "Thar, boys," he said. "Thar's what ye need if yer +goin' ter Santer Fe. I'm headin' fer home, back east. What'll ye give me +fer it, tradin' in yer old pistol? Had a run o' cussed bad luck last +night, an' I need boat fare. Who wants it?" + +Enoch Birdsall and Hank Marshall both reached for it, but Hank was the +quicker. He looked it over carefully and then passed it to his partner. +"What ye think o' her, Tom?" he asked. + +After a moment's scrutiny Tom nodded and gave it back. "Looks brand new, +Hank. Good pistol. I tried mine out on th' boat comin' up. They shoot +hard an' straight." + +Hank looked up at the stranger and shook his head deprecatingly, +starting the preliminary to a long, hard-driven barter; but he hadn't +reckoned on Birdsall, the skeptic. + +"Ten dollars an' this hyar pistol," said Enoch quickly. + +"Wall!" exclaimed Hank, staring at him. "Dang ye! Eleven dollars an' +_this_ pistol!" + +"Twelve," placidly said Enoch. + +"Twelve an' a half!" snapped Hank. + +"An' three quarters." + +"Thirteen!" growled Hank, trying to hide his misery. + +Enoch raised again and, a quarter at a time, they ran the price up to +sixteen dollars, Enoch bidding with Yankee caution and reluctance, Hank +with a stubborn determination not to let his friend get ahead of him. +One was a trader, shrewd and thrifty; the other, a trapper, which made +it a game between a canny barterer on one side and a reckless spender on +the other. At twenty-three dollars Birdsall quit, spat angrily at a box, +and scowled at his excited companion, who was counting the money onto +the table. Hank glared at Enoch, jammed the Colt in his belt and bit +savagely into a plug of tobacco, while the stranger, hiding his smile, +bowed ironically and left them; and in a moment he was back again with +another Colt. + +"I knowed it!" mourned Hank. "Dang ye, Enoch!" + +"Boys," said the stranger, sadly, "my friend is in th' same fix that I +am. He is willin' ter part with his Colt for th' same money an' another +old fashioned pistol. His mother's dyin' in St. Louie an' he's got ter +git back ter her." + +"Too danged bad it ain't him, an' you," snorted Hank. + +Jim Ogden held out his hand, took the weapon and studied it. Quietly +handing over his own pistol and the money, he held out his other hand, +empty. "Whar's th' mold; an' some caps?" + +"Wall," drawled the stranger, rubbing his chin. "They don't go with th' +weapons--they're separate. Cost ye three dollars fer th' mold; an' th' +caps air two dollars a box o' two hundred." + +"Then hand her back ag'in an' take th' Colt," said Ogden, slowly +arising. "Think I'm goin' ter whittle, or chew bullets fer it? Neither +one of them guns has even been used. Thar bran' new, an' with 'em goes +th' mold. Jest because I've spent a lot o' my days up on Green River +ain't sayin' I'm green. They named it that because I left my greenness +thar." + +"Th' caps air extry," said the vendor of Colt pistols. + +"Ain't said nothin' about no caps, yit," retorted Ogden. "I'm talkin' +molds. Gimme one, an' give Hank one; or ye'll both shore as hell miss +his mother's funeral." + +The stranger complied, sold some caps and left the saloon in good humor; +but he had not been gone two minutes before Enoch hastily arose and +pleaded that he had to meet a man; and when they saw him again he had a +newfangled contraption in a holster at his belt. + +Hank carelessly opened his mold and glanced at it. "Pinted!" he +exclaimed. + +Tom explained swiftly and reassured his friends, and then suggested that +they go down to a smithy owned by a mutual friend, and run some bullets. +"We better do it while we're thinkin' about it, an' have th' time," he +added. + +"Got lots o' time," said Ogden. "Be three weeks afore th' second caravan +starts. Thar's two goin' out this year. If 'twarn't fer th' early warm +weather on th' prairies th' fust wouldn't 'a' left yet. Th' grass is +comin' up fast." + +"Thar's some waggins o' th' second game out ter Council Grove already," +said Alonzo Webb. "They wanted me an' Enoch ter go 'long with 'em, but +we couldn't see th' sense o' leavin' town so fur ahead o' time, an' +totin' that much more grub. 'Sides, th' roads'll be better, mebby, later +on." + +The smith welcomed them and they used his fire during the lulls in his +business. + +"Hear Zachary Woodson's goin' out with eight waggins this year," he told +them. "Missed th' fust caravan. Says he'll be tetotally cussed if he's +goin' ter be captain ag'in this year." + +"That's what he says every year," grunted Alonzo. + +"He'll be captain if we has th' say-so," replied Hank. "Only thing, he's +a mite too easy with th' fools; but thar's goin' ter be less squabblin' +about obeyin' orders this trip than ever afore. We'll see ter that." + +While they discussed matters pertaining to the caravan, and ran bullets, +listening to the gossip of the smith's customers, they saw Uncle Joe and +his two wagoners driving his mules toward the shop to have them re-shod. +They shook hands all around and soon Uncle Joe, grinning from ear to +ear, told them that he was going out with the caravan. He was as tickled +as a boy with a new knife. + +"Just as I feared," he said in explanation. "I couldn't find any trader +that was takin' any of his women folks along; so there was only one way +out of it. I got to go. An' I don't mind tellin' you boys that it suits +me clean down to th' ground. Anyhow, all I wanted was an excuse. I got a +light wagon for Patience an' me an' our personal belongings, an' I'm +goin' to drive it myself. Bein' th' only woman in th' caravan, fur as I +know, it'll mebby be a little mite hard on her. Reckon she'll git +lonesome, 'specially since she's so danged purty." + +When the laughter died down Hank Marshall, shifting his cud to the other +cheek, looked from Uncle Joe to Tom and back again. + +"Wall," he drawled, "I war puzzled a little at fust, but now I reckon +I'm gittin' th' hang o' this hyar thing. Tom war shore hell-bent fer ter +go out ter Oregon this year." He paused, scratched his head, and +grinned. "Reckon I kin drive them mules all by myself. 'Twon't be as +though it war th' fust time I've done it." + +After a little good-natured banter Tom and Hank left the smithy to look +after their affairs, for there was quite a lot to be done. The next few +days would be busy ones for them both, but especially so for Tom, who +was expected to share his company between Patience, Hank, and Uncle Joe. + +As they swung up the street Hank edged to cross it, pointing to +Schoolcraft's corral. "Might as well be gittin' th' mules afore thar all +run over an' th' best took. If he kin skin me in a mule deal I'm willin' +ter abide by it." + +"Not there," objected Tom. "I've had some trouble with him. I'll play +pack animal myself before I'll buy a single critter from him." + +Hank shook with silent laughter. "_That's_ whar he got it, huh?" he +exulted. "Cussed if he warn't trimmed proper. I might 'a' knowed it war +you as done it by th' way it looked." He shook again and then became +alert "Thar he is now; an' his friends air with him. Keep yer primin' +dry, boy." + +"I reckoned I could shake a laig," said a voice behind them, and they +looked over their shoulders to see Jim Ogden at their heels, and close +behind him came his partner; "but you two kiyotes plumb made me hoof it. +What's yer hurry, anyhow?" + +The little group in front of the corral gate shifted in indecision and +looked inquiringly at the horse-dealer. There was a difference between +stirring up trouble between themselves and Tom Boyd for the purpose of +manhandling _him_, and stirring it up between themselves and the four +trappers. + +Schoolcraft said something out of the corner of his mouth and the group +melted away into the little shack at the corral gate. He remained where +he was, scowling frankly at his enemy. + +"Looks like they war a-fixin' ter try it on us," growled Hank, returning +the scowl with interest. "Let's go over an' say how-de-do ter 'em. This +here town's been too peaceable, _anyhow_." + +"What's th' trouble?" asked Ogden, curiously, his partner pressing +against him to hear the answer. + +"Ain't none," answered Tom. "Thar might 'a' been, but it's blowed over." + +"Wall," drawled Ogden. "Ye never kin tell about these hyar frontier +winds. Yer th' partisan o' this hyar expedition, Tom. We'll foller yer +lead. It's all one ter us whar ye go; we're with ye." + +Schoolcraft, knowing that trouble with these plainsmen would almost +certainly end in serious bloodshed, shrugged his shoulders and entered +the shack; and after him, from behind the corral wall darted the slender +Mexican. + +"Thar!" exclaimed Tom, pointing. "See that greaser? Keep yer eyes +skinned fer him. He's bad medicine." + +"Looks like he war fixin' fer ambushin' us, hidin' behind that wall," +growled Hank. + +"He's got a fine head o' hair ter peel," snorted Zeb Houghton, whose +reputation in regard to scalp lifting was anything but to his credit. +The fingers of his left hand closed involuntarily with a curling motion +and the wrist turned suggestively; and the Mexican, well back from the +dirty window of the shack, felt a rising of his stomach and was poor +company for the rest of the day. + +The four swung on again, Ogden and his partner soon leaving the party to +go to their quarters, while Tom and Hank went on along the street and +stopped at another horse-dealer's, where they bought two riding horses +and eight broken-in mules, the latter covered with scars. The horses +were broken to saddle and would carry them over the trail; two of the +mules were to carry their necessaries and the other six their small +stock of merchandise, which they now set out to obtain. In procuring the +latter they were very fortunate, for they found a greenhorn who had paid +too much attention to rumors and had decided at the last moment that +trail life and trading in the far west did not impress him very +favorably; and he sold his stock to them almost at their own terms, glad +to get out of his venture so easily. They took what they wanted of it +and then sold the remainder at a price which nearly paid for their own +goods. Leaving their purchases at Uncle Joe's wagons under the care of +his teamsters, they went to his hotel to spend the night. + +After supper Hank, who had shown a restlessness very foreign to him, +said that he was going out to take a walk and would return soon. When +Tom offered to go with him he shook his head, grinned, and departed. + +The evening passed very pleasantly for Tom, who needed nothing more than +Patience's presence to make him content, and after she had said good +night he accompanied her uncle to the bar for a night-cap. As he +entered the room he thought he saw a movement outside the window, down +in one corner of the sash, and he slipped to the door and peered out. As +he cogitated about scouting around outside he heard Uncle Joe's voice +calling to him over the noise of the crowd and he made his way back to +the bar, drank to the success of the coming expedition, and engaged in +small talk with his companion and those around them. But his thoughts +were elsewhere, for Hank had been gone a long time. + +"Uncle Joe, how long have you known your wagoners?" he asked. + +"Long enough to know 'em well." The trader regarded him quizzically. +"Not worryin' about your merchandise, are you?" + +"I'm wondering where Hank is." + +"In some trapper's rendezvous; he'll show up in th' mornin' with nothin' +worse than a headache." + +"I'm not treating him right," soliloquized Tom. "A man shouldn't forget +his friends, especially when they're as close as Hank is. I'm goin' +lookin' for him. Good night." + +Uncle Joe watched him push his way directly through the crowd, leaving a +few scowls in his wake, and pop out of the door; and the older man +nodded with satisfaction. "A man shouldn't, Tom, my boy," he muttered. +"Stick to them that's stuck to you--always--forever--in spite of hell. +That's good medicine." + +A tour of the places where trappers congregated was barren of results +until he had reached the last of such resorts that he knew, and here he +found Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, who welcomed him with such +vociferous greetings that he knew they had nearly reached the +quarrelsome stage. To his inquiries as to the whereabouts of his partner +they made boisterous replies, their laughter rattling the windows. + +"Ol' beaver's settin' a-top his house--no, 'tain't no house. Settin' +a-top yer pile o' goods cached with Cooper's--you tell 'im," yelled +Alonzo, slapping Enoch across the back and nearly knocking him out of +the chair. "You tell 'im, Ol' Buff'ler!" + +"Prairie hen on his nest is more like _him_," shouted Enoch, returning +his friend's love tap with interest, whereupon Alonzo missed twice and +fell to the floor. + +"Prairie hen on yer nose!" yelled the prostrate trader, trying to swim +toward his partner. "Thar ain't no prairie beaver as kin knock me down +an' _keep_ me thar! Stan' up like a man, ye polecat! An' I kin lick +_you_, too!" he yelled, as Tom avoided his sweeping arm and hastened +toward the door. "Better run! Better run! Git 'im Enoch, ye fool!" + +Tom did not reach the front door, for with astonishing speed and agility +for one so far in his cups Enoch, taking up the quarrel of his friend, +whom he presently would be fighting, leaped from the table, vaulted over +a chair, and by some miracle of drunken equilibrium landed on his feet +with his back to the door and swung both fists at the surprised +plainsman. Tom's eyes glinted, and then twinkled. He had few better +friends than these two quarrelsome traders and, stepping back, he leaped +over the prostrate and anything but silent Alonzo and darted out through +the back door, laughing at the furious squabbling he left behind. +Reaching the corner of the building, he fell into his habitual softness +of tread and slipped along the rear of the shacks on a direct course +for the place where his and Cooper's merchandise was stored. +Schoolcraft's corral loomed up in front of him and he skirted it +silently. He almost had reached its far corner when a Mexican's voice, +raised in altercation inside the inclosure, caught his ear and checked +him, balanced on one foot. + +"For why he do eet?" demanded the Mexican, excitedly. "I tol' heem that +he mus' leeve Tomaz tr-rade goods by themselves. He ees goin' to Santa +Fe weethout for-rce; an' now eet ees all spoil! For what he do eet? Bah! +For hees revenge he say. What ees hees revenge like Armijo's?" + +"Oh, shut yer mouth an' stop yer yowlin'," growled a gruff voice. "Eph +allus knows what he's a-doin'." + +The poised listener outside the corral paused to hear no more but was +off like a shadow, his stride a long, swinging lope, for he was too wise +to dash at full speed and waste fighting breath for the sake of gaining +a few seconds. He made his devious way across a plain studded with +wagons, piles of freight and heaps of débris, and before he reached his +objective the sounds of conflict singled it out for him had he been in +any doubt. + +The open wagon-shed loomed suddenly before him and he made out a +struggling mass on the ground before it, his partner's grunted curses +and the growls of Cooper's wagoner saving them from his attack. He went +into the mass feet first, landing with all his weight and the momentum +of his run on a crouched man whose upraised arm was only waiting for a +sure opening. The knife user grunted as he went down, and his head +struck the edge of a wagon-wheel with such force that he no longer was +a combatant. Tom had fallen to his knees after his catapulting impact +and when he arose he held a squirming halfbreed over his head at the +height of his upraised arms. One heave of his powerful body and the +human missile flew through the air and struck two of the half-breed's +friends as they sprang to their feet in sudden alarm. They went down +like tenpins and before they could gain their feet again Tom dropped on +one of them, his knees squarely in the pit of the man's stomach, his +right hand on the throat of the other, while his left gripped his +adversary's knife hand and bent it steadily and inexorably back toward +the wrist. + +"Th' little bobcat's j'ined us," panted Hank, crawling onto the man he +now rolled under him. "Tom Boyd, Armijo's pet, with his fangs bared an' +his claws out. Take _this_, you----!" he grunted as his shoulder set +itself behind the smashing blow. "How ye makin' out with yer friend, +Abe?" he asked of the other rolling pair. + +It seemed that Abe was not making out according to Hank's +specifications, so he crawled over to help him, and reached out a hand. +It fastened onto a skinny neck and clamped shut, whereupon Abe rolled +victoriously free and paused to glower at his victim. His surprise, +while genuine, was of short duration, and he shook his head at the +cheerful Hank and then pounced onto the man who had been used as a +missile, and pinned him to the ground. In a few moments the fight was +over, and the victors grinned sheepishly at each other in the +semi-darkness and re-arranged various parts of their clothing. + +"I saw somethin' smash inter th' waggin wheel an' sorta reckoned you +war some'rs 'round," panted Hank. "Then I saw somethin' else sail inter +th' air an' knock over two o' th' thieves. Then I knowed ye war hyar. Me +an' Abe war doin' our best, but we war beginnin' ter slip, like fur at +th' end o' winter." + +"Ye mebbe war sheddin' a little," laughed Tom, "but you'd 'a' shed them +thieves afore ye petered out. Tell me about it." + +"Thar ain't nothin' ter tell," replied Hank. "I'm nat'rally suspicious +by bein' up in th' Crow country so much o' my time, an' I got ter +thinkin' 'bout Schoolcraft. I'm mostly stronger on hindsight than I am +on foresight, but this hyar's onct I sorta lined 'em both up an' got a +good bead. I snuk up ter his shanty an' heard him an' that thar greaser +chawin' tough meat with each other. So I come down hyar, expectin' ter +lay fer 'em with Abe; but danged if him an' them warn't at it already! I +only got two feet, two han's an' one mouth, an' I had ter waste one foot +a-standin' on it; but th' rest o' me jined th' dance. Then you come. +That's all." + +"How long war you two holdin' off th' six o' 'em?" demanded Tom of Abe +with great interest, and thinking that Cooper's trust was well placed. + +"'Twarn't long; two comets an' about six hundred stars, I reckon," +mumbled the shrinking hero between swollen lips. "I war jest gittin' mad +enough to go fur my knife when Hank gits in step with th' music, an' +jines han's with us. What we goin' ter do with 'em?" + +"Oh, give 'em a kick apiece an' turn 'em loose without thar weapons," +suggested Hank. + +Tom shook his head. "They come from Schoolcraft; let's take 'em back to +him," he suggested. + +"Go ahead!" enthused Abe. Then he scratched his head. "But who's goin' +ter watch th' goods while we're gone? Jake ain't due fer couple o' hours +yet." + +"You air!" snorted Hank. "You need a rest, an' us two is shore enough." +He prodded the figures on the ground with the toe of his moccasin. "Git +up, you squaw dogs!" he ordered. + +In a moment five thoroughly cowed men were plodding before their guards. +The sixth, who was still wandering about on the far side of the boundary +of consciousness, was across Tom's shoulder. Reaching the horse-dealer's +shanty, the prisoners opened the door by the simple expedient of surging +against it as they shrunk from the pricks of Hank's skinning knife. The +two men inside escaped the crashing door by vaulting over a small table, +and before they could recover their wits in the face of this amazing +return of their friends they were looking down the barrels of two +six-shooters. + +Tom dumped his burden onto the table, kicked a chair through a closed +window, swept an open ink bottle onto Schoolcraft's manly stomach, and +made a horrible face at the pop-eyed Mexican. "Hyar they air, polecat," +he growled. "Any more raids on our goods an' I trail ye an' shoot on +sight. Don't give a cuss who does it, or why; _I'll git you_. If I miss, +Hank won't; an' we both got good friends. Come on, Hank, it stinks in +here." + +Tom turned and stalked out, but not so Hank. He backed out behind his +newfangled weapon, pleasantly thinking of its six ready shots, slid +along the outside of the shack and then waited with great hope for a +head to pop out of the door. Having had no chance to try out the Colt he +was curious regarding its accuracy. No head popped, however, and after +a moment he sighed, slipped along the corral wall and crossed the street +when far enough away to be covered by the darkness. Hank had no faith in +hostile humans and did not believe in showing off. The thieving, +treacherous Crows agreed that the brave who took Hank Marshall's scalp +would be entitled to high honors; with the mournful reflection that by +the time it was taken, if ever, the tribe would have paid a very high +price for it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CARAVAN + + +At last came the day, and the dawn of it showed a cloudless sky, a +sleeping town and a little caravan winding, with rattle of chains and +squeak of harness, past the silent, straggling houses, bound westward +for the "prairie ocean." Despite the mud and the slowness of the going +high spirits ruled the little train. Youth was about to do and dare, +eager for the gamble with fate; and age looked forward to the lure of +the well-known trail even as it looked backward in memory for faces and +experiences of the years gone by. The occasion was auspicious, for the +start was prompt to the minute and earlier than any they would make +later. They were on the luxuriant and better wooded eastern rim of the +great plains, and would be on it for several days. + +Joe Cooper, driving the small wagon with Patience seated at his side, +led the way, eager and exultant. Following him closely came his two +great Pittsburg wagons with their still spotless new sheets, each loaded +with nearly three tons of selected merchandise, their immense wheels +grumbling a little as they slid a fraction of an inch along their +well-greased axles, their broad, new tires squashing out twin canyons in +the mud. Next came two emigrant wagons, their proprietors fearing that +they would not reach the Oregon-bound train at its rendezvous in time to +leave with it. Under their stained and patched canvases two women slept +as though in a steady bed, their children at their sides. Weeks of this +traveling had given to them the boon of being able to fall asleep almost +at will. Then came Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, sober and gay, +abusing each other humorously, each in his own wagon, handling their +strung-out teams with nonchalant ease. Close to the rear of the last +wagon came the eight mules of Tom Boyd and Hank Marshall, four to a +string, followed by their horse-mounted owners; and behind them were Jim +Ogden and Zeb Houghton, each driving two mules before them. + +The road was in execrable condition, its deep ruts masked by a mud as +miry as it appeared to be bottomless, and several times the great wagons +were mired so hard and fast that it took the great ox teams of Alonzo +and Enoch, hooked on in addition to the original mule teams, to pull +them out; and the emigrant wagons, drawn by over-worked oxen, gave +nearly as much trouble. The story of their progress to Council Grove +would be tiring, since it would be but little more than a recital of the +same things over and over again--the problems presented by the roads. + +At Round Grove they said good-bye to the emigrants, who joined the rear +guard of their own caravan at this point. Along the so-called Narrows, +the little ridge forming the watershed between the Kansas and Osage +rivers, for a stretch extending quite some distance westward from Round +Grove, the roads were hardly more than a series of mudholes filmed over +and masked by apparently firm ground. In some of these treacherous traps +the wagons often sank to the hubs, and on two occasions the bottom of +the wagon-box rested on the mud. It was hopeless to try to pull them +out with the animals so deep in mud, and only by finding more firm +ground along the side of the trail, the use of long chains and the aid +of every draft animal in the train were the huge wagons dragged out. The +men themselves waded into the traps, buried at times almost to the +waist, and put their shoulders to wheels and wagon-boxes and pushed and +heaved and floundered; and they kept their spirits high despite the +penetrating cold of the mire. Under these conditions stops were frequent +to rest both teams and men, the "noonings" were prolonged, camp made +earlier in the evening than was usual and left later in the morning. The +tally of miles was disheartening, and to make matters worse a heavy +downpour of chilling rain fell half a day before they reached 110 Mile +Creek which, besides making everyone miserable and spoiling the cooking, +swelled the stream so much that it was crossed only with the greatest +difficulty. + +One of the few things they were grateful for was the fact that they did +not have to keep regular guard watches at night, for while the Kaws and +Osages might steal an animal or two in hope of receiving a little +whiskey, powder, or tobacco for its return, there was no danger of +wholesale stampeding, and a man or two was sufficient to watch the camp. + +One pleasant incident occurred when they pulled in sight of Switzler's +Creek, where they found another section of the caravan in camp. The +augmented train now numbered about twenty-six wagons and formed a rear +guard worthy of the name. The weather had cleared again and the sun +shone brightly all the way to Council Grove. To offset the pleasant +effect of joining the other train, it was at Switzler's Creek that a +hard-pushed mule train overtook them. With it came the little Mexican +and half a dozen of his compatriots, and several of Ephriam +Schoolcraft's chosen bullies. At their appearance Hank Marshall found a +new interest in life, and there was very little occurring in the new +mule train that he missed. His habits now became a little similar to +those of the cat tribe, for he resorted to his old trick of dozing while +riding, catching naps at the noonings, before dark and after dawn. With +him awake at night and Tom awake during the day, and with Jim Ogden's +and Zeb Houghton's nocturnal prowlings thrown in the balance, it looked +as though Hank's remark about "nobody ketchin' these beavers asleep" +would be fully justified. + +Council Grove was reached one noon, and they learned that they would +have plenty of time to do the many little things neglected on the way, +for they would stay here two days. This was welcome news, as it gave +them an opportunity to let the draft animals rest and feed well in +preparation for the long prairie haul ahead. + +Council Grove of the caravan days is worthy of notice. It was the +meeting place as well as the council place for those who were to cross +the prairies together. To it ran the feeding roads, gradually growing as +strands feed a rope, the loose and frayed ends starting from the +Missouri River points and converging as they neared the grove. Named +from a council and a treaty which took place there between a government +commission sent out to survey a wagon road to the Arkansas River, and a +tribe of Osages, in which safety for the traders was obtained from these +savages, it was doubly well named because of the yearly councils which +were held between the traders themselves to perfect the organization of +the caravan. + +The grove itself, of oak, ash, hickory, elm, and many other kinds of +trees, was about half a mile wide and extended along the sides of the +little valley of Council Grove Creek, a large tributary of the Neosho +River. With its dense timber, its rich bottom pastures, and fine, high +prairies it made an ideal spot for a rendezvous; and it was about the +last of the really fine and productive country seen from Independence. +Here were hard woods in plenty, the last to be found on the long trip, +from which to obtain replacements for broken axles and other wagon +parts. This also was the farthest point reached by the trains without +real organization, for from here on every important movement was +officially ordered. + +Scattered about the beautiful, green little valley were wagons great and +small, and piles of mule packs, each camp somewhat by itself. There was +much calling and getting acquainted, fun and frolic, much hewing of +trees, mending of gear, and, in general, busy preparation for the +journey over the land of the short buffalo grass. Tenderfeet wasted +their time and ammunition at target practice or in hunting for small +game, and loafed to their hearts' content; but the experienced traveler +put off his loafing and play until he knew that he had done everything +there was to be done. There were horse races and mule races and even +ox-team races; tugs of war, running, jumping, and, in fact, everything +anyone could think of to help pass the time. + +After a good night's sleep the Cooper party found there was little to do +except to get timber for "spares," and notwithstanding that a spare axle +was slung from under each of the huge freighters, Uncle Joe insisted +that each wagon carry another, and he personally superintended the +cutting. They had been obtained and slung in place beside the others +when a bugle was heard and criers passed among the little camps calling +everyone for roll call. Nearly two hundred persons answered, all but one +of them being men, and then the electioneering began for the choice of +captain. To be a success a caravan must have one head, and the more +experienced he was the better it would be for the caravan. + +Now came the real excitement of the day, for party spirit was strong and +insistent, and the electioneering was carried on with such gusto that +several fights grew out of it. There were four parties at first, among +which was Mike Wardell's, comprising the rougher, more lawless frontier +element. He was a close friend of Ephriam Schoolcraft and he had his +admirers outside of his own class, for a group of tenderfeet which was +impressed by his swaggering, devil-may-care manners backed him in a +body; and another group which was solidly behind him was composed of the +poorer Mexican traders. The second of the larger parties with a +candidate in the field, who had been nominated by a series of caucuses, +was made up of the more experienced and more responsible traders, +veterans of the trail who put safety and order above all other +considerations. This party nominated Zachary Woodson, who had more +wagons in the caravan than any other one man, therefore having more at +stake, and who had not missed his round trip over the route for a dozen +years. His nomination split the Mexicans, for half of them had wagons +and valuable freights, and were in favor of the best leadership. + +At first Woodson flatly refused to run, sneeringly reminding his friends +of the lack of cooperation he could expect from the very men who needed +law and order and leadership most. He knew by bitter experience that the +captain of a Santa Fe caravan had no real authority and that his orders +were looked upon as mere requests, to be obeyed or not, as the mood +suited. He was obdurate in his refusal until a split occurred in the +other strong party and resulted in a disgraceful fight among its +members, which was kept from having disastrous results only by the +determined interposition of the more resolute members of his own party. +This caused the two smaller factions to abandon their own candidates and +throw themselves against Wardell, and resulted in the overwhelming +election of the man best suited for the position. + +His first act after grudgingly accepting the thankless leadership was to +ask for a list of the men, wagons, and pack animals, and he so +engineered the division of them that each section had as its lieutenant +a man whom he could trust and who did not lack in physical courage so +much needed to get some kind of order and to keep it. The great train +was divided into four divisions, at the present to join so as to march +in two columns; but later to spread out and travel in divisional order +of four straight columns abreast, far enough apart so that the width of +the whole front roughly would equal the length of a column. + +Next came the arrangement of the watches, the most cordially hated of +all caravan duties. In this train of nearly ninety wagons there were +nearly one hundred and eighty men physically able to stand a guard, and +no one who was able to stand his trick was let off. The captain +preferred the regular and generally accepted system of two watches, each +of four squads, which put one squad on duty for three hours each +alternate night; but there were so many men for this disagreeable task +that he allowed himself to be over-ruled and consented to a three watch +system, six squads to the watch, which put one watch of nine men and a +corporal on duty for two hours every third night. Almost any concession +was worth making if it would arouse a little interest and a sense of +duty in this very important matter of guarding the camp. The corporal of +each squad arranged to shift up one tour each time their squad went on, +which would give no one squad the same hours for its successive tours of +duty. Nothing could have been fairer than this, but there were objectors +in plenty. Each one of the kickers had his own, perfect plan. Some +wanted smaller squads with the same number of watches so that each tour +of duty would be less; some wanted two watches and smaller squads, to +the same end, both of which would have caused endless changing of the +guard, endless awakenings all night long, with practically continuous +noise and confusion. Captain Woodson, having abandoned the regular and +tried system so as to let the men feel a sense of cooperation, flatly +refused to allow any further changes, and in consequence earned the +smoldering grudges of no small number, which would persist until the end +of the trail and provide an undercurrent of dissatisfaction quick to +seize on any pretext to make trouble. + +For the division officers he chose the four men he had in mind, after +over-ruling a demand for a vote on them. As long as he was responsible +for the safety of the caravan he declared that it was his right to +appoint lieutenants whom he knew and could trust. The bickering had +fresh fuel and continued strong all day, and it would last out the +journey. + +Arranging the divisions so far as possible to put friends together, with +the exception of some of the tenderfoot parties, they were numbered, +from left to right, as they would travel, and he was careful to put the +more experienced plainsmen on the two outside ranks and, where possible, +the better drivers in the two inner columns. These latter had a little +more complex course to follow in case of sudden need to corral the +caravan. For corralling while traveling in two columns, he instructed +the drivers to follow the wagon ahead and to stop when his own wagon +tongue came even with the rim of the rear wheel of the wagon he was +following. In case of corralling in face of danger, they were to swing +their teams to the inside of the leading wagon, so as to have all the +animals on the inside of the corral; in ordinary camping they were to +swing their teams in the other direction, so the animals would be ready +to graze outside of the corralled wagons. They were to pay no attention +to direction or to sudden inspirations, but were blindly to follow the +wagon in front of them and to close up the gaps. The leading driver of +each column would set the curving track which would bring the wagons +into a great ellipse or a circle while moving in the two column +formation. + +The first and fourth columns were commanded by Jim Ogden and Tom Boyd, +while the two inner columns were under a trader named Haviland and a +sullen, mean-tempered trader of Independence and a warm friend of +Schoolcraft. His name was Franklin, and while his personal attributes +were unpleasant and he was a leader of the Schoolcraft element, he was +a first class caravan man and had proved his coolness and +resourcefulness in many a tight place. His appointment also served in a +measure to placate the rebellious element, which nursed the thought that +it could do about as it pleased in its own column. Whether they were +right or wrong in this remained to be seen. While the two column +formation was in use the first and second divisions made up one of them; +the third and fourth, the other. To Tom's delight he found that the +Cooper wagons had been assigned to his own division; but as an offset to +this two wagons belonging to gallivanting tenderfeet had been placed +directly behind them. It was not pleasant to think of these dandified +city sports being so close to Patience Cooper all the way to Santa Fe. +Like many men in love, he was prone to discount the intelligence and +affections of the loved one and to let his fears threaten his common +sense. + +The first great watch went on duty at seven o'clock that night, more for +the purpose of breaking the men in to their work than for any need of +defense, for no Indian troubles, despite the rumors afloat in +Independence, were to be looked for so far east. There was a great deal +of joking and needless challenging that night and very little attempt to +follow instructions. An Indian likes nothing better than a noisy, +standing sentry; but this savage preference hardly would be shown in the +vicinity of Council Grove. Woodson knew that discipline could not be +obtained and that every man would do as he pleased until the encampment +received a good scare, but his own sense of responsibility impelled him +to make an effort to get it. + +The next day was passed in resting, in placing the wagons in their order +of march, and in drilling the drivers in caravan tactics; and that night +the guard was as noisy as it had been the night before. The squad which +went on duty at one o'clock contained two tenderfeet and between them +they succeeded in shattering the monotony. + +A quarter of an hour after the guard had been changed tenderfoot Number +One thought he heard a sound and saw a movement. He promptly challenged +and fired in the same instant. His weapon was a double-barreled fowling +piece charged with buckshot, and there was no doubt about the deadly +efficiency of such a combination when the corporal found the carcass of +a mule with a hole in it nearly as big as a hat. The camp was thrown +into an uproar, guns flashed from the wagons to the imminent peril of +the rest of the sentries, and only the timely and rough interference of +a cool-headed trapper kept the two four-pounders from being fired. They +were loaded with musket balls and pebbles and trained on three wagons +not fifty yards from them. Orders, counter orders, suggestions, shouts +for balls, powder, flints, caps, patches, ramrods, and for about +everything human minds could think of kept the encampment in a +pandemonium until sense was driven into the panicky men and the camp +allowed to resume its silence. + +Tenderfoot Number Two heard and saw an Indian approaching him and fired +his pistol at the savage. This took place near the end of the same guard +tour. Only his fright and the poor light which made his wobbling aim all +the more uncertain saved the life of his best friend who, restless and +lonely, was going out to share the remainder of the watch with him. +Again pandemonium reigned and weapons exploded, but this time the +cattle stampeded in the darkness, doing the best they could with their +handicap of hobbles. + +At dawn the caravan was astir, the blast from the bugle not needed this +time, for almost every man had animals to hunt for and drive in, and as +a result of this breakfasts were late and the whole day's operations +were thrown out of step. Finally after all the stampeded animals had +been rounded up and the morning meal was out of the way, and things done +at the last minute which should have been done the day before, +preparations were started to get under way. Mules and horses broke loose +and had to be chased and brought back; animals balked and kicked and +helped to turn the camp into a scene of noisy confusion. Several parties +found that they had neglected to cut spare axles and forthwith sallied +off to get them. Others frantically looked for articles they had +misplaced or loaned, one wagon being entirely unpacked to find a coffee +pot and a frying pan which someone else later discovered at the edge of +the creek where they had been dropped after they had been washed, their +owner having left them to get a shot at a squirrel he thought he saw. +The forehanded and wiser members of the caravan took advantage of the +delay and turmoil to cut an extra supply of firewood against a future +need, add to their store of picket stakes and also to fill their water +casks to keep them swelled tight beyond question, against the time when +the much dreaded dry stretch should be reached. + +At last from the captain's camp the well-known summons of "Catch up!" +was heard, and passed on from group to group along the creek. Those who +had not yet hitched up their teams, almost at every case old hands at +the game who were wise enough to let their animals graze until the last +minute, now exultantly drove in their teams and filled the little valley +with the rattle of chains, the clicking of yokes, the braying of +indignant mules, and their own vociferations. Soon a teamster yelled +"All's set!" and answering shouts rolled up and down the divisions. At +the shouted command of "Stretch out!" whips cracked, harness creaked, +chains rattled and wagons squeaked as the shouting drivers straightened +out their teams. "Fall in!" came next, and the teams were urged into the +agreed-upon order, the noses of the leaders of one team close to the +tailboard of the wagon ahead. The second and third divisions, falling in +behind the first and fourth, made two strings rolling up the long +western slope of the valley toward the high prairie at its crest. + +Songs, jokes, exultant shouts ran along the trains as the valley was +left behind, for now the caravan truly was embarked on the journey, and +every mile covered put civilization that much farther in the rear. +Straight ahead lay the trail, beaten into a plain, broad track leading +toward the sunset, a mark which could not be mistaken and which rendered +the many compasses valueless so far as the trail itself was concerned. + +The first day's travel was a comparatively short one, and during the +drive the officers rode back along the lines and again explained the +formation which would be used at the next stopping place. This point was +so near that the caravan kept on past the noon hour and did not stop +until it reached Diamond Spring, a large, crystal spring emptying into a +small brook close to a very good camping ground. The former camp no +sooner had been left than the tenderfeet began to show their +predilection to do as they pleased and to ride madly over the prairie in +search of game which was not there, finally gravitating to a common body +a mile or more ahead of the wagons, a place to which they stuck with a +determination worthy of better things. + +At Diamond Spring came the first clash against authority, for the +captain had told each lieutenant to get his division across all streams +before stopping. The word had been passed along the twin lines and +seemed to have been tacitly accepted, yet when the wagons reached the +brook many of the last two divisions, thinking the farther bank too +crowded and ignoring the formation of the night encampment, pulled up +and stopped on the near side. After some argument most of them crossed +over and took up their proper places in the corral, but there were some +who expressed themselves as being entirely satisfied to remain where +they were, since there was no danger from Indians at this point. The +animals were turned loose to graze, restrained only by hobbles until +nightfall, the oxen in most cases yoked together to save trouble with +the stubborn beasts until they should become trained and more docile. +They were the most senseless of the draft animals, often stampeding for +no apparent cause; the sudden rattle of a chain or a yoke often being +all that was needed to turn them into a fleshy avalanche; and while the +Indians did not want oxen, they seemed to be aware of the excitable +natures of the beasts and made use of their knowledge to start stampedes +among the other animals with them, much the same as fulminate of mercury +is used to detonate a charge of a more stable explosive. + +The first two watches of the night were pleasant, but when Tom Boyd's +squad went on duty an hour before midnight there was a change in the +weather, and before half an hour had passed the rain fell in sheets and +sent some of the guards to seek shelter in the wagons. Two of them were +tenderfeet, one of Schoolcraft's friends and a trader. Tom was the +so-called corporal of this watch and he was standing his trick as +vigilantly as if they were in the heart of the Kiowa or Comanche +country. He carefully had instructed his men and had posted them in the +best places, and he knew where each of them should be found. After half +an hour of the downpour he made the rounds, called the roll and then +slipped back into the encampment in search of the missing men. Not +knowing them well enough at this time he did not know the wagons to +which they belonged, and he had to wait until later to hunt them out. + +Dawn found a wet and dispirited camp as the last guard returned to the +wagons an hour before they should have left their posts. Not a fire +would burn properly and not a breakfast was thoroughly cooked. Everyone +seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, and the animals were mean and +rebellious when driven in for the hobbles to be removed and picket ropes +substituted to hold them. Breakfast at last over, the caravan was about +to start when Tom went along his own division and called four men +together. + +"Last night you fellers quit yer posts an' slunk back ter yer wagons," +he said, ominously. "Two of ye air tenderfeet, an' green ter this life; +one is a trader an' th' other is an old hand on th' trail. You all ought +ter know better. I'm lettin' ye off easy _this_ time, but th' next man +that breaks guard is goin' ter git a cussed fine lickin'. If it's +necessary I'll make an invalid out o' any man in my squad that sneaks +off his post. Git back ter yer wagons, an' don't fergit what I've said." + +The tenderfeet were pugnacious, but doubtful of their ground; the trader +was abashed by the keen knowledge of his guilt and the enormity of his +offense. He was a just man and had no retort to make. The teamster, a +bully and a rough, with a reputation to maintain, scowled around the +closely packed circle, looking for sympathy, and found plenty of it +because the crowd was anxious to see the corporal, as personifying +authority, soundly thrashed. They felt that no one had any right to +expect a man to stand guard in such a rain out in the cheerless dark for +two hours, especially when it was admitted that there was no danger to +be feared. Finding encouragement to justify his attitude, and eager to +wipe out the sting of the lecture, the bully grinned nastily and took a +step forward. + +"Reg'lar pit-cock, ain't ye?" he sneered. "High an' mighty with yer +mouth, ain't ye? Goin' ter boss things right up ter th' hilt, _you_ air! +Wall, ye--I'm wettin' yer primin', hyar an'----" + +Tom stopped the words with a left on the mouth, and while the fight +lasted it was fast and furious; but clumsy brute strength, misdirected +by a blind rage, could not cope with a greater strength, trained, agile, +and cool; neither could a liquor soaked carcass for long take the heavy +punishment that Tom methodically was giving it and come back for more. +As the bullwhacker went down in the mud for the fifth time, there was a +finality about the fall that caused his conqueror to wheel abruptly +from him and face the ring of eager and disappointed faces. + +"I warn't too busy ter hear some o' th' remarks," he snarled. "Now's th' +time ter back 'em up! If ye don't it makes a double liar out o' ye! Come +on--step out, an' git it over quick!" He glanced at the two pugnacious +tenderfeet. "You two make about one man, th' way we rate 'em out hyar; +come on, both o' ye!" + +While they hesitated, Captain Woodson pushed through the crowd into the +ring, closely followed by Tom's grim and silent friends, and a slender +Mexican, the latter obviously solicitous about Tom's welfare. In a few +moments the excitement died down and the crowd dispersed to its various +wagons and pack animals. As Tom went toward his mules he saw Franklin, +the tough officer of the third division, facing a small group of his own +friends, and suddenly placing his hand against the face of one of them, +pushed the man off his balance. + +"I'll cut yer spurs," Franklin declared. "Fust man sneaks off guard in +_my_ gang will wish ter G-d he didn't!" He turned away and met Tom face +to face. "We'll larn 'em, Boyd," he growled. "I'm aimin' ter bust th' +back o' th' first kiyote of _my_ gang that leaves his post unwatched. If +one o' them gits laid up fer th' rest o' th' trip th' others'll stand +ter it, rain or no rain. Ye should 'a' kicked in his ribs while ye had +'im down!" + +After a confused and dilatory start the two trains strung out over the +prairie and went on again; but the rebellious wagon-owners on the east +side of the creek were not with the caravan. They were learning their +lesson. + +The heavy rain had swollen the waters of the stream, stirred up its soft +bed and turned its banks into treacherous inclines slippery with mud. +When the mean-spirited teams had been hooked to the wagons and sullenly +obeyed the commands to move, they balked in mid-stream and would not +cross it in their "cold collars;" and there they remained, halfway over. +In vain the drivers shouted and swore and whipped; in vain they pleaded +and in vain they called for help. The main part of the caravan, for once +united in spirit, perhaps because it was a mean one, went on without +them, knowing that the recalcitrant rear guard was in no danger; the +sullen spirit of meanness in every heart rejoicing in the lesson being +learned by their stubborn fellow travelers. The captain would have held +up the whole train to give necessary assistance to any unfortunate +wagoner; but there was no necessary assistance required here, for they +could extricate themselves if they went about it right; and there was a +much-needed lesson to be assimilated. Their predicament secretly pleased +every member of the main body, which was somewhat humorous, when it is +considered that the great majority of the men in the main body had no +scruples against disobeying any order that did not suit their mood. + +Finally, enraged by being left behind, the stubborn wagoners remembered +one of the reasons advanced by the captain the day before when he had +urged them to cross over and complete the corral. He had spoken of the +difficulty of getting the animals to attempt a hard pull in "cold +collars," when they would do the work without pausing while they were +"warmed up." So after considerable eloquence and persistent urging had +availed them naught, the disgruntled wagoners jumped into the cold +water, waded to the head of the teams and, turning them around, got +them back onto the bank they had left after vainly trying to lead them +across. Once out of the creek, the teams were driven over a circle a +mile in circumference to get their "collars warm." Approaching the creek +at a good pace, the teams crossed it without pausing and slipped and +floundered up the muddy bank at the imminent risk of overturning the +wagons. Reaching the top, they started after the plodding caravan and in +due time overtook it and found their allotted places in the lines, to +some little sarcastic laughter. Never after that did those wagoners +refuse to cross any stream at camp time, while their teams were warmed +up and willing to pull; but instead of giving the captain any credit for +his urging and his arguments, wasted the day before, they blamed him for +going on without them, and nursed a grudge against him and his officers +that showed itself at times until the end of the long journey. They +would not let themselves believe that he would have refused really to +desert them. + +The caravan made only fifteen miles and camped on a rise of the open +prairie, where practice was obtained in forming a circular corral, with +the two cannons on the crest of the rise. The evolution was performed +with snap and precision, the sun having appeared in mid-forenoon and +restored the sullen spirits to natural buoyancy. The first squad of the +watch went on duty with military promptness, much to the surprise of the +more experienced travelers. Here for the first time was adopted a system +of grazing which was a hobby with the captain, who believed that hobbled +animals wasted too much time in picking and choosing the best grass and +in wandering around. He maintained that picketed animals would eat more +in the same time, and so each wagoner was given a stretch of prairie as +wide as the space occupied by his wagon and reaching out about one +hundred yards, fan-wise, from the corral. Picket ropes of from twenty to +thirty feet in length let each animal of his team graze over a circle of +that radius, the center being a stake of hardwood two inches thick and +about two feet long. Some of the pickets were pointed with iron and had +a band of the same metal shrunk around the upper and near the top to +keep them from splitting under repeated axe blows. Many of the others +had their points hardened by fire, and a pointed hickory or ash picket +so treated will stand a lot of abuse. Before dark the pickets were +shifted to new places and the animals left to graze all night, for +Indian visits still were a matter of the future. + +After they had finished their supper and washed and put away the few +utensils, Tom as usual drifted off to spend an hour or two with Uncle +Joe and Patience. He had not been gone long before Hank got up to loosen +a pack to get a fresh plug of smoking tobacco, and caught sight of +Pedro, the Mexican, sauntering toward him. The visitor grinned +cheerfully and sat down by the dying fire, acting as though he had every +reason to be accorded a cordial welcome. + +"Hah!" exclaimed the self-invited guest in rare good humor. "Eet ess +good to get out on thee gr-reat pr-rairie; but eet would haf been better +eef we had went weeth thee fir-rst tr-rain. Weeth that tr-rain was thee +tr-roops. We would be better pr-rotect." + +Hank was undecided whether he should turn his back on the visitor and +walk away, or grab him by the collar and the slack of his trousers and +throw him from the fire, when habitual cunning made him grunt his +endorsement of the other's remarks. He never was above acquiring what +information he could get, no matter how trivial it might be. + +"Yeah," he replied, passing the plug to his guest. "Fill yer pipe, or +make a cigarette," he invited. "Them danged settlements air all right +fer a change, but this hyar is a hull lot better; an' th' mountings air +better'n this. As fer th' dragoons with th' fust train, it's plumb +welcome to 'em. Thar more trouble than thar worth; an' they allus will +be till they larn ter fight Injuns in th' Injun way. Th' idear o' usin' +th' right hand fer a sword an' th' left fer a pistol! I'd ruther be with +a passel o' mounting boys, fur's fightin' Injuns air consarned. Anyhow, +jest when they git whar they're needed most, down on th' edge o' th' +Kiowa an' Comanche country, th' danged dragoons has ter stop." + +"But seņor; they must not tr-read on Mexican soil," protested Pedro. + +Hank grinned and choked down the retort he was about to make, nodding +his head instead. "Shore; that's th' trouble. Now, if that danged +Governor o' yourn would meet th' train at Cimarron Crossin' an' go th' +rest o' th' way with it, thar'd be some sense ter troop escorts. Thar +ain't a sojer along th' worst stretch o' th' whole trail. I'll bet ye we +won't see hide ner hair o' 'em this side o' Cold Spring, when th' danger +from raidin' Injuns is 'most over." + +Pedro spread his hands helplessly. "That ees but too tr-rue, seņor. +Theese time we weel not see thee br-rave tr-roops of Mexico befor-re we +r-reach thee Wagon Mound." + +"Thar!" triumphantly exclaimed Hank. "What did I tell ye? They used ter +git as fur as Cold Spring, anyhow; but now thar waitin' at th' Wagon +Mound. Next thing we know they'll be waitin' at San Miguel fer ter see +us safe th' last fifty miles through th' settlements!" + +"Eet ees thee Apaches that ar-re to blame theese time," explained Pedro +with oily smoothness. "They ar-re ver' bad theese year along thee Rio +Gr-rande del Norte. Ver' bad!" + +"Yeah," grunted Hank, puffing reflectively on his pipe. "Mexico an' +Texas both claim all that country east o' th' Grande, but th' Apaches +shore own it, an' run it ter suit theirselves. Bad Injuns, they air." + +"Thee customs they ar-re ver' str-rict theese year," commented Pedro, +closely watching his companion. "They ar-re ver' har-rd on my poor +countrymen. They keep thee pr-rices so high on all theese goods." + +"Tarnation bother," grunted Hank, beginning to get the reason for the +Mexican's interest in him. "Too bad we don't know somebody that kin git +us past 'em," he suggested, hopefully. + +Pedro rubbed his hands complacently and helped to maintain a prolonged +silence; which at last was broken by small talk concerning the caravan +and its various members. After half an hour of this aimless conversation +he arose to leave. + +"Thee customs, as you haf so tr-ruly said, ar-re ver' gr-reat bother, +Seņor Hank. I know thees ver' much, for I haf a br-rother in thee custom +house. We ar-re ver' close, my br-rother an' me. I weel see you again, +seņor. Eet ees good that we get acquaint, weeth so ver' many _milla_ yet +to tr-ravel together. _Buenos noches_, seņor." + +"Good night," replied Hank, carefully pulling the unburned wood out of +the fire to serve for the cooking of the breakfast. He glanced after the +dapper Mexican and grinned, re-roped the pack, and wandered off to join +his trapper friends at their fire. + +"Grease is slippery; an' so is greasers," he chuckled. "Wall, thar's +plenty o' time to figger _jest_ what he's arter. Might be cheatin' th' +customs, an' then ag'in it might not." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +EN ROUTE + + +Tom's duties as a lieutenant were to supervise his column, ride ahead of +the train on lookout for possible obstructions or dangers, go on ahead +to creeks and see that the banks sloped enough to permit the wagons to +take them safely, to hunt out and bridge morasses and quagmires that +could not be avoided. If the banks were too steep he and others of the +caravan were to ride ahead with axes, shovels, and mattocks and cut a +sloping road through them; if a morass or a treacherous creek bed had to +be crossed they had to cut great numbers of saplings, branches, and +brush and build up a causeway of alternate layers of wood and dirt. This +would not take long and if properly done, every wagon could cross in +safety. + +The caravan in movement should have presented a formation of wagons in +orderly array, preceded by the captain and officers, flanked at a good +distance on both sides by well-armed riders, and followed by a fairly +strong rear-guard; but no such ideal formation could be maintained +except under the discipline of a military or paid force. The flankers +rode far and wide searching endlessly for game and usually wound up with +the advance guard, a mile or more ahead. The rear guard dwindled rapidly +and soon joined the others far in advance, leaving the crawling wagons +entirely unprotected from any sudden attack by Indians who might have +lain concealed in one of the numerous prairie hollows. + +There were four conditions every twenty-four hours especially liked by +the savages. One was during the night, between midnight and dawn; +another as the caravan got under way, when there was more or less +confusion and the wagons had broken the corral formation enough so it +could not be re-formed quickly; a third was during the day when every +man who did not have to drive was galivanting a mile or more away, +blazing at rattlesnakes or prairie dogs and making a fool of himself +generally, his thoughts on everything except the safety of the train he +had deserted; and the fourth was in the evening just as the animals were +being staked outside, when most of the men were busy with them and some +distance outside the wagon ramparts, many of the more careless being +unarmed. To offset these conditions so favorable to surprise attacks on +the caravan was one of the captain's most important duties, and the +urgent consideration of water and good grass many times complicated his +problems. + +Captain Woodson at one time had been a trapper, and his early +experiences with the fur expeditions here stood him in good stead, +especially his knowledge about Indians. He continually hammered at the +men to flank properly and to scour the country on each side of the +caravan for a mile or more and to investigate every hollow and rise +capable of hiding horses. Before he called the halt for the "noonings" +or the encampments in the evenings, he urged that the surrounding +country be well scouted over and everything suspicious reported. For the +crews of the two cannons, which had been changed the morning following +the narrowly averted calamity of a few days back, he had picked men who +appeared to be calm and resourceful, and these weapons trundled along on +their wheeled carriages in a strategic position, their crews ordered not +to leave them unattended at any time during the day's march--but who +cared for orders? + +The trail here being easy and plain, the banks of the streams cut by the +previous caravan, Tom dropped back after a brief exploration along the +flanks, which he made because the flankers would not, to join his +partner and their pack train, plodding along on the left-hand side of +Joe Cooper's wagons. + +Hank was a placid, easy-going individual and cared little whether or not +he had company. For the last few days he had been highly amused by +watching several pack animals owned and led by tenderfeet, who had +learned neither to follow them nor to load them right. These green +travelers were continually in trouble. If they were not arguing with +mules gone balky because of unevenly distributed loads, or chasing some +running and kicking animal that scattered the contents of its pack far +and wide over the plain, they were collecting their possessions +piece-meal from a score of acres of prairie and hurriedly re-packing +somewhere behind the caravan, cursing, perspiring, out of breath, and +murderously savage. Some of them re-packed more than a dozen times a day +and were hard put even to keep the caravan in sight. Their natural anger +at their misfortunes was turned into a simmering or a coruscating rage, +that ever and anon burst out with volcanic force as they realized the +utter hopelessness of their position. This was for the first few days, +for the wiser ones used their eyes and ears and mouths to good +advantage, and soon got the knack of packing; but there were some who +seemingly were too dumb to learn. + +Hank never obtruded any advice, but cheerfully explained the art of +packing to any man who sought him. He and his partner's animals never +shifted a pack on this smooth going, and this fact began to sink into +some of the tenderfeet, and they eagerly took lessons from the veteran. +It was not long before a spilled pack in that column of the train was an +uncommon occurrence. These eight mules behaved in an admirable manner +and there was a good reason for it. When they had been selected, only +those showing the unmistakable signs of the veteran pack mule were +chosen. The marks of the crupper, _aparejo_ and girth never would +disappear. Tenderfeet scornfully would have passed them by and chosen +sleek, smooth-haired animals of far better appearance; but Hank and Tom +did not make this mistake, realizing that here, indeed, beauty was only +skin deep. + +Hank judged that it was about time to take full advantage of the mules' +early training and the results were regarded as downright miracles by +the greenhorns, who attempted to duplicate the system, but with +disastrous endings. One of the mules was an old mare, and her actions, +even in the corral at Independence, told Hank all about her. He now took +from a pack a bell and, riding up to the plodding, sedate pack animal, +fastened it around her neck. Then he tied her to the rear of the second +of Cooper's big wagons, until she should learn that this was to be her +place under all conditions, and dropped back farther and farther while +he watched the other seven. At the sound of the tinkling bell they had +pricked up their long ears and rolled them forward; a certain important +dignity came over each one and they went ahead with an air of +satisfaction that was so apparent that it was ludicrous. Hank grinned +and rode off to play rear guard all by himself, well knowing that his +seven animals would follow the old bell-mare wherever she led, whether +he was there or not. Later he rewarded her by changing her pack and +substituting that of the dwindling food supply, which grew lighter after +every camp. When he finally freed her from the wagon she moved up +alongside the off-wheel mule, for whom she seemed to have an abiding +affection, and from then on she would not stray from his side, nor her +seven followers from her. + +On this occasion when Tom returned and found his partner absent, he +surmised that the trapper was off looking for an antelope to vary the +monotony of their fare and to save their bacon and flour. Until the +buffalo country was reached the caravan had to live on flour, bacon, and +perhaps beans, of which each traveler had a limited supply. The chief +reliance for food was the buffalo, and their range was still well ahead. +Tom and Hank, however, not knowing what contingency awaited them on the +Mexican end of the trail, had far exceeded the regular allowance per +man, of fifty pounds of flour, same of bacon, dozen pounds of coffee, +twenty-five pounds of sugar, and a goodly amount of salt. Topping one of +the packs, and dwarfing the patient mule nearly hidden under the load, +were two ten-gallon water casks, each with a few quarts sloshing around +inside. At every stop these kegs were shifted a little so as to give +each portion of them a soaking in turn. The powder, two twenty-five +pound kegs covered with oiled cloth and over that with a heavy, greased +bull-buffalo leather, were in the same packs with the bar lead and a +reserve supply of caps and patches. The bullet molds, nipple wrenches, +and other small necessaries were carried in their "possible" sacks, each +being a beautifully beaded and quilled bag obtained in their trade with +the Indians. Along with the ammunition each had packed a buffalo-hide +bag, fitted with shoulder, breast, and head lines; and should it become +necessary for them to disappear, without a mule, they were equipped to +remain in the mountains and hills for a long time. Later on they would +pack the big bags and keep them ready for instant use. + +Tom found not only that his partner had gone, but that the city sports, +tiring of aimless riding ahead, had fallen back to the train and were +now riding leg to leg on both sides of Joe Cooper's small wagon, vying +with each other in their endeavors to be entertaining to Patience. They +were laughing uproariously when the plainsman appeared and one of them, +Dr. Whiting, acknowledged his introduction to Tom with an ironical grin. +Here, he thought, was a mountain yokel all ripe to play target for his +shafts of satire. He would shine out resplendently against this ignorant +plainsman and have a lot of fun in the bargain. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, his mouth open in pretended admiration. "Regular +Daniel Boone! I suppose you know how to bark squirrels; and barking +buffaloes must be an old trick with you by this time." + +Tom regarded him thoughtfully. He did not mind the words, but the tone +in which they were spoken was distinctly offensive. He smiled +pleasantly. "Thar ain't no squirrels ter bark on th' prairies; but thar +air some barkin' prairie dogs, though they mostly chatter 'stead o' +bark. They set up an' make a lot o' noise, but don't amount to nothin'. +Th' funny part o' it is, th' dumber they air th' more they chatter. As +fer bein' Dan'l Boone, tenderfeet mostly find it a boon ter have a Dan'l +handy afore this air trail is left." He gravely acknowledged the +introduction to the others and looked at Patience again, and from her +back to the saddled horse tied to the rear of the wagon. "Feel like a +little ride, Miss Cooper" he asked. "Must be tirin' settin' up thar mile +arter mile listenin' to th' chatterin'." + +She nodded, holding back her laughter, and Tom led up the horse. + +"But, Miss Cooper!" expostulated the doctor. "What are we going to do +without you? We are desolate! Might I offer you a noble escort, six +trusty, knightly blades to flash in your defense?" + +She smiled sweetly but shook her head. "When we reach the Indian country +I will be very glad to accept such an escort; but out here I would not +think of imposing on your generosity. This seems to be Mr. Boyd's +expedition; perhaps he may invite you." + +Tom shook his head sadly. "Reckon I'll have all I kin do to look arter +Miss Cooper in case we meets airy Injuns, without botherin' with six +_flashes_. See you-all later, mebby." + +They drew rein and waited for the crawling column to pass them, smiling +and nodding in reply to the cheerful salutations of the wagoners and +traders. Pedro, the slender Mexican, who took such a deep interest in +the doings of Tom Boyd, removed his wide hat and bowed, in true cavalier +fashion, showing his gleaming teeth in a pearly smile. The interest the +plainsman was showing in his pretty companion was an assurance that Tom +Boyd would need no further persuasion to enter the Mexican settlements. +Franklin, the leader of the third division, temporarily the second +section of Tom's column, allowed himself the luxury of a sullen smile. +He knew his part in the scheme of Pedro and Schoolcraft perfectly and +had no thought of deviating from it, but he could not help admiring the +upstanding plainsman, who was a man after his own heart. They were bound +together by a common interest, the safety of the caravan, and until they +were met by the escort of Mexican cavalry, somewhere near Rock Creek or +the Canadian River, Franklin gave little heed to personal grudges. All +he was supposed to do was to see that the plainsman did not leave the +caravan for good before the escort met it. + +The two four-pounders trundled along their rumbling way, only one man to +each gun, the rest of their crews off with the advance guard. Tom +glanced at the all but deserted weapons and frowned. Franklin, noticing +it, frowned in reply. It was not because full cannon crews were needed +on this part of the trail, but because both men knew that it would be +the same all the way. + +After the last wagon had passed, Tom and his companion rode forth and +turned when half a mile from the column, riding ahead on a course +parallel with it. The prairie was studded with the earlier flowers of +spring, in some places a rich carpet of delicate colors. Suddenly Tom +pointed to a gray object nearly covered with earth, dried grass of the +year before, and the fresh greenery of this season's slender blades +pushing up through it. + +"Buffalo skull," he explained. "Let's look at it; it may tell us +something interesting." + +They rode close to it and the plainsman nodded in quick understanding. + +"That bull was killed by an Indian," he said. "Notice that it faces the +west? They place them that way to propitiate their gods. A skull hardly +lasts more than three years on the prairie, which means that this animal +was killed about that long ago. It is more than likely that he was an +old, renegade bull, wandering far from the herd to die alone. The +significant fact is, however, that not more than three years ago he +grazed here and was here killed by an Indian; coupled to that is another +significant fact, about one hundred thousand buffalo skins are taken to +the settlements every year. Remembering both those facts and adding +another, that it will be some days before we see even such a bull on the +very outskirts of the buffalo range, what does it mean? And here is a +fact I nearly overlooked; those hundred thousand skins taken each year +are from cow buffalo." He shook his head sadly. "The day of the buffalo, +countless as their numbers still are, is fast setting. Their range is +shrinking hour by hour, almost; and a comparatively few years more will +see them gone. Wait till you witness the brainless slaughter when the +herds are met with. Ah, well, we are a prodigal race, Miss Cooper, +spending our natural heritage with almost a drunken recklessness. If it +were drunken there might be found some excuse for us; but we are doing +it in our sober senses. Excuse me, when I get to thinking along those +lines I'm afraid I get a little fanatical. There's something more +interesting," he said, pointing to the north. "See it?" + +After a moment's intense scrutiny she shook her head, and looked up at +him inquiringly. + +"I forget that you haven't a plainsman's eyes," he laughed, "accustomed +to focussing for long distances. Why, over there, well beyond that +series of flat-topped prairie swells, is a red handkerchief waving +lazily in the air. It is fastened to a ramrod, and I'm willing to bet +that it belongs to Hank Marshall. He has been grumbling about a steady +diet of bacon. Now that we are getting into antelope country, his +disappearance from his trained mules is easily explained. I can promise +you and Uncle Joe antelope meat tonight. He never would have planted +that flag if he hadn't seen his victim; and while we are a long way off, +let's ride on so he won't be able to blame us if he fails to get his +shot." + +Patience was laughing heartily, and hurriedly explained the cause of her +mirth. + +"I saw him tie the bell to that old mule's neck. The sudden pride she +showed, the quick alertness of the other seven, and the satisfaction +shared equally by the mules and your partner was one of the most +ludicrous sights I've ever seen. When Uncle Joe, who was in his best +vein, explained the whole affair, I laughed until I cried. Is it true +that the seven worshipers won't leave her?" + +Tom, laughing in sympathy with her mirth, nodded. "Picket her, with her +bell on, and we can let the others graze without hobbles or ropes. They +won't leave her. Don't ask me why, for if you do I can only answer by +saying that they have been trained that way; why it is possible for them +to be trained in such a way, and so easily, is beyond me. When we left +Independence Hank and I caught many a scornful glance directed at our +_atejo_, for I must confess that it was made up of eight scarecrows; but +handsome is as handsome does, and now our pack train troubles are +confined solely to packing and unpacking the animals. We don't even have +to remember what pack or _aparejo_ belongs to each mule; they know their +own unerringly, and will shower kicks on any careless or stupid +companion who blunders up to the wrong pack. Perhaps you've heard that +mules are stupid; that's something that you can discount heavily. They +are stupid only when it serves their purpose." He laughed again. "We +have one mule that takes a thrashing every morning, regular as a clock. +Hank calls him 'Dummy,' but I am not sure that he is well named. I can't +decide whether he is dumb or perverse. But the fact remains that he +never selects his own pack, and gets kicked along the line until he +reaches it by elimination. I shall enjoy studying him as we go along." + +As they jogged on, a strip of timber running almost at right angles to +their course and thinning out to the north in about the same proportion +that it thickened to the south, came in sight and Tom knew it to be +Cottonwood Creek, and their last glimpse of the waters of the Neosho. He +well remembered the somewhat sharp bend formed by it on the farther +side, which was taken advantage of by some caravans and the corral +formation ignored. A line of closely spaced wagons across the neck of +the bend made corral enough. + +"Well, we better get back to the caravan," he said. "While the creek is +all right there are many who are only waiting for a chance to cry that +the officers are remiss in their duties. I'll leave you with your uncle, +well guarded by six trusty knights, and go ahead with the advance +guard." + +She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and the repression of +her smile did not seriously affect the witchery of the dimples. + +"I was a little afraid that I might become lonesome on this long +journey; but things have turned out splendidly. Don't you think Dr. +Whiting has a very distinguished air?" + +"Very; it would distinguish him out of hundreds," replied Tom, scowling +at the timber fringe ahead. "He is quite impressive when he is silent. +It's a pity he doesn't realize it." + +He turned in the saddle and looked behind. "What did I say? There comes +Hank, with an antelope slung before his saddle. I doubt if the doctor +would need the red handkerchief; antelope are notoriously affected by +anything curious." + +She turned away and regarded the caravan studiously. "Isn't every man +expected to do his share in the general duties?" she asked. + +"Yes; but most of them dodge obligations. When we left Council Grove +more than half of the members of the train were friendly to Woodson. By +the time we leave Cimarron his friends will be counted on the fingers of +your two hands. That is only what he expects, so it won't come as an +unpleasant surprise." + +"What is the doctor's party supposed to do?" + +"Two of them have been assigned to the rear guard; the other four, to +our right flank. They can be excused somewhat because of their +greenness. Besides, they only came along for the fun of it. In the +college of life they are only freshmen. Its seriousness hasn't sunk in +yet. The majority of the shirkers should know better, and have their +fortunes, meagre as they may be, at stake. Well, here we are. You don't +know how much I've enjoyed our ride. Uncle Joe," he said as Patience +settled into the wagon seat, "here she is, safe and sound. I'll drop +around with some antelope meat by the time you have your fire going." + +"It's been ten years since I've broiled game over a fire," chuckled the +driver. "I'm anxious to get my hand in again. Thank you, Tom." + +Tom fastened the horse to the rear of the wagon, waved to his friends, +and loped ahead toward the nearing creek. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +INDIAN COUNTRY + + +After an enjoyable supper of antelope meat, Hank Marshall drifted over +to visit Zeb Houghton and Jim Ogden, and judging from the hilarity +resulting from his call, it was very successful. The caravan was now +approaching the Indian country and was not very far from the easternmost +point where traders had experienced Indian deviltry. Neither he nor his +friends were satisfied with the way guard was kept at night, and he +believed that a little example was worth a deal of precept. On his way +back to his own part of the encampment he dropped over to pay a short +visit to some tenderfeet, two of whom were to mount guard that night. +Jim Ogden, sauntering past, discovered him and wandered over to borrow a +pipeful of tobacco. + +"Wall," said Ogden, seating himself before the cheerful fire, "'twon't +be long now afore we git inter buffaler country, an' kin eat food as is +food. Arter ye sink yer teeth inter fat cow an' chaw a tongue or two, +ye'll shore forgit what settlement beef tastes like. That right, Hank?" + +"It's shore amazin' how much roast hump ribs a man kin store away +without feelin' it," replied Hank. "But thar's allus one drawback ter +gittin' inter th' buffaler range; whar ye find buffaler ye find Injuns, +an' nobody kin tell what an Injun's goin' ter do. If they only try ter +stampede yer critters yer gittin' off easy. Take a Pawnee war-party, +headin' fer th' Comanche or Kiowa country, fer instance. Thar off fer +ter steal hosses; but thar primed ter fight. If thar strong enough a +caravan'll look good ter 'em. One thing ye want ter remember: if th' +Injuns ain't strong, don't ye pull trigger too quick; as long as yer +rifle's loaded thar'll be plumb respectful, but soon's she's empty, look +out." + +"I've been expecting to see them before this," said one of the hosts. + +"Wall, from now on mebby ye won't have ter strain yer eyes," Hank +remarked. "They like these hyar timber fringes, whar they kin sneak +right up under yer nose. They got one thing in thar favor, in attackin' +at night; th' twang o' a bowstring ain't heard very fur; but onct ye +hear it ye'll never fergit th' sound. Ain't that so, Jim?" + +Jim nodded. "Fer one, I'm keepin' an eye open from now on. Wall, reckon +I'll be movin' on." + +"Where do you expect to run into Indians?" asked one of the men near the +fire. + +Jim paused, half turned and seemed to be reflecting. "'Most any time, +now. Shore ter git signs o' 'em at th' little Arkansas, couple o' days +from now. May run inter 'em at Turkey Creek, tomorrow night." + +Hank arose, emptied his pipe, and looked at Jim. "Jine ye, fur's our +fire," he said, and the two friends strolled away. They had not been +gone long when two shadowy figures met and stopped not far from the +tenderfeet's fire, and held a low-voiced conversation, none of which, +however, was too low to be overheard at the fire. + +"How'd'y, Tom." + +"How'd'y, Zeb." + +"On watch ter night?" + +"No; you?" + +"No. Glad of it." + +"Me, too." + +"This is whar Taos Bill war sculped, ain't it?" + +"They killed 'im but didn't git his ha'r." + +"How'd it happen?" + +"Owl screeched an' a wolf howled. Bill snuk off ter find out about it." + +"Arrer pizened?" + +"Yes; usually air." + +"Whar ye goin'?" + +"Ter th' crick fer water." + +"I'm goin' ter see th' capting. Good night." + +"Good night; wish it war good mornin', Zeb." + +"Me, too. Good night." + +At that instant an owl screeched, the quavering, eerie sound softened by +distance. + +"Hear that?" + +The mournful sound of a wolf floated through the little valley. + +"An' that? Wolves don't generally answer owls, do they?" + +"Come along ter th' crick, Zeb. Thar ain't no tellin'." + +"I'm with ye," and the two figures moved silently away. + +The silence around the camp-fire was profound and reflective, but there +was some squirming and surreptitious examination of caps and flints. The +questioning call of the hoot owl was answered by a weird, uncanny, +succession of sharp barks growing closer and faster, ending in a +mournful, high-pitched, long-drawn, quavering howl. The noisy activity +of the encampment became momentarily slowed and then went on again. + +The first guard came off duty with an apparent sense of relief and grew +very loquacious. One of them joined the silent circle of tenderfeet +around the blazing fire. + +"Phew!" he grunted as he sat down. "Hear those calls?" His question +remained unanswered, but he did not seem surprised. "When you go on, +Doc?" he asked. + +"One o'clock," answered Dr. Whiting. He looked around pityingly. +"Calls?" he sneered. "Don't you know an owl or a wolf when you hear +one?" There was a lack of sincerity in his voice which could not be +disguised. The doctor was like the boy who whistled when going through +the woods. + +Midnight came and went, and half an hour later the corporal of the next +watch rooted out his men and led them off to relieve the present guard. +He cautioned them again against standing up. + +"To a Injun's eyes a man standin' up on th' prairie is as plain as +Chimbly Rock," he asserted. "Besides, ye kin see a hull lot better if +yer eyes air clost ter th' ground, lookin' agin' th' horizon. Don't git +narvous, an' don't throw th' camp inter a scare about nothin'." + +An hour later an owl hooted very close to Dr. Whiting and he sprang to +his feet. As he did so he heard the remarkably well imitated twang of a +bowstring, and his imagination supplied his own interpretation to the +sound passing his ear. Before he could collect his panic-stricken senses +he was seized from behind and a moment later, bound with rawhide and +gagged with buckskin, he lay on his back. A rough hand seized his hair +at the same instant that something cold touched his scalp. At that +moment his attacker sneezed, and a rough, tense voice growled a +challenge from the darkness behind him. + +"Who's thar?" called Tom Boyd, the clicking of his rifle hammers sharp +and ominous. + +The hand clutching the doctor's hair released it and the action was +followed by a soft and hurried movement through the woods. + +"Who's thar?" came the low growl again, as Tom crept into the bound +man's range of vision and peered into the blackness of the woods. +Waiting a moment, the plainsman muttered something about being mistaken, +and departed silently. + +After an agony of suspense, the bound man heard the approach of another +figure, and soon the corporal of his guard stopped near him and swore +vengefully under his breath as his soft query brought no answer. + +"Cuss him," growled Ogden, angrily. "He's snuk back ter camp. I'll peg +his pelt out ter dry, come daylight." He moved forward to continue his +round of inspection and stumbled over the doctor's prostrate form. In a +flash the corporal's knife was at the doctor's throat. "Who air ye?" he +demanded fiercely. The throaty, jumbled growls and gurgles which +answered him apprised him of the situation, and he lost no time in +removing the gag and cutting the thongs which bound the sentry. "Thar, +now," he said in a whisper. "Tell me about it." + +The doctor's account was vivid and earnest and one of his hands was +pressed convulsively against his scalp as if he feared it would leave +him. + +Ogden heard him through patiently, grunting affirmatively from time to +time. "Jest what I told th' boys," he commented. "Wall, I reckon they +war scared away. Couldn't 'a' been many, or they'd 'a' rushed us. It war +a scatterin' bunch o' bucks, lookin' fer a easy sculp, or a chanct ter +stampede th' animals. Thievin' Pawnees, I reckon. Mebby they'll come +back ag'in: we'll wait right hyar fer 'em, dang thar eyes." + +"Ain't you going to alarm the camp?" incredulously demanded the doctor, +having hard work to keep his teeth from chattering. + +"What in tarnation fer? Jest 'cause a couple o' young bucks nigh got yer +h'ar? Hell, no; we'll wait right hyar an' git 'em if they come back." + +"Do you think they will?" asked the doctor, trying to sound fierce and +eager. + +"Can't never tell what a Injun'll do. They left ye tied up, an' mebby +want yer h'ar plumb bad. Reckon mebby I ought ter go 'round an' warn th' +rest o' th' boys ter keep thar eyes peeled an' look sharp fer 'em; +'specially them nigh th' animals. Bet ye stood up when ye heard 'em?" + +"Yes, I did; but I'll never do it again!" + +"Thought so. Now you lay low out hyar till I tells th' others. Be back +soon," and before any reply could be made the corporal had become +swallowed up in the night. The weather was not warm, yet Doctor Whiting +sweat copiously, and after he had been relieved and sent back to the +encampment he had great trouble in falling asleep. + +Hank Marshall slipped up behind Jim Ogden as that person came in, and +imitated the significant twang. Jim jumped a foot in the air and then +bent over, convulsed with silent laughter. + +"Dang ye, Hank; I don't know how ye do it!" he exclaimed. "I never heard +th' like. Thar'll be one bunch o' greenhorns lyin' flat, an' all eyes +an' ears from now on. I war weak from laughin' afore I went out to +stumble over him. When th' guard war changed they couldn't hardly find +him, he war spread out so flat. Jest like a new born buffaler calf that +its maw has cached in a bunch o' grass. Bet ye could fool an Injun with +that thar twang." + +"I've did it," said Hank, chuckling. + +The next morning Dr. Whiting was quite a hero, and as the caravan left +the creek he rode by the side of Patience, talking until he had +thoroughly exhausted the subject. After he had left her to go +helter-skeltering over the prairie a mile ahead in eager and hopeful +search of buffalo, Hank Marshall rode up to the wagon and took his +place. + +He listened to Patience's excited comment about the doctor's narrow +escape, and then, picking up the reins, twanged sharply, winked at her, +and rode off to the flanking line. She stared after him for a moment and +then stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth. When she had command over +herself again she turned indignantly toward her chuckling uncle. + +"Just the same, it was a mean trick!" she declared. + +"Giddap," said Uncle Joe, and chuckled all the more. + +"But it was!" + +"It learned 'em all a lesson," he replied. "May save their fool lives, +and ours, too. Giddap!" + +It was a long haul to Turkey Creek, but the caravan made it and was +corralled before dark. Buffalo signs had been seen shortly before the +creek was reached, and when old Indian signs were found near the camp +site, the day's excitement took on new life. A broken lodge-pole, some +odds and ends of tanned hides and a discarded moccasin, somehow +overlooked by the Indians' dogs, were discovered near the blackened +spots on the prairie where camp-fires had burned. The night passed +quietly, every sentry flat against the earth and trying to rob the +senses of smell and touch to enrich those of sight and hearing. + +In leaving the creek, the two column formation was abandoned and the +wagons rolled up the little divide in four evenly spaced divisions. +There was some semblance of flankers and a rear guard now, and even the +cannons were not forsaken. Then came the great moment. + +Two hours after the creek had been left the first herd of buffalo was +sighted. That it was a small one and more likely to provide tough bull +rather than fat cow, made no difference; rear guard, flankers, and +cannon were forgotten in one mad, frantic, and ridiculous rush. Men +dashed off toward the herd without even their pistols. In ten minutes a +moderate sized war-party could have swept down on the caravan and had +things nearly their own way. There would have been no buffalo meat in +camp that night except that the experienced hunters with the advance +guard managed to down two cows and three bulls before the yelling, +excitement-maddened crowd stampeded the little herd and drove it all +over the prairie. + +One tenderfoot, better mounted than his fellows, managed to keep up with +a running bull, firing ball after ball into it as fast as he could +re-load. He was learning that a bull-buffalo was a hard animal to kill, +and when it finally wheeled and charged him, he also learned that it was +willing to fight when goaded and made desperate with wounds. Another +greenhorn, to get better aim, dismounted and knelt on the earth. With +the roar of his gun his horse, with all its trappings, gave one snort +and ran away, joining the herd and running with it. It was an hour +before anyone had time to listen to his entreaties, and then it was too +late to go after the runaway animal. He hoofed it back to the caravan, +an angry but wiser man, and was promptly robbed by the man from whom he +bought a horse. + +It was an open question whether buffalo tongue or beaver tail was the +better eating, but no one in the caravan had any fault to find with the +portions of buffalo meat which fell to their lot. Despite the toughness +and tastelessness of the old bull meat, it was the first fresh meat they +had enjoyed since leaving Independence, with the exception of the few +who had shared in Hank's antelope, and its poor qualities were +overlooked. No one had a chance to gorge himself and to learn that +overeating of buffalo flesh causes no distress. They found the meat with +the fat and lean more intermixed, juicier, and of a coarser grain than +beef. The choice bits were from the tongue, the udder came next in +merit, followed by the hump-ribs, tenderloins, and marrow bones. They +were fortunate in the selection of the bulls which had been killed, for +they were quite fat and in this condition ran the cow meat a close race; +all but one old bull, which was tough and stringy beyond belief. Despite +the fact that the next camp spot was not very far ahead, the caravan +nooned on the open prairie for the cooking of the fresh meat. + +The captain signalled for the four-square corral and the evolution was +creditably performed. The animals were unhitched and staked outside the +enclosure and soon many fires were burning around the encampment and the +savory odors of broiling buffalo meat arose on all sides. Coffee pots +steeped or boiled at every fire, for coffee was the one unstinted drink +of the caravan. It was not long before the encampment was surrounded by +groups seated around the fires, most of the men eating with their +fingers, Indian fashion, and from the universal satisfaction shown it +was evident that buffalo meat had been given a high place by every +palate. In contrast to a steady diet of bacon it was a feast fit for +epicures. The travelers cared little about their good fortune in finding +cows with the first small herd, instead of the usual vanguard or outpost +of bulls, for the cows had been there and they had obtained two of them. +Two hours later the caravan was moving again, and late that afternoon +reached the Little Arkansas, where the first trouble with a treacherous +river bed was experienced. + +Knowing what was in store for them, the captain and his lieutenants went +ahead with a force of workers to cut a way through the steep banks and +to bridge the muddy bed. They found that the banks had been cut by the +preceding caravan, but the causeway by now was useless, except as a +foundation for a new one. The stream was not very wide, but made up for +that by the meanness of its bottom. The trees and brush along the banks +provided material for the temporary causeway and it did not take long to +build up a "bridge." + +The more or less easy-going manner of the captain changed here and his +commands had a snap to them that should have given them an unquestioned +weight. Because of the restricted space chosen for the camp, the +circular corral was formed, and as the divisions reached and crossed the +causeway they fell in behind the last wagon of the one ahead and crawled +around until the circle was complete and compact. All animals were to be +staked outside the circle until twilight and then driven inside and +hobbled for the night. Care was taken to see that there were but few +gaps between the wagons and that those were securely closed by chains. + +The length of the first tour of guard duty was increased considerably, +for the first watch went on as soon as the wagons stopped. They were +getting fairly into the Indian country now. Directly north of them lay +the range of the Pawnees; to the west of that the home of the Cheyennes; +directly west of the Little Arkansas roamed the Arapahoes, and to the +southwest were the Kiowas and Comanches, both of the latter superb +cavalrymen. The last three tribes were being stirred by jealous New +Mexicans to harass the caravans. And the interest of all these tribes, +and of others beyond them in several directions, was centered on the +prairie between the Little Arkansas and the valley of the Arkansas, +eastward from where the latter river left the mountains. This was the +great range of the buffalo, and the buffalo was food, clothing, +habitation, and figured very largely in other necessaries of the savage +tribes. + +The peculiar, curving, and ever-shifting migration of the great herds +was followed by hunting parties, which became war-parties in a wink. +Many were the bloody battles fought between the tribes on that stretch +of prairie between the Little Arkansas and the two Coon Creeks. The +Pawnees claimed sovereignty over that part of the country around Pawnee +Rock, but it was one that the tribe did not dare to enjoy with any +degree of permanence. Raiding parties from the south, west, and north +constantly challenged their title, and because of these collisions +hardly a hunting party dared show itself unless in strength. There were, +it is true, small bands roaming the plains, especially after dark, which +traveled on foot; but these were out with the avowed and set purpose of +stealing horses, on which, if successful, they made their escape and +rode home. This especially was a Pawnee trick, and especially adept were +the Pawnees in creeping up to a herd of draft animals and stampeding the +whole bunch. More than one party of traders had thus been left afoot in +mid-prairie and forced to abandon what they could not carry on their +backs. While the Pawnee country was supposed to be north of the Platte, +up around the Loup Fork, they often raided in force well into the +Comanche and Apache country and were as much at home on the south side +of the Arkansas River as on any other part of the plains. + +When the orders came to drive the animals inside the corral and hobble +them, there was a great deal of complaint. It was contended that they +could not get food enough in such a restricted space, crowded as it +would be with horses, oxen, and mules; that they would injure each +other; that there would be great trouble in each man getting his own in +the morning; that they would burst through some weak spot and wander +away during the night. To all these objections the captain remained +obdurate. Any man who left his animals outside the corral and lost them +would not be given replacements at the expense of other teams, and could +make what shift he thought best for the transportation of his +merchandise. + +Tom and his trapper friends, with some of the more experienced traders, +went among the grumblers and labored with them, preaching that from now +on the utmost, unremitting vigilance would be necessary day and night, +for the danger of losing the animals would grow with every mile and +would not cease until the Mexican settlements were nearly in sight. And +the worse the weather was, the greater would be the need to be alert; +for with tumultuous Nature to arouse the excitability of the animals and +to mask the movements of the Indians, a savage raid would scarcely fail +to cause a wholesale stampede unless the strictest watch was maintained. +To make up for the poor grazing inside the corralled wagons, the +picketing outside the circle in the evening would be supplemented by +more grazing on the outside before leaving in the morning. This would +necessitate later starts, but it could not be avoided. + +Tom and Hank were not quite through eating their evening meal when Pedro +paid them a visit. + +"Ah, seņores," he beamed, "I haf laughed thees day! Just like my Mexico +eet was to see thee _atejo_ that you haf! Thee _mulera_ weeth her seven +childr-ren mar-rching behind her like _soldats_!" He leaned back and +laughed heartily, his teeth gleaming like old ivory. + +Hank grinned and glanced at Tom. "If she'd only lead 'em 'round th' +customs we'd think a hull lot more o' her. It riles me ter have ter pay +ter git our goods inter a town arter such hard work gittin' 'em _to_ +it." + +"Ah," replied Pedro, smiling broadly. "That ees thee law," he reproved +them. "But I deed not know you were going to Santa Fe, seņores. Eet was +said somewhere, by somebody, I do not remember who, that you were going +to thee Seņor Bent on thee Arkansas. To hunt and to tr-rap, was eet +not?" + +Tom emptied his pipe and blew through the stem. "No," he said. "We're +goin' ter Santa Fe. After we sell th' goods we aim ter go up ter Bent's +for th' fall an' winter huntin' an' trappin'. Takes a lot o' money ter +outfit two men th' way they should be, fer a hull season in the +mountains." He grinned. "That's why we're packin' goods ter Santa Fe. +Got to raise some money." Arising he nodded to his guest. "Now, if ye'll +excuse me, friend, I'll leave ye with Hank. See ye later, mebby?" + +Pedro nodded and laughed heartily, wagging an accusing finger at the +young plainsman. "Ah, what should keep a br-rave _caballero_ from sooch +a seņorita! Pedro has eyes, seņor; an' Pedro, he weesh you ver' _mucho_ +luck. He weesh you so ver' _mucho_ luck that per-rhaps he can get you +past those customs. Of thees we weel talk more, eh?" + +Hank slapped his leg and pushed his plug of tobacco into the visitor's +hands. "Smoke some of that thar Virginny, friend," he urged. "Ye'll find +it some better than that thar husk, or willer bark you people smoke." He +looked at his partner and chuckled. "These hyar young fellers, now; thar +jest ain't no holdin' 'em." + +Pedro thought that this particular young "feller" was going to be held +very securely before he saw Santa Fe, but he grinned and waved his hand, +and after Tom had disappeared among the wagons he turned toward the +hunter. + +"Has Seņor Boyd ever been een our Santa Fe?" he asked in polite +curiosity. + +Hank nodded carelessly. "He war thar some years back." + +"Perhaps then I can show heem a new way to thee city," said Pedro, +significantly. "One that my br-rother knows ver' good. Thee knowledge of +thees tr-rail ees of _mucho_ less cost than thee customs that you an' me +like so leetle. But of thees we weel talk more some other time. I must +leeve you, seņor. _Adios._" + +"_Adios_, seņor," beamed Hank, again offering the plug. + +After a quiet night and a somewhat later start than usual, the day's run +to Cow Creek began, and not five miles from the camp site a sizable herd +of buffalo was sighted. The same thing took place again, the same +confusion, the same senseless chasing without weapons, but this time +there was added the total abandonment of several wagons while the +drivers, unhitching one animal, grabbed guns and joined in the attack, +not realizing that mules hardly were suited for chasing an animal which, +clumsy as it appeared, nearly equalled a horse in speed when once +started on its awkward gallop. But in the results of the chase there was +one noticeable difference between this and the previous hunt, for the +green nimrods had asked questions of the hunters since their first try +at the prairie cattle, and they had cherished the answers. They no +longer fired blindly, after the first flush of their excitement died +down, for now they ranged up alongside their lumbering victims from the +rear and aimed a little behind the short ribs, or a few inches above +the brisket and behind the shoulder. And this hunt was a great success +from the standpoint of the plainsmen who had bought Colt's newfangled +repeating pistols, for they proved their deadliness in such capable +hands, and speeded up the kill. + +A group of tenderfeet watched an old hunter butcher a fat cow in almost +the time it takes to tell of it, slitting the skin along the spine from +the shoulder to the tail, and down in front of the shoulder and around +the neck. He removed it as far down as the brisket and laid the freed +skin on the ground to receive the fleece from along the spine, the +protruding hump ribs, which he severed with a tomahawk; and then he +added the liver, tongue, kidneys, certain parts of the intestine, and +one shoulder. Severing the other shoulder and cutting the skin free on +both sides of the body, he bundled up the choice cuts in it, carried it +to his horse and returned to camp. In a few moments the butchering +became general, and soon the triumphant hunters returned to the wagons +with fresh meat enough to provide an unstinted feast for the entire +caravan. + +The journey was resumed and the twenty miles to Cow Creek was made in +good time. Here the difficulties of the Little Arkansas were again met +and conquered and the wagons corralled before dark. + +It was at this camp that Tom and Hank became certain that they were +being spied upon by Pedro and his companions. Seated around their fire, +smoking with deep content after a heavy meal of fresh buffalo meat, Hank +began to push his foot back and forth on the ground, making deeper and +deeper, longer and longer, the groove his moccasin heel was slowly +wearing in the soft earth. Finally his foot touched his companion's knee +but, without pausing, kept wearing down the groove. + +"Th' geese went over early this year," he said, looking up at the starry +sky. "Reckon we'll have th' hot weather a leetle ahead o' time on th' +Dry Route." + +Tom did not change a muscle as the familiar, warning sentence struck his +ears. "Yes," he replied. "Be glad when I gits inter Santa Fe, with th' +cool mountains all around. Reckon you'll spend most o' your time playin' +_monte_, an' be clean busted when it's time ter hit th' trail fer +Bent's." + +Hank laughed softly. "Did I hear ye say Jim Ogden had some good likker?" +he asked. + +"That's what I said." + +"'Tain't none o' that thar Taos lightnin'?" skeptically inquired Hank. + +"How could it be, him jest a-comin' from Missouri?" + +"Wall," chuckled Hank, slowly rising. "Reckon I'll wander over an' see +fer myself. Jim must be considerable lonesome, 'bout now." + +"Must be, with only Zeb, Alonzo, Enoch, and a passel o' them fool +tenderfeet a-settin' 'round his fire," snorted Tom. "Go ahead an' git +yer likker; I'll wait fer ye hyar." + +It was only a few minutes later when Hank returned, shaking his head. +"All gone," he mourned, and sat down again, regarding the dying embers. +"Jest my luck." + +Tom laughed. "Yer better off without it," he replied, and communed with +his thoughts. + +Minutes passed in reflective silence and then Jim Ogden loomed up beside +them. "Come on over," he invited, grinning. "Thar warn't no use showin' +a bottle with them thirsty greenhorns settin' 'round ter lick it up. Now +that thar gone, we'll pass it 'round." + +Hank looked knowingly at his partner as he hastily arose, and the three +went off together. When half way to the other fire Jim spoke in a low +voice. + +"He war thar, Hank; layin' in that little gully, watchin' ye like ye war +pizen." He turned to Tom. "Shall we go an' drag him out?" + +"No," answered Tom. "Let him think we don't know nothin' about it. Him +an' his trail inter Santa Fe! Reckons mebby that if them barefoot +soldiers try ter take us in front o' th' caravan they'll get a good +lickin'; but if he can coax us off from th' rest, he kin run us inter an +ambush. If thar's airy way inter Santa Fe that we don't know, I'm danged +if _he_ knows it! Let him spy on us, now that we know he's doin' it. +Thankee, Jim." + +By the time they had reached Jim's little fire a figure was wriggling +down the gully, and at an opportune time arose to hands and knees and +scurried to the shelter of Franklin's wagons, a smile on its face. Now +it was certain that Tom Boyd was going through to Santa Fe, and all +would be well. He chuckled as he recalled what he had said about the +Mexican troops not meeting the caravan until Point of Rocks was reached; +they would meet the train at any point his messenger told them to. + +At Cow Creek another quiet night was followed by another delayed start +and shortly after noon the vanguard raised a shout of elation, which +sent every mounted man racing ahead; and the sight repaid them for their +haste. + +Under their eyes lay the Arkansas River, dotted with green islands, its +channel four or five hundred yards wide, and so shallow that at normal +stage it was formidable at many points. While its low, barren banks, +only occasionally tinted with the green of cottonwoods, were desolate in +appearance, they had a beauty peculiar and striking. As far as the eye +could see spread the sand-hills and hillocks, like waves of some pale +sea, here white and there yellow, accordingly as to how the light was +reflected from them. Its appearance had been abrupt, the prairie floor +rising slightly to the crumbling edge, below which and at some distance +flowed the river, here forming the international boundary between Texas +and the United States. While territorially Texas lay across the river, +according to Texan claims, actually, so far as supervision was +concerned, it was Mexico, for the Texan arm was yet too short to +dominate it and the ordinary traveler let it keep its original name. + +While its northern bank was almost destitute of timber, the southern one +showed scattered clumps of cottonwood, protected from the devastating +prairie fires from the North not only by the river itself, but also by +the barren stretch of sand, over which the fires died from starvation. +To the right of the caravan lay the grassy, green rolls of the prairie, +to an imaginative eye resembling the long swells of some great sea; on +the left a ribbon of pale tints, from gleaming whites to light golds +which varied with the depths of the water and the height and position of +the sun. Massive sand dunes, glittering in the sunlight made a rampart +which stretched for miles up and down the river and struck the eye with +the actinic power of pure, drifted snow. Here the nature of the prairie +changed, losing its rich, luxuriant verdure, for here the short buffalo +grass began to dominate to a noticeable extent. + +The excitement spread. Eager couriers raced back to the plodding caravan +to tell the news. Some of the more impressionable forthwith rode toward +the river, only a few yards away, hot to be the first to splash in its +waters; but they found that prairie air was deceptive and that the +journey over the rolling hillocks was a great deal longer than they had +thought. But a few miles meant nothing to them and they pushed on, +careless of Comanche, Kiowa, or Pawnee Picts, some with their guns empty +from the salute they had fired at sight of the stream. The caravan kept +stolidly on, following a course roughly paralleling the river and not +stopping until evening found it on the far side of Walnut Creek after +they had crossed a belt of such poor grass that they had grave doubts +about the pasturage at the encampment; and the flinty, uncompromising +nature of the ground down the slope of the little divide, in which +seemingly for eternity was graven the strands of the mighty trail, +seemed to justify their fears. But then, while they were worrying the +most, the grass improved and when they had crossed the creek not far +from its mouth they found themselves in a little, timber-fringed valley +thick with tall grass. And they now had entered one of the great danger +spots of the long trail. + +Hank Marshall got his fire started in a hurry while his partner looked +after the pack mules; and when Tom came back to attend to the fire and +prepare the supper, Hank dug into his "possible" sack and produced some +line and a fish hook. Making a paste of flour, he mixed it with some +dried moss he had put away and saved for this use. Rolling the little +doughballs and hardening them over the fire he soon strode off up the +creek, looking wise but saying nothing; and a quarter of an hour later +he returned with three big catfish, one of which he ate after he had +consumed a generous portion of buffalo hump-ribs; and he followed the +fish by a large tongue raked out of the ashes of the fire. To judge from +his expression he had enjoyed a successful and highly gratifying day, +and since he was heavy and drowsy with his gorging and had to go on +watch that night, he rolled up in his blanket under a wagon and despite +the noise on all sides of him, fell instantly asleep. He had "set +hisself" to awaken at eleven o'clock, which he would do almost on the +minute and be thoroughly wide awake. + +Fearing for the alertness of the sentries that night, a number of +plainsmen and older traders agreed upon doing duty out of their turns +and followed Hank's example, "settin'" themselves to awaken at different +hours; and despite these precautions had a band of Pawnees discovered +the camp that night they most certainly would have been blessed with +success; and no one understood why the camp had not been discovered, for +the crawling train made a mark on the prairie that could not be missed +by savage eyes miles away. + +Because of the height and the luxuriance of the grass within the corral +the morning feeding, beyond the time needed for getting ready to leave, +was dispensed with and the train got off to an early start, fairly +embarked on the eastern part of the great buffalo range and a section of +the trail where Indians could be looked for in formidable numbers. + +This great plain fairly was crowded with bison and was dark with them as +far as the eye could see. They could be numbered by the tens of +thousands and actually impeded the progress of the caravan and +threatened constant danger from their blind, unreasoning stampedes which +the draft animals seemed anxious to join. Because of the matted hair in +front of their eyes their vision was impaired; and the keenness of their +scent often hurled them into dangers which a clearer eyesight would have +avoided. So great did this danger become shortly after the train had +left the valley of the Walnut that the rear guard, which had grown +slightly as the days passed, now was sent out to protect the flanks and +to strengthen the vanguard, which had fallen back within a few hundred +feet of the leading wagons. Time after time the stupid beasts barely +were kept from crashing blindly into the train, and the wagoners had the +most trying and tiring day of the whole journey. + +Several bands of Indians at times were seen in the distance pursuing +their fleeing game, but all were apparently too busy to bother with the +caravan, which they knew would stop somewhere for the night. No longer +was there any need to freight buffalo meat to the wagons; for so many of +the animals were killed directly ahead that the wagoners only had to +check their teams and help each other butcher and load. This constant +stopping, now one wagon and now another, threw the train out of all +semblance of order and it wandered along the trail with its divisions +mixed, which caused the sweat to stand out on the worried captain's +forehead. His lieutenants threatened and swore and pleaded and at last, +after the wagons had all they could carry of the meat, managed to get +four passable divisions in somewhat presentable order. + +While the caravan shuffled itself, chased buffalo out of the way, turned +aside thundering ranks of the formidable-looking beasts, and had a time +hectic enough to suit the most irrational, Pawnee Rock loomed steadily +higher, steadily nearer, and the great sand-hills of the Arkansas +stretched interminably into the West, each fantastic top a glare of +dazzling light. + +Well to the North, rising by degrees out of the prairie floor, and +gradually growing higher and bolder as they neared the trail and the +river, were a series of hills which terminated abruptly in a rocky cliff +frowning down upon the rutted wagon road. From the distance the mirage +magnified the ascending hills until they looked like some detached +mountain range, which instead of growing higher as it was approached, +shrunk instead. It was a famous landmark, silent witness of many bloody +struggles, as famous on this trail as was Chimney Rock and Courthouse +Rock along the great emigrant trail going up the Platte; but compared to +them in height it was a dwarf. Here was a lofty perch from which the +eagle eyes of Indian sentries could descry crawling caravans and pack +trains, in either direction, hours before they reached the shadow of the +rocky pile; and from where their calling smoke signals could be seen for +miles around. + +Two trails passed it, one east and west; the other, north and south. The +former, cut deep, honest in its purpose and plainness, here crossed the +latter, which was an evanescent, furtive trail, as befits a pathway to +theft and bloodshed, and one made by shadowy raiders as they flitted to +and from the Kiowa-Comanche country and the Pawnee-Cheyenne; only marked +at intervals by the dragging ends of the lodgepoles of peacefully +migrating Indian villages, and even then pregnant with danger. Other +eyes than those of the prairie tribes had looked upon it, other blood +had been spilled there, for distant as it was from the Apaches, and +still more distant from the country of the Utes, war parties of both +these tribes had accepted the gage of battle there flung down. On the +rugged face of the rock itself human conceit had graven human names, and +to be precise as to the date of their foolishness, had added day, month, +and year. + +While speaking of days, months, and years it may not be amiss to say +that regarding the latter division of time the caravan was fortunate. +Troubles between Indians and whites developed slowly during the history +of the Trail, from the earlier days of the fur trains and the first of +the traders' caravans, when Indian troubles were hardly more than an +occasional attempted theft, in many cases successful, but seemingly +without that lust for blood on both sides which was to come later. After +the wagon period begun there was a slight increase, due to the need +which certain white men found for shooting game. If game were scarce, +what could be more interesting when secure from retaliation by the +number of armed and resolute men in the caravans, than to pot-shoot some +curious and friendly savage, or gallantly put to flight a handful of +them? The ungrateful savages remembered these pleasantries and were +prone to retaliate, which caused the death of quite a few honest and +innocent whites who followed later. The natural cupidity of the Indian +for horses, his standard of wealth, received a secondary urge, which +later became the principal one, in the days when theft was regarded as a +material reward for killing. While they may have grudged these periodic +crossings of the plains as a trespass, and the wanton slaughter of their +main food supply as a constantly-growing calamity, they still were +keener to steal quietly and get away without bloodshed, and to barter +their dried meat, their dressed hides, their beadwork, and other +manufactures of their busy squaws than to engage in pitched battle at +sight. Had Captain Woodson led a caravan along that same trail twenty or +thirty years later, he would have had good reason to sweat copiously at +the sight of so many dashing savages. + +The captain knew the Indian of his day as well as a white man could. He +knew that they still depended upon trading with the fur companies, with +free trappers and free traders, and needed the white man's goods and +good will; they wanted his trinkets, his tobacco to mix with their inner +bark of the red willow; his powder, muskets, and lead, and, most of all, +his watered alcohol. He knew that a white man could stumble into the +average Indian camp and receive food and shelter, especially among those +tribes not yet prostituted by contact with the frontier; that such a +man's goods would be safe and, if he minded his own business, that he +would be sent on his way again unharmed. But he also knew their lust for +horses and mules; he felt their slowly growing feeling of contempt for +men who would trade them wonderful things for worthless beaver, mink, +and otter skins; and a fortune in trade goods for the pelt of a single +silver fox, which neither was warmer nor more durable than the pelt of +other foxes. And he knew the panicky feeling of self-preservation which +might cause some greenhorn of the caravan to shoot true at the wrong +time. So, without worrying about any "deadly circles" or about any +period of time a score or more years away, he sweat right heartily. And +when at last he drew near to Ash Creek, the later history of which +mercifully was spared him, he sighed with relief but worked with the +energy befitting a man who believed that God helped those who helped +themselves; he hustled the caravan down the slope and across the stream +with a speed not to be lightly scorned when the disorganized arrangement +of the train is considered; and he halted the divisions in a circular +formation with great dispatch, making it the most compact and solid wall +of wagons seen so far on the journey. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +PAWNEES + + +At this Ash Creek camp before the wagoners had unhitched their teams +there was a cordon around the corral made up of every man who could be +spared, and the cannon crews stood silently around their freshly primed +guns. The air of tenseness and expectancy pleased Woodson, for it was an +assurance that there would be no laxity about this night's watch. With +the animals staked as close to the wagons as practicable, which caused +some encroachments and several fist fights between jealous wagoners, the +fires soon were cooking supper for squads of men from the sentry line; +and as soon as all had eaten and the camp was not distracted by too many +duties, the cordon thinned until it was composed of a double watch. +Before dusk the animals were driven inside, secured by side-line +hobbles, which are much more effective than hobbling the forelegs, and +all gaps were closed as tightly as possible. + +The evening shadows darkened and ran into blackness; the night wind +crept among the branches of the thin line of trees on both banks of the +creek and made soft soughings in the tall, thick grass; overhead the sky +first darkened and then grew lighter, shot with myriads of stars, which +gleamed as only prairie stars can; and among them, luminous and bright, +lay the Milky Way. The creek murmured in musical tones as it fretted at +some slight obstruction and all nature seemed to be at peace. Then +sounded the howl of a buffalo wolf, the gray killer of the plains, deep, +throaty, full, and followed by a quick slide up the scale with a ringing +note that the bluffs and mountains love to toss back and forth. Yet it +was somehow different. Woodson and his trapper aides, seated together +against a wagon, stirred and glanced sidewise at each other. Not one of +them had felt the reflex answer of his spine and hair; not one of them +had thrilled. A simple lack; but a most enlightening one. + +Franklin bit into a plug of tobacco, pushed the mouthful into his cheek +with deft tongue, and crossed his legs the other way. "Hell!" he +growled. "Reckon we're in fer it." + +"They jest can't git it _all_ in, kin they?" commented Zeb Houghton, +coming up. + +"No," answered Tom Boyd. "They leave out th' best part o' it." He +glanced in the direction of the nearest fringe of trees, noisy +cottonwoods all, and shook his head. "We been havin' too fine a stretch +o' weather. Hear them trees? In two hours it'll be blowin' hard; an' I +kin feel th' rain already." + +From the blackness of the creek there arose a series of short, sharp +barks, faster and faster, higher and higher, the lost-soul howl climbing +to a pitch that was sheer torture to some ears. + +"Kiyote sassin' a gray," chuckled Zeb, ironically. + +"'Upon what meat hath--'" began Tom, and checked the quotation. "He +oughter be tuckin' his tail atween his laigs an' streakin' fer th' +Platte; or mebby _he_ missed somethin', too," he said. "Everythin' else +shuts up when th' gray wolf howls." + +"Doubled watches air not enough fer tonight," growled Woodson, as a +tremulous, high-pitched, chromatic, and descending run in a minor key +floated through the little valley. If it were an imitation of a +screech-owl it was so perfectly done that no man in the caravan could +detect the difference. + +"Us boys will be scoutin' 'round all night," replied Tom. "Hank an' th' +others air gittin' some winks now. I don't look fer no fight afore +daylight; but they'll shore try ter stampede us afore then. Reckon I'll +take a good listen out yonder," he said, and arose. He went to Joe +Cooper's little wagon and was promptly challenged. + +"It's Boyd," he answered. "Stick to the wagon, Uncle Joe. We ain't +looking for any rush before daylight. If one comes Hank and I will get +here quick. Where is Miss Cooper?" + +"In th' wagon, of course!" + +"That's no place for her," retorted Tom. "Those sheets won't stop +arrows. Put her under the wagon, an' hang blankets down th' sides, loose +at th' bottoms. Tight blankets or canvas are little better than paper; +but a loose Mackinaw yields to th' impact somewhat. I've seen a loose +blanket stop a musket ball." + +"Can I do anything useful, Mr. Boyd?" came Patience's voice from the +wagon. "I can load and cap, anyhow." + +Tom's chuckle came straight from his heart. "Not yet, God bless you. +Despite their reputation in some quarters, Pawnees are not the most +daring fighters. Any of the tribes east of the Mississippi are paragons +of courage when compared to these prairie Indians. Pawnees would rather +steal than fight; and they know that this is no helpless caravan, but +one with nearly two hundred armed men. If they were Comanches or Kiowas, +Utes or Apaches, I'd be bothered a lot more than I am now. And they know +that there are two cannons pointing somewhere into the night. All we +have to worry about is our animals." + +The mournful, hair-raising screech of an owl sounded again, and then all +the demons of hell seemed to have broken loose around the camp. The +corralled animals, restless before, now surged one way and now another, +largely cancelling their own efforts because wave met wave; but all the +while they were getting wilder and more frantic and the blood-chilling +yells on all sides finally set them into a sort of rhythm which more and +more became uniform. They surged from one side to the other, striking +the wagons harder and harder. Then the yelling ceased and the Pawnee +whistle was heard. There ensued a few minutes of silence and then the +whistle sounded again. It set off a hellish uproar on one side of the +encampment and the frantic animals whirled and charged in the other +direction. The shock rocked some of the wagons and would have overturned +them but for the great weight of their loads. Anticipating this surge of +the animals some of the traders, told off by the captain, had bound +bundles of twigs and dried grass to long cottonwood sticks and now set +them afire and crawled under the wagons, thrusting the torches into the +faces of the charging mass. This started the animals milling and soon +the whole herd was running in a circle. The stampede had failed. + +Here and there from under the wagons on the threatened side of the +encampment guns stabbed into the night, showing where tenderfeet were +gallantly engaged in guessing matches. Arrows curved over the wagon tops +and some of the torch wavers on the other side of the camp had narrow +escapes before their purpose was accomplished and the torches burned +out. + +A cricket chirped twice and then twice again not far from Joe Cooper's +little wagon, and the alert plainsman crouched behind an outer wheel +answered by three short trills. "Don't shoot, Uncle Joe," Tom softly +called. "That's Hank." + +Hank seemed to be having a hard time of it and made more noise than was +his wont. Alarmed, Tom was about to crawl out and help his friend to the +corral when Hank's querulous complaint barely reached him. + +"Danged if ye ain't so plumb full o' buffaler meat ye nigh weigh a ton," +growled the hunter. "Yourn as heavy as mine, Jim?" + +"Wuss," complacently answered Ogden. + +"Huh!" snorted another voice, crowding so much meaning into the grunt +that he had the best of the little exchange and the last word. + +"If I could twang like you, Hank," said Ogden, pausing a moment to rest, +"I'd have a hull dozen, danged if I wouldn't. Mine's got nigh ter six +feet o' feathers a-hangin' ter him." + +Tom rocked back and forth, laughing silently. "Then he makes up fer th' +rest o' yer dozen!" he gasped. "Hostages, by th' Great Horned Spoon!" He +made some funny noises in his throat and gasped again. "A _chief_, too!" + +"An' a plumb waste o' good ha'r," growled Hank. "But jest now it's wuth +more on thar heads than fastened ter our belts. Hyar, haul this hyar +warrior o' mine under th' waggin. I'm all tuckered out." + +"Hank kin shoot more arrers with his mouth than some Injuns kin with +thar bows," panted Jim, grasping a spoke and yanking his captive roughly +against the wheel. "All I kin imitate is a lance." He chuckled at his +joke and rested. + +"When Hank twanged, Big Polecat, hyar, got right up an' stumbled plumb +over me," said Zeb's weary voice. "I near busted his skull with that +newfangled pistol. It's heftier than I'm used ter. Wonder is I didn't +bash his brains out. Hyar, gimme a hand, I can't hardly wiggle no more." + +"Wonder what them danged fools air firin' at?" queried Hank, as several +shots rang out in quick succession from the other side of the +encampment. "Don't they know th' dance is over till mornin'?" + +"Oh, them greenhorns'll be shootin' all night," growled Ogden. "If +thar's a rush at daylight they won't have no more powder an' ball. When +they hadn't oughter shoot, they shoot; when they oughter shoot, thar too +danged scared to pull trigger." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HURRAH FOR TEXAS + + +At daylight the only Indians in sight were several rifle shots from the +caravan, but encircling it. Hostilities of every nature apparently had +ceased, but without causing the travelers to relax in their vigilance. +Breakfast was over before the savages made any move and then a sizable +body of them came charging over the prairie, brandishing their weapons +and yelling at the top of their voices. While not the equals of the +Comanches in horsemanship they were good riders and as they raced toward +the encampment, showing every trick they knew, the spectacle was well +worth watching. + +"Showin' off," said Jim Ogden. "Want ter talk with us. Now we got ter +stop them fool greenhorns from shootin'!" + +At his warning his companions ran along the line of wagons and begged +that not a shot be fired until the captain gave the word. If the Indians +wanted a parley the best thing would be to give it to them. + +Meanwhile the captain and two experienced men rode slowly forward, +stopping while still within rifle shot of their friends. The charging +savages pulled up suddenly and stopped, three of their number riding +ahead with the same unconcern and calm dignity as the white men had +shown. One of them raised a hand, palm out, and when well outside of the +range of the rifles of the encampment, stopped and waited. Captain +Woodson, raising his hand, led his two companions at a slow walk toward +the waiting Indians and when he stopped, the two little parties were +within easy speaking distance of each other. Each group was careful to +show neither distrust nor fear, and apparently neither was armed. Erect +in their saddles, each waited for the other to speak. + +"My young men are angry because the white men and their wagons have +crossed the Pawnee country and have frightened away the buffalo," said +the leader of the warriors, a chief, through an interpreter. + +"The buffalo are like the grass of the prairies," replied Woodson. "They +are all around us and are bold enough to charge our wagons on the march +and frighten our animals." + +"From the Loup Fork to the Arkansas, from the Big Muddy to the great +mountains, is Pawnee country, which none dare enter." + +"The Cheyennes, the Arapahoes, the Osages, and other brave tribes tell +us the same thing. We do not know what tribe owns this prairie; but we +do know that friends are always welcome in the Pawnee country, and we +bring presents for our brave brothers, presents of beads and colored +cloth and glasses that show a man his spirit." + +"The white chief speaks well; but my braves are angry." + +"And my young men are angry because they could not sleep and their +animals were frightened like the Comanches are frightened by the +Pawnees," replied Woodson. "They are hot-headed and are angry at me +because I would not let them make war on our friends, the Pawnees." + +"The young men of the Pawnees have not the wisdom of years and did not +know the white men were friends, and had brought them presents of horses +and powder and whiskey." + +"I have told my young men that the Pawnees are friends. We did not think +we would meet our red brothers and have horses only for ourselves. Our +whiskey and powder are for the great Pawnee chiefs; our beads and cloth +for their young men." + +"It is well," replied the chief. After a moment's silence he looked +keenly into Woodson's eyes. "The Pawnees are sad. White Bear and two of +our young men have not returned to their people." His eyes flashed and a +tenseness seized him and his companions. "Great Eagle wants to know if +his white friends have seen them?" + +"Great Eagle's friends found three brave Pawnees in front of their +thunder guns and they feared our young men would fire the great medicine +rifles and hurt the Pawnees. We sent out and brought White Bear and his +warriors to our camp and treated them as welcome guests. Each of them +shall have a horse and a musket, with powder and ball, that they will +not misunderstand our roughness." + +At that moment yells broke out on all sides of the encampment and +warriors were seen dashing west along the trail. A well-armed caravan of +twenty-two wagons crawled toward the creek, and Woodson secretly +exulted. It was the annual fur caravan from Bent's Fort to the Missouri +settlements and every member of it was an experienced man. + +The fur train did not seem to be greatly excited by the charging horde, +for it only interposed a line of mounted men between the wagons and the +savages. The two leaders wheeled and rode slowly off to meet the Indians +and soon a second parley was taking place. After a little time the fur +caravan, which had moved steadily ahead, reached the encampment and +swiftly formed on one side of it. With the coming of this re-enforcement +of picked men all danger of war ceased. + +Before noon the Pawnee chiefs and some of the elder warriors had paid +their visit, received their presents, sold a few horses to wagoners who +had jaded animals and then returned to their camp, pitched along the +banks of the creek a short distance away. The afternoon was spent in +visiting between the two encampments and the night in alert vigilance. +At dawn the animals were turned out to graze under a strong guard and +before noon the caravan was on its way again, its rear guard and +flankers doubled in strength. + +Shortly after leaving Ash Creek they came to great sections of the +prairie where the buffalo grass was cropped as short as though a herd of +sheep had crossed it. It marked the grazing ground of the more compact +buffalo herds. The next creek was Pawnee Fork, but since it lay only six +miles from the last stopping place, and because it was wise to put a +greater distance between them and the Pawnees, the caravan crossed it +close to where it emptied into the Arkansas, the trail circling at the +double bend of the creek and crossing it twice. Great care was needed to +keep the wagons from upsetting here, but it was put behind without +accident and the night was spent on the open prairie not far from Little +Coon Creek. + +The fuel question was now solved and while the buffalo chips, plentiful +all around them, made execrable, smudgy fires in wet weather if they +would burn at all, in dry weather they gave a quick, hot fire excellent +to cook on and one which threw out more heat, with equal amounts of +fuel, than one of wood; and after an amusing activity in collecting the +chips the entire camp was soon girdled by glowing fires. + +The next day saw them nooning at the last named creek, and before +nightfall they had crossed Big Coon Creek. For the last score of miles +they had found such numbers of rattlesnakes that the reptiles became a +nuisance; but notwithstanding this they camped here for the night, which +was made more or less exciting because several snakes sought warmth in +the blankets of some of the travelers. It is not a pleasant feeling to +wake up and find a three-foot prairie rattlesnake coiled up against +one's stomach. Fortunately there were no casualties among the travelers +but, needless to say, there was very little sleep. + +Next came the lower crossing of the Arkansas, where there was some +wrangling about the choice of fords; many, fearing the seasonal rise of +the river, which they thought was due almost any minute, urged that it +be crossed here, despite the scarcity of water, and the heavy pulling +among the sand-hills on the other side. + +Woodson and the more experienced traders and hunters preferred to chance +the rise, even at the cost of a few days' delay, and to cross at the +upper ford. This would give them better roads, plenty of water and +grass, a safer ford and a shorter drive across the desert-like plain +between the Arkansas and the Cimarron. Eventually he had his way and +after spending the night at the older ford the caravan went on again +along the north bank of the river, and reached The Caches in time to +camp near them. The grass-covered pits were a curiosity and the story of +how Baird and Chambers had been forced to dig them to cache their goods +twenty years before, found many interested listeners. + +All this day a heavy rain had poured down, letting up only for a few +minutes in the late afternoon, and again falling all night with +increased volume. With it came one of those prairie windstorms which +have made the weather of the plains famous. Tents and wagon covers were +whipped into fringes, several of them being torn loose and blown away; +two lightly loaded wagons were overturned, and altogether the night was +the most miserable of any experienced so far. While the inexperienced +grumbled and swore, Woodson was pleased, for in spite of the delayed +crossing of the river, he knew that the dreaded Dry Route beyond +Cimarron Crossing would be a pleasant stretch in comparison to what it +usually was. + +Morning found a dispirited camp, and no effort was made to get under way +until it was too late to cover the twenty miles to the Cimarron Crossing +that day, and rather than camp without water it was decided to lose a +day here. It would be necessary to wait for the river to fall again +before they would dare to attempt the crossing and the time might as +well be spent here as farther on. The rain fell again that night and all +the following day, but the wind was moderate. The river was being +watched closely and it was found that it had risen four feet since they +reached The Caches; but this was nothing unusual, for, like most prairie +streams, the Arkansas rose quickly until its low banks were overflowed, +when the loss of volume by the flooding of so much country checked it +appreciably; and its fall, once the rains ceased, would be as rapid. +High water was not the only consideration in regard to the fording of +the river, for the soft bottom, disturbed by the strong current, soon +lost what little firmness it had along this part of the great bend, and +became treacherous with quicksand. That it was not true quicksand made +but little difference so long as it mired teams and wagons. + +Another argument now was begun. There were several fords of the Arkansas +between this point and the mountains; and there were two routes from +here on, the shorter way across the dry plain of the Cimarron, as direct +as any unsurveyed trail could be, and the longer, more roundabout way +leading another hundred miles farther up the river and crossing it not +far from Bent's Fort, over a pebbly and splendid ford. From here it +turned south along the divide between Apishara Creek and the Purgatoire +River, climbed over the mountain range through Raton Pass, and joined +the more direct trail near Santa Clara Spring under the shadow of the +Wagon Mound. Beside the ford above Bent's Fort there was another, about +thirty miles above The Caches, which crossed the river near Chouteau's +Island. + +Each ford and each way had its adherents, but after great argument and +wrangling the Dry Route was decided upon, its friends not only proving +the wisdom of taking the shorter route, but also claimed that the +unpleasantness of the miles of dry traveling was no worse than the rough +and perilous road over Raton Pass, where almost any kind of an accident +could happen to a wagon and where, if the caravan were attacked by Utes +or Apaches before it reached the mountain pasture near the top, they +would be caught in a strung-out condition and corralling would be +impossible. The danger from a possible ambush and from rocks rolled down +from above, in themselves, were worse than the desert stretch of the +shorter route. + +At last dawn broke with a clear sky, and with praiseworthy speed the +routine of the camp was rushed and the wagons were heading westward +again. Late that afternoon the four divisions became two and rolled down +the slope toward the Cimarron Crossing, going into camp within a short +distance of the rushing river. The sun had shone all day and the night +promised to be clear, and some of the traders whose goods had been +wetted by the storm at The Caches when their wagon covers had been +damaged or blown away, took quick advantage of the good weather to +spread their merchandise over several acres of sand and stubby brush to +dry out thoroughly; and the four days spent here, waiting for the river +to fall, accomplished the work satisfactorily, although at times the sky +was overcast and threatened rain, while the nights were damp. + +Some of the more impetuous travelers urged that time would be saved if +bullboats were made by stretching buffalo hides over the wagon boxes and +floating them across. This had been done more than once, but with only a +day or so to wait, and no pressing need for speed, the time saved would +not be worth the hard work and the risk of such ferrying. At last the +repeated soundings of the bottom began to look favorable and word was +passed around that the crossing would take place as soon as the camp +was ready to be left the next morning, providing that no rain fell +during the night. + +Daylight showed a bright sky and a little lower level of the river and +it was not long before the first wagon drawn by four full teams, after a +warming-up drive, rumbled down the bank and hit the water with a splash. +The bottom was still too soft to take things easy in crossing and the +teams were not allowed to pause after once they had entered the water. A +moment's stop might mire both teams and wagons and cause no end of +trouble, hard work, and delay. All day long the wagons crossed and at +night they were safely corralled on the farther bank, on the edge of the +Dry Route and no longer on United States soil. + +That evening the leaders of the divisions went among their followers and +urged that in the morning every water cask and container available for +holding water be filled. This flat, monotonous, dry plain might require +three days to cross and every drop of water would be precious. Should +any be found after the recent rains it would be in buffalo wallows and +more fit for animals than for human beings. Again in the morning the +warning was carried to every person in the camp and the need for heeding +it gravely emphasized; and when the caravan started on the laborious and +treacherous journey across the fringe of sand-hills and hillocks which +extended for five or six miles beyond the river, where upsetting of +wagons was by no means an exception, half a dozen wagons had empty water +casks. Their owners had been too busy doing inconsequential things to +think of obeying the orders for a "water scrape," given for their own +good. + +The outlying hilly fringe of sand was not as bad as had been expected +for the heavy rains had wetted it well and packed the sand somewhat; but +when the great flat plain was reached and the rough belt left behind, +two wagons had been overturned and held up the whole caravan while they +were unloaded, righted, and re-packed. Since no one had been injured the +misfortunes had been taken lightly and the columns went on again in good +spirits. + +It was not yet noon when the advance guard came upon an unusual sight. +The plain was torn and scored and covered with sheepskin saddle-pads, +broken riding gear, battered and discarded firelocks of so ancient a +vintage that it were doubtful whether they would be as dangerous to an +enemy as they might be to their owners; broken lances, bows and arrows, +torn clothing, a two-wheeled cart overturned and partly burned, and half +a score dead mules and horses. + +Captain Woodson looked from the strewed ground, around the faces of his +companions. + +"Injuns an' greasers?" he asked, glancing at the remains of the +_carreta_ in explanation of the "greaser" end of the couplet. The +replies were affirmative in nature until Tom Boyd, looking fixedly at +one remnant of clothing, swept it from the ground and regarded it in +amazement. Without a word he passed it on to Hank, who eyed it knowingly +and sent it along. + +"I'm bettin' th' Texans licked 'em good," growled Tom. "It's about time +somebody paid 'em fer that damnable, two thousand mile trail o' +sufferin' an' death! Wish I'd had a hand in this fight!" + +Assenting murmurs came from the hunters and trappers, all of whom would +have been happy to have pulled trigger with the wearers of the coats +with the Lone Star buttons. + +Tom shook his head after a moment's reflection. "Hope it war reg'lar +greaser troops an' not poor devils pressed inter service. That's th' +worst o' takin' revenge; ye likely take it out o' th' hides of them that +ain't to blame, an' th' _guilty_ dogs ain't hurt." + +"Mebby Salezar war leadin' 'em!" growled Hank. "Hope so!" + +"Hope not!" snapped Tom, his eyes glinting. "_I_ want Salezar! I want +him in my two hands, with plenty o' time an' nobody around! I'd as soon +have _him_ as Armijo!" + +"Who's he?" asked a tenderfoot. "And what about the Texans, and this +fight here?" + +"He's the greaser cur that had charge o' th' Texan prisoners from Santa +Fe to El Paso, where they war turned over to a gentleman an' a +Christian," answered Tom, his face tense. "I owe him fer th' death, by +starvation an' abuse, of as good a friend as any man ever had: an' if I +git my hands on him he'll pay fer it! _That's_ who he is!" + +The first day's travel across the dry stretch, notwithstanding the start +had been later than was hoped for, rolled off more than twenty miles of +the flat, monotonous plain. Even here the grama grass was not entirely +missing, and a nooning of two hours was taken to let the animals crop as +much of it as they could find. While the caravan was now getting onto +the fringe of the Kiowa and Comanche country, trouble with these tribes, +at this time of the year, was not expected until the Cimarron was +reached and for this reason the urging for mileage was allowed to keep +the wagons moving until dark. During the night the wagoners arose +several times to change the picket stakes of their animals, hoping by +this and by lengthened ropes to make up for the scantiness of the grass. +In one other way was the sparsity of the grazing partly made up, for the +grama grass was a concentrated food, its small seed capsules reputed to +contain a nourishment approaching that of oats of the same size. + +The heat of the day had been oppressive and the contents of the water +casks were showing the effects of it. The feather-headed or stubborn +know-it-alls who had ignored the call of "water scrape" back on the bank +of the Arkansas now were humble pilgrims begging for drinks from their +more provident companions. Tom and Hank had filled their ten-gallon +casks and put them in Joe Cooper's wagons for the use of his and their +animals which, being mules, found a dry journey less trying than the +heavy-footed oxen of other teams. The mules also showed an ability far +beyond their horned draft fellows in picking up sufficient food; they +also were free from the foot troubles which now began to be shown by the +oxen. The triumphant wagoners of the muddier portions of the trail, +whose oxen had caused them to exult by the way they had out-pulled the +mules in every mire, now became thoughtful and lost their levity. + +Breakfast was cooked and eaten before daylight and the wagons were +strung out in the four column formation before dawn streaked the sky. A +few buffalo wallows, half full of water from the recent rains, relieved +the situation, and the thirsty animals emptied their slightly alkaline +contents to the last obtainable drop. This second day found the plain +more barren, more desolate, its flat floor apparently interminable, and +the second night camp was not made until after dark, the wagons +corralling by the aid of candle lanterns slung from their rear axles. It +was a silent camp, lacking laughter and high-pitched voices; and the +begging water seekers, while not denied their drinks, were received with +a sullenness which was eloquent. One of them was moved to complain +querulously to Tom Boyd of the treatment he had received at one wagon, +and forthwith learned a few facts about himself and his kind. + +"Look hyar," drawled Tom in his best frontier dialect. "If I war runnin' +this caravan yer tongue would be hangin' out fer th' want o' a drink. +You war warned, fair an' squar, back on th' Arkansas, ter carry all th' +water ye could. But ye knew it all, jest like ye know it all every time +a better man gives ye an order. If it warn't fer yer kind th' Injuns +along th' trail would be friendly. Hyar, let me tell ye somethin': + +"We been follerin', day after day, a plain trail, so plain that even +_you_ could foller it. But thar was a time when thar warn't no trail, +but jest an unmarked plain, without a landmark, level as it is now, all +'round fur's th' eye could reach. Thar warn't much knowed about it years +ago, an' sometimes a caravan wandered 'round out hyar, its water gone +an' th' men an' animals slowly dyin' fer a drink. Some said go _this_ +way, some said to go _that_ way; others, _other_ ways. Nobody knowed +which war right, an' so they went every-which way, addin' mile to mile +in thar wanderin'. Then they blindly stumbled onter th' Cimarron, which +they had ter do if they follered thar compasses an' kept on goin' south; +an' when they got thar they found it dry! Do ye understand that? They +found th' river _dry_! Jest a river bed o' sand, mile after mile, dry as +a bone. + +"Which way should they go? It warn't a question _then_, o' headin' fer +Santa Fe; but o' headin' _any_ way a-tall ter git ter th' nearest water. +If they went down they was as bad off as if they went up, fer th' bed +war dry fer miles either way in a dry season. Sufferin'? Hell! you don't +know what sufferin' is! A few o' you fools air thirsty, but yer beggin' +gits ye water. Suppose thar warn't no water a-tall in th' hull caravan, +fer men, wimmin, children, or animals? Suppose ye war so thirsty that +you'd drink what ye found in th' innards o' some ol' buffalo yer war +lucky enough ter kill, an' near commit murder ter git furst chanct at +it? That war done onct. Don't ye let me hear ye bellerin' about bein' +thirsty! Suppose we all had done like you, back thar on th' Arkansas? +An' don't ye come ter _us_ fer water! If we had bar'ls o' it, we'd pour +it out under yer nose afore we'd give ye a mouthful! Yer larnin' some +lessons this hyar trip, but yer larnin' 'em too late. Go 'bout yer +business an' think things over. We're comin' ter bad Injun country. If +ye got airy sense a-tall in yer chuckle head ye'll mebby have a chanct +ter show it." + +Before noon on the third day, after crossing more broken country which +was cut up with many dry washes through which the wagons wallowed in +imminent danger of being wrecked, the caravan came to the Cimarron, and +found it dry. Cries of consternation broke out on all sides, and were +followed by dogmatic denials that it was the Cimarron. The arguments +waged hotly between those who were making their first trip and the more +experienced traders. Who ever heard of a dry river? This was only +another dry wash, wider and longer, but only a wash. The Cimarron lay +beyond. + +Here ensued the most serious of all the disagreements, for a large +number of the members of the caravans scoffed when told that by +following the plain wagon tracks they would soon reach the lower spring +of the Cimarron. How could the spring be found when this was not the +Cimarron River at all? They knew that when Woodson had been elected at +Council Grove that he was not fitted to take charge of the caravan; that +his officers were incompetent, and now they were sure of it. Anyone with +sense could see that this was no river. If it were a river, then the +prairie-dog mounds they had just passed were mountains. Here was a +situation which needed more than tact, for if the doubting minority was +allowed to follow their inclinations they might find a terrible death at +the end of their wanderings. Dogmatic and pugnacious, almost hysterical +in their repeated determination to go on and find the river, they must +be saved, by force if necessary, from themselves. They would not listen +to the plea that they go on a few miles and let the spring prove them to +be wrong; there was no spring to be found in a few miles if it was +located on the Cimarron. Woodson and others argued, begged, and at last +threatened. They pointed out that they were familiar with every foot of +the trail from one end to the other; that they had made the journey year +after year, spring and fall; that here was the deeply cut trail, +pointing out the way to water, where other wagons had rolled before +them, following the plain and unequivocal tracks. The debate was growing +noisier and more heated when Tom stepped forward and raised his hand. + +"Listen!" he shouted again and again, and at last was given a grudged +hearing. "Let's prove this question, for it's a mighty serious one," he +cried. "Last year, where th' trail hit th' Cimarron, which had some +water in it then, a team of mules, frantic from thirst, ran away with a +Dearborn carriage as the driver was getting out. When we came up with +them we found one of them with a broken leg, struggling in the wreckage +of the carriage. I have not been out of your sight all morning, and if I +tell you where to find that wrecked carriage, and you _do_ find it, +you'll know that I'm tellin' th' truth, an' that this is th' Cimarron. +Go along this bank, about four hundred yards, an' you'll find a +steep-walled ravine some thirty feet higher than th' bed of th' river. +At th' bottom of it, a hundred yards from th' river bank, you'll find +what's left of th' Dearborn. When you come back we'll show you how to +relieve your thirst and to get enough water to let you risk goin' on to +th' spring." + +Sneers and ridicule replied to him, but a skeptical crowd, led by the +man he had lectured the night before, followed his suggestion and soon +returned with the word that the wrecked carriage had been found just +where Tom had said it would be. The contentious became softened and made +up in sullenness what they lacked in pugnacity; for there are some who, +proven wrong, find cause for anger in the correction, their stubbornness +of such a quality that it seems to prefer to hold to an error and take +the penalties than to accept safety by admitting that they are wrong. + +In the meanwhile the experienced travelers had gone down into the river +bed and dug holes in the sand which, thanks to the recent rains, was a +masked reservoir and yielded all the water needed at a depth of two or +three feet. After a hard struggle with the thirsty animals to keep them +from stampeding for the water their nostrils scented, at last all had +been watered and the wagons formed for the noon camp. Humbled greenhorns +who had neglected the "water scrape" at the Arkansas were silently +digging holes along the river bed and filling every vessel they could +spare. They were making the acquaintance of a river of a kind they never +had seen before. + +Here they found a dry stretch, despite the heavy rains; had they now +gone down or up its bed they would have found alternating sections of +water and dry sand, and in the water sections they would have found a +current. Some of the traders maintained that its real bed was solid, +unfractured rock, many feet below the sand which covered it, which held +the water as in a pipe and let it follow its tendency to seek its level. +The deep sand blotted and hid the meager stream where the bottom was +farther below the sand's surface; but where the porous layer was not so +thick, the volume of water, being larger than that of the sand, +submerged the filling and flowed in plain sight. Some of the more +uncritical held that the water flowed with the periodicity of tides, +which like many other irrational suppositions, seemed to give the +required explanation of the river's peculiarities. There was no doubt, +however, about the porosity of its sandy bed, nor the amount of sand in +it, for even after the most severe and prolonged summer rainstorms, +which filled the river to overflowing, a few days sufficed to dry it up +again and restore its characteristics. + +Having full water casks again the hysteria had subsided and the caravan +set out toward the lower spring, which was reached just before +nightfall. Here they found two men comfortably camped, despite the fact +that they were in the country of their implacable foes. At first they +showed a poorly hidden alarm at the appearance of the wagons but, +finding that they aroused no especial interest, they made themselves a +part of the camp and began to get acquainted; but it was noticeable that +they chose the hunters and trappers in preference to the traders, and +carefully ignored the many Mexicans with the train. But no matter how +careful they were in their speech they could not hide their identity, +for the buttons on their torn and soiled clothing all showed the Lone +Star of Texas, and to certain of the plainsmen this insignia made them +cordially welcome. Among the Mexicans it made them just as cordially +hated. + +Tom Boyd espied them when the corral had been formed and invited them to +join him and Hank at supper. A few words between the Texans and the two +plainsmen established a close bond between them, and they became friends +the instant Tom mentioned the partner he had lost on the march of the +First Texan Expedition. Hank's careless reference to the treatment his +partner had given Armijo on the streets of Santa Fe caused them to look +carefully around and then, in low voices, tell the two plainsmen about +the events which recently had transpired between the Cimarron and the +Arkansas. + +"Th' greasers in this hyar train air plumb lucky," said one of the +Texans, who called himself Jed Burch. "Ain't that so, Buck?" + +Buck Flint nodded sourly. "They kin thank them d----d dragoons o' yourn, +friend," he answered. + +"How's that?" asked Tom. "An' what about th' fight we saw signs of, a +couple o' days back?" + +"It's all part of a long story," replied Jed, gloomily. "Reckon ye might +as well have th' hull of it, so ye'll know what's up, out hyar." He +looked around cautiously. "Don't want no d----d greasers larnin' it, +though. Who air these fellers comin' now?" + +"Good friends o' ourn," said Hank. "Couple o' hunters that hang out, +most o' th' time, at Bent's Fort." + +Jim and Zeb arrived, were introduced and vouched for, and the little +circle sat bunched together as the strangers explained some recent +history. + +"Ye see, boys," began Burch, "us Texans air pizen ag'in greasers, +'specially since Armijo treated McLeod's boys wuss nor dogs. So a passel +o' us got together this spring an' come up hyar ter git in a crack they +wouldn't fergit. Me an' Buck, hyar, was with th' first crowd, under +Warfield, an' we larned 'em a lesson up on th' Mora. Thar warn't more'n +a score of us, an' we raided that village, nigh under th' nose o' Santer +Fe, killed some o' th' greasers, didn't lose a man, an' run off every +hoss they had, ter keep 'em from follerin' us. But we got careless an' +one night th' danged greasers an' settlement Injuns come up ter us an' +stampeded all thar own hosses an' ourn, too, an' didn't give us a lick +at 'em. That put us afoot with all our stuff. Thar warn't nothin' we +could do, then, but burn our saddles an' what we couldn't carry, an' +hoof it straight fer Bent's. We was on U.S. soil thar, so Warfield +disbanded us an' turned us loose; but we knowed whar ter go, an' we +went. + +"Colonel Snively war ter be at a sartin place on th' Arkansas, an' he +war thar. We jined up with him an' went along this hyar trail, larnin' +that Armijo war a-lookin' fer us somewhar on it. Hell! He warn't +a-lookin' fer us: he had a powerful advance guard out feelin' th' way, +but _he_ warn't with it. We come up ter that party and cleaned it up, +nobody on our side gittin' more'n a scratch. But we couldn't git no news +about th' caravan that war due ter come along 'most any day, an' some o' +th' boys got discouraged an' went home. Th' rest o' us went back ter th' +Arkansas, campin' half a day's ride below th' Caches, whar we could keep +our eyes on th' old crossin' an' th' main trail at th' same time. An' we +hadn't been thar very long afore 'long comes th' caravan, full o' +greasers. But, hell: it war guarded by a couple hundred dragoons under +yer Captain Cook which kept us from hittin' it till it got acrost th' +river an' past th' sand-hills, whar U.S. troops dassn't go, seein' it's +Texas soil. + +"Everythin' would 'a' been all right if Snively hadn't got polite an' +went over ter visit Cook. They had a red-hot palaver, Cook sayin' he +warn't goin' ter escort a caravan till it was plumb inter danger an' +then stand by an' let it go on ter git wiped out. Snively told him we +warn't aimin' ter wipe it out, but only ter get th' greasers with it. +They had it powerful hard, I heard, an' Cook up an' says he's goin' ter +take our guns away from us if it cost him every man he had. Danged if he +didn't do it, too!" + +Flint was laughing heartily and broke in. "Wonder what he thought o' our +weapons?" he exulted. "Not one o' 'em that he got from _our_ bunch war +worth a dang." + +Burch grinned in turn. "Ye see, we had took th' guns belongin' ter +Armijo's scoutin' party, an' when Cook took up his collection, a lot o' +th' boys, hidin' thar own good weapons, sorrerfully hands over th' +danged _escopetas_ an' blunderbusses an' bows an' arrers o' th' +greasers. However, he disarmed us an' kept us thar till th' caravan got +such a big start thar warn't no earthly use o' goin' after it, thar not +bein' more'n sixty or seventy o' us that had good weapons. Some o' th' +boys struck out fer home, an' a couple o' score went with th' dragoons +back ter Missouri. Us that war left, about as many as went home, made +Warfield captain ag'in an' went after th' danged caravan, anyhow. We +follered it near ter Point o' Rocks before we gave it up. Nobody +reckoned thar war two caravans on th' trail this year, so Warfield an' +most o' th' boys went back ter Texas; but thar's considerable few o' us +roamin' 'round up hyar, dodgin' th' Comanches on a gamble o' gittin' in +a crack at some o' Armijo's sojers that might come scoutin' 'round ter +see if we has all went back. Anyhow, bein' so fur from home, an' +hankerin' fer a little huntin', we figgered that we might stay up hyar +till fall, or mebby all winter if we hung out at Bent's." + +"We made a big mistake, though," confessed Flint. "Ye see, a greaser +must 'a' got away from that fight an' took th' news ter Armijo. When we +passed Cold Spring, follerin' th' caravan, we come on his camp, an' it +war plumb covered with ridin' gear an' belongin's that none o' his brave +army had time ter collect proper. Some o' us that had ter burn our +saddles war ridin' bareback, but we got saddles thar. He must 'a' lit +out _pronto_ when he larned Texans war a-rampagin' along th' trail. From +th' signs he didn't even wait fer th' caravan he war goin' ter protect, +but jest went a-kiyotin' fer home." + +"He knew th' difference between starved an' betrayed Texans, an' Texans +that war fixed ter fight," growled Tom. "Go on: what was th' mistake?" + +"Wall, Warfield said that if we had made that vanguard surrender +peaceful, which they would 'a' done, we could 'a' captured every man, +kept th' news from Armijo, an' larned jest whar ter find him. He would +'a' been waitin' fer his scoutin' party, an' some mornin' about daylight +he would 'a' found a scoutin' party--from Texas, an' mad an' mean as +rattlers. It don't allus pay ter let yer tempers git th' best o' ye, an' +make ye jump afore ye look. We'd 'a' ruther got Armijo than th' whole +cussed advance guard, an' th' rest o' his army, too." + +"With Salezar," muttered Tom. + +Burch jumped. "Aye!" he snarled. "With Salezar! Fer them two I'd 'a' +been in favor o' lettin' all th' rest go!" + +"What you boys goin' ter do now?" asked Hank. + +"Fool 'round up hyar, dodgin' war-parties that air too big ter lick," +answered Flint. "We been scoutin' up th' river, an' our friends air on a +scout back in th' hills, tryin' ter locate th' nearest Comanche village. +We cleaned out one on th' way up, back on th' Washita. We're aimin' ter +run a big buffaler hunt as soon as we locates th' hostiles." + +"How many are there of you?" asked Tom, thoughtfully. + +"'Bout a dozen or fifteen: why?" asked Burch. + +"Not a very big party to be playin' tag with th' Comanches in thar own +country," Tom replied. + +With his foot Burch pushed a stick back into the fire and then glanced +around the little circle. "Wonder what th' _white_ men o' this wagon +train would do if we rode up an' asked fer th' greasers in it ter be +turned over ter us?" he asked. + +Tom smiled. "Fight as long as we could pull trigger," he answered. "We +ain't betrayin' no members o' th' caravan. Lord knows we don't like +greasers, an' we _do_ feel strong for Texas; but we'd be plain skunks if +we didn't stick with our feller travelers." + +"An' what could we say when we got inter Santer Fe, if we dared go +thar?" asked Hank. + +Burch nodded, shrugged his shoulders, and changed the subject to that of +the unfortunate First Texan Expedition and the terrible sufferings it +underwent, a subject at that time very prominent in all Texan hearts. It +did not take them long to judge accurately the real feelings of their +hosts and to learn that their sympathies were all for Texas; but even +with this knowledge they did not again refer to anything connected with +their presence along the trail; instead, they were careful to create the +impression that their little party intended to start almost immediately +northwest across the Cimarron desert for Bent's Fort, and from there to +scour the plains for buffalo skins. They even asked about the Bayou +Salade and its contiguous mountain "parks" as a place to hunt and trap +during the coming winter. After dark they said their good-byes and left +the encampment, to the vast relief of the Mexicans with the train. And +that night and the next, the Mexicans who chanced to be on watch were +the most alert of all the guards. + +After their guests had gone the four friends sat in silence for awhile, +reviewing what they had learned, and then Hank spoke up. + +"Reckon we better tell Woodson that thar won't be no greaser troops +waitin' fer us this trip?" he asked. + +Tom was about to nod, but changed his mind and quickly placed his hand +on his partner's shoulder. "No," he said slowly. "I'm beginnin' ter see +through th' holes in th' ladder! Not a word, boys, ter _anybody_! +Pedro's lie about thar bein' no guard ter meet us this year ain't a lie +no more; but he don't know it, an' he ain't goin' ter know it! Meantime, +we'll keep our ears an' eyes open, an' be ready ter jump like cats. I +got a suspicion!" + +"I got a bran' new one," chuckled Hank. "Hurrah for Texas!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VALLEY OF THE CIMARRON + + +Because of the next stretch to certain water, a matter of about +thirty-five miles, another very early start was made after the +surrounding country had been searched by the plainsmen for signs of +Indians. Although later in the season than usual for a caravan to cover +this part of the route, the dreaded dry stretch along the usually empty +river bed was found broken here and there by shallow pools and advantage +was taken of these to soak the wooden rims of some of the older and more +faulty wagon wheels. One trader with a wagon which never should have +left Missouri had been put to great trouble to keep the tires on his two +front wheels and had "borrowed" about all the wire and hoop-iron his +friends felt disposed to give him. He had driven so many pieces of iron +between the felloes and the tires that daylight could be seen between +the two; and on topping a little hill between two ravines near the river +bank one of the tires slipped off and went rolling and bounding down the +slope onto the dry river bed. Amid roars of laughter the column stopped +until he had recovered it and re-wedged it onto the wheel, and at the +next nooning stop he drove the wagon into a trickle of water running +down the middle of the river bed and spent most of his time backing and +pulling to get every part of the wheels soaked. + +A strong body of scouts which had pushed on ahead of the column +returned shortly after the noon camp had been left, and reported that +about ten miles farther on a section of the river several hundred yards +long was full of water. Not being able to make the Middle Spring that +day, this wet section of the river was decided upon for the night camp. +A score of mounted men were sent on ahead to scour the country for signs +of Indians, but became so hungry for the numerous kinds of wild fruits +and berries along the sides of the ravines, that they did their work +poorly and did not reach the proposed camp site much before the caravan +got there. + +The country was cut by a maze of ravines and gullies and studded with +small hills, little pastures of excellent grass nestling between them. +As the wagons filed down a narrow road onto a pasture fronting on the +Cimarron a plainsman, who had pushed on ahead of the caravan because he +doubted the seriousness and intelligence of the scouting party, was seen +dashing down to the farther bank of the river and splashing across it +without checking the speed of his horse. + +One look at him was enough for Woodson, and the sharp blast of the bugle +cut the air. Wagoners whipped their tired teams into the best speed they +could give and the clatter and screeching of the rumbling wagons filled +the air as they raced around into the circular formation. The scout +barely had left the river and the wagons still were forming when over +the crest of a hill across the stream appeared a mass of horsemen, their +lances standing like drunken pickets against the sky. No need to ask +what tribe they belonged to, for the hint conveyed by their lances soon +was endorsed by their fantastic two-color blankets, one half red and the +other half blue. Most of them wore, in addition to the regular attire +of the plains Indians, a leather jacket, and from the heels of their +moccasins trailed tassels, another mark of their tribe. + +These warriors, magnificent specimens of manhood and superb horsemen, +appeared to be gigantic as they paused and spread out along the crest of +the hill, boldly outlined against the bright sky behind them. They +watched the running circle of wagons stop by jerks as vehicle after +vehicle crowded against the one ahead of it and came to a stand, the +teams inside the corral. They rode slowly down the hill, their numbers +constantly growing, as a line of defenders moved out from the encampment +to interpose itself between the camp and the Comanche warriors; and as +the line stopped to wait for the cannons to get into position the red +enemy charged with a bedlam of whoops and yells. The two quick roars of +the cannons and the hurtling solid shot, which raised dust-puffs high up +on the hill, checked them and they spread out into two thin lines of +racing horsemen running toward both sides of the encampment. + +Woodson, glad that the cannoneers had missed in their panicky aim, +ordered the defenders to fall back to the wagons, which they were only +too glad to do; but they did not obey his command to cease firing, and +sent their hastily aimed balls in the general direction of the enemy. No +harm was done by these, not only because of the poor aim but also +because the racing Indians were as yet well out of rifle shot and were +hanging over on the far side of their mounts. + +Tom ran to the frantically working cannoneers and threw himself among +them without regard to how he handled them, shouting for them not to +fire until Woodson gave the word, and then to load with musket balls and +fire as fast and true as they could. Franklin joined him, his face as +black as a thunder cloud, and made threats they knew he would carry out +if the instructions were not obeyed. + +The racing line drew nearer and nearer, those of the warriors who had +guns discharging them into the air. It looked like a desperate fight was +only a few seconds away when Hank yelled his discovery. Over the crest +of the same hill appeared the women and children of the tribe, their +dogs dragging burdens on their small travoises and the horses pulling +the dragging lodgepoles loaded down with the possessions of their +owners. This meant peace, for if war was intended, all but the warriors +would have been sent away. Some of the more quickwitted of the plainsmen +and traders waved their hats at the debouching village across the river, +and Woodson, with Tom and Franklin at his side, held up his hand and +walked toward the slowing line. An arrow suddenly quivered in the ground +almost under his feet and he stopped, raising both hands. An Indian +dashed back across the river, where he berated a group of non-combatants +and waved them toward the top of the hill. The traveling village +instantly became a confusion of quick movement and climbed the hill and +dipped over its crest much quicker than it had appeared. + +Woodson swore under his breath. "Reckon we got ter fight, boys. Look +sharp an' fall back ter th' caravan. Drop th' first brave that lifts bow +an' arrer!" He glanced back to see how far they had to go and glimpsed a +dozen men under Hank and Zeb coming to their aid. He raised his hand to +them and they instantly dropped to their knees, their rifles leaping to +their shoulders. "Now," he grated. "We're bein' covered; turn an' run!" +As the three men reached the covering party they checked themselves, +joined it, faced the savages, and the entire party fell slowly back to +the wagons. + +"Funny they didn't send in more'n that one arrer," growled Woodson, +thoroughly puzzled. "These hyar ain't Pawnee hoss-stealers; thar +fightin' men. _Knock down that gun!_" he snapped as a tenderfoot rested +a powerful rifle across a wagon wheel. The man beside the ambitious +Indian fighter struck it aside and the ball went into the ground. "Th' +next man as pulls trigger till I says fer him to is goin' to be d----d +sorry!" cried the captain, drawing his pistol. + +The running line, moving back farther under the threat of the two +cannons, gradually stopped, facing the waiting defenders. It seemed like +the calm that precedes a storm. Then down the hill across the river came +a small group of savages more outrageously decked out than any seen so +far. + +"Th' chiefs," growled Woodson. "Hope we git out o' this without a fight. +Even th' Comanches ain't usually anxious ter git inter a clawin' match +with Americans, though they air th' best o' th' prairie tribes." + +"They do about what they please with th' Mexicans," replied Tom; "but +they've larned that Americans air a different breed, an' have better +guns. But some o' thar raids inter Texas have puffed 'em up. I don't +like thar village climbin' back over that hill." + +"If it's ter be peace, I'd a cussed sight ruther have it over th' hill +than planted somewhar close ter us; they'd over-run th' camp an' +friction would be shore ter grow. While mebby they can't steal as slick +as th' Pawnees, they kin do it good enough ter make us cross-eyed +watchin' 'em. Some tenderfoot shore will ketch one of 'em stealin' his +belongin's an' start a fight thar an' then, with a hull passel o' 'em +inside th' corral. Wall, we'll soon find out what's goin' ter come of +it; they've jined th' line." + +The white defenders eagerly watched the pow-wow being held to the +southwest of the encampment, their rifles balanced for quick handling; +then they slowly relaxed and some rested their weapons on the ground. +The consulting group of warriors split and from it, riding with slow +dignity toward the wagons, came two chiefs and two lesser warriors. They +held up their hands when within rifle shot and stopped. Woodson, Tom, +Franklin, and Haviland, mounted this time, rode with the same slow +dignity out to meet them. Franklin could speak their tongue well enough +to make himself understood, and Woodson and Tom knew the universal sign +language well enough to express themselves in it. As they left the camp +they caught a glimpse of another band of warriors riding around the +upper end of the hill and roughly estimated the combined force to be +close to five hundred. Here was good reason to be as tactful as +possible. When within speaking distance of the Comanche envoys they drew +up and the two groups eyed each other in silence for several minutes. + +"Our village on the Washita is no more," said a chief who had enough +long hair to supply any hirsute deficiency of a dozen men and not suffer +by it. "Its ashes are blown by the winds and its smoke brings tears to +the eyes of our squaws and children. Our winter maize is gone and our +storehouses lie about the ground. White Buffalo and his braves were +hunting the buffalo beyond the Cimarron. Their old men and their squaws +and children were with them. Some of my young men have just returned and +brought us this news. What have the white men to say of this?" + +"Our hearts are heavy for our friends the Comanches," answered Woodson. +"There are many tribes of white men, as there are many tribes of +Indians. There are the Americanos, the Mexicanos, the Englise, and the +Tejanos. The Americans come from the North and the East along their +great trail, with goods to trade and with friendship for the Comanches. +The Mexicanos would not dare to burn a Comanche village; but with the +Tejanos are not the Comanches at war? And we have seen Tejanos near the +trail. We have seen where they defeated Armijo's soldiers, almost within +sight of the Arkansas River. Cannot White Buffalo read the signs on the +earth? Our trail is plain for many days to the east, for all to see. Has +he seen our wagon tracks to the Washita? Are his young men blind? We are +many and strong and have thunder guns, but we do not fight except to +protect ourselves and our goods. We are traders." + +"We are warriors!" exclaimed the chief. "We also are many and strong, +and our lances are short that our courage may be long. White Buffalo has +listened. He believes that the white chief speaks with a single tongue. +His warriors want the white man's guns and powder; medicine guns that +shoot like the clapping of hands. Such have the Tejanos. He has skins +and meat and _mulos_." + +"The medicine guns are Tejano medicine," replied Woodson. "We have only +such as I see in the hands of some of our friends, the Comanches. Powder +and lead we have little, for we have come far and killed much game; blue +and red cloth we have, medicine glasses, beads, awls, knives, tobacco, +and firewater we have much of. Our mules are strong and we need no +more." He looked shrewdly at a much-bedecked Indian at the chief's side. +"We have presents for the Comanche Medicine Man that only his eyes may +see." + +The medicine man's face did not change a muscle but there came a gleam +to his eyes that Woodson noted. + +"The Comanches are not like the Pawnees or Cheyennes to kill their eyes +and ears with firewater," retorted the chief. "We are not Pawnee dogs +that we must hide from ourselves and see things that are not. Our hair +is long, that those may take it who can. I have spoken." + +There was some further talk in which was arranged a visit from the +Comanche chief; the bartering price of mules, skins, and meat, as was +the custom of this tribe; a long-winded exchange of compliments and +assurances of love and good will, in the latter both sides making plenty +of reservations. + +When Woodson and his companions returned to the encampment they went +among the members of the caravan with explicit instructions, hoping by +the use of tact and common sense to avert friction with their expected +visitors. Small articles were put away and the wagon covers tightly +drawn to minimize the opportunities of the Indians for theft. + +The night passed quietly and the doubled guard apparently was wasted. +Shortly after daylight the opposite hill suddenly swarmed with dashing +warriors, whose horsemanship was a revelation to some of the tenderfeet. +Following the warriors came the non-combatants of the tribe, pouring +down the slope in noisy confusion. Woodson swore under his breath as he +saw the moving village enter the shallow waters of the river to camp on +the same side with the caravan, for it seemed that his flowery +assurances of love and esteem had been taken at their face value; but he +was too wise to credit this, knowing that Indians were quick to take +advantage of any excuse that furthered their ends. The closer together +the two camps were the more easily could the Indians over-run the +corralled traders. + +Reaching the encampment's side of the stream the lodges were erected +with most praiseworthy speed, laid out in rows, and the work finished in +a remarkably short time. The conical lodges averaged more than a dozen +feet in diameter and some of them, notably that of the chief, were +somewhere near twice that size. + +In the middle of the morning the chiefs and the more important warriors +paid their visit to the corral and were at once put in good spirits by a +salute from the cannons, a passing of the red-stone pipes, and by +receiving presents of tobacco and trade goods. While they sat on the +ground before Woodson's wagon and smoked, the medicine man seemed +restless and finally arose to wander about. He bumped into Tom Boyd, who +had been waiting to see him alone, and was quickly led to Franklin's +wagon where the owner, hiding his laughter, was waiting. It is well to +have the good will of the chiefs, but it is better also to have that of +the medicine man; and wily Hank Marshall never overlooked that end of it +when on a trading expedition among the Indians. He had let Woodson into +his secret before the parley of the day before, and now his scheme was +about to bear fruit. + +Franklin made some mysterious passes over a little pile of goods which +was covered with a gaudy red cloth on which had been fastened some beads +and tinsel; and as he did so, both Tom and Hank knelt and bowed their +heads. Franklin stepped back as if fearful of instant destruction, and +then turned to the medicine man, who had overlooked nothing, with an +expression of reverent awe on his face. + +For the next few minutes Franklin did very well, considering that he +knew very little of what he was talking about, but he managed to convey +the information that under the red cloth was great medicine, found near +the "Thunderer's Nest," not far from the great and sacred red pipestone +quarry of the far north. The mention of this Mecca of the Indians, +sacred in almost every system of Indian mythology, made a great +impression on the medicine man and it was all he could do to keep his +avaricious fingers off the cloth and wait until Franklin's discourse was +finished. The orator wound up almost in a whisper. + +"Here is a sour water that has the power to foretell peace or war," he +declaimed, tragically. "There are two powders, found by the chief of the +Hurons, under the very nest of the Thunder Bird. They look alike, yet +they are different. One has no taste and if it is put into some of the +sour water the water sleeps and tells of peace; but if the other, which +has a taste, is put in the medicine water, the water boils and cries for +war. It is powerful medicine and always works." + +The eyes of the red fakir gleamed, for with him often lay the decision +as to peace or war, and in this respect his power was greater even than +that of a chief. After a short demonstration with the water, to which +had been added a few drops of acid, the two powders, one of which was +soda, were tested out. The medicine man slipped his presents under his +robe, placed his fingers on his lips and strode away. When the next +Comanche war-council was held he would be a dominating figure, and the +fame of his medicine would spread far and wide over the Indian country. + +"Got him, body an' soul!" chuckled Franklin, rubbing his hands. "Did ye +see his mean ol' eyes near pop out when she fizzed? He saw all th' rest +o' th' stuff an' he won't rest till he gits it all; an' he won't git it +all till his tribe or us has left. He plumb likes th' fizz combination, +an' mebby would want to try it out hyar an' now. Thar won't be no +trouble with _these_ Injuns this trip." + +"An' that thar black sand ye gave him," laughed Hank, leaning back +against a wagon wheel, "that looks like powder, so he kin make his spell +over real powder, slip th' sand in its place, an' show how his medicine +will fix th' powder of thar enemies so it won't touch off! Did ye see +th' grin on his leather face, when he savvied that? He's a wise ol' +fakir, _he_ is!" + +Tom grinned at Franklin. "Hank, here, has got th' medicine men o' th' +Piegan Blackfeet eatin' out o' his hand. Every time th' Crows git after +him too danged hot he heads fer th' Blackfoot country. They only +follered him thar onct. What all did ye give 'em, Hank?" + +"Oh, lots o' little things," chuckled Hank, reminiscently. "Th' medicine +men o' th' Blackfeet air th' greatest in th' world; thar ain't no +others kin come within a mile o' 'em, thanks ter me an' a chemist I know +back in St. Louie. Th' other traders allus git what I leave." + +When the important Indian visitors left there was quite a little +ceremony, and the camp was quiet until after the noon meal. Early in the +afternoon, according to the agreement with the chief and the medicine +man, the Indians visited the encampment in squads, and at no time was +there more than thirty or forty savages in the encampment at once. +Instead of the usual attempted stampede of the animals at night all was +peaceful; and instead of having to remain for two or three days in camp, +at all times in danger of a change in the mood of the savages, the +caravan was permitted to leave on the following morning, which miracle +threw Woodson into more or less of a daze. As the last wagon rounded a +hillock several miles from the camp site a mounted Comanche rode out of +the brush and went along the column until he espied Franklin; and a few +moments later he rode into the brush again, a bulging red cloth bundle +stowed under his highly ornamented robe. + +But there was more than the desire to trade, the professed friendship +and the bribery of the medicine man that operated for peace in the minds +of the Comanches. Never so early in the history of the trail had they +attacked any caravan as large as this one and got the best of the fight. +In all the early years of the trail the white men killed in such +encounters under such conditions, could be counted on the fingers of one +hand; while the Indian losses had been considerable. With all their +vaunted courage the Comanches early had learned the difference between +Americans and Mexicans, and most of their attempts against large +caravans had been more for the purpose of stampeding the animals than +for fighting, and their efforts mostly had been "full of sound and +fury," like Macbeth's idiot's tale, and signified nothing. Still, the +caravan breathed easier as mile after mile took it away from that +encampment; but their escape was not regarded so seriously as to make +them pass Middle Spring, where good water always could be found, and +here they corralled. + +Tom and his friends had grown more alert since leaving the Arkansas, and +without showing it had kept a close watch over Pedro and his companions. +The actions of these and of a few Americans, Franklin among the latter, +seemed to merit scrutiny. A subtle change was taking place in them. +Franklin spent more of his time near Tom and Hank, and Pedro and some of +the Mexicans were showing a veiled elation tinged with anxiety. Wherever +Tom went he was watched, and if he joined the advance guard, or the rear +guard, or the flanking parties, Franklin was certain to show up. He +seemed to have taken a belated but strong fancy to the young plainsman. +When Hank and Tom took the packs from the backs of their mules at night +not a move they made was missed; and they soon learned that quite a few +of the Mexicans were sleeping in the wagons of friends during the +morning traveling. + +It was here at Middle Spring where Tom and Jim Ogden staged a serious +disagreement, which spread to one between Hank Marshall and Zeb +Houghton, and resulted in the two sets of partners becoming estranged. +When questioned about it in indirect ways by Franklin, Ogden sullenly +said that he could handle his troubles without the aid of others, and +_would_ handle them "danged quick" if a certain plainsman didn't look +out. Zeb was not so cautious and his remarks, vague as they were, were +plain enough to bring fleeting smiles to the faces of Pedro and his +friends. + +The grass was better here than at any place since the Arkansas had been +left and as some of the animals were beginning to show unmistakable +signs of the long journey, it was decided to remain here another night +and give them a chance to recuperate a little. The news was hailed +joyfully and numerous hunting parties were arranged at the fires the +first night. Woodson called for volunteers to form a strong day guard +for the animals, which he wanted driven from the camp to graze over the +best grass, and he asked for another strong guard to watch the corral, +since Comanches, Pawnee Picts, Kiowas, and even more northern tribes out +on horse-stealing expeditions could be looked for without unduly +straining the imagination. Arapahoes, Utes, and even Cheyennes were not +strangers to the valley of the Cimarron, and once in a while Apache +raiders paid it flying visits. + +Woodson made the round of the fires, trying to discourage the formation +of so many small hunting parties while the caravan was corralled in such +broken and dangerous country, and succeeded in reducing the numbers of +the hunters about half and in consolidating them into two large parties, +capable of offering some sort of resistance to an Indian attack. One of +these he put under the command of Hank, to that person's great disgust, +for Hank had planned to go on a hunt with his partner, and to join Ogden +and Houghton when well away from the camp. Tom was to remain with the +wagons; Ogden was to have charge of the other hunting party, and +Houghton and Franklin were to stay near the grazing herd. + +The fires dimmed here and there as their builders forsook them for +blankets; others glowed brilliantly, among them the fire of Tom and +Hank. The former had said good night to Joe Cooper and Patience and was +walking toward his fire when Pedro silently joined him and went along +with him. Hank was off entertaining a party of tenderfeet with tales of +miraculous adventures in the mountains, and after lying to the best of +his ability for two hours, and hardly being questioned, he described a +wonderful country lying east of Henry's Fork of the Snake River; south +of the Snow Mountains; north of Jackson's Lake and west of the Shoshones +Mountains. It lay along the Yellowstone River and the headwaters of the +Stinking Water, and it contained all manner of natural wonders, which he +described earnestly and graphically, to bursts of laughter. The more +earnest he became the more his auditors roared and finally he got to his +feet, glared around the circle, declared he was not going to "eddicate +airy passel o' danged fools," and stalked away in high dudgeon, +muttering fiercely. Reaching his own fire he threw himself down by it +and glared at the glowing embers as if he held them responsible. + +Tom nudged Pedro. "Somebody ask ye fer a left-hand wipin' stick, Hank?" +he asked. + +"Thar a passel o' fools!" snorted Hank. "If hoss sense war ten paces +wide an' ten miles long in every man, ye couldn't collect enough o' it +in th' whole danged party fer ter make an ear tab fer a buffaler gnat!" + +"Tellin' 'em about that thar river ye saw that couldn't find no way +outer th' valley, an' finally had ter flow up over a mounting?" + +"Ye mean them up-side-down water falls?" queried Hank, grinning. "Yes, +an' some o' 'em come clost ter swallerin' it. Why, I sot thar an' filled +'em plumb ter th' ears with lies an' they didn't hardly wink an eye. +Then I told 'em o' that valley on th' Yallerstun, whar th' Injuns won't +go because they figger it's th' home o' th' Devil. An' th' more I told +'em about it, th' more th' danged fools laughed! I'd like ter hold 'em +over one o' them thar water-squirts, or push 'em down into th' bilin' +mud pots! Swallered th' lies, dang 'em, an' spit out th' truth!" + +Tom roared and after a moment looked curiously at his partner. "I +thought ye said you'd never tell nobody about that country ag'in?" + +"Oh, I felt so danged sorry fer thar ignorance that I reckoned I'd +eddicate 'em, th' dumb fools! If I had a ox an' it didn't know more'n +them all put together, danged if I wouldn't shoot it!" He sliced off a +pipeful of tobacco and pulled an ember from the fire. "What you an' +Pedro been hatchin' out?" + +"Nothin', yit," answered Tom; "but I would like ter hear a little more +'bout that thar roundabout trail inter Santa Fe." He looked at Pedro. +"How fur away from hyar does it begin?" + +"Not so ver' far, seņor," answered the Mexican. "Thees way from thee +Upper Spr-ring, where thee soldats are used to meet thee car-ravan. We +come to eet soon. We should leeve thees camp tomor-row night." + +"What's th' use o' that when ye said th' soldiers ain't goin' ter meet +us this year?" demanded Tom. + +"Why don't they meet th' trains whar they oughter, 'stead o' waitin' +till they git past th' Injun dangers?" demanded Hank with some feeling. + +"Does not thee seņor know?" chuckled Pedro. "Eet ees not for protec' +thee car-ravan that they meet eet. Eet ees that no man may leave thee +tr-rail an' smuggle hees goods past thee customs. For what does Manuel +Armijo care for protec' thee traders? Eef he deed, would he not meet +them at thee Arkansas? Eet ees only for thee customs that he sends thee +soldats. To get away fr-rom theese we mus' tak thee other tr-rail befo' +eet ees too late." + +"That's all right fer other years," growled Tom; "but if they ain't +goin' ter meet us _this_ time we kin stick ter th' trail an' leave it a +lot closer ter Santer Fe." + +Pedro was doing his best to play safe from all angles. If the troops +tried to take Tom Boyd from the caravan, or show that he was a prisoner, +a great deal of trouble might come out of it, for these Americans were +devils for sticking together. If that fear were groundless, then Tom +Boyd and his trapper friends, on sight of the troops, might cut and run; +and if forced to stand and fight they could be counted on to give a good +account of themselves against the poorer arms of their Mexican enemies; +and somewhere in the hills he thought there were Texans and he knew them +well enough to know that they would only be too glad to take a hand in +any fight against Mexicans if they learned of it in time. At first he +had been content to get Tom Boyd to the Upper Spring or to Cold Spring, +only a few miles farther on, and there turn his responsibility over to +the commander of the troops. If he could get them to slip away from +their friends and be captured out of sight and hearing of the caravan +it would suit him much better; and if he could coax them to take their +goods with them, he and his friends could divide the spoils and slip the +plunder past the customs officers. The caravan was now within fifty +miles of Cold Spring and he must make up his mind and act quickly. + +"Eet ees then you weesh to pay thee char-rges?" the Mexican asked, +raising his eyebrows. + +"No!" growled Hank. "They air a robbery, plain an' simple." + +"No!" said Tom, who was giving but little thought to the customs duties, +but a great deal to his own personal freedom. He did not want to meet +any kind of officers, customs or otherwise. He would have jumped at a +secret trail into the settlements had he not known so much about Pedro. +"At th' same time I ain't hankerin' fer ter leave th' caravan so soon. +We're nigh three hundred miles from Sante Fe, an' thar ain't no way we +kin go that'll cut off ten miles. This wagon road runs nigh as straight +as th' crow flies. What about grass fer th' mules, an' water?" + +"Ah," breathed Pedro. "We weel not go to Santa Fe, seņor; we go near +Taos, less than two hundred mile away from here. Along thee Ocate +Cr-reek I haf fr-riends who know ver' well thee mountains. They weel tak +us over them. How can thee seņores sell their goods onless by ways that +ar-re made? Weeth us we haf men that know that tr-rail. We weel send one +befor-re to thee Ocate, an' follow heem fast." + +Tom studied the fire for a few moments and then looked up at his guest. +"We want ter think this over, Pedro," he said. "You figger what per cent +o' th' customs savings you want fer yer share, an' we'll decide +tomorrow night. Hank, here, wants ter go ter Bent's an' reckons we kin +git a good price thar fer our goods. Let you know then. Good night." + +After Pedro had painted the picture of the innocent-looking loads of +faggots and sheepskins, hay and produce, towering over the backs of the +nearly hidden pack mules as they toiled through the canon and over the +rough trail leading from the Valley of Taos into Santa Fe, their loads +passing the customs house without drawing even a careless glance and +then, by many turnings, safely arriving at various destinations with +their smuggled goods; after he had described the care and foresight of +his friends and their trustworthiness, and made many knowing bows and +grimaces, he smilingly departed and left the partners to themselves. + +Knowing that they were being watched they idled before the fire, +careless now of their store of wood, of which plenty was at hand, and +talked at random; but through the droning of their careless words many +times there could be heard the name "Bent's Fort," which Hank mentioned +with affectionate inflections. It seemed that he very strongly preferred +to go to that great trading post and rendezvous of hunters and trappers, +where old friends would be met and new ones made. Tom held out for Santa +Fe, but did not show much enthusiasm. Finally they rolled up in their +blankets, feet toward the fire and heads close together and simulated +sleep. Half an hour later they were holding a whispered conversation +which was pitched so low they barely could hear each other. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +TEXAN SCOUTS + + +The day broke clear and the usual excitement and bustle of the camp was +increased by the eager activities of the two hunting parties. After the +morning meal the animals were driven some distance from the camp and the +herd guards began their day's vigil. Tom placed the outposts and +returned to report to the captain, and then added that he had something +of a very confidential nature to tell him, but did not want to be seen +talking too long with him. + +Woodson reflected a moment. "All right; I'll come after ye in a few +minutes an' ask ye ter go huntin' with me. 'Twon't be onusual if we +ketch th' fever, too." + +Tom nodded and went over to Cooper's wagons to pay his morning's +respects, and to his chagrin found that Patience had gone for a short +ride with Doctor Whiting and his friends. + +"Sorry to miss her, Uncle Joe," he said. "Things are going to happen +fast for me from now on. I may leave the caravan tonight. About two +days' more travel and we'll be south of Bent's. Hank and I don't want to +lose our merchandise, we can't take it with us, and we need to turn it +into money. How much can you carry from here on?" + +Uncle Joe scratched his head. "The two big wagons can take five +hundred-weight more apiece, and this wagon can stand near eight hundred, +seein' that it ain't carryin' much more than our personal belongings. +Don't worry, Tom; if I can't handle it all, Alonzo and Enoch can take +th' balance. Them greasers showing their cards?" + +"It's like this: According to those Texans we met, no troops are going +to meet us this trip. Their advance guard got thrashed and Armijo and +the main body turned tail at Cold Spring and fled back to Santa Fe. I +could go with the caravan miles farther and probably be safe; but if +Pedro gets a messenger away secretly there is no telling what may +happen. If I stay with the caravan and put up a fight it might end in +embroiling a lot of the boys and certainly would make trouble for them +if the train pushed on to Santa Fe, and it's got to push on. I won't +surrender meekly. So, you see, I'll have to strike out." + +Uncle Joe nodded. "If it wasn't for Patience, and my brother in Santa +Fe, I'd strike out with you. Goin' to Bent's?" + +"Bent's nothing!" retorted Tom. "I'm going to Santa Fe, but I'm going a +way of my own." + +"It's suicide, Tom," warned his friend. "Better let me take in your +stuff, an' meet us here on the way back. Patience won't spoil; an' when +she learns how much you're wanted by Armijo she'll worry herself sick if +she knows you are in th' city. Don't you do it!" + +Tom scowled at a break in the hills and in his mind's eye he could see +her riding gaily with his tenderfoot rivals. "Reckon she won't fall +away," he growled. "Anyhow, there's no telling; an' there's no reason +why she should know anything. I told her I was goin' to Santa Fe, an' +I'm going!" + +Uncle Joe was about to retort but thought better of it and smiled +instead. "Oh, these jealous lovers!" he chuckled. "Blind as bats! Who do +you know there, in case I want to get word to you?" + +Tom swiftly named three men and told where they could be found, his +companion nodding sharply at the mention of two of them. + +"Good!" exclaimed the trader. "Throw your packs into my wagons an' I'll +see to stowin' 'em." + +"No," replied Tom. "That's got to be done when th' camp's asleep. I'm +supposed to be takin' 'em with me. + +"But these Mexicans'll trail you, an' get you when you're asleep," +objected Uncle Joe. + +Tom laughed and shook his head, and turned to face Woodson, who was +walking toward them. "Th' captain an' I am goin' huntin'. See you +later." + +"Git yer hoss, Boyd," called the captain. "I'm goin' fer mine now. How +air ye, Mr. Cooper?" + +"Never felt better in my life, captain. We all owe you a vote of thanks, +an' I'll see that you get it." + +"Thar ain't a man livin' as kin git a vote o' thanks fer me out o' this +caravan," laughed Woodson, his eyes twinkling. "But I ain't got no call +ter kick: I ain't had nigh th' trouble I figgered on. Jest th' same, +I'll be glad when we meet up with th' greaser troops at Cold Spring. I +aim to leave ye thar an' go on ahead an' fix things in th' city." + +Uncle Joe caught himself in time. "That's where we bust up?" + +Woodson nodded. "Thar ain't no organization from thar in. Don't need it, +with th' sojers. All us proprietors that ain't got reg'lar connections +in th' city will be leavin' from Cold Spring on." + +"Any danger from th' Injuns, leavin' that way?" + +"Oh, we slip out at night," answered Woodson. "Thar ain't much danger +from any big bands. Got ter do it; customs officers air like axles; they +work better arter they air greased. I aim ter leave two waggins behind +th' noon arter we git to th' Upper Spring, an' save five hundred apiece +on 'em. Th' other six kin make it from thar with th' extry loads, an' +th' extry animals to help pull 'em." He looked toward the wagons of +Alonzo and Enoch, where Tom had tarried on his way back. "Thar's a fine, +upstandin' young man; I've had my eye on him ever since we left th' +Grove." + +"He is; an' anythin' he tells you is gospel," said Uncle Joe. + +They saw the two traders waving their arms and soon Tom hurried up. + +"Alonzo an' Enoch would like to go with us, only thar hosses air with +th' herd," he said. + +"Then we'll go afoot," declared Woodson. "I ain't hankerin' so much fer +a hunt as I air ter git away from these danged waggins fer a spell. I'm +sick o' th' sight o' 'em. Better come along, Mr. Cooper." + +"That depends on how fur yer goin'; this young scamp will walk me off my +feet." + +"Oh, jest a-ways around th' hills; dassn't go too fur, on account of +airy Injuns that may be hangin' 'round." + +In a few moments the little group had left the encampment behind and out +of sight and Woodson, waving the others ahead, fell back to Tom's side. + +"Hyar we air, with nobody ter listen. What ye want ter tell me?" + +To the captain's growing astonishment Tom rapidly sketched his +conversation with the two Texans, his affair with the despotic New +Mexican governor and what it now meant to him. Then he told of his +determination to leave the caravan some night soon, perhaps on this +night. + +"Wall, dang my eyes!" exclaimed Woodson at the conclusion of the +narrative. "Good fer them Texans! Young man, which hand did ye hit him +with? That un? Wall, I'll jest shake it, fer luck." He thought a moment. +"Ye air lucky, Boyd; north o' here, acrost th' headwaters o' this river, +an' a couple more streams, which might be dry now, ye'll hit th' +Picketwire, that's allus wet. If ye find th' little cricks dry, head +more westward an' ye'll strike th' Picketwire quicker. It'll take ye +nigh inter sight o' Bent's; an' thar ain't no finer men walkin' than +William an' Charles Bent. Hate ter lose ye, Boyd; but thar ain't no two +ways 'bout it; ye got ter go, or get skinned alive." + +"I'm not goin' ter Bent's, captain," said Tom quietly. "I'll be in Santa +Fe soon after you git thar. Hank knows them mountains like you know this +trail. When I'm missed if ye'll throw 'em off my track I'll not fergit +it." He smiled grimly. "If I war goin' ter Bent's they could foller, an' +be damned to 'em. I'd like nothin' better than have 'em chase us +through this kind o' country." + +Woodson chuckled and then grew thoughtful. "Boyd, them Texans air goin' +ter make trouble fer us, shore as shootin'. It'll be bad fer you, fer +every American in these settlements is goin' ter be watched purty clost. +Better go ter Bent's." + +"Nope; Hank an' me air headin' fer Turley's, up on Arroyo Hondo. Hank +knows him well. Hyar come th' others. I've told you an' Cooper, an' +that's enough. You fellers ain't turnin' back so soon, air ye?" he +called. "Ye don't call this a hunt? Whar's yer meat?" + +"Whar's yourn?" countered Alonzo, grinning. "I ate so many berries I got +cramps." + +"Us, too," laughed Uncle Joe. "My feet air tender, ridin' so long. We're +goin' back." + +"Might as well jine ye, then," said Woodson. "Comin', Boyd?" + +"Not fer awhile," answered Tom, pushing on. + +He made his way along the lower levels, reveling in the solitude and the +surroundings, and his keen eyes missed nothing. A mile from camp he +suddenly stopped and carefully parted the thick berry bushes. In the +soft soil were the prints of many horses, most of them shod. Cautiously +he followed the tracks and in a few moments came to the edge of a small, +heavily grassed clearing, so well hidden by the brush and the thick +growth of the trees along the encircling, steep-faced hills that its +presence hardly would be suspected. Closely cropped circles, each +centered by the hole made by a picket pin, told him the story; and when +he had located the sand-covered site of the fire, whose ashes and sticks +carefully had been removed, an imprint in the soft clay brought a smile +to his face. + +"Following us close," he muttered. "Lord help any Mexicans that wander +away from the wagons. Nearer twenty than what they said." He slipped +along the edge of the pasture and found where the party had left the +little ravine. Following the trail he soon came to another matted growth +of underbrush, and then he heard the barely audible stamp of a horse. +Creeping forward he wormed his way through the greener brush and finally +peered through an opening among the stems and branches. A dozen Texans +were lolling on the floor of the ravine, and he knew that the others +were doing sentry duty. + +A shadow passed him and he froze, and then relaxed as Burch came into +sight. It was needful that he make no mistake in how he made his +presence known, for a careless hail might draw a volley. + +Burch passed him treading softly and when the man's back was turned to +him Tom called out in a low voice. "Burch! Don't shoot!" + +"Boyd!" exclaimed the sentry. "Cussed if ye ain't a good un, gittin' +whar ye air an' me not knowin' it. What ye doin' hyar?" + +"Scoutin' fer Injuns. Glad ter see ye." + +Burch stepped to the edge of the ravine. "Friend o' mine comin' down, +name o' Boyd." He turned. "Go down an' meet th' boys; thar honin' fer to +shake han's with th' kiyote that hit Armijo. Be with ye soon." + +Tom descended and shook hands with the smiling Texans and in a few +moments was at home in the camp. He noticed that they all had the Colt +revolving rifles which his friend Jarvis, back in St. Louis, had +condemned. Each man wore two pistols of the same make, and most of them +carried heavy skinning knives inside their boot legs. + +"I heard tell them rifles warn't o' much account," he observed. + +"Wall, they ain't as good as they might be," confessed a lanky Texan, +"if thar used careless an' git too hot. A Hawken will out-shoot 'em; but +we mostly fight on hossback, an' like ter git purty clost. Take them +greasers we run inter; we didn't pull trigger till we war a hundred +paces away, an' by th' time we'd emptied th' rifles an' pulled pistols +th' danged fight war over. Th' Injuns don't like 'em worth a cuss. +That's a right smart rifle ye got thar, friend." + +Tom passed it around and it was duly admired. Then the guard was changed +and Burch and Flint appeared. + +"You fellers air stickin' purty clost ter us," observed Tom. + +"But not as clost as th' greasers air," laughed Flint. "Danged if we kin +ketch one o' 'em away from th' waggins." + +"That's jest as well," replied Tom. "More'n half of 'em hate Armijo as +much as we do. If ye pick 'em off careless yer bound ter make mistakes. +Thar's one gang that's fer him strong, an' 'twon't be long before they +split from th' others an' stand out so thar won't be no mistakin' 'em. +They'll be trailin' me an' Hank in a bunch. We're aimin' ter slip away +an' head fer Bent's some place between hyar an' the Upper Spring." + +"Thought ye was goin' ter Santa Fe," said Burch in surprise. "If yer +goin' ter Bent's ye should 'a' left th' train at th' Crossin'." + +"I'm goin' ter Santa Fe," replied Tom, "but thar's some folks that air +anxious ter see me. If they larn I'm thar I'll likely be stood ag'in a +wall; an' Armijo'll add my ears ter his c'llection. We got ter throw 'em +off our trail." He smiled grimly around the circle. "I don't want +Salezar ter larn I'm in this part o' the country, fer I want ter git my +paws on him." + +At the mention of that name the eyes of the leader flamed with +flickering fires and he leaned slightly forward, unable to conceal his +eagerness. "Whar ye aimin' ter leave th' caravan, friend?" he asked. + +"Don't know jest yet," answered Tom, "but I know th' way we'll head. Ye +know whar th' waggin road crossed McNees Crick? Wall, plumb north o' +that a crick empties inter th' Cimarron. Thar's a dry gully jines th' +crick at its mouth, makin' a V. Th' gully war made by th' buffalers +wearin' away th' top soil, which let the rains cut inter th' sand +beneath an' wash it away. That buffaler trail is th' biggest ye ever +saw, an' it's worn down so deep that every rain pours a stream along it. +It's cut a gully back fer a hundred paces to whar th' buffaler wallers +have turned a little pasture inter a swamp when it rains. Clost to its +upper end is a hill, whar my partner built a cache about ten years back. +He says th' pit could be easy seen when he war thar last." + +"We're aimin' ter head fer Bent's as soon as th' caravan gits too fur +along," said the leader, who not long since had returned from the +lepers' hospital, used as a prison in his case, in Mexico City. His +bitterness had seared him to the soul and Tom thought it strange that he +so easily would forego the desire for revenge, the flames of which +intermittently flickered in his eyes. "I've been wonderin' about th' +best an' straightest way to Bent's, with water on it. Yer pardner says +that's th' best trail?" + +"Yes," replied Tom. "An' it's th' best fer us in another way. Thar's +springs in th' river bed up thar an' fer near a mile th' river's allus +wet. Ye see, we got ter throw th' greasers off our trail, which will be +too danged plain, with two hosses an' eight mules. I'd swap th' eight +mules fer two hosses, seein' as how we're fixed, but I dassn't make th' +play, fer everybody in th' caravan would larn of it. Come ter think of +it, thar'll be more hosses an' mules; couple o' friends air goin' with +us. We change our packs tonight, buildin' 'em up with buffaler rugs we +traded th' Comanches fer, in case we part with our goods an' leave th' +caravan afterward. Th' two extra hosses would be enough ter carry our +grub an' supplies, an' they'd let us make better time than th' mules +would." + +The Texans nodded and one of them glanced at his leader while he spoke +to Tom. "Reckon if ye got them mules ter Bent's ye could sell 'em, or +trade 'em fer a couple o' hosses?" He hesitated and then said: "We're +runnin' powerful short o' powder an' lead." + +"Th' caravan bein' so clost ter Santa Fe, it's got more o' both than it +needs," replied Tom. "If we kin git ye some we'll leave it behind th' +hill at that old cache o' Hanks. If ye go that way, look fer it." He +grinned. "Hank an' me air aimin' ter carry some in one of th' buffaler +rug packs. Thar's two fifty-pound pigs o' lead fastened to each o' th' +cannon carriages, an' they won't have no use fer more than one ter each +gun. + +"Wish I war goin' with ye," growled the Texan leader, his eyes flaming +again. "I'm hankerin' ter git Salezar's ears, fer I saw th' polecat +c'llect Texan ears on th' road from San Miguel ter 'Paso, ter keep th' +tally o' his prisoners straight. He strung 'em on a wire, d--n him!" His +face became livid with passion, and murder raised its grisly visage in +his eyes. + +Tom paled. "Yes," he said. "He took th' ears o' a friend o' mine that +war sick an' weak with hunger an' cold an' exhaustion, an' couldn't keep +up. He had traded most o' his clothes fer short rides on th' mules o' +th' guards. They killed him near Valencia, an' his ears war took ter +account fer him." + +"Valencia!" muttered the leader, pacing back and forth like a panther. +"I remember him! Oh, Christ!" he cried, and then got hold of himself. +"Boyd, I'd give everythin' I own ter git my han's on that Salezar; an' +go ter hell with a smile on my face!" Then he stiffened and reached +convulsively toward his holster, for the unmistakable twang of a +bowstring sounded from the bushes above his head. The Texans leaped to +their arms, but Tom stopped them with a cry. + +"Wait, boys! That's Hank--my pardner!" He looked up toward the bushes. +"Ye damned fool! Show yerself!" + +"Didn't hardly know if 'twar safe," chuckled Hank, his head slowly +arising above the tangle of leaves and vines, a dozen paces from the +place where the bowstring had twanged. + +"Whar's that huntin' party ye war nursin'?" quickly demanded Tom. + +"Took 'em 'round on t'other side o' th' camp, ast 'em ter hold my hoss, +an' left 'em thar," chuckled the plainsman, making his way down the +hillside with caution and silence that had become habitual. + +"Boys," said Tom, "hyar's a 'dopted son o' th' Piegan tribe o' th' +Blackfeet, name o' Hank Marshall, an' he's more Injun than any brave in +th' tribe. Anyhow, I'd ruther have a Injun on my trail than him. He's +goin' with me ter Santa Fe; an' Salezar's shore goin' ter need all his +friends!" + +"Put her thar!" said the Texan leader. "If yer lookin' fer help I'll +jine ye, cussed if I won't!" + +"Don't want no help that's strange ter Taos an' Santer Fe," laughed +Hank. "We got two Green River boys, an' don't need no more; don't hardly +need them, but Zeb wants his ha'r, an' I wants his ears, ears bein' his +pet joke." He looked at the leader. "You boys run inter some 'Rapahoes? +Thar's nigh onter a dozen projectin' 'round these hills. Stumbled acrost +thar camp a-ways back. If I'd had one o' them newfangled rifles ye got +so many of, danged if I wouldn't 'a' trailed 'em." He grinned +expansively. "They cleaned out a cache o' mine, three year back, up on +Big Sandy Crick, an' I ain't paid 'em fer it yit." + +"We shore do need powder an' lead," said the leader thoughtfully. He +turned to one of his men. "Sam, reckon we kin part with pore Williams' +rifle?" + +"Seein' as we got three more extrys, reckon we kin," answered Sam. "It +oughter be worth a keg o' powder an' a couple o' pigs o' lead." He +walked over to where their supplies were piled and returned with a heavy +Colt repeating rifle. "Hyar, Hank," he said, handing it to the hunter. +"Be keerful ter keep th' powder from spillin' down 'round th' cap end; +an' don't empty her too fast after th' first few shots. Hyar's th' mold, +an' some caps. Git a Injun ter pay fer pore Williams. She's full loaded, +so look out." + +The rifle was sheathed in a saddle scabbard and Hank took it, looked +from it to his own, weighing them both. "Heavy as all git out," he +remarked. "Wall, 'twon't weigh nothin' when it's slung ter a saddle. +Might be handy purty soon. Much obliged, friends. How we goin' ter git +th' powder an' lead ter ye?" + +"I've arranged fer that," said Tom, picking up his rifle. "Wall, good +luck, boys. Remember us at Bent's if ye git thar." + +"Reckon it's you boys that need th' good luck," grimly replied the +leader. He watched the two visitors until they were lost to sight in the +brush and then turned to his men, his eyes flaming again. "Break camp, +boys; we're crossin' th' river close by, ter circle back ag'in farther +up." + +Tom and Hank, moving silently back toward the encampment, had covered +about half of the distance when they heard a sudden burst of shots, +yells, and the thunder of hoofs. Running up the side of a little hill +they peered over the top and flung themselves down. Less than two +hundred paces away a little party of tenderfeet, with Patience Cooper in +the center, fought frightened horses as a band of nearly a dozen Indians +came charging straight for them across the little clearing. As they +looked one of the tenderfeet's horse went down, spilling its rider, and +throwing the group into still greater confusion. + +"'Rapahoes!" snorted Hank, and his rifle spoke. "_One_ fer my cache!" + +The double-barreled rifle of his companion roared twice and another +warrior plunged from his horse, while the third fought madly to keep his +seat, but his weakening grasp loosened and he rolled over and over +across the grass. Tom dropped the empty rifle and started to rise, his +hand leaping to the Colt revolver at his belt; but Hank, who had slipped +the newly-acquired repeating rifle from its sheath, poked it into his +friend's hand and fell to re-loading his Hawken. "She's yore gal. Give +'em hell!" he grunted. + +The deadly and unexpected attack from the little hilltop created a +diversion which for the moment turned the thoughts of the savages from +the tenderfeet in the open, and the charging line split to pass the +forlorn group and give its full attention to the real menace; but as it +hesitated the heavy, regular crashes of the revolving rifle rolled from +the hill, its lead always selecting the warrior nearest to the +panic-stricken group. Here an Indian went down, there a horse; and with +the cry "_Tejanos!_" the rest of the savage band wheeled and dashed over +the route they had come. The last warrior to reach the edge of the +pasture was for one instant silhouetted against the sky on the edge of a +ravine, and at that moment Hank's rifle cracked. Throwing both arms up +over his head, he turned a backward flip from the horse and sprawled +inertly in a currant bush. Re-loading as quickly as they could while on +the run the two plainsmen hastened to the group, and Tom, pulling Dr. +Whiting from his horse, was within an inch of strangling him when +Patience's hands on his wrists checked him. + +"Six trusty knights!" sneered the enraged plainsman, hurling the doctor +from him. "I _said_ you were six flashes. Ask a woman to go riding with +you in a country as broken as this, and as over-run with Indians!" He +took a step forward, seething with rage, and ran his eyes over the +speechless tenderfeet. "Git back to camp, all of you! Miss Cooper goes +with us!" Poised, tense, and enraged he watched them go and did not know +that Hank had run to the little hilltop for the double-barreled rifle +until the old hunter returned with it, loaded its two barrels, capped +them and threw the weapon under his arm. At that moment a burst of +firing sounded from the north and Hank cocked his head. + +"Sounds like them Colt rifles," he remarked, and then kicked himself +figuratively, for at his words, his two companions, almost in each +other's arms, started, stiffened, and stepped apart. Seeing that the +damage already was done, Hank placidly continued. "Is thar another +passel o' Texans loose 'round hyar, or has our friends hit th' trail +already?" + +"Yes," said Tom, quivering like a leaf. + +Patience closed her eyes. "Yes," she sighed. + +Hank scratched his head and frowned, very much puzzled. "Shucks! thar +ain't no doubt 'bout it, a-tall. Course it is--an' I'm a danged old +fool!" + +"You're one of the four best men I ever knew," said Patience, resting +her hand on his arm. + +Hank felt of the disgraceful, stubby beard on his face, scowled at his +blackened hands, and furtively brushed at a bloodstain on his shirt. +Then he wheeled abruptly and strode off to look over the victims of the +little affray. When he turned again he saw Patience and Tom going toward +camp, Patience on her horse and Tom striding at her side. Fixing the +strap to his own rifle he slung the weapon over his shoulder and, with +the double-barreled weapon balanced expertly in his hands, slowly +followed after to act as a badly needed protector to them both. + +Back in camp Tom handed Patience into her uncle's care, looked at her in +a way she would remember to the end of her days, and hastened on to +report to the captain of the caravan. When he reached Woodson he found +Hank there before him, laughingly recounting the fight. As Tom came up +Hank stepped back and slipped away, heading straight for the excited +group of tenderfeet at the other end of the encampment, and roughly +pushed in among them. + +"Look hyar, ye sick pups," he blurted. "My pardner dassn't thrash any o' +ye, or he'll mebby lose his gal. Anybody hyar wantin' ter take advantage +o' an old man? Huh! Then open yer dumb ears ter this: If I ketch airy +one o' ye hangin' 'round Cooper's waggins, or even sayin' 'how-de-do' +to that gal, I'll git ye if I has ter chase ye all the way back ter +Missoury!" He spat at the doctor's feet, turned his back and rambled +over to where his trade goods were piled. On the way he met Zeb, who +scowled at him. + +Hank pulled some black mops out of his pocket, showed them, and shoved +them back again. + +"Hell!" said Zeb, enviously. "Whar ye git 'em?" + +"Found one on a currant bush," chuckled Hank, and went on again. + +Zeb placed his fists on his hips and scowled in earnest. "I didn't know +what that shootin' war, with all th' hunters runnin' 'round. Dang him! +He allus _did_ have more luck ner brains!" + +Up at the captain's wagon Woodson nodded as his companion finished +speaking. "I reckon ye kin have 'most anythin' in this hyar camp, Boyd. +Two bars o' lead off'n th' cannon carriages, an' a keg o' powder? Shore, +I'll put th' powder in Cooper's little waggin, an' ye kin help yerself +ter th' lead when ye git th' time." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE PASSING OF PEDRO + + +After supper that night Hank and Tom sat around their fire and soon were +joined by Pedro, who paid them effusive compliments about their defeat +of the Arapahoes. They squirmed under his heavy flattery and finally, in +desperation, spoke of the secret trail to Taos. His face beamed in the +firelight and he leaned eagerly forward. + +"You have decide?" he asked. + +"Yes," answered Tom. "Whar we goin' ter meet, and what time?" + +"Ah?" breathed Pedro. "To that have I geeve _mucho_ thought. Eet should +be ear-rly, so we be far away by thee coming of thee sun. Ees eet not +so?" + +"Naw," growled Hank. "Folks air not sleepin' sound enough then. Nobody's +goin' ter foller us. Thar'll be lots o' 'em leavin' camp at night from +now on, tryin' ter beat each other ter th' customs fellers. Two hours +afore dawn is time enough. But we got lots o' time ter figger that; we +won't be ter th' Upper Spring fer two more days. Time enough then ter +talk about it." + +"But, eet ees tonight!" exclaimed Pedro. "_Madre de Dios!_ You teenk I +mean near thee Upper Spreeng? No! No!" + +"Mebby not; but that's whar _we_ mean," said Tom. "Think we're goin' +pokin' along through this Injun country fer two nights an' a day by +ourselves? Th' caravan gits ter Willer Bar tomorrow night, an' camps at +th' Upper Spring, or Cold Spring, th' next night. That puts us near +fifty miles further on in th' protection of th' caravan." + +"No! No!" argued Pedro in despair. "Eet ees too _mucho_ reesk!" + +"Of what?" demanded Tom, in surprise. + +"Eet may be that Armijo send _soldats_ to meet thee tr-rain, lak other +times. Seņores, eet mus' be tonight! Tonight eet mus' be!" He looked +around suddenly. "But where ar-re thee _cargas_, thee packs? I do not +see them. What ees eet you do?" + +"We put 'em outside th' corral," chuckled Tom knowingly, "so folks will +git used ter seeing 'em thar. Tomorrow night we'll do th' same, an' do +it ag'in at th' Upper Spring. Somebody shore would see us if we had ter +pack 'em here an' sneak 'em through th' camp. Ye should tell yer friends +ter put thar packs outside th' waggins, too. How we goin' ter git +through th' guards around th' camp?" + +"By my fr-riends," answered Pedro. "But eet may be too late at Cold +Spreeng!" he expostulated. "Eef thee _soldats_ ar-re there--ah, seņores! +Eet ees ver' bad, Cold Spreeng!" + +"We ain't botherin' 'bout that," said Tom reassuringly. "Hank kin scout +on ahead o' us, an' if thar camped up thar we kin drop out o' th' train +behind any bend on th' way, an' take ter th' brush." + +Pedro begged and pleaded, but to no avail. He still was arguing when his +two companions rolled up in their blankets and settled down to go to +sleep. Sadly he walked away, hiding his anger until well out of their +sight, and then hastened to his own fire and sent three of his +compatriots to watch the sleeping pair. They had their watch for +nothing, and while they doggedly kept their eyes on the two plainsmen, +Uncle Joe and his two wagoners were busy on the other side of the camp, +stowing merchandise in the wagons and making false packs. This they +found easy to do without calling upon many buffalo rugs, for the goods +had been packed in light boxes, over which had been thrown skins and +canvas. By taking out the contents of the boxes and putting the +containers back into their original wrappings the shapes of the packs +did not change. The pigs of lead, a keg of powder and bundles of stones +were wrapped in pieces of old skins to give weight to the packs to keep +them from flopping at every step of the mules. They did not start to +work until Zeb Houghton and Jim Ogden returned from their tour of guard +duty and took up another kind of guard duty near the wagons; and long +before daylight awakened the encampment the work was done and no one the +wiser. Alonzo Webb and Enoch Birdsall had taken care of the packs +belonging to Ogden and Houghton and everything was in shape for quick +action. + +On the march again after an early breakfast the caravan plodded along +the trail to reach Willow Bar in good time for the next night camp. As +the wagons rolled along the road following the course of the Cimarron, +Uncle Joe and Patience dropped back to the rear guard, where Hank +Marshall scowled at Jim Ogden, but refrained from open hostilities. +Hank was glad to see them and entertained them mile after mile with +accounts of his life and experiences in the great West. At times his +imagination set a hard pace for his vocabulary, but the latter managed +to keep up. The men exchanged tobacco off and on and no one gave a +second thought to what they were doing. When Uncle Joe and Patience rode +forward again as the train drew near to the noon camping place, Uncle +Joe was poorer and lighter by the loss of a goodly sum in minted gold, +while Hank was richer and heavier. The balance was obtainable in Santa +Fe in the warehouse of a mutual friend. + +The wagons hardly had left the noon camp when a heavy rain storm burst +upon them, with a blast of cold air that quickly turned the rain into +driving sheets of hail. These storms were common along the Cimarron and +at times raged for two or three days. The animals became frantic with +fear and pain, and the train was a scene of great confusion from one end +to the other. Alternate downpours of rain, sleet, and heavy hailstones +continued all the rest of the day and the encampment at Willow Bar was +one of sullenness and discontent. The wind rose during the early part of +the night and sent the rain driving into the wagons through every crack +and crevice, and the flapping and slapping and booming of wagon covers, +added to the fury of the wind and the swish of the downpour, filled the +night with a tumult of noise. The guards around the camp either crawled +under skins or crept back to their wagons, not able to see three feet in +the blackness. + +Tom and Hank had taken refuge under a great Pittsburg wagon owned by +Haviland and had fastened buffalo rugs to its sides to shed some of the +rain. As soon as darkness set in and Pedro's spies found that they could +not see an arm's length from them and were drenched and half frozen by +the steady downpour, they fled from their posts and sought refuge from +the storm. It took very little to convince them that the men they were +to watch would stay where they were until dawn or later, and they did +not let Pedro know of their deflection. + +"Nine, ten, eleven," muttered the first of two men leading packmules as +they felt their way from wagon to wagon. "This oughter be Haviland's, +Zeb. Yep, I kin feel thar skin walls." He bent down and raised the lower +edge of a skin. "Hank! Tom!" + +"All right, Jim," came the low answer, and the two partners, bundled in +skins until they looked like nothing human, crawled from their snug +shelter and stood up, their one and constant thought being for the +covers of the hammers of their heavy rifles. Hank pushed ahead and the +night swallowed up the little party. + +Uncle Joe raised himself on one elbow and peered through a small opening +in the canvas at the rear end of his first huge wagon, and got a faceful +of cold rain before he could close the opening again. He had done this a +dozen times since dark. Muttering sleepily he rolled up in his blankets +and rugs and dozed again, squirming down into the warm bed as vague +thoughts sped through his mind of what his friends were going to face. + +Suddenly the soft whinny of a horse sounded squarely under him, and he +bounced from the blankets and crept to a crack where the canvas was +nailed to the tailboard of the wagon. "Hello!" he called. "Hello!" + +A low voice answered him and he shivered as a trickle of cold rain +rolled down his face. "Thought you had given it up till tomorrow night. +This is a hell of a night, boys, to go wandering off from the camp. Sure +you won't get lost among th' hills?" He chuckled at the reply and +shivered again. "Sure I'll tell her Bent's. Yes. No, she won't. What? +Look here, young man; she's plumb cured of tenderfeet. Yes, I remember +everything. All right; good luck, boys. God knows you'll need it!" He +listened for a moment, heard no sounds of movement, and called again. +"What's th' matter?" There came no answer and he crept back to his +blankets, his teeth chattering, and lay awake the rest of the night, +worrying. + +Between the wagons and the road the little pack train waited, kept +together by soft bird calls instead of by sight. A plaintive, +disheartened snipe whistled close by and was answered in kind. Hank +almost bumped into Ogden before he saw him. They both looked like +drowned rats, the water slipping from the buffalo hair and pouring from +them in little rills. + +"Ain't a guard in sight, or ruther feelin', fifty feet each side o' th' +road," Hank reported. "Bet every blasted one o' 'em is back in camp. +Mules all tied together? Everybody hyar? All right. Off we go." + +All night long the little _atejo_ slopped down the streaming road, kept +to it by the uncanny instinct and the oft repeated cheeping and +twittering of the adopted son of the Blackfeet, who could perfectly +imitate any night bird he ever had heard; and he had heard them all. +Horses whinnied, mules brayed, wolves and coyotes howled, foxes +squalled, chipmunks scolded, squirrels chattered and several other +animals performed solos in the dark at the head of the little pack +train, to be answered from the rear. Anyone unfortunate enough to be +camped at the edge of the trail would have thought himself surrounded by +a menagerie. + +With the first sullen sign of dawn Tom pushed on ahead, reconnoitered +the Upper Spring, found it deserted and went on, riding some hundreds of +yards from, but parallel to, the trail and soon came to Cold Spring. +Here he saw quantities of camp and riding gear, abandoned firelocks, +personal belongings, and other things "forgotten" by the brave Armijo +and his army in their precipitate retreat from the Texans, while the +latter were still one hundred and fifty miles away. Scouting in the +vicinity for awhile he rode back and met the little _atejo_, which had +been plodding steadily on at its pace of three miles an hour; and all +the urging of which the men were capable would not increase that speed. + +At the Upper Spring, which poured into a ravine and flowed toward the +Cimarron a few miles to the north, the wagon road drew farther from the +river and ran toward the Canadian; and here the little party left it to +turn and twist over and around hills, ravines, pastures and woods, and +then slopped down the middle of a storm-swollen rivulet. They turned up +one of its small feeders and followed it for half a mile and then, +crossing a little divide, struck another small brook and splashed down +it until they came to the Cimarron. Here they threw into the river the +useless contents of the false packs, distributed the supplies among the +mules, and pushed on again upstream along the bank. + +They now were well up on the headwaters of the river and its width was +negligible, although its storm-fed torrent boiled and seethed and gave +to it a false fierceness. Their doubling and the hiding of their trail +in the streams had not been done so much for the purpose of throwing the +Mexicans off their track, as to make their pursuers think they were +trying to throw them off. They knew that the Mexicans, upon losing the +tracks, would strike straight for the old and now almost abandoned +Indian trail for Bent's Fort. + +"We got about a ten-hour start on 'em," growled Tom, "but they'll cut +that down quick, once they git goin'. Reckon I'll lay back a-ways an' +slow 'em up if they git hyar too soon." + +Zeb and Jim wheeled their horses and without a word accompanied him to +the rear. + +Hank, leading the bell mule, pushed on, looking for the site of his old +cache and for a good place to cross the swollen stream, and he soon +stopped at the water's edge and howled like a wolf. In a few minutes his +companions came up, reported no Mexicans in sight, and unpacked the more +perishable supplies. These they carried across to the other bank, their +horses swimming strongly and soon the mules were ready to follow. Tom +led off, entering the stream with the picket rope of the bell mule +fastened to his saddle, and with his weapons, powder horn and "possible" +sack high above his head. His horse breasted the current strongly, +quartering against it, and the bell mule followed. After her, with a +slight show of hesitation, came the others, the three remaining hunters +bringing up the rear. + +As the _atejo_ formed again and started forward Hank hung back, peering +into the stunted trees and brush on the other side of the stream. + +"Come on, Hank," said Tom. "What ye lookin' fer? They warn't in sight." + +"I war sorta hankerin' fer 'em ter show up," growled Hank with deep +regret. "That's plumb center range from hyar, over thar. Wouldn't mind +takin' a couple o' cracks at 'em, out hyar by ourselves, us four. Allus +hate ter turn my tail ter yaller-bellies like them varmints. I hate 'em +next ter Crows!" He slowly turned his horse and fell in behind the last +mule, glancing back sorrowfully. Then he looked ahead. "Thar's my ol' +cache," he chuckled. + +Before them on the right was an eroded hill with steep sides, its flat +top covered with a thick mass of brush, berry bushes and scrub timber, +and on its right was a swamp, filled with pools and rank with +vegetation. The dry wash marking the end of the great buffalo trail was +dry no longer, but poured out a roiled, yellow-brown stream into the +dirty waters of the Cimarron. + +Rounding the hill they stopped and exchanged grins, for in a little +horseshoe hollow two horses, with pack saddles on their backs, stopped +their grazing, pulled to the end of their picket-ropes, and looked +inquiringly at the invaders. + +"Thar's jest no understandin' th' ways o' Providence," chuckled Hank as +he dismounted. "Hyar we been a-wishin' an' a-wishin' fer a couple o' +hosses to take th' place o' these cold-'lasses mules, an' danged if hyar +they ain't, saddles an' all, right under our noses." + +While he went along the back trail on foot to a point from where he +could see the river, his companions became busy. They pooled their +supplies and packed them securely on the Providence-provided horses, put +the rest on their own animals, picketed the mules and removed the bell +from the old mare, tossing it aside so its warning tinkle would be +stilled. Signalling Hank, in a few minutes they were on their way again +along the faint and in many places totally effaced trail leading over +the wastes to the distant trading post on the Arkansas. Coming to a +rainwater rivulet Hank sent them westward down its middle while he rode +splashingly upstream. Soon coming to a tangle of brush he forced his +horse to take a few steps around it on the bank, returned to the stream +and then, holding squarely to its middle, picked his way through the +tangle and rode back to rejoin his friends, having left behind him a +sign of his upward passing. In case Providence went to sleep and took no +more interest in his affairs, he had the satisfaction of knowing that he +had done what he could to hide their trail. + +He found his friends waiting for him and he shook his head as he joined +them. "Danged if I like this hyar hidin'," he growled, coming back to +his pet grievance. "I most gen'rally 'd ruther do it myself." + +"But it ain't a question o' fighting," retorted Tom. "We got ter hide +our trail from now on in case some greaser gits away, like they did from +them Texans back nigh th' Crossin', an' takes th' news in ter th' +settlements that we didn't go ter Bent's after we left th' wagon road. +Ye'll git all th' danged fightin' yer lookin' fer afore ye puts Santa Fe +behind ye--an' I'm bettin' we'll all show our trails a hull lot worse +afore we git through ter Bent's. Come on; Turley's ranch is a long ways +off. If yer itchin' ter try that repeatin' rifle ye'll shore git th' +chance ter, later." + +Hank grinned guiltily and while he was not thoroughly convinced of the +soundness of their flight, so far as his outward appearances showed, he +grunted a little but pushed on and joined his partner. In a few minutes +he grinned again. + +"I ain't never had th' chanct ter try fer six plumb-centers without +takin' th' rifle from my shoulder," he remarked. "Jest wait till I take +this hyar Colt up in th' Crow country!" He chuckled with anticipated +pleasures and then glanced sidewise at his partner. "Say, Tom," he said, +reminiscently; "who air th' three other best men yer gal was thinkin' +of, back thar in that little clearin'?" + +"What you mean?" demanded Tom, whirling in his saddle, his face flushing +under its tan. "An' she ain't my gal, neither." + +Hank chirped and twittered a bit. "Then who's is she?" + +"Don't know; but she won't like bein' called mine. Ye oughtn't call her +that." + +"Not even atween us two?" + +"Not never, a-tall." + +"That so?" muttered Hank, a vague plan presenting itself to his mind, to +be considered and used later. "Huh! I must be gittin' old an' +worthless," he mourned. "I been readin' signs fer more'n thirty year, +an' I ain't never read none that war airy plainer, arter them thievin' +'Rapahoes turned tail an' lit out. Anyhow, I reckon mebby yer safe if ye +keep on _thinkin'_ that she's yer gal." He scratched his chin. "But who +war th' other three?" + +"Why, I do remember her saying something like that," confessed Tom +slowly, tingling as his memory hurled the whole scene before him. +"Reckon she meant Uncle Joe an' her father." + +"That accounts fer two o' 'em," said Hank, nodding heavily; "but who in +tarnation is th' third?" + +"Don't know," grunted Tom. + +"Huh! Bet he's that stuck-up, no-'count doctor feller. Yeah; that's who +it is." He glanced slyly at his frowning friend. "Told ye I war gettin' +old an' worthless. Gosh! an' she's goin' all th' rest o' th' way ter +Santer Fe with him!" He slapped his horse and growled in mock anxiety. +"We better git a-goin' an' not loaf like we air. Santer Fe's a long ways +off!" + +Two miles further on they turned up a little branch of the stream and +Hank, stopping his horse, threw up his hand. "Listen!" he cried. + +Four pairs of keen ears sifted the noises of the intermittent wind and +three pairs of eyes turned to regard their companion. + +"What ye reckon ye heard?" curiously asked Zeb. + +"I'd take my oath I heard rifle shots--a little bust o' 'em," replied +Hank. "Thar ain't no questionin' it; I _am_ gittin' old. Come along; +we'll keep ter th' water fur's we kin, anyhow." + + * * * * * + +Back at the encampment of the caravan dawn found the animals stampeded, +and considerable time elapsed before they were collected and before the +absence of Tom and his friends was noticed. Then, with many +maledictions, Pedro rallied his friends and set out along the wagon +road, following a trail easily seen notwithstanding the rain which had +beaten at the telltale tracks all night. Mile after mile unrolled behind +them, saturated with Spanish curses; miles covered with all the vengeful +ferocity and eagerness of Apaches. The score of Mexicans were +well-armed, having spent the winter in the Missouri settlements and +procured the best weapons to be had there. The Upper Spring came near +and was put behind in a shower of hoof-thrown mud, and without pause +they followed the tracks leading into the rough country, like hounds +unleashed. They were five to one, and these odds were deemed sufficient +in a sudden night attack. There would be satisfaction, glory, and +profits for them all. The Governor had demanded Tom Boyd's ears, on him +if possible, without him if they could be obtained in no other way; the +Governor was powerful and would reward loyal and zealous service. They +followed the trail of the _atejo_ around hills, through ravines, and +past woods, an advance guard of three men feeling the way. Then the +tracks ceased at the side of a creek; but they did not pause. Choosing +the straightest practical route to the Cimarron at the beginning of the +old Indian trail running northward to the Arkansas, they kept on. At +last they saw the muddy flood of the river and as they reached its banks +and read them at a glance they sent up an exultant shout. Holding their +weapons and powder well above the backs of their swimming horses they +reached the further side and took up the trail again. + +Pedro dashed forward and flung up an arm and as his followers stopped in +answer he cheered them with a Spanish oration, in which Pedro played no +minor part. "Pedro never loses!" he boasted. "Before noon we will be on +the heels of the gringo dogs and our scouts will find their camp in the +night. Before another sun rises in the heavens we will have their ears +at our belts and their trade goods on the way to the Valley of Taos! +Forward, my braves! Forward, my warriors! Pedro leads you to glory!" + +They snapped forward in their saddles as the spurs went home, their +rifles at the ready, their advance guard steadily forging ahead, and +thundered along the tracks of the fleeing _atejo_. Rounding the little +hill with its frowsy cap of brush and scrub timber, they received a +stunning surprise; for dropping down the steep bank as if from the sky +charged twenty-odd vengeful Texans, their repeating rifles cracking like +the roll of a drum. Pedro's exultant face became a sickly yellow, his +burning eyes in an instant changed to glass, and his boasting words +were slashed across by the death rattle in his throat. Volley after +volley crashed and roared as the charging Texans wheeled to charge back +again, and as they turned once more on the hillside they pulled up +sharply and viewed the havoc of their deadly work. No man was left to +carry tales, and Pedro had spoken with prophetic vision, for he had +indeed led his warriors to glory--and oblivion. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"'SPRESS FROM BENT'S" + + +Circling back to the river so as not to lose its guidance nor stray too +far out of the direct course, they reached its desolate banks at +nightfall and camped at the base of a low hill on the top of which grew +dense masses of greasewood. Zeb had shot a black-tailed deer on their +way to the river and their supper that night, so far as the meat was +concerned, would have delighted the palate of an epicure. Cooked over +the hot, sputtering, short-lived greasewood, which constantly was added, +and kept on the windward side of the blaze, the flavor of the meat was +very little affected and they gorged, hunter-like, until they could eat +no more; and partly smoked some of the remaining meat to have against +some pressing need. + +As the stream dwindled the nature of its banks and of the surrounding +country changed, the vegetation steadily becoming more desert-like. +White chalk cliffs arose like painted eyebrows from the tops of the +banks, where erosion had revealed them; loose and disintegrating +sandstone lay about the broken plain in myriads of shapes. Stunted and +dead cottonwoods added their touch to the general scene, leaning this +way and that, weird, uncanny, ghostlike. The drab sagebrush and the +green fan of the palmetto became steadily more common, the latter +figuring largely in the daily life of the Mexicans, for its mashed, +saponaceous roots provided them with their pulpy _amole_, which was an +excellent substitute for soap. Prickly pears, Spanish bayonets, masses +of greasewood bushes and scattering fringes of short grama grass +completed the carpeting of the desolate plain. + +Doggedly they pushed on, thankful for the heavy rains of the last two +days, which had reached even here and left little pools of bad-tasting +water for themselves and their beasts. At noon they stopped and built a +fire of stunted cedar, for in daylight its telltale flames told nothing. +They cooked another black-tailed deer, smoked some of the meat, and ran +bullets until they had all of the latter they could possibly use. On +again toward the Canadian until nightfall, lighting no fire, but eating +the meat they had cooked at noon. They arranged a four-shift watch and +passed a peaceful night. In their range of vision were Raton Peak, +Pike's Peak, and the Wet Mountain, that paradise for hunters; the twin +Spanish Peaks with their caps of snow, and behind these towering +sentries loomed the sullen bulk of a great mountain range under a thin +streak of glittering white. + +At any distance their appearance hardly would tell whether they were +white hunters or Indians from Bent's, since their garb was a mixture of +both and their skins so tanned, their hair so long as to cause grave +doubts. More than once in that country two white men have exchanged +shots, each taking the other for an Indian. At Bent's Fort on the +Arkansas there were stray Indians from far-off tribes, and they dressed +in what they could get; and at The Pueblo, that little trading post +farther up on the Arkansas, Indians and whites lived together and +intermarried. Not one of the four but could speak more than one savage +dialect; and Tom's three companions possessed an Indian vocabulary which +left little to be desired. If it came to a test which might prove too +severe for him he could be dumb, and fall back on the sign language. + +At last the Canadian was reached and passed, and Hank led them +unerringly up the valley of a little feeding stream which poured its +crystal flood down the gorges of a mountain range now almost over their +heads. Coming to a rocky bowl scooped out of the sheer, overhanging wall +at a bend, he built a fire of dry wood that was safely screened, and +from his "possible" sack he took various leaves and stems and roots he +had collected on the way. Four white men looking more like Indians had +entered that little valley just before dusk. In the morning at dawn two +white men, a Blackfoot and a Delaware, a hunting party from Bent's Fort +with messages for Bent's little Vermajo ranch, located in a mountain +valley, left the ravine and followed a little-used Ute trail that their +leader knew well. Hank wore the Blackfoot distinctive double part in his +hair just above the forehead, the isolated tuft pulled down to the +bridge of his nose, and fastened to his buckskin trousers were thin +strips of beadwork made by Blackfoot squaws. + +The Mexican herder working for Bent uneasily watched them as they rode +up to his makeshift lean-to and demanded a change of horses, a report of +his stewardship, and the use of his fire. They were not bad fellows and +were generous with their heavenly tobacco, and finally his uneasiness +wore away and he gossiped with them while the night more and more shut +in his lavish fire and seemed to soften the guttural polyglot of the two +Indians. The white men did most of the talking, as was usual, and could +make themselves understood in the herder's bastard Spanish and they +answered sociably his numerous questions. Had they heard of the great +_Tejano_ army marching to avenge the terrible defeat inflicted by the +brave Armijo on their swaggering vanguard? It was the great subject from +the upper end of the Valley of Taos to the last settlement along the Rio +Grande and the Pecos. The ignoble dogs of _Tejanos_ had basely murdered +the brave Mexican scouting party near the Cimarron Crossing of the +Arkansas. What could the _soldats_ of Mexico do, attacked in their +sleep? Most of the murdered _soldats_ had come from the Valley of Taos, +which always had been friendly to Texas. Was it true that the _Tejanos_ +spit fire on dry nights and could kill a full-grown bull buffalo with +their bare hands? Ah, they were devils and the sons of devils, those +_Tejanos_; and at night all doors were tightly barred in the settlements +and strange Americans regarded with suspicion. + +Some nights later, down the rough, steep sides of the Arroyo Hondo, +through which trickled a ribbon of water from a recent rain, four +Indians rode carefully, leading two pack animals. They were two +Arapahoes, a Blackfoot, and a Delaware, and they followed the ravine and +soon came in sight of the little mountain pasture, dotted with cedar +bushes and sparsely covered with grass, which sloped gently down the +mountain side. In the fading twilight the so-called ranch stood vaguely +outlined, the nature of its log and adobe walls indiscernible, its mill +and the still house looming vaguely over the main building against the +darker background of the slope. The faint smell of sour mash almost hid +the mealy odor of the grist mill; hogs grunted in the little corral by +the fenced-in garden, while an occasional bleating of sheep came from +the same enclosure. Dark shapes moved over the cedar-brush pasture and +the frequent stamping of hoofs told they were either horses or mules. +High up near the roof of the composite building were narrow oblongs of +faint radiance, where feeble candle light shone through the little +squares of gypsum, so much used in that country in place of window +glass. As the four newcomers smilingly looked at the comfortable +building the foot-compelling strains of a cheap violin squeaked and +rasped resinously from the living quarters and a French-Canadian, far +from home, burst ecstatically into song. Dreaming chickens cackled +briefly and a sleepy rooster complained in restrained indignation, while +the rocky mountain side relayed the distant howl of a prowling coyote. + +The leader drew the flap over the ultra-modern rifle in its sheath at +his leg and glanced back at his companions. + +"Wall," he growled, "hyar we air; we're plumb inter it, now." + +"Up ter our scalp-locks," came a grunted reply. + +"Hell! 'Tain't th' fust time they've been in danger. They'll stand a +lot o' takin'," chuckled another voice. He softly imitated a coyote and +the sleepy inmates of the hen house burst into a frightened chorus. + +"Hain't ye got no sense?" asked Hank, reprovingly. + +"Wouldn't be hyar if I had. I smell sour mash. Let's go on." + +Hank kneed his mount, no longer the one which had become so well known +to many eyes on the long wagon trail, and led the way down to the door. +At the soft confusion of guttural tongues outside the house the door +opened and Turley, the proprietor, stood framed in the dim light behind +him. + +"'Spress from Seņor Bent's," said the nearest Indian, walking forward. +"It's Hank Marshall," he whispered. "Want ter palaver with ye, Turley." + +"Want's more whiskey, I reckon," growled Turley. "Hobble yer hosses on +th' pasture. Ye kin roll up 'most anywhar ye like. Fed yit?" + +"_Si, seņor; muchos gracias_," answered the Indian. "_Seņor! cary mucho +aguardiente grano!_" + +"Oh, ye do?" sarcastically replied Turley. "Whiskey, huh? Wall, ye'll do +better without it. What's Bent want o' me?" + +"_Aguardiente de grano, seņor!_" + +Turley chuckled. "He does, hey? I say he picks damned poor messengers to +send fer whiskey! We'll talk about that tomorrow. Roll up some'rs in yer +blankets an' don't pester me." He stepped back and the door slammed in +the eager, pleading face of the Blackfoot, to a chorus of disappointed +grunts. The rebuffed savage timidly knocked on the door and it was flung +open, Turley glaring down at him. "Ye heard what I said, an' ye savvied +it! Reckon I want four drunk Injuns 'round hyar all night? We ain't +a-goin' ter have no damned nonsense. Take yer animals off ter th' +pasture an' camp down by th' crick! _Vamoose!_" + +The picture of pugnacity, he stood in the door and watched them slowly, +sullenly obey him, and then he slammed it again, swearing under his +breath. "Quickest way ter git murdered is ter give them Injuns likker!" +he growled. + +"_Mais, oui_," said the French-Canadian, placing his fiddle back under +his chin, and the stirring air went on again. + +Three hours before dawn Hank awoke and without moving his body let his +eyes rove over the dark pasture. Then like a flash of light his heavy +pistol jammed into the dark blotch almost at his side, and he growled a +throaty inquiry. + +"It's me, Hank," came the soft reply. "Take that damned thing away! +What's up?" + +Three other pairs of eyes were turned on them and then their owners +stirred a little and grunted salutations, and made slight rustlings as +their hands replaced what they had held. + +"Nothin', only a courtin' party," chuckled Hank. + +"Wall, I've heard tell o' courtin' parties," ruminated Turley; "but +never one made up like Injuns and armed to th' teeth. Might know some +damned fool thing war afoot when yer mixed up in it. Who ye courtin', at +yer time o' life? Somebody's wife?" + +"We're aimin' fer Santer Fe," said Hank. "Got ter have help ter git thar +th' way we wants. Them Texans has made it hard fer us, a-stirrin' up +everythin' like they has." + +"Whar'd ye git yer hosses?" anxiously demanded Turley. + +"Inderpendence, Missoury," innocently answered Hank, his grin lost in +the darkness. + +"Then ye come over th' wagon trail, an' up th' Arkansas?" + +"Over th' wagon trail an' up th' Cimarron, with th' second caravan o' +traders. Come nigh straight acrost from Cold Spring." + +"Wall, I'll be damned!" muttered Turley. Then he snorted. "Ain't ye got +no sense, ye Root Digger? Everybody in th' train'll know them hosses!" + +"We swapped 'em at Bent's rancho on th' Vermajo--good gosh! Two o' 'em +come from them Texans!" + +"They didn't have no brands," said Tom. "I heard 'em say somethin' about +gettin' some at Bent's. We got ter risk it, anyhow. It'll be like addin' +a spoonful o' freight ter a wagon load." + +Hank's mind was running in a groove that he had been gouging deeper and +longer hour after hour and he refused to be sidetracked by any question +concerning the horses they had changed. "We want ter swap hosses ag'in +an' borry some rags fer clothes; an' before daylight, too." + +Tom arose on one elbow. "That's all right, fur's it goes; only it don't +go no-whar," he declared. "We want ter git rid o' these hosses, an' we +want th' clothes; but that ain't all. We want a job, Turley. Need any +mule wranglers ter take some freight inter Santer Fe?" + +"Day after tomorrow," answered Turley. "We got ter git rid o' these +animals afore then, ye got ter git shet o' 'em afore mornin'. I'll send +Jacques out ter take 'em away as soon as I go back ter th' house. Arter +he leaves with 'em I'll bring ye some ol' clothes so ye'll look a little +different from them four fools that swapped hosses at Bent's rancho. Th' +peon up thar won't git away, nor mebby see nobody fer weeks; but we +better take th' pelt afore th' meat spiles under it. I got some hosses +th' Utes stole from th' 'Rapahoes. We stole 'em from th' Utes. They +ain't marked, an' they ain't knowed down in th' valley." + +"But we'll still be four," commented Tom, thoughtfully. + +"That's shore a plain trail," said Jim Ogden. "Here: You an' Hank take a +mule apiece an' go back th' way we come, fur a spell. Me an' Zeb kin +freight whiskey with Turley's _atejo_, an' meet ye along th' trail +some'rs, or in Santer Fe, at th' warehouse. Ye kin load yer mules with +faggots ter be sold in town, an' tag onter our mule train fer society +an' pertection. Yer rifles kin be hid under th' faggots." + +"We'll be unpackin' th' mules noon an' night," replied Tom. "How 'bout +our rifles then?" + +"Can't be did," grunted Hank. + +"We got ter risk that peon seein' anybody ter talk to," said Tom. +"Anyhow, 'tain't nothin' unusual fer him ter see fellers from th' fort. +We'll go on with th' _atejo_, after we make a few changes in our +clothes, an' ride Turley's hosses 'stead o' Bent's. But we can't jine +that mule train as no party o' four. We got ter lose that danged number, +that's flat." + +"You an' Hank," offered Zeb, "bein' Blackfoot an' Delaware, kin be +hunters from Bent's; me an' Jim, bein' 'Rapahoes turned friendly, kin +come from St. Vrain's post. Th' South Platte, up thar, is th' 'Rapahoe +stampin' ground an' we both know it from one end to t'other. That'll +count fer all o' us havin' first-class weapons. Somebody's shore goin' +ter notice them." + +Turley nodded. "Yes; hyar's whar ye lose that cussed four. You two +'Rapahoes git scarce afore daylight, goin' on foot an' leavin' no trail. +Come back from th' way o' th' old Ute trail from th' Bayou Salade. I'm +runnin' a little herdin' up o' my hosses on th' side o' th' mounting; +they're scatterin' in th' brush too much. Fer that I'll be needin' all +my men that ain't goin' as muleteers. I'll hire you boys, two at a time, +ter go 'long with th' _atejo_ as guards. Thar's thieves atween hyar an' +Santer Fe that likes Turley's whiskey an' ground meal. I'll give ye a +writin' ter my agent in town to pay ye off, an' ye'll git through, all +right. Do ye reckon ye'll have ter git outer Santer Fe on th' jump? +Seein' as how yer so danged careful how ye git inter th' town, it may be +that ye ain't welcome a hull lot. Knowin' Hank like I do, makes me +suspicious." + +"We'll mebby git out quicker'n scat," answered Tom, chuckling. "They'll +mebby be touchy about strangers, with them Texans prowlin' 'round. If we +git ter goin' strong as a Texan raid an' they find out that it's only +four no-'count Injuns full o' Taos lightnin', they'll mebby move fast. +We may make quite a ruckus afore we git through, if they find out who we +air." + +"What th' hell ye aimin' ter do? Capture th' town?" demanded Turley, +unable to longer hold down his curiosity. + +"Aimin' ter git our trade goods money, see a young lady, hang 'round +till th' return caravan start back fer th' States, an' mebby squar up +fer a few o' them Texans that _didn't_ git ter Mexico City," answered +Tom. + +"This hyar's th' Tom Boyd that slapped Armijo's kiyote face," explained +Hank. "We hears th' Governor is lonesome fer his company." + +"Great Jehovah yes!" exclaimed Turley. "Boyd, ye better jine that thar +caravan from Bent's, meetin' up with it at th' Crossin'. Armijo combed +these hyar mountings fer ye, an' watched my rancho fer nigh a week. He'd +'most give his right hand ter git a-holt o' you; an' if he does, you kin +guess what'll happen ter you!" He peered curiously at the young American +and shook his head. "I'm bettin' ye _do_ leave on th' jump, if yer lucky +enough ter leave at all. Ye'll need fresh hosses, another change o' +clothes an' a cache o' grub. Tell ye what," he said, turning to Hank. +"Ye know that little mounting valley whar you an' me stopped fer two +days, that time we war helpin' find th' hosses that war run off Bent's +Vermajo rancho? Wall, I'll fix it so these hyar hosses will be waitin' +fer ye up thar. I got some men I kin trust as long as I'm playin' agin' +th' greasers. I'll cache ye some Dupont an' Galena, too," he offered, +referring to powder and lead. The latter came from Galena, Illinois, +and took its name from that place. + +"An' forty pounds o' jerked meat a man," added Hank. "We might have ter +go clean up ter th' South Park afore we dast turn fer Bent's. Hang it on +that thar dead ash we used afore, or clost by if th' tree's down. We +better leave ye some more bullets as will fit our own weapons without no +doubt. We kin run more in th' warehouse in Santer Fe if we need 'em. +Keep yer Galena, Turley, an' leave some patches, instid, along with our +bullets." + +"But we'll still be four arter we leave hyar," objected Jim. + +"No, ye won't," replied Turley. "Ye'll show up in pairs, ye'll jine in +pairs, ye'll ride an' 'sociate in pairs, an' thar'll be a dozen more +mixin' up with ye. Wall, talk it over among ye while I gits busy afore +it's light," and the friendly rancher was swallowed up in the night. + +A few minutes later Jacques, sleepy and grumbling, loomed up out of the +darkness, collected the six horses and departed up the slope. Shortly +after him came Turley with a miscellaneous collection of odds and ends +of worn-out clothing and soon his friends had exchanged a garment or two +with him. Tom and Hank parted with their buckskin shirts and now wore +coarse garments of Pueblo make; Zeb had a Comanche leather jerkin and +Jim wore a blue cotton shirt patched with threadbare red flannel. They +bound bands of beadwork or soft tanned skin around their foreheads, and +Hank's hair proudly displayed two iridescent bronze feathers from the +tail of a rooster. If Joe Cooper, himself, had come face to face with +them he would have passed by without a second glance. + +Silently Zeb and Jim melted into the night, while Tom and Hank arose and +went around to the wall of the still house, rolled up in their +newly-acquired blankets against the base of the adobe wall and slept +until discovered and awakened after dawn by one of Turley's mill hands, +who paid them a timid and genuine respect. + +They loafed around all day, watching the still house with eager eyes. +Their wordless pleading was in vain, however, for Turley, frankly +scowling at their first appearance, totally ignored them thereafter. +Just before dusk two half-civilized Arapahoes from St. Vrain's South +Platte trading post swung down the mountain side, cast avaricious eyes +on some horses in the pasture, sniffed deeply at the still house, and +asked for whiskey. + +"I'll give ye whiskey," said Turley after a moment's thought, a grin +spreading over his face, "but I won't give it ter ye hyar. If ye want +likker I'll give ye a writin' ter my agent in Santer Fe, an' he'll give +ye all yer porous skins kin hold, an' a jug ter take away with ye." + +"_Si, seņor! Si, seņor! Muchos gracias!_" + +"Hold on thar! Hold yer hosses!" growled Turley. "Ye don't reckon I'm +makin' ye no present, do ye? Ye got ter earn that likker. If ye want it +bad enough ter escort my _atejo_ ter th' city, it's yourn. I'm combin' +my hosses outer th' brush, an' I'm short-handed. By gosh!" he chuckled, +smiling broadly. + +"Thar's a couple more thirsty Injuns 'round hyar, some'rs; hey, Jacques! +Go find them watch dogs o' th' still house. They won't be fur away, you +kin bet. These two an' them shore will scare th' thieves plumb ter death +all th' way ter town. I kin feel _my_ ha'r move!" + +Jacques returned shortly with Bent's thirsty hirelings, and after some +negotiations and the promise of horses for them to ride, the Indians +accepted his offer. They showed a little reluctance until he had given +each of them a drink of his raw, new whiskey, which seemed to serve as +fuel to feed a fire already flaming. The bargain struck, he ordered them +fed and let them sleep on the softest bit of ground they could find +around the rancho. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SANTA FE + + +After an early breakfast the _atejo_ of nineteen mules besides the +_mulera_, or bell mule, was brought out of the pasture and the +_aparejos_, leather bags stuffed with hay, thrown on their backs and +cinched fast with wide belts of woven sea-grass, which were drawn so +cruelly tight that they seemed almost to cut the animals in two; this +cruelty was a necessary one and saved them greater cruelties by holding +the packs from slipping and chafing them to the bone. Groaning from the +tightness of the cinches they stood trembling while the huge cruppers +were put into place and breast straps tightened. Then the _carga_ was +placed on them, the whiskey carriers loaded with a cask on each side, +firmly bound with rawhide ropes; the meal carriers with nearly one +hundred fifty pounds in sacks on each side. While the mules winced now, +after they had become warmed up and the hay of the _aparejos_ packed to +a better fit, they could travel longer and carry the heavy burdens with +greater ease than if the cinches were slacked. The packing down and +shaping of the _aparejo_ so loosened the cinch and ropes that frequently +it was necessary to stop and tighten them all after a mile or so had +been put behind. + +The _atejo_ was in charge of a major-domo, five _arrieros_, or +muleteers and a cook, or the _madre_, who usually went ahead and led the +bell mule. All the men rode well-trained horses, and both men and horses +from Turley's rancho were sleek, well fed and contented, for the +proprietor was known throughout the valley, and beyond, for his +kindness, honesty and generosity; and he was repaid in kind, for his +employees were faithful, loyal, and courageous in standing up for his +rights and in defending his property. Yet the time was to come some +years hence when his sterling qualities would be forgotten and he would +lose his life at the hands of the inhabitants of the valley. + +The _atejo_ swiftly and dexterously packed, the two pairs of +bloodthirsty looking Indian guards divided into advance and rear guard, +the _madre_ led the bell mule down the slope and up the trail leading +over the low mountainous divide toward Ferdinand de Taos, the grunting +mules following in orderly file. + +The trail wandered around gorges and bowlders and among pine, cedar, and +dwarf oaks and through patches of service berries with their small, +grapelike fruit, and crossed numerous small rivulets carrying off the +water of the rainy season. Taos, as it was improperly called, lay twelve +miles distant at the foot of the other side of the divide, and it was +reached shortly after noon without a stop on the way. The "noonings" +observed by the caravans were not allowed in an _atejo_, nor were the +mules permitted to stop for even a moment while on the way, for if +allowed a moment's rest they promptly would lie down, and in attempting +to arise under their heavy loads were likely to strain their loins so +badly as to render them forever unfit for work. To remove and replace +the packs would take too much time. Because of the steady traveling the +day's journey rarely exceeded five or six hours nor covered more than +twelve to fifteen miles. + +Taos reached, the packs were removed and covered by the _aparejos_, each +pile kept separate. Turned out to graze with the bell mule, without +picket rope or hobbles, the animals would not leave her and could be +counted on, under ordinary circumstances, to be found near camp and all +together. + +Taos, a miserable village of adobes, and the largest town in the valley, +had a population of a few American and Canadian trappers who had married +Mexican or Indian women; poor and ignorant Mexicans of all grades except +that of pure Spanish blood, and Indians of all grades except, perhaps, +those of pure Indian blood. The mixed breed Indians had the more courage +of the two, having descended from the Taosas, a tribe still inhabiting +the near-by pueblo, whose warlike tendencies were almost entirely +displayed in defensive warfare in the holding of their enormous, +pyramidal, twin pueblos located on both sides of a clear little stream. +In the earlier days marauding bands of Yutaws and an occasional +war-party of Cheyennes or Arapahoes had learned at a terrible cost that +the Pueblo de Taos was a nut far beyond their cracking, and from these +expeditions into the rich and fertile valley but few returned. + +Here was a good chance to test the worth of their disguises, for the +three older plainsmen were well-known to some of the Americans and +Canadians in the village, having been on long trips into the mountains +with a few of them. And so, after the meal of _frijoles_, _atole_ and +jerked meat, the latter a great luxury to Mexicans of the grade of +_arrieros_, Hank and his two Arapahoe companions left the little +encampment and wandered curiously about the streets, to the edification +of uneasy townsfolk, whose conjectures leaned toward the unpleasant. +Ceran St. Vrain, on a visit to the town, passed them close by but did +not recognize the men he had seen for days at a time at his trading post +on the South Platte. Simonds, a hunter from Bent's Fort, passed within a +foot of Hank and did not know him; yet the two had spent a season +together in the Middle Park, lying just across the mountain range west +of Long's Peak. + +Continuing on their way the next morning they camped in the open valley +for the night, and the next day crossed a range of mountains. The next +village was El Embudo, a miserable collection of mud huts at the end of +a wretched trail. The Pueblo de San Juan and the squalid, +poverty-stricken village of La Canada followed in turn. Everywhere they +found hatred and ill-disguised fear of the Texans roaming beyond the +Canadian. Next they reached the Pueblo de Ohuqui and here found snug +accommodations for themselves and their animals in the little valley. +From the pueblo the trail lay through an arroyo over another mountain +and they camped part way down its southeast face with Santa Fe sprawled +out below them. + +Morning found them going down the sloping trail, the Indian escort +surreptitiously examining their rifles, and in the evening they entered +the collection of mud houses honored by the name of San Francisco de la +Santa Fe, whose population of about three thousand souls was reputed to +be the poorest in worldly wealth in the entire province of New Mexico; +and, judging from the numbers of openly run gambling houses, rum shops +and worse, the town might have deserved the reputation of being the +poorest in morals and spiritual wealth. + +Sprawled out under the side of the mountain, its mud houses of a single +story, its barracks, _calabozo_ and even the "palace" of the governor +made of mud, with scarcely a pane of glass in the whole town; its narrow +streets littered with garbage and rubbish; with more than two-thirds of +its population barefooted and unkempt, a mixture of Spaniards and +Indians for generations, in which blending the baser parts of their +natures seemed singularly fitted to survive; with cringing, starving +dogs everywhere; full of beggars, filthy and in most cases disgustingly +diseased, with hands outstretched for alms, as ready to curse the tight +of purse as to bless the generous, and both to no avail; with its +domineering soldiery without a pair of shoes between them, its arrogant +officers in shiny, nondescript uniforms and tarnished gilt, with huge +swords and massive spurs, to lead the unshod mob of privates into +cowardly retreat or leave them to be slaughtered by their Indian foes, +whose lances and bows were superior in accuracy and execution to the +ancient firelocks so often lacking in necessary parts; reputed to be +founded on the ruins of a pueblo which had flourished centuries before +the later "city" and no doubt was its superior in everything but +shameless immorality. There, under Sante Fe mountain and the pure and +almost cloudless blue sky, along the little mountain stream of the same +name, lay Santa Fe, the capital of the department of New Mexico, and the +home of her vainglorious, pompous, good-looking, and brutal governor; +Santa Fe, the greatest glass jewel in a crown of tin; Santa Fe, the +customs gate and the disappointing end of a long, hard trail. + +Through the even more filthy streets of the poverty-stricken outskirts +of the town went the little _atejo_, disputing right-of-way in the +narrow, porch-crowded thoroughfares with _hoja_ (corn husk) sellers and +huge burro loads of pine and cedar faggots gathered from the near-by +mountain; past the square where the mud hovels of the soldiers lay; past +a mud church whose tall spire seemed ever to be stretching away from the +smells below; past odorous hog stys, crude mule corrals with their +scarred and mutilated creatures, and sheep pens, and groups of avid +cock-fighters; past open doors through which the halfbreed women, +clothed in a simple garment hanging from the shoulders, could be seen +cooking _frijoles_ or the thin, watery _atole_ and hovering around the +flat stones which served for stoves; past these and worse plodded the +_atejo_, the shrewd mules braying their delight at a hard journey almost +ended. Sullen Indians, apologetic Mexicans, swaggering and too often +drunken soldiers gave way to them, while a string of disputing, +tail-tucking dogs followed at a distance, ever wary, ever ready to wheel +and run. + +Reaching the _Plaza Publica_, which was so bare of even a blade of grass +or a solitary tree, and its ground so scored and beaten and covered with +rubbish to suggest that it suffered the last stages of some earthly +mange, they came to the real business section of the town, where nearly +every shop was owned by foreigners. Around this public plaza stood the +architectural triumphs of the city. There was the _palacio_ of the +governor, with its mud walls and its extended roof supported on rough +pine columns to form a great porch; the custom-house, with its greedy, +grafting officials; the mud barracks connected to the atrocious and much +dreaded _calabozo_, whose inmates had abandoned hope as they crossed its +threshold; the mud city hall, the military chapel, fast falling into +ruin, and a few dwellings. The interest attending the passing of the +_atejo_ increased a little as the pack train crossed this square, for +the Indian guards were conspicuous by their height and by the breadth of +shoulder, and the excellence of their well-kept weapons. Strangers were +drawing more critical attention these days, with the Texan threat +hanging over the settlements along the Pecos and the Rio Grande. Peon +women and Indian squaws regarded the four with apparent approval and as +they left the square and plunged into the poorer section again, +compliments and invitations reached their ears. Hopeless _mozos_, or +ill-paid servants, most of them kept in actual slavery by debts they +never could pay off because of the system of accounting used against +them, regarded the four enviously and yearned for their freedom. + +Of the four Indians, a tall, strapping Delaware, stooping to be less +conspicuous, whose face was the dirtiest in the _atejo_, suddenly +stiffened and then forced himself to relax into his former lazy slouch. +The rattle of an imported Dearborn, which at all times had to be watched +closely to keep its metal parts from being stripped off and stolen, +filled the street as the vehicle rocked along the ruts toward them, +drawn by two good horses and driven by one Joseph Cooper, of St. Louis, +Missouri. At his side sat his niece, looking with wondering and +disapproving eyes about her, her pretty face improved by its coat of +healthy tan, but marred somewhat by the look of worry it so plainly +showed. She appeared sad and wistful, but at times her thoughts leaped +far away and brought her fleeting smiles so soft, so tender, as to +banish the look of worry and for an instant set a glory there. + +Her glance took in the little pack train and its stalwart guards and +passed carelessly over the bending Delaware, and then returned to linger +on him while one might count five. Then he and the _atejo_ passed from +sight and she looked ahead again, unseeing, for her memory was racing +along a wagon road, and became a blank in a frightful, all-night storm. +At her sigh Uncle Joe glanced sidewise at her and took a firmer grip on +his vile native cigar, and silently cursed the day she had left St. +Louis. + +"Load of wheat whiskey from th' rancho, I reckon," he said, and pulled +sharply on the reins to keep from running over a hypnotized ring of +cock-fighters. "How your paw can live all th' year 'round in this fester +of a town is a puzzle to me. I'd rather be in a St. Louis jail. Cigar?" +he sneered, yanking it from his mouth and regarding it with palpitant +disgust. He savagely hurled it from him. "Hell!" + +A tangle of arms and legs rolled out of a rum shop and fought impotently +in the dust of the street, and sotted faces grinned down at them from +the crowded door. A flaky-skinned beggar slouched from behind the corner +of the building and held out an imploring hand, which the driver's +contemptuous denial turned into a clenched fist afloat in a sea of +Spanish maledictions. + +The pack train having reached its destination, the two pairs of guards, +clutching their "writin'" from Turley, departed in hot haste to claim +their payment, and not long thereafter, rifleless, wandered about on +foot to see the sights, gaping and curious. In the hand of each was a +whiskey jug, the cynosure of all eyes. The _Plaza Publica_ seemed to +fascinate them, for they spent most of their time there; and when they +passed the guard house in the _palacio_ they generously replied to the +coaxing banter of the guard off watch, and went on again with lightened +jugs. Here as elsewhere they sensed a poorly hidden feeling of unrest, +and hid their smiles; somewhere north of Texas the _Tejanos_ rode with +vengeance in their hearts and certain death in their heretic rifles. No +one knew how close they might be, or what moment they would storm into +the town behind their deadly weapons. But the fear was largely +apathetic, for these people, between the Apache and Comanche raids of +year after year, had suckled fear from their mothers' breasts. + +Finally, apprehensive of the attention they were receiving, the strange +Indians left the plaza and sought refuge with the mules of the _atejo_, +to remain there until after dark; and at their passing, groups of +excited women or quarreling children resumed their gambling in the +streets and all was serene again. + +Gambling here was no fugitive evader of the law, no crime to be enjoyed +in secret, but was an institution legalized and flourishing. There even +was a public gaming house, where civil officers, traders, merchants, +travelers, and the clergy grouped avidly around the _monte_ tables and +played at fever heat, momentarily beyond the reach of any other +obsession. Regularly the governor and his wife graced the temple of +chance with their august persons and held informal levees among the +tables, making the place a Mecca for favor-seekers and sycophants, and a +golden treasury for the "house." At this time, so soon after the arrival +of two great caravans and the collection of so much impost, part of +which stuck to every finger that handled it, the play ran high +throughout the crowded room. + +The round of festivities attending the arrival of the wagon trains were +not yet stilled, and fandangoes nightly gave hilarity a safety valve. +Great lumbering _carretas_, their wheels cut from solid sections of tree +trunks and the whole vehicle devoid of even a single scrap of precious +iron, shrieked and rattled through the dark streets, filled with shoddy +cavaliers and dazzling women, whose dresses seemed planned to tempt the +resolutions of a saint. _Rebosa_ or lace _mantilla_ over full, rounded, +dark and satiny breasts; fans wielded with an inherited art, to coax +and repel the victims of great and smouldering eyes of jet, which melted +one moment to blaze the next--this was the magic segment of the clock's +round. Now the eyesores of the squalid town were hidden from critical +sight, and the alluring softness and mystery of an ancient Spanish city +made one forget the almost unforgetable. Life and Death danced hand in +hand; Love and Hate bowed and curtsied, and the mad green fires of +Jealousy flickered or flared; while the poverty and the sordid tragedies +of the day gave place to tingling Romance in the feathery night. Violins +and guitars caressed the darkness with throbbing strains, catching the +breath, tingling the nerves and turning dull flesh to pulsing ecstasy. + +To the fandango came a flower of a far-off French-American metropolis, +strangely listless; and here felt her blood slowly transmute to wine and +every nerve become a harp-string to make sad music for her soul. + +Small wonder that Armijo stood speechless in the sight of such a one as +she, and forgot to press his questioning as to four who had somewhere +left that wagon train; small wonder that he gave no heed to men in the +presence of this exotic flower not yet unfolded, in whose veins the +French blood of the mother coursed with the Saxon of the father, and +played strange and wondrous pranks in delicate features, vivacious eyes, +and hidden whimsicalities now beginning to peek forth. + +The coarse sensuality of the governor's face revealed his thoughts to +all the room; his eyes never had known the need to mask the sheerness of +their greedy passion, and in such a moment could not dissemble. What +man like him, in his place and power, with his nature, would glance +twice at a lazy, dirty Indian looking in through the open door, or know +that the murder beast was tearing at its moral fetters in the Delaware's +seething soul? Without again taking his burning eyes from the woman +before him the governor tossed, by force of habit, a copper coin through +the door, alms to a beggar to bring him luck from heaven to further his +plans from hell. Nor did he know the magazine his contemptuous gift had +set aflame, nor see the convulsive struggle between the Delaware and +three other Indians. The guard laughed sneeringly at the fight they +made, three to one, over a single piece of copper: Who was to know that +they fought over a hollow piece of steel, charged twice times three with +leaden death? Who was to read the desperation in that furious struggle, +where a beast-man fought like a fiend against his closest friends? The +struggling four reeled and stumbled from the house, leading away a fiery +tempest and faded into the crooning night. That open door nearly had +been an Open Door, indeed! + +Within the room the vivacity died in the woman's eyes, the +whimsicalities drew back in sudden panic at the beast look on the +governor's face; the swing was gone from the strumming music, the rhythm +from the swaying dance. At once the festive room was a pit of slime, the +smiling faces but mocking masks, and the dark shadow of a vulture +descended like a suffocating gas. Like a flash the wall dissolved to +show a long, clean trail, winding from Yesterday into Tomorrow; restful +glades and creeks of shining sands, windswept prairies and a clear, blue +sky; verdant glades and miles of flowers--and a tall, dark youth with +smiling face, who worshiped reverently with tender eyes. She drew +herself up as white streaks crossed her crimson cheeks like some darting +rapier blade, and, bowing coldly to the pompous governor, stood rigidly +erect and stared for a full half-minute into his astonished eyes, and +made them fall. Deliberately and with unutterable scorn and loathing she +turned from him to her father and her uncle, who forthwith shattered the +absurd rules of pomp by showing him their broad backs and leaving at +once. The room hushed as they walked toward the door, but no man stayed +them, for on their faces there blazed the sign of Death. + +Armijo, still staring after them, waved his hand and three men slipped +out by another door, to follow and to learn what sanctuary that flower +might choose. As he wheeled about and snapped a profane order the +fiddlers and strummers stumbled into their stammering music; the dance +went on again, with ragged rhythm, like an automaton out of gear. + +Down the dark street rumbled the Dearborn, rocking perilously, the +clatter of the running horses filling the narrow way with clamor. +Sprinting at top speed behind it came barefoot soldiers: And then a +human avalanche burst from a pitch dark passage-way. The Dearborn rocked +on and turned a corner; the soldiers groped like blinded, half-stunned +swimmers and as the secretive moments passed, they stumbled to their +feet and staggered back again with garbled tales of prowling monsters, +and crossed themselves continuously. About the time the frightened +soldiers reached the house they had set out from, four Indians crept +along an adobe wall and knocked a signal on the studded planks of a +heavy, warehouse door. There came no creaking from its well-oiled hinges +as it slowly opened, stopped, and swiftly shut again, and left the dark +and smelly courtyard empty. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE RENDEZVOUS + + +Enoch Birdsall stared in amazement at the four he had admitted, despite +the remembrance of the names they had whispered through the crack of the +partly opened door, the light from a single candle making gargoyles of +their hideously painted faces. Alonzo Webb was peering along the barrel +of a newfangled Colt, his eyes mere pin-points of concentration, his +breathing nearly suspended. + +Hank's low, throaty laughter filled the dim building and he slapped Tom +on the shoulder. "Didn't I say I could fix us up so our own mothers +wouldn't know us?" he demanded. + +"God help us!" said Enoch in hopelessly inadequate accents as he groped +behind him for his favorite cask. He seated himself with great +deliberation. "When Turley's man Allbright brought aroun' yer rifles in +a packload o' hay, I knowed we'd be seein' ye soon; an' he told us plain +that four Injuns had left 'em with him. But; h--l!" + +Alonzo had cautiously put away the Colt and was readjusting his facial +expression to suit the changed conditions. Then he suddenly leaned back +against a bale of tobacco leaf, jammed an arm tightly against his mouth, +and laughed until he was limp. + +Zeb Houghton glared at him in offended dignity, not knowing just what +to say, but determined to say something. He felt embarrassed and +slightly huffed. "Caravan have airy trouble arter we left it?" he asked. + +"Trouble?" queried Enoch, a wise grin wreathing his face. "Some o' us +made more profits this year than we ever did afore. Soon's we found thar +warn't no custom guard ter meet us at Cold Spring, thanks ter them +Texans, we sent some riders ahead from th' ford o' th' Canadian, an' +Woodson held th' caravan thar in camp fer a couple o' days. Them greaser +_rancheros_ air half starved 'most all year 'round an' they jumped at +th' chance ter earn some good U.S. gold. Some o' us had quite some +visitors one night an' some o' th' waggins, ourn among 'em, shore +strayed away from th' encampment an' got lost in th' hills. He had said +somethin' 'bout not wantin' to waste so much time, an' o' takin' a +short-cut; an' everybody war so excited about bein' so clost ter Santer +Fe, an' by this time used ter folks goin' on ahead, that we warn't +hardly missed. Them that did miss us soon forgot it. We're ahead five +hundred dollars a waggin, besides th' other imposts an' th' salve money; +our waggins air waitin' fer us when we go back, an' our goods air comin' +in from th' ranchos in _carretas_ an' by pack mule, under hay, hoja an' +faggots, an' other stuff. Thar's them two axles o' Joe Cooper's that he +war so anxious about back at th' Grove an' at every stream we had ter +cross. Thar empty now, but thar war plumb full o' high-class contraband +when they got here. Woodson slung 'em under one o' his waggins that come +through on th' reg'lar trail, an' brought 'em in. Over thar's what's +left o' your stuff." + +"Have you fellers looked in a glass yit?" demanded Alonzo, taking a +mirror from the wall. "Hyar, Boyd, whichever ye air, see what ye look +like." + +The passing of the mirror and the candle was the cause of much hilarity, +and the room was filled with subdued merriment until there came a +peculiar knock on the massive door. The candle flame struggled under a +box while voices murmured at the portal, and then there came a cautious +shuffling of feet until the box was removed. + +Joe Cooper's curious glance became a stare and his jaw dropped. Tearing +his eyes from the faces of the villainous four he used them to ask a +question of the grinning Enoch which his lips were incapable of framing. + +Enoch looked at the four. "One o' ye, who knows who's who, interduce yer +friends ter Mr. Cooper, o' St. Louis, Missoury," he suggested. + +Hank shoved Jim Ogden a step forward. "This 'Rapahoe is Jim Ogden, o' +Bent's Fort an' th' Rockies; this other un is Zeb Houghton, o' th' +Louisiana Purchase, Mexico an' Texas; hyar's Tom Boyd, hopin' ter save +his ear-tabs; an' I'm--" from his mouth sounded the twang of a +bowstring. + +Uncle Joe sank down on a pile of smuggled Mackinaw blankets, shoved a +cigar in his mouth, lit it and took several puffs before he slammed it +on the floor and crushed it with his foot. Then he recovered himself, +joyously shook hands all around and started a conversation that scorned +the flying minutes. During a lull Alonzo looked shrewdly at the +cheerful Indians and put his thoughts into words. + +"Boys, anythin' we've got is yourn fer th' askin'," he slowly said; "but +I'd hate ter reckon it war through me an' Enoch that ye lost yer lives, +an' yer ears. We all war clost friends in Independence an' on th' trail. +Clost friends o' yourn air goin' ter be watched like sin from now on. +Tom Boyd an' his friends left th' caravan ter go ter Bent's--an' a +passel o' greasers went arter 'em hot foot. Mebby th' first gang didn't +git ter Bent's--an' it's shore th' greasers ain't showed up yit--not one +o' them. Bad as Armijo is he ain't no fool by a danged sight. Fer yer +own sakes ye better stay with Armstrong till ye leave th' city. Now that +I've warned ye, I don't give a cuss what ye do; yer welcome ter stay +hyar till yer bones rot--an' ye know it." + +Tom nodded. "Yer right, Alonzo. I just got a brand new reason fer livin' +till th' return caravan gits past th' Arkansas. Patience Cooper has +_got_ to go with it; she ain't a-goin' ter spend no winter hyar, if I +kin help it--an' if she does stay, then I do, too, ears or no ears." His +face tensed, his eyes gleaming with hatred through the paint and dirt. +"I come nigh ter commitin' murder tonight. 'Twasn't my fault that I +didn't." + +Hank clapped him on the shoulder and turned to Uncle Joe. "We war all +a-lookin' in at th' fandango," he explained. "It war a mighty clost +shave fer th' sheep-stealin' shepherd o' Chavez rancho, that growed up +ter be governor. If 'twarn't fer th' gal I'd never 'a' grabbed Boyd." + +Uncle Joe shook his head. "There'll be trouble comin' out o' that," he +declared. "We couldn't do nothin' else, but Armijo'll never rest till he +wipes out th' insult o' our turnin' our backs on him an' leavin' like we +did. An' did ye see th' look she gave him? D----d if it wasn't worth th' +trip from Missouri to see it! Us Americans ain't loved a whole lot out +here, an' them blessed Texans has gone an' made things worse. I wish we +all were rollin' down to th' Crossin'. Patience is goin' back. I've +argued _that_ out, anyhow; right up to th' handle!" + +"Get her out of town _now_," urged Tom, wriggling forward on his box. +"Us four'll whisk her up to Bent's, an' jine ye at th' Crossin'." + +"If we do that her father will have to leave, too," replied Uncle Joe; +"an' he's stubborn as a mule, Adam is. He says it'll be forgotten, an' +if we make a play like that it'll raise th' devil." + +"When her safety is at stake?" sharply demanded Tom. + +"He says she ain't in no danger. Him an' Armijo is real friendly. Adam +is th' one man th' Americans in this town depend on ter git 'em a little +justice. I've been arguin' with him tonight, an' I aim to keep on +arguin'; but he's set. I know Adam." + +Tom cursed and arose to his feet. "An' _I_ know _Armijo_! I know his +vile history like a book, for I took pains to learn it. His whole career +is built on treachery, sheep-stealin', double-dealin' and assassination. +He robbed Chavez of thousands of sheep--even stealing them and selling +them back to their rightful owner. He sold one little flock back to +Chavez over a dozen times, an' had stolen it from him in th' beginnin'. +Then he dealt _monte_ and made a pile. Then he was made chief custom +house officer in this town, got caught at some of his tricks an' kicked +out. Governor Perez put another man in his place. The condition of +politics in Mexico worked in Armijo's favor and he stirred up a ferment, +headed a conspiracy, raised a force of about a thousand Mexicans an' +Pueblo Indians up at La Canada, and when Perez moved against him Perez's +troops went over to Armijo and the old governor had to flee to this +town, and out of it on th' jump. With him went a score or so of his +personal friends; but the next day the little party was caught, more +than a dozen of them put to death, an' Perez was murdered in the +outskirts of this town and his body dragged around through the streets. +Armijo had not shown his hand openly and the new governor was one of the +active leaders of the insurrection. This did not suit Armijo, who was +playing for big stakes, and he started another revolution, adopted +Federalism for a cloak, drove the insurgent governor from the city, +later shot him and, after declaring himself governor, had his +appointment made official by the Federal government at Mexico City, and +ever since has played tyrant without a check. That's Adam Cooper's +so-called friend. That's the man he trusts. God help Adam; an' God help +Armijo if he harms Patience Cooper!" + +His friends nodded, for they knew that he spoke the truth; and Uncle Joe +thoughtlessly lit another cigar before he remembered its make. "Adam's +last cent is sunk out here," he remarked. "He says he ain't goin' to +turn himself inter a pauper an' flee for his life just because his fool +brother is a-scared of shadows. He says th' beast was drunk tonight an' +didn't know what he was doin'." + +Tom spread out his hands helplessly, and then clenched them. He paced a +few turns and stopped again. "All right, Uncle Joe; he's her father and +he's backin' his best judgment. I'm an outsider an' have nothin' to say. +Boys," he said, looking at his three hunter friends, "we got work ter +do. We got ter watch Patience Cooper every minute that she's out o' th' +house. Thar's too much at stake fer us to rendezvous hyar, we'll stay at +Armstrong's. Enoch, git our rifles over thar as soon as ye kin. I want +another repeatin' pistol, in a leather case, to hang under my shirt, +below my left arm-pit. Thank th' Lord that Turley's plantin' a relay fer +us up in th' mountains; I'm bettin' we'll need it bad." He looked at +Hank. "Bet it's eighty mile to that place, ain't it?" + +"Th' way we come it is," replied the hunter. "I know a straighter trail +that ain't got so many people livin' along it. It's twenty mile shorter, +but harder travelin'." + +"If thar's anybody at Bent's ranch on th' Purgatoire, we might pick up a +re-mount thar," muttered Tom. "That'd give us fresh hosses fer th' last +ninety miles to th' fort; but we'll have ter cross th' wagon road ter +git thar." + +"We'll use that fer th' second bar'l," said Hank. "I know a better way, +over an old Ute trail leadin' toward th' Bayou Salade; but we'll have +hosses at Bent's ranch if I kin git word ter Holt, Carson or Bill Bent. +We better go 'round an' see Armstrong right away; he may know o' +somebody that's goin' up on th' trail through Raton Pass. He'll do +anythin' fer me." + +"Cover th' candle," said Tom. "Give us our rifles; we kin carry 'em all +right at this time o' night, with everybody stayin' indoors on account +o' th' Texans. Any time ye have news fer us, Enoch, an' can't git it ter +Armstrong's, set a box outside th' door." + +"It'll be stole," said Enoch, grinning. + +"Then set somethin' else out." + +"That'll be stole, too." + +"What will?" + +"Anythin' we put out." + +"God help us!" ejaculated Uncle Joe. "Try a busted bottle." + +"Glass?" laughed Alonzo, derisively. "No good. If you kin think o' +anythin' that won't be stole, I shore want to larn o' it." He considered +a moment. "Hyar! If I git flour on my elbow an' brush ag'in th' door, we +got news fer ye. I don't think they kin steal that, not all o' it, +anyhow!" + +Enoch nodded. "If thar's any news we'll git it. This is th' meetin' +place o' most o' th' Americans hyar. Thar banded purty clost together +an' have made Armijo change his tune a couple o' times. Onct they war +accused o' conspiracy ag'in th' government, which war a danged lie, an' +th' scarecrow troops war ordered out ag'in 'em; but we put up such a +fierce showin' that Armijo climbed down from his high hoss an' nothin' +come o' it except hard feelin's. That's one o' th' reasons, I reckon, +why Adam Cooper ain't worryin' as much as he might about his dater's +safety. An' lookin' at it from a reasonable standpoint, I'm figgerin' +he's right. Boyd, hyar, would worry powerful if _she_ got a splinter in +her finger." + +After the laughter had subsided and a little more talk the four +plainsmen slipped out of the building and cautiously made their way to +Armstrong's store and dwelling where, after a whispered palaver at the +heavy door, they were admitted by the sleepy owner of the premises and +shown where they could spread their blankets. In the faint light of the +candle they saw other men lying about on the hard floor, who stirred, +grumbled a little, and went back to sleep again. + +When they awakened the next morning they recognized two old friends from +Bent's Fort, a trader from St. Vrain's, and an American hunter and +trapper from the Pueblo near the junction of the Arkansas and Boiling +Spring Rivers. The simple breakfast was soon dispatched and gossip and +news exchanged, and then Hank led aside a hunter named Hatcher, who +stood high at Bent's Fort, and earnestly conversed with him. In a few +moments Hank turned, looked reassuringly at Tom and smiled. Bent's +little ranch on the Purgatoire was being worked and improved and there +would be men and a relay of horses there, providing that the Utes +overlooked the valley in the meantime. + +All that day they remained indoors and when night came they slipped out, +one by one, and drifted back to the corral where the _atejo_ still +remained. They had lost their rifles, were sullen and taciturn from too +much drink, and paid no attention to the knowing grins of the friendly +muleteers. Thenceforth they drew only glances of passing interest on the +streets, no one giving a second thought to the stolid, dulled and sodden +wrecks in their filthy, nondescript apparel; and the guard at the +_palacio_ gave them cigarettes rolled in corn husks for running errands, +and found amusement in playing harmless tricks on them. + +At the barracks they were less welcome, Don Jesu and Robideau, both +subordinates of Salezar, scarcely tolerating them; while Salezar, +himself, kicked them from in front of the door and threatened to cut off +their ears if he caught them hanging around the building. They accepted +the kicks as a matter of course and thenceforth shrunk from his +approach; and he sneered as he thought of their degradation from once +proud and vengeful warriors of free and warlike tribes, to fawning +beggars with no backbone. But even he, when the need arose, made use of +them to fetch and carry for him and to do menial tasks about the mud +house he called his home. He had seen many of their kind and wasted no +thought on them. + +He was the same cruel and brutal tyrant who had herded almost two +hundred half-starved and nearly exhausted men over that terrible trail +down the valley of the Rio Grande, and his soldiers stood in mortal +terror of him and meekly accepted treatment that in any other race would +have swiftly resulted in his death. He had played a prominent part in +the capture and herding of the Texan prisoners and loved to boast of it +at every opportunity, using some of the incidents as threats to his +unfortunate soldiers. Tom and his friends witnessed scenes that made +their blood boil more than it boiled over the indignities they elected +to suffer, and sometimes it was all they could do to refrain from +killing him in his tracks. At the barracks he was a roaring lion, but at +the _palacio_, in the sight and hearing of the chief jackal, he reminded +them of a whipped cur. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +TOM RENEGES + + +As the days passed while waiting for the return of the caravan to +Missouri, Patience rode abroad with either her uncle or her father, +sometimes in the Dearborn, but more often in the saddle. She explored +the ruins of the old church at Pecos, where the Texan prisoners had +spent a miserable night; the squalid hamlets of San Miguel, which she +had passed through on her way to Santa Fe, and Anton Chico had been +visited; the miserable little sheep ranchos had been investigated and +other rides had taken her to other outlying districts; but the one she +loved best was the trail up over the mountain behind Santa Fe. The +almost hidden pack mules and their towering loads of faggots, _hoja_, +hay and other commodities were sights she never tired of, although the +scars on some of the meek beasts once in awhile brought tears to her +eyes. The muleteers, beneficiaries of her generosity, smiled when they +saw her and touched their forelocks in friendly salutation. + +On the mountain there was one spot of which she was especially fond. It +was a little gully-like depression more than halfway up that seemed to +be much greener than the rest of the mountain side, and always moist. +The trees were taller and more heavily leafed And threw a shade which, +with the coolness of the moist little nook, was most pleasant. It lay +not far from the rutted, rough and busy trail over the mountain, which +turned and passed below it, the _atejos_ and occasional picturesque +_caballeros_ on their caparisoned horses, passing in review before her +and close enough to be distinctly seen, yet far enough away to hide +disillusioning details. The mud houses of the town at the foot of the +long slope, with their flat roofs, looked much better at this distance +and awakened trains of thought which nearness would have forbidden. It +was also an ideal place to eat a lunch and she and Uncle Joe or her +father made it their turning point. + +Her daily rides had given her confidence, and the stares which first had +followed her soon changed to glances of idle curiosity. Of Armijo she +neither had seen nor heard anything more and scarcely gave him a +thought, and the Mexican officers she met saluted politely or ignored +her altogether. Her uncle still harped about Santa Fe being no place for +her, but, having the assurance that she would return to St. Louis with +the caravan, was too wise to press the matter. His efforts were more +strongly bent to get his brother to sell out and he had sounded Woodson +to see if that trader would take over the merchandise. Adam Cooper +seemed to consider closing out his business and returning to Missouri, +but he would not sacrifice it, and there the matter hung, swaying first +to one side and then to the other. By this time Santa Fe had palled on +the American merchant and he had laid by sufficient capital to start in +business in St. Louis or one of the frontier towns, and his brother was +confident that if the stock could be disposed of for a reasonable sum +that Adam would join the returning caravan. + +It was in the storehouse of Webb and Birdsall one night, about a week +before the wagons were being put in shape for the return trip that the +matter was settled. Disturbing rumors were floating up from the south +about a possible closing of the ports of entry of the Department of New +Mexico, due to the dangers to Mexican traders on the long trail because +of the presence of Texan raiding parties. The Texans had embittered the +feelings of the Mexicans against the Americans, whom they knew to be +universally in favor of the Lone Star Republic, and the Texan raids of +this summer were taken as a forecast of greater and more determined +raids for the following year. + +When Adam and Joe Cooper joined the little group in the warehouse on +this night, they met two Missourians who had just returned from +Chihuahua with a train of eleven wagons. These traders, finding business +so good in the far southern market, and having made arrangements with +some Englishmen there, who were high in favor with the Federal +authorities, were anxious to make another trip if they could load their +wagons at a price that would make the journey worth while. They were +certain that the next year would find the Mexican ports closed against +the overland traffic, eager to clean up what they could before winter +set in and to sell their outfits and return by water. They further +declared that a tenseness was developing between the Federal government +and the United States, carefully hidden at the present, which would +make war between the two countries a matter of a short time. Texas was +full of people who were urging annexation to the United States, and +their numbers were rapidly growing; and when the Lone Star republic +became a state in the American federation, war would inevitably follow. +Some in the circle dissented wholly or in part, but all admitted that +daily Mexico was growing more hostile to Americans. + +"Wall, we ain't forcin' our opinions on nobody," said one of the +Chihuahua traders. "We believe 'em ourselves, an' we want ter make +another trip south. Adam, we've heard ye ain't settled in yer mind about +stayin' through another winter hyar. We'll give ye a chanct ter clear +out; what ye got in goods, an' what ye want fer'em lock, stock an' +bar'l?" + +"What they cost us here in Santa Fe," said Uncle Joe quickly, determined +to force the issue. "We just brought in more'n two wagon loads, an' what +we had on hand will go a long way toward helpin' you fill your wagons. +Come around tomorrow, look th' goods over, an' if they suit you, we'll +add twelve cents a pound for th' freight charge across th' prairies an' +close 'em out to you. Ain't that right, Adam?" he demanded so sharply +and truculently that his brother almost surrendered at once. Seeing that +they had an ally in Uncle Joe the traders pushed the matter and after a +long, haggling discussion, they offered an additional five per cent of +the purchase price for a quick decision. + +Uncle Joe accepted it on the spot and nudged his brother, who grudgingly +accepted the terms if the traders would buy the two great wagons and +their teams. This they promised to do if they could find enough extra +goods to fill them, and they soon left the warehouse for fear of showing +their elation. They knew where they could sell the wagons at a profit +with a little manipulation on the part of their English friend. + +Elated by the outcome of his protracted arguments, Uncle Joe hurried +around to Armstrong's store and told the news to Tom and his three +friends. + +"We can get them goods off our hands in two days," he exulted; "an' th' +caravan will be ready to leave inside a week. Don't say a word to +nobody, boys. We'll try to sneak Adam and Patience out of town so Armijo +won't miss 'em till they're on th' trail. Them Chihuahua traders won't +disturb th' goods before we start for home because they got to get a lot +more to fill their wagons, an' th' merchandise is safer in th' store +than it will be under canvas. I wish th' next week was past!" + +To wish the transaction kept a secret and to keep it a secret were two +different things. The Chihuahua traders found more merchants who felt +that they would be much safer in Missouri than in Santa Fe, and the +south-bound wagon train was stocked three days before time for the +Missouri caravan to leave. There were certain customs regulations +relating to goods going through to El Paso and beyond, certain involved +and exacting forms to be obtained and filled out, much red tape to be +cut with golden shears and many palms to be crossed with specie. Uncle +Joe and his brother found that the matter of transferring their goods to +the traders took longer than they expected and were busy in the store +for several days, leaving Patience to make the most of the short time +remaining of her stay in the capital of the Department of New Mexico. + +At last came the day when the eastbound caravan was all but ready to +start, certain last minute needs arising that kept it in the camp +outside the city until the following morning. Busily engaged in its +organizing and in numerous personal matters, they told her to stay in +the city. Uncle Joe and his brother could not accompany Patience on +another ride up the mountain and they understood that she would not +attempt one; but she changed her mind and left the town in the care and +guidance of a Mexican employee of her father, in whom full trust was +reposed. She rode out an hour earlier than was her wont, and when a +Delaware Indian called at the house to beg alms from the generous +seņorita he found the building open and empty. Knowing that the last +night was to be spent in the encampment and thinking that she had gone +there, as he understood was the plan, he gave little thought to this and +wandered back to the _Plaza Publica_ to look for his companions. They +were not in sight and he went over to the barracks to seek them there. + +Don Jesu swaggered along the side of the building, caught sight of the +disreputable Delaware and contemptuously waved him away. "Out of my +sight, you drunken beggar and son of a beggar! If I catch you here once +more I'll hang you by your thumbs! _Vamoose!_" + +The Delaware stiffened a little and seemed reluctant to obey the +command. "I seek my friends," he replied in a guttural polyglot. "I do +no harm." + +Don Jesu's face flamed and he drew his sword and brought the flat of the +blade smartly across the Indian's shoulder. "But once more I tell you to +_vamoose_! _Pronto!_" He drew back swiftly and threw the weapon into +position for a thrust, for he had seen a look flare up in the Indian's +eyes that warned him. + +The Delaware cringed, muttered something and slunk back along the wall +and as he reached the corner of the building he bumped solidly into +Robideau, who at that moment turned it. The foot of the second officer +could not travel far enough to deliver the full weight of the kick, but +the impact was enough to send the Indian sprawling. As he clawed to +hands and knees, Robideau stood over him, sword in hand, threats and +curses pouring from him in a burning stream. The Indian paused a moment, +got control over his rage, ran off a short distance on hands and knees +and, leaping to his feet, dashed around the corner of the building to +the hilarious and exultant jeers of the sycophantic soldiers. He barely +escaped bumping into a huge, screeching and ungainly _carreta_ being +driven by a soldier and escorted by a squad of his fellows under the +personal command of Salezar. The lash of a whip fell across his +shoulders and cut through blanket and shirt. The second blow was short +and before another could be aimed at him, the Delaware had darted into a +passage-way between two buildings. + +The officer laughed loudly, nodded at the scowling driver and again felt +of the canvas cover of the cart: "The city is full of vermin," he +chuckled. "There's not much difference between Texans and Americans, and +these sotted Indians. Tomorrow we will be well rid of many of the gringo +dogs and we will attend to these strange Indians when this present +business has been taken care of. But there is one gringo who will remain +with us!" He laughed until he shook. "_Captain_ Salezar today; +_Colonel_, tomorrow; _quien sabe_?" + +He looked at two of his soldiers, squat, powerful half-breeds, and +laughed again. "Jose is a strong man. Manuel is a strong man. Perhaps +tomorrow we will give each one of them two Indians and see which can +flog the longest and the hardest; but," he warned, his face growing hard +and cruel, "the man who bungles his work today will have no ears +tomorrow!" + +The Delaware, his right hand thrust into his shirt under the dirty +blanket, crouched in the doorway and was making the fight of his life +against the murderous rage surging through him. The words of the officer +reached him well enough, but in his fury were unintelligible. Wild, mad +plans for revenge were crowding through his mind, mixed and jumbled +until they were nothing more than a mental kaleidoscope, and constantly +thrown back by the frantic struggles of reason. He had nursed the +thought of revenge, mile after mile, day after day, across the prairies +and the desert; but for the last half month he had fought it back for +the safety his freedom might give to the woman he loved. + +The grotesque, ungainly cart rumbled and bumped, clacked and screeched +down the street, farther and farther away and still he crouched in the +doorway. The sounds died out, but still he remained in the sheltering +niche. Finally his hand emerged from under the blanket and fell to his +side, and a wretched Indian slouched down the street toward the _Plaza +Publica_. In command of himself once more he shuffled over to the guard +house in the _palacio_ and leaned against the wall, the welt on his back +burning him to the soul, as Armijo's herald stepped from the main door, +blew his trumpet and announced the coming of the governor. Pedestrians +stopped short and bowed as the swarthy tyrant stalked out to his horse, +mounted and rode away, his small body-guard clattering after him. The +Delaware, to hide the expression on his face, bowed lower and longer +than anyone and then slyly produced a plug of smuggled Kentucky tobacco +and slipped it to the sergeant of the guard. + +"They'll catch you yet, you thief of the North," warned the sergeant, +shaking a finger at the stolid Indian. "And when they do you'll hang by +the thumbs, or lose your ears." He grinned and shoved the plug into his +pocket, not seeming to be frightened by becoming an accessory after the +fact. "Our governor is in high spirits today, and our captain's face is +like the mid-day sun. He is a devil with the women, is Armijo and his +seņora doesn't care a snap. Lucky man, the governor." He laughed and +then looked curiously at his silent companion. "Where do you come from, +and where do you go?" + +The Delaware waved lazily toward the North. "Seņor Bent. I return +soon." + +"Look to it that you do, or the _calabozo_ will swallow you up in one +mouthful. I hear much about the _palacio_." He shook his finger and his +head, both earnestly. + +The Delaware drew back slightly and glanced around. Drawing his blanket +about him he turned and slouched away, leaving the plaza by the first +street, and made his slinking and apologetic way to Armstrong's, there +to wait until dark. His three friends were there already and were +rubbing their pistols and rifles, elated that the morrow would find them +on the trail again. The two Arapahoes planned to accompany the caravan +as far as the Crossing of the Arkansas and there turn back toward Bent's +Fort, following the northern branch of the trail along the north bank of +the river. + +"Better jine us, Tom," urged Jim Ogden. "You an' Hank an' us will stay +at th' fort till frost comes, an' then outfit thar an' spend th' winter +up in Middle Park." + +"Or we kin work up 'long Green River an' winter in Hank's old place," +suggested Zeb Houghton, rubbing his hands. "Thar'll be good company in +Brown's Hole; an' mebby a scrimmage with th' thievin' Crows if we go up +that way. Yer nose will be outer jint in th' Missouri settlements. I +know a couple o' beaver streams that ain't been teched yit." He glanced +shrewdly at the young man. "It's good otter an' mink country, too. We'll +build a good home camp an' put up some lean-tos at th' fur end o' th' +furtherest trap lines. Th' slopes o' th' little divides air thick with +timber fer our marten traps, an' th' tops air bare. Fox sets up thar +will git plenty o' pelts. I passed through it two year ago an' can't +hardly wait ter git back ag'in. It's big enough fer th' hull four o' +us." + +"Thar's no money in beaver at a dollar a plew," commented Hank, watching +his partner out of the corner of his eye. "Time war when it war worth +somethin', I tell ye; but them days air past--an' th' beaver, too, purty +nigh. I remember one spring when I got five dollars a pound fer beaver +from ol' Whiskey Larkin. Met him on th' headwaters o' th' Platte. He +paid me that then an' thar, an' then had ter pack it all th' way ter +Independence. But it's different with th' other skins, an' us four shore +could have a fine winter together." + +"It's allus excitin' ter me ter wait till th' pelts prime, settin' in a +good camp with th' traps strung out, smokin' good terbaker an' eatin' +good grub," said Ogden, reminiscently. "Then th' frosts set in, snow +falls an' th' cold comes ter stay; an' we web it along th' lines settin' +traps fer th' winter's work. By gosh! What ye say, Tom?" + +Tom was studying the floor, vainly trying to find a way to please his +friends and to follow the commands of an urging he could not resist. For +him the mating call had come, and his whole nature responded to it with +a power which would not be denied. On one hand called the old life, the +old friends to whom he owed so much; a winter season with them in a good +fur country, with perfect companionship and the work he loved so dearly; +on the other the low, sweet voice of love, calling him to the One Woman +and to trails untrod. The past was dead, living only in memory; the +future stirred with life and was rich in promise. He sighed, slowly +shook his head and looked up with moist eyes, glancing from one eager +face to another. + +"I'm goin' back ter Missoury," he said in a low voice. "Thar's a +question I got ter ask, back thar, when th' danger's all behind an' it +kin be asked fair. If th' answer is 'no' I promise ter jine ye at Bent's +or foller after. Leave word fer me if ye go afore I git thar. But +trappin' is on its last legs, an' th' money's slippin' out o' it, like +fur from a pelt in th' spring; 'though I won't care a dang about that if +I has ter turn my back on th' settlements." His eyes narrowed and his +face grew hard. "Jest now I'm worryin' about somethin' else. Here I am +in Santer Fe, passin' Armijo an' Salezar every day, an' have ter turn my +back on one of th' big reasons fer comin' hyar. Thar's a new welt acrost +my back that burns through th' flesh inter my soul like a livin' fire. +Thar's an oath I swore on th' memory of a close friend who war beaten +an' starved an' murdered; an' now I'm a lyin' dog, an' my spirit's +turned ter water!" He leaped up and paced back and forth across the +little room like a caged panther. + +Hank cleared his throat, his painted face terrible to look upon. "Hell!" +he growled, squirming on his box. "Them as know ye, Tom Boyd, know ye +ain't neither dog ner liar! Takes a good man ter stand what ye have, day +arter day, feelin' like you do, an' keep from chokin' th' life outer +him. We've all took his insults, swallered 'em whole without no salt; ye +wouldn't say _all_ o' us war dogs an' liars, would ye? Tell ye what; +we've been purty clost, you an' me--suppose I slip back from th' +Canadian an' git his ears fer ye? 'Twon't be no trouble, an' I won't be +gone long. Reckon ye'd feel airy better then?" + +Zeb moved forward on his cask. "That's you, Hank Marshall!" he exclaimed +eagerly. "I'm with ye! He spit in my face two days ago, an' I want his +ha'r. Good fer you, ol' beaver!" + +For the next hour the argument waxed hot, one against three, and +Armstrong had to come in and caution them twice. It was Jim Ogden who +finally changed sides and settled the matter in Tom's favor. + +"Hyar! We're nigh fightin' over a dog that ain't worth a cuss!" he +exclaimed. "Mebby Tom will be comin' back ter Bent's afore winter sets +in. Then we kin go ter Green River by th' way o' this town, stoppin' +hyar a day ter git Salezar's ears. Won't do Tom no good if us boys git +th' skunk. If ye don't close yer traps, cussed if I won't go out an' git +him now, an' then hell shore will pop afore th' caravan gits away. Ain't +ye got no sense, ye bloodthirsty Injuns?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE KIDNAPPING + + +Patience and her Mexican escort rode out of the town along the trail to +Taos Valley, the road leading up the mountain and past her favorite +retreat. She could not resist the cool of the morning hours and the +temptation to pay one more visit to the little niche in the mountain +side. The few farewell calls that she had to make could wait until the +afternoon. They were duties rather than pleasures and the shorter she +could make them the better she would like it. She passed the mud houses +of the soldiers and soon left the city behind. At intervals on the +wretched road she met and smiled at the friendly muleteers and gave +small coins to the toddling Mexican and Indian children before the +wretched hovels scattered along the way. Well before noon she reached +the little nook and unpacked the lunch she had brought along. Sharing it +with her humble escort, who stubbornly insisted on taking his portion to +one side and eating by himself, she spread her own lunch under her +favorite tree and leisurely enjoyed it as she watched the mules passing +below her along the trail. This last view of the distant town and the +mountain trail enchanted her and time slipped by with furtive speed. Far +down on the road, if it could be called such, bumped and slid a huge +_carreta_ covered with a soiled canvas cover, its driver laboring with +his four-mule team. The four had all they could do to draw the massive +cart along the rough trail and she smiled as she wondered how many mules +it would take to pull the heavy vehicle if it were well loaded. She +tried to picture it with the toiling caravan, and laughed aloud at the +absurdity. + +While she idly watched the _carreta_ and the little _atejo_ passing it +in the direction of the city, a flash far down the trail caught her eye +and she made out a group of mounted soldiers trotting after an officer, +whose scabbard dully flashed as it jerked and bobbed about. The +_carreta_ was more than half way up the slope, seeming every moment to +be threatened with destruction by the shaking it was receiving, when the +soldiers overtook and passed it. When the squad reached the short +section of the trail immediately below her it met an _atejo_ of a dozen +heavily-laden mules and the arrogant officer waved his sword and ordered +them off the trail. Mules are deliberate and take their own good time, +and they also have a natural reluctance to forsake a known and +comparatively easy trail to climb over rocks under the towering packs. +Their owners tried to lead them aside, although there was plenty of room +for the troops to pass, but the little beasts were stubborn and stuck to +the trail. + +Impatiently waiting for perhaps a full minute that his conceit might be +pampered, the officer drew his sword again and peremptorily ordered the +trail cleared for his passing. The muleteers did their best, but it was +not good enough for the puffed-up captain, and he spurred his horse +against a faggot-burdened animal. The load swayed and then toppled, +forcing the little burro to its knees and then over on its side, the +tight girth gripping it as in a vise. The owner of the animal stepped +quickly forward, a black scowl on his face. At his first word of protest +the officer struck him on the head with the flat of the blade and broke +into a torrent of curses and threats. The muleteer staggered back +against a huge bowlder and bowed his head, his arms hanging limply at +his sides. The officer considered a moment, laughed contemptuously and +rode on, his rag-tag, wooden-faced squad following him closely. + +As the soldiers passed from his sight around a bend in the trail the +muleteer leaned forward, hand on the knife in his belt, and stared +malevolently at the rocks on the bend; and then hastened to help his two +companions unpack the load of faggots and let the mule arise. The little +animal did not get up. Both its front legs were broken by the rocky +crevice into which they had been forced. The unfortunate Pueblo Indian +knelt swiftly at the side of the little beast and passed his hands along +the slender legs. He shook his head sorrowfully and stroked the burro's +flank. Suddenly leaping to his feet, knife in hand, he took two quick +steps along the trail, but yielded to his clinging and frightened +friends and dejectedly walked back to the suffering animal. For a moment +he stood above it and then, changing his grip on the knife, leaned +quickly over. + +Patience had seen the whole tragedy and her eyes were brimming with +tears. As the muleteer bent forward she turned away, sobbing. The +throaty muttering of her guide brought him back to her mind and she +called him to her. + +"Sanchez!" she exclaimed, taking a purse from her bosom. "Take this +money to him. It will buy him another burro." + +The Mexican's teeth flashed like pearls and he nodded eagerly. In a +moment he was clambering down the rocky mountain side and reached the +trail as the noisy _carreta_ lumbered past the waiting _atejo_. He need +not have hastened, for each mule had seized upon the stop as a valuable +moment for resting and was lying down under its load. Here was work for +the angry muleteers, for every animal must be unloaded, kicked to its +feet and loaded anew. + +Sanchez slid down the last rocky wall, flung up his arms and showed the +two gold pieces, making a flamboyant speech as he alternately faced the +wondering muleteer and turned to bow to the slender figure outlined +against the somber greens of the mountain nook. Handing over the money, +he slapped the Indian's shoulder, whirled swiftly and clambered back the +way he had come. + +The Indian seemed dazed at his unexpected good fortune, staring at the +money in his hand. He glanced up toward the mountain niche, raised a +hand to his forelock, and then pushed swiftly back from his eager, +curious, crowding friends. They talked together at top speed and for the +moment forgot all about the mules they had so laboriously re-packed; and +when they looked behind them they found they had their work to do over +again. Again the fortunate muleteer looked up, his hand slowly rising +to repeat his thanks; and became a statue in bronze. He saw the ragged +troops seize his benefactress and leap for the guide. Sanchez was no +coward and he knew what loyalty meant and demanded. He fought like a +wild beast until the crash of a pistol in the hands of the officer sent +him staggering on bending legs, back, back, back. Reaching the edge of +the niche he toppled backward, his quivering arms behind him to break +his fall; and plunged and rolled down the rocky slope until stopped by a +stunted tree, where he hung like a bag of meal. + +Patience's strength, multiplied by terror, availed her nothing and soon, +bound, gagged and wrapped up in blankets, she was carried to the trail +and placed in the _carreta_ which, its canvas cover again tightly drawn, +quickly began its jolting way down the trail. As it and its escort +passed the _atejo_, now being re-packed, the officer scowled about him +for a sight of the impudent muleteer, but could not see him. + +Salezar stopped his horse: "Where is that Pueblo dog?" he demanded. + +"He is so frightened he is running all the way home," answered a +muleteer. "He has left us to do his work for him! Are we slaves that we +must serve him? Wait till we see him, Seņor Capitan! Just you wait!" He +looked at his companion, who nodded sourly. "Always he is like that, +Seņor Capitan." + +Salezar questioned them closely about what they had seen, and found that +they had been so busy with the accursed mules that they had had no time +for anything else. + +"See that you speak the truth!" he threatened. "There is a gringo woman +missing from Santa Fe and we are seeking her. Her gringo friends are +enemies of the Governor, and those who help them also are his enemies. +Then you have not seen this woman?" + +"The more gringos that are missing the louder we will sing. We have not +seen her, Seņor Capitan. We will take care that we do not see her." + +"Did you hear any shooting, then?" + +"If I did it would be that frightened Pablo, shooting at his shadow. He +is like that, Pablo is." + +"Listen well!" warned Salezar, his beady eyes aglint. "There are two +kinds of men who do not speak; the wise ones, and the ones who have no +tongues!" He made a significant gesture in front of his mouth, glared +down at the two muleteers and, wheeling, dashed down the trail to +overtake the _carreta_, where he gloated aloud that his prisoner might +hear, and know where she was going, and why. + +The two Pueblos listened until the hoofbeats sounded well down the trail +and then scrambled up the mountain side like goats, reaching the little +nook as Pablo dragged the seriously wounded Mexican over the edge. They +worked over him quickly, silently, listening to his broken, infrequent +mutterings and after bandaging him as best they could they put him on a +blanket and carried him to the trail and along it until they reached an +Indian hovel, where they left him in care of a squaw. Returning to the +_atejo_ they had to repack every mule, but they worked feverishly and +the work was soon done and the little train plodded on down the trail. +At the foot of the mountain Pablo said something to his companions, left +the trail and soon was lost to their sight. + +Meanwhile the _carreta_, after a journey which was a torture, mentally +and physically, to its helpless occupant, reached the town and rumbled +up to Salezar's house, scraped through the narrow roadway between the +house and the building next door and stopped in the windowless, +high-walled courtyard. Three soldiers quickly carried a blanket-swathed +burden into the house while the others loafed around the entrance to the +driveway to guard against spying eyes. In a few moments the captain came +out, briskly rubbing his hands, gave a curt order regarding alertness +and rode away in the direction of the _palacio_, already a colonel in +his stimulated imagination. This had been a great day in the fortunes of +Captain Salezar and he was eager for his reward. + +The sentry at the door of the _palacio_ saluted, told him that he was +waited for and urgently wanted, and then stood at attention. Salezar +stroked his chin, chuckled, and swaggered through the portal. Ten +minutes later he emerged, walking on air and impatient for the coming of +darkness, when his task soon would be finished and his promotion +assured. + +And while the captain paced the floor of his quarters at the barracks +and dreamed dreams, an honest, courageous, and loyal Mexican was +fighting against death in a little hovel on the mountain side; and a +Pueblo Indian, stimulated by a queer and jumbled mixture of rage, +gratitude, revenge, and pity, was making his slow way, with infinite +caution, through the cover north of town. Sanchez in his babbling had +mentioned the caravan, a gringo name, and the urgent need for a warning +to be carried. Salezar's name the Pueblo already knew far too well, and +hated as he hated nothing else on earth. The mud-walled _pueblos_ of the +Valley of Taos were regarded by Salezar as rabbit-warrens full of women, +provided by Providence that his hunting might be good. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +"LOS TEJANOS!" + + +The encampment of the returning caravan was in a little pasture well +outside the town and it was the scene of bustling activity. Its +personnel was different from either of the two trains from the Missouri +frontier, for it was made up of traders and travelers from both of the +earlier, west-bound caravans. Some of the first and second wagon trains +had gone on to El Paso and Chihuahua, a handful of venturesome travelers +were to try for the Pacific coast, and others of the first two trains +had elected to remain in the New Mexican capital. While in the two +west-bound caravans there had been many Mexicans, their number now was +negligible. But this returning train was larger than either of the other +two, carried much less freight, a large amount of specie, and would +drive a large herd of mules across the prairies for sale in the Missouri +settlements, which would fan the fires of Indian avarice all along the +trail. + +Uncle Joe and his brother had been busy all day doing their own work, +catching up odds and ends of their Santa Fe connections, and helping +friends get ready for the long trip, and they had not given much thought +to Patience, whom they believed to be saying her farewells to friends +she had made in the city. As the afternoon passed and she and her escort +had not appeared, Uncle Joe became a little uneasy; and as the shadows +began to reach farther and farther from the wagons he mounted his horse +and rode back to Santa Fe to find and join her. It was nearly dark when +he galloped back to the encampment and sought his brother, hoping that +Patience had made her way to the wagons while he had sought for her in +town. He knew that she had not called on any of her friends and that she +must have stolen a last ride through the environs of the town. The two +men were frankly frightened and hurriedly made the rounds of the wagons +and then started for the city. It was dark by then and as they rode by +the last camp-fire of the encampment, four villainous Indians loomed up +in the light of the little blaze and Uncle Joe recognized them +instantly. He drew up quickly. + +"Have you seen Patience?" he cried, an agony of fear in his voice. "We +can't find her anywhere!" + +The Indians motioned for him to go on and they followed him and his +brother. When a few score paces from the fire they stopped and +consulted, hungrily fingering the locks of their heavy rifles. While +they were sketching a plan a Pueblo Indian, following the trail to the +camp like a speeding shadow, came up to them and blurted out his +fragmentary tale in a mixture of Spanish and Indian. + +"Salezar stole white woman on mountain. Put her in _carreta_ and went +back to Santa Fe. Tell these people, that her friends will know. +Salezar, the son of a pig, stole her on the mountain." He burst into a +torrent of words unintelligible and open and shut his hands as he +raved. + +Finally in reply to their hot, close questioning he told all he knew, +his answers interspersed with stark curses for Salezar and pity and +anxiety for the angel seņorita. His words bore the undeniable stamp of +sincerity, fitted in with what the anxious group feared, and he was +triply bound by the gold pieces crowded into his hands. After another +conference, not pointless now, a plan was hurriedly agreed upon and the +several parts well studied. The Pueblo was given a commission and loaned +a horse, and after repeating what he was to do, shot away into the +darkness. Uncle Joe and his brother grudgingly accepted their parts, +after Tom had shown them they could help in no other way, and turned +back into the encampment, where their hot and eager efforts met with +prompt help from their closest friends. Alonzo Webb and Enoch Birdsall, +mounted, led four horses out of the west side of the camp and melted +into the darkness; several hundred yards from the wagons they turned the +led horses over to four maddened Indians and followed them through the +night, to enter Santa Fe from the south. Not far behind them a cavalcade +rode along the same route, grim and silent. At the little corral where +the _atejo_ had put up the Indians got the horses which Turley had +loaned them, shook hands with the two traders and listened as the +caravan's horses were led off toward the camp. + +Armstrong answered the knocks on his door and admitted the Delaware, +listened in amazement to the brief, tense statement of fact, strongly +endorsed Tom's plans, and eagerly accepted his own part. His caller +slipped out, the door closed, and the sounds of walking horses faded +out down the street. A few moments later, Armstrong, rifle in hand, +slipped out of the house and ran southward. + +Captain Salezar, sitting at ease in his adobe house, poured himself +another drink of _aguardiente_ and rolled another corn-husk cigarette. +Lighting it from the candle he fell to pacing to and fro across the +small room. As the raw, potent liquor stimulated his imagination he +began to bow to imaginary persons, give orders to officers, and to +introduce himself as Colonel Salezar. From the barracks across the +corner of the square an occasional burst of laughter rang out, but these +were becoming more infrequent and less loud. He heard the grounding +gun-butt of the sentry outside his door as the soldier paused before +wheeling to retrace his steps over the beat. + +The sentry paced along the narrow driveway and stopped at the outer +corner of the house to cast an envious glance across at the barracks +where he knew that his friends were engaged in a furtive game of +_monte_, which had started before he had gone on duty not a quarter of +an hour before. He turned slowly to pace back again and then suddenly +threw up his arms as his world became black. His falling firelock was +caught as it left his hands, and soon lay at the side of its gagged and +trussed owner in the blackness along the base of a driveway wall. Two +figures slipped toward the courtyard to the rear of the house and one of +them, taking the rifle of his companion, stopped at the corner of the +wall at the driveway. The other slipped to the door, gently tried the +latch and opened it, one hand hidden beneath the folds of a dirty +blanket. The door swung silently open and shut and the intruder cast a +swift glance around the room. + +Captain Salezar grinned into the cracked mirror hanging on the wall, +stiffened to attention, and saluted the image in the glass. + +"Colonel Salezar's orders, sir," he declaimed and then, staring with +unbelieving eyes at the apparition pushing out onto the mirror, crossed +himself, whirled and drew his sword almost in one motion. + +The Delaware cringed and pulled at a lock of hair straggling down past +his eyes and held out a folded paper, swiftly placing a finger on his +lips. + +"_Por le Capitan despues le Gobernador_," he whispered. "_Pronto!_" + +The captain's anger and suspicion at so unceremonious an entry slowly +faded, but he did not lower the sword. The Delaware slid forward, abject +and fearful, his eyes riveted on the clumsy blade, the paper held out at +arm's length. "_Por le Capitan_," he muttered. "_Pronto!_" + +"You son of swine!" growled Salezar. "You scum! Is this the way you +enter an officer's house? How did you pass the sentry? A score of lashes +on both your backs will teach you manners and him his duty. Give me that +message and stand aside till I call the guard!" + +"_Perdón, Capitan! Perdón, perdón!_" begged the Delaware. "_Le +Gobernador_--" his hands streaked out, one gripping the sword wrist of +the captain, the other fastening inexorably on the greasy, swarthy +throat well up under the chin. As the grips clamped down the Delaware's +knee rose and smashed into the Mexican's stomach. The sword clattered +against a wall and the two men fell and rolled and thrashed across the +floor. + +"Where _is_ she?" grated the Indian as he writhed and rolled, now +underneath and now uppermost. "Where _is_ she, you murdering dog?" + +They smashed against the flimsy table and overturned it, candle, liquor +and all. The candle flickered out and the struggle went on in the +darkness. + +"Where _is_ she, Salezar? Yore in th' hands of a _Texan_, you taker of +ears! Where _is_ she?" + +Salezar was no weakling and although he had no more real courage than a +rat, like a rat he was cornered and fighting for his life; but Captain +Salezar had lived well and lazily, as his pampered body was now showing +evidence. Try as he might he could not escape those steel-like fingers +for more than a moment. With desperate strength he broke their hold time +and again as he writhed and bridged and rolled, clawed and bit; but they +clamped back again as often. His shouts for help were choked gasps and +the strength he had put forth in the beginning of the struggle was +waning. + +The table was now a wreck and they rolled in and over the débris. +Salezar made use of his great spurs at every chance and his opponent's +clothing was ripped and torn to shreds wet with blood. His fingers +searched for his enemy's eyes and missed them, but left their marks on +the painted face. They rolled against one wall and then back to the +other; they slammed again at the door and back into the wreckage of the +table. + +"Where _is_ she?" panted the Delaware. "Tell me, Salezar, _where is +she_?" + +The captain wriggled desperately and almost gained the top, and thought +he sensed a weakened opposition. "Where she will remain!" he choked. +"Mistress of the _palacio_--until he tires--of her. You--cursed _Tejano_ +dog!" He drove a spur at his enemy's side, missed, and it became +entangled in the rags. + +The Delaware, blind with fury, smashed his knee into the soft abdomen +and snarled at the answering gasp of pain. "Remember th' prisoners? Near +Valencia--Ernest died in the--night. You cut off his ears--and threw his +body in a--ditch!" He got the throat hold again in spite of nails and +teeth, blows and spurs. "McAllister was shot because he--could not walk. +You stole his clothes--cut off his ears and left--his body at th' side +of th'--road for the wolves!" He felt the spurs graze his leg and he +threw it across the body of the Mexican. "Golpin was shot--other side of +Dead Man's Lake. You took--_his_ ears _too_!" He hauled and tugged and +managed to roll his enemy onto his other leg. "On th' Dead Man's +Journey--Griffin's brains were knocked out with a--gun butt. _His_ ears +were cut off, _too_!" Hooking his feet together he clamped his powerful +thighs in a viselike grip on his enemy. "Gates died in a wagon near--El +Paso, of starvation, sickness--an' fright. You got _his_--ears!" + +"As--I'll get--_yours_!" hoarsely moaned Salezar, again missing with the +spurs. "The seņorita will be happy--in Armijo's arms. After that--the +soldiers--can have her!" + +The Delaware loosened his leg grip, jerked them up toward the captain's +stomach as he hauled his victim down toward them, and clamped them tight +again over the soft stomach. + +"Yore lies stick--in yore throat--Salezar!" he panted. "An' those +murders cry--to heaven; but you'll only--hear th' echoes ringin' through +hell--for all eternity. _You_ called th' roll of th' livin'--on that +damnable march; _I_'m--callin' th' roll of th' _dead_! Yore name comes +last! There's many a Texan would give his--chance of heaven to change +places--with me, _now_!" He raised his head in the darkness. "Oh, +Ernest, old pardner; I'm payin' yore debt, _in full_!" + +The spurs stabbed in vain, for the Delaware was now well above their +flaying range; the nails scoring his face were growing feeble. He +shifted the leg hold again and managed to imprison one of Salezar's arms +in their grip. Lifting himself from the hips, he released the throat +hold and grabbed the Mexican's other arm, thrust it under him and fell +back on it as his two hands, free now to work their worst, leaped back +under the swarthy chin. The relentless thumbs pressed up and in. + +The Blackfoot on guard at the end of the driveway thought he heard the +door open and close, but there was no doubt about the labored breathing +which wheezed along the dark wall. Stumbling steps faltered and dragged +and then the Delaware bumped into him and held to him for a moment. + +"Git th' hosses, Hank!" came a mumbled command. + +"Thar with Jim an' Zeb," whispered the hunter in surprise. "How'd ye get +so wet? Is that blood?" + +"Spurred me--I'll be all right--soon's I git breath. He--fought like +a--fiend." + +"Git his ears?" eagerly demanded the Blackfoot. + +"Thar's been ears enough took--already. Come on; _she's_ in th' +_palacio_--with _Armijo_!" + +"Jest what we figgered, _damn him_!" growled the Blackfoot, leading the +way. + +In the stable at the rear of the courtyard a decrepit dog, white with +age, had barked feebly when its breath permitted, while the fight had +raged in the house. The Blackfoot had considered stopping the wheezy +warnings, but they did not have power enough to lure him from his watch. +He had accepted the lesser of the two evils and remained on guard. As +the two Indians crept from the courtyard the aged animal burst into a +paroxysm of barking, which exhausted it. To those who knew the captain's +dog, its barking long since had lost all meaning, for, as the soldiers +said, it barked over nothing. They did not know that the animal dreamed +day and night of the days of its youth and strength and now, in its +dotage, in imagination was living over again stirring incidents of hunts +and fights long past. Gradually it recovered its strength from sounding +its barked warnings in vain, and pantingly sniffed the air. Its actions +became frantic and the decrepit old dog struggled to its feet, swaying +on its feeble legs, its grizzled muzzle pointing toward its master's +house. The composite body odor it had known for so many years had +changed, and ceased abruptly. Whining and whimpering, the dog searched +the air currents, but in vain; the scent came no more. Then, sinking +back on its haunches, it raised its gray nose to the sky and poured out +its grief in one long, quavering howl of surprising volume. + +The sleeping square sprang to life, superstitious terror dominated the +barracks. Lights gleamed suddenly and the barracks door opened slowly, +grudgingly as frightened soldiers hurriedly crossed themselves. Don Jesu +and Robideau pushed hesitatingly to the portal and peered fearsomely +into the night. They suddenly cried out, drew their ancient pistols, and +fired at two vague figures slinking hurriedly along the side of the +house opposite. From the darkness there came quick replies. A +coruscating poniard of spiteful flame stabbed into the night. Don Jesu +whirled on buckling legs and pitched sidewise to the street. A second +stab of sparky flame split the darkness and Robideau reeled back into +the arms of his panicky soldiers. As the heavy reports rolled through +the town they seemed to be a signal, for on the southern outskirts of +Santa Fe gun after gun crashed in a rippling, spasmodic volley. A few +stragglers in the all but deserted streets raised a dreaded cry and fled +to the nearest shelter. The cry was taken up and sent rioting through +the city; doors were doubly barred and the soldiers in the barracks, +safer behind the thick mud walls than they would be out in the dark open +against such an enemy, slammed shut the ponderous door and frantically +built barricades of everything movable. + +"_Los Tejanos!_" rolled the panicky cries. "_Los Tejanos! Los +Tejanos!_" + +The wailing warning of the coming of a plague could not have held more +terror. Gone were the vaunted boastings and the sneers; gone was the +swaggering bravado of the dashing _caballeros_, who had said what they +would do to any Texan force that dared to brave the wrath of the +defenders of San Francisco de la Santa Fe. Gone was all faith, never too +sincere, in ancient _escopeta_ and rusty blunderbuss, now that the +occasion was close at hand to measure them against the devil weapons of +hardy Texan fighting men, of the breed that had stood off, bloody day +after bloody day, four thousand Mexican regulars before a little adobe +church, now glorified for all the ages yet to come. To panicky minds +came magic words of evil portent; the Alamo and San Jacinto. To evil +consciences, bowed with guilt, came burning memories of that sick and +starved Texan band that had walked through winter days and shivered +through winter nights from Santa Fe to the capital, two thousand miles +of suffering, and every step a torture. Texan ears had swung from a +piece of rusty wire to feed the cruel conceit of a swarthy tyrant. + +"_Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!_" + +At the _palacio_ a human brute recoiled before a barred door between him +and a desperate captive, his honeyed cajolings turning to acid on his +lying tongue. No longer did he hear the measured tread of the palace +guards, who secretly exulted as they fled and left him defenseless. + +"_Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!_" + +He dashed through a door to grab his weapons and flee, and in through +the open, undefended portal from the square leaped a blood-covered +Delaware, an epic of rags and rage, a man so maddened that all thought +of weapons save Nature's, had gone from his burning brain. Behind him +leaped a Blackfoot, dynamic and deadly as a panther, a Colt pistol in +one eager, upraised hand, in the other the cold length of a keen +skinning knife. Behind them from a wagon deserted in the square came the +sharp crashes of Hawken and Colt, and a shouted battlecry: "Remember th' +Alamo! Remember th' Alamo! Texans to th' fore!" + +As the Delaware dashed past an open door he caught a flurry of movement, +the flare of a pistol and his laughter pealed out in one mad shout as he +stopped like a cat and leaped in through the opening. Another flash, +another roar, and a burning welt across a shoulder spurred the bloody +Nemesis to a greater speed. The wavering sword he knocked aside and near +two hundred pounds of fighting, mountain sinew hurled itself behind a +driving fist. The hurtling bulk of Armijo crashed against a wall and +dropped like a bag of grain as the plunging Delaware whirled to pounce +upon it. As he turned, a scream rang out somewhere behind him, through +the door he had just entered, a scream vibrant with desperate hope, and +he bellowed a triumphant answer. Here was his mission; Armijo was a side +issue. The governor, helpless before him, was forgotten and the Delaware +whirled through the door bellowing one name over and over again. +"Patience! Patience! _Patience!_" + +"_Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!_" came from the public square. + +"_Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!_" quavered the despairing echo throughout +the quaking town, while from the south there came the steady crash of +alien rifles, firing harmlessly into the air. + +Before him a Blackfoot methodically battered at a door, taking a few +quick steps backward and a plunging dive forward. The Delaware shouted +again and added the power of his driving weight. There came a +splintering crash and the door went in. The Blackfoot whirled and darted +to the great portal leading to the square, bouncing on the balls of his +feet like a cougar expecting danger at every point. The Delaware +scrambled to his feet and gathered a whitefaced woman in his arms, +crushing her to his bloody chest. He felt her go suddenly limp and, +throwing her across a bare and bleeding shoulder, he drew a Colt +repeating pistol and sprang after his Indian ally, not feeling the +weight of his precious burden. + +Lurid, stabbing rapiers of fire still sprang from the wagon barricade, +making death certain to any man who opened the barracks' door. Between +their heavy roars the woodwork of the wagon smacked sharply in time to +bursts of fire from the barracks' few windows. The Delaware darted from +the _palacio_ door and held close to the wall, hidden by the portico and +the darkness. As he reached the end of the column-supported roof the +Blackfoot bulked out of the night on his horse, and leading four others. +The lost-soul call of a loon sounded and changed the deadly wagon into a +vehicle of peace and quiet as its Arapahoe defenders slipped away from +it. The sudden creaking of saddle leather was followed by the rolling +thunder of flying hoofs as the first three horses left the square. A +moment's pause and then two more horses galloped through the darkness +after the others, the Arapahoe rear guard sitting almost sidewise in +their saddles, their long, hot rifles pointing backward to send hotter +greetings to whoever might follow. + +They raced like gambling fools through the dark night, the Blackfoot +leading the way with the instinct of a homing bird. Mile after mile +strung out behind them, pastures, gullies, knolls rolling past. While +they climbed and dipped and circled they gradually sensed a steady +rising of the ground. Suddenly the Blackfoot shouted for them to halt, +and the laboring horses welcomed the moment's breathing space. The guide +threw himself on the ground and pressed his ear against it. In a moment +he was back in the saddle and gave the word to go on again. He had heard +no sounds of pursuit and he chuckled as he leaned over close to the +Delaware who rode at his flank. + +"Nothin' stirrin' behind us, fur's I could make out," he said. "They can +only track us by sound in th' dark, at any speed, an' I'm gamblin' they +wait fer daylight. Thar scared ter stick thar noses out o' doors _this_ +night. How's yore gal?" + +Tom's rumbling reply could mean anything and they kept on through the +night without further words. The trail had been growing steadily rougher +and steeper and the horses were permitted to fall into a swinging lope. +Another hour passed and then Hank signalled for a stop. From his lips +whistled the crowded, hurried, repeated call of a whip-poor-will. Three +times the insistent demand rang out, clear and piercing. At the count of +ten an echoing whistle sounded and a light flickered on the trail +ahead. + +"J'get her?" bawled a voice, tremulous with fear and anxiety, and only a +breath ahead of another. + +"Hell yes!" roared Hank. "Got Salezar, Don Jesu and Robideau, too; only +we left _them_ behind--with thar ears!" + +In another moment Uncle Joe and Adam Cooper took the precious burden +from the Delaware's numbed arms, someone uncovered the lighted candle +lantern, and saddles were thrown on fresh mounts. The Pueblo pushed +forward and peered into Patience's face, and his own face broke into +smiles. His torrent of mixed Spanish and Indian brought a grin to Hank's +painted countenance. + +"This hyar shore is good beaver," he chuckled, clapping the Pueblo on +the shoulder, "but thar's more good news fer _you_." He put his mouth +close to the Pueblo's ear and whispered: "Yer friend Salezar will be +leadin' a percession ter th' buryin' ground. That Delaware thar killed +him with his bare hands!" + +The Pueblo touched Tom's arm, his hand passing down it caressingly, to +be seized in a grip which made him wince; and when Adam Cooper offered +him a handful of gold coins the Indian drew himself up proudly and +pushed them away. + +"For his friends Pablo do what he can," he said in Spanish. "I now take +these horses back on the trail to make a puzzle in the sand that will +take time to read. Pablo does not forget. _Adios!_" He vaulted onto his +horse, took the lead ropes of the tired mounts, and was lost in the +darkness, eager to weave a pattern of hoof marks to mock pursuing eyes. + +The little cavalcade pushed on, following a trail that wound along the +sides of the mountains, passing many places where a handful of resolute +men could check scores. The cold mountain air bit shrewdly, and +occasional gusts of wind blustered along the timbered slopes and set the +pines and cedars whispering. Higher and higher went the narrow trail, +skirting sheer walls of rock on one side, and dizzy precipices on the +other; higher and higher plodded the little caravan in single file, +following the unhesitant leader. + +There came a leaden glow high up on the right. It paled swiftly as a +streak of silver flared up behind the jagged crests of the mountains, +here and there caught by a snow mantle to gleam in virgin white. On the +left lay abysmal darkness, like a lake of ink, and slowly out of it +pushed ranks of treetops as the dawn rolled downward and the mountain +fogs dissolved in dew. Deep canons, sheer precipices; long streaks on +mountain sides where resistless avalanches had scraped all greenery from +the glistening rock; green amphitheaters, fit for fairy pageants; +velvety knolls and jewels of mountain pastures lay below them, with here +and there the crystal gleam of ribbon-like mountain brooks, their waters +embarked on a long, depressing journey through capricious oceans of +billowy sands and the salty leagues of desert wastes. Birds flashed +among the branches, chipmunks chattered furiously at these unheeding +invaders of their mountain fastness; high up on a beetling crag a +bighorn ram was silhouetted in rigid majesty, and over all lazily +drifted an eagle against the paling western sky, symbolical of freedom. + +There came the musical tinkle of falling water and Hank stopped, raising +his hand. Into the little mountain dell the caravan wound and in a +moment muscles tired and cramped from long, hard riding found relief in +a score of little duties. While the animals were relieved of saddles and +packs and securely picketed, and a fire made of dry wood from a bleached +windfall, Hank climbed swiftly up the mountain side for a view of the +back trail. Perched on an out-thrust finger of rock high above the dell +he knelt motionless, searching with keen and critical eyes every yard of +that windswept trail, following it along its sloping length until it +shrunk into a hair line across the frowning mountain sides and then +faded out entirely. Below him grotesque figures moved about like gnomes +performing incantations around a tiny blaze; dwarfed horses cropped the +plentiful grass and succulent leaves, and a timid streamer of pale blue +smoke arose like a plumb line until the cruising gusts above the +treetops tore it into feathery wisps and carried it away. Across the +valley the rising sun pushed golden floods of light into crevices, among +the rocks, and turned the pines and cedars into glistening cones of +green on stems of jet. + +"Wall," said a voice below him, "hyar I am. Go down an' feed. See +anythin'?" + +Hank leaned over and looked down at the climbing figure, whose laborious +progress sent a noisy stream of clicking pebbles behind him like sparks +from a rocket. + +"Nothin' I ain't plumb glad ter see," replied Hank. "This hyar beats th' +settlements all ter hell." As Jim's horrible face peered over the edge +of the rock balcony Hank eyed it critically and shook his head. "I've +seen some plumb awful lookin' 'Rapahoes; but nothin' ter stack up ag'in +you. Vermillion mebby is yer favorite color, but it don't improve yer +looks a hull lot. Neither does that sorrel juice. How's th' gal?" + +"Full o' spunk an' gittin' chipper as a squirrel," answered Jim. "Who's +goin' ter git th' blame fer last night's fandango?" + +"Four murderin' Injuns, a-plunderin' an' a-kidnappin'," chuckled Hank. +"Woodson's goin' ter raise hell about th' hull Cooper fambly bein' +stole. Armijo'll keep his mouth shet an' pass th' crime along ter us, +an' make a great show o' gittin' us; but," he winked knowingly at his +accomplice in the night's activities, "chasin' four desperite Injuns +along an open trail, whar his sojers kin spread out an' take advantage +o' thar bein' twenty ter one is _one_ thing; chasin' 'em along a trail +like this, whar they has ter ride Injun fashion, is a hull lot +diff'rent. They've had thar bellies full o' chasin' along Injun trails +in th' mountings. Th' Apaches, Utes, an' Comanches has showed 'em it +don't pay. Thar's sharpshooters that can't be got at; thar's rollin' +rocks, an' ambushes; an' chasin' murderin' Injuns afoot up mounting +sides ain't did in this part o' th' country." + +"Meanin' we won't be chased?" demanded Jim, incredulously. + +"Not meanin' nothin' o' th' kind," growled Hank, spitting into three +hundred feet of void. "We killed some of th' military aristo-crazy, as +Tom calls 'em, didn't we? We made fools outer th' whole prairie-dog +town, didn't we? An' what's worse, we stole th' gal that Armijo war +sweet on, an' Tom knocked _him_ end over end--oh, Jim, ye should 'a' +seen that! Six feet o' greaser gov'ner a-turnin' a cartwheel in his own +house! _Chase_ us? Hell, yes!" + +The Arapahoe rubbed his chin. "Fust ye say one thing, then ye say +another. What ye mean, Ol' Buffaler?" + +"I'm bettin' thar's a greaser army a-poundin' along th' wagon road fer +Raton Pass," replied Hank, spitting again with great gusto. "We're a +Delaware from Bent's, a Blackfoot from th' Upper Missoury, an' two ugly +'Rapahoes from 'tother side o' St. Vrains, ain't we? Wall, if ye know a +fox's den ye needn't foller him along th' ridges." He chuckled again. +"We're goin' another way over some Ute trails I knows of." + +"But s'posin' they foller us along this trail?" + +Hank looked speculatively back along the narrow pathway, with its +numerous bends, and then glanced pityingly at his anxious friend. "I +jest told ye why they won't; an' if they do, _let_ 'em!" + +Ogden looked steadily southward along the trail and suddenly laughed: +"Yes; _let_ 'em!" + + * * * * * + +In the great courtyard of Bent's Fort one evening more than a week +later, three trappers sat with their backs against the brass cannon that +scowled at the heavy doors. They were planning their winter's trip in +the mountains, figuring out the supplies and paraphernalia for a party +of four, when Hank, glancing up, saw two people slowly walking along the +high, wide parapet on the side toward the Arkansas. He raised an arm, +pointing, and his companions, following it with their eyes, saw the two +figures suddenly become like one against the moonlit sky. + +Hank sighed, bit his lip, and looked down. + +"Better figger on a party o' three," he said. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bring Me His Ears, by Clarence E. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/31699-8.zip b/31699-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e3fdeb --- /dev/null +++ b/31699-8.zip diff --git a/31699-h.zip b/31699-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fead977 --- /dev/null +++ b/31699-h.zip diff --git a/31699-h/31699-h.htm b/31699-h/31699-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0e75d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/31699-h/31699-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10338 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Bring Me His Ears, by Clarence E. Mulford. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + + + + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bring Me His Ears, by Clarence E. Mulford + +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: Bring Me His Ears + +Author: Clarence E. Mulford + +Release Date: March 19, 2010 [EBook #31699] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRING ME HIS EARS *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Graeme Mackreth and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class='center'> +<img src='images/illus01.jpg' alt='frontispiece' /> +</p> +<p class='center'> Tom pushed on ahead to reconnoiter the Upper Spring<br /> + +[<i>Page <a href="#Page_262">262</a></i>]</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>"Bring Me His Ears"</h1> + +<h3>By CLARENCE E. MULFORD</h3> + + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Author of</span></p> + +<p class='center'>"Bar 20," "Bar 20 Days," "Bar 20-Three," "Buck Peters,<br /> Ranchman," "The +Coming of Cassidy," "Hopalong Cassidy,"<br /> "Johnny Nelson," "The Man from +Bar 20," "Tex," etc.</p> + + +<p class='center' style="margin-top: 10em;"><small>A.L. BURT COMPANY</small></p> + +<p class='center'><small>Publishers <span style="margin-left: 5em;"> New York</span></small></p> + +<p class='center'><small>Published by arrangement with A.C. McClurg & Co.<br /> + +Printed in U.S.A.</small></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class='center'><small>Copyright A.C. McClurg & Co. 1922<br /> + +Published October, 1922<br /> + +<i>Copyrighted in Great Britain</i><br /> + + +<i>Printed in the United States of America</i></small></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>"Bring Me His Ears"</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p class='center'>HAWKENS' GUN STORE<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + +<p>The tall, lanky Missourian leaning against the corner of a ramshackle +saloon on Locust Street, St. Louis, Missouri—the St. Louis of the early +forties—turned his whiskey-marked face toward his companion, a short +and slender Mexican trader, sullenly listening to the latter's torrent +of words, which was accompanied by many and excitable gesticulations. +The Missourian shook his head in reply to the accusations of his +companion.</p> + +<p>"But he was on thee boat weeth us!" exclaimed the other. "An' you lose +heem—lak theese!" the sharp snap of his fingers denoted magic.</p> + +<p>"Thar ain't no use o' gittin' riled," replied Schoolcraft. "How in +tarnation kin a man keep th' trail o' a slippery critter like him in +these yere crowds? I'll git sight o' him, right yere."</p> + +<p>"That ees w'at you say," rejoined the Mexican, shrugging his shoulders. +"But w'at weel <i>I</i> say to <i>le Gobernador</i>? Theese <i>hombre</i> Tomaz +Boyd—he know vera many t'eengs—too vera many t'eengs—an' he ensult +<i>le Gobernador</i>. <i>Madre de Dios</i>—sooch ensult!" He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> shivered at the +thought. "W'en I get thee message, I tr-remble! It say 'Br-ring heem to +me—or breeng me his ears!' I am tol' to go to Señor Schoolcr-raft at +Eendependence—he ees thee man. I go; an' then you lose heem! Bah! You +do not know theese Manuel Armijo, <i>le Gobernador de Santa Fe</i>, my +fren'—I tr-remble!"</p> + +<p>"You need a good swig, that's what <i>you</i> need," growled Schoolcraft. +"An' if ye warn't a chuckle-head," he said with a flash of anger, "we +wouldn't 'a' come yere at all; I told ye he's got th' prairie fever an' +shore would come back to Independence, whar I got friends; but no—we +had ter foller him!" He spat emphatically. "Thar warn't no sense to it, +nohow!"</p> + +<p>The other waved his arms. "But w'y we stan' here, lak theese? W'y you do +no'teeng?"</p> + +<p>"Now you look a-here, Pedro," growled the Missourian, his sullen gaze +passing up and down the slender Mexican. "Ye don't want ter use no spurs +on <i>this</i> critter. I ain't no greaser! If ye'll hold them arms still fer +a minute I'll tell ye somethin'. Thar's three ways o' gittin' a deer: +one is trailin'—which we've found ain't no good; another is layin' low +near a runway—which is <i>yer</i> job; th' third is watchin' th' salt +lick—which is <i>my</i> job. You go down ter th' levee, git cached among +them piles o' freight an' keep a lookout on th' landin' stage o' th' +<i>Belle</i>. I'll stick right yere on this corner an' watch th' lick, which +is Hawkens' gun store. He lost his pistol overboard, comin' down th' +river, didn't he? An' th' <i>Belle</i> ain't sailin' till arter ten o'clock, +is she? One o' us is bound ter git sight o' him, fer he'll shore go back +by th' river; an' if thar's any place in this town whar a plainsman'll +go, it's that gun store, down th' street. You do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> what I say, or you an' +Armijo kin go plumb ter hell! An' don't ye wave yer fists under my nose +no more, Pedro; I might misunderstand ye."</p> + +<p>The Mexican's face brightened. "Eet ees good, vera good, Señor +Schoolcraft. Hah! You have thee br-rains, my fren'. Armijo, he say: +'Pedro, get heem to Santa Fe, if you can. If you can't, then keel heem, +an' breeng me hees ears.' <i>Bueno!</i> I go, señor. I go <i>pronto</i>. <i>Buena +dia!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Then git," growled Schoolcraft. "Thar's that long-faced clerk o' +Hawkens' openin' th' shop. Now remember: this side o' th' junction o' +th' Oregon trail I'm only ter watch him. If he goes southwest from th' +junction, yer job begins; if he heads up fer th' Platte, my job starts. +I ain't got no love fer him, but I'm hopin' he heads fer Oregon an' gets +killed quick! I hate ter think o' a white man in Armijo's paws. An' if +he hangs 'round th' settlements, we toss up fer th' job. If that's +right, <i>vamoose</i>."</p> + +<p>"Eet ees r-right to thee vera letter," whispered the Mexican, rubbing +his hands. "Eef only I can get heem to Santa Fe—ah, my fren'!"</p> + +<p>"Yer wuss nor a weasel," grunted the Missourian, slight prickles playing +up and down his spine. "Better git down to them freight piles!"</p> + +<p>Schoolcraft watched his scurrying friend until he slipped around a +corner and was lost to sight; then he turned and looked up the street at +the gun shop of Jake and Samuel Hawken, whose weapons were renowned all +over that far-stretching western wilderness. Shrugging his shoulders, he +glanced in disgust at the heavy, patented repeating rifle in his hand +and, letting his personal affairs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> take precedence over those of the +distant Mexican tyrant, he swung down the street, crossed it, and +entered the famous gun shop. He risked nothing by the move, for the +store was the Mecca of frontiersmen, and a trip to St. Louis was hardly +complete without a visit to the shop.</p> + +<p>The Hawkens were established, so much so that they were to be singled +out by one of the famous Colt family with a partnership proposition. The +fame of their rifles had rolled westward to the Rockies and beyond. They +were to be found across the Canadian and Mexican boundaries and wherever +hunters and trappers congregated, who scorned the Northwest fusil as fit +only for trading purposes, laughed in their sleeves at the preposterous +length and general inefficiency of the Hudson Bay muskets, and +contentedly patted the stocks of their Hawkens'. There is a tradition +that the length of the Hudson Bay muskets, which often rose over the +head of a tall man while the butt rested on the ground, was due to the +fact that the ignorant Indians could obtain a white man's gun only by +stacking up beaver skins until the pile was as high as the musket. Even +worse than the flintlock trade guns were the <i>escopetas</i> of the south, +matchlocks of prodigious bore and no accuracy or power, which were used +by many of the Mexicans. That swarthy-skinned race which suffered under +the tyranny of Armijo seemed to believe that anything which used powder +was a weapon. The rank and file of the Mexicans were courageous and +usually fought bravely until deserted by their officers, or until they +were fully convinced that the miscellaneous junk with which they were +armed was worse than useless. It can hardly be expected that men +shooting pebbles, nails, and what-not out of nearly useless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +blunderbusses; or using bows, arrows, and lances will stand up very long +against straight-shooting troops armed with the best rifles; add to this +the great difference in morale, and the ever-present distrust of the +officers, and a fair and honest understanding may be arrived at.</p> + +<p>Hawkens' clerk took down one of the great rifles to go over it with an +oiled rag, which was another example of painting the lily. The weapon +was stocked to the muzzle and shot a bullet weighing thirty-two to the +pound, each thus being an honest half-ounce of lead. It was brass +mounted and had a poorly done engraving of a buffalo on the trap in its +stock. He turned to replace it and take down another when the sound of +the opening door made him pause and face the incoming customer.</p> + +<p>The newcomer was neither hunter nor trapper, gambler nor merchant, to +judge from his nondescript and mixed attire. His left hand had an ugly +welt running across the base of the palm and it had not been healed long +enough to have lost its distinctive color. In his right hand he carried +a rifle which was new to that part of the country, and he slid it onto +the counter.</p> + +<p>"Swap ye," he gruffly said, stepping back and leering at the clerk. "Too +ak'ard fer me. Can't git used ter it, nohow. I like a stock with a big +drop—this un makes me hump my head down like a bull buffaler. That's +th' wuss o' havin' a long neck."</p> + +<p>The clerk glanced at the repeating Colt and then at the injured hand. +The faintest possible suggestion of a knowing smile flitted across his +face, and he shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Those are too dangerous," he replied. "We don't handle them."</p> + +<p>"W'y, that's a fine rifle!" growled the customer, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> heavy frown +settling on his coarse face. "Six shots, with them newfangled caps, +without re-loadin'. She's a plumb fine weapon!"</p> + +<p>"Looks good," laughed the clerk; "but we don't care to handle them."</p> + +<p>"They've sorta put yer nose outer j'int, ain't they?" sneered the +customer. "Wall, ye kin bet yer peltries I wouldn't be givin' ye th' +chanct to handle <i>this</i> un," he angrily declared, "if it had a bigger +drop an' warn't so ak'ard fer a man like me. Ye can't find a rifle in +yer danged store as kin hold a candle ter it. I bet ye ain't never seen +one afore!"</p> + +<p>"It's our business to keep informed," responded the clerk, still +smiling. "We heard all about that rifle as soon as it was patented."</p> + +<p>"But ye allus could sell a gun like this un," persisted the scowling +owner. "Ye must have a hull passel o' tenderfeet a-comin' in yere."</p> + +<p>The clerk frowned and his voice became slightly edged. "The reputation +of Hawkens' is a valuable asset. It was acquired in two ways: honest +goods and fair dealing. Most tenderfeet ask us for a gun that we can +recommend; we cannot recommend that rifle. Do you care to look at one +that will not shoot through the palm of your extended hand after it gets +hot from rapid shooting?"</p> + +<p>"I got ye thar, pardner!" retorted the customer. "I done that with a +poker. Ye don't seem anxious ter do no business."</p> + +<p>"Our stock and my time are at your disposal," replied the clerk; "but we +cannot take that Colt in part payment."</p> + +<p>"Wall, ye don't have ter: I know a man as will; an'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> he ain't all +swelled up, neither. You an' yer rifles kin go ter h—l together!" He +jerked the Colt from the counter and stamped out, cursing at every step, +and slammed the door behind him so hard that it shook the shop. +Thoroughly angered, he strode down the street and had gone a block +before he remembered that he was to keep watch on the shop. Cursing +anew, he wheeled and went back on the other side of the street and +stopped at the corner of a ramshackle saloon.</p> + +<p>The clerk was taking down another rifle when the door opened again and +he wheeled aggressively, but his frown was swiftly wiped out by a smile.</p> + +<p>The newcomer was somewhere in the twenties, stood six feet two in his +moccasins, and had the broad, sloping shoulders that tell of great +strength. He was narrow waisted and sinewy and walked with a step light +and springy. Dressed in buckskin from the soles of his feet to the top +of his head, he had around his waist a broad belt, from which hung +powder horn, bullet pouch, a container for caps, a buckskin bag for +spare patches, a bullet mold, and a heavy, honest skinning knife. Slung +from a strap over one shoulder hung his "possible" bag, containing +various small articles necessary to his calling. In his hand was a +double-barreled rifle which he seemed to be excited about.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Jarvis!" he exclaimed, offering the weapon for inspection. "Tell me +what you think of this?"</p> + +<p>The clerk chuckled and his eyes lighted with pleasure. "I've seen it, or +its twin, before. English, fine sights, shooting about thirty-six balls +to the pound. They're pointed, aren't they? Ah-ha! I thought so." He +took the gun and examined it carefully. "Just what I've been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> trying to +tell Mr. Jacob Hawken. Look at those nipples: large diameter across the +threaded end, making it much easier to worry out wet powder by removing +them and working with a bent wire from that end. We have to work at the +ball with a screw, and that is no easy task after the patch paper +becomes swollen. With this rifle you can replace the wet powder with dry +and fire the ball out in much less time. Where did you get it, Mr. +Boyd?"</p> + +<p>The plainsman laughed exultingly. "Won it on the boat coming down, from +an English sportsman who was returning home. He said it was a fine +weapon, and I thought so; but I wanted your opinion."</p> + +<p>"Take it out on the Grand Prairie and try it out. From what I can see +here it is a remarkably fine rifle; but handsome is, you know."</p> + +<p>"I've tried it out already," laughed the other. "It's the best rifle in +this country, always excepting, of course, the Hawken!"</p> + +<p>"As long as you put it that way I shall have to agree with you. Did you +see the man who left a few moments before you came in?"</p> + +<p>Boyd nodded shortly. "Yes; but I don't care to discuss him beyond +warning you to look out for him. He deals in draft animals in +Independence, has the name of being slippery, and is known as Ephriam +Schoolcraft. However, I'm not an unprejudiced critic, for there is not +the best of feelings between us, due to an unprincipled trick he tried +to play on my partner." His face clouded for a moment. His partner had +joined the ill-fated Texan Santa Fe Expedition and had lost his life at +the hands of one of Armijo's brutal officers, for whom Tom Boyd had an +abiding hatred. On his last visit to Santa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> Fe he had shown it so +actively that only his wits and forthright courage had let him get out +of the city with his life. "Well, to change the subject, I lost my +pistol in the river, and I've heard a great deal about a revolving Colt +pistol from some Texans I met. It shoots six times without re-loading +and is fitted for caps. Got one?"</p> + +<p>"Two," chuckled Jarvis. "A large bore and a smaller. They are fine +weapons, but never rest the barrel on your other hand when you shoot."</p> + +<p>"I'll remember that. Which size would you recommend for me?"</p> + +<p>"The larger, by all means. We are expecting a shipment by express down +the Ohio and it should reach us almost any day now. It took the Texans +to prove their worth and give them their reputation."</p> + +<p>"Fit it with caps, mold and whatever it needs. I need caps and powder +for the rifle, too. First quality Kentucky, or Dupont, of course."</p> + +<p>The purchase completed Jarvis watched his friend and customer distribute +them over his person and then asked a question.</p> + +<p>"Where to now, Mr. Boyd?"</p> + +<p>"Independence and westward," answered the other. "Spring is upon us, the +prairie grass is getting longer all the time, and Independence is as +busy and crowded as an ant hill. All kinds of people are coming in by +train and river, bound for the trade to Santa Fe and Chihuahua, and for +far away Oregon." His eyes shone with enthusiasm. "The homesteaders +interest me the most, for it is to them that we will owe our western +empire. The trappers, hunters, and traders have prepared the way, but +they are only a passing phase. The first two will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> vanish and in their +places the homesteaders will take root and multiply. Think of it, Mr. +Jarvis, now our frontiers are only halfway across the continent; what an +empire that will some day become!"</p> + +<p>Jarvis nodded thoughtfully and looked up. "What does your father say to +all this, especially after the news last fall about your narrow escape +in Santa Fe?"</p> + +<p>Boyd shrugged his shoulders. "Father set his heart on me becoming his +junior partner, and to passing his work over to me when he was ready to +retire. Two generations of surgeons, is his boast; and in me he hoped to +make it three. Against that, the West needs men! Those Oregon-bound +wagons bring tears to my eyes. They have cast my die for me. I am on my +way to Fort Bridger and Fort Hall and the valley of the Columbia, to +lend my strength and little knowledge of the open to those who need it +most."</p> + +<p>Jarvis nodded his head in sympathy, for he had heard many speak nearly +the same thoughts; indeed, at times, the yearning to leave behind him +the dim old shop and the noisy, bustling city beset him strongly, +despite his years of a life unfitting him for the hardships of the +prairies and mountains. Being able to read Greek and Latin was no asset +on the open trail; although schoolmasters would be needed in that new +country.</p> + +<p>"I know how you feel, Mr. Boyd. Have you seen your father since you +landed?"</p> + +<p>Tom reluctantly shook his head. "It would only reopen the old bitterness +and lead to further estrangement. No man shall ever speak to me again as +he did—not even him. If you should see him, Jarvis, tell him I asked +you to assure him of my affection."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I shall be glad to do that," replied the clerk. "You missed him by only +two days. He asked for you and wished you success, and said your home +was open to you when you returned to resume your studies. I think, in +his heart, he is proud of you, but too stubborn to admit it." As he +spoke he chanced to glance through the window of the store. "Don't look +around," he warned. "I want to tell you that Schoolcraft and a Mexican +just passed the shop, peered in at you with more than passing interest +and went on. I suppose it's nothing, though."</p> + +<p>"It's enough to make me keep my eyes open," replied Tom, sighting his +new rifle at the great clock on the wall, which seemed to move a little +faster under the threat. "I thought they were watching me on the boat. +Armijo's vindictive enough to go to almost any length. He isn't +accustomed to having his beast face slapped."</p> + +<p>Jarvis' jaw dropped in sheer amazement. "You mean—do I understand—eh, +you mean—you slapped <i>his</i> face?"</p> + +<p>"So hard that it hurt my hand; I'll wager his teeth are loose," replied +Tom, his interest on his new weapon.</p> + +<p>"Er—slapped <i>Governor</i> Armijo's face?" persisted Jarvis from the +momentum of his amazement.</p> + +<p>"The Governor of the Department of New Mexico," replied the hunter.</p> + +<p>Jarvis drew a sleeve across his forehead and carefully felt for the high +stool behind him. Automatically climbing upon it he seated himself with +great care and then, remembering that his customer was standing, slid +off it apologetically. He was gazing at his companion as though he were +some strange, curious animal.</p> + +<p>"Eh—would you mind telling me <i>why</i>?" he asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He offended me; and if I'd known then what I found out later I would +have broken every bone in his pompous carcass and thrown him to the +dogs!" His face had reddened a little and the veins on his forehead were +beginning to stand out.</p> + +<p>Jarvis examined the clock with almost hypnotic interest. "And how did he +offend you, Mr. Boyd, if I may inquire?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the beast came swaggering along the street, followed at a +respectful distance by a crowd of his boot-lickers, and pushed me out of +his way. I asked him who in hell he thought he was, in choice Spanish, +and the conceited turkey-gobbler reached for his saber. The more I see +of this gun, Jarvis, the more I like it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed; and then what, Mr. Boyd?"</p> + +<p>"Huh?"</p> + +<p>"He reached for his saber—and then?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," laughed Tom. "I helped him draw it, and broke it across his own +knee. He called me a choice name and I slapped his face. You should have +seen the boot-lickers! Before they could get their senses back and make +up their minds about rushing my pistol I had slipped through a store, +out of the back and into a place I know well, where I waited till dark. +I understand there was quite a lot of excitement for a day or so."</p> + +<p>"I dare say—I dare say there might have been," admitted Jarvis. "In +fact, I am sure there would be. <i>Damn it</i>, Tom, would you mind shaking +hands with me?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p class='center'>ABOARD THE <i>MISSOURI BELLE</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Tom wended his way to the levee and as he passed the last line of +buildings and faced the great slope leading to the water's edge his eyes +kindled. Two graceful stern-wheel packets were moving on the river, the +smaller close to the nearer bank on her way home from the treacherous +Missouri; the larger, curving well over toward the Illinois shore, was +heading downstream for New Orleans. Their graceful lines, open bow decks +with the great derricks supporting the huge landing stages, and the +thick, powerful masts on each edge of the lower deck toward the bow, +each holding up the great spar so necessary for Mississippi river +navigation; the tall stacks with the initials of the boat against a +lattice work between; the regular spacing of windows and doors in the +cabins, and the clean white of their hulls and superstructure, rendered +more vivid by contrast with the tawny flood on all sides of them, made a +striking and picturesque sight. Each had a curving tail of boiling brown +water behind, and a bone in its teeth. These river boats were modeled on +trim and beautiful lines and were far from being crude, frontier +makeshifts.</p> + +<p>Several Mackinaw boats moved anglingly across the current from the other +shore, and a keelboat glided down the river for New Orleans, or to turn +up the Ohio for Pittsburg, helped in the current by a dirty, square<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +sail. The little twin-hulled ferry was just coming in from the Illinois +shore, its catamaran construction giving it a safety which a casual +observation would have withheld. The passengers clung to its rails as it +pitched and bobbed in the rolling wake of the south-bound packet, a wake +dreaded by all small craft unfortunate enough to pass the slapping +paddle at too close a distance, for the following billows were high, +sharp, and close together.</p> + +<p>On the great levee wagons and carts rattled and rumbled; drivers shouted +and swore as they picked their impatient and erratic way through the +traffic; lazy negroes, momentarily spurred into energetic activity, +moved all kinds of merchandise between the boats and the great piles on +the sloping river bank, two long lines of them passing each other on the +bridging gangplanks reaching far ashore. Opposed to this scene of labor +and turmoil was a canoe well offshore, whose two occupants, drifting +with the current, lazily fished for the great channel catfish which the +negro population loved so much.</p> + +<p>On a packet, which we will call the <i>Missouri Belle</i>, a whistle blew +sharply and as the sound died away several groups of passengers hurried +across the levee, scurrying about like panicky bugs when a log is rolled +over, darting this way and that amid the careless bustle of the traffic, +as eager to reach a place of safety as are chickens affrighted by the +shadow of a drifting hawk. The crowd was cosmopolitan enough to suit the +most exacting critic. Freighters, merchants, hunters, trappers, and +Indians returning to the upper trading posts or to their own country; +gamblers; a frock-coated minister who suspiciously regarded every box +and barrel and bale that he saw rolled up the freight gangplank, and who +was a per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>son of great interest to many pairs of eyes on and off the +boat; a priest; a voluble, chattering group of <i>coureurs des bois</i>; a +small crowd of soldiers going up to Fort Leavenworth; emigrants, +boatmen, and travelers made up the hurrying procession or stood at the +rails and watched the confusion on the levee.</p> + +<p>Tom joined the animated stream, swinging in behind an elderly gentleman +who escorted a young lady of unflurried demeanor through the maelstrom +of wagons, carts, mules, horses, passengers, and heavily laden negroes. +Caught in a jam and forced to make a quick decision and to follow it +instantly, the young lady dropped her glove in picking up her skirts and +a nervous horse was about to stamp it into the dirt and dust when Tom +leaped forward. Grasping the bridle with one hand, he bent swiftly and +reached for the glove with the other. As he was about to grasp it, a man +dressed in nondescript clothes left his Mexican companion and bent +forward on the other side of the horse, his lean, brown fingers eagerly +outstretched.</p> + +<p>Tom's surprise at this unexpected interference acted galvanically and +his hand, turning up from the glove, grasped the thrusting fingers of +the other in a grip which not only was powerful but doubly effective by +its unexpectedness. He swiftly straightened the wrist and forearm of his +rival into perfect alignment with the rest of the arm and then, with a +sudden dropping of his own elbow, he turned the other's arm throwing all +his strength and weight into the motion. The result was ludicrous. The +rival, bent forward, his other hand on the ground, had to give way in a +hurry or have his arm dislocated. His right foot arose swiftly into the +air and described a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> short arc as his whole body followed it; and +quicker than it takes to tell it he was bridged much the same as a +wrestler, his arched back to the ground. Tom grinned sardonically and +with a swift jerk yanked his adversary off his balance, and as the other +sprawled grotesquely in the dust, the victor of the little tilt picked +up the glove, leaped nimbly aside and looked eagerly around for its +owner. He no sooner stood erect than he saw her with a handkerchief +stuffed in her mouth and, bowing stiffly and with sober face he gravely +presented the glove to her. She had waited, despite all her escort could +do, somewhat breathlessly watching the rescue and the short, quick +comedy incidental to it; and now, with reddened cheeks and mischievous +eyes, she took the glove and murmured her thanks. The elderly gentleman, +grinning from ear to ear, raised his high beaver, thanked the plainsman, +and then hurried his charge onto the boat, fearful of the time lost.</p> + +<p>Tom stood in his tracks staring after them, hypnotized by the beauty of +the face and the timbre of the voice of the woman whose eyes had +challenged him as she had turned away.</p> + +<p>The profane remarks of the wagon driver, the more picturesque remarks of +other drivers, and the vociferous, white-toothed delight of the negroes +did not soothe Ephriam Schoolcraft's outraged dignity nor help to cool +his anger, and he arose from his dust bath seeking whom he might devour. +He did not have to seek far, for a negro's shouted warning reached Tom +in time to spin him around to await his adversary. The plainsman was +cool, imperturbable, and smiling slightly with amusement.</p> + +<p>Schoolcraft leaped for him and was sent spinning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> against a pile of +freight. As he recovered his balance his hand streaked for his belt, but +stopped in the air as he gazed down the barrel of the new Colt snuggling +against the hip of the younger man. It must have looked especially +vicious to a man accustomed to a single-shot pistol, or a +double-barreled Derringer, at best.</p> + +<p>"That was no killing matter," said Tom quietly. "Don't make it so, and +don't make us both miss that packet, and get locked up in a St. Louis +jail. I'll get out again quicker than you, but that hardly matters. If +you're going aboard, go ahead; I'm in no great hurry." Out of the corner +of his eye he was watching the Mexican, but found nothing threatening.</p> + +<p>Schoolcraft glared at him, allowed a hypocritical smile to mask his +feelings, bowed politely, and walked down the levee, the Mexican +following him, and Tom bringing up the rear. They were quickly separated +by the bustle on the boat, each giving his immediate attention to the +preparations necessary for his comfort during the voyage.</p> + +<p>A second blast of the whistle was followed by the groaning of the great +derrick as it lifted the landing stage and swung it aboard; lines were +hauled in and the passengers along the rails waved their adieus and +called last minute messages to those they were leaving behind. It would +be many years before some of them saw their friends again, and for a few +the reunion would not be on this earth. A bell rang aft and the great +stern paddle slapped and thrashed noisily as it bit and tore at the +yellow water beneath it. Showers of sparks, incandescent as they left +the towering stacks, fell in gray flakes on the decks and the river, the +bluish smoke of the wood fires trailing straighter and straighter astern +as the packet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> rounded into the boiling current and pushed upstream at a +constantly increasing speed, leaving behind her the western metropolis +on the left-hand bank and a straggling hamlet on the other.</p> + +<p>Here the Mississippi is a mighty river, approaching half a mile in width +between its limestone banks; deep, swift, its current boiling up the +muddy contribution of the great Missouri, as if eager to expose the +infamy of its pollution to the world. But whatever it lost in purity by +the addition of the muddy water, pouring in eighteen miles above the +city, it gained in greatness. Other large rivers have been tamed and +rendered nearly harmless, but these two have baffled man's labors and +ingenuity, and finally the contributing stream has been given up as +incorrigible.</p> + +<p>The confusion of the passengers attending to their baggage, places at +table and their sleeping quarters grew constantly less as mile followed +mile, and by the time the <i>Belle</i> swung in a great, westward curve to +leave the Father of Waters for the more turbid and treacherous bosom of +the Big Muddy, many were eagerly looking for the line marking the +joining of the two great streams. It was plain to the eye, for the +jutting brown flood of the Missouri, dotted with great masses of drift, +was treated with proper suspicion by the clearer flood of the nobler +stream, and curved far out into the latter without losing the identity +of its outer edge for some distance below.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p class='center'>ARMIJO'S STRONG ARM<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Piloting on the Mississippi was tricky enough, with the shifting bars +and the deadly, submerged logs, stumps, and trees; but the Missouri was +in a class by itself; indeed, at various stages of high water it seemed +hardly to know its own channels or, in some places, even its own bed. It +threw up an island today to remove it next week or ten years later, and +cut a new channel to close up an old one whenever the mood suited. +Gnawing off soft clay promontories or cutting in behind them was a +favorite pastime; and the sand and clay of its banks and the vast +expanses of its bottoms coaxed it into capricious excursions afield. +More than one innocent and unsuspecting settler, locating what he +considered to be a reasonable distance from its shores on some rich +bottom, found his particular portion of the earth's surface under the +river or on its further bank when he returned from a precipitate and +entirely willing flight.</p> + +<p>There were two tricks used on the river to get out of sandbar +difficulties that deserve mention. During certain stages of the river it +for some reason would cross over from one side of its bed to the other, +and between the old and the new deep channels would be a space of +considerable distance crossed by the water where there was no channel, +but only a number of shallow washes, none of which perhaps would be deep +enough to let a steamboat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> through. The deepest would be selected, and +if only two or three more inches of water were needed, the boat would be +run up as far as it could go, the crew would fix the two great spars +with their shoes against the bottom, slanting downstream, set the steam +capstans drawing on their ropes, and then reverse the paddle wheel. The +turning of the great wheel would force water under the hull while the +spars pushed backward and, raising a platform of water around her and +taking it with her, she would slide over the shallow place and go on +about her business.</p> + +<p>In case of a bar where there were no submerged banks to hold a platform +of water, and only a few more inches needed, the spars would be used as +before, but the paddle wheel would remain idle. The backward thrust of +the spars would force the boat ahead, while their lifting motion would +raise it a little. This being repeated again and again would eventually +"walk" the boat across and into deeper water on the other side. It was a +slow and laborious operation and sometimes took a day or two, but it was +preferable to lying tied to the bank and waiting for a rise, often a +matter of a week or more.</p> + +<p>All this was an old story to Tom, who now was on his fifth trip up the +river, for he was an observant young man and one who easily became +acquainted with persons he wished to know. These included the officers +and pilots, who took to the upstanding young plainsman at first sight +and gave painstaking answers to his many but sensible questions. In +consequence his knowledge of the river was wide and deep, although not +founded on practical experience.</p> + +<p>Long before the packet turned into the Missouri he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> had his affairs +attended to and was leaning against the rail enjoying the shifting +panorama. But the scenery did not take all of his attention, for he was +keeping a watch for a certain Mexican trader and for the young lady of +the glove; and after the boat had rounded into the Big Muddy, he caught +sight of the more interesting of the two as she walked forward on the +port side in the company of her escort. Waiting a few moments to see if +they would discover him, he soon gave it up and went in search of the +purser, who seemed to know about everyone of note in St. Louis.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Tom," called that officer, having recovered his breath after the +rush. "Yo're goin' back purty quick, ain't you?"</p> + +<p>"Reckon not. One night an' one day in th' city was enough. But this +cussed packet is near as lonesome. I don't know a passenger on board."</p> + +<p>"I can fix that," laughed the purser. "I know about three-quarters of +'em, an' can guess at th' rest. I counted seven professional gamblers +comin' up th' plank. They'll be in each other's way. You feelin' like +some excitement?"</p> + +<p>"Not with any of them," answered Tom, grinning. "I can count seven times +seven of them fellers in Independence; an' I hear some of 'em are +plannin' to join up with th' next outgoing train."</p> + +<p>"Well," mused the purser. His face cleared. "There's that sneakin' +minister. Havin' looked in everythin' but our mouths, he'll mebby have +time to convert a sinner. How 'bout him?"</p> + +<p>"Don't hardly think he can do much with me," muttered Tom. He considered +a moment and tried to hide<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> his grin. "Now I noticed an elderly old +gentleman with a young lady, gettin' aboard jest before I did. They was +leavin' you when I showed up. Happen to know 'em?"</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't 'a' give back th' glove when you did," laughed the +officer. "You should 'a' had yore quarrel with Schoolcraft first, so you +could 'a' waited till we was under way before you handed it back to her. +That would 'a' give you a better chance to get acquainted. I've heard +that frontierin' sharpens a man's wits, but I dunno. Want to meet 'em? +Th' old sport's interesting when he ain't tryin' to beat th' gamblers at +their own game. An' he's plumb successful at it, too, if there ain't too +many ag'in him."</p> + +<p>Tom had the grace to flush under his tan, but he thankfully accepted the +bantering and the suggestion. "What you suppose I've risked wastin' my +time talkin' to you for?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"You know cussed well you wasn't wastin' it," retorted the purser. "Come +on, an' meet one of th' finest young ladies in St. Louis. She won't care +if you pay more attention to her uncle."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Tom had been made acquainted with the couple and +they soon discovered that they had mutual friends in the city. Time +passed rapidly and Patience Cooper and her uncle, Joseph, took a keen +interest in their companion's account of life on the prairies. He found +that the uncle was engaged in the overland trade and was going out to +Independence to complete arrangements for the starting of his wagons +with the Santa Fe caravan. Finding that they were to be seated at +different tables they had the obliging steward change their places so +they could be together, and after the meal the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> uncle begged to be +excused and headed for the card room, which brought a fleeting frown to +the face of his niece. Tom observed it without appearing to and led the +way to some chairs on deck near the rail.</p> + +<p>The blast of the whistle apprised them of a landing in sight and soon +they picked it out, as much by the great piles of firewood as by any +other sign. This was the little hamlet of St. Charles, and here came on +board several plainsmen and voyageurs who, having missed the packet at +St. Louis, had hastened across the neck of land to board it here. As +soon as the gangplank touched the bank a hurrying line of men depleted +the great wood pile, and in a few minutes the landing stage swung aboard +again and the <i>Missouri Belle</i> circled out into mid-channel, a stream of +sparks falling astern.</p> + +<p>An annoying wind had been blowing when they left the parent stream, +annoying in a way a stranger to the river never would have dreamed. +There being no permanence to the channels, no fixity to the numerous +bars, no accurate knowledge covering the additions to the terrible, +destroying snags lurking under the surface, the pilot literally had to +read his way every yard and to read it anew every trip. All he had to go +by was the surface of the water, and it told him a true tale as long as +it was reasonably placid. From his high elevation he looked down into +the river and learned from it where the channel lay; and from arrow-head +ripples and little, rolling wavelets, where the snags were, for every +one close enough to the surface to merit attention was revealed by the +telltale "break" on the water. Let a moderate wind blow and his task +became harder and more of a gamble; but even then, knowing that the +waves run higher over deeper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> water, he still could go ahead; but above +a certain strength the wind not only baffled his reading, but gave such +a sidewise drift to the shallow-draft, high-riding vessel that he could +not hope to take it safely through some of the narrower channels. Rain +or hail, which turned the surface into a uniform area of disturbance, +instantly closed his book; and in this event he had no recourse except +to lie snugly moored to the south bank and wait until the weather +conditions changed. Sometimes these waits were for a few hours, +sometimes for a day or more; and when the persistent southwest prairie +gales blew day and night, moving great clouds of sand with them, the +boat remained a prisoner until they ceased or abated.</p> + +<p>There was good reason for choosing that south bank, for the stronger +winds almost invariably came from that direction during the navigation +season, and the bank gave a pleasing protection. While lying moored, +idleness in progress did not mean idleness all around, for the boilers +ate up great quantities of wood, and in many cases the fuel yards were +the growing trees and windfalls on the banks. Once the boat was moored +the crew leaped ashore and became wood-choppers, filling the fuel boxes +and stacking the remainder on shore for future use. In a pinch green +cottonwood sometimes had to be used, but it could be burned only by +adding pitch or resin.</p> + +<p>Nowhere on the river was a navigation mark, for nowhere was the channel +permanent enough to allow one to be placed. It was primitive, pioneer +navigation with a vengeance, requiring intelligent, sober, quickwitted +and courageous men to handle the boats. On the Missouri the word "pilot" +was a term of distinction.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>The river was high at this time of the year, caused less by the +excessive rains and melting snows in the mountains, being a little early +for them, than by the rains along the immediate valley; bottom lands +were flooded, giving the stream a width remarkable in places and adding +greatly to the amount of drift going down with the current.</p> + +<p>The afternoon waned and the wind died, the latter responsible for the +pilot's good nature, and the shadows of evening grew longer and longer +until they died, seeming to expand into a tenuity which automatically +effaced them. But sundown was not mooring time, for the twilight along +the river often lasted until nine o'clock, and not a minute was wasted.</p> + +<p>When St. Charles had been left astern Tom had led his companion up onto +the hurricane deck and placed two chairs against the pilot house just +forward of the texas, where the officers had their quarters. The water +was now smooth, barring the myriads of whirling, boiling eddies, and +from their elevated position they could see the configuration of the +submerged bars. The afterglow in the sky turned the mud-colored water +into a golden sheen, and the wind-distorted trees on the higher banks +and ridges were weirdly silhouetted against the colored sky. Gone was +the drab ugliness. The finely lined branches of the distant trees, the +full bulks of the pines and cedars and the towering cottonwoods, +standing out against the greenery of grass covered hills, provided a +soft beauty; while closer to the boat and astern where sky reflections +were not seen, the great, tawny river slipped past with a powerful, +compelling, and yet furtive suggestion of mystery, as well it might.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tom was telling of the characteristics of the river when the boat veered +sharply and caused him to glance ahead. A great, tumultuous ripple tore +the surface of the water, subsided somewhat and boiled anew, the +wavelets gold and crimson and steel blue against the uniform lavender +shade around them. The many-fanged snag barely had been avoided as it +reached the upward limit of its rhythmic rising and falling.</p> + +<p>Soon a bell rang below and the boat slowed as it headed in toward a +high, wooded bank. Nudging gently against it the packet stopped, men +hurried lines ashore, made them fast to the trees and then set a spring +line, which ran from the stern forward to the bank ahead of the bow, so +as to hold the boat offshore far enough to keep it afloat in case the +river should fall appreciably during the night. The pilot emerged behind +them, glanced down at the captain overseeing the mooring operations, and +then spoke to Tom, who made him acquainted with Patience and invited him +to join them. He gladly accepted the invitation and soon had interested +listeners to his store of knowledge about the river. Darkness now had +descended and he pointed at the stream.</p> + +<p>"There's somethin' peculiar to th' Missouri," he said. "Notice th' glow +of th' water, several shades lighter than th' darkness on th' bank? On +the Mississippi, now, th' water after dark only makes th' night all th' +blacker; but on this stream th' surface can be seen pretty plain, though +not far ahead. We take full advantage of that when we have to sail after +dark. We would be goin' on now, except that we got news of a new and +very bad place a little further on, an' we'd rather tackle it when we +can see good."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh," murmured Patience. "A ghost road leading through a void."</p> + +<p>A long, dark shape appeared on the "ghost road" and bore silently and +swiftly down upon the boat, struck the hull a glancing blow, scraped +noisily, ducked under, turned partly and scurried off astern. It was a +trimmed tree trunk, and by its lowness in the water it told of a journey +nearly ended. Before long one end would sink deeper and deeper, finally +fastening in the alluvial bottom and, anchoring securely, lie in wait to +play battering ram against some ill-fated craft surging boldly against +the current.</p> + +<p>The lanterns on shore began to move boatward as the last of the wooding +was finished and the fuel boxes again were full. Farther back among the +trees some trappers had started a fire and were enjoying themselves +around it, their growing hilarity and noise suggesting a bottle being +passed too often. Gradually the boat became quiet and after another +smoke the pilot arose and excused himself, saying that it was expected +that the journey would be resumed between three and four o'clock in the +morning.</p> + +<p>"How long will it take us to reach Independence Landing?" asked +Patience.</p> + +<p>The pilot shook his head. "That depends on wind, water, and th' strength +of th' current, though th' last don't make very much difference +sometimes."</p> + +<p>Tom looked up inquiringly. "I don't just understand th' last part," he +confessed. "Mebby I didn't hear it right."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you did," replied the pilot, grinning in the darkness. "When she's +high she's swift; but she's also a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> hull lot straighter. Th' bends of +this river are famous, an' they add a lot of miles to her length. They +also cut down th' slant of her surface, which cuts down th' strength of +th' current. At lower water we'd have a longer distance to sail, but a +gentler current. When she rises like she is now she cuts off, over or +behind a lot of th' bends an' makes herself a straighter road. An' th' +shorter she gits, th' steeper her pitch grows, which makes a stronger +current. She jest reg'lates herself accordin' to her needs, an' she gits +shet of her floods about as quick as any river on earth. Oh, I tell you, +she's a cute one; an' a mean one, too!"</p> + +<p>"She's shore movin' fast enough now," observed Tom, watching the +hurtling driftwood going spectrally down the almost luminous surface. +"How long will this high water last, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"Considerable less than th' June rise," answered the pilot. "She's +fallin' now, which is one of th' reasons we're tied to th' bank instid +of goin' on all night. This here rise is short, but meaner than sin. Th' +June rise is slower an' not so bad, though it lasts longer. It comes +from th' rains an' meltin' snow in th' mountains up above. Down here th' +current ain't as swift as it is further up, for this slope is somethin' +less than a foot to th' mile; but if it warn't for th' big bottoms, that +let some of th' water wander around awhile instid of crowdin' along all +at once, we'd have a current that'd surprise you. Jest now I figger +she's steppin' along about seven miles an hour. Durin' low water it's +some'rs around two; but I've seen it nearer ten on some rises. There are +places where steamboats can't beat th' current an' have to kedge up or +wait for lower water. About gittin' to Independ<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>ence Landin', or what's +left of it, I'll tell you that when we pass Liberty Landin'. Miles +through th' water ain't miles over th' bottom, an' it's th' last that +counts. Besides, th' weather has got a lot to say about our business. I +hope you ain't gittin' chilled, Miss Cooper, this spring air cuts in +amazin' after sundown."</p> + +<p>"I <i>am</i> beginning to feel it," she replied, arising, "I'll say good +night, I believe, and 'turn in.'"</p> + +<p>Tom escorted her to the lower deck and watched her cross the cabin and +enter her room, for he had no illusions about some of the men on board. +As her door closed he wheeled and went to look at the engines, which +were connected directly to the huge paddle wheel. The engineer was +getting ready to climb into his bunk, but he smoked a pipe with his +visitor and chatted for a few minutes. Tom knew what it meant to be an +engineer on a Missouri river packet and he did not stay long. He knew +that his host scarcely took his hand from the throttle for a moment +while the boat was moving, for he had to be ready to check her instantly +and send her full speed astern. The over-worked system of communication +between the pilot house and the engine room had received its share of +his attention during his runs on the river.</p> + +<p>He next went forward along the main deck and looked at the boilers, the +heat from them distinctly pleasing. As he turned away he heard and felt +the impact from another great, trimmed log slipping along the faint, +gray highway. Some careless woodcutter upstream had worked in vain. He +stopped against the rail and looked at the scurrying water only a few +feet below him, listening to its swishing, burbling complaints as it +eddied along the hull, seeming in the darkness to have a speed +incredi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>ble. A huge cottonwood with its upflung branches and sunken +roots paused momentarily as it struck a shallow spot, shivered, lost a +snapping dead limb, collected a surprising amount of débris as it swung +slowly around and tore free from the clutching mud of the bottom and, +once more acquiring momentum, shot out of sight into the night, its +slowly rising branches telling of the heavy roots sinking to their +proper depth. Next came a tree stump like some huge squid, which must +have been well dried out and not in the water for very long, else it +would have found the bottom before this. Then a broken and waterlogged +keelboat, fully twenty-five feet long, scurried past, a great menace to +every boat afloat. Planks, rails from some pasture fence, a lean-to +outhouse, badly smashed, and a great mass of reeds and brush came along +like a floating island. The constantly changing procession and the gray +water fascinated him and he fairly had to tear himself away from it. +Strange splashings along the bank told him of undermined portions of it +tumbling into the river, and a louder splash marked the falling of some +tree not far above.</p> + +<p>"She's talkin' a-plenty tonight," said a rough voice behind him and he +turned, barely able to make out a figure dressed much the same as he +was; but he did not see another figure, in Mexican garb, standing in the +blackness against a partition and watching him. The speaker continued. +"More gentle, this hyar trip; ye should 'a' heard her pow-wowin' th' +last run up. I say she's wicked an' cruel as airy Injun; an' nothin' +stops her."</p> + +<p>"I can't hardly keep away from her," replied Tom, easily dropping into +the language of the other; "but I ain't likin' her a hull lot. A hard +trail suits me better."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now yer plumb shoutin'," agreed the other. "If 'twarn't fer goin' +ashore every night, up in th' game country, I don't reckon I'd want ter +see another steamboat fer th' rest o' my days. Everythin' about 'em is +too onsartin."</p> + +<p>Tom nodded, understanding that his companion was a hunter employed by +the steamboat company to supply the boat's table with fresh meat. After +the game country, which really meant the buffalo range, was reached this +man went ashore almost every night and hunted until dawn or later, +always keeping ahead of the boat's mooring and within sight of the river +after daybreak. Whatever he shot he dragged to some easily seen spot on +the bank for the yawl to pick up, and when the steamboat finally +overtook him he went aboard by the same means. His occupation was +hazardous at all times because of the hostility of the Indians, some few +of which, even when their tribes were quiet and inclined to be friendly +for trade purposes, would not refuse a safe opportunity to add a white +man's scalp to their collection. The tribes along the lower sections of +the river were safer, but once in the country of the Pawnees and Sioux, +where his hunting really began, it was a far different matter. He did +not have much of the dangerous country to hunt in because the <i>Belle</i> +did not go far enough up the river; but the hunters on the fur company's +boats went through the worst of it.</p> + +<p>"Goin' out this spring?" asked the hunter.</p> + +<p>"Yep; Oregon, this time," answered Tom. "My scalp ain't safe in Santa Fe +no more. Been thar?"</p> + +<p>"Santa Fe, yep; Oregon, no. Went to N'Mexico in '31, an' we got our fust +buffaler jest tother side o' Cot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>tonwood Creek. It war a tough ol' bull. +Bet ye won't git one thar no more. We forded th' Arkansas at th' lower +crossin' an' follered th' dry route. Hear thar's a track acrost it now, +but thar warn't any then. Don't like that stretch, nohow. Longest way +'round is th' best fer <i>this</i> critter. Ye got Bent's Fort handy ter bust +up th' trip, git supplies an' likker; an' I'd ruther tackle Raton Pass, +mean as it is, than cross that cussed dry plain atween th' Crossin' an' +th' Cimarron. I'd ruther have water than empty casks, airy time; an' +fur's th' Injuns air consarned, 'twon't be long afore ye'll have ter +fight 'em all th' way from th' frontier ter th' Mexican settlements. +They'll be gittin' wuss every year."</p> + +<p>"Yer talkin' good medicine," replied Tom, thoughtfully. "'Twon't be safe +fer any caravan ter run inter one o' them war parties. Thar cussin' th' +whites a'ready, an' thar bound ter jine han's ag'in us when th' buffaler +git scarce."</p> + +<p>The hunter slapped his thigh and laughed uproariously. "Cussed if that +ain't a good un! Why, th' man ain't alive that'll live ter see that day. +They won't git scarce till Kansas is settled solid, an' <i>then</i> there'll +have ter be a bounty put on 'em ter save th' settlers' crops. Why, +thar's <i>miles</i> o' 'em, pardner!"</p> + +<p>"I've <i>seen</i> miles o' 'em," admitted Tom; "but they'll go, an' when they +once start ter, they'll go so fast that a few years will see 'em plumb +wiped out."</p> + +<p>"Shucks!" replied the hunter, "Why, th' wust enemies they got is th' +Injuns an' th' wolves. Both o' them will go fust, an' th' buffalers'll +git thicker an' thicker."</p> + +<p>"<i>We</i> are thar worst enemies!" retorted Tom with spirit. "Th' few th' +Injuns kill don't matter—if it did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> they'd 'a' been gone long ago. They +only kill fer food an' clothin'; but we kill fer sport an' profit. Every +year that passes sees more whites on th' buffaler ranges an' more hides +comin' in ter th' settlements; an' most of them hides come from th' +cows. Look at th' beaver, man! Thar goin' so fast that in a few years +thar won't be none left. Thar's only one thing that'll save 'em, an' +that's a change in hats. Killin' fer sport is bad enough, but when th' +killin' is fer profit th' end's shore in sight. What do we do? We cut +out th' buffaler tongues an' a few choice bits an' leave th' rest for +th' wolves. Th' Injuns leave nothin' but th' bones. Why, last trip +acrost I saw one man come inter camp with sixteen tongues. He never even +bothered with th' hump ribs! I told him if he done it ag'in an' I saw +him, I'd bust his back; an' th' hull caravan roared at th' <i>joke</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Danged if it warn't a good un," admitted the hunter, chuckling. "Have +ter spring that on th' boys." He turned and looked around. "Them fellers +on th' bank air shore havin' a good time. They got likker enough, +anyhow. Cussed if it don't sound like a rendezvous! Come on, friend: +what ye say we jine 'em? It's too early to roll up, an' thar's only card +buzzards in th' cabin a-try-in' ter pick th' bones o' a merchant."</p> + +<p>"We might do wuss nor that," replied Tom; "but I don't reckon I'll go +ashore tonight."</p> + +<p>"Wall, if ye change yer mind ye know th' trail. I'm leavin' ye now, +afore th' bottles air all empty," and the hunter crossed the deck and +strode down the gangplank.</p> + +<p>Tom watched the hurrying, complaining water for a few moments and then +turned to go to the cabin. As he did so something whizzed past him and +struck the water<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> with a hiss. Whirling, he leaped into the shadows +under the second deck, the new Colt in his hand; but after a hot, eager +search he had to give it up, and hasten to the cabin, to peer +searchingly around it from the door. The only enemy he had on board to +his knowledge was Schoolcraft—and then another thought came to him: was +Armijo reaching out his arm across the prairies?</p> + +<p>Joe Cooper was intent on his game; Schoolcraft and the Mexican trader +were taking things easy at a table in a corner, and both had their +knives at their belts. They did not give him more than a passing glance, +although a frown crept across the Independence horse-dealer's evil face. +Seating himself where he could watch all the doors, Tom tried to solve +the riddle while he waited to scrutinize anyone entering the cabin. At +last he gave up the attempt to unravel the mystery and turned his +attention to the card game, and was surprised to see that it was being +played with all the safeguards of an established gambling house. Having +a friend in the game he watched the dealer and the case-keeper, but +discovered nothing to repay him for his scrutiny. An hour later the game +broke up and Joe Cooper, cashing in his moderate winnings, arose and +joined Tom and suggested a turn about the deck before retiring. Tom +caught a furtive exchange of fleeting and ironical glances between the +case-keeper and the dealer, but thought little of it. He shrugged his +shoulders and followed his new friend toward the door.</p> + +<p>Ephriam Schoolcraft, somewhat the worse for liquor, made a slighting +remark as the two left the cabin, but it was so well disguised that it +provided no real peg on which to hang a quarrel; and Tom kept on toward +the deck, the horse-dealer's nasty laugh ringing in his ears.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> He could +see where he was going to have trouble, but he hoped it would wait until +Independence was reached, for always there were the makings of numerous +quarrels on board under even the best of conditions, and he determined +to overlook a great deal before starting one on his own account. It was +his wish that nothing should mar the pleasure of the trip up the river +for Patience Cooper.</p> + +<p>He and his companion stopped in the bow and looked at the merry camp on +shore, both sensing an undertone of trouble. Give the vile, frontier +liquor time to work in such men and anything might be the outcome.</p> + +<p>He put his lips close to his companion's ear: "Mr. Cooper, did you +notice anyone hurry into the cabin just before I came in? Anyone who +seemed excited and in a hurry?"</p> + +<p>Cooper considered a moment: "No," he replied. "I would have seen any +such person. Something wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Schoolcraft, now; and that Mexican friend of his," prompted Tom. "Did +they leave the cabin before you saw me come in?"</p> + +<p>"No; they both were where you saw them for an hour or two before you +showed up. I'm dead certain of that because of the interest Schoolcraft +seemed to be taking in me. I don't know why he should single me out for +his attentions, for he don't look like a gambler. I never saw him before +that little fracas you had with him on the levee. Something up?"</p> + +<p>"No," slowly answered Tom. "I was just wondering about something."</p> + +<p>"Nope; he was there all the time," the merchant assured him. "Seems to +me I heard about some trouble you had in Santa Fe last year. Anything +serious?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nothing more than a personal quarrel. I happened to get there after +they had started McLeod's Texans on the way to Mexico City, and learned +that they had been captured." He clenched his fists and scowled into the +night. "One of the pleasant things I learned from a man who saw it, was +the execution of Baker and Howland. Both shot in the back. Baker was not +killed, so a Mexican stepped up and shot him through the heart as he lay +writhing on the ground. The dogs tore their bodies to pieces that +night." He gripped the railing until the blood threatened to burst from +his finger tips. "I learned the rest of it, and the worst, a long time +later."</p> + +<p>Cooper turned and stared at him. "Why, man, that was in October! Late in +October! How could you have been there at that time, and here, in this +part of the country, now? You couldn't cross the prairies that late in +the year!"</p> + +<p>"No; I wintered at Bent's Fort," replied Tom. "I hadn't been in +Independence a week before I took the boat down to St Louis, where you +first saw me. There were four of us in the party and we had quite a time +making it. Well, reckon I'll be turning in. See you tomorrow."</p> + +<p>He walked rapidly toward the cabin, glanced in and then went to his +quarters. Neither Schoolcraft nor the Mexican were to be seen, for they +were in the former's stateroom with a third man, holding a tense and +whispered conversation. The horse-dealer apparently did not agree with +his two companions, for he kept doggedly shaking his head and +reiterating his contentions in drunken stubbornness that, no matter what +had been overheard, Tom Boyd was not going to Oregon, but back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> to Santa +Fe. He mentioned Patience Cooper several times and insisted that he was +right. While his companions were not convinced that they were wrong +they, nevertheless, agreed that there should be no more knife throwing +until they knew for certain that the young hunter was not going over the +southwest trail.</p> + +<p>Schoolcraft leered into the faces of his friends. "You jest wait an' +see!" He wagged a finger at them. "Th' young fool is head over heels in +love with her; an' he'll find it out afore she jines th' Santa Fe waggin +train. Whar she goes, <i>he'll</i> go. I'm drunk; but I ain't so drunk I +don't know that!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class='center'>TOM CHANGES HIS PLANS<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Dawn broke dull and cold, but without much wind, and when Tom awakened +he heard the churning of the great paddle wheel, the almost ceaseless +jangling of the engine room bell and the complaining squeaks of the +hard-worked steering gear. A faint whistle sounded from up river, was +answered by the <i>Missouri Belle</i>, and soon the latter lost headway while +the two pilots exchanged their information concerning the river. Again +the paddles thumped and thrashed and the boat shook as it gathered +momentum.</p> + +<p>On deck he found a few early risers, wrapped in coats and blankets +against the chill of the morning hour. The overcast sky was cold and +forbidding; the boiling, scurrying surface of the river, sullen and +threatening. Going up to the hurricane deck he poked his head in the +pilot house.</p> + +<p>"Come on in," said the pilot "We won't go fur today. See that?"</p> + +<p>Tom nodded. The small clouds of sand were easily seen by eyes such as +his and as he nodded a sudden gust tore the surface of the river into a +speeding army of wavelets.</p> + +<p>"Peterson jest hollered over an' said Clay Point's an island now, an' +that th' cut-off is bilin' like a rapids. Told me to look out for th' +whirlpool. They're bad, sometimes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To a boat like this?" asked Tom in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yep. We give 'em all a wide berth." The wheel rolled over quickly and +the V-shaped, tormented ripple ahead swung away from the bow. "That's +purty nigh to th' surface," commented the pilot. "Jest happened to swing +up an' show its break in time. Hope we kin git past Clay before th' wind +drives us to th' bank. Look there!"</p> + +<p>A great, low-lying cloud of sand suddenly rose high into the air like +some stricken thing, its base riven and torn into long streamers that +whipped and writhed. The gliding water leaped into short, angry waves, +which bore down on the boat with remarkable speed. As the blast struck +the <i>Missouri Belle</i> she quivered, heeled a bit, slowed momentarily, and +then bore into it doggedly, but her side drift was plain to the pilot's +experienced eyes.</p> + +<p>"We got plenty o' room out here fer sidin'," he observed; "but 'twon't +be long afore th' water'll look th' same all over. We're in fer a bad +day." As he spoke gust after gust struck the water, and he headed the +boat into the heavier waves. "Got to keep to th' deepest water now," he +explained. "Th' snags' telltales are plumb wiped out. I shore wish we +war past Clay. There ain't a decent bank ter lie ag'in this side o' it."</p> + +<p>For the next hour he used his utmost knowledge of the river, which had +been developed almost into an instinct; and then he rounded one of the +endless bends and straightened out the course with Clay Point half a +mile ahead.</p> + +<p>"Great Jehovah!" he muttered. "Look at Clay!"</p> + +<p>The jutting point, stripped bare of trees, was cut as clean as though +some great knife had sliced it. Under its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> new front the river had cut +in until, as they looked, the whole face of the bluff slid down into the +stream, a slice twenty feet thick damming the current and turning it +into a raging fury. Some hundreds of yards behind the doomed point the +muddy torrent boiled and seethed through its new channel, vomiting +trees, stumps, brush and miscellaneous rubbish in an endless stream. Off +the point, and also where the two great currents came together again +behind it two great whirlpools revolved with sloping surfaces smooth as +ice, around which swept driftwood with a speed not unlike the horses of +some great merry-go-round. The vortex of the one off the point was +easily ten feet below the rim of its circumference, and the width of the +entire affair was greater than the length of the boat. A peeled log, not +quite water-soaked, reached the center and arose as vertical as a plumb +line, swayed in short, quick circles and then dove from sight. A moment +later it leaped from the water well away from the pool and fell back +with a smack which the noise of the wind did not drown. To starboard was +a rhythmic splashing of bare limbs, where a great cottonwood, partly +submerged, bared its fangs. To the right of that was a towhead, a newly +formed island of mud and sand partly awash.</p> + +<p>The pilot cursed softly and jerked on the bell handle, the boat +instantly falling into half speed. He did not dare to cut across the +whirlpool, the snag barred him dead ahead, and it was doubtful if there +was room to pass between it and the towhead; but he had no choice in the +matter and he rang again, the boat falling into bare steerageway. If he +ran aground he would do so gently and no harm would be done. So swift +was the current that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> moment he put the wheel over a few spokes and +shifted the angle between the keel-line and the current direction, the +river sent the craft sideways so quickly that before he had stopped +turning the wheel in the first direction he had to spin it part way back +again. The snag now lay to port, the towhead to starboard, and holding a +straight course the <i>Missouri Belle</i> crept slowly between them. There +came a slight tremor, a gentle lifting to port, and he met it by a quick +turn of the wheel. For a moment the boat hung pivoted, its bow caught by +a thrusting side current and slowly swinging to port and the snag. A +hard yank on the bell handle was followed by a sudden forward surge, a +perceptible side-slip, a gentle rocking, and the bow swung back as the +boat, entirely free again, surged past both dangers.</p> + +<p>The pilot heaved a sigh of relief. "Peterson didn't say nothin' about +th' snag or th' towhead," he growled. Then he grinned. "I bet he rounded +inter th' edge o' th' whirler afore he knowed it was thar! Now that I +recollect it he did seem a mite excited."</p> + +<p>"Somethin' like a boy explorin' a cave, an' comin' face to face with a +b'ar," laughed Tom. "I recken you fellers don't find pilotin' +monotonous."</p> + +<p>"Thar ain't no two trips alike; might say no two miles, up or down, trip +after trip. Here comes th' rain, an' by buckets; an' thar's th' place I +been a-lookin' fer. Th' bank's so high th' wind won't hardly tech us."</p> + +<p>He signaled for half speed and then for quarter and the boat no sooner +had fallen into the latter than her bow lifted and she came to a grating +stop. The crew, which had kept to shelter, sprang forward without a word +and as the captain crossed the bow deck the great spars were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> being +hauled forward. After the reversed paddles had shown the <i>Belle</i> to be +aground beyond their help, the spars were put to work and it was not +long before they pushed her off again, and a few minutes later she nosed +against the bank.</p> + +<p>The pilot sighed and packed his pipe. "Thar!" he said, explosively. +"Hyar we air, an' we ain't a-goin' on ag'in till we kin see th' channel. +No, sir, not if we has ter stay hyar a week!"</p> + +<p>Tom led the way below and paused at the foot of the companionway as he +caught sight of Patience. He glowed slightly as he thought that she had +been waiting for him; and when he found that she had not yet entered the +cabin for breakfast, the glow became quite pronounced. He had seen many +pretty girls and had grown up with them, but the fact that she was +pretty was not the thing which made her so attractive to him. There was +a softness in her speaking voice, a quiet dignity and a certain reserve, +so honest that it needed no affectations to make it sensed; and under it +all he felt that there was a latent power of will that would make +panicky fears and actions impossible in her. And he never had perceived +such superb defenses against undue familiarity, superb in their +unobtrusiveness, which to him was proof of their sincerity and that they +were innate characteristics. He felt that she could repel much more +effectively without showing any tangible signs of it than could any +woman he ever had met. He promised himself that the study of her nature +would not be neglected, and he looked forward to it with eagerness. +There was, to him, a charm about her so complex, so subtle that it +almost completed the circle and became simple and apparent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>She smiled slightly and acknowledged his bow as he approached her.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Miss Cooper. Have you and your uncle breakfasted?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet," she answered, turning toward the cabin. "I think he is +waiting for us. Shall we go in?"</p> + +<p>The plural form of the personal pronoun sent a slight thrill through him +as he opened the door for her, showed her to the table, and seated her +so that she faced the wide expanse of the river.</p> + +<p>"I imagined that I felt bumps against the boat sometime during the +night," she remarked. She looked inquiringly at Tom and her uncle. "Did +we strike anything?"</p> + +<p>"Why," Tom answered in simulated surprise, "no one said anything about +it to me, and I've been with the pilot almost since dawn. The whole fact +of the matter is that this river's dangers are much over-estimated, +considering that boats of thirty feet and under have been navigating it +since before the beginning of this century. And they had no steam to +help them, neither."</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe appeared to be very preoccupied and took no part in the +conversation.</p> + +<p>"I have heard uncle and father speak many times about the great dangers +attending the navigation of the Missouri," she responded, smiling +enigmatically, and flashing her uncle a keen, swift glance. "They used +to dwell on it a great deal before father went out to Santa Fe. So many +of their friends were engaged in steamboat navigation that it was a +subject of deep interest to them both, and they seemed to be very well +informed about it." She laughed lightly and again glanced at her uncle. +"Since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> uncle learned that I might have to make the trip he has talked +in quite a different strain; but he did suggest, somewhat hopefully, +that we put up with the discomforts of the overland route and make the +trip in a wagon. Don't you believe, Mr. Boyd, that knowledge of possible +dangers might be a good thing?"</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe gulped the last of his watery coffee, pushed back, and arose. +"Want to see the captain," he said. "Meet you two later on deck," and he +lost no time in getting out of the cabin.</p> + +<p>"Well," came the slow and careful answer from Tom, "so many of us pass +numerous dangers in our daily lives, unknown, unsuspected, that we might +have a much less pleasant existence if we knew of them. If they are +dangers that we could guard against, knowledge of them certainly would +be a good thing."</p> + +<p>She nodded understandingly and looked out over the tawny, turbulent +flood, then leaned forward quickly; and her companion did not lose this +opportunity to admire her profile. Coming down the stream like an arrow, +with a small square sail set well forward, was a keelboat, its +hide-protected cargo rising a foot or more above the gunwale amidships. +Standing near the mast was a lookout, holding fast to it, and crouched +on top of the cargo, the long, extemporized addition to the tiller +grasped firmly in both hands, was the <i>patron</i>, or captain. Sitting +against the rear bulkhead of the hold and facing astern were several +figures covered with canvas and hides, the best shift the crew could +make against the weather. The French-Canadian at the mast waved his +hand, stopping his exultant song long enough to shout a bon voyage to +the steamboat as he shot past, and the little boat darted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> from their +sight into the rain and the rolling vapor of the river like a hunted +rabbit into a tangle of briars.</p> + +<p>"That's splendid!" she exclaimed, an exultant lilt in her voice. "That's +the spirit of this western country: direct, courageous, steadfast! Can't +you feel it, Mr. Boyd?"</p> + +<p>His eyes shone and he leaned forward over the table with a fierce +eagerness. In that one moment he had caught a glimpse into the heart and +soul of Patience Cooper that fanned fiercely the flame already lighted +in his heart. His own feelings about the West, the almost tearful +reverence which had possessed him at the sight of those pioneer women, +many with babes at their breasts, that he daily had seen come into +Independence from the East to leave it on the West, the hardships past +great enough to give pause to men of strength, but not shaking their +calm, quiet determination to face greater to the end of that testing +trail, and suffer privations in a vast wilderness; his feelings, his +hopes, his faith, had come back to him in those few words almost as +though from some spirit mirror. He choked as he fought to master himself +and to speak with a level voice.</p> + +<p>"Feel it?" he answered, his voice shaking. "I feel it sometimes until +the sheer joy of it hurts me! Wait until you stand on the outskirts of +Independence facing the sunset, and see those wagons, great and small, +plodding with the insistent determination of a wolverine to the distant +rendezvous! Close your eyes and picture that rendezvous, the caravan +slowly growing by the addition of straggling wagons from many feeding +roads. Wait until you stand on the edge of that trail, facing the west, +with rainbows in the mist of your eyes! Oh, Miss Cooper, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> can't—but +perhaps we'd better go on deck and see what the weather promises."</p> + +<p>She did not look at him, but as she arose her hand for one brief instant +rested lightly on his outflung arm, and set him aquiver with an ecstatic +agony that hurt even while it glorified him. He shook his head savagely, +rose and led the way to the door; and only the moral fiber and training +passed on to him through generations of gentlemen kept him from taking +her in his arms and smothering her with kisses; and in his tense +struggle to hold himself in check he did not realize that such an +indiscretion might have served him well and that such a moment might +never come again. Holding open the door until she had passed through, he +closed it behind them and stumbled into a whirling gust of rain that +stung and chilled him to a better mastery of himself. Opportunity had +knocked in vain.</p> + +<p>"Our friends, the pilots, will not be good company on a day like this," +he said, gripping the rail and interposing his body between her and the +gusts. "The gangplank's out, but there seems to be a lack of warmth in +its invitation. Suppose we go around on the other side?"</p> + +<p>On the river side of the boat they found shelter against the slanting +rain and were soon comfortably seated against the cabin wall, wrapped in +the blankets he had coaxed from his friend, the purser.</p> + +<p>"Just look at that fury of wind and water!" exclaimed Patience. "I +wonder where that little keelboat is by now?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's scooting along like a sled down an icy slope," he answered, +hoping that it had escaped the hungry maw of the great whirlpool off +Clay Point. "They must have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> urgent reasons for driving ahead like that. +It must be an express from the upper Missouri posts to St. Louis. +McKenzie probably wants to get word to Chouteau before the fur company's +steamboat starts up the river. Or it may be the urging of the thrill +that comes with gambling with death."</p> + +<p>Behind them Uncle Joe poked his head out of the cabin door and regarded +them curiously. Satisfied that troublesome topics no longer were being +discussed he moved forward slowly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, here you are," he said, as though making a discovery. "I thought I +might find you out here. Captain Newell ain't fit company for a savage +wolf this morning. Have you heard how long we're going to be tied up?"</p> + +<p>Tom drew a chair toward him and looked up invitingly. "Sit down, Mr. +Cooper. Why, I understand we will stay here all day and night." He +understood the other man's restlessness and anxiety about the wait, but +did not sympathize with him. The longer they were in making the +river-run the better he would be suited.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe glanced out over the wild water. "Oh, well," he sighed. "If we +must, then we must. That river's quite a sight; looks a lot worse than +it is. Hello! What's our reverend friend doing down there? Living in the +hold?" He chuckled. "If he is, it's a poor day to come up for air."</p> + +<p>They followed his glance and beheld a tall, austere, long-faced +clergyman emerging from the forward hatch, and behind him came the pilot +with whom they had talked the evening before. When both had reached the +deck and stepped out of the rain the clergyman shook his head stubbornly +and continued his argument.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I was told to come up on this packet and examine her carefully on the +way," he asserted, doggedly. "Liquor in vast quantities has been getting +past both Fort Leavenworth and Bellevue; and while the military +inspectors may be lax, or worse, that is an accusation which cannot +truthfully be brought against us at the upper agency. If I am not given +honest assistance in the prosecution of my search, your captain may +experience a delay at our levee that will not be to his liking. It's all +the same to me, for if it isn't found on our way up, it <i>will</i> be found +after we reach the agency."</p> + +<p>"But, my reverend sir!" replied the pilot, in poorly hidden anger, +"you've been from one end of th' hold to th' other! You've crawled +'round like a worm, stuck yore nose an' fingers inter everythin' thar +war to stick 'em in; you've sounded th' flour barrels with a +wipin'-stick, an' jabbed it inter bags an' bales. Bein' a government +inspector we've had ter let ye do it, whether we liked it or not. I've +got no doubts th' captain will be glad ter take down th' engines, rip +open th' bilers, slit th' stacks an' mebby remove th' plankin' of th' +hull; but—air ye listenin' close, my reverend sir? If ye try ter git me +ter guide ye around in that thar hold ag'in, I'll prove ter ye that th' +life o' a perfect Christian leads ter martyrdom. Jest ram that down yore +skinny neck, an' be damned ter ye!"</p> + +<p>"I will not tolerate such language!" exclaimed the indignant shepherd. +"I shall report you, sir!"</p> + +<p>"You kin report an' be damned!" retorted the angry pilot. "Yo're too +cussed pious to be real. What's that a-stickin' outer yer pocket?"</p> + +<p>The inspector felt quickly of the pocket indicated and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> pulled out a +half-pint flask of liquor, and stared at it in stupefaction. +"Why—I——"</p> + +<p>"Yer a better actor than ye air a preacher," sneered the pilot, glancing +knowingly from the planted bottle around the faces of the crowd which +had quickly assembled. "O' course, you deal in precepts; but they'd be a +cussed sight more convincin' fer a few examples along with 'em. Good +day, my reverend sir!"</p> + +<p>The frocked inspector, tearing his eyes from the accusing bottle and +trying to close his mouth, gazed after the swaggering pilot and then +around the circle of grinning faces. A soft laugh from above made him +glance up to where Patience and her companions were thoroughly enjoying +the episode.</p> + +<p>"Parson, I'll have a snorter with ye," said a bewhiskered bullwhacker, +striding eagerly forward, his hand outstretched. "Go good on a mornin' +like this."</p> + +<p>"Save some fer me, brother," called a trapper, his keen eyes twinkling. +"Allus reckoned you fellers war sort o' baby-like; but thar's th' makin' +o' a man in you." He grinned. "'Sides, we dassn't let all that likker +git up ter th' Injuns."</p> + +<p>"Shucks!" exclaimed a raw-boned Missourian. "That's only a sample he's +takin' up ter Bellevue. He ain't worryin' none about a little bottle +like that, not with th' bar'ls they got up thar. What you boys up thar +do with all th' likker ye take off'n th' boats? Nobody ever saw none o' +it go back down th' river."</p> + +<p>The baited inspector hurled the bottle far out into the stream and tried +to find a way out of the circle, but he was not allowed to break +through.</p> + +<p>"You said somethin' about Leavenworth bein' care<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>less, or wuss," said a +soldier who was going up to that post. "We use common sense, up thar. +Thar's as much likker gits past th' agencies on th' land side as ever +tried ter git past on th' river. Every man up-bound totes as much o' it +as he kin carry. Th' fur company uses judgment in passin' it out, fer it +don't want no drunken Injuns; but th' free traders don't care a rip. If +th' company ain't got it, then th' Injuns trade whar they kin git it; +an' that means they'll git robbed blind, an' bilin' drunk in th' +bargain. If I had my way, they'd throw th' hull kit of ye in th' river."</p> + +<p>"That's right," endorsed a trapper, chuckling, and slapping the +inspector on the back with hearty strength. "You hold this hyar boat to +th' bank at Bellevue jest as long as ye kin, parson. It makes better +time than th' boys goin' over th' land, an' 'tain't fair ter th' boys. +Think ye kin hold her a hull week, an' give my pardners a chanct ter +beat her ter th' Mandan villages?" He looked around, grinning. "Them +Injuns must have a hull passel o' furs a-waitin' fer th' first trader."</p> + +<p>"What's th' trouble here?" demanded the captain, pushing roughly through +the crowd. "What's th' trouble?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing but the baiting of a government inspector and a wearer of the +cloth," bitterly answered the encircled minister.</p> + +<p>"Oh," said the captain, relieved. "Wall, ye git as ye give. Are ye +through with th' hold?"</p> + +<p>The inspector sullenly regarded him. "I think so," he answered.</p> + +<p>The captain wheeled to one of the crew. "Joe, throw on that hatch, lock +it, and keep it locked until we get to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> Bellevue," he snapped. "We're +ready to comply with government regulations, at the proper time and +place. You and your friends can root around all you want after we get to +Bellevue. The next time I find you in the hold with a lighted candle +I'll take it away from you and lock you in there." He turned, ordered +the crowd to disperse and went back to the texas.</p> + +<p>It was an old story, this struggle to get liquor past the posts to the +upper Missouri, and there were tricks as yet untried. From the +unexpected passage of this up-bound inspector, going out to his station +at the agency, and his officious nosings, it was believed by many that +any liquor on board would not have a chance to get through. And why +should the <i>Belle</i> be carrying it, since her destination and turning +point was Bellevue?</p> + +<p>"Is it true that liquor is smuggled up the river?" asked Patience as the +inspector became lost to sight below.</p> + +<p>Her companions laughed in unison.</p> + +<p>"They not only try to get it up," answered Tom, "but they succeed. I've +been watching that sour-faced parson on his restless ramblings about the +boat, and I knew at once that there must be a game on. Sometimes their +information is correct. However, I'll back the officers of this packet +against him, any time."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you'd win your bet, Mr. Boyd," choked the uncle.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Joe! What do you know about it?" asked his niece accusingly.</p> + +<p>"Nothing, my dear; not a single thing!" he expostulated, raising his +hands in mock horror, his eyes resting on three new yawls turned +bottomside up on the deck near the bow. He mentally pictured the +half-dozen bull<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>boats stowed on the main deck near the stern, each +capable of carrying two tons if handled right, and he shook with +laughter. This year the fur company's boat carried no liquor and its +captain would insist on a most thorough inspection at Bellevue; but the +fur posts on the upper river would be overjoyed by what she would bring +to them. After the inspection she would proceed on her calm way, and tie +against the bank at a proper distance above the agency; just as the +<i>Belle</i> would spend a night against the bank at a proper distance below +Bellevue; and what the latter would run ashore after midnight, when the +inquisitive minister was deep in sleep, would be smuggled upstream in +the smaller boats during the dark of the night following, and be put +aboard the fur boat above.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Joe!" said his niece. "You know something!"</p> + +<p>"God help the man that don't!" snorted her uncle. "Look there!"</p> + +<p>A heavily loaded Mackinaw boat had shot around the next bend. It was of +large size, nearly fifty feet long and a dozen wide. In the bow were +four men at the great oars and in the stern at the tiller was the +<i>patron</i>, singing in lusty and not unpleasant voice and in mixed French +and English, a song of his own composing.</p> + +<p>Patience put a finger to her lips and enjoined silence, leaning forward +to catch the words floating across the turbulent water, and to her they +sounded thus:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 15em;"> +<i>"Mon père Baptiste for Pierre Chouteau<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He work lak dam in le ol' bateau;</span><br /> +From Union down le ol' Missou<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lak chased, by gar, by carcajou.</span></i><br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span><i>"Le coureurs des bois, le voyageur, too,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He nevaire work so hard, mon Dieu,</span><br /> +Lak Baptiste père an' Baptiste fils,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Coureurs avant on le ol' Missou.</span></i><br /> +<br /> +<i>"McKenzie say: 'Baptiste Ladeaux,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thees lettaire you mus' geeve Chouteau;</span><br /> +Vous are one dam fine voyageur—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">So hurry down le ol' Missou.</span></i><br /> +<br /> +<i>"Go get vous fils an' vous chapeau,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">You mebby lak Mackinaw bateau'—</span><br /> +Lak that he say, lak one dam day<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Le voyage weel tak to ol' St. Lou!"</span> +</i></p> + + +<p>As the square stern of the fur-laden boat came opposite the packet the +mercurial <i>patron</i> stopped his song and shouted: "<i>Levez les perches!</i>" +and the four oars rose from the water and shot into the air, vertical +and rigid. The pilot of the steamboat, chancing to be in the pilot +house, blew a series of short blasts in recognition, causing the +engineer to growl something about wasting his steam. The crew of the +Mackinaw boat arose and cheered, the <i>patron</i> firing his pistol into the +air. Gay vocal exchanges took place between the two boats, and the +patron, catching sight of Patience, placed a hand over his heart and +bowed, rattling off habitant French. She waved in reply and watched the +boat forge ahead under the thrust of the perfectly timed oars.</p> + +<p>"Mackinaw boat," said Tom, "and in a hurry. <i>There's</i> the express. There +is a belief on the river that the square stern of those boats gives them +a speed in rapids greater than that of the current. They are very safe +and handy for this kind of navigation, and well built by skilled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +artisans at the boat yards of the principal trading posts up the river. +They are a great advance over the bullboat, which preceded them."</p> + +<p>"And which are still in use, makeshifts though they are," said Captain +Newell as he stopped beside them. "But you can't beat the bullboat for +the purpose for which it was first made; that of navigating the +shallower streams. I thought you would be glad to know that we expect to +be under way again early in the morning. But, speaking of bullboats, did +you ever see one, Miss Cooper?"</p> + +<p>"I've had them pointed out to me at St. Louis, but at a distance," she +answered. "Somehow they did not impress me enough to cause me to +remember what they looked like."</p> + +<p>"Why, I'll show you some," offered Tom eagerly. "There's half a dozen on +the main deck."</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe squirmed as he glanced around, and arose to leave for the card +room, but the captain smiled and nodded.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's so, Mr. Boyd. Take a look at them when the rain lets up. +We're always glad to carry a few of them back up the river, for we find +them very handy in lightering cargo in case we have mean shallows that +can be crossed in no other way. You'd be surprised how little water this +boat draws after its cargo is taken ashore."</p> + +<p>"But why do they call them bullboats?" asked Patience.</p> + +<p>"They're named after the hides of the bull buffalo, which are used for +the covering," explained the captain. "First a bundle of rather heavy +willow poles are fash<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>ioned into a bottom and bound together with +rawhide. To this other and more slender willow poles are fastened by +their smaller ends and curved up and out to make the ribs. Then two +heavy poles are bent on each side from stem to stern and lashed to the +ends of the ribs, forming the gunwale. Everything is lashed with rawhide +and not a bolt or screw or nail is used. Hides of buffalo bulls, usually +prepared by the Indians, although the hunters and trappers can do the +work as well, are sewn together with sinew after being well soaked. They +are stretched tightly over the frame and lashed securely to the gun'le, +and they dry tight as drumheads and show every rib. Then a pitch of +buffalo tallow and ashes is worked into the seams and over every +suspicious spot on the hides and the boat is ready. Usually a false +flooring of loosely laid willow poles, three or four inches deep, is +placed in the bottom to prevent the water, which is sure to leak in, +from wetting the cargo. In the morning the boat rides high and draws +only a few inches of water; but often at night there may be six or eight +inches slopping around inside. I doubt if any other kind of a boat can +be used very far up on the Platte, and sometimes even bullboats can't go +up."</p> + +<p>"How was it that the fur company's boat was tied at the levee at St. +Louis, after we left?" asked Tom. "Rather late for her, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," answered the captain. "The great event on this river has +always been the annual upstream fur packet. She is coming along +somewhere behind us, and very likely will pass us before we reach the +mouth of the Kaw. They take bigger chances with the river than we do +because they've got to get up to Fort Union and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> away again while +there's water enough." He looked at Patience. "Are you going far, Miss +Cooper?" he asked, anxious to get the conversation into channels more to +his liking.</p> + +<p>"Santa Fe, captain," she answered as placidly as though it were a +shopping trip from her home to the downtown stores of St. Louis.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" he exclaimed, as if he had not known it. "That will be +quite an undertaking!"</p> + +<p>Tom Boyd was staring at her aghast, doubting his ears. The slowly +changing expression on his face caught her attention and she smiled at +him.</p> + +<p>"You look as if you had seen a ghost, Mr. Boyd," she laughed.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to do my very best not to see one, Miss Cooper; or let anyone +else see one," he answered mysteriously. "I am glad that I, too, am +bound for Santa Fe. It is a great surprise and pleasure to learn that +you are going over the same trail."</p> + +<p>"Why, didn't you say that you were going over the Oregon Trail this +year?" she quickly asked. "At least, I understood you that way."</p> + +<p>"I often let my enthusiasm run away with me," he answered. "Much as I +would like to go out to Oregon I will have to wait until my affairs will +permit me to follow my inclination. You see, I've made two trips to +Santa Fe, it has got into my blood, and there are reasons why I must go +over that trail again. And then, knowing the trail so well, it is +possible that I can make very good arrangements this year. But isn't it +a most remarkable coincidence?"</p> + +<p>"Very," drily answered the captain. "By the way,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> Mr. Boyd: you and Mr. +Cooper seem to be quite friendly, and neither of you waste much time in +the company of your present roommates. Seeing that you are both bunked +with strangers, how would it suit you if I put you together in the same +room? Good: then I'll speak to Mr. Cooper, and if it's agreeable to him +I'll have the change made. Sorry to tear myself away from you two, but I +must be leaving now." He bowed and stepped into the cabin, smiling to +himself. He distinctly remembered his conversation with the young man, +only the day before, when Tom had assured him with great earnestness +that he no longer could resist the call of the emigrant trail and that +he was going to follow it with the first outgoing caravan. The captain +was well pleased by the change in the young man's plans, for he knew +that the niece of his old friend would be safer on her long journey +across the plains if Tom Boyd was a member of the caravan. He turned his +steps toward the gaming tables to find her uncle, whom he expected would +be surrounded by the members of a profession which Joe Cooper had +forsaken many years before for a more reputable means of earning a +living.</p> + +<p>The reputation of "St. Louis Joe" was known to almost everyone but his +niece; and the ex-gambler was none too sure that she did not know it. +While his name was well-known, there were large numbers of gamblers on +both rivers, newcomers to the streams, who did not know him by sight; +and it was his delight to play the part of an innocent and unsuspecting +merchant and watch them try to fleece him. Not one of the professionals +on the <i>Missouri Belle</i> knew he was playing against a man who could +tutor him in the finer points of his chosen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> art; but by this time they +had held a conference or two in a vain attempt to figure why their +concerted efforts had borne bitter fruit. One of them, smarting over his +moderate, but annoyingly persistent losses, was beginning to get ugly. +While his pocketbook was lightly touched, his pride was raw and +bleeding. Elias Stevens was known as a quick-tempered man whom it were +well not to prod; and Joseph Cooper was prodding him again and again, +and appearing to take a quiet but deep satisfaction in the operation. At +first Stevens had hungered only for the large sum of money his older +adversary had shown openly and carelessly; but now it was becoming +secondary, and the desire for revenge burning in Stevens was making him +more and more reckless in his play.</p> + +<p>The careless way in which Joe Cooper had shown his money to arouse the +avarice of the gamblers had awakened quick interest in others outside +the fraternity, and other heads were planning other ways of getting +possession of it. Two men in particular, believing that the best chance +of stealing it was while the owner of it was on the boat, decided to +make the attempt on this night. If the boat should remain tied to the +bank their escape would be easy; and if it started before daylight they +could make use of the yawl, which was towed most of the time, and always +during a run after dark.</p> + +<p>Captain Newell looked in at the gambling tables and did not see his +friend, but as he turned to look about the upper end of the cabin he +caught sight of him coming along the deck, and stepped out to wait for +him.</p> + +<p>"Looking for me?" asked Uncle Joe, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Yes; want to tell you that your young friend Boyd has changed his mind +and is going out to Santa Fe to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> look after his numerous interests +there. Ordinarily I would keep my mouth shut, but I know his father and +the whole family, and no finer people live in St. Louis. Who have you in +mind to go in charge of your wagons?"</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe scratched his chin reflectively. "Well, I'd thought of Boyd +and was kinda sorry he was going out over the other trail. I'll keep my +eyes on the scamp. Strikes me he'd take <i>my</i> wagons through for his +keep, under the circumstances! He-he-he! Changed his mind, has he? +D——d if I blame him; I'd 'a' gone farther'n that, at his age, for a +girl like Patience. How about a little nip, for good luck?"</p> + +<p>"Not now. How would you like to change sleeping partners?" asked the +captain, quickly explaining the matter.</p> + +<p>"First rate idea; th' partner I got now spends most of his nights +scratching. Better shift me instead of him, or Boyd'll get cussed little +sleep in that bunk."</p> + +<p>Captain Newell leaned against the cabin and laughed. "All right, Joe; +I'll have your things taken out and the change made by supper time, at +the latest. Look out those gamblers in there don't skin you."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>True to his word the captain shifted Joe Cooper to the room of his new +friend, and sent the bull-necked, bullwhacking bully who had shared +Tom's cabin to take the ex-gambler's former berth. This arrangement was +suitable both ways, for not only were the two friends put together, but +the two loud-voiced, cursing, frontier toughs found each other very +agreeable. They had made each other's acquaintance at the camp-fire on +the bank the night previous and like many new and hastily made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +friendships, it had not had time to show its weaknesses. One of them had +stolen a bottle of liquor at the camp-fire carousal and upon learning of +the change shortly after supper, had led his new roommate to their joint +quarters to celebrate the event; where they both remained.</p> + +<p>The early part of the night was passed as usual, Uncle Joe at the card +tables, Tom Boyd with Patience and later mingling with the hunters and +trappers in the cabin until his eyes became heavy and threatened to +close. Leaving his friend at the table, he went to their room and in a +few moments was so fast asleep that he did not hear the merchant come +in. It seemed to him that he had barely closed his eyes when he awakened +with a start, sitting up in the berth so suddenly that he soundly +whacked his head against the ceiling. He rolled out and landed on the +floor like a cat, pistol in hand, just as his roommate groped under the +pillow for his own pistol and asked what the trouble was all about.</p> + +<p>The sound of it seemed to fill the boat. Shouts, curses, crashes against +the thin partition located it for them as being in the next room, and +lighting a candle, the two friends, pistols in hands, cautiously opened +the door just as one of the boat's officers came running down the +passage-way with a lantern in his hand. There was a terrific crash in +the stateroom and they saw him put down the light and leap into a dark +shadow, and roll out into sight again in a tangle of legs and arms. +Other doors opened and night-shirted men poured out and filled the +passage.</p> + +<p>The battle in the stateroom had taken an unexpected turn the moment the +officer appeared, for the door sagged suddenly, burst from its hinges +and flew across the nar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>row way, followed by a soaring figure, to one +leg of which Ebenezer Whittaker, bully bullwhacker of the Santa Fe +trail, was firmly fastened. After him dived his new friend, who once had +ruled a winter-bound party of his kind in Brown's hole with a high and +mighty hand. The trapper went head first into the growling pair rolling +over the floor, his liquor-stimulated zeal not permitting him to waste +valuable time in so small a matter as the identity of the combatants. He +knew that one of them was his new roommate, the other a prowling thief, +and being uncertain in the poor light as to which was which, he let the +Goddess of Chance direct his energies.</p> + +<p>At the other end of the passage-way the boat's officer, now reinforced +by so many willing helpers that the affair was fast taking on the air of +a riot, at last managed to drag the thief's lookout from the human +tangle and hustle him into the eager hands of three of the crew, leaving +the rescuers to fight it out among themselves, which they were doing +with praiseworthy energy and impartial and indefinite aims. Considering +that they did not know whom they were fighting, nor why, they were doing +so well that Tom wondered what force could withstand them if they should +become united in a compelling cause and concerted in their attack.</p> + +<p>At the inner end of the passage, having beaten, choked, and gouged the +thief into an inert and senseless mass, the bullwhacker turned his +overflowing energies against his new and too enthusiastic friend, and +they rolled into the stateroom, out again, and toward the heaving pile +at the upper end of the hall. Striking it in a careless, haphazard but +solid manner, just as it was beginning to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> disintegrate into its bruised +and angry units, the fighting pair acted upon it like a galvanic current +on a reflex center; and forthwith the scramble became scrambled anew.</p> + +<p>Finally, by the aid of capstan-bars, boat hooks, axe handles, and +cordwood, the boat's officers and crew managed to pry the mass apart and +drag out one belligerent at a time. They lined them up just as Captain +Newell galloped down the passage-way, dressed in a pair of trousers, +reversed; one rubber boot and one red sock and a night shirt partly +thrust inside the waistband of the trousers; but he was carefully and +precisely hatted with a high-crowned beaver. He looked as if he were +coming from a wake and going to a masquerade. Notwithstanding the very +recent and exciting events he received a great amount of attention.</p> + +<p>"What-in-hell's-th'-matter?" he angrily demanded, glaring around him, a +pistol upraised in one hand, the other gripping a seasoned piece of ash. +"Answer-me-I-say-what-in-hell's-th'-matter-down-here?"</p> + +<p>"There was a fight," carefully explained the weary officer.</p> + +<p>"Hell's-bells-I-thought-it-was-a-prayer-meetin'!" yelped the captain. +"Who-was-fightin'?"</p> + +<p>"<i>They</i> was," answered the officer, waving both hands in all directions.</p> + +<p>"What-about?"</p> + +<p>The officer looked blank and scratched his head, carefully avoiding the +twin knobs rising over one ear. "Damned if <i>I</i> know, sir!"</p> + +<p>"Were <i>you</i> fightin', Flynn?" demanded the captain aggressively and with +raging suspicion. "Come, up with it, were you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, sir; I was a-stoppin' it."</p> + +<p>"My G-d! Then don't you never dare start one!" snapped the captain, +staring around. "You look like the British at N'Orleans," he told the +line-up. "What was it all about? Hell's bells! It <i>must</i> 'a' had a +beginning!"</p> + +<p>"Yessir," replied the officer. "It sorta begun all at once, right after +th' explosion."</p> + +<p>"What explosion?"</p> + +<p>"I dunno. I heard it, 'way up on th' hurricane deck, an' hustled right +down here fast as I could run. Just as I got right over there," and he +stepped forward and with his foot touched the exact spot, "that there +stateroom door come bustin' out right at me. I sorta ducked to one side, +an' plumb inter somebody that hit me on th' eye. I reckon th' fightin' +was from then on. Excuse me, sir; but you got yore pants on +upside-down—I means stern-foremost, sir."</p> + +<p>"What's my pants got to do with this disgraceful riot, or mebby mutiny?" +blazed the reddening captain. He couldn't resist a downward glance over +his person, and hastily slipped the red-socked foot behind its booted +mate.</p> + +<p>Somebody snickered and the sound ran along the line, gathering volume. +Glaring at the battle-scarred line-up, Captain Newell waved the pistol +and seemed at a loss for words.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe stepped forward with the bullwhacker. "Captain, this man says +he woke up an' found a thief reachin' under his pillow, where he keeps +his bottle. I think the thief is against the wall, there; and his +partner, who doubtless acted as his lookout, is in the hands of those +two men. The rest of th' fightin' was promiscuous, but well meant. I +reckon if you put those two thieves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> in irons an' let th' rest of us go +back to our berths it'll be th' right thing to do. As for Flynn, he +deserves credit for his part in it."</p> + +<p>"That's my understanding of it, captain," said Tom, and again burst out +laughing. "Evidently they were after Mr. Cooper's money, which he has +shown recklessly, and they did not know that he had changed staterooms."</p> + +<p>"Reckon that's it, captain!" shouted someone, laughingly. "Anyhow, it's +good enough. Come on, captain; it's time for a drink all 'round!"</p> + +<p>In another moment a shirt-tailed picnic was in full swing, the bottles +passing rapidly.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE INSULT<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Shortly after dawn Tom awakened and became conscious of a steady +vibration and the rhythmical splash of the paddle wheel. Hurriedly +dressing he went out on deck and glanced shoreward. The +cream-and-chocolate colored water, of an opacity dense enough to hide a +piece of shell only a quarter of an inch below its surface, rioted past; +to port was a low-lying island covered with an amazing mass of piled-up +trees, logs and débris, deposited there by the racing current of the +rapidly-falling stream; and the distant shore was covered with dense +forests of walnut and cottonwood, interspersed with rich bottoms masked +by tangles of brush. Farther up he knew the sight would change into an +almost treeless expanse of green prairies, gashed by scored bluffs of +clay. The surface of the river was not smooth and the wind already had +reached disturbing strength, while an occasional gust of chilling rain +peppered the water and assaulted the boat. From the beat of the paddles +and the high frequency of the vibrations he knew the <i>Belle</i> was going +ahead under full steam, but his momentary frown was effaced by the +thought that the pilot was competent and knew what he was doing. Still, +he felt a little uneasy, and went forward to pay the pilot a visit.</p> + +<p>Reaching the hurricane deck he saw both pilots at the wheel and also a +lookout on the roof of the little house,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> while in the very point of the +bow, on the main deck, another lookout was scrutinizing the river ahead.</p> + +<p>"We're makin' good time," said Tom pleasantly as he poked his head in +the pilot house.</p> + +<p>"Yes," came an answering grunt; "too good, mebby."</p> + +<p>His words and manner were not calculated to encourage conversation and +the visitor went down to see about breakfast. Fortified by a cup of +coffee he felt able to wait until the meal was ready and went out on +deck again, standing in the shelter of an angle of the cabin, pretending +to be interested in the slowly shifting panorama, but really impatiently +waiting for the appearance of Patience Cooper. He had waited for about +an hour, hardly stirring from his post near the door which she had used +the morning before, when he caught sight of her crossing the cabin. +Turning from the window and stepping forward he opened the door for her +and after a short, cheerful talk about being under way again, led her to +the breakfast table, ignoring the scowling horse-dealer who sat at a +table in a corner talking to Elias Stevens.</p> + +<p>Their breakfast did not take as long as it had on the previous morning, +one reason being that while they ate they sensed the boat turn toward +the shore and before they had finished it stopped along the bank and +moored again.</p> + +<p>"I do believe the rain has ceased for the day," Patience observed, +peering out of the window by her side. "It is growing brighter every +minute. I wonder why the boat has stopped?"</p> + +<p>"Too much wind," answered her companion, nodding at the waves running +past the boat.</p> + +<p>"If that is all, I'm going ashore," she declared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You may find it disagreeable," warned Tom, delighted by the prospect of +a tramp with her. "It is bound to be wet under foot and the wind will be +cold and penetrating; but if you don't mind it, I'm sure <i>I</i> don't." He +finished his coffee and smiled. "It will be a great relief to get off +this boat."</p> + +<p>"Come on, then; I'll meet you at the landing stage in ten minutes," she +exclaimed. "This will be a good opportunity to get accustomed to the +heavy boots Uncle Joe had made for me. They smell like tallow candles +with leather wicks, if you can imagine the combination."</p> + +<p>He saw her enter her stateroom and then went to his own, got his rifle +and stood at the gangplank like a sentry. In less than the allotted time +she joined him, waved gaily at her uncle and the captain, who were +talking together near the pilot house, and went down the sloping plank, +eager to explore the river bank. As they reached the top of the +terrace-like bank and turned to wave again, the sun broke through the +clouds and turned the moisture-laden trees and brush into a jeweled +fairyland. They did not go far south since they were restricted to the +more open spaces where they could walk without rubbing against wet +foliage, but they found comparatively open lanes along the top of the +bank, from where they could keep watch over the packet and get back +without undue haste at the sound of her warning whistle.</p> + +<p>They crossed the trails of several animals and she listened with +interest to her companion's description of their makers, wondering at +his intimate knowledge of animal habits. Finally, coming to a great +cottonwood log, stripped of its bark and shining in the sunlight, he +helped her upon it and sat down by her side.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You surprised me, Miss Cooper, when you mentioned you were going to +Santa Fe," he said, turning to one of the subjects uppermost in his +mind. "It is a long, tedious, trying journey to men, and it might prove +infinitely more so to a woman."</p> + +<p>"I suppose so," she replied reflectively. "But you know, Mr. Boyd, I +haven't seen my father in five years, and his letter, sent back by the +eastbound caravan from Santa Fe last year, told us how he missed me and +how dissatisfied he was with his housekeeping arrangements and how he +dreaded to spend another winter away from us. It was too late then, of +course, to make the trip, but I determined to go to him with the first +caravan leaving Independence this spring. Uncle Joe fumed and fussed +about it and collected all the stories of privation, loss of sanity and +sudden death, and everything else of a deterring nature and brought them +home to me to serve as warnings. I can do anything I want with him +except keep him from gambling, and when he really understood that +nothing could stop me, he gave in and I soon had him so busy explaining +away the woeful tales he had brought me, and hunting up new ones of a +bright and cheerful aspect that he half believed them himself. I learned +that all the Indians were pets, that there were miles of flowers all the +way, that people near death from all kinds of causes miraculously +recovered their health by the end of the first two days, and that the +caravan had to watch closely to keep its members from leaving it and +settling all along the trail."</p> + +<p>They burst out laughing together. He could easily picture her uncle +frantically reversing himself. He had taken a great liking to Joseph +Cooper, who was a humor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>ous, warm-hearted old fox among his friends, +delighting in their pleasures and sunning himself complacently in their +approbation. No trouble was too great for him to go through if it would +bring happiness to those he cared for.</p> + +<p>They laughed and chatted and enjoyed themselves greatly, and were very +much surprised when his lean figure appeared beside the pilot house and +they saw him wave his hat and motion toward his mouth with animation and +great exaggeration.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! Is it dinner time already?" exclaimed Tom, sliding from +the log, and becoming aware for the first time that the log had been far +from as dry as he thought.</p> + +<p>Laughing and scampering, they hurried back toward the landing, racing +down the hill that led to the little opening in the grove not far from +the water's edge. As they started down it Tom caught sight of several +figures sprawled on the sand, which had dried quickly under the combined +attacks of sun and wind. Among them he saw the lank form of Ephriam +Schoolcraft slowly arising to one elbow as the horse-dealer turned and +watched them come down the incline.</p> + +<p>Patience stumbled, her heavy boots bothering her, and her companion +checked himself and caught her as she pitched forward. Swinging her +through the air, he put her down again on the other side of him and +laughingly offered his arm.</p> + +<p>"Thar ain't nothin' like 'lasses fer to draw flies," came the drawling, +unpleasant voice of the sneering figure on the ground. "Blow flies air +included. Wrap it in skirts an' young fellers make plumb fools o' +theirselves. Any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> flirt kin pull th' wool over thar eyes like it war a +loose skin cap." His raucous laugh was doubly disagreeable because of +the sneer envenoming it, and Tom stiffened.</p> + +<p>"I seed an example o' that right yere on this hyar packet; an' most +likely I'll see a hull lot more o' it if I has patience. He-he-he!"</p> + +<p>Tom checked his stride, but the quick, reassuring pressure on his arm +made him keep on, his burning face held rigidly toward the boat. He +dared not look at his companion. They walked silently up the landing +stage and into the cabin, Tom waiting with ill concealed impatience +until his companion should join her uncle at the table. But he was +surprised, for she spoke in a pleasant, soft tone and ordered him to +remain where he was for a few minutes. Before he could make up his mind +what she meant he saw her lean over her uncle's table and say something. +The ex-gambler pushed suddenly back, patted her on the head and walked +briskly but nonchalantly toward the curious onlooker.</p> + +<p>"You young folks never have any regard for an old man's comfort," he +chuckled as he took hold of Tom's arm. "Now, sir, I'll take great +pleasure in stretching my legs in any direction you may select, and in +stretching the neck of any officious meddler. I am at your service, Tom; +and, damn it, I'm not too old to become a principal!"</p> + +<p>Tom stared at him for a moment as the words sunk in. "By G-d!" he +murmured. "There ain't another like her in th' whole, wide world! Thank +you, Mr. Cooper: if you'll be kind enough to stand on one side and keep +the affair strictly between myself and that polecat, I'll try not to +keep you from your dinner very long.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> He might have been decent enough +to have picked his quarrel in some other way!"</p> + +<p>Schoolcraft arose alertly as they entered the little clearing, and +watched Tom hand the double-barreled rifle to his companion, slip off +his belt and throw his coat over it. The horse-dealer grinned with +savage elation as he discarded his own weapons and coat, hardly +believing in his good fortune. Not many men along the border cared to +meet him unarmed.</p> + +<p>Tom stepped forward. "Every time I look at that terbaccer juice +a-dribblin' down yer chin, Schoolcraft, it riles me," he said evenly. +"I'm a-goin' ter wipe it off," and his open hand struck his enemy's jaw +with a resounding whack as he stepped swiftly to one side. "You've allus +had a sneakin' grudge ag'in me," he asserted, giving ground before the +infuriated horse-dealer, "since I caught ye cheatin' at Independence. +You've been tryin' ter work it off ever since we left th' levee. I +reckon this belongs to you!"</p> + +<p>He stepped in quickly and drove his right fist into Schoolcraft's mouth, +avoiding the flailing blows. "If ye'll stand up ter it an' make it a +fight," he jeered, "I'll be much obliged to ye, fer I've promised my +friend not ter keep him from his dinner." Again he stepped in and struck +the bleeding lips. He boxed correctly according to the times, except +that he used his feet to good advantage. His education at an eastern +university had been well rounded and he never allowed himself to get out +of condition.</p> + +<p>Schoolcraft, stung to fury, leaped forward to grapple, hoping to make it +a rough-and-tumble affair, at which style of fighting he had but few +equals. Instead of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> adversary stepping to one side, he now stood +solidly planted in one spot, his left foot a little advanced, and drove +in a series of straight-arm blows that sent the horse-dealer staggering +back. The younger man pressed his advantage, moving forward with +unswerving determination, his straight punches invariably beating the +ill-timed and terrific swings of his bleeding opponent, who showed a +vitality and an ability to take punishment not unusual among the men of +his breed. The horse-dealer knew that if the fight remained an open +affair he would not last long, and he got command over his rage and +began to use his head.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he dropped to hands and knees under a right-hand blow that was +a little short of hurting him, and sprang up under his enemy's guard, +and brought exultant ejaculations from his little group of friends. But +for the warning conveyed to Tom by the knowledge that he barely had +touched the horse-dealer's jaw with that blow, and could not have +knocked him down, the trick might have worked; and as it was it +succeeded in bringing the two men to close grips. Schoolcraft's right +arm slid around his enemy's waist and hugged him close, while the left +slipped up between them until the hand went under the younger man's chin +and began to push it up and back. It was the horse-dealer's favorite and +most deadly trick and he exulted as he arched his back and threw his +full strength into the task. Never had it failed to win, for the victim +of that hold must either quit or have his neck broken; and the choice +did not rest with the victim.</p> + +<p>The muscles of Tom's neck stood out as though they would burst, the +veins of his forehead and throat swelling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> into tiny serpents, and his +crimson face grew darker and darker, a purplish tint creeping into it. +But Schoolcraft found that he was dealing with a man who had studied +wrestling as eagerly as its sister science. He also found that there was +a counter to his favorite hold, always providing that it had been robbed +of its greatest factor: surprise. For it to be deadly effective his +whole strength had to be thrown into it instantly and meet no ready, +rigid opposition; and in this he had failed because of the subtle +warning conveyed to his adversary when he fell before a harmless blow. +Almost before he knew it Tom's left arm, circling high in air, jammed in +between their heads and forced its way down to Schoolcraft's cheek. At +the same instant the right hand dashed down and got a hold inside his +left thigh, close up against the crotch; and as the left arm thrust his +head sidewise with a power not to be withstood, the right hand lifted +suddenly to the right and he struck the ground on his head and shoulder +with a shock which rendered him senseless.</p> + +<p>The winner staggered back, braced himself and swayed a little on his +feet as he sucked in great gulps of air. He wheeled savagely as he heard +a shuffling step to one side and slightly behind him, but the precaution +was not necessary, for simultaneously with the shuffling came Joe +Cooper's snapped warning, cold and deadly.</p> + +<p>"Better stop, Stevens! I'm only lookin' for an excuse to blow you open!"</p> + +<p>Elias Stevens obeyed, standing irresolute and scowling. "You talk d——d +big behind a gun!" he sneered.</p> + +<p>"Only half as big as I might, seeing it's a double gun," retorted the +older man. "If it don't suit you we can turn, step off ten paces an' +fire when we're ready.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> Might as well make a good job of it while we're +about it. I ain't no Mike Fink; but you ain't no Carpenter, so I reckon +it's purty even."</p> + +<p>"I'll take care of any objectors, in any fashion," said Tom, facing +Stevens and the others. "I'll be ready fer you, Stevens, by th' time you +get your weapons an' coat off, if you choose that way. Pickin' on an old +man don't go while there's a younger one around; an', besides, it's my +quarrel. There it is, in your teeth; take it, and eat it!"</p> + +<p>"It war a fair fight," said an onlooker in grudging admiration. He +expressed the ethics of the fighting current at that time in that part +of the country. Any kind of fighting, be it with hands, feet, nails, +teeth or other weapons was fair as long as no outsider took a hand in +it. It had been the rule of the keelboatmen and they had carried it up +and down the waterways, from New Orleans to the upper Mississippi and +from Pittsburg to the Rockies.</p> + +<p>Tom nodded. "All right. You can tell him that he won't get in close, +next time," he said, glancing at the stirring loser. "Come on, Uncle +Joe; your dinner's plumb cold an' ruined."</p> + +<p>"I'm hot enough to warm it as I chaw!" snapped his friend. "I was scared +for a moment, though; fighting out in this country don't get you nothin' +but a tombstone, generally, an' you'll be cussed lucky if you get that. +But you did what you started out to do; I couldn't see no tobacco juice +on his chin th' last time I looked." He followed his companion down the +bank and as they crossed the gangplank he chuckled. "I won't eat no +liver for a long time, I reckon: his face near made me sick!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I shouldn't 'a' cut him up so," admitted Tom; "but I was forking off a +grudge. Next time, I'll kill him." Then he thought of Patience and +glowed all over. "There ain't another like her, nowhere!" he muttered.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe glanced sideways at the slightly marked face of his companion, +shrewdly noting the expression of reverent awe and adoration.</p> + +<p>"Young man," he said, "you're a little mite hasty, but I like 'em that +way. I reckon if you took my waggins inter Santa Fe you'd get patience."</p> + +<p>At this second play on her name within the last half hour Tom whirled in +his tracks and held out his hand. "Uncle Joe, if you think I'm able to +handle 'em, I'll take 'em through h—l if I have to, without a +blister—" then he faltered and his face grew hard as he shook his head +in regret. "I can't do it," he growled. "It wouldn't be fair to bring +down Armijo's wrath on your niece and brother. He'd hound them like the +savage brute he is. No; you'll have to keep to whatever arrangements you +had in mind."</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe shook his head. "That's too bad, Tom. I was counting on you +keeping an eye on Patience and seeing her through. It's too cussed bad."</p> + +<p>Tom's laugh rang out across the water. "Oh I'm going to do that! I'm +bound for Santa Fe, either as a free lance or with trade goods of my +own; but I am not going with your wagons. I got it pretty well figured +out."</p> + +<p>"I'm allus gettin' into places where I've got to back out," grumbled +Uncle Joe. "Now I reckon I'll have to tell Patience you're too young an' +giddy to handle my outfit. An' <i>then</i> mebby I'll have to back out ag'in! +Tell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> you one thing, this here Santa Fe trip may be fine for invalids, +but it ain't done <i>my</i> health no good!" While Tom laughed at him he +considered. "Huh! I don't reckon it'll be a good thing to let her know +that you an' Armijo are as friendly as a Cheyenne an' a Comanche. Cuss +it! Oh, well; put away this gun an' come on in an' eat, if there's +anything left."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p class='center'>INDIANS AND GAMBLERS<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Shortly after noon the wind died down enough to let the packet resume +her upstream labors, and expectations ran high that she would make a +long, peaceful run. They were not to be realized.</p> + +<p>The first unpleasant incident occurred when the boat had been run +against a bank at a woodpile to replenish her fuel. The lines were made +fast and the first of the wood-carriers had reached the stacked cordwood +when from behind it arose a dozen renegade Indians, willing to turn +momentarily from their horse-stealing expedition long enough to levy a +tribute of firewater on the boat. They refused to allow a stick to be +removed without either a fight or a supply of liquor and trade goods, +and the leader of the band grappled with the foremost member of the crew +and tried to drag him behind the shelter of the pile and so gain a +hostage to give additional weight to their demands and to save them from +being fired on.</p> + +<p>Goaded by despair and fright from the unexpectedness of the attack and +what might be in store for him the white man struggled desperately and, +with the return of a measure of calmness, worked a neat cross-buttock on +his red adversary and threw him sprawling out in plain sight of the +boat. Half a dozen plainsmen on board had leaped for their rifles and +shouted the alarm; a four pound carronade was wheeled swiftly into +position and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> charge of canister sent crashing over the woodpile into +the brush and trees. The roar of the gun and the racket caused by the +charge as it rattled through the branches and brush filled the savages +with dismay and, not daring to run from the pile and up the bank under +the cannon and the rapidly augmented rifles on the decks of the boat, +they raised their hands and slowly emerged from their worthless +breastwork.</p> + +<p>Captain Newell shouted frantic instructions to his grim and accurate +volunteers, ordering and begging in one breath for them not to fire, for +he knew that bloodshed would start a remorseless sniping warfare along +the river that might last for several seasons. At such a game the +snipers on the banks, concealed as they would be, could reasonably be +expected to run up quite a list of casualties on the boat. This was no +new experience for him and he knew that nothing serious would grow out +of it as long as none of the Indians were injured. This little party was +composed of the renegade scourings of the frontier tribes which had been +debauched by their contact with the liquor-selling whites and they were +more fitted for petty thievery than the rôle of warriors. He shouted and +argued and cursed and pleaded with the eager riflemen, most of whom +burned with the remembrance of stolen packs of furs and equipment at the +hands of such Indians as these.</p> + +<p>The growling plainsmen, knowing that he was right and understanding his +position, reluctantly kept their trigger fingers extended and finally +lowered their pieces, hoping that the Indians would lose their heads and +do some overt act; but the Indians were not fools, whatever else they +might have been. With eager alertness on one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> side and sullen +acquiescence on the other the wooding was finished, ropes cast off and +the <i>Missouri Belle</i> pushed quickly out into the stream, her grim faced +defenders manning the stern decks and praying for an excuse to open +fire.</p> + +<p>No sooner had a reasonable distance been opened between the boat and the +bank than the Indians, at a signal from their leader, leaped behind the +woodpile and opened fire on the boat with muskets and bows and arrows, +the latter weapons far more accurate than the miserable trade guns which +a few of the braves carried. With them dropping an arrow is an instinct +and they have developed it to a degree that is remarkable, to say the +least; while with the smooth-bore trade guns, with varying charges of +trade powder and sizes of balls, they were poor shots at any distance. +Instantly two score rifles replied from the boat, pouring their leaden +hail into the stacked wood, but without any noticeable result; and +before a second round could be fired the distance had been increased to +such an extent that only one or two excitable tenderfeet tried a second +shot. The chief result of the incident was the breaking of the monotony +of the trip and the starting of chains of reminiscences among the +hunters and trappers to which the tenderfeet listened with eager ears.</p> + +<p>After this flurry of excitement interest slowly swung far astern, where +the American Fur Company's boat was supposed to be breasting the current +on her long voyage to Fort Union and beyond, and many eyes were on the +lookout for a glimpse of her smoke. A sight of the boat itself, except +at close range, was almost hopeless because the bends in the river were +so numerous and close together that the stream seemed like a narrow +lake.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + +<p>The surface of the water was becoming different from what it had been, +for the great masses of floating débris had thinned and no longer came +down in raft-like formations. This was due to the rapid falling of the +water, which had stranded more and more of the bulkier drift and piled +it up at the head of every island, emerging bar and jutting point. At +the height of the freshets, especially the April rise, often the logs +and trees came down so thick and solid that they resembled floating +islands. This was in large measure due to the simultaneous floating of +the vast accumulations piled up all along the banks, and it aroused +disgust and anxiety in the hearts of the boatmen, who feared for hulls +and paddle wheels.</p> + +<p>The harmless brush with the Indians and the stories the affair had +started quickened interest in firearms, and during the rest of the +afternoon there was considerable target practice against the ducks, +geese, and débris, and an occasional long shot at some animal on the +distant bank.</p> + +<p>Tom Boyd did his share of this, glad of the opportunity to try out his +new and strange weapons, and to put off meeting Patience Cooper as long +as he could, fearing her attitude concerning his fight with Schoolcraft. +He found that the newly marketed Colt six-shooter was accurate and +powerful at all reasonable ranges, beautifully balanced and well +behaving. It attracted a great deal of attention from fellow travelers, +for it was not as well-known in Missouri as it was in other parts of the +country. The English rifle, not much heavier than the great Hawken +weapons of his companions, despite its two barrels, shot true and +strong, and the two ready shots at his command easily recompensed him +for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> additional weight. At this time, in the country into which he +was going, an instantly available second shot had an importance not to +be overlooked. To the Indians, especially, was it disconcerting, and its +moral effect partook of the nature of magic and made a white man's +"medicine" that demanded and received a wholesome respect. He found that +it followed the rough and ready rule of the frontier that up to a +hundred yards the proper charge was as much powder as would cover the +bullet in the palm of the hand. In the long range shots the weapon was +surprisingly accurate, and one thoughtful and intelligent hunter, who +had guided several English sporting parties, gave the credit to the +pointed bullets.</p> + +<p>"Thar ain't no doubt about it, pardner," he confided to Tom as he slyly +produced his own bullet mold, and showed it to his companion. "I've +tried 'em out in my own rifle, an' they shore do shoot straighter an' +further. This hyar mold war give ter me by a city hunter I had in my +party when we found it would fit my rifle. I ain't usin' th' old un no +more. Rub a leetle b'ar grease or buffaler tallow on th' patch paper, +young man, ter make 'em go down easier. Thar good beaver."</p> + +<p>The sun set in a gold and crimson glory, working its magic metamorphosis +on river, banks, and bottoms, painting the colored cliffs and setting +afire the crystals in which their clay was rich. Though usually the +scenery along this river at this time of the year was nothing to boast +of, there were certain conditions under which it resembled a fairyland. +The rolling wavelets bore their changing colors across the glowing water +and set dancing myriad flashes of sunlight; streaks of sunlight reached +in under the trees along the bank and made fairy paths<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> among the +trunks, while the imbedded crystals in the clay bluffs glittered in +thousands of pin-points of iridescent flame.</p> + +<p>When supper time came around Tom still felt a little reluctant to meet +Patience, worried by how she might greet him, although her actions +preceding the fight should have told him that his fears were groundless. +To his great relief she met him as graciously as she had before, and as +a matter of fact he thought he detected a little more warmth and +interest, but discounted this because he feared that his judgment might +be biased in his favor by his hopes.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe apparently had forgotten all about the affair and did not +refer to it in any way, confining himself to subjects connected with the +great southwest highway, its trade, outfitting, the organization of the +caravans, the merchandising at Santa Fe and bits of historical and +personal incidents, not forgetting to comment on the personality of +Armijo and his arbitrary impost of five hundred dollars on each wagon to +cross the boundary, regardless of what its contents might be. He +chuckled over the impost, for the goods which he had sent up to +Independence by an earlier boat had been selected with that tax in mind. +He had his own ideas about the payment of the impost, and although he +could not entirely avoid it, he intended to take a great deal of the +sting out of it.</p> + +<p>He contended that the beating of unlawful duties was not cheating, since +it was purely a game of one individual outwitting another, one being an +arbitrary tyrant who was strongly suspected of pocketing the wagon tax +for his own uses. The only trouble with his philosophy was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> what it set +going, for having proved one evasion of tax to be honest it tended to go +farther and justify other evasions which fairly crossed the ethical +boundaries. One of these was the rumored prohibition of Mackinaw +blankets and the export tax on specie. This last would be something of a +hardship, for coin was the best and most easily carried of all mediums +of payment, and the Mexican government, in levying this tax, would tend +to force the traders to barter rather than sell their goods. If payment +were had in specie, the wagons could be disposed of at a fair profit and +mules used to pack it back to Missouri. When sewed tightly in rawhide +bags it became an unshifting mass by the shrinking of the leather under +the rays of the sun. Some of the traders took mules in exchange for +their goods which, if they could be safely delivered in the Missouri +settlements, would give an additional profit of no mean per centum; but +losses in mules were necessarily suffered on the long return trip, and +the driving, corralling, and guarding of a herd was a task to try the +patience of a saint and the ingenuity of the devil. The Indians would +take almost any kind of chances to stampede a herd of mules, and they +were adepts at the game.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe had been over the trail, having gone out with that band of +Missourians who took the first wagons across from Franklin in 1824, and +he had kept in close touch with the New Mexican and Chihuahuan trade +ever since. He knew the tricks, and had invented some of his own, which +he guarded well. For the despotic Armijo he had a vast contempt, which +was universal among the great majority of the men who knew anything at +all about the cruel, conceited, and dishonest Gov<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>ernor of the +Department of New Mexico. The unfortunate Texan Santa Fe Expedition had +aroused bitter feelings among Americans and Texans against the Mexican, +many of them having had friends and relatives in that terrible winter +march of two thousand miles on foot from Santa Fe to the City of Mexico, +which followed so close upon the heart-breaking and disastrous northward +march from Texas to a vile betrayal and barbarous treatment. Anything +American or Texas plainsmen could do to hurt or discredit the inhuman +pomposity whose rise to power had been through black treachery and +coldly planned murder, would be done with enthusiastic zeal.</p> + +<p>At the close of the leisurely eaten meal they went on deck in time to +see the <i>John Auld</i> round the next upstream bend and forge forward, soon +stopping, however, to drift past the slowed <i>Missouri Belle</i> while their +pilots exchanged terse information about the channels and snags. The +<i>John Auld</i> carried a small cargo of fur packs on her main deck and a +few free hunters and trappers on their way to St. Louis to dispose of +their goods and to outfit anew. By this time the fur of the pelts +slipped and the fur taking season was over, but there was always the +buffalo to lure them afield again.</p> + +<p>The evening was delightful and hopes ran high for an uninterrupted +voyage. Uncle Joe expressed the belief that the boat would run all night +in view of the favorable weather; Tom demurring on the grounds of the +rapidly falling river and the blackness of the nights. The boat curved +sharply to avoid a jutting bar and straightened out again. Prompted by +sight of some of the passengers who promenaded past them the talk swung +to the fur trade in general and to the end of it, which was rapidly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +being brought nearer by the great tide of emigration setting in. +Discussions regarding the emigrants and the great Oregon Trail followed +as a matter of course and almost before they knew it it was time for +Patience to retire, and her companions soon followed her example, Uncle +Joe foregoing his usual night game.</p> + +<p>When morning broke they found that they had sailed nearly all the night, +and the boat kept on all day, stopping only at a few landings and to +take on wood, of which she burned an amazing quantity. Another night's +run brought them well up the river, but the following day found them +tied to a bank, because of adverse weather. In the afternoon, the wind +dying out, they were on the way again and another night's sail was +looked for. Patience retired earlier than usual and when Tom returned +from seeing her safely into her room he found Uncle Joe impatiently +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Tom," said the merchant. "I've still got a lot to learn about +gamblin' an' there ain't much time left to do it in. Let's go back an' +see if there's a game runnin'. I might as well let somebody else pay th' +expenses of this trip."</p> + +<p>Tom nodded and followed his companion into the cabin set apart for men +and sat down at a table with two trappers, from where he could watch the +game at close range, for he realized that the time for the gamblers to +get the merchant's money also was getting short. Under the conditions +almost anything might occur and he felt that he owed a debt to his +friend for the part he had played during the fight with Schoolcraft.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe joined Stevens and a companion, who were idly playing and who +seemed to be impatiently and ner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>vously waiting for his appearance; soon +a tense game was in progress. At a table in a corner from where the +players could be closely watched Ephriam Schoolcraft, his face still +badly bruised, was talking in sullen undertones to the little Mexican +and another companion, while hunters, traders, trappers, and men of +various other callings kept up a low hum of conversation throughout the +cabin.</p> + +<p>From one group came fragments of fur trade gossip: "Th' American Fur +Company's talkin' about abandonin' Fort Van Buren. Thar's been a lot o' +posts let go to grass th' last two years. Th' business ain't what it was +ten year ago."</p> + +<p>"On th' other hand," replied a companion, "Fox an' Livingston air goin' +fer to put up a post at th' mouth o' th' Little Bighorn, which evens up +fer Van Buren; an' Chardon's aimin' fer to put one up at th' mouth o' +th' Judith. Th' trade's all right, only th' American's got more buckin' +agin' it."</p> + +<p>"'Tain't what it onct was, though," said a third trader. "Thar's too +many posts an' private parties. Ye can't go nowhere hardly in th' Injun +country without comin' slap up ag'in a post o' some kind. Thar's Zack: +hey, Zack! Come over hyar!"</p> + +<p>Zack, a mountain hunter and a free one, swung over and joined the group.</p> + +<p>"Jest been palaverin' with some Canucks," he said. "Fur's I could git +th' hang o' thar parley-vouz thar goin' up ter help open Fort William, +at th' mouth o' th' Yallerstun, fer Fox an' Livingston. They sez Pratte +an' Cabanne had took over Fort Platte, up nigh th' Laramie. How fur ye +goin' on this packet, Smith?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bellevue," answered Smith. "I'm headin' up th' Platte a-ways, if th' +danged Pawnees let me git past. Pardner's waitin' near th' mouth with a +bullboat. Reckon we kin count on enough water, this time o' year, fer +ter float <i>that</i>; 'though I shore ain't bettin' on it," he chuckled.</p> + +<p>Zack laughed. "Th' Platte shore comes close ter bein' all shadder an' no +substance. Dangest stream <i>I</i> ever seen, an' I've seen a-plenty."</p> + +<p>"Don't think a hull lot o' that country, nohow," said a third. "Them +Pawnees air th' worst thieves an' murderers this side o' th' Comanchees. +They kin steal yer shirt without techin' yer coat, danged if they can't. +Blast 'em, I <i>know</i> 'em!"</p> + +<p>Zack laughed shortly. "They ain't no-whar with th' Crows when it comes +ter stealin'," he averred.</p> + +<p>Smith chuckled again. "Yer right, Zack. He's pizen set ag'in 'em ever +sence they stole his packs an' everythin' that wasn't a-hangin' ter him. +'Twarn't much o' a walk he had, though, only a couple hundred miles."</p> + +<p>"Ye kin bet I'm pizen ag'in 'em sence then," retorted the Pawnee-hater +vehemently. "If I tuk scalps I could show ye somethin'. They've paid a +lot fer what they stole that time."</p> + +<p>From another group came the mention of a name which took Tom's instant +attention.</p> + +<p>"I hears Ol' Jim Bridger's quit tradin' in furs as a reg'lar thing," +said the voice. "They say he's gone in fer tinkerin' an' outfittin' up +nigh Teton Pass. Got a fust rate post too, they say."</p> + +<p>"Tinkerin' what?" demanded a listener. "What kin he outfit 'way up +thar?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Emigrants!" snorted the first speaker. "Figgers on sellin' 'em supplies +an' sich, an' repairin' fer 'em at his smithy. I shore reckon they'll +need him a hull lot more'n he'll need them. That's a long haul fer +wagons, tenderfeet's 'spacially—Independence ter th' Divide—'though it +ain't what it was when Hunt an' Crooks went out thirty year ago."</p> + +<p>"No, 'tain't," replied a third man. "An' it's a lucky thing fer th' +tenderfeet that Nat Wyeth went an' built Fort Hall whar he did, even if +'twas fer th' Hudson Bay. I'm tellin' ye these hyar emigrants would be +stayin' ter home from Oregon an' Californy if 'twarn't fer what us +trappers has did fer th' country. Thar ain't nary a trail that we didn't +locate fer 'em."</p> + +<p>The first man nodded. "Not mentionin' th' Injuns afore us, we found thar +roads, passes, an' drinkin' water fer 'em; an' now thar flockin' in ter +spile our business. One thing, though, thar goin' straight acrost, most +on 'em. It could be a hull lot worse."</p> + +<p>While Tom's ears caught bits of the conversation roundabout his eyes +paid attention to the gambling table and on two occasions he half arose +from his chair to object profanely to the way Stevens played; but each +time he was not quite sure. On the third occasion one of the trappers +glanced at him, smiled grimly, and nodded at the hard-pressed gambler.</p> + +<p>"Th' fur trade ain't th' only skin game, young feller," he softly said. +"Ol' man a friend o' yourn?"</p> + +<p>Tom nodded and watched more closely, and a moment later he stiffened +again.</p> + +<p>"Why, h—l!" growled the trapper, sympathizing with one of his own +calling. "Go fur him, young feller, an'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> chuck him inter th' river! I'll +hold off his pardner fer ye!"</p> + +<p>An older trapper sauntered over and seated himself at Tom's side. "Been +watchin' them fer quite a spell," he said in a low voice. "Ain't that +ol' feller St Louis Joe?"</p> + +<p>Tom shrugged his shoulders, and saw a great light. Who hadn't heard of +St. Louis Joe? His new friend's love of gambling, and his success +against Stevens and his crowd would be accounted for if the trapper was +right. He glanced at the speaker and replied: "Don't know. I never saw +him till I crossed th' levee at St. Louis jest afore we sailed."</p> + +<p>"Looks a heap like him, anyhow," muttered the newcomer. "Fair an' squar, +<i>he</i> war. I seen him play when I war goin' down to N'Orleans, ten year +ago. Never fergit a face, an' I shore remember <i>his</i>, fer he war playin' +that time fer 'most all th' money in th' Mississippi Valley, I reckon. +Consarn it, I <i>know</i> it's him! Fer ol' times' sake, if he gits inter +trouble with that skunk, I'm with him ter th' hilt." He started to leave +the table, thought better of it and slid forward to the edge of his +chair. "He's bein' cheated blind. I saw that skunk palm a card!"</p> + +<p>Tom nodded, his hand resting on his belt, but he did not take his eyes +from the game. He suspected that Uncle Joe was pretty well informed +about what was going on and would object when it suited him.</p> + +<p>The first trapper leaned over the table and whispered to his friend. +"This young feller is watchin' the cheat, an' I'm watchin' th' pardner. +You might keep an eye on that Independence hoss-thief over thar—that +feller<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> with th' raw meat face, that <i>this</i> youngster gave him. From th' +way he's lookin' thar ain't no tellin' how this hyar party is goin' ter +bust up."</p> + +<p>The second plainsman nodded and after a moment dropped his pipe on the +floor. He shifted in his chair as he reached down for it and when he sat +up again he was in a little different position, and not a thing at +Schoolcraft's table escaped his eyes.</p> + +<p>"I'll take th' greaser 'longside him," muttered the third plainsman. +"W'ich is a plain duty an' a pleasure. Bet ye a plew I nail him atween +his eyes, fust crack, if he gits hostile."</p> + +<p>Suddenly there came a loud smack as Uncle Joe's left hand smashed down +on the cards in Stevens' hand, holding them against the table while his +right hand flashed under the partly buttoned edge of his long frock +coat. It hung there, struggling with something in the inside pocket. +Stevens had jerked his own hand loose, relinquishing the cards, and with +the sharp motion a small, compact percussion pistol slid out of his +sleeve and into his grasp as his hand stopped. He was continuing the +motion, swinging the weapon up and forward when Tom, leaning suddenly +forward in his chair, sent his heavy skinning knife flashing through the +air. The first trapper had thrown a pistol down on the gambler's +partner, the second stopped Ephriam Schoolcraft's attempted draw against +Tom, and the third plainsman was peering eagerly along the barrel of his +pistol at a spot between the Mexican's eyes. Had it been a well +rehearsed act things could not have happened quicker or smoother.</p> + +<p>Not five other persons in the cabin had any intimation of what was +coming until Tom's knife, flying butt first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> through the air, knocked +the pistol from Stevens' hand. The weapon struck the floor and exploded, +the bullet passing through a cabin window. As the knife left his hand +the thrower had leaped after it and he grabbed the desperate gambler in +a grip against which it was useless to struggle. Uncle Joe, loosening +his hold on the pocket pistol tangled in the lining of his coat, leaped +around the table and quickly passed his hands over the clothing of the +prisoner.</p> + +<p>"What's th' trouble here?" demanded the quick, authoritative voice of +the captain as he ran in from the deck. "Who fired that shot, an' why?"</p> + +<p>He soon was made familiar with the whole affair and stepped to the +table, picked up the cards and spread them for everyone to see. Asking a +few questions of disinterested eye-witnesses, he looked about the cabin +and spoke.</p> + +<p>"I've nothing to say about gambling on this boat as long as gentlemen +play," he said sharply. "When the play is crooked, <i>I</i> take a hand. I +can't overlook this." He motioned to the group of boat hands crowding +about the door and they took hold of Stevens and his partner. "Take +these men and get their effects, and then put them ashore in the yawl. +I'll have provisions put aboard while you're gone. Stevens, due south +not many miles is the St. Louis-Independence wagon road. It is heavily +traveled this time of the year. You can't miss it. Besides that there +are numerous cabins scattered about the bottoms, and not far upstream is +a settlement. Take 'em away." Glancing over the cabin again and letting +his eyes rest for a moment on Ephriam Schoolcraft, he wheeled and +started for the door, but paused as he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> reached it. "If there's any +further trouble I'll be on the hurricane deck, for'rd. We're going to +run all night if we can. I don't want any more disturbance on this +packet."</p> + +<p>As the captain left, Uncle Joe thanked Tom and the trappers and joined +them at their table, providing the refreshment most liked by the +plainsmen, and the reminiscences became so interesting that the little +group scarcely noticed Tom arise and leave it. He was too restless to +stay indoors and soon found a place to his liking on the deck below, +near the bow, where he paced to and fro in the darkness, wrestling with +a tumult of hopes and fears. Reaching one end of his beat, he wheeled +and started back again, and as he passed the cabin door he suddenly +stopped and peered at the figure framed in the opening, and tore off his +hat, too surprised to speak.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Boyd?" came a soft, inquiring, and anxious voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Miss Cooper; but I thought you were fast asleep long ago!"</p> + +<p>"I was," she replied; "but something that sounded like a shot awakened +me, and thinking that it seemed to come from the card tables, I became +fearful and dressed as hurriedly as I could in the dark. Is—is Uncle +Joe—all right?"</p> + +<p>"In good health, good company, and in the best of spirits," replied Tom, +smiling at how the last word might be interpreted. "I left him only a +moment ago, swapping tales with some trappers."</p> + +<p>"But the shot. Surely it <i>was</i> a shot that awakened me?"</p> + +<p>Tom chuckled. "Sleeve pistol fell to the floor and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> went off +accidentally," he explained. "Luckily no one was hurt, for the ball +passed out of a window and went over the river. Are you warm enough? +This wind is cutting." At her assent he took a step forward. "I'll see +you to your room if you wish."</p> + +<p>"I'm too wide awake now to sleep for awhile," she replied, joining him. +"Didn't the boat stop?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; two passengers went ashore in the yawl," he answered. "These +packets are certainly accommodating and deserve patronage. Why, Miss +Cooper, you're shivering! Are you sure you are warm enough?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered. "Something is bothering me. I don't know what it +is. I wish we were at Independence though. Day and night this river +fascinates me and almost frightens me. It is so swift, so treacherous, +so changeful. It reminds me of some great cat, slipping through a +jungle; and I can't throw the feeling off. If you don't mind, I'll join +you in your sentry-go, you seem to give me the assurance I lack; but +perhaps I'll interfere with your thoughts?"</p> + +<p>"Hardly that," he laughed, thrilling as she took his arm for safety +against stumbles in the dark. "You stimulate them, instead. I really was +pacing off a fit of restlessness; but it's gone now. Look here; I wonder +if you fully realize the certain hardships and probable dangers of the +overland journey you are about to make?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, Mr. Boyd," she answered, quietly. "You'll find me a +different person on land. I underestimate nothing, but hope for the +best. From little things I've picked up here and there I really believe +that the dangers of the trail will be incidental when compared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> with +those at the other end—at Santa Fe. I have reason to believe that +father has had a great deal of trouble, along with other Americans, with +Governor Armijo. Why is it that American citizens are insulted with +impunity by Mexican officials? I understand that an Englishman may +safely travel from one end of Mexico to the other, secure from +annoyance, unless it be at the hands of Indians over whom the government +exercises but little control."</p> + +<p>"It's a universal complaint along the frontier," he replied. "It seems +to be the policy of this country to avoid hurting the sensibilities of +any vicious officialdom or ignorant populace. We seem to prefer to have +our citizens harassed, insulted, and denied justice, rather than assert +unequivocally that the flag goes in spirit with every one of us so long +as we obey the laws of any country we are in. If it were not for the +banding together of the American traders and merchants in Santa Fe, it +would be very hazardous for an American to remain there. Armijo has had +a few clashes with our people and is beginning to have a little respect +for their determination and ability to defend their rights. Since the +sufferings of the Texans have become known, there are any number of +Americans in frontier garb who would cheerfully choke him to death. It +would be a godsend to the New Mexican people if——"</p> + +<p>There came a terrific crash, the boat stopped suddenly and the deck +arose under their feet as a huge log smashed up through it. They were +torn apart and thrown down, and as Tom scrambled to his feet, calling +his companion's name, he felt a great relief surge through him as he +heard her answer.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE WRECKING OF THE MISSOURI BELLE<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Tom grasped his companion's arm and hurried her toward the place where +the yawl was tied as shouts, curses, tearing wood and a panic-stricken +crowd of passengers pouring out of the cabins and rooms turned the night +into a pandemonium, over which the hysterical blasts of the whistle +bellowed its raucous calls for help far and wide across water and land. +There came a rush of feet and several groups of passengers dashed toward +the yawl, but stopped abruptly and hesitated as the Colt in Tom's hand +glinted coldly in the soft light of a cabin window.</p> + +<p>"Women first!" he snarled, savage as an animal at bay. "I'll kill th' +first man that comes any closer! Get those bullboats overside, an' +somebody round up th' other women an' bring 'em here! Keep cool, an' +everybody'll be saved—lose yore heads an' we'll all die, <i>some</i> +quicker'n others! Not another step forward!"</p> + +<p>"Right ye air, friend," said a voice, and Zack, pistol in hand, dropped +from the deck above and alighted at Tom's side like a fighting bobcat. +"Put over them bullboats—an' be shore ye get hold o' th' ropes when ye +do. <i>Lady!</i>" he shouted, catching sight of an emigrant and his wife. +"Come hyar! An' you," he commanded her husband, "stan' by us—shoot ter +kill if ye pulls trigger. Fine bunch o' cattle!" he sneered, and the +rapidly grow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>ing crowd, finding that the guns facing them did not waver, +turned and stampeded for the bullboats, every man of it bellowing orders +and getting in the way of everyone else. There came a splash, a chorus +of curses as a bullboat, thrown overboard upside down, slipped away in +the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Right side up, ye tarnation fools!" roared a voice, accompanied by a +solid smash as a hunter near the boats knocked down a frantic freighter +and took charge of the mob. "I'm fixin' fer to kill somebody!" he +yelled. "Hang onter that rope or I'll spatter yer brains all over +creation! Right side up, damn ye! Hold her! Thar! Now then, put over +another—if ye git in that boat till I says so ye won't have no need fer +it!"</p> + +<p>Friends coming to his aid helped him hold the milling mob, and their +coolness and determination, tried in many ticklish situations, stood +them in good stead.</p> + +<p>"Ask th' captain how bad she is!" shouted Tom as he caught sight of Joe +Cooper tearing through the crowd like a madman. "I got Patience an' +another woman here!"</p> + +<p>"I might 'a' known it," yelled Uncle Joe, fighting back the way he had +come. In a moment he returned and shouted until the frantic crowd gave +him heed. "Cap'n says she can't sink! Cap'n says she can't sink! Listen, +damn ye! Cap'n says she can't sink. He's groundin' her on a bar! Keep +'em out of them boats, boys! <i>Don't</i> let them fools get in th' boats! +Not till th' very last thing! They'll only swamp 'em."</p> + +<p>"Good fer you, St. Louis!" roared a mountaineer, playing with a skinning +knife in most suggestive manner.</p> + +<p>"Th' boilers'll blow up! Th' boilers'll blow up! Look<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> out for th' +boilers!" yelled a tenderfoot, fighting to get to the boats. "They'll +blow up! They'll blow——"</p> + +<p>Zack took one swift step sideways and brought the butt of his pistol +down on the jumping jack's head. "Let 'em blow, sister!" he shouted. +"<i>You</i> won't hear 'em! Any more scared o' th' boilers?" he yelled, +facing the crowd menacingly. "They won't blow up till th' water gits to +'em, an' when it does we'll all be knee-deep in it. Thar on this hyar +deck, ye sheep!"</p> + +<p>One man was running around in a circle not five feet across, moaning and +blubbering. Tom glanced at him as he came around and stepped quickly +forward, his foot streaking out and up. It caught the human pinwheel on +the chest and he turned a beautiful back flip into the crowd. Zack's +booming laugh roared out over the water and he slapped Tom resoundingly +on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"More fun right hyar than in a free-fer-all at a winter rendyvoo, +pardner. You kick wuss nor a mule. An' whar <i>you</i> goin'?" he asked a +tin-horn gambler who took advantage of his lapse of alertness to dart +past him. Zack swung his stiff arm and the gambler bounced back as +though he had been struck with a club. "Thar's plenty o' it hyar if yer +lookin' fer it," he shouted, raising his pistol.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe clawed his way back again, Tom's double-barreled rifle in his +hands, and grimly took his place at his friend's side. Suddenly he +cocked his head and then heard Tom's voice bellow past his ear.</p> + +<p>"Listen, you fools! Th' fur boat! Th' fur boat!" he yelled at the top of +his lungs. His companions and the other little group of resolute men +took up the cry, and as the furor of the crowd died down, the answering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +blasts rolled up the river. Suddenly a light, and then an orderly series +of them pushed out from behind the last bend downstream, and showers of +sparks from the belching stacks of the oncoming fur company boat danced +and whirled high into the night, the splashing tattoo of her churning +paddles sounding like music between the reassuring blasts of her +whistle. The two stokers hanging from the levers of her safety valves +kicked their feet in time with her whistle, not knowing which kick would +usher them on an upward journey ending at St. Peter's eager gate. Their +skins were as black as the rods they swung from, but their souls were as +white as their rolling eyes.</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" screamed a woman who was fighting her way through the crowd +toward Tom's post, her clothing nearly torn from her; and at the words +she sagged to the deck, inert, unresisting. Tom leaped forward and +hauled her back with him, passed her on to Patience and resumed his grim +guard.</p> + +<p>A great shout, still tinged with horror and edged with fear, arose from +the decks of the <i>Belle</i> and thundered across the river, the answering +roar chopped up by the insistent whistle. Several red, stringy, +rapier-like flashes pierced the night and the heavy reports barked +across the hurrying water, to be juggled by a great cliff on the north +bank.</p> + +<p>Captain Newell had been busy. Learning that cool minds were dominating +the panicky crowd, and that the bullboats were being properly launched +and were ready for use if the worst came, he gave his undivided +attention to the saving of the <i>Belle</i>. Her paddle still thrashed, but +at a speed just great enough to overcome the current and to hold the +snag in the wound it had made. Expe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>rience told him that once she drew +back from that slimy assassin blade and fully opened the rent in her +hull her sinking would follow swiftly. Already men had sounded the river +on both sides and reported a steep slant to the bottom, twenty feet of +water on the port side and fifteen on the starboard. One of the spare +yawls, manned by two officers and a deck hand, shot away from the boat +and made hurried soundings to starboard, the called depths bringing a +look of hope to the captain's face. Forty yards to the right lay a +nearly flat bar; but could he make that forty yards? There remained no +choice but to try, for while the <i>Missouri Belle</i>, if she sank in her +present position, would not be entirely submerged, she would be even +less so every foot she made toward the shallows.</p> + +<p>Part of the crew already had weighted one edge of a buffalo hide and +stood in the bow, directly over the snag, which luckily had pierced the +hull more above than below the water line. The captain signalled and the +great paddle wheel turned swiftly full speed astern. The grating, +splitting sound of the snag leaving the hull was followed by a shouted +order and the hide was lowered overside and instantly sucked against the +rent; and the paddle wheel, quickly reversing, pushed the boat ahead at +an angle to the current until, low in the water, she grounded solidly on +the edge of the flat bar. Anchors were set and cables made taut while +the <i>Belle</i> settled firmly on the sandy bottom and rested almost on an +even keel. There she would stay if the river continued to fall, until +the rent was fully exposed and repaired; and there she would stay, +repaired, until another rise floated her. The captain signalled for the +paddles to stop and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> then drew a heavy arm across his forehead, sighed, +and turned to face the fur company packet.</p> + +<p>The passengers were becoming calm by stages, but the calm was largely +the reaction of hysteria for a few moments until common sense walled up +the breach. Every eye now watched the oncoming steamboat, which had +sailed doggedly ahead for the past two nights and days while the <i>Belle</i> +had loitered against the banks. Even the most timid were now calmed by +the sight of her lighted cabins as she ploughed toward her stricken +sister. Fearful of the snag, she came to a stop when nearly abreast of +the <i>Belle</i> and the two captains held a short and shouted conversation. +Her yawl soon returned and reported the water safe, but shoaling +rapidly; and at this information she turned slightly oblique to the +current and, sounding every few feet, crept up to within two gangplanks' +reach of the <i>Belle</i> and anchored bow and stern. Her own great landing +stage swung out over the cheated waters and hung poised while that of +the <i>Belle</i> circled out to meet it, waveringly, as though it had lost a +valuable sense. They soon touched, were made to coincide and then lashed +securely together. At once, women first, the passengers of the <i>Belle</i> +began to cross the arched span a few at a time, and sighed with relief +as they reached the deck of the uninjured vessel. On the main deck of +the <i>Belle</i> the crew already was piling up such freight as could be +taken from the hold and the sound of hammering at her bow told of +temporary repairs being made.</p> + +<p>Among the last to leave the <i>Belle</i> were Uncle Joe and Tom and as they +started toward the gangplank, Captain Newell hurriedly passed them, +stopped, retraced his steps, and gripped their hands tightly as he +wished them a safe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> arrival at Independence. Then he plunged out of +sight toward the engine room.</p> + +<p>The transfer completed, the fur company boat cast free, raised her +anchors, and sidled cautiously back into the channel. Blowing a hoarse +salute, she straightened out into the current and surged ahead, +apparently in no way daunted by the fate of her sister. Captain Graves +had commanded a heavily loaded boat when he left St. Louis and the +addition of over a hundred passengers and their personal belongings, for +whom some sort of provision must be made in sleeping arrangements and +food, urged him to get to Independence Landing as quickly as he could. +Turning from his supervision of the housing of the gangplank, he bumped +into Uncle Joe, was about to apologize, and then peered into the face of +his new passenger. The few lights which had been placed on deck to help +in the transfer of the passengers, enabled him to recognize the next to +the last man across the plank and his greeting was sharp and friendly.</p> + +<p>"Joe Cooper, or I'm blind!" he exclaimed. "Alone, Joe?"</p> + +<p>"Got my niece with me, and my friend, Tom Boyd, here."</p> + +<p>"Glad to meet you, Mr. Boyd—seems to me I've heard something about a +Tom Boyd fouling the official craft of the Government of New Mexico," +said the captain, shaking hands with the young plainsman. "We'll do our +best for you-all the rest of the night, and we'll put Miss Cooper in my +cabin. We ought to reach Independence early in the morning. I suppose +that's your destination? Take you on to Westport just as easily."</p> + +<p>"Independence is where I started for," said Uncle Joe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then we'll put you ashore there, no matter what the condition of the +landing is. It's easier to land passengers than cargo. But let me tell +you that if you are aiming to go in business there, that Westport is the +coming town since the river ruined the lower landing. Let's see if the +cook's got any hot coffee ready, and a bite to eat: he's had time +enough, anyhow. Come on. First we'll find Miss Cooper and the other +women. I had them all taken to one place. Come on."</p> + +<p>Shortly after dawn Tom awakened, rose on one elbow on the blanket he had +thrown on the deck and looked around. Uncle Joe snored softly and +rhythmically on his hard bed, having refused to rob any man of his +berth. He had accepted one concession, however, by throwing his blanket +on the floor of the texas, where he not only would be close to his +niece, but removed from the other men of the <i>Belle</i>, many of whom were +not at all reassuring in the matter of personal cleanliness. Arising, +Tom went to a window and looked out, seeing a clear sky and green, +rolling hills and patches of timber bathed in the slanting sunlight. A +close scrutiny of the bank apprised him that they were not far from +Independence Landing and he stepped to the rail to look up the river. +Far upstream on a sharp bend on the south bank were the remains of Old +Fort Clark, as it was often called. About twenty miles farther on the +same side of the river was his destination. He turned to call Uncle Joe +and met the captain at the door of the texas; and he thought he caught a +glimpse of a head bobbing back behind the corner of the cabin. As he +hesitated as to whether to go and verify his eyes, the captain accosted +him, and he stood where he was.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Fine day, Mr. Boyd," said the officer. "Sleep well on the soft side of +the deck?"</p> + +<p>Tom laughed. "I can sleep well any place, captain. If I could have +scooped out a hollow for my hips I wouldn't feel quite so stiff."</p> + +<p>"Let me know as soon as Miss Cooper appears and I'll have some breakfast +sent up to her. If you'd like a bite now, come with me."</p> + +<p>"Thank you; you are very considerate. I'll call Uncle Joe and bring him +with me."</p> + +<p>"You will, hey?" said a voice from the texas. "Uncle Joe is ready right +now, barring the aches of his old bones; and I've just been interrupted +by Patience. She says she can chew chunks out of the cups, she's so +hungry. What's that? You didn't? All right; all right; I'm backing up +again! Have it your own way; you will, anyhow, in the end."</p> + +<p>"You stay right where you are, Miss Cooper," called the captain. "I'll +send up breakfast enough for six, and if you keep an eye on this pair +perhaps you can get a bit of it. And let me tell you that it's lucky +that you're real hungry, for the fare on this boat is even worse than it +was on the <i>Belle</i>. I'll go right down and look to it."</p> + +<p>Breakfast over, the three went out to explore the boat, Patience taking +interest in its human cargo, especially its original passengers, and she +had a good chance to observe them during the absence of the rescued +passengers of the <i>Belle</i>, to whom had been given the courtesy of the +first use of the dining-room.</p> + +<p>Almost all of the original list on this boat were connected in some way +with the fur trade, the exceptions being a few travelers bound for the +upper Missouri, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> two noncommissioned officers going out to Fort +Leavenworth, who had missed the <i>Belle</i> at St Louis, missed her again at +St. Charles, and had been taken aboard by Captain Graves, who would have +to stop at the Fort for inspection.</p> + +<p>The others covered all the human phases of the fur business and included +one <i>bourgeois</i>, or factor; two partisans, or heads of expeditions; +several clerks, numerous hunters and trappers, both free and under +contract to the company; half a dozen "pork-eaters," who were green +hands engaged for long periods of service by the company and bound to it +almost as tightly and securely as though they were slaves. Some of them +found this to be true, when they tried to desert, later on. They were +called "pork-eaters" because the term now meant about the same as the +word "tenderfeet," and its use came from the habit of the company to +import green hands from Canada under contracts which not only made them +slaves for five years, but almost always left them in the company's debt +at the expiration of their term of service. On the way from Canada they +had been fed on a simple and monotonous diet, its chief article being +pork; and gradually the expression came to be used among the more +experienced voyageurs to express the abstract idea of greenness. There +were camp-keepers, voyageurs, a crew of keelboatmen going up to the +"navy yard" above Fort Union and two skilled boat-builders bound for the +same place; artisans, and several Indians returning either to one of the +posts or to their own country. They made a picturesque assemblage, and +their language, being Indian, English, and French, or rather, +combinations of all three, was not less so than their appearance. Over +them all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> bully of the boat, who had reached his semi-official +position through elimination by consent and by combat, exercised a more +or less orderly supervision as to their bickerings and general behavior, +and relieved the boat's officers of much responsibility.</p> + +<p>The boat stopped a few minutes at Liberty Landing and then went on, +rounding the nearly circular bend, and as the last turn was made and the +steamboat headed westward again there was a pause in the flurry which +had been going on among the rescued passengers ever since Liberty +Landing had been left. Independence Landing was now close at hand and +the eager crowd marked time until the bank should be reached.</p> + +<p>Soon the boat headed in toward what was left of the once fine landing, +its slowly growing ruin being responsible for the rising importance of +the little hamlet of Westport not far above, and for the later and +pretentious Kansas City which was to arise on the bluff behind the +little frontier village. Independence was losing its importance as a +starting point for the overland traffic in the same way that she had +gained it. First it had been Franklin, then Fort Osage, then Blue Mills, +and then Independence; but now, despite its commanding position on one +of the highest bluffs along the river and its prestige from being the +county seat, the latter was slowly settling in the background and giving +way to Westport; but it was not to give up at once, nor entirely, for +the newer terminals had to share their prominence with it, and until the +end of the overland traffic Independence played its part.</p> + +<p>The landing was a busy place. Piles of cordwood and freight, the latter +in boxes, barrels, and crates, flanked the landing on three sides; +several kinds of new wagons in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> various stages of assembling were scenes +of great activity. Most of these were from Pittsburg and had come all +the way by water. A few were of the size first used on the great trail, +with a capacity of about a ton and a half; but most were much larger and +could carry nearly twice as much as the others. Great bales of Osnaburg +sheets, or wagon covers, were in a pile by themselves, glistening white +in their newness. It appeared that the cargo of the <i>John Auld</i> had not +yet been transported up the bluff to the village on the summit.</p> + +<p>The landing became very much alive as the fur company's boat swung in +toward it, the workers who hourly expected the <i>Missouri Belle</i> crowding +to the water's edge to welcome the rounding boat, whose whistle early +had apprised them that she was stopping. Free negroes romped and sang, +awaiting their hurried tasks under exacting masters, the bosses of the +gangs; but this time there was to be no work for them. Vehicles of all +kinds, drawn by oxen, mules, and horses, made a solid phalanx around the +freight piles, among them the wagons of Aull and Company, general +outfitters for all kinds of overland journeys. The narrow, winding road +from the water front up to and onto the great bluff well back from the +river was sticky with mud and lined with struggling teams pulling heavy +loads.</p> + +<p>When the fur company boat drew near enough for those on shore to see its +unusual human cargo, both as to numbers and kinds, conjecture ran high. +This hardy traveler of the whole navigable river was no common packet, +stopping almost any place to pick up any person who waved a hat, but a +supercilious thoroughbred which forged doggedly into the vast wilderness +of the upper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> river. Even her curving swing in toward the bank was made +with a swagger and hinted at contempt for any landing under a thousand +miles from her starting point.</p> + +<p>Shouts rang across the water and were followed by great excitement on +the bank. Because of the poor condition of the landing she worked her +way inshore with unusual care and when the great gangplank finally +bridged the gap her captain nodded with relief. In a few moments, her +extra passengers ashore, she backed out into the hurrying stream and +with a final blast of her whistle, pushed on up the river.</p> + +<p>Friends met friends, strangers advised strangers, and the accident to +the <i>Belle</i> was discussed with great gusto. Impatiently pushing out of +the vociferous crowd, Joe Cooper and his two companions swiftly found a +Dearborn carriage which awaited them and, leaving their baggage to +follow in the wagon of a friend, started along the deeply rutted, +prairie road for the town; Schoolcraft, his partner, and his Mexican +friend sloping along behind them on saddle horses through the lane of +mud. The trip across the bottoms and up the great bluff was wearisome +and tiring. They no sooner lurched out of one rut than they dropped into +another, with the mud and water often to the axles, and they continually +were forced to climb out of the depressed road and risk upsettings on +the steep, muddy banks to pass great wagons hopelessly mired, +notwithstanding their teams of from six to a dozen mules or oxen. +Mud-covered drivers shouted and swore from their narrow seats, or waded +about their wagons up to the middle in the cold ooze. If there was +anything worse than a prairie road in the spring, these wagoners had yet +to learn of it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE NEW SIX-GUN<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Independence was alive all over, humming with business, its muddy +streets filled with all kinds of vehicles drawn by various kinds and +numbers of animals. Here a three-yoke ox team pulled stolidly, there a +four-mule team balked on a turn, and around them skittish or dispirited +horses carried riders or drew high-seated carriages. The motley crowd on +foot picked its way as best it could. Indians in savage garb passed +Indians in civilization's clothes, or mixtures of both; gamblers rubbed +elbows with emigrants and made overtures to buckskin-covered trappers +and hunters just in from the prairies and mountains, many of whom were +going up to Westport, their main rendezvous. Traders came into and went +from Aull and Company's big store, wherein was everything the frontier +needed. Behind it were corrals filled with draft animals and sheds full +of carts and wagons.</p> + +<p>Boisterous traders and trappers, in all stages of drunkenness, who +thought nothing of spending their season's profits in a single week if +the mood struck them, were still coming in from the western foothills, +valleys, and mountains, their loud conversations replete with rough +phrases and such names as the South Park, Bent's Fort, The Pueblo, Fort +Laramie, Bayou Salade, Brown's Hole, and others. Many of them so much +resembled Indians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> as to leave a careless observer in doubt. Some were +driving mules almost buried under their two packs, each pack weighing +about one hundred pounds and containing eighty-odd beaver skins, +sixty-odd otter pelts or the equivalent number in other skins. Usually +they arrived in small parties, but here and there was a solitary +trapper. The skins would be sold to the outfitting merchants and would +establish a credit on which the trapper could draw until time to outfit +and go off on the fall hunt. Had he sold them to some far, outlying post +he would have received considerably less for them and have paid from two +hundred to six hundred per cent more for the articles he bought. As long +as there was nothing for him to do in his line until fall set in, he +might just as well spend some of the time on the long march to the +frontier, risking the loss of his goods, animals, and perhaps his life +in order to get better prices and enjoy a change of scene.</p> + +<p>The county seat looked good to him after his long stay in the solitudes. +Pack and wagon trains were coming and going, some of the wagons drawn by +as many as a dozen or fifteen yokes of oxen. All was noise, confusion, +life at high pressure, and made a fit surrounding for his coming +carousal; and here was all the liquor he could hope to drink, of better +quality and at better prices, guarantees of which, in the persons of +numerous passers-by, he saw on many sides.</p> + +<p>Rumors of all kinds were afloat, most of them concerning hostile Indians +lying in wait at certain known danger spots along the trails, and of the +hostile acts of the Mormons; but the Mormons were behind and the trail +was ahead, and the rumors of its dangers easily took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> precedence. It was +reported that the first caravan, already on the trail and pressing hard +on the heels of spring, was being escorted by a force of two hundred +United States dragoons, the third time in the history of the Santa Fe +trade that a United States military escort had been provided. Dangers +were magnified, dangers were scorned, dangers were courted, depending +upon the nature of the men relating them. There were many noisy +fire-eaters who took their innings now, in the security of the town, who +would become as wordless, later on, as some of the tight-lipped and +taciturn frontiersmen were now. Greenhorns from the far-distant East +were proving their greenness by buying all kinds of useless articles, +which later they would throw away one by one, and were armed in a manner +befitting buccaneers of the Spanish Main. To them, easiest of all, were +old and heavy oxen sold, animals certain to grow footsore and useless by +the time they had covered a few hundred miles. They bought anything and +everything that any wag suggested, and there were plenty of wags on +hand. The less they knew the more they talked; and experienced caravan +travelers shook their heads at sight of them, recognizing in them the +most prolific and hardest working trouble-makers in the whole, long +wagon train. Here and there an invalid was seen, hoping that the long +trip in the open would restore health, and in many cases the hopes +became realizations.</p> + +<p>Joseph Cooper installed his niece in the best hotel the town afforded +and went off to see about his wagons and goods, while Tom Boyd hurried +to a trapper's retreat to find his partner and his friends. The retreat +was crowded with frontiersmen and traders, among whom he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> recognized +many acquaintances. He no sooner had entered the place than he was +soundly slapped on the shoulder and turned to exchange grins with his +best friend, Hank Marshall, who forthwith led him to a corner where a +small group was seated around a table, and where he found Jim Ogden and +Zeb Houghton, two trapper friends of his who were going out to Bent's +trading post on the Arkansas; Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, two +veteran traders, and several others who would be identified with the +next caravan to leave.</p> + +<p>"Thar's one of them danged contraptions, now!" exclaimed Birdsall, +pointing to the holster swinging from Tom's broad belt. "I don't think +much o' these hyar newfangled weapons we're seein' more an' more every +year. An' cussed if he ain't got a double-bar'l rifle, too! Dang it, +Tom, don't put all yer aigs in one basket; ain't ye keepin' no weapons +ye kin be shore on?"</p> + +<p>"Thar both good, Enoch," replied Tom, smiling broadly.</p> + +<p>"Shore they air," grunted Birdsall's partner. "Enoch don't reckon +nothin's no good less'n it war foaled in th' Revolutionary War, an' has +got whiskers like a Mormon bishop. Fust he war dead sot ag'in +steamboats; said they war flyin' in th' face o' Providence an' wouldn't +work, nohow. Then he said it war plumb foolish ter try ter take waggins +inter Santer Fe. Next he war dead sot ag'in mules fer anythin' but +packin'. Now he's cold ter caps an' says flints war made 'special by th' +Lord fer ter strike fire with—<i>but</i>, he rides on th' steamboats when he +gits th' chanct; he's taken waggins clean ter Chihuahua, drivin' mules +ter 'em; an' he's sorter hankerin' fer ter use caps, though he won't +admit it open. Let him alone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> an' watch him try ter borrer yer new +pistol when th' Injuns try ter stampede th' animals. He's a danged old +fool in his talk, but you jest keep an eye on him. Thar, I've said my +say."</p> + +<p>"An' a danged long say it war!" snorted Enoch, belligerently. "It stands +ter reason that thar pistol can't shoot 'em out o' one bar'l plumb down +the dead center of another <i>every</i> time! An' suppose ye want ter use a +double charge o' powder, whar ye goin' ter put it in them danged little +holes? Suppose yer caps hang fire—what then, I want ter know?"</p> + +<p>"S'posin' th' wind blows th' primin' out o' yer pan?" queried Zeb. +"S'posin' ye lose your flint? S'posin' yer powder ain't no good? +S'posin' ye ram down th' ball fust, like ye did that time them Crows +tried ter lift our cache. Fine mess ye nigh made o' that! Onct ye start +thar ain't no end o' s'posin', nohow. Caps is all right, <i>I</i> use 'em!"</p> + +<p>"<i>He</i> uses 'em!" chuckled Enoch. "Ain't that a sensible answer? Caps is +all right, if <i>he</i> uses 'em! Danged if he don't make me laugh: but he's +a good ol' beaver, at that, Zeb is. As fur rammin' down th' ball fust, +that time; he never told ye about how he swallered a hull mouthful o' +balls when Singin' Fox sent a arrer through his cap, did he?"</p> + +<p>Zeb looked a little self-conscious. "Beaver's shore gittin' scarce," he +said.</p> + +<p>"Thar's a passel o' Oregoners rendyvouin' out ter Round Grove," said +Hank. "If we're goin' with 'em we better jine 'em purty quick."</p> + +<p>Tom shook his head. "I'm aimin' fer th' Arkansas this trip. Goin' ter +try it onct more."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hank's jaw dropped. "Thar!" he snorted. "Kin ye beat that?"</p> + +<p>"Glad ter hear it," said Jim Ogden. "We'll be with ye fur's th' +Crossin'; but ain't ye gamblin', Tom?"</p> + +<p>"Armijo shore will run up th' flags an' order out his barefoot army," +said Hank, grimly, "if he larns o' it. An' he'll mebby need th' army, +too."</p> + +<p>"He'll larn o' it," declared Birdsall. "Thar's a passel o' greasers +goin' over th' trail with us—an' shore as shootin' some o' 'em will go +ahead with th' news arter we reach th' Cimarron. Don't be a danged fool, +Tom; you better go 'long th' Platte with th' emigrants."</p> + +<p>"Can't do it," replied Tom. "I've give my word an' I'm goin' through ter +Santa Fe. Armijo'll larn o' it, all right. I've seen signs o' that +already. Some greaser fanned a knife at me on th' boat; but I couldn't +larn nothin' more about it."</p> + +<p>"Dang my hide if I ain't got a good notion ter let ye go alone!" snorted +Hank, whereat a roar of laughter arose. It seemed that he was very well +known.</p> + +<p>"I'll see how things bust," said Ogden. "I war aimin' fer Bent's, but +thar ain't no use o' gittin' thar much afore fall." He thought a moment, +and then slammed his hand on the table. "I'm goin' with ye, Tom!"</p> + +<p>"Talkin' like a blind fool!" growled Zeb Houghton, his inseparable +companion. "I'm startin' fer th' fort, an' I'm goin' thar! If you ain't +got no sense, <i>I</i> has!"</p> + +<p>Hank laughed and winked at the others. "I'll go with ye, Zeb. Me an' +you'll go thar together an' let these two fools git stood up ag'in a +wall. Sarve 'em right if he cuts 'em up alive. We'll ask him ter send us +thar ears, fer ter remember 'em by."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>Zeb's remarks about the Governor of New Mexico caused every head in the +room to turn his way, and called forth a running fire of sympathetic +endorsements. He banged the table with his fists. "Hank Marshall, ye got +more brains nor I has, but I got ter go 'long an' keep that pore critter +out o' trouble. If I don't he'll lose hoss <i>an'</i> beaver!"</p> + +<p>A stranger sauntered over, grinned at them and slid a revolving Colt +pistol on the table. "Thar, boys," he said. "Thar's what ye need if yer +goin' ter Santer Fe. I'm headin' fer home, back east. What'll ye give me +fer it, tradin' in yer old pistol? Had a run o' cussed bad luck last +night, an' I need boat fare. Who wants it?"</p> + +<p>Enoch Birdsall and Hank Marshall both reached for it, but Hank was the +quicker. He looked it over carefully and then passed it to his partner. +"What ye think o' her, Tom?" he asked.</p> + +<p>After a moment's scrutiny Tom nodded and gave it back. "Looks brand new, +Hank. Good pistol. I tried mine out on th' boat comin' up. They shoot +hard an' straight."</p> + +<p>Hank looked up at the stranger and shook his head deprecatingly, +starting the preliminary to a long, hard-driven barter; but he hadn't +reckoned on Birdsall, the skeptic.</p> + +<p>"Ten dollars an' this hyar pistol," said Enoch quickly.</p> + +<p>"Wall!" exclaimed Hank, staring at him. "Dang ye! Eleven dollars an' +<i>this</i> pistol!"</p> + +<p>"Twelve," placidly said Enoch.</p> + +<p>"Twelve an' a half!" snapped Hank.</p> + +<p>"An' three quarters."</p> + +<p>"Thirteen!" growled Hank, trying to hide his misery.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>Enoch raised again and, a quarter at a time, they ran the price up to +sixteen dollars, Enoch bidding with Yankee caution and reluctance, Hank +with a stubborn determination not to let his friend get ahead of him. +One was a trader, shrewd and thrifty; the other, a trapper, which made +it a game between a canny barterer on one side and a reckless spender on +the other. At twenty-three dollars Birdsall quit, spat angrily at a box, +and scowled at his excited companion, who was counting the money onto +the table. Hank glared at Enoch, jammed the Colt in his belt and bit +savagely into a plug of tobacco, while the stranger, hiding his smile, +bowed ironically and left them; and in a moment he was back again with +another Colt.</p> + +<p>"I knowed it!" mourned Hank. "Dang ye, Enoch!"</p> + +<p>"Boys," said the stranger, sadly, "my friend is in th' same fix that I +am. He is willin' ter part with his Colt for th' same money an' another +old fashioned pistol. His mother's dyin' in St. Louie an' he's got ter +git back ter her."</p> + +<p>"Too danged bad it ain't him, an' you," snorted Hank.</p> + +<p>Jim Ogden held out his hand, took the weapon and studied it. Quietly +handing over his own pistol and the money, he held out his other hand, +empty. "Whar's th' mold; an' some caps?"</p> + +<p>"Wall," drawled the stranger, rubbing his chin. "They don't go with th' +weapons—they're separate. Cost ye three dollars fer th' mold; an' th' +caps air two dollars a box o' two hundred."</p> + +<p>"Then hand her back ag'in an' take th' Colt," said Ogden, slowly +arising. "Think I'm goin' ter whittle, or chew bullets fer it? Neither +one of them guns has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> even been used. Thar bran' new, an' with 'em goes +th' mold. Jest because I've spent a lot o' my days up on Green River +ain't sayin' I'm green. They named it that because I left my greenness +thar."</p> + +<p>"Th' caps air extry," said the vendor of Colt pistols.</p> + +<p>"Ain't said nothin' about no caps, yit," retorted Ogden. "I'm talkin' +molds. Gimme one, an' give Hank one; or ye'll both shore as hell miss +his mother's funeral."</p> + +<p>The stranger complied, sold some caps and left the saloon in good humor; +but he had not been gone two minutes before Enoch hastily arose and +pleaded that he had to meet a man; and when they saw him again he had a +newfangled contraption in a holster at his belt.</p> + +<p>Hank carelessly opened his mold and glanced at it. "Pinted!" he +exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Tom explained swiftly and reassured his friends, and then suggested that +they go down to a smithy owned by a mutual friend, and run some bullets. +"We better do it while we're thinkin' about it, an' have th' time," he +added.</p> + +<p>"Got lots o' time," said Ogden. "Be three weeks afore th' second caravan +starts. Thar's two goin' out this year. If 'twarn't fer th' early warm +weather on th' prairies th' fust wouldn't 'a' left yet. Th' grass is +comin' up fast."</p> + +<p>"Thar's some waggins o' th' second game out ter Council Grove already," +said Alonzo Webb. "They wanted me an' Enoch ter go 'long with 'em, but +we couldn't see th' sense o' leavin' town so fur ahead o' time, an' +totin' that much more grub. 'Sides, th' roads'll be better, mebby, later +on."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>The smith welcomed them and they used his fire during the lulls in his +business.</p> + +<p>"Hear Zachary Woodson's goin' out with eight waggins this year," he told +them. "Missed th' fust caravan. Says he'll be tetotally cussed if he's +goin' ter be captain ag'in this year."</p> + +<p>"That's what he says every year," grunted Alonzo.</p> + +<p>"He'll be captain if we has th' say-so," replied Hank. "Only thing, he's +a mite too easy with th' fools; but thar's goin' ter be less squabblin' +about obeyin' orders this trip than ever afore. We'll see ter that."</p> + +<p>While they discussed matters pertaining to the caravan, and ran bullets, +listening to the gossip of the smith's customers, they saw Uncle Joe and +his two wagoners driving his mules toward the shop to have them re-shod. +They shook hands all around and soon Uncle Joe, grinning from ear to +ear, told them that he was going out with the caravan. He was as tickled +as a boy with a new knife.</p> + +<p>"Just as I feared," he said in explanation. "I couldn't find any trader +that was takin' any of his women folks along; so there was only one way +out of it. I got to go. An' I don't mind tellin' you boys that it suits +me clean down to th' ground. Anyhow, all I wanted was an excuse. I got a +light wagon for Patience an' me an' our personal belongings, an' I'm +goin' to drive it myself. Bein' th' only woman in th' caravan, fur as I +know, it'll mebby be a little mite hard on her. Reckon she'll git +lonesome, 'specially since she's so danged purty."</p> + +<p>When the laughter died down Hank Marshall, shifting his cud to the other +cheek, looked from Uncle Joe to Tom and back again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Wall," he drawled, "I war puzzled a little at fust, but now I reckon +I'm gittin' th' hang o' this hyar thing. Tom war shore hell-bent fer ter +go out ter Oregon this year." He paused, scratched his head, and +grinned. "Reckon I kin drive them mules all by myself. 'Twon't be as +though it war th' fust time I've done it."</p> + +<p>After a little good-natured banter Tom and Hank left the smithy to look +after their affairs, for there was quite a lot to be done. The next few +days would be busy ones for them both, but especially so for Tom, who +was expected to share his company between Patience, Hank, and Uncle Joe.</p> + +<p>As they swung up the street Hank edged to cross it, pointing to +Schoolcraft's corral. "Might as well be gittin' th' mules afore thar all +run over an' th' best took. If he kin skin me in a mule deal I'm willin' +ter abide by it."</p> + +<p>"Not there," objected Tom. "I've had some trouble with him. I'll play +pack animal myself before I'll buy a single critter from him."</p> + +<p>Hank shook with silent laughter. "<i>That's</i> whar he got it, huh?" he +exulted. "Cussed if he warn't trimmed proper. I might 'a' knowed it war +you as done it by th' way it looked." He shook again and then became +alert "Thar he is now; an' his friends air with him. Keep yer primin' +dry, boy."</p> + +<p>"I reckoned I could shake a laig," said a voice behind them, and they +looked over their shoulders to see Jim Ogden at their heels, and close +behind him came his partner; "but you two kiyotes plumb made me hoof it. +What's yer hurry, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>The little group in front of the corral gate shifted in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> indecision and +looked inquiringly at the horse-dealer. There was a difference between +stirring up trouble between themselves and Tom Boyd for the purpose of +manhandling <i>him</i>, and stirring it up between themselves and the four +trappers.</p> + +<p>Schoolcraft said something out of the corner of his mouth and the group +melted away into the little shack at the corral gate. He remained where +he was, scowling frankly at his enemy.</p> + +<p>"Looks like they war a-fixin' ter try it on us," growled Hank, returning +the scowl with interest. "Let's go over an' say how-de-do ter 'em. This +here town's been too peaceable, <i>anyhow</i>."</p> + +<p>"What's th' trouble?" asked Ogden, curiously, his partner pressing +against him to hear the answer.</p> + +<p>"Ain't none," answered Tom. "Thar might 'a' been, but it's blowed over."</p> + +<p>"Wall," drawled Ogden. "Ye never kin tell about these hyar frontier +winds. Yer th' partisan o' this hyar expedition, Tom. We'll foller yer +lead. It's all one ter us whar ye go; we're with ye."</p> + +<p>Schoolcraft, knowing that trouble with these plainsmen would almost +certainly end in serious bloodshed, shrugged his shoulders and entered +the shack; and after him, from behind the corral wall darted the slender +Mexican.</p> + +<p>"Thar!" exclaimed Tom, pointing. "See that greaser? Keep yer eyes +skinned fer him. He's bad medicine."</p> + +<p>"Looks like he war fixin' fer ambushin' us, hidin' behind that wall," +growled Hank.</p> + +<p>"He's got a fine head o' hair ter peel," snorted Zeb Houghton, whose +reputation in regard to scalp lifting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> was anything but to his credit. +The fingers of his left hand closed involuntarily with a curling motion +and the wrist turned suggestively; and the Mexican, well back from the +dirty window of the shack, felt a rising of his stomach and was poor +company for the rest of the day.</p> + +<p>The four swung on again, Ogden and his partner soon leaving the party to +go to their quarters, while Tom and Hank went on along the street and +stopped at another horse-dealer's, where they bought two riding horses +and eight broken-in mules, the latter covered with scars. The horses +were broken to saddle and would carry them over the trail; two of the +mules were to carry their necessaries and the other six their small +stock of merchandise, which they now set out to obtain. In procuring the +latter they were very fortunate, for they found a greenhorn who had paid +too much attention to rumors and had decided at the last moment that +trail life and trading in the far west did not impress him very +favorably; and he sold his stock to them almost at their own terms, glad +to get out of his venture so easily. They took what they wanted of it +and then sold the remainder at a price which nearly paid for their own +goods. Leaving their purchases at Uncle Joe's wagons under the care of +his teamsters, they went to his hotel to spend the night.</p> + +<p>After supper Hank, who had shown a restlessness very foreign to him, +said that he was going out to take a walk and would return soon. When +Tom offered to go with him he shook his head, grinned, and departed.</p> + +<p>The evening passed very pleasantly for Tom, who needed nothing more than +Patience's presence to make him content, and after she had said good +night he accom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>panied her uncle to the bar for a night-cap. As he +entered the room he thought he saw a movement outside the window, down +in one corner of the sash, and he slipped to the door and peered out. As +he cogitated about scouting around outside he heard Uncle Joe's voice +calling to him over the noise of the crowd and he made his way back to +the bar, drank to the success of the coming expedition, and engaged in +small talk with his companion and those around them. But his thoughts +were elsewhere, for Hank had been gone a long time.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Joe, how long have you known your wagoners?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Long enough to know 'em well." The trader regarded him quizzically. +"Not worryin' about your merchandise, are you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm wondering where Hank is."</p> + +<p>"In some trapper's rendezvous; he'll show up in th' mornin' with nothin' +worse than a headache."</p> + +<p>"I'm not treating him right," soliloquized Tom. "A man shouldn't forget +his friends, especially when they're as close as Hank is. I'm goin' +lookin' for him. Good night."</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe watched him push his way directly through the crowd, leaving a +few scowls in his wake, and pop out of the door; and the older man +nodded with satisfaction. "A man shouldn't, Tom, my boy," he muttered. +"Stick to them that's stuck to you—always—forever—in spite of hell. +That's good medicine."</p> + +<p>A tour of the places where trappers congregated was barren of results +until he had reached the last of such resorts that he knew, and here he +found Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, who welcomed him with such +vocifer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>ous greetings that he knew they had nearly reached the +quarrelsome stage. To his inquiries as to the whereabouts of his partner +they made boisterous replies, their laughter rattling the windows.</p> + +<p>"Ol' beaver's settin' a-top his house—no, 'tain't no house. Settin' +a-top yer pile o' goods cached with Cooper's—you tell 'im," yelled +Alonzo, slapping Enoch across the back and nearly knocking him out of +the chair. "You tell 'im, Ol' Buff'ler!"</p> + +<p>"Prairie hen on his nest is more like <i>him</i>," shouted Enoch, returning +his friend's love tap with interest, whereupon Alonzo missed twice and +fell to the floor.</p> + +<p>"Prairie hen on yer nose!" yelled the prostrate trader, trying to swim +toward his partner. "Thar ain't no prairie beaver as kin knock me down +an' <i>keep</i> me thar! Stan' up like a man, ye polecat! An' I kin lick +<i>you</i>, too!" he yelled, as Tom avoided his sweeping arm and hastened +toward the door. "Better run! Better run! Git 'im Enoch, ye fool!"</p> + +<p>Tom did not reach the front door, for with astonishing speed and agility +for one so far in his cups Enoch, taking up the quarrel of his friend, +whom he presently would be fighting, leaped from the table, vaulted over +a chair, and by some miracle of drunken equilibrium landed on his feet +with his back to the door and swung both fists at the surprised +plainsman. Tom's eyes glinted, and then twinkled. He had few better +friends than these two quarrelsome traders and, stepping back, he leaped +over the prostrate and anything but silent Alonzo and darted out through +the back door, laughing at the furious squabbling he left behind. +Reaching the corner of the building, he fell into his habitual softness +of tread and slipped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> along the rear of the shacks on a direct course +for the place where his and Cooper's merchandise was stored. +Schoolcraft's corral loomed up in front of him and he skirted it +silently. He almost had reached its far corner when a Mexican's voice, +raised in altercation inside the inclosure, caught his ear and checked +him, balanced on one foot.</p> + +<p>"For why he do eet?" demanded the Mexican, excitedly. "I tol' heem that +he mus' leeve Tomaz tr-rade goods by themselves. He ees goin' to Santa +Fe weethout for-rce; an' now eet ees all spoil! For what he do eet? Bah! +For hees revenge he say. What ees hees revenge like Armijo's?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, shut yer mouth an' stop yer yowlin'," growled a gruff voice. "Eph +allus knows what he's a-doin'."</p> + +<p>The poised listener outside the corral paused to hear no more but was +off like a shadow, his stride a long, swinging lope, for he was too wise +to dash at full speed and waste fighting breath for the sake of gaining +a few seconds. He made his devious way across a plain studded with +wagons, piles of freight and heaps of débris, and before he reached his +objective the sounds of conflict singled it out for him had he been in +any doubt.</p> + +<p>The open wagon-shed loomed suddenly before him and he made out a +struggling mass on the ground before it, his partner's grunted curses +and the growls of Cooper's wagoner saving them from his attack. He went +into the mass feet first, landing with all his weight and the momentum +of his run on a crouched man whose upraised arm was only waiting for a +sure opening. The knife user grunted as he went down, and his head +struck the edge of a wagon-wheel with such force that he no longer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> was +a combatant. Tom had fallen to his knees after his catapulting impact +and when he arose he held a squirming halfbreed over his head at the +height of his upraised arms. One heave of his powerful body and the +human missile flew through the air and struck two of the halfreed's +friends as they sprang to their feet in sudden alarm. They went down +like tenpins and before they could gain their feet again Tom dropped on +one of them, his knees squarely in the pit of the man's stomach, his +right hand on the throat of the other, while his left gripped his +adversary's knife hand and bent it steadily and inexorably back toward +the wrist.</p> + +<p>"Th' little bobcat's j'ined us," panted Hank, crawling onto the man he +now rolled under him. "Tom Boyd, Armijo's pet, with his fangs bared an' +his claws out. Take <i>this</i>, you——!" he grunted as his shoulder set +itself behind the smashing blow. "How ye makin' out with yer friend, +Abe?" he asked of the other rolling pair.</p> + +<p>It seemed that Abe was not making out according to Hank's +specifications, so he crawled over to help him, and reached out a hand. +It fastened onto a skinny neck and clamped shut, whereupon Abe rolled +victoriously free and paused to glower at his victim. His surprise, +while genuine, was of short duration, and he shook his head at the +cheerful Hank and then pounced onto the man who had been used as a +missile, and pinned him to the ground. In a few moments the fight was +over, and the victors grinned sheepishly at each other in the +semi-darkness and re-arranged various parts of their clothing.</p> + +<p>"I saw somethin' smash inter th' waggin wheel an'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> sorta reckoned you +war some'rs 'round," panted Hank. "Then I saw somethin' else sail inter +th' air an' knock over two o' th' thieves. Then I knowed ye war hyar. Me +an' Abe war doin' our best, but we war beginnin' ter slip, like fur at +th' end o' winter."</p> + +<p>"Ye mebbe war sheddin' a little," laughed Tom, "but you'd 'a' shed them +thieves afore ye petered out. Tell me about it."</p> + +<p>"Thar ain't nothin' ter tell," replied Hank. "I'm nat'rally suspicious +by bein' up in th' Crow country so much o' my time, an' I got ter +thinkin' 'bout Schoolcraft. I'm mostly stronger on hindsight than I am +on foresight, but this hyar's onct I sorta lined 'em both up an' got a +good bead. I snuk up ter his shanty an' heard him an' that thar greaser +chawin' tough meat with each other. So I come down hyar, expectin' ter +lay fer 'em with Abe; but danged if him an' them warn't at it already! I +only got two feet, two han's an' one mouth, an' I had ter waste one foot +a-standin' on it; but th' rest o' me jined th' dance. Then you come. +That's all."</p> + +<p>"How long war you two holdin' off th' six o' 'em?" demanded Tom of Abe +with great interest, and thinking that Cooper's trust was well placed.</p> + +<p>"'Twarn't long; two comets an' about six hundred stars, I reckon," +mumbled the shrinking hero between swollen lips. "I war jest gittin' mad +enough to go fur my knife when Hank gits in step with th' music, an' +jines han's with us. What we goin' ter do with 'em?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, give 'em a kick apiece an' turn 'em loose without thar weapons," +suggested Hank.</p> + +<p>Tom shook his head. "They come from Schoolcraft; let's take 'em back to +him," he suggested.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Go ahead!" enthused Abe. Then he scratched his head. "But who's goin' +ter watch th' goods while we're gone? Jake ain't due fer couple o' hours +yet."</p> + +<p>"You air!" snorted Hank. "You need a rest, an' us two is shore enough." +He prodded the figures on the ground with the toe of his moccasin. "Git +up, you squaw dogs!" he ordered.</p> + +<p>In a moment five thoroughly cowed men were plodding before their guards. +The sixth, who was still wandering about on the far side of the boundary +of consciousness, was across Tom's shoulder. Reaching the horse-dealer's +shanty, the prisoners opened the door by the simple expedient of surging +against it as they shrunk from the pricks of Hank's skinning knife. The +two men inside escaped the crashing door by vaulting over a small table, +and before they could recover their wits in the face of this amazing +return of their friends they were looking down the barrels of two +six-shooters.</p> + +<p>Tom dumped his burden onto the table, kicked a chair through a closed +window, swept an open ink bottle onto Schoolcraft's manly stomach, and +made a horrible face at the pop-eyed Mexican. "Hyar they air, polecat," +he growled. "Any more raids on our goods an' I trail ye an' shoot on +sight. Don't give a cuss who does it, or why; <i>I'll git you</i>. If I miss, +Hank won't; an' we both got good friends. Come on, Hank, it stinks in +here."</p> + +<p>Tom turned and stalked out, but not so Hank. He backed out behind his +newfangled weapon, pleasantly thinking of its six ready shots, slid +along the outside of the shack and then waited with great hope for a +head to pop out of the door. Having had no chance to try out the Colt he +was curious regarding its accuracy. No<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> head popped, however, and after +a moment he sighed, slipped along the corral wall and crossed the street +when far enough away to be covered by the darkness. Hank had no faith in +hostile humans and did not believe in showing off. The thieving, +treacherous Crows agreed that the brave who took Hank Marshall's scalp +would be entitled to high honors; with the mournful reflection that by +the time it was taken, if ever, the tribe would have paid a very high +price for it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE CARAVAN<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + + +<p>At last came the day, and the dawn of it showed a cloudless sky, a +sleeping town and a little caravan winding, with rattle of chains and +squeak of harness, past the silent, straggling houses, bound westward +for the "prairie ocean." Despite the mud and the slowness of the going +high spirits ruled the little train. Youth was about to do and dare, +eager for the gamble with fate; and age looked forward to the lure of +the well-known trail even as it looked backward in memory for faces and +experiences of the years gone by. The occasion was auspicious, for the +start was prompt to the minute and earlier than any they would make +later. They were on the luxuriant and better wooded eastern rim of the +great plains, and would be on it for several days.</p> + +<p>Joe Cooper, driving the small wagon with Patience seated at his side, +led the way, eager and exultant. Following him closely came his two +great Pittsburg wagons with their still spotless new sheets, each loaded +with nearly three tons of selected merchandise, their immense wheels +grumbling a little as they slid a fraction of an inch along their +well-greased axles, their broad, new tires squashing out twin canyons in +the mud. Next came two emigrant wagons, their proprietors fearing that +they would not reach the Oregon-bound train at its rendezvous in time to +leave with it. Under their stained and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> patched canvases two women slept +as though in a steady bed, their children at their sides. Weeks of this +traveling had given to them the boon of being able to fall asleep almost +at will. Then came Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, sober and gay, +abusing each other humorously, each in his own wagon, handling their +strung-out teams with nonchalant ease. Close to the rear of the last +wagon came the eight mules of Tom Boyd and Hank Marshall, four to a +string, followed by their horse-mounted owners; and behind them were Jim +Ogden and Zeb Houghton, each driving two mules before them.</p> + +<p>The road was in execrable condition, its deep ruts masked by a mud as +miry as it appeared to be bottomless, and several times the great wagons +were mired so hard and fast that it took the great ox teams of Alonzo +and Enoch, hooked on in addition to the original mule teams, to pull +them out; and the emigrant wagons, drawn by over-worked oxen, gave +nearly as much trouble. The story of their progress to Council Grove +would be tiring, since it would be but little more than a recital of the +same things over and over again—the problems presented by the roads.</p> + +<p>At Round Grove they said good-bye to the emigrants, who joined the rear +guard of their own caravan at this point. Along the so-called Narrows, +the little ridge forming the watershed between the Kansas and Osage +rivers, for a stretch extending quite some distance westward from Round +Grove, the roads were hardly more than a series of mudholes filmed over +and masked by apparently firm ground. In some of these treacherous traps +the wagons often sank to the hubs, and on two occasions the bottom of +the wagon-box rested on the mud.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> It was hopeless to try to pull them +out with the animals so deep in mud, and only by finding more firm +ground along the side of the trail, the use of long chains and the aid +of every draft animal in the train were the huge wagons dragged out. The +men themselves waded into the traps, buried at times almost to the +waist, and put their shoulders to wheels and wagon-boxes and pushed and +heaved and floundered; and they kept their spirits high despite the +penetrating cold of the mire. Under these conditions stops were frequent +to rest both teams and men, the "noonings" were prolonged, camp made +earlier in the evening than was usual and left later in the morning. The +tally of miles was disheartening, and to make matters worse a heavy +downpour of chilling rain fell half a day before they reached 110 Mile +Creek which, besides making everyone miserable and spoiling the cooking, +swelled the stream so much that it was crossed only with the greatest +difficulty.</p> + +<p>One of the few things they were grateful for was the fact that they did +not have to keep regular guard watches at night, for while the Kaws and +Osages might steal an animal or two in hope of receiving a little +whiskey, powder, or tobacco for its return, there was no danger of +wholesale stampeding, and a man or two was sufficient to watch the camp.</p> + +<p>One pleasant incident occurred when they pulled in sight of Switzler's +Creek, where they found another section of the caravan in camp. The +augmented train now numbered about twenty-six wagons and formed a rear +guard worthy of the name. The weather had cleared again and the sun +shone brightly all the way to Council Grove. To offset the pleasant +effect of joining the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> train, it was at Switzler's Creek that a +hard-pushed mule train overtook them. With it came the little Mexican +and half a dozen of his compatriots, and several of Ephriam +Schoolcraft's chosen bullies. At their appearance Hank Marshall found a +new interest in life, and there was very little occurring in the new +mule train that he missed. His habits now became a little similar to +those of the cat tribe, for he resorted to his old trick of dozing while +riding, catching naps at the noonings, before dark and after dawn. With +him awake at night and Tom awake during the day, and with Jim Ogden's +and Zeb Houghton's nocturnal prowlings thrown in the balance, it looked +as though Hank's remark about "nobody ketchin' these beavers asleep" +would be fully justified.</p> + +<p>Council Grove was reached one noon, and they learned that they would +have plenty of time to do the many little things neglected on the way, +for they would stay here two days. This was welcome news, as it gave +them an opportunity to let the draft animals rest and feed well in +preparation for the long prairie haul ahead.</p> + +<p>Council Grove of the caravan days is worthy of notice. It was the +meeting place as well as the council place for those who were to cross +the prairies together. To it ran the feeding roads, gradually growing as +strands feed a rope, the loose and frayed ends starting from the +Missouri River points and converging as they neared the grove. Named +from a council and a treaty which took place there between a government +commission sent out to survey a wagon road to the Arkansas River, and a +tribe of Osages, in which safety for the traders was obtained from these +savages, it was doubly well named because of the yearly councils which +were held between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> the traders themselves to perfect the organization of +the caravan.</p> + +<p>The grove itself, of oak, ash, hickory, elm, and many other kinds of +trees, was about half a mile wide and extended along the sides of the +little valley of Council Grove Creek, a large tributary of the Neosho +River. With its dense timber, its rich bottom pastures, and fine, high +prairies it made an ideal spot for a rendezvous; and it was about the +last of the really fine and productive country seen from Independence. +Here were hard woods in plenty, the last to be found on the long trip, +from which to obtain replacements for broken axles and other wagon +parts. This also was the farthest point reached by the trains without +real organization, for from here on every important movement was +officially ordered.</p> + +<p>Scattered about the beautiful, green little valley were wagons great and +small, and piles of mule packs, each camp somewhat by itself. There was +much calling and getting acquainted, fun and frolic, much hewing of +trees, mending of gear, and, in general, busy preparation for the +journey over the land of the short buffalo grass. Tenderfeet wasted +their time and ammunition at target practice or in hunting for small +game, and loafed to their hearts' content; but the experienced traveler +put off his loafing and play until he knew that he had done everything +there was to be done. There were horse races and mule races and even +ox-team races; tugs of war, running, jumping, and, in fact, everything +anyone could think of to help pass the time.</p> + +<p>After a good night's sleep the Cooper party found there was little to do +except to get timber for "spares," and notwithstanding that a spare axle +was slung from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> under each of the huge freighters, Uncle Joe insisted +that each wagon carry another, and he personally superintended the +cutting. They had been obtained and slung in place beside the others +when a bugle was heard and criers passed among the little camps calling +everyone for roll call. Nearly two hundred persons answered, all but one +of them being men, and then the electioneering began for the choice of +captain. To be a success a caravan must have one head, and the more +experienced he was the better it would be for the caravan.</p> + +<p>Now came the real excitement of the day, for party spirit was strong and +insistent, and the electioneering was carried on with such gusto that +several fights grew out of it. There were four parties at first, among +which was Mike Wardell's, comprising the rougher, more lawless frontier +element. He was a close friend of Ephriam Schoolcraft and he had his +admirers outside of his own class, for a group of tenderfeet which was +impressed by his swaggering, devil-may-care manners backed him in a +body; and another group which was solidly behind him was composed of the +poorer Mexican traders. The second of the larger parties with a +candidate in the field, who had been nominated by a series of caucuses, +was made up of the more experienced and more responsible traders, +veterans of the trail who put safety and order above all other +considerations. This party nominated Zachary Woodson, who had more +wagons in the caravan than any other one man, therefore having more at +stake, and who had not missed his round trip over the route for a dozen +years. His nomination split the Mexicans, for half of them had wagons +and valuable freights, and were in favor of the best leadership.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>At first Woodson flatly refused to run, sneeringly reminding his friends +of the lack of cooperation he could expect from the very men who needed +law and order and leadership most. He knew by bitter experience that the +captain of a Santa Fe caravan had no real authority and that his orders +were looked upon as mere requests, to be obeyed or not, as the mood +suited. He was obdurate in his refusal until a split occurred in the +other strong party and resulted in a disgraceful fight among its +members, which was kept from having disastrous results only by the +determined interposition of the more resolute members of his own party. +This caused the two smaller factions to abandon their own candidates and +throw themselves against Wardell, and resulted in the overwhelming +election of the man best suited for the position.</p> + +<p>His first act after grudgingly accepting the thankless leadership was to +ask for a list of the men, wagons, and pack animals, and he so +engineered the division of them that each section had as its lieutenant +a man whom he could trust and who did not lack in physical courage so +much needed to get some kind of order and to keep it. The great train +was divided into four divisions, at the present to join so as to march +in two columns; but later to spread out and travel in divisional order +of four straight columns abreast, far enough apart so that the width of +the whole front roughly would equal the length of a column.</p> + +<p>Next came the arrangement of the watches, the most cordially hated of +all caravan duties. In this train of nearly ninety wagons there were +nearly one hundred and eighty men physically able to stand a guard, and +no one who was able to stand his trick was let off. The captain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +preferred the regular and generally accepted system of two watches, each +of four squads, which put one squad on duty for three hours each +alternate night; but there were so many men for this disagreeable task +that he allowed himself to be over-ruled and consented to a three watch +system, six squads to the watch, which put one watch of nine men and a +corporal on duty for two hours every third night. Almost any concession +was worth making if it would arouse a little interest and a sense of +duty in this very important matter of guarding the camp. The corporal of +each squad arranged to shift up one tour each time their squad went on, +which would give no one squad the same hours for its successive tours of +duty. Nothing could have been fairer than this, but there were objectors +in plenty. Each one of the kickers had his own, perfect plan. Some +wanted smaller squads with the same number of watches so that each tour +of duty would be less; some wanted two watches and smaller squads, to +the same end, both of which would have caused endless changing of the +guard, endless awakenings all night long, with practically continuous +noise and confusion. Captain Woodson, having abandoned the regular and +tried system so as to let the men feel a sense of cooperation, flatly +refused to allow any further changes, and in consequence earned the +smoldering grudges of no small number, which would persist until the end +of the trail and provide an undercurrent of dissatisfaction quick to +seize on any pretext to make trouble.</p> + +<p>For the division officers he chose the four men he had in mind, after +over-ruling a demand for a vote on them. As long as he was responsible +for the safety of the caravan he declared that it was his right to +appoint lieuten<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>ants whom he knew and could trust. The bickering had +fresh fuel and continued strong all day, and it would last out the +journey.</p> + +<p>Arranging the divisions so far as possible to put friends together, with +the exception of some of the tenderfoot parties, they were numbered, +from left to right, as they would travel, and he was careful to put the +more experienced plainsmen on the two outside ranks and, where possible, +the better drivers in the two inner columns. These latter had a little +more complex course to follow in case of sudden need to corral the +caravan. For corralling while traveling in two columns, he instructed +the drivers to follow the wagon ahead and to stop when his own wagon +tongue came even with the rim of the rear wheel of the wagon he was +following. In case of corralling in face of danger, they were to swing +their teams to the inside of the leading wagon, so as to have all the +animals on the inside of the corral; in ordinary camping they were to +swing their teams in the other direction, so the animals would be ready +to graze outside of the corralled wagons. They were to pay no attention +to direction or to sudden inspirations, but were blindly to follow the +wagon in front of them and to close up the gaps. The leading driver of +each column would set the curving track which would bring the wagons +into a great ellipse or a circle while moving in the two column +formation.</p> + +<p>The first and fourth columns were commanded by Jim Ogden and Tom Boyd, +while the two inner columns were under a trader named Haviland and a +sullen, mean-tempered trader of Independence and a warm friend of +Schoolcraft. His name was Franklin, and while his personal attributes +were unpleasant and he was a leader of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> the Schoolcraft element, he was +a first class caravan man and had proved his coolness and +resourcefulness in many a tight place. His appointment also served in a +measure to placate the rebellious element, which nursed the thought that +it could do about as it pleased in its own column. Whether they were +right or wrong in this remained to be seen. While the two column +formation was in use the first and second divisions made up one of them; +the third and fourth, the other. To Tom's delight he found that the +Cooper wagons had been assigned to his own division; but as an offset to +this two wagons belonging to gallivanting tenderfeet had been placed +directly behind them. It was not pleasant to think of these dandified +city sports being so close to Patience Cooper all the way to Santa Fe. +Like many men in love, he was prone to discount the intelligence and +affections of the loved one and to let his fears threaten his common +sense.</p> + +<p>The first great watch went on duty at seven o'clock that night, more for +the purpose of breaking the men in to their work than for any need of +defense, for no Indian troubles, despite the rumors afloat in +Independence, were to be looked for so far east. There was a great deal +of joking and needless challenging that night and very little attempt to +follow instructions. An Indian likes nothing better than a noisy, +standing sentry; but this savage preference hardly would be shown in the +vicinity of Council Grove. Woodson knew that discipline could not be +obtained and that every man would do as he pleased until the encampment +received a good scare, but his own sense of responsibility impelled him +to make an effort to get it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next day was passed in resting, in placing the wagons in their order +of march, and in drilling the drivers in caravan tactics; and that night +the guard was as noisy as it had been the night before. The squad which +went on duty at one o'clock contained two tenderfeet and between them +they succeeded in shattering the monotony.</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour after the guard had been changed tenderfoot Number +One thought he heard a sound and saw a movement. He promptly challenged +and fired in the same instant. His weapon was a double-barreled fowling +piece charged with buckshot, and there was no doubt about the deadly +efficiency of such a combination when the corporal found the carcass of +a mule with a hole in it nearly as big as a hat. The camp was thrown +into an uproar, guns flashed from the wagons to the imminent peril of +the rest of the sentries, and only the timely and rough interference of +a cool-headed trapper kept the two four-pounders from being fired. They +were loaded with musket balls and pebbles and trained on three wagons +not fifty yards from them. Orders, counter orders, suggestions, shouts +for balls, powder, flints, caps, patches, ramrods, and for about +everything human minds could think of kept the encampment in a +pandemonium until sense was driven into the panicky men and the camp +allowed to resume its silence.</p> + +<p>Tenderfoot Number Two heard and saw an Indian approaching him and fired +his pistol at the savage. This took place near the end of the same guard +tour. Only his fright and the poor light which made his wobbling aim all +the more uncertain saved the life of his best friend who, restless and +lonely, was going out to share the remainder of the watch with him. +Again pande<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>monium reigned and weapons exploded, but this time the +cattle stampeded in the darkness, doing the best they could with their +handicap of hobbles.</p> + +<p>At dawn the caravan was astir, the blast from the bugle not needed this +time, for almost every man had animals to hunt for and drive in, and as +a result of this breakfasts were late and the whole day's operations +were thrown out of step. Finally after all the stampeded animals had +been rounded up and the morning meal was out of the way, and things done +at the last minute which should have been done the day before, +preparations were started to get under way. Mules and horses broke loose +and had to be chased and brought back; animals balked and kicked and +helped to turn the camp into a scene of noisy confusion. Several parties +found that they had neglected to cut spare axles and forthwith sallied +off to get them. Others frantically looked for articles they had +misplaced or loaned, one wagon being entirely unpacked to find a coffee +pot and a frying pan which someone else later discovered at the edge of +the creek where they had been dropped after they had been washed, their +owner having left them to get a shot at a squirrel he thought he saw. +The forehanded and wiser members of the caravan took advantage of the +delay and turmoil to cut an extra supply of firewood against a future +need, add to their store of picket stakes and also to fill their water +casks to keep them swelled tight beyond question, against the time when +the much dreaded dry stretch should be reached.</p> + +<p>At last from the captain's camp the well-known summons of "Catch up!" +was heard, and passed on from group to group along the creek. Those who +had not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> yet hitched up their teams, almost at every case old hands at +the game who were wise enough to let their animals graze until the last +minute, now exultantly drove in their teams and filled the little valley +with the rattle of chains, the clicking of yokes, the braying of +indignant mules, and their own vociferations. Soon a teamster yelled +"All's set!" and answering shouts rolled up and down the divisions. At +the shouted command of "Stretch out!" whips cracked, harness creaked, +chains rattled and wagons squeaked as the shouting drivers straightened +out their teams. "Fall in!" came next, and the teams were urged into the +agreed-upon order, the noses of the leaders of one team close to the +tailboard of the wagon ahead. The second and third divisions, falling in +behind the first and fourth, made two strings rolling up the long +western slope of the valley toward the high prairie at its crest.</p> + +<p>Songs, jokes, exultant shouts ran along the trains as the valley was +left behind, for now the caravan truly was embarked on the journey, and +every mile covered put civilization that much farther in the rear. +Straight ahead lay the trail, beaten into a plain, broad track leading +toward the sunset, a mark which could not be mistaken and which rendered +the many compasses valueless so far as the trail itself was concerned.</p> + +<p>The first day's travel was a comparatively short one, and during the +drive the officers rode back along the lines and again explained the +formation which would be used at the next stopping place. This point was +so near that the caravan kept on past the noon hour and did not stop +until it reached Diamond Spring, a large, crystal spring emptying into a +small brook close to a very good camping ground. The former camp no +sooner had been left<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> than the tenderfeet began to show their +predilection to do as they pleased and to ride madly over the prairie in +search of game which was not there, finally gravitating to a common body +a mile or more ahead of the wagons, a place to which they stuck with a +determination worthy of better things.</p> + +<p>At Diamond Spring came the first clash against authority, for the +captain had told each lieutenant to get his division across all streams +before stopping. The word had been passed along the twin lines and +seemed to have been tacitly accepted, yet when the wagons reached the +brook many of the last two divisions, thinking the farther bank too +crowded and ignoring the formation of the night encampment, pulled up +and stopped on the near side. After some argument most of them crossed +over and took up their proper places in the corral, but there were some +who expressed themselves as being entirely satisfied to remain where +they were, since there was no danger from Indians at this point. The +animals were turned loose to graze, restrained only by hobbles until +nightfall, the oxen in most cases yoked together to save trouble with +the stubborn beasts until they should become trained and more docile. +They were the most senseless of the draft animals, often stampeding for +no apparent cause; the sudden rattle of a chain or a yoke often being +all that was needed to turn them into a fleshy avalanche; and while the +Indians did not want oxen, they seemed to be aware of the excitable +natures of the beasts and made use of their knowledge to start stampedes +among the other animals with them, much the same as fulminate of mercury +is used to detonate a charge of a more stable explosive.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>The first two watches of the night were pleasant, but when Tom Boyd's +squad went on duty an hour before midnight there was a change in the +weather, and before half an hour had passed the rain fell in sheets and +sent some of the guards to seek shelter in the wagons. Two of them were +tenderfeet, one of Schoolcraft's friends and a trader. Tom was the +so-called corporal of this watch and he was standing his trick as +vigilantly as if they were in the heart of the Kiowa or Comanche +country. He carefully had instructed his men and had posted them in the +best places, and he knew where each of them should be found. After half +an hour of the downpour he made the rounds, called the roll and then +slipped back into the encampment in search of the missing men. Not +knowing them well enough at this time he did not know the wagons to +which they belonged, and he had to wait until later to hunt them out.</p> + +<p>Dawn found a wet and dispirited camp as the last guard returned to the +wagons an hour before they should have left their posts. Not a fire +would burn properly and not a breakfast was thoroughly cooked. Everyone +seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, and the animals were mean and +rebellious when driven in for the hobbles to be removed and picket ropes +substituted to hold them. Breakfast at last over, the caravan was about +to start when Tom went along his own division and called four men +together.</p> + +<p>"Last night you fellers quit yer posts an' slunk back ter yer wagons," +he said, ominously. "Two of ye air tenderfeet, an' green ter this life; +one is a trader an' th' other is an old hand on th' trail. You all ought +ter know better. I'm lettin' ye off easy <i>this</i> time, but th'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> next man +that breaks guard is goin' ter git a cussed fine lickin'. If it's +necessary I'll make an invalid out o' any man in my squad that sneaks +off his post. Git back ter yer wagons, an' don't fergit what I've said."</p> + +<p>The tenderfeet were pugnacious, but doubtful of their ground; the trader +was abashed by the keen knowledge of his guilt and the enormity of his +offense. He was a just man and had no retort to make. The teamster, a +bully and a rough, with a reputation to maintain, scowled around the +closely packed circle, looking for sympathy, and found plenty of it +because the crowd was anxious to see the corporal, as personifying +authority, soundly thrashed. They felt that no one had any right to +expect a man to stand guard in such a rain out in the cheerless dark for +two hours, especially when it was admitted that there was no danger to +be feared. Finding encouragement to justify his attitude, and eager to +wipe out the sting of the lecture, the bully grinned nastily and took a +step forward.</p> + +<p>"Reg'lar pit-cock, ain't ye?" he sneered. "High an' mighty with yer +mouth, ain't ye? Goin' ter boss things right up ter th' hilt, <i>you</i> air! +Wall, ye—I'm wettin' yer primin', hyar an'——"</p> + +<p>Tom stopped the words with a left on the mouth, and while the fight +lasted it was fast and furious; but clumsy brute strength, misdirected +by a blind rage, could not cope with a greater strength, trained, agile, +and cool; neither could a liquor soaked carcass for long take the heavy +punishment that Tom methodically was giving it and come back for more. +As the bullwhacker went down in the mud for the fifth time, there was a +finality about the fall that caused his conqueror to wheel abruptly +from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> him and face the ring of eager and disappointed faces.</p> + +<p>"I warn't too busy ter hear some o' th' remarks," he snarled. "Now's th' +time ter back 'em up! If ye don't it makes a double liar out o' ye! Come +on—step out, an' git it over quick!" He glanced at the two pugnacious +tenderfeet. "You two make about one man, th' way we rate 'em out hyar; +come on, both o' ye!"</p> + +<p>While they hesitated, Captain Woodson pushed through the crowd into the +ring, closely followed by Tom's grim and silent friends, and a slender +Mexican, the latter obviously solicitous about Tom's welfare. In a few +moments the excitement died down and the crowd dispersed to its various +wagons and pack animals. As Tom went toward his mules he saw Franklin, +the tough officer of the third division, facing a small group of his own +friends, and suddenly placing his hand against the face of one of them, +pushed the man off his balance.</p> + +<p>"I'll cut yer spurs," Franklin declared. "Fust man sneaks off guard in +<i>my</i> gang will wish ter G-d he didn't!" He turned away and met Tom face +to face. "We'll larn 'em, Boyd," he growled. "I'm aimin' ter bust th' +back o' th' first kiyote of <i>my</i> gang that leaves his post unwatched. If +one o' them gits laid up fer th' rest o' th' trip th' others'll stand +ter it, rain or no rain. Ye should 'a' kicked in his ribs while ye had +'im down!"</p> + +<p>After a confused and dilatory start the two trains strung out over the +prairie and went on again; but the rebellious wagon-owners on the east +side of the creek were not with the caravan. They were learning their +lesson.</p> + +<p>The heavy rain had swollen the waters of the stream, stirred up its soft +bed and turned its banks into treacher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>ous inclines slippery with mud. +When the mean-spirited teams had been hooked to the wagons and sullenly +obeyed the commands to move, they balked in mid-stream and would not +cross it in their "cold collars;" and there they remained, halfway over. +In vain the drivers shouted and swore and whipped; in vain they pleaded +and in vain they called for help. The main part of the caravan, for once +united in spirit, perhaps because it was a mean one, went on without +them, knowing that the recalcitrant rear guard was in no danger; the +sullen spirit of meanness in every heart rejoicing in the lesson being +learned by their stubborn fellow travelers. The captain would have held +up the whole train to give necessary assistance to any unfortunate +wagoner; but there was no necessary assistance required here, for they +could extricate themselves if they went about it right; and there was a +much-needed lesson to be assimilated. Their predicament secretly pleased +every member of the main body, which was somewhat humorous, when it is +considered that the great majority of the men in the main body had no +scruples against disobeying any order that did not suit their mood.</p> + +<p>Finally, enraged by being left behind, the stubborn wagoners remembered +one of the reasons advanced by the captain the day before when he had +urged them to cross over and complete the corral. He had spoken of the +difficulty of getting the animals to attempt a hard pull in "cold +collars," when they would do the work without pausing while they were +"warmed up." So after considerable eloquence and persistent urging had +availed them naught, the disgruntled wagoners jumped into the cold +water, waded to the head of the teams and, turning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> them around, got +them back onto the bank they had left after vainly trying to lead them +across. Once out of the creek, the teams were driven over a circle a +mile in circumference to get their "collars warm." Approaching the creek +at a good pace, the teams crossed it without pausing and slipped and +floundered up the muddy bank at the imminent risk of overturning the +wagons. Reaching the top, they started after the plodding caravan and in +due time overtook it and found their allotted places in the lines, to +some little sarcastic laughter. Never after that did those wagoners +refuse to cross any stream at camp time, while their teams were warmed +up and willing to pull; but instead of giving the captain any credit for +his urging and his arguments, wasted the day before, they blamed him for +going on without them, and nursed a grudge against him and his officers +that showed itself at times until the end of the long journey. They +would not let themselves believe that he would have refused really to +desert them.</p> + +<p>The caravan made only fifteen miles and camped on a rise of the open +prairie, where practice was obtained in forming a circular corral, with +the two cannons on the crest of the rise. The evolution was performed +with snap and precision, the sun having appeared in mid-forenoon and +restored the sullen spirits to natural buoyancy. The first squad of the +watch went on duty with military promptness, much to the surprise of the +more experienced travelers. Here for the first time was adopted a system +of grazing which was a hobby with the captain, who believed that hobbled +animals wasted too much time in picking and choosing the best grass and +in wandering around. He maintained that picketed animals would eat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> more +in the same time, and so each wagoner was given a stretch of prairie as +wide as the space occupied by his wagon and reaching out about one +hundred yards, fan-wise, from the corral. Picket ropes of from twenty to +thirty feet in length let each animal of his team graze over a circle of +that radius, the center being a stake of hardwood two inches thick and +about two feet long. Some of the pickets were pointed with iron and had +a band of the same metal shrunk around the upper and near the top to +keep them from splitting under repeated axe blows. Many of the others +had their points hardened by fire, and a pointed hickory or ash picket +so treated will stand a lot of abuse. Before dark the pickets were +shifted to new places and the animals left to graze all night, for +Indian visits still were a matter of the future.</p> + +<p>After they had finished their supper and washed and put away the few +utensils, Tom as usual drifted off to spend an hour or two with Uncle +Joe and Patience. He had not been gone long before Hank got up to loosen +a pack to get a fresh plug of smoking tobacco, and caught sight of +Pedro, the Mexican, sauntering toward him. The visitor grinned +cheerfully and sat down by the dying fire, acting as though he had every +reason to be accorded a cordial welcome.</p> + +<p>"Hah!" exclaimed the self-invited guest in rare good humor. "Eet ess +good to get out on thee gr-reat pr-rairie; but eet would haf been better +eef we had went weeth thee fir-rst tr-rain. Weeth that tr-rain was thee +tr-roops. We would be better pr-rotect."</p> + +<p>Hank was undecided whether he should turn his back on the visitor and +walk away, or grab him by the collar and the slack of his trousers and +throw him from the fire,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> when habitual cunning made him grunt his +endorsement of the other's remarks. He never was above acquiring what +information he could get, no matter how trivial it might be.</p> + +<p>"Yeah," he replied, passing the plug to his guest. "Fill yer pipe, or +make a cigarette," he invited. "Them danged settlements air all right +fer a change, but this hyar is a hull lot better; an' th' mountings air +better'n this. As fer th' dragoons with th' fust train, it's plumb +welcome to 'em. Thar more trouble than thar worth; an' they allus will +be till they larn ter fight Injuns in th' Injun way. Th' idear o' usin' +th' right hand fer a sword an' th' left fer a pistol! I'd ruther be with +a passel o' mounting boys, fur's fightin' Injuns air consarned. Anyhow, +jest when they git whar they're needed most, down on th' edge o' th' +Kiowa an' Comanche country, th' danged dragoons has ter stop."</p> + +<p>"But señor; they must not tr-read on Mexican soil," protested Pedro.</p> + +<p>Hank grinned and choked down the retort he was about to make, nodding +his head instead. "Shore; that's th' trouble. Now, if that danged +Governor o' yourn would meet th' train at Cimarron Crossin' an' go th' +rest o' th' way with it, thar'd be some sense ter troop escorts. Thar +ain't a sojer along th' worst stretch o' th' whole trail. I'll bet ye we +won't see hide ner hair o' 'em this side o' Cold Spring, when th' danger +from raidin' Injuns is 'most over."</p> + +<p>Pedro spread his hands helplessly. "That ees but too tr-rue, señor. +Theese time we weel not see thee br-rave tr-roops of Mexico befor-re we +r-reach thee Wagon Mound."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thar!" triumphantly exclaimed Hank. "What did I tell ye? They used ter +git as fur as Cold Spring, anyhow; but now thar waitin' at th' Wagon +Mound. Next thing we know they'll be waitin' at San Miguel fer ter see +us safe th' last fifty miles through th' settlements!"</p> + +<p>"Eet ees thee Apaches that ar-re to blame theese time," explained Pedro +with oily smoothness. "They ar-re ver' bad theese year along thee Rio +Gr-rande del Norte. Ver' bad!"</p> + +<p>"Yeah," grunted Hank, puffing reflectively on his pipe. "Mexico an' +Texas both claim all that country east o' th' Grande, but th' Apaches +shore own it, an' run it ter suit theirselves. Bad Injuns, they air."</p> + +<p>"Thee customs they ar-re ver' str-rict theese year," commented Pedro, +closely watching his companion. "They ar-re ver' har-rd on my poor +countrymen. They keep thee pr-rices so high on all theese goods."</p> + +<p>"Tarnation bother," grunted Hank, beginning to get the reason for the +Mexican's interest in him. "Too bad we don't know somebody that kin git +us past 'em," he suggested, hopefully.</p> + +<p>Pedro rubbed his hands complacently and helped to maintain a prolonged +silence; which at last was broken by small talk concerning the caravan +and its various members. After half an hour of this aimless conversation +he arose to leave.</p> + +<p>"Thee customs, as you haf so tr-ruly said, ar-re ver' gr-reat bother, +Señor Hank. I know thees ver' much, for I haf a br-rother in thee custom +house. We ar-re ver' close, my br-rother an' me. I weel see you again, +señor. Eet ees good that we get acquaint, weeth so ver' many <i>milla</i> yet +to tr-ravel together. <i>Buenos noches</i>, señor."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good night," replied Hank, carefully pulling the unburned wood out of +the fire to serve for the cooking of the breakfast. He glanced after the +dapper Mexican and grinned, re-roped the pack, and wandered off to join +his trapper friends at their fire.</p> + +<p>"Grease is slippery; an' so is greasers," he chuckled. "Wall, thar's +plenty o' time to figger <i>jest</i> what he's arter. Might be cheatin' th' +customs, an' then ag'in it might not."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p class='center'>EN ROUTE<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Tom's duties as a lieutenant were to supervise his column, ride ahead of +the train on lookout for possible obstructions or dangers, go on ahead +to creeks and see that the banks sloped enough to permit the wagons to +take them safely, to hunt out and bridge morasses and quagmires that +could not be avoided. If the banks were too steep he and others of the +caravan were to ride ahead with axes, shovels, and mattocks and cut a +sloping road through them; if a morass or a treacherous creek bed had to +be crossed they had to cut great numbers of saplings, branches, and +brush and build up a causeway of alternate layers of wood and dirt. This +would not take long and if properly done, every wagon could cross in +safety.</p> + +<p>The caravan in movement should have presented a formation of wagons in +orderly array, preceded by the captain and officers, flanked at a good +distance on both sides by well-armed riders, and followed by a fairly +strong rear-guard; but no such ideal formation could be maintained +except under the discipline of a military or paid force. The flankers +rode far and wide searching endlessly for game and usually wound up with +the advance guard, a mile or more ahead. The rear guard dwindled rapidly +and soon joined the others far in advance, leaving the crawling wagons +entirely unprotected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> from any sudden attack by Indians who might have +lain concealed in one of the numerous prairie hollows.</p> + +<p>There were four conditions every twenty-four hours especially liked by +the savages. One was during the night, between midnight and dawn; +another as the caravan got under way, when there was more or less +confusion and the wagons had broken the corral formation enough so it +could not be re-formed quickly; a third was during the day when every +man who did not have to drive was galivanting a mile or more away, +blazing at rattlesnakes or prairie dogs and making a fool of himself +generally, his thoughts on everything except the safety of the train he +had deserted; and the fourth was in the evening just as the animals were +being staked outside, when most of the men were busy with them and some +distance outside the wagon ramparts, many of the more careless being +unarmed. To offset these conditions so favorable to surprise attacks on +the caravan was one of the captain's most important duties, and the +urgent consideration of water and good grass many times complicated his +problems.</p> + +<p>Captain Woodson at one time had been a trapper, and his early +experiences with the fur expeditions here stood him in good stead, +especially his knowledge about Indians. He continually hammered at the +men to flank properly and to scour the country on each side of the +caravan for a mile or more and to investigate every hollow and rise +capable of hiding horses. Before he called the halt for the "noonings" +or the encampments in the evenings, he urged that the surrounding +country be well scouted over and everything suspicious reported. For the +crews of the two cannons, which had been changed the morning following +the narrowly averted calamity of a few days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> back, he had picked men who +appeared to be calm and resourceful, and these weapons trundled along on +their wheeled carriages in a strategic position, their crews ordered not +to leave them unattended at any time during the day's march—but who +cared for orders?</p> + +<p>The trail here being easy and plain, the banks of the streams cut by the +previous caravan, Tom dropped back after a brief exploration along the +flanks, which he made because the flankers would not, to join his +partner and their pack train, plodding along on the left-hand side of +Joe Cooper's wagons.</p> + +<p>Hank was a placid, easy-going individual and cared little whether or not +he had company. For the last few days he had been highly amused by +watching several pack animals owned and led by tenderfeet, who had +learned neither to follow them nor to load them right. These green +travelers were continually in trouble. If they were not arguing with +mules gone balky because of unevenly distributed loads, or chasing some +running and kicking animal that scattered the contents of its pack far +and wide over the plain, they were collecting their possessions +piece-meal from a score of acres of prairie and hurriedly re-packing +somewhere behind the caravan, cursing, perspiring, out of breath, and +murderously savage. Some of them re-packed more than a dozen times a day +and were hard put even to keep the caravan in sight. Their natural anger +at their misfortunes was turned into a simmering or a coruscating rage, +that ever and anon burst out with volcanic force as they realized the +utter hopelessness of their position. This was for the first few days, +for the wiser ones used their eyes and ears and mouths to good +advantage, and soon got the knack of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> packing; but there were some who +seemingly were too dumb to learn.</p> + +<p>Hank never obtruded any advice, but cheerfully explained the art of +packing to any man who sought him. He and his partner's animals never +shifted a pack on this smooth going, and this fact began to sink into +some of the tenderfeet, and they eagerly took lessons from the veteran. +It was not long before a spilled pack in that column of the train was an +uncommon occurrence. These eight mules behaved in an admirable manner +and there was a good reason for it. When they had been selected, only +those showing the unmistakable signs of the veteran pack mule were +chosen. The marks of the crupper, <i>aparejo</i> and girth never would +disappear. Tenderfeet scornfully would have passed them by and chosen +sleek, smooth-haired animals of far better appearance; but Hank and Tom +did not make this mistake, realizing that here, indeed, beauty was only +skin deep.</p> + +<p>Hank judged that it was about time to take full advantage of the mules' +early training and the results were regarded as downright miracles by +the greenhorns, who attempted to duplicate the system, but with +disastrous endings. One of the mules was an old mare, and her actions, +even in the corral at Independence, told Hank all about her. He now took +from a pack a bell and, riding up to the plodding, sedate pack animal, +fastened it around her neck. Then he tied her to the rear of the second +of Cooper's big wagons, until she should learn that this was to be her +place under all conditions, and dropped back farther and farther while +he watched the other seven. At the sound of the tinkling bell they had +pricked up their long ears and rolled them forward; a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> certain important +dignity came over each one and they went ahead with an air of +satisfaction that was so apparent that it was ludicrous. Hank grinned +and rode off to play rear guard all by himself, well knowing that his +seven animals would follow the old bell-mare wherever she led, whether +he was there or not. Later he rewarded her by changing her pack and +substituting that of the dwindling food supply, which grew lighter after +every camp. When he finally freed her from the wagon she moved up +alongside the off-wheel mule, for whom she seemed to have an abiding +affection, and from then on she would not stray from his side, nor her +seven followers from her.</p> + +<p>On this occasion when Tom returned and found his partner absent, he +surmised that the trapper was off looking for an antelope to vary the +monotony of their fare and to save their bacon and flour. Until the +buffalo country was reached the caravan had to live on flour, bacon, and +perhaps beans, of which each traveler had a limited supply. The chief +reliance for food was the buffalo, and their range was still well ahead. +Tom and Hank, however, not knowing what contingency awaited them on the +Mexican end of the trail, had far exceeded the regular allowance per +man, of fifty pounds of flour, same of bacon, dozen pounds of coffee, +twenty-five pounds of sugar, and a goodly amount of salt. Topping one of +the packs, and dwarfing the patient mule nearly hidden under the load, +were two ten-gallon water casks, each with a few quarts sloshing around +inside. At every stop these kegs were shifted a little so as to give +each portion of them a soaking in turn. The powder, two twenty-five +pound kegs covered with oiled cloth and over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> that with a heavy, greased +bull-buffalo leather, were in the same packs with the bar lead and a +reserve supply of caps and patches. The bullet molds, nipple wrenches, +and other small necessaries were carried in their "possible" sacks, each +being a beautifully beaded and quilled bag obtained in their trade with +the Indians. Along with the ammunition each had packed a buffalo-hide +bag, fitted with shoulder, breast, and head lines; and should it become +necessary for them to disappear, without a mule, they were equipped to +remain in the mountains and hills for a long time. Later on they would +pack the big bags and keep them ready for instant use.</p> + +<p>Tom found not only that his partner had gone, but that the city sports, +tiring of aimless riding ahead, had fallen back to the train and were +now riding leg to leg on both sides of Joe Cooper's small wagon, vying +with each other in their endeavors to be entertaining to Patience. They +were laughing uproariously when the plainsman appeared and one of them, +Dr. Whiting, acknowledged his introduction to Tom with an ironical grin. +Here, he thought, was a mountain yokel all ripe to play target for his +shafts of satire. He would shine out resplendently against this ignorant +plainsman and have a lot of fun in the bargain.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he exclaimed, his mouth open in pretended admiration. "Regular +Daniel Boone! I suppose you know how to bark squirrels; and barking +buffaloes must be an old trick with you by this time."</p> + +<p>Tom regarded him thoughtfully. He did not mind the words, but the tone +in which they were spoken was distinctly offensive. He smiled +pleasantly. "Thar ain't no squirrels ter bark on th' prairies; but thar +air some barkin' prairie dogs, though they mostly chatter 'stead o'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +bark. They set up an' make a lot o' noise, but don't amount to nothin'. +Th' funny part o' it is, th' dumber they air th' more they chatter. As +fer bein' Dan'l Boone, tenderfeet mostly find it a boon ter have a Dan'l +handy afore this air trail is left." He gravely acknowledged the +introduction to the others and looked at Patience again, and from her +back to the saddled horse tied to the rear of the wagon. "Feel like a +little ride, Miss Cooper" he asked. "Must be tirin' settin' up thar mile +arter mile listenin' to th' chatterin'."</p> + +<p>She nodded, holding back her laughter, and Tom led up the horse.</p> + +<p>"But, Miss Cooper!" expostulated the doctor. "What are we going to do +without you? We are desolate! Might I offer you a noble escort, six +trusty, knightly blades to flash in your defense?"</p> + +<p>She smiled sweetly but shook her head. "When we reach the Indian country +I will be very glad to accept such an escort; but out here I would not +think of imposing on your generosity. This seems to be Mr. Boyd's +expedition; perhaps he may invite you."</p> + +<p>Tom shook his head sadly. "Reckon I'll have all I kin do to look arter +Miss Cooper in case we meets airy Injuns, without botherin' with six +<i>flashes</i>. See you-all later, mebby."</p> + +<p>They drew rein and waited for the crawling column to pass them, smiling +and nodding in reply to the cheerful salutations of the wagoners and +traders. Pedro, the slender Mexican, who took such a deep interest in +the doings of Tom Boyd, removed his wide hat and bowed, in true cavalier +fashion, showing his gleaming teeth in a pearly smile. The interest the +plainsman was showing in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> his pretty companion was an assurance that Tom +Boyd would need no further persuasion to enter the Mexican settlements. +Franklin, the leader of the third division, temporarily the second +section of Tom's column, allowed himself the luxury of a sullen smile. +He knew his part in the scheme of Pedro and Schoolcraft perfectly and +had no thought of deviating from it, but he could not help admiring the +upstanding plainsman, who was a man after his own heart. They were bound +together by a common interest, the safety of the caravan, and until they +were met by the escort of Mexican cavalry, somewhere near Rock Creek or +the Canadian River, Franklin gave little heed to personal grudges. All +he was supposed to do was to see that the plainsman did not leave the +caravan for good before the escort met it.</p> + +<p>The two four-pounders trundled along their rumbling way, only one man to +each gun, the rest of their crews off with the advance guard. Tom +glanced at the all but deserted weapons and frowned. Franklin, noticing +it, frowned in reply. It was not because full cannon crews were needed +on this part of the trail, but because both men knew that it would be +the same all the way.</p> + +<p>After the last wagon had passed, Tom and his companion rode forth and +turned when half a mile from the column, riding ahead on a course +parallel with it. The prairie was studded with the earlier flowers of +spring, in some places a rich carpet of delicate colors. Suddenly Tom +pointed to a gray object nearly covered with earth, dried grass of the +year before, and the fresh greenery of this season's slender blades +pushing up through it.</p> + +<p>"Buffalo skull," he explained. "Let's look at it; it may tell us +something interesting."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>They rode close to it and the plainsman nodded in quick understanding.</p> + +<p>"That bull was killed by an Indian," he said. "Notice that it faces the +west? They place them that way to propitiate their gods. A skull hardly +lasts more than three years on the prairie, which means that this animal +was killed about that long ago. It is more than likely that he was an +old, renegade bull, wandering far from the herd to die alone. The +significant fact is, however, that not more than three years ago he +grazed here and was here killed by an Indian; coupled to that is another +significant fact, about one hundred thousand buffalo skins are taken to +the settlements every year. Remembering both those facts and adding +another, that it will be some days before we see even such a bull on the +very outskirts of the buffalo range, what does it mean? And here is a +fact I nearly overlooked; those hundred thousand skins taken each year +are from cow buffalo." He shook his head sadly. "The day of the buffalo, +countless as their numbers still are, is fast setting. Their range is +shrinking hour by hour, almost; and a comparatively few years more will +see them gone. Wait till you witness the brainless slaughter when the +herds are met with. Ah, well, we are a prodigal race, Miss Cooper, +spending our natural heritage with almost a drunken recklessness. If it +were drunken there might be found some excuse for us; but we are doing +it in our sober senses. Excuse me, when I get to thinking along those +lines I'm afraid I get a little fanatical. There's something more +interesting," he said, pointing to the north. "See it?"</p> + +<p>After a moment's intense scrutiny she shook her head, and looked up at +him inquiringly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I forget that you haven't a plainsman's eyes," he laughed, "accustomed +to focussing for long distances. Why, over there, well beyond that +series of flat-topped prairie swells, is a red handkerchief waving +lazily in the air. It is fastened to a ramrod, and I'm willing to bet +that it belongs to Hank Marshall. He has been grumbling about a steady +diet of bacon. Now that we are getting into antelope country, his +disappearance from his trained mules is easily explained. I can promise +you and Uncle Joe antelope meat tonight. He never would have planted +that flag if he hadn't seen his victim; and while we are a long way off, +let's ride on so he won't be able to blame us if he fails to get his +shot."</p> + +<p>Patience was laughing heartily, and hurriedly explained the cause of her +mirth.</p> + +<p>"I saw him tie the bell to that old mule's neck. The sudden pride she +showed, the quick alertness of the other seven, and the satisfaction +shared equally by the mules and your partner was one of the most +ludicrous sights I've ever seen. When Uncle Joe, who was in his best +vein, explained the whole affair, I laughed until I cried. Is it true +that the seven worshipers won't leave her?"</p> + +<p>Tom, laughing in sympathy with her mirth, nodded. "Picket her, with her +bell on, and we can let the others graze without hobbles or ropes. They +won't leave her. Don't ask me why, for if you do I can only answer by +saying that they have been trained that way; why it is possible for them +to be trained in such a way, and so easily, is beyond me. When we left +Independence Hank and I caught many a scornful glance directed at our +<i>atejo</i>, for I must confess that it was made up of eight scarecrows; but +handsome is as handsome does, and now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> our pack train troubles are +confined solely to packing and unpacking the animals. We don't even have +to remember what pack or <i>aparejo</i> belongs to each mule; they know their +own unerringly, and will shower kicks on any careless or stupid +companion who blunders up to the wrong pack. Perhaps you've heard that +mules are stupid; that's something that you can discount heavily. They +are stupid only when it serves their purpose." He laughed again. "We +have one mule that takes a thrashing every morning, regular as a clock. +Hank calls him 'Dummy,' but I am not sure that he is well named. I can't +decide whether he is dumb or perverse. But the fact remains that he +never selects his own pack, and gets kicked along the line until he +reaches it by elimination. I shall enjoy studying him as we go along."</p> + +<p>As they jogged on, a strip of timber running almost at right angles to +their course and thinning out to the north in about the same proportion +that it thickened to the south, came in sight and Tom knew it to be +Cottonwood Creek, and their last glimpse of the waters of the Neosho. He +well remembered the somewhat sharp bend formed by it on the farther +side, which was taken advantage of by some caravans and the corral +formation ignored. A line of closely spaced wagons across the neck of +the bend made corral enough.</p> + +<p>"Well, we better get back to the caravan," he said. "While the creek is +all right there are many who are only waiting for a chance to cry that +the officers are remiss in their duties. I'll leave you with your uncle, +well guarded by six trusty knights, and go ahead with the advance +guard."</p> + +<p>She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> the repression of +her smile did not seriously affect the witchery of the dimples.</p> + +<p>"I was a little afraid that I might become lonesome on this long +journey; but things have turned out splendidly. Don't you think Dr. +Whiting has a very distinguished air?"</p> + +<p>"Very; it would distinguish him out of hundreds," replied Tom, scowling +at the timber fringe ahead. "He is quite impressive when he is silent. +It's a pity he doesn't realize it."</p> + +<p>He turned in the saddle and looked behind. "What did I say? There comes +Hank, with an antelope slung before his saddle. I doubt if the doctor +would need the red handkerchief; antelope are notoriously affected by +anything curious."</p> + +<p>She turned away and regarded the caravan studiously. "Isn't every man +expected to do his share in the general duties?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but most of them dodge obligations. When we left Council Grove +more than half of the members of the train were friendly to Woodson. By +the time we leave Cimarron his friends will be counted on the fingers of +your two hands. That is only what he expects, so it won't come as an +unpleasant surprise."</p> + +<p>"What is the doctor's party supposed to do?"</p> + +<p>"Two of them have been assigned to the rear guard; the other four, to +our right flank. They can be excused somewhat because of their +greenness. Besides, they only came along for the fun of it. In the +college of life they are only freshmen. Its seriousness hasn't sunk in +yet. The majority of the shirkers should know better, and have their +fortunes, meagre as they may be, at stake.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> Well, here we are. You don't +know how much I've enjoyed our ride. Uncle Joe," he said as Patience +settled into the wagon seat, "here she is, safe and sound. I'll drop +around with some antelope meat by the time you have your fire going."</p> + +<p>"It's been ten years since I've broiled game over a fire," chuckled the +driver. "I'm anxious to get my hand in again. Thank you, Tom."</p> + +<p>Tom fastened the horse to the rear of the wagon, waved to his friends, +and loped ahead toward the nearing creek.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p class='center'>INDIAN COUNTRY<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + + +<p>After an enjoyable supper of antelope meat, Hank Marshall drifted over +to visit Zeb Houghton and Jim Ogden, and judging from the hilarity +resulting from his call, it was very successful. The caravan was now +approaching the Indian country and was not very far from the easternmost +point where traders had experienced Indian deviltry. Neither he nor his +friends were satisfied with the way guard was kept at night, and he +believed that a little example was worth a deal of precept. On his way +back to his own part of the encampment he dropped over to pay a short +visit to some tenderfeet, two of whom were to mount guard that night. +Jim Ogden, sauntering past, discovered him and wandered over to borrow a +pipeful of tobacco.</p> + +<p>"Wall," said Ogden, seating himself before the cheerful fire, "'twon't +be long now afore we git inter buffaler country, an' kin eat food as is +food. Arter ye sink yer teeth inter fat cow an' chaw a tongue or two, +ye'll shore forgit what settlement beef tastes like. That right, Hank?"</p> + +<p>"It's shore amazin' how much roast hump ribs a man kin store away +without feelin' it," replied Hank. "But thar's allus one drawback ter +gittin' inter th' buffaler range; whar ye find buffaler ye find Injuns, +an' nobody kin tell what an Injun's goin' ter do. If they only try ter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +stampede yer critters yer gittin' off easy. Take a Pawnee war-party, +headin' fer th' Comanche or Kiowa country, fer instance. Thar off fer +ter steal hosses; but thar primed ter fight. If thar strong enough a +caravan'll look good ter 'em. One thing ye want ter remember: if th' +Injuns ain't strong, don't ye pull trigger too quick; as long as yer +rifle's loaded thar'll be plumb respectful, but soon's she's empty, look +out."</p> + +<p>"I've been expecting to see them before this," said one of the hosts.</p> + +<p>"Wall, from now on mebby ye won't have ter strain yer eyes," Hank +remarked. "They like these hyar timber fringes, whar they kin sneak +right up under yer nose. They got one thing in thar favor, in attackin' +at night; th' twang o' a bowstring ain't heard very fur; but onct ye +hear it ye'll never fergit th' sound. Ain't that so, Jim?"</p> + +<p>Jim nodded. "Fer one, I'm keepin' an eye open from now on. Wall, reckon +I'll be movin' on."</p> + +<p>"Where do you expect to run into Indians?" asked one of the men near the +fire.</p> + +<p>Jim paused, half turned and seemed to be reflecting. "'Most any time, +now. Shore ter git signs o' 'em at th' little Arkansas, couple o' days +from now. May run inter 'em at Turkey Creek, tomorrow night."</p> + +<p>Hank arose, emptied his pipe, and looked at Jim. "Jine ye, fur's our +fire," he said, and the two friends strolled away. They had not been +gone long when two shadowy figures met and stopped not far from the +tenderfeet's fire, and held a low-voiced conversation, none of which, +however, was too low to be overheard at the fire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How'd'y, Tom."</p> + +<p>"How'd'y, Zeb."</p> + +<p>"On watch ter night?"</p> + +<p>"No; you?"</p> + +<p>"No. Glad of it."</p> + +<p>"Me, too."</p> + +<p>"This is whar Taos Bill war sculped, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"They killed 'im but didn't git his ha'r."</p> + +<p>"How'd it happen?"</p> + +<p>"Owl screeched an' a wolf howled. Bill snuk off ter find out about it."</p> + +<p>"Arrer pizened?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; usually air."</p> + +<p>"Whar ye goin'?"</p> + +<p>"Ter th' crick fer water."</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' ter see th' capting. Good night."</p> + +<p>"Good night; wish it war good mornin', Zeb."</p> + +<p>"Me, too. Good night."</p> + +<p>At that instant an owl screeched, the quavering, eerie sound softened by +distance.</p> + +<p>"Hear that?"</p> + +<p>The mournful sound of a wolf floated through the little valley.</p> + +<p>"An' that? Wolves don't generally answer owls, do they?"</p> + +<p>"Come along ter th' crick, Zeb. Thar ain't no tellin'."</p> + +<p>"I'm with ye," and the two figures moved silently away.</p> + +<p>The silence around the camp-fire was profound and reflective, but there +was some squirming and surreptitious examination of caps and flints. The +questioning call of the hoot owl was answered by a weird, uncanny, +suc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>cession of sharp barks growing closer and faster, ending in a +mournful, high-pitched, long-drawn, quavering howl. The noisy activity +of the encampment became momentarily slowed and then went on again.</p> + +<p>The first guard came off duty with an apparent sense of relief and grew +very loquacious. One of them joined the silent circle of tenderfeet +around the blazing fire.</p> + +<p>"Phew!" he grunted as he sat down. "Hear those calls?" His question +remained unanswered, but he did not seem surprised. "When you go on, +Doc?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"One o'clock," answered Dr. Whiting. He looked around pityingly. +"Calls?" he sneered. "Don't you know an owl or a wolf when you hear +one?" There was a lack of sincerity in his voice which could not be +disguised. The doctor was like the boy who whistled when going through +the woods.</p> + +<p>Midnight came and went, and half an hour later the corporal of the next +watch rooted out his men and led them off to relieve the present guard. +He cautioned them again against standing up.</p> + +<p>"To a Injun's eyes a man standin' up on th' prairie is as plain as +Chimbly Rock," he asserted. "Besides, ye kin see a hull lot better if +yer eyes air clost ter th' ground, lookin' agin' th' horizon. Don't git +narvous, an' don't throw th' camp inter a scare about nothin'."</p> + +<p>An hour later an owl hooted very close to Dr. Whiting and he sprang to +his feet. As he did so he heard the remarkably well imitated twang of a +bowstring, and his imagination supplied his own interpretation to the +sound passing his ear. Before he could collect his panic-stricken senses +he was seized from behind and a moment later, bound with rawhide and +gagged with buckskin,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> he lay on his back. A rough hand seized his hair +at the same instant that something cold touched his scalp. At that +moment his attacker sneezed, and a rough, tense voice growled a +challenge from the darkness behind him.</p> + +<p>"Who's thar?" called Tom Boyd, the clicking of his rifle hammers sharp +and ominous.</p> + +<p>The hand clutching the doctor's hair released it and the action was +followed by a soft and hurried movement through the woods.</p> + +<p>"Who's thar?" came the low growl again, as Tom crept into the bound +man's range of vision and peered into the blackness of the woods. +Waiting a moment, the plainsman muttered something about being mistaken, +and departed silently.</p> + +<p>After an agony of suspense, the bound man heard the approach of another +figure, and soon the corporal of his guard stopped near him and swore +vengefully under his breath as his soft query brought no answer.</p> + +<p>"Cuss him," growled Ogden, angrily. "He's snuk back ter camp. I'll peg +his pelt out ter dry, come daylight." He moved forward to continue his +round of inspection and stumbled over the doctor's prostrate form. In a +flash the corporal's knife was at the doctor's throat. "Who air ye?" he +demanded fiercely. The throaty, jumbled growls and gurgles which +answered him apprised him of the situation, and he lost no time in +removing the gag and cutting the thongs which bound the sentry. "Thar, +now," he said in a whisper. "Tell me about it."</p> + +<p>The doctor's account was vivid and earnest and one of his hands was +pressed convulsively against his scalp as if he feared it would leave +him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ogden heard him through patiently, grunting affirmatively from time to +time. "Jest what I told th' boys," he commented. "Wall, I reckon they +war scared away. Couldn't 'a' been many, or they'd 'a' rushed us. It war +a scatterin' bunch o' bucks, lookin' fer a easy sculp, or a chanct ter +stampede th' animals. Thievin' Pawnees, I reckon. Mebby they'll come +back ag'in: we'll wait right hyar fer 'em, dang thar eyes."</p> + +<p>"Ain't you going to alarm the camp?" incredulously demanded the doctor, +having hard work to keep his teeth from chattering.</p> + +<p>"What in tarnation fer? Jest 'cause a couple o' young bucks nigh got yer +h'ar? Hell, no; we'll wait right hyar an' git 'em if they come back."</p> + +<p>"Do you think they will?" asked the doctor, trying to sound fierce and +eager.</p> + +<p>"Can't never tell what a Injun'll do. They left ye tied up, an' mebby +want yer h'ar plumb bad. Reckon mebby I ought ter go 'round an' warn th' +rest o' th' boys ter keep thar eyes peeled an' look sharp fer 'em; +'specially them nigh th' animals. Bet ye stood up when ye heard 'em?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did; but I'll never do it again!"</p> + +<p>"Thought so. Now you lay low out hyar till I tells th' others. Be back +soon," and before any reply could be made the corporal had become +swallowed up in the night. The weather was not warm, yet Doctor Whiting +sweat copiously, and after he had been relieved and sent back to the +encampment he had great trouble in falling asleep.</p> + +<p>Hank Marshall slipped up behind Jim Ogden as that person came in, and +imitated the significant twang. Jim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> jumped a foot in the air and then +bent over, convulsed with silent laughter.</p> + +<p>"Dang ye, Hank; I don't know how ye do it!" he exclaimed. "I never heard +th' like. Thar'll be one bunch o' greenhorns lyin' flat, an' all eyes +an' ears from now on. I war weak from laughin' afore I went out to +stumble over him. When th' guard war changed they couldn't hardly find +him, he war spread out so flat. Jest like a new born buffaler calf that +its maw has cached in a bunch o' grass. Bet ye could fool an Injun with +that thar twang."</p> + +<p>"I've did it," said Hank, chuckling.</p> + +<p>The next morning Dr. Whiting was quite a hero, and as the caravan left +the creek he rode by the side of Patience, talking until he had +thoroughly exhausted the subject. After he had left her to go +helter-skeltering over the prairie a mile ahead in eager and hopeful +search of buffalo, Hank Marshall rode up to the wagon and took his +place.</p> + +<p>He listened to Patience's excited comment about the doctor's narrow +escape, and then, picking up the reins, twanged sharply, winked at her, +and rode off to the flanking line. She stared after him for a moment and +then stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth. When she had command over +herself again she turned indignantly toward her chuckling uncle.</p> + +<p>"Just the same, it was a mean trick!" she declared.</p> + +<p>"Giddap," said Uncle Joe, and chuckled all the more.</p> + +<p>"But it was!"</p> + +<p>"It learned 'em all a lesson," he replied. "May save their fool lives, +and ours, too. Giddap!"</p> + +<p>It was a long haul to Turkey Creek, but the caravan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> made it and was +corralled before dark. Buffalo signs had been seen shortly before the +creek was reached, and when old Indian signs were found near the camp +site, the day's excitement took on new life. A broken lodge-pole, some +odds and ends of tanned hides and a discarded moccasin, somehow +overlooked by the Indians' dogs, were discovered near the blackened +spots on the prairie where camp-fires had burned. The night passed +quietly, every sentry flat against the earth and trying to rob the +senses of smell and touch to enrich those of sight and hearing.</p> + +<p>In leaving the creek, the two column formation was abandoned and the +wagons rolled up the little divide in four evenly spaced divisions. +There was some semblance of flankers and a rear guard now, and even the +cannons were not forsaken. Then came the great moment.</p> + +<p>Two hours after the creek had been left the first herd of buffalo was +sighted. That it was a small one and more likely to provide tough bull +rather than fat cow, made no difference; rear guard, flankers, and +cannon were forgotten in one mad, frantic, and ridiculous rush. Men +dashed off toward the herd without even their pistols. In ten minutes a +moderate sized war-party could have swept down on the caravan and had +things nearly their own way. There would have been no buffalo meat in +camp that night except that the experienced hunters with the advance +guard managed to down two cows and three bulls before the yelling, +excitement-maddened crowd stampeded the little herd and drove it all +over the prairie.</p> + +<p>One tenderfoot, better mounted than his fellows, managed to keep up with +a running bull, firing ball after ball<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> into it as fast as he could +re-load. He was learning that a bull-buffalo was a hard animal to kill, +and when it finally wheeled and charged him, he also learned that it was +willing to fight when goaded and made desperate with wounds. Another +greenhorn, to get better aim, dismounted and knelt on the earth. With +the roar of his gun his horse, with all its trappings, gave one snort +and ran away, joining the herd and running with it. It was an hour +before anyone had time to listen to his entreaties, and then it was too +late to go after the runaway animal. He hoofed it back to the caravan, +an angry but wiser man, and was promptly robbed by the man from whom he +bought a horse.</p> + +<p>It was an open question whether buffalo tongue or beaver tail was the +better eating, but no one in the caravan had any fault to find with the +portions of buffalo meat which fell to their lot. Despite the toughness +and tastelessness of the old bull meat, it was the first fresh meat they +had enjoyed since leaving Independence, with the exception of the few +who had shared in Hank's antelope, and its poor qualities were +overlooked. No one had a chance to gorge himself and to learn that +overeating of buffalo flesh causes no distress. They found the meat with +the fat and lean more intermixed, juicier, and of a coarser grain than +beef. The choice bits were from the tongue, the udder came next in +merit, followed by the hump-ribs, tenderloins, and marrow bones. They +were fortunate in the selection of the bulls which had been killed, for +they were quite fat and in this condition ran the cow meat a close race; +all but one old bull, which was tough and stringy beyond belief. Despite +the fact that the next camp spot was not very far ahead, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> caravan +nooned on the open prairie for the cooking of the fresh meat.</p> + +<p>The captain signalled for the four-square corral and the evolution was +creditably performed. The animals were unhitched and staked outside the +enclosure and soon many fires were burning around the encampment and the +savory odors of broiling buffalo meat arose on all sides. Coffee pots +steeped or boiled at every fire, for coffee was the one unstinted drink +of the caravan. It was not long before the encampment was surrounded by +groups seated around the fires, most of the men eating with their +fingers, Indian fashion, and from the universal satisfaction shown it +was evident that buffalo meat had been given a high place by every +palate. In contrast to a steady diet of bacon it was a feast fit for +epicures. The travelers cared little about their good fortune in finding +cows with the first small herd, instead of the usual vanguard or outpost +of bulls, for the cows had been there and they had obtained two of them. +Two hours later the caravan was moving again, and late that afternoon +reached the Little Arkansas, where the first trouble with a treacherous +river bed was experienced.</p> + +<p>Knowing what was in store for them, the captain and his lieutenants went +ahead with a force of workers to cut a way through the steep banks and +to bridge the muddy bed. They found that the banks had been cut by the +preceding caravan, but the causeway by now was useless, except as a +foundation for a new one. The stream was not very wide, but made up for +that by the meanness of its bottom. The trees and brush along the banks +provided material for the temporary causeway and it did not take long to +build up a "bridge."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>The more or less easy-going manner of the captain changed here and his +commands had a snap to them that should have given them an unquestioned +weight. Because of the restricted space chosen for the camp, the +circular corral was formed, and as the divisions reached and crossed the +causeway they fell in behind the last wagon of the one ahead and crawled +around until the circle was complete and compact. All animals were to be +staked outside the circle until twilight and then driven inside and +hobbled for the night. Care was taken to see that there were but few +gaps between the wagons and that those were securely closed by chains.</p> + +<p>The length of the first tour of guard duty was increased considerably, +for the first watch went on as soon as the wagons stopped. They were +getting fairly into the Indian country now. Directly north of them lay +the range of the Pawnees; to the west of that the home of the Cheyennes; +directly west of the Little Arkansas roamed the Arapahoes, and to the +southwest were the Kiowas and Comanches, both of the latter superb +cavalrymen. The last three tribes were being stirred by jealous New +Mexicans to harass the caravans. And the interest of all these tribes, +and of others beyond them in several directions, was centered on the +prairie between the Little Arkansas and the valley of the Arkansas, +eastward from where the latter river left the mountains. This was the +great range of the buffalo, and the buffalo was food, clothing, +habitation, and figured very largely in other necessaries of the savage +tribes.</p> + +<p>The peculiar, curving, and ever-shifting migration of the great herds +was followed by hunting parties, which became war-parties in a wink. +Many were the bloody<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> battles fought between the tribes on that stretch +of prairie between the Little Arkansas and the two Coon Creeks. The +Pawnees claimed sovereignty over that part of the country around Pawnee +Rock, but it was one that the tribe did not dare to enjoy with any +degree of permanence. Raiding parties from the south, west, and north +constantly challenged their title, and because of these collisions +hardly a hunting party dared show itself unless in strength. There were, +it is true, small bands roaming the plains, especially after dark, which +traveled on foot; but these were out with the avowed and set purpose of +stealing horses, on which, if successful, they made their escape and +rode home. This especially was a Pawnee trick, and especially adept were +the Pawnees in creeping up to a herd of draft animals and stampeding the +whole bunch. More than one party of traders had thus been left afoot in +mid-prairie and forced to abandon what they could not carry on their +backs. While the Pawnee country was supposed to be north of the Platte, +up around the Loup Fork, they often raided in force well into the +Comanche and Apache country and were as much at home on the south side +of the Arkansas River as on any other part of the plains.</p> + +<p>When the orders came to drive the animals inside the corral and hobble +them, there was a great deal of complaint. It was contended that they +could not get food enough in such a restricted space, crowded as it +would be with horses, oxen, and mules; that they would injure each +other; that there would be great trouble in each man getting his own in +the morning; that they would burst through some weak spot and wander +away during the night. To all these objections the captain remained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +obdurate. Any man who left his animals outside the corral and lost them +would not be given replacements at the expense of other teams, and could +make what shift he thought best for the transportation of his +merchandise.</p> + +<p>Tom and his trapper friends, with some of the more experienced traders, +went among the grumblers and labored with them, preaching that from now +on the utmost, unremitting vigilance would be necessary day and night, +for the danger of losing the animals would grow with every mile and +would not cease until the Mexican settlements were nearly in sight. And +the worse the weather was, the greater would be the need to be alert; +for with tumultuous Nature to arouse the excitability of the animals and +to mask the movements of the Indians, a savage raid would scarcely fail +to cause a wholesale stampede unless the strictest watch was maintained. +To make up for the poor grazing inside the corralled wagons, the +picketing outside the circle in the evening would be supplemented by +more grazing on the outside before leaving in the morning. This would +necessitate later starts, but it could not be avoided.</p> + +<p>Tom and Hank were not quite through eating their evening meal when Pedro +paid them a visit.</p> + +<p>"Ah, señores," he beamed, "I haf laughed thees day! Just like my Mexico +eet was to see thee <i>atejo</i> that you haf! Thee <i>mulera</i> weeth her seven +childr-ren mar-rching behind her like <i>soldats</i>!" He leaned back and +laughed heartily, his teeth gleaming like old ivory.</p> + +<p>Hank grinned and glanced at Tom. "If she'd only lead 'em 'round th' +customs we'd think a hull lot more o' her. It riles me ter have ter pay +ter git our goods inter a town arter such hard work gittin' 'em <i>to</i> +it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah," replied Pedro, smiling broadly. "That ees thee law," he reproved +them. "But I deed not know you were going to Santa Fe, señores. Eet was +said somewhere, by somebody, I do not remember who, that you were going +to thee Señor Bent on thee Arkansas. To hunt and to tr-rap, was eet +not?"</p> + +<p>Tom emptied his pipe and blew through the stem. "No," he said. "We're +goin' ter Santa Fe. After we sell th' goods we aim ter go up ter Bent's +for th' fall an' winter huntin' an' trappin'. Takes a lot o' money ter +outfit two men th' way they should be, fer a hull season in the +mountains." He grinned. "That's why we're packin' goods ter Santa Fe. +Got to raise some money." Arising he nodded to his guest. "Now, if ye'll +excuse me, friend, I'll leave ye with Hank. See ye later, mebby?"</p> + +<p>Pedro nodded and laughed heartily, wagging an accusing finger at the +young plainsman. "Ah, what should keep a br-rave <i>caballero</i> from sooch +a señorita! Pedro has eyes, señor; an' Pedro, he weesh you ver' <i>mucho</i> +luck. He weesh you so ver' <i>mucho</i> luck that per-rhaps he can get you +past those customs. Of thees we weel talk more, eh?"</p> + +<p>Hank slapped his leg and pushed his plug of tobacco into the visitor's +hands. "Smoke some of that thar Virginny, friend," he urged. "Ye'll find +it some better than that thar husk, or willer bark you people smoke." He +looked at his partner and chuckled. "These hyar young fellers, now; thar +jest ain't no holdin' 'em."</p> + +<p>Pedro thought that this particular young "feller" was going to be held +very securely before he saw Santa Fe, but he grinned and waved his hand, +and after Tom had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> disappeared among the wagons he turned toward the +hunter.</p> + +<p>"Has Señor Boyd ever been een our Santa Fe?" he asked in polite +curiosity.</p> + +<p>Hank nodded carelessly. "He war thar some years back."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps then I can show heem a new way to thee city," said Pedro, +significantly. "One that my br-rother knows ver' good. Thee knowledge of +thees tr-rail ees of <i>mucho</i> less cost than thee customs that you an' me +like so leetle. But of thees we weel talk more some other time. I must +leeve you, señor. <i>Adios.</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Adios</i>, señor," beamed Hank, again offering the plug.</p> + +<p>After a quiet night and a somewhat later start than usual, the day's run +to Cow Creek began, and not five miles from the camp site a sizable herd +of buffalo was sighted. The same thing took place again, the same +confusion, the same senseless chasing without weapons, but this time +there was added the total abandonment of several wagons while the +drivers, unhitching one animal, grabbed guns and joined in the attack, +not realizing that mules hardly were suited for chasing an animal which, +clumsy as it appeared, nearly equalled a horse in speed when once +started on its awkward gallop. But in the results of the chase there was +one noticeable difference between this and the previous hunt, for the +green nimrods had asked questions of the hunters since their first try +at the prairie cattle, and they had cherished the answers. They no +longer fired blindly, after the first flush of their excitement died +down, for now they ranged up alongside their lumbering victims from the +rear and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> aimed a little behind the short ribs, or a few inches above +the brisket and behind the shoulder. And this hunt was a great success +from the standpoint of the plainsmen who had bought Colt's newfangled +repeating pistols, for they proved their deadliness in such capable +hands, and speeded up the kill.</p> + +<p>A group of tenderfeet watched an old hunter butcher a fat cow in almost +the time it takes to tell of it, slitting the skin along the spine from +the shoulder to the tail, and down in front of the shoulder and around +the neck. He removed it as far down as the brisket and laid the freed +skin on the ground to receive the fleece from along the spine, the +protruding hump ribs, which he severed with a tomahawk; and then he +added the liver, tongue, kidneys, certain parts of the intestine, and +one shoulder. Severing the other shoulder and cutting the skin free on +both sides of the body, he bundled up the choice cuts in it, carried it +to his horse and returned to camp. In a few moments the butchering +became general, and soon the triumphant hunters returned to the wagons +with fresh meat enough to provide an unstinted feast for the entire +caravan.</p> + +<p>The journey was resumed and the twenty miles to Cow Creek was made in +good time. Here the difficulties of the Little Arkansas were again met +and conquered and the wagons corralled before dark.</p> + +<p>It was at this camp that Tom and Hank became certain that they were +being spied upon by Pedro and his companions. Seated around their fire, +smoking with deep content after a heavy meal of fresh buffalo meat, Hank +began to push his foot back and forth on the ground, making deeper and +deeper, longer and longer, the groove<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> his moccasin heel was slowly +wearing in the soft earth. Finally his foot touched his companion's knee +but, without pausing, kept wearing down the groove.</p> + +<p>"Th' geese went over early this year," he said, looking up at the starry +sky. "Reckon we'll have th' hot weather a leetle ahead o' time on th' +Dry Route."</p> + +<p>Tom did not change a muscle as the familiar, warning sentence struck his +ears. "Yes," he replied. "Be glad when I gits inter Santa Fe, with th' +cool mountains all around. Reckon you'll spend most o' your time playin' +<i>monte</i>, an' be clean busted when it's time ter hit th' trail fer +Bent's."</p> + +<p>Hank laughed softly. "Did I hear ye say Jim Ogden had some good likker?" +he asked.</p> + +<p>"That's what I said."</p> + +<p>"'Tain't none o' that thar Taos lightnin'?" skeptically inquired Hank.</p> + +<p>"How could it be, him jest a-comin' from Missouri?"</p> + +<p>"Wall," chuckled Hank, slowly rising. "Reckon I'll wander over an' see +fer myself. Jim must be considerable lonesome, 'bout now."</p> + +<p>"Must be, with only Zeb, Alonzo, Enoch, and a passel o' them fool +tenderfeet a-settin' 'round his fire," snorted Tom. "Go ahead an' git +yer likker; I'll wait fer ye hyar."</p> + +<p>It was only a few minutes later when Hank returned, shaking his head. +"All gone," he mourned, and sat down again, regarding the dying embers. +"Jest my luck."</p> + +<p>Tom laughed. "Yer better off without it," he replied, and communed with +his thoughts.</p> + +<p>Minutes passed in reflective silence and then Jim Ogden loomed up beside +them. "Come on over," he invited,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> grinning. "Thar warn't no use showin' +a bottle with them thirsty greenhorns settin' 'round ter lick it up. Now +that thar gone, we'll pass it 'round."</p> + +<p>Hank looked knowingly at his partner as he hastily arose, and the three +went off together. When half way to the other fire Jim spoke in a low +voice.</p> + +<p>"He war thar, Hank; layin' in that little gully, watchin' ye like ye war +pizen." He turned to Tom. "Shall we go an' drag him out?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Tom. "Let him think we don't know nothin' about it. Him +an' his trail inter Santa Fe! Reckons mebby that if them barefoot +soldiers try ter take us in front o' th' caravan they'll get a good +lickin'; but if he can coax us off from th' rest, he kin run us inter an +ambush. If thar's airy way inter Santa Fe that we don't know, I'm danged +if <i>he</i> knows it! Let him spy on us, now that we know he's doin' it. +Thankee, Jim."</p> + +<p>By the time they had reached Jim's little fire a figure was wriggling +down the gully, and at an opportune time arose to hands and knees and +scurried to the shelter of Franklin's wagons, a smile on its face. Now +it was certain that Tom Boyd was going through to Santa Fe, and all +would be well. He chuckled as he recalled what he had said about the +Mexican troops not meeting the caravan until Point of Rocks was reached; +they would meet the train at any point his messenger told them to.</p> + +<p>At Cow Creek another quiet night was followed by another delayed start +and shortly after noon the vanguard raised a shout of elation, which +sent every mounted man racing ahead; and the sight repaid them for their +haste.</p> + +<p>Under their eyes lay the Arkansas River, dotted with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> green islands, its +channel four or five hundred yards wide, and so shallow that at normal +stage it was formidable at many points. While its low, barren banks, +only occasionally tinted with the green of cottonwoods, were desolate in +appearance, they had a beauty peculiar and striking. As far as the eye +could see spread the sand-hills and hillocks, like waves of some pale +sea, here white and there yellow, accordingly as to how the light was +reflected from them. Its appearance had been abrupt, the prairie floor +rising slightly to the crumbling edge, below which and at some distance +flowed the river, here forming the international boundary between Texas +and the United States. While territorially Texas lay across the river, +according to Texan claims, actually, so far as supervision was +concerned, it was Mexico, for the Texan arm was yet too short to +dominate it and the ordinary traveler let it keep its original name.</p> + +<p>While its northern bank was almost destitute of timber, the southern one +showed scattered clumps of cottonwood, protected from the devastating +prairie fires from the North not only by the river itself, but also by +the barren stretch of sand, over which the fires died from starvation. +To the right of the caravan lay the grassy, green rolls of the prairie, +to an imaginative eye resembling the long swells of some great sea; on +the left a ribbon of pale tints, from gleaming whites to light golds +which varied with the depths of the water and the height and position of +the sun. Massive sand dunes, glittering in the sunlight made a rampart +which stretched for miles up and down the river and struck the eye with +the actinic power of pure, drifted snow. Here the nature of the prairie +changed, losing its rich, luxuriant verdure, for here the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> short buffalo +grass began to dominate to a noticeable extent.</p> + +<p>The excitement spread. Eager couriers raced back to the plodding caravan +to tell the news. Some of the more impressionable forthwith rode toward +the river, only a few yards away, hot to be the first to splash in its +waters; but they found that prairie air was deceptive and that the +journey over the rolling hillocks was a great deal longer than they had +thought. But a few miles meant nothing to them and they pushed on, +careless of Comanche, Kiowa, or Pawnee Picts, some with their guns empty +from the salute they had fired at sight of the stream. The caravan kept +stolidly on, following a course roughly paralleling the river and not +stopping until evening found it on the far side of Walnut Creek after +they had crossed a belt of such poor grass that they had grave doubts +about the pasturage at the encampment; and the flinty, uncompromising +nature of the ground down the slope of the little divide, in which +seemingly for eternity was graven the strands of the mighty trail, +seemed to justify their fears. But then, while they were worrying the +most, the grass improved and when they had crossed the creek not far +from its mouth they found themselves in a little, timber-fringed valley +thick with tall grass. And they now had entered one of the great danger +spots of the long trail.</p> + +<p>Hank Marshall got his fire started in a hurry while his partner looked +after the pack mules; and when Tom came back to attend to the fire and +prepare the supper, Hank dug into his "possible" sack and produced some +line and a fish hook. Making a paste of flour, he mixed it with some +dried moss he had put away and saved for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> this use. Rolling the little +doughballs and hardening them over the fire he soon strode off up the +creek, looking wise but saying nothing; and a quarter of an hour later +he returned with three big catfish, one of which he ate after he had +consumed a generous portion of buffalo hump-ribs; and he followed the +fish by a large tongue raked out of the ashes of the fire. To judge from +his expression he had enjoyed a successful and highly gratifying day, +and since he was heavy and drowsy with his gorging and had to go on +watch that night, he rolled up in his blanket under a wagon and despite +the noise on all sides of him, fell instantly asleep. He had "set +hisself" to awaken at eleven o'clock, which he would do almost on the +minute and be thoroughly wide awake.</p> + +<p>Fearing for the alertness of the sentries that night, a number of +plainsmen and older traders agreed upon doing duty out of their turns +and followed Hank's example, "settin'" themselves to awaken at different +hours; and despite these precautions had a band of Pawnees discovered +the camp that night they most certainly would have been blessed with +success; and no one understood why the camp had not been discovered, for +the crawling train made a mark on the prairie that could not be missed +by savage eyes miles away.</p> + +<p>Because of the height and the luxuriance of the grass within the corral +the morning feeding, beyond the time needed for getting ready to leave, +was dispensed with and the train got off to an early start, fairly +embarked on the eastern part of the great buffalo range and a section of +the trail where Indians could be looked for in formidable numbers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>This great plain fairly was crowded with bison and was dark with them as +far as the eye could see. They could be numbered by the tens of +thousands and actually impeded the progress of the caravan and +threatened constant danger from their blind, unreasoning stampedes which +the draft animals seemed anxious to join. Because of the matted hair in +front of their eyes their vision was impaired; and the keenness of their +scent often hurled them into dangers which a clearer eyesight would have +avoided. So great did this danger become shortly after the train had +left the valley of the Walnut that the rear guard, which had grown +slightly as the days passed, now was sent out to protect the flanks and +to strengthen the vanguard, which had fallen back within a few hundred +feet of the leading wagons. Time after time the stupid beasts barely +were kept from crashing blindly into the train, and the wagoners had the +most trying and tiring day of the whole journey.</p> + +<p>Several bands of Indians at times were seen in the distance pursuing +their fleeing game, but all were apparently too busy to bother with the +caravan, which they knew would stop somewhere for the night. No longer +was there any need to freight buffalo meat to the wagons; for so many of +the animals were killed directly ahead that the wagoners only had to +check their teams and help each other butcher and load. This constant +stopping, now one wagon and now another, threw the train out of all +semblance of order and it wandered along the trail with its divisions +mixed, which caused the sweat to stand out on the worried captain's +forehead. His lieutenants threatened and swore and pleaded and at last, +after the wagons had all they could carry of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> meat, managed to get +four passable divisions in somewhat presentable order.</p> + +<p>While the caravan shuffled itself, chased buffalo out of the way, turned +aside thundering ranks of the formidable-looking beasts, and had a time +hectic enough to suit the most irrational, Pawnee Rock loomed steadily +higher, steadily nearer, and the great sand-hills of the Arkansas +stretched interminably into the West, each fantastic top a glare of +dazzling light.</p> + +<p>Well to the North, rising by degrees out of the prairie floor, and +gradually growing higher and bolder as they neared the trail and the +river, were a series of hills which terminated abruptly in a rocky cliff +frowning down upon the rutted wagon road. From the distance the mirage +magnified the ascending hills until they looked like some detached +mountain range, which instead of growing higher as it was approached, +shrunk instead. It was a famous landmark, silent witness of many bloody +struggles, as famous on this trail as was Chimney Rock and Courthouse +Rock along the great emigrant trail going up the Platte; but compared to +them in height it was a dwarf. Here was a lofty perch from which the +eagle eyes of Indian sentries could descry crawling caravans and pack +trains, in either direction, hours before they reached the shadow of the +rocky pile; and from where their calling smoke signals could be seen for +miles around.</p> + +<p>Two trails passed it, one east and west; the other, north and south. The +former, cut deep, honest in its purpose and plainness, here crossed the +latter, which was an evanescent, furtive trail, as befits a pathway to +theft and bloodshed, and one made by shadowy raiders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> as they flitted to +and from the Kiowa-Comanche country and the Pawnee-Cheyenne; only marked +at intervals by the dragging ends of the lodgepoles of peacefully +migrating Indian villages, and even then pregnant with danger. Other +eyes than those of the prairie tribes had looked upon it, other blood +had been spilled there, for distant as it was from the Apaches, and +still more distant from the country of the Utes, war parties of both +these tribes had accepted the gage of battle there flung down. On the +rugged face of the rock itself human conceit had graven human names, and +to be precise as to the date of their foolishness, had added day, month, +and year.</p> + +<p>While speaking of days, months, and years it may not be amiss to say +that regarding the latter division of time the caravan was fortunate. +Troubles between Indians and whites developed slowly during the history +of the Trail, from the earlier days of the fur trains and the first of +the traders' caravans, when Indian troubles were hardly more than an +occasional attempted theft, in many cases successful, but seemingly +without that lust for blood on both sides which was to come later. After +the wagon period begun there was a slight increase, due to the need +which certain white men found for shooting game. If game were scarce, +what could be more interesting when secure from retaliation by the +number of armed and resolute men in the caravans, than to pot-shoot some +curious and friendly savage, or gallantly put to flight a handful of +them? The ungrateful savages remembered these pleasantries and were +prone to retaliate, which caused the death of quite a few honest and +innocent whites who followed later. The natural cupidity of the Indian +for horses, his standard of wealth, received a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> secondary urge, which +later became the principal one, in the days when theft was regarded as a +material reward for killing. While they may have grudged these periodic +crossings of the plains as a trespass, and the wanton slaughter of their +main food supply as a constantly-growing calamity, they still were +keener to steal quietly and get away without bloodshed, and to barter +their dried meat, their dressed hides, their beadwork, and other +manufactures of their busy squaws than to engage in pitched battle at +sight. Had Captain Woodson led a caravan along that same trail twenty or +thirty years later, he would have had good reason to sweat copiously at +the sight of so many dashing savages.</p> + +<p>The captain knew the Indian of his day as well as a white man could. He +knew that they still depended upon trading with the fur companies, with +free trappers and free traders, and needed the white man's goods and +good will; they wanted his trinkets, his tobacco to mix with their inner +bark of the red willow; his powder, muskets, and lead, and, most of all, +his watered alcohol. He knew that a white man could stumble into the +average Indian camp and receive food and shelter, especially among those +tribes not yet prostituted by contact with the frontier; that such a +man's goods would be safe and, if he minded his own business, that he +would be sent on his way again unharmed. But he also knew their lust for +horses and mules; he felt their slowly growing feeling of contempt for +men who would trade them wonderful things for worthless beaver, mink, +and otter skins; and a fortune in trade goods for the pelt of a single +silver fox, which neither was warmer nor more durable than the pelt of +other foxes. And he knew the panicky feel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>ing of self-preservation which +might cause some greenhorn of the caravan to shoot true at the wrong +time. So, without worrying about any "deadly circles" or about any +period of time a score or more years away, he sweat right heartily. And +when at last he drew near to Ash Creek, the later history of which +mercifully was spared him, he sighed with relief but worked with the +energy befitting a man who believed that God helped those who helped +themselves; he hustled the caravan down the slope and across the stream +with a speed not to be lightly scorned when the disorganized arrangement +of the train is considered; and he halted the divisions in a circular +formation with great dispatch, making it the most compact and solid wall +of wagons seen so far on the journey.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p class='center'>PAWNEES<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + + +<p>At this Ash Creek camp before the wagoners had unhitched their teams +there was a cordon around the corral made up of every man who could be +spared, and the cannon crews stood silently around their freshly primed +guns. The air of tenseness and expectancy pleased Woodson, for it was an +assurance that there would be no laxity about this night's watch. With +the animals staked as close to the wagons as practicable, which caused +some encroachments and several fist fights between jealous wagoners, the +fires soon were cooking supper for squads of men from the sentry line; +and as soon as all had eaten and the camp was not distracted by too many +duties, the cordon thinned until it was composed of a double watch. +Before dusk the animals were driven inside, secured by side-line +hobbles, which are much more effective than hobbling the forelegs, and +all gaps were closed as tightly as possible.</p> + +<p>The evening shadows darkened and ran into blackness; the night wind +crept among the branches of the thin line of trees on both banks of the +creek and made soft soughings in the tall, thick grass; overhead the sky +first darkened and then grew lighter, shot with myriads of stars, which +gleamed as only prairie stars can; and among them, luminous and bright, +lay the Milky Way. The creek murmured in musical tones as it fretted at +some slight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> obstruction and all nature seemed to be at peace. Then +sounded the howl of a buffalo wolf, the gray killer of the plains, deep, +throaty, full, and followed by a quick slide up the scale with a ringing +note that the bluffs and mountains love to toss back and forth. Yet it +was somehow different. Woodson and his trapper aides, seated together +against a wagon, stirred and glanced sidewise at each other. Not one of +them had felt the reflex answer of his spine and hair; not one of them +had thrilled. A simple lack; but a most enlightening one.</p> + +<p>Franklin bit into a plug of tobacco, pushed the mouthful into his cheek +with deft tongue, and crossed his legs the other way. "Hell!" he +growled. "Reckon we're in fer it."</p> + +<p>"They jest can't git it <i>all</i> in, kin they?" commented Zeb Houghton, +coming up.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Tom Boyd. "They leave out th' best part o' it." He +glanced in the direction of the nearest fringe of trees, noisy +cottonwoods all, and shook his head. "We been havin' too fine a stretch +o' weather. Hear them trees? In two hours it'll be blowin' hard; an' I +kin feel th' rain already."</p> + +<p>From the blackness of the creek there arose a series of short, sharp +barks, faster and faster, higher and higher, the lost-soul howl climbing +to a pitch that was sheer torture to some ears.</p> + +<p>"Kiyote sassin' a gray," chuckled Zeb, ironically.</p> + +<p>"'Upon what meat hath—'" began Tom, and checked the quotation. "He +oughter be tuckin' his tail atween his laigs an' streakin' fer th' +Platte; or mebby <i>he</i> missed somethin', too," he said. "Everythin' else +shuts up when th' gray wolf howls."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Doubled watches air not enough fer tonight," growled Woodson, as a +tremulous, high-pitched, chromatic, and descending run in a minor key +floated through the little valley. If it were an imitation of a +screech-owl it was so perfectly done that no man in the caravan could +detect the difference.</p> + +<p>"Us boys will be scoutin' 'round all night," replied Tom. "Hank an' th' +others air gittin' some winks now. I don't look fer no fight afore +daylight; but they'll shore try ter stampede us afore then. Reckon I'll +take a good listen out yonder," he said, and arose. He went to Joe +Cooper's little wagon and was promptly challenged.</p> + +<p>"It's Boyd," he answered. "Stick to the wagon, Uncle Joe. We ain't +looking for any rush before daylight. If one comes Hank and I will get +here quick. Where is Miss Cooper?"</p> + +<p>"In th' wagon, of course!"</p> + +<p>"That's no place for her," retorted Tom. "Those sheets won't stop +arrows. Put her under the wagon, an' hang blankets down th' sides, loose +at th' bottoms. Tight blankets or canvas are little better than paper; +but a loose Mackinaw yields to th' impact somewhat. I've seen a loose +blanket stop a musket ball."</p> + +<p>"Can I do anything useful, Mr. Boyd?" came Patience's voice from the +wagon. "I can load and cap, anyhow."</p> + +<p>Tom's chuckle came straight from his heart. "Not yet, God bless you. +Despite their reputation in some quarters, Pawnees are not the most +daring fighters. Any of the tribes east of the Mississippi are paragons +of courage when compared to these prairie Indians. Pawnees would rather +steal than fight; and they know that this is no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> helpless caravan, but +one with nearly two hundred armed men. If they were Comanches or Kiowas, +Utes or Apaches, I'd be bothered a lot more than I am now. And they know +that there are two cannons pointing somewhere into the night. All we +have to worry about is our animals."</p> + +<p>The mournful, hair-raising screech of an owl sounded again, and then all +the demons of hell seemed to have broken loose around the camp. The +corralled animals, restless before, now surged one way and now another, +largely cancelling their own efforts because wave met wave; but all the +while they were getting wilder and more frantic and the blood-chilling +yells on all sides finally set them into a sort of rhythm which more and +more became uniform. They surged from one side to the other, striking +the wagons harder and harder. Then the yelling ceased and the Pawnee +whistle was heard. There ensued a few minutes of silence and then the +whistle sounded again. It set off a hellish uproar on one side of the +encampment and the frantic animals whirled and charged in the other +direction. The shock rocked some of the wagons and would have overturned +them but for the great weight of their loads. Anticipating this surge of +the animals some of the traders, told off by the captain, had bound +bundles of twigs and dried grass to long cottonwood sticks and now set +them afire and crawled under the wagons, thrusting the torches into the +faces of the charging mass. This started the animals milling and soon +the whole herd was running in a circle. The stampede had failed.</p> + +<p>Here and there from under the wagons on the threatened side of the +encampment guns stabbed into the night,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> showing where tenderfeet were +gallantly engaged in guessing matches. Arrows curved over the wagon tops +and some of the torch wavers on the other side of the camp had narrow +escapes before their purpose was accomplished and the torches burned +out.</p> + +<p>A cricket chirped twice and then twice again not far from Joe Cooper's +little wagon, and the alert plainsman crouched behind an outer wheel +answered by three short trills. "Don't shoot, Uncle Joe," Tom softly +called. "That's Hank."</p> + +<p>Hank seemed to be having a hard time of it and made more noise than was +his wont. Alarmed, Tom was about to crawl out and help his friend to the +corral when Hank's querulous complaint barely reached him.</p> + +<p>"Danged if ye ain't so plumb full o' buffaler meat ye nigh weigh a ton," +growled the hunter. "Yourn as heavy as mine, Jim?"</p> + +<p>"Wuss," complacently answered Ogden.</p> + +<p>"Huh!" snorted another voice, crowding so much meaning into the grunt +that he had the best of the little exchange and the last word.</p> + +<p>"If I could twang like you, Hank," said Ogden, pausing a moment to rest, +"I'd have a hull dozen, danged if I wouldn't. Mine's got nigh ter six +feet o' feathers a-hangin' ter him."</p> + +<p>Tom rocked back and forth, laughing silently. "Then he makes up fer th' +rest o' yer dozen!" he gasped. "Hostages, by th' Great Horned Spoon!" He +made some funny noises in his throat and gasped again. "A <i>chief</i>, too!"</p> + +<p>"An' a plumb waste o' good ha'r," growled Hank. "But jest now it's wuth +more on thar heads than fas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>tened ter our belts. Hyar, haul this hyar +warrior o' mine under th' waggin. I'm all tuckered out."</p> + +<p>"Hank kin shoot more arrers with his mouth than some Injuns kin with +thar bows," panted Jim, grasping a spoke and yanking his captive roughly +against the wheel. "All I kin imitate is a lance." He chuckled at his +joke and rested.</p> + +<p>"When Hank twanged, Big Polecat, hyar, got right up an' stumbled plumb +over me," said Zeb's weary voice. "I near busted his skull with that +newfangled pistol. It's heftier than I'm used ter. Wonder is I didn't +bash his brains out. Hyar, gimme a hand, I can't hardly wiggle no more."</p> + +<p>"Wonder what them danged fools air firin' at?" queried Hank, as several +shots rang out in quick succession from the other side of the +encampment. "Don't they know th' dance is over till mornin'?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, them greenhorns'll be shootin' all night," growled Ogden. "If +thar's a rush at daylight they won't have no more powder an' ball. When +they hadn't oughter shoot, they shoot; when they oughter shoot, thar too +danged scared to pull trigger."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p class='center'>HURRAH FOR TEXAS<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + + +<p>At daylight the only Indians in sight were several rifle shots from the +caravan, but encircling it. Hostilities of every nature apparently had +ceased, but without causing the travelers to relax in their vigilance. +Breakfast was over before the savages made any move and then a sizable +body of them came charging over the prairie, brandishing their weapons +and yelling at the top of their voices. While not the equals of the +Comanches in horsemanship they were good riders and as they raced toward +the encampment, showing every trick they knew, the spectacle was well +worth watching.</p> + +<p>"Showin' off," said Jim Ogden. "Want ter talk with us. Now we got ter +stop them fool greenhorns from shootin'!"</p> + +<p>At his warning his companions ran along the line of wagons and begged +that not a shot be fired until the captain gave the word. If the Indians +wanted a parley the best thing would be to give it to them.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the captain and two experienced men rode slowly forward, +stopping while still within rifle shot of their friends. The charging +savages pulled up suddenly and stopped, three of their number riding +ahead with the same unconcern and calm dignity as the white men had +shown. One of them raised a hand, palm out, and when well outside of the +range of the rifles of the en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>campment, stopped and waited. Captain +Woodson, raising his hand, led his two companions at a slow walk toward +the waiting Indians and when he stopped, the two little parties were +within easy speaking distance of each other. Each group was careful to +show neither distrust nor fear, and apparently neither was armed. Erect +in their saddles, each waited for the other to speak.</p> + +<p>"My young men are angry because the white men and their wagons have +crossed the Pawnee country and have frightened away the buffalo," said +the leader of the warriors, a chief, through an interpreter.</p> + +<p>"The buffalo are like the grass of the prairies," replied Woodson. "They +are all around us and are bold enough to charge our wagons on the march +and frighten our animals."</p> + +<p>"From the Loup Fork to the Arkansas, from the Big Muddy to the great +mountains, is Pawnee country, which none dare enter."</p> + +<p>"The Cheyennes, the Arapahoes, the Osages, and other brave tribes tell +us the same thing. We do not know what tribe owns this prairie; but we +do know that friends are always welcome in the Pawnee country, and we +bring presents for our brave brothers, presents of beads and colored +cloth and glasses that show a man his spirit."</p> + +<p>"The white chief speaks well; but my braves are angry."</p> + +<p>"And my young men are angry because they could not sleep and their +animals were frightened like the Comanches are frightened by the +Pawnees," replied Woodson. "They are hot-headed and are angry at me +because I would not let them make war on our friends, the Pawnees."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The young men of the Pawnees have not the wisdom of years and did not +know the white men were friends, and had brought them presents of horses +and powder and whiskey."</p> + +<p>"I have told my young men that the Pawnees are friends. We did not think +we would meet our red brothers and have horses only for ourselves. Our +whiskey and powder are for the great Pawnee chiefs; our beads and cloth +for their young men."</p> + +<p>"It is well," replied the chief. After a moment's silence he looked +keenly into Woodson's eyes. "The Pawnees are sad. White Bear and two of +our young men have not returned to their people." His eyes flashed and a +tenseness seized him and his companions. "Great Eagle wants to know if +his white friends have seen them?"</p> + +<p>"Great Eagle's friends found three brave Pawnees in front of their +thunder guns and they feared our young men would fire the great medicine +rifles and hurt the Pawnees. We sent out and brought White Bear and his +warriors to our camp and treated them as welcome guests. Each of them +shall have a horse and a musket, with powder and ball, that they will +not misunderstand our roughness."</p> + +<p>At that moment yells broke out on all sides of the encampment and +warriors were seen dashing west along the trail. A well-armed caravan of +twenty-two wagons crawled toward the creek, and Woodson secretly +exulted. It was the annual fur caravan from Bent's Fort to the Missouri +settlements and every member of it was an experienced man.</p> + +<p>The fur train did not seem to be greatly excited by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> the charging horde, +for it only interposed a line of mounted men between the wagons and the +savages. The two leaders wheeled and rode slowly off to meet the Indians +and soon a second parley was taking place. After a little time the fur +caravan, which had moved steadily ahead, reached the encampment and +swiftly formed on one side of it. With the coming of this re-enforcement +of picked men all danger of war ceased.</p> + +<p>Before noon the Pawnee chiefs and some of the elder warriors had paid +their visit, received their presents, sold a few horses to wagoners who +had jaded animals and then returned to their camp, pitched along the +banks of the creek a short distance away. The afternoon was spent in +visiting between the two encampments and the night in alert vigilance. +At dawn the animals were turned out to graze under a strong guard and +before noon the caravan was on its way again, its rear guard and +flankers doubled in strength.</p> + +<p>Shortly after leaving Ash Creek they came to great sections of the +prairie where the buffalo grass was cropped as short as though a herd of +sheep had crossed it. It marked the grazing ground of the more compact +buffalo herds. The next creek was Pawnee Fork, but since it lay only six +miles from the last stopping place, and because it was wise to put a +greater distance between them and the Pawnees, the caravan crossed it +close to where it emptied into the Arkansas, the trail circling at the +double bend of the creek and crossing it twice. Great care was needed to +keep the wagons from upsetting here, but it was put behind without +accident and the night was spent on the open prairie not far from Little +Coon Creek.</p> + +<p>The fuel question was now solved and while the buf<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>falo chips, plentiful +all around them, made execrable, smudgy fires in wet weather if they +would burn at all, in dry weather they gave a quick, hot fire excellent +to cook on and one which threw out more heat, with equal amounts of +fuel, than one of wood; and after an amusing activity in collecting the +chips the entire camp was soon girdled by glowing fires.</p> + +<p>The next day saw them nooning at the last named creek, and before +nightfall they had crossed Big Coon Creek. For the last score of miles +they had found such numbers of rattlesnakes that the reptiles became a +nuisance; but notwithstanding this they camped here for the night, which +was made more or less exciting because several snakes sought warmth in +the blankets of some of the travelers. It is not a pleasant feeling to +wake up and find a three-foot prairie rattlesnake coiled up against +one's stomach. Fortunately there were no casualties among the travelers +but, needless to say, there was very little sleep.</p> + +<p>Next came the lower crossing of the Arkansas, where there was some +wrangling about the choice of fords; many, fearing the seasonal rise of +the river, which they thought was due almost any minute, urged that it +be crossed here, despite the scarcity of water, and the heavy pulling +among the sand-hills on the other side.</p> + +<p>Woodson and the more experienced traders and hunters preferred to chance +the rise, even at the cost of a few days' delay, and to cross at the +upper ford. This would give them better roads, plenty of water and +grass, a safer ford and a shorter drive across the desert-like plain +between the Arkansas and the Cimarron. Eventually he had his way and +after spending the night at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> the older ford the caravan went on again +along the north bank of the river, and reached The Caches in time to +camp near them. The grass-covered pits were a curiosity and the story of +how Baird and Chambers had been forced to dig them to cache their goods +twenty years before, found many interested listeners.</p> + +<p>All this day a heavy rain had poured down, letting up only for a few +minutes in the late afternoon, and again falling all night with +increased volume. With it came one of those prairie windstorms which +have made the weather of the plains famous. Tents and wagon covers were +whipped into fringes, several of them being torn loose and blown away; +two lightly loaded wagons were overturned, and altogether the night was +the most miserable of any experienced so far. While the inexperienced +grumbled and swore, Woodson was pleased, for in spite of the delayed +crossing of the river, he knew that the dreaded Dry Route beyond +Cimarron Crossing would be a pleasant stretch in comparison to what it +usually was.</p> + +<p>Morning found a dispirited camp, and no effort was made to get under way +until it was too late to cover the twenty miles to the Cimarron Crossing +that day, and rather than camp without water it was decided to lose a +day here. It would be necessary to wait for the river to fall again +before they would dare to attempt the crossing and the time might as +well be spent here as farther on. The rain fell again that night and all +the following day, but the wind was moderate. The river was being +watched closely and it was found that it had risen four feet since they +reached The Caches; but this was nothing unusual, for, like most prairie +streams, the Ar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>kansas rose quickly until its low banks were overflowed, +when the loss of volume by the flooding of so much country checked it +appreciably; and its fall, once the rains ceased, would be as rapid. +High water was not the only consideration in regard to the fording of +the river, for the soft bottom, disturbed by the strong current, soon +lost what little firmness it had along this part of the great bend, and +became treacherous with quicksand. That it was not true quicksand made +but little difference so long as it mired teams and wagons.</p> + +<p>Another argument now was begun. There were several fords of the Arkansas +between this point and the mountains; and there were two routes from +here on, the shorter way across the dry plain of the Cimarron, as direct +as any unsurveyed trail could be, and the longer, more roundabout way +leading another hundred miles farther up the river and crossing it not +far from Bent's Fort, over a pebbly and splendid ford. From here it +turned south along the divide between Apishara Creek and the Purgatoire +River, climbed over the mountain range through Raton Pass, and joined +the more direct trail near Santa Clara Spring under the shadow of the +Wagon Mound. Beside the ford above Bent's Fort there was another, about +thirty miles above The Caches, which crossed the river near Chouteau's +Island.</p> + +<p>Each ford and each way had its adherents, but after great argument and +wrangling the Dry Route was decided upon, its friends not only proving +the wisdom of taking the shorter route, but also claimed that the +unpleasantness of the miles of dry traveling was no worse than the rough +and perilous road over Raton Pass, where almost any kind of an accident +could happen to a wagon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> and where, if the caravan were attacked by Utes +or Apaches before it reached the mountain pasture near the top, they +would be caught in a strung-out condition and corralling would be +impossible. The danger from a possible ambush and from rocks rolled down +from above, in themselves, were worse than the desert stretch of the +shorter route.</p> + +<p>At last dawn broke with a clear sky, and with praiseworthy speed the +routine of the camp was rushed and the wagons were heading westward +again. Late that afternoon the four divisions became two and rolled down +the slope toward the Cimarron Crossing, going into camp within a short +distance of the rushing river. The sun had shone all day and the night +promised to be clear, and some of the traders whose goods had been +wetted by the storm at The Caches when their wagon covers had been +damaged or blown away, took quick advantage of the good weather to +spread their merchandise over several acres of sand and stubby brush to +dry out thoroughly; and the four days spent here, waiting for the river +to fall, accomplished the work satisfactorily, although at times the sky +was overcast and threatened rain, while the nights were damp.</p> + +<p>Some of the more impetuous travelers urged that time would be saved if +bullboats were made by stretching buffalo hides over the wagon boxes and +floating them across. This had been done more than once, but with only a +day or so to wait, and no pressing need for speed, the time saved would +not be worth the hard work and the risk of such ferrying. At last the +repeated soundings of the bottom began to look favorable and word was +passed around that the crossing would take place as soon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> as the camp +was ready to be left the next morning, providing that no rain fell +during the night.</p> + +<p>Daylight showed a bright sky and a little lower level of the river and +it was not long before the first wagon drawn by four full teams, after a +warming-up drive, rumbled down the bank and hit the water with a splash. +The bottom was still too soft to take things easy in crossing and the +teams were not allowed to pause after once they had entered the water. A +moment's stop might mire both teams and wagons and cause no end of +trouble, hard work, and delay. All day long the wagons crossed and at +night they were safely corralled on the farther bank, on the edge of the +Dry Route and no longer on United States soil.</p> + +<p>That evening the leaders of the divisions went among their followers and +urged that in the morning every water cask and container available for +holding water be filled. This flat, monotonous, dry plain might require +three days to cross and every drop of water would be precious. Should +any be found after the recent rains it would be in buffalo wallows and +more fit for animals than for human beings. Again in the morning the +warning was carried to every person in the camp and the need for heeding +it gravely emphasized; and when the caravan started on the laborious and +treacherous journey across the fringe of sand-hills and hillocks which +extended for five or six miles beyond the river, where upsetting of +wagons was by no means an exception, half a dozen wagons had empty water +casks. Their owners had been too busy doing inconsequential things to +think of obeying the orders for a "water scrape," given for their own +good.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<p>The outlying hilly fringe of sand was not as bad as had been expected +for the heavy rains had wetted it well and packed the sand somewhat; but +when the great flat plain was reached and the rough belt left behind, +two wagons had been overturned and held up the whole caravan while they +were unloaded, righted, and re-packed. Since no one had been injured the +misfortunes had been taken lightly and the columns went on again in good +spirits.</p> + +<p>It was not yet noon when the advance guard came upon an unusual sight. +The plain was torn and scored and covered with sheepskin saddle-pads, +broken riding gear, battered and discarded firelocks of so ancient a +vintage that it were doubtful whether they would be as dangerous to an +enemy as they might be to their owners; broken lances, bows and arrows, +torn clothing, a two-wheeled cart overturned and partly burned, and half +a score dead mules and horses.</p> + +<p>Captain Woodson looked from the strewed ground, around the faces of his +companions.</p> + +<p>"Injuns an' greasers?" he asked, glancing at the remains of the +<i>carreta</i> in explanation of the "greaser" end of the couplet. The +replies were affirmative in nature until Tom Boyd, looking fixedly at +one remnant of clothing, swept it from the ground and regarded it in +amazement. Without a word he passed it on to Hank, who eyed it knowingly +and sent it along.</p> + +<p>"I'm bettin' th' Texans licked 'em good," growled Tom. "It's about time +somebody paid 'em fer that damnable, two thousand mile trail o' +sufferin' an' death! Wish I'd had a hand in this fight!"</p> + +<p>Assenting murmurs came from the hunters and trappers, all of whom would +have been happy to have pulled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> trigger with the wearers of the coats +with the Lone Star buttons.</p> + +<p>Tom shook his head after a moment's reflection. "Hope it war reg'lar +greaser troops an' not poor devils pressed inter service. That's th' +worst o' takin' revenge; ye likely take it out o' th' hides of them that +ain't to blame, an' th' <i>guilty</i> dogs ain't hurt."</p> + +<p>"Mebby Salezar war leadin' 'em!" growled Hank. "Hope so!"</p> + +<p>"Hope not!" snapped Tom, his eyes glinting. "<i>I</i> want Salezar! I want +him in my two hands, with plenty o' time an' nobody around! I'd as soon +have <i>him</i> as Armijo!"</p> + +<p>"Who's he?" asked a tenderfoot. "And what about the Texans, and this +fight here?"</p> + +<p>"He's the greaser cur that had charge o' th' Texan prisoners from Santa +Fe to El Paso, where they war turned over to a gentleman an' a +Christian," answered Tom, his face tense. "I owe him fer th' death, by +starvation an' abuse, of as good a friend as any man ever had: an' if I +git my hands on him he'll pay fer it! <i>That's</i> who he is!"</p> + +<p>The first day's travel across the dry stretch, notwithstanding the start +had been later than was hoped for, rolled off more than twenty miles of +the flat, monotonous plain. Even here the grama grass was not entirely +missing, and a nooning of two hours was taken to let the animals crop as +much of it as they could find. While the caravan was now getting onto +the fringe of the Kiowa and Comanche country, trouble with these tribes, +at this time of the year, was not expected until the Cimarron was +reached and for this reason the urging for mileage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> was allowed to keep +the wagons moving until dark. During the night the wagoners arose +several times to change the picket stakes of their animals, hoping by +this and by lengthened ropes to make up for the scantiness of the grass. +In one other way was the sparsity of the grazing partly made up, for the +grama grass was a concentrated food, its small seed capsules reputed to +contain a nourishment approaching that of oats of the same size.</p> + +<p>The heat of the day had been oppressive and the contents of the water +casks were showing the effects of it. The feather-headed or stubborn +know-it-alls who had ignored the call of "water scrape" back on the bank +of the Arkansas now were humble pilgrims begging for drinks from their +more provident companions. Tom and Hank had filled their ten-gallon +casks and put them in Joe Cooper's wagons for the use of his and their +animals which, being mules, found a dry journey less trying than the +heavy-footed oxen of other teams. The mules also showed an ability far +beyond their horned draft fellows in picking up sufficient food; they +also were free from the foot troubles which now began to be shown by the +oxen. The triumphant wagoners of the muddier portions of the trail, +whose oxen had caused them to exult by the way they had out-pulled the +mules in every mire, now became thoughtful and lost their levity.</p> + +<p>Breakfast was cooked and eaten before daylight and the wagons were +strung out in the four column formation before dawn streaked the sky. A +few buffalo wallows, half full of water from the recent rains, relieved +the situation, and the thirsty animals emptied their slightly alkaline +contents to the last obtainable drop. This second day found the plain +more barren, more desolate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> its flat floor apparently interminable, and +the second night camp was not made until after dark, the wagons +corralling by the aid of candle lanterns slung from their rear axles. It +was a silent camp, lacking laughter and high-pitched voices; and the +begging water seekers, while not denied their drinks, were received with +a sullenness which was eloquent. One of them was moved to complain +querulously to Tom Boyd of the treatment he had received at one wagon, +and forthwith learned a few facts about himself and his kind.</p> + +<p>"Look hyar," drawled Tom in his best frontier dialect. "If I war runnin' +this caravan yer tongue would be hangin' out fer th' want o' a drink. +You war warned, fair an' squar, back on th' Arkansas, ter carry all th' +water ye could. But ye knew it all, jest like ye know it all every time +a better man gives ye an order. If it warn't fer yer kind th' Injuns +along th' trail would be friendly. Hyar, let me tell ye somethin':</p> + +<p>"We been follerin', day after day, a plain trail, so plain that even +<i>you</i> could foller it. But thar was a time when thar warn't no trail, +but jest an unmarked plain, without a landmark, level as it is now, all +'round fur's th' eye could reach. Thar warn't much knowed about it years +ago, an' sometimes a caravan wandered 'round out hyar, its water gone +an' th' men an' animals slowly dyin' fer a drink. Some said go <i>this</i> +way, some said to go <i>that</i> way; others, <i>other</i> ways. Nobody knowed +which war right, an' so they went every-which way, addin' mile to mile +in thar wanderin'. Then they blindly stumbled onter th' Cimarron, which +they had ter do if they follered thar compasses an' kept on goin' south; +an' when they got thar they found it dry! Do ye understand that?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> They +found th' river <i>dry</i>! Jest a river bed o' sand, mile after mile, dry as +a bone.</p> + +<p>"Which way should they go? It warn't a question <i>then</i>, o' headin' fer +Santa Fe; but o' headin' <i>any</i> way a-tall ter git ter th' nearest water. +If they went down they was as bad off as if they went up, fer th' bed +war dry fer miles either way in a dry season. Sufferin'? Hell! you don't +know what sufferin' is! A few o' you fools air thirsty, but yer beggin' +gits ye water. Suppose thar warn't no water a-tall in th' hull caravan, +fer men, wimmin, children, or animals? Suppose ye war so thirsty that +you'd drink what ye found in th' innards o' some ol' buffalo yer war +lucky enough ter kill, an' near commit murder ter git furst chanct at +it? That war done onct. Don't ye let me hear ye bellerin' about bein' +thirsty! Suppose we all had done like you, back thar on th' Arkansas? +An' don't ye come ter <i>us</i> fer water! If we had bar'ls o' it, we'd pour +it out under yer nose afore we'd give ye a mouthful! Yer larnin' some +lessons this hyar trip, but yer larnin' 'em too late. Go 'bout yer +business an' think things over. We're comin' ter bad Injun country. If +ye got airy sense a-tall in yer chuckle head ye'll mebby have a chanct +ter show it."</p> + +<p>Before noon on the third day, after crossing more broken country which +was cut up with many dry washes through which the wagons wallowed in +imminent danger of being wrecked, the caravan came to the Cimarron, and +found it dry. Cries of consternation broke out on all sides, and were +followed by dogmatic denials that it was the Cimarron. The arguments +waged hotly between those who were making their first trip and the more +experienced traders. Who ever heard of a dry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> river? This was only +another dry wash, wider and longer, but only a wash. The Cimarron lay +beyond.</p> + +<p>Here ensued the most serious of all the disagreements, for a large +number of the members of the caravans scoffed when told that by +following the plain wagon tracks they would soon reach the lower spring +of the Cimarron. How could the spring be found when this was not the +Cimarron River at all? They knew that when Woodson had been elected at +Council Grove that he was not fitted to take charge of the caravan; that +his officers were incompetent, and now they were sure of it. Anyone with +sense could see that this was no river. If it were a river, then the +prairie-dog mounds they had just passed were mountains. Here was a +situation which needed more than tact, for if the doubting minority was +allowed to follow their inclinations they might find a terrible death at +the end of their wanderings. Dogmatic and pugnacious, almost hysterical +in their repeated determination to go on and find the river, they must +be saved, by force if necessary, from themselves. They would not listen +to the plea that they go on a few miles and let the spring prove them to +be wrong; there was no spring to be found in a few miles if it was +located on the Cimarron. Woodson and others argued, begged, and at last +threatened. They pointed out that they were familiar with every foot of +the trail from one end to the other; that they had made the journey year +after year, spring and fall; that here was the deeply cut trail, +pointing out the way to water, where other wagons had rolled before +them, following the plain and unequivocal tracks. The debate was growing +noisier and more heated when Tom stepped forward and raised his hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Listen!" he shouted again and again, and at last was given a grudged +hearing. "Let's prove this question, for it's a mighty serious one," he +cried. "Last year, where th' trail hit th' Cimarron, which had some +water in it then, a team of mules, frantic from thirst, ran away with a +Dearborn carriage as the driver was getting out. When we came up with +them we found one of them with a broken leg, struggling in the wreckage +of the carriage. I have not been out of your sight all morning, and if I +tell you where to find that wrecked carriage, and you <i>do</i> find it, +you'll know that I'm tellin' th' truth, an' that this is th' Cimarron. +Go along this bank, about four hundred yards, an' you'll find a +steep-walled ravine some thirty feet higher than th' bed of th' river. +At th' bottom of it, a hundred yards from th' river bank, you'll find +what's left of th' Dearborn. When you come back we'll show you how to +relieve your thirst and to get enough water to let you risk goin' on to +th' spring."</p> + +<p>Sneers and ridicule replied to him, but a skeptical crowd, led by the +man he had lectured the night before, followed his suggestion and soon +returned with the word that the wrecked carriage had been found just +where Tom had said it would be. The contentious became softened and made +up in sullenness what they lacked in pugnacity; for there are some who, +proven wrong, find cause for anger in the correction, their stubbornness +of such a quality that it seems to prefer to hold to an error and take +the penalties than to accept safety by admitting that they are wrong.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the experienced travelers had gone down into the river +bed and dug holes in the sand which,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> thanks to the recent rains, was a +masked reservoir and yielded all the water needed at a depth of two or +three feet. After a hard struggle with the thirsty animals to keep them +from stampeding for the water their nostrils scented, at last all had +been watered and the wagons formed for the noon camp. Humbled greenhorns +who had neglected the "water scrape" at the Arkansas were silently +digging holes along the river bed and filling every vessel they could +spare. They were making the acquaintance of a river of a kind they never +had seen before.</p> + +<p>Here they found a dry stretch, despite the heavy rains; had they now +gone down or up its bed they would have found alternating sections of +water and dry sand, and in the water sections they would have found a +current. Some of the traders maintained that its real bed was solid, +unfractured rock, many feet below the sand which covered it, which held +the water as in a pipe and let it follow its tendency to seek its level. +The deep sand blotted and hid the meager stream where the bottom was +farther below the sand's surface; but where the porous layer was not so +thick, the volume of water, being larger than that of the sand, +submerged the filling and flowed in plain sight. Some of the more +uncritical held that the water flowed with the periodicity of tides, +which like many other irrational suppositions, seemed to give the +required explanation of the river's peculiarities. There was no doubt, +however, about the porosity of its sandy bed, nor the amount of sand in +it, for even after the most severe and prolonged summer rainstorms, +which filled the river to overflowing, a few days sufficed to dry it up +again and restore its characteristics.</p> + +<p>Having full water casks again the hysteria had sub<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>sided and the caravan +set out toward the lower spring, which was reached just before +nightfall. Here they found two men comfortably camped, despite the fact +that they were in the country of their implacable foes. At first they +showed a poorly hidden alarm at the appearance of the wagons but, +finding that they aroused no especial interest, they made themselves a +part of the camp and began to get acquainted; but it was noticeable that +they chose the hunters and trappers in preference to the traders, and +carefully ignored the many Mexicans with the train. But no matter how +careful they were in their speech they could not hide their identity, +for the buttons on their torn and soiled clothing all showed the Lone +Star of Texas, and to certain of the plainsmen this insignia made them +cordially welcome. Among the Mexicans it made them just as cordially +hated.</p> + +<p>Tom Boyd espied them when the corral had been formed and invited them to +join him and Hank at supper. A few words between the Texans and the two +plainsmen established a close bond between them, and they became friends +the instant Tom mentioned the partner he had lost on the march of the +First Texan Expedition. Hank's careless reference to the treatment his +partner had given Armijo on the streets of Santa Fe caused them to look +carefully around and then, in low voices, tell the two plainsmen about +the events which recently had transpired between the Cimarron and the +Arkansas.</p> + +<p>"Th' greasers in this hyar train air plumb lucky," said one of the +Texans, who called himself Jed Burch. "Ain't that so, Buck?"</p> + +<p>Buck Flint nodded sourly. "They kin thank them d——d dragoons o' yourn, +friend," he answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How's that?" asked Tom. "An' what about th' fight we saw signs of, a +couple o' days back?"</p> + +<p>"It's all part of a long story," replied Jed, gloomily. "Reckon ye might +as well have th' hull of it, so ye'll know what's up, out hyar." He +looked around cautiously. "Don't want no d——d greasers larnin' it, +though. Who air these fellers comin' now?"</p> + +<p>"Good friends o' ourn," said Hank. "Couple o' hunters that hang out, +most o' th' time, at Bent's Fort."</p> + +<p>Jim and Zeb arrived, were introduced and vouched for, and the little +circle sat bunched together as the strangers explained some recent +history.</p> + +<p>"Ye see, boys," began Burch, "us Texans air pizen ag'in greasers, +'specially since Armijo treated McLeod's boys wuss nor dogs. So a passel +o' us got together this spring an' come up hyar ter git in a crack they +wouldn't fergit. Me an' Buck, hyar, was with th' first crowd, under +Warfield, an' we larned 'em a lesson up on th' Mora. Thar warn't more'n +a score of us, an' we raided that village, nigh under th' nose o' Santer +Fe, killed some o' th' greasers, didn't lose a man, an' run off every +hoss they had, ter keep 'em from follerin' us. But we got careless an' +one night th' danged greasers an' settlement Injuns come up ter us an' +stampeded all thar own hosses an' ourn, too, an' didn't give us a lick +at 'em. That put us afoot with all our stuff. Thar warn't nothin' we +could do, then, but burn our saddles an' what we couldn't carry, an' +hoof it straight fer Bent's. We was on U.S. soil thar, so Warfield +disbanded us an' turned us loose; but we knowed whar ter go, an' we +went.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Snively war ter be at a sartin place on th' Arkansas, an' he +war thar. We jined up with him an'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> went along this hyar trail, larnin' +that Armijo war a-lookin' fer us somewhar on it. Hell! He warn't +a-lookin' fer us: he had a powerful advance guard out feelin' th' way, +but <i>he</i> warn't with it. We come up ter that party and cleaned it up, +nobody on our side gittin' more'n a scratch. But we couldn't git no news +about th' caravan that war due ter come along 'most any day, an' some o' +th' boys got discouraged an' went home. Th' rest o' us went back ter th' +Arkansas, campin' half a day's ride below th' Caches, whar we could keep +our eyes on th' old crossin' an' th' main trail at th' same time. An' we +hadn't been thar very long afore 'long comes th' caravan, full o' +greasers. But, hell: it war guarded by a couple hundred dragoons under +yer Captain Cook which kept us from hittin' it till it got acrost th' +river an' past th' sand-hills, whar U.S. troops dassn't go, seein' it's +Texas soil.</p> + +<p>"Everythin' would 'a' been all right if Snively hadn't got polite an' +went over ter visit Cook. They had a red-hot palaver, Cook sayin' he +warn't goin' ter escort a caravan till it was plumb inter danger an' +then stand by an' let it go on ter git wiped out. Snively told him we +warn't aimin' ter wipe it out, but only ter get th' greasers with it. +They had it powerful hard, I heard, an' Cook up an' says he's goin' ter +take our guns away from us if it cost him every man he had. Danged if he +didn't do it, too!"</p> + +<p>Flint was laughing heartily and broke in. "Wonder what he thought o' our +weapons?" he exulted. "Not one o' 'em that he got from <i>our</i> bunch war +worth a dang."</p> + +<p>Burch grinned in turn. "Ye see, we had took th' guns belongin' ter +Armijo's scoutin' party, an' when Cook took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> up his collection, a lot o' +th' boys, hidin' thar own good weapons, sorrerfully hands over th' +danged <i>escopetas</i> an' blunderbusses an' bows an' arrers o' th' +greasers. However, he disarmed us an' kept us thar till th' caravan got +such a big start thar warn't no earthly use o' goin' after it, thar not +bein' more'n sixty or seventy o' us that had good weapons. Some o' th' +boys struck out fer home, an' a couple o' score went with th' dragoons +back ter Missouri. Us that war left, about as many as went home, made +Warfield captain ag'in an' went after th' danged caravan, anyhow. We +follered it near ter Point o' Rocks before we gave it up. Nobody +reckoned thar war two caravans on th' trail this year, so Warfield an' +most o' th' boys went back ter Texas; but thar's considerable few o' us +roamin' 'round up hyar, dodgin' th' Comanches on a gamble o' gittin' in +a crack at some o' Armijo's sojers that might come scoutin' 'round ter +see if we has all went back. Anyhow, bein' so fur from home, an' +hankerin' fer a little huntin', we figgered that we might stay up hyar +till fall, or mebby all winter if we hung out at Bent's."</p> + +<p>"We made a big mistake, though," confessed Flint. "Ye see, a greaser +must 'a' got away from that fight an' took th' news ter Armijo. When we +passed Cold Spring, follerin' th' caravan, we come on his camp, an' it +war plumb covered with ridin' gear an' belongin's that none o' his brave +army had time ter collect proper. Some o' us that had ter burn our +saddles war ridin' bareback, but we got saddles thar. He must 'a' lit +out <i>pronto</i> when he larned Texans war a-rampagin' along th' trail. From +th' signs he didn't even wait fer th' caravan he war goin' ter protect, +but jest went a-kiyotin' fer home."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He knew th' difference between starved an' betrayed Texans, an' Texans +that war fixed ter fight," growled Tom. "Go on: what was th' mistake?"</p> + +<p>"Wall, Warfield said that if we had made that vanguard surrender +peaceful, which they would 'a' done, we could 'a' captured every man, +kept th' news from Armijo, an' larned jest whar ter find him. He would +'a' been waitin' fer his scoutin' party, an' some mornin' about daylight +he would 'a' found a scoutin' party—from Texas, an' mad an' mean as +rattlers. It don't allus pay ter let yer tempers git th' best o' ye, an' +make ye jump afore ye look. We'd 'a' ruther got Armijo than th' whole +cussed advance guard, an' th' rest o' his army, too."</p> + +<p>"With Salezar," muttered Tom.</p> + +<p>Burch jumped. "Aye!" he snarled. "With Salezar! Fer them two I'd 'a' +been in favor o' lettin' all th' rest go!"</p> + +<p>"What you boys goin' ter do now?" asked Hank.</p> + +<p>"Fool 'round up hyar, dodgin' war-parties that air too big ter lick," +answered Flint. "We been scoutin' up th' river, an' our friends air on a +scout back in th' hills, tryin' ter locate th' nearest Comanche village. +We cleaned out one on th' way up, back on th' Washita. We're aimin' ter +run a big buffaler hunt as soon as we locates th' hostiles."</p> + +<p>"How many are there of you?" asked Tom, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"'Bout a dozen or fifteen: why?" asked Burch.</p> + +<p>"Not a very big party to be playin' tag with th' Comanches in thar own +country," Tom replied.</p> + +<p>With his foot Burch pushed a stick back into the fire and then glanced +around the little circle. "Wonder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> what th' <i>white</i> men o' this wagon +train would do if we rode up an' asked fer th' greasers in it ter be +turned over ter us?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Tom smiled. "Fight as long as we could pull trigger," he answered. "We +ain't betrayin' no members o' th' caravan. Lord knows we don't like +greasers, an' we <i>do</i> feel strong for Texas; but we'd be plain skunks if +we didn't stick with our feller travelers."</p> + +<p>"An' what could we say when we got inter Santer Fe, if we dared go +thar?" asked Hank.</p> + +<p>Burch nodded, shrugged his shoulders, and changed the subject to that of +the unfortunate First Texan Expedition and the terrible sufferings it +underwent, a subject at that time very prominent in all Texan hearts. It +did not take them long to judge accurately the real feelings of their +hosts and to learn that their sympathies were all for Texas; but even +with this knowledge they did not again refer to anything connected with +their presence along the trail; instead, they were careful to create the +impression that their little party intended to start almost immediately +northwest across the Cimarron desert for Bent's Fort, and from there to +scour the plains for buffalo skins. They even asked about the Bayou +Salade and its contiguous mountain "parks" as a place to hunt and trap +during the coming winter. After dark they said their good-byes and left +the encampment, to the vast relief of the Mexicans with the train. And +that night and the next, the Mexicans who chanced to be on watch were +the most alert of all the guards.</p> + +<p>After their guests had gone the four friends sat in silence for awhile, +reviewing what they had learned, and then Hank spoke up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Reckon we better tell Woodson that thar won't be no greaser troops +waitin' fer us this trip?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Tom was about to nod, but changed his mind and quickly placed his hand +on his partner's shoulder. "No," he said slowly. "I'm beginnin' ter see +through th' holes in th' ladder! Not a word, boys, ter <i>anybody</i>! +Pedro's lie about thar bein' no guard ter meet us this year ain't a lie +no more; but he don't know it, an' he ain't goin' ter know it! Meantime, +we'll keep our ears an' eyes open, an' be ready ter jump like cats. I +got a suspicion!"</p> + +<p>"I got a bran' new one," chuckled Hank. "Hurrah for Texas!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE VALLEY OF THE CIMARRON<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Because of the next stretch to certain water, a matter of about +thirty-five miles, another very early start was made after the +surrounding country had been searched by the plainsmen for signs of +Indians. Although later in the season than usual for a caravan to cover +this part of the route, the dreaded dry stretch along the usually empty +river bed was found broken here and there by shallow pools and advantage +was taken of these to soak the wooden rims of some of the older and more +faulty wagon wheels. One trader with a wagon which never should have +left Missouri had been put to great trouble to keep the tires on his two +front wheels and had "borrowed" about all the wire and hoop-iron his +friends felt disposed to give him. He had driven so many pieces of iron +between the felloes and the tires that daylight could be seen between +the two; and on topping a little hill between two ravines near the river +bank one of the tires slipped off and went rolling and bounding down the +slope onto the dry river bed. Amid roars of laughter the column stopped +until he had recovered it and re-wedged it onto the wheel, and at the +next nooning stop he drove the wagon into a trickle of water running +down the middle of the river bed and spent most of his time backing and +pulling to get every part of the wheels soaked.</p> + +<p>A strong body of scouts which had pushed on ahead of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> the column +returned shortly after the noon camp had been left, and reported that +about ten miles farther on a section of the river several hundred yards +long was full of water. Not being able to make the Middle Spring that +day, this wet section of the river was decided upon for the night camp. +A score of mounted men were sent on ahead to scour the country for signs +of Indians, but became so hungry for the numerous kinds of wild fruits +and berries along the sides of the ravines, that they did their work +poorly and did not reach the proposed camp site much before the caravan +got there.</p> + +<p>The country was cut by a maze of ravines and gullies and studded with +small hills, little pastures of excellent grass nestling between them. +As the wagons filed down a narrow road onto a pasture fronting on the +Cimarron a plainsman, who had pushed on ahead of the caravan because he +doubted the seriousness and intelligence of the scouting party, was seen +dashing down to the farther bank of the river and splashing across it +without checking the speed of his horse.</p> + +<p>One look at him was enough for Woodson, and the sharp blast of the bugle +cut the air. Wagoners whipped their tired teams into the best speed they +could give and the clatter and screeching of the rumbling wagons filled +the air as they raced around into the circular formation. The scout +barely had left the river and the wagons still were forming when over +the crest of a hill across the stream appeared a mass of horsemen, their +lances standing like drunken pickets against the sky. No need to ask +what tribe they belonged to, for the hint conveyed by their lances soon +was endorsed by their fantastic two-color blankets, one half red and the +other half blue. Most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> of them wore, in addition to the regular attire +of the plains Indians, a leather jacket, and from the heels of their +moccasins trailed tassels, another mark of their tribe.</p> + +<p>These warriors, magnificent specimens of manhood and superb horsemen, +appeared to be gigantic as they paused and spread out along the crest of +the hill, boldly outlined against the bright sky behind them. They +watched the running circle of wagons stop by jerks as vehicle after +vehicle crowded against the one ahead of it and came to a stand, the +teams inside the corral. They rode slowly down the hill, their numbers +constantly growing, as a line of defenders moved out from the encampment +to interpose itself between the camp and the Comanche warriors; and as +the line stopped to wait for the cannons to get into position the red +enemy charged with a bedlam of whoops and yells. The two quick roars of +the cannons and the hurtling solid shot, which raised dust-puffs high up +on the hill, checked them and they spread out into two thin lines of +racing horsemen running toward both sides of the encampment.</p> + +<p>Woodson, glad that the cannoneers had missed in their panicky aim, +ordered the defenders to fall back to the wagons, which they were only +too glad to do; but they did not obey his command to cease firing, and +sent their hastily aimed balls in the general direction of the enemy. No +harm was done by these, not only because of the poor aim but also +because the racing Indians were as yet well out of rifle shot and were +hanging over on the far side of their mounts.</p> + +<p>Tom ran to the frantically working cannoneers and threw himself among +them without regard to how he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> handled them, shouting for them not to +fire until Woodson gave the word, and then to load with musket balls and +fire as fast and true as they could. Franklin joined him, his face as +black as a thunder cloud, and made threats they knew he would carry out +if the instructions were not obeyed.</p> + +<p>The racing line drew nearer and nearer, those of the warriors who had +guns discharging them into the air. It looked like a desperate fight was +only a few seconds away when Hank yelled his discovery. Over the crest +of the same hill appeared the women and children of the tribe, their +dogs dragging burdens on their small travoises and the horses pulling +the dragging lodgepoles loaded down with the possessions of their +owners. This meant peace, for if war was intended, all but the warriors +would have been sent away. Some of the more quickwitted of the plainsmen +and traders waved their hats at the debouching village across the river, +and Woodson, with Tom and Franklin at his side, held up his hand and +walked toward the slowing line. An arrow suddenly quivered in the ground +almost under his feet and he stopped, raising both hands. An Indian +dashed back across the river, where he berated a group of non-combatants +and waved them toward the top of the hill. The traveling village +instantly became a confusion of quick movement and climbed the hill and +dipped over its crest much quicker than it had appeared.</p> + +<p>Woodson swore under his breath. "Reckon we got ter fight, boys. Look +sharp an' fall back ter th' caravan. Drop th' first brave that lifts bow +an' arrer!" He glanced back to see how far they had to go and glimpsed a +dozen men under Hank and Zeb coming to their aid.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> He raised his hand to +them and they instantly dropped to their knees, their rifles leaping to +their shoulders. "Now," he grated. "We're bein' covered; turn an' run!" +As the three men reached the covering party they checked themselves, +joined it, faced the savages, and the entire party fell slowly back to +the wagons.</p> + +<p>"Funny they didn't send in more'n that one arrer," growled Woodson, +thoroughly puzzled. "These hyar ain't Pawnee hoss-stealers; thar +fightin' men. <i>Knock down that gun!</i>" he snapped as a tenderfoot rested +a powerful rifle across a wagon wheel. The man beside the ambitious +Indian fighter struck it aside and the ball went into the ground. "Th' +next man as pulls trigger till I says fer him to is goin' to be d——d +sorry!" cried the captain, drawing his pistol.</p> + +<p>The running line, moving back farther under the threat of the two +cannons, gradually stopped, facing the waiting defenders. It seemed like +the calm that precedes a storm. Then down the hill across the river came +a small group of savages more outrageously decked out than any seen so +far.</p> + +<p>"Th' chiefs," growled Woodson. "Hope we git out o' this without a fight. +Even th' Comanches ain't usually anxious ter git inter a clawin' match +with Americans, though they air th' best o' th' prairie tribes."</p> + +<p>"They do about what they please with th' Mexicans," replied Tom; "but +they've larned that Americans air a different breed, an' have better +guns. But some o' thar raids inter Texas have puffed 'em up. I don't +like thar village climbin' back over that hill."</p> + +<p>"If it's ter be peace, I'd a cussed sight ruther have it over th' hill +than planted somewhar close ter us; they'd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> over-run th' camp an' +friction would be shore ter grow. While mebby they can't steal as slick +as th' Pawnees, they kin do it good enough ter make us cross-eyed +watchin' 'em. Some tenderfoot shore will ketch one of 'em stealin' his +belongin's an' start a fight thar an' then, with a hull passel o' 'em +inside th' corral. Wall, we'll soon find out what's goin' ter come of +it; they've jined th' line."</p> + +<p>The white defenders eagerly watched the pow-wow being held to the +southwest of the encampment, their rifles balanced for quick handling; +then they slowly relaxed and some rested their weapons on the ground. +The consulting group of warriors split and from it, riding with slow +dignity toward the wagons, came two chiefs and two lesser warriors. They +held up their hands when within rifle shot and stopped. Woodson, Tom, +Franklin, and Haviland, mounted this time, rode with the same slow +dignity out to meet them. Franklin could speak their tongue well enough +to make himself understood, and Woodson and Tom knew the universal sign +language well enough to express themselves in it. As they left the camp +they caught a glimpse of another band of warriors riding around the +upper end of the hill and roughly estimated the combined force to be +close to five hundred. Here was good reason to be as tactful as +possible. When within speaking distance of the Comanche envoys they drew +up and the two groups eyed each other in silence for several minutes.</p> + +<p>"Our village on the Washita is no more," said a chief who had enough +long hair to supply any hirsute deficiency of a dozen men and not suffer +by it. "Its ashes are blown by the winds and its smoke brings tears to +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> eyes of our squaws and children. Our winter maize is gone and our +storehouses lie about the ground. White Buffalo and his braves were +hunting the buffalo beyond the Cimarron. Their old men and their squaws +and children were with them. Some of my young men have just returned and +brought us this news. What have the white men to say of this?"</p> + +<p>"Our hearts are heavy for our friends the Comanches," answered Woodson. +"There are many tribes of white men, as there are many tribes of +Indians. There are the Americanos, the Mexicanos, the Englise, and the +Tejanos. The Americans come from the North and the East along their +great trail, with goods to trade and with friendship for the Comanches. +The Mexicanos would not dare to burn a Comanche village; but with the +Tejanos are not the Comanches at war? And we have seen Tejanos near the +trail. We have seen where they defeated Armijo's soldiers, almost within +sight of the Arkansas River. Cannot White Buffalo read the signs on the +earth? Our trail is plain for many days to the east, for all to see. Has +he seen our wagon tracks to the Washita? Are his young men blind? We are +many and strong and have thunder guns, but we do not fight except to +protect ourselves and our goods. We are traders."</p> + +<p>"We are warriors!" exclaimed the chief. "We also are many and strong, +and our lances are short that our courage may be long. White Buffalo has +listened. He believes that the white chief speaks with a single tongue. +His warriors want the white man's guns and powder; medicine guns that +shoot like the clapping of hands. Such have the Tejanos. He has skins +and meat and <i>mulos</i>."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The medicine guns are Tejano medicine," replied Woodson. "We have only +such as I see in the hands of some of our friends, the Comanches. Powder +and lead we have little, for we have come far and killed much game; blue +and red cloth we have, medicine glasses, beads, awls, knives, tobacco, +and firewater we have much of. Our mules are strong and we need no +more." He looked shrewdly at a much-bedecked Indian at the chief's side. +"We have presents for the Comanche Medicine Man that only his eyes may +see."</p> + +<p>The medicine man's face did not change a muscle but there came a gleam +to his eyes that Woodson noted.</p> + +<p>"The Comanches are not like the Pawnees or Cheyennes to kill their eyes +and ears with firewater," retorted the chief. "We are not Pawnee dogs +that we must hide from ourselves and see things that are not. Our hair +is long, that those may take it who can. I have spoken."</p> + +<p>There was some further talk in which was arranged a visit from the +Comanche chief; the bartering price of mules, skins, and meat, as was +the custom of this tribe; a long-winded exchange of compliments and +assurances of love and good will, in the latter both sides making plenty +of reservations.</p> + +<p>When Woodson and his companions returned to the encampment they went +among the members of the caravan with explicit instructions, hoping by +the use of tact and common sense to avert friction with their expected +visitors. Small articles were put away and the wagon covers tightly +drawn to minimize the opportunities of the Indians for theft.</p> + +<p>The night passed quietly and the doubled guard apparently was wasted. +Shortly after daylight the opposite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> hill suddenly swarmed with dashing +warriors, whose horsemanship was a revelation to some of the tenderfeet. +Following the warriors came the non-combatants of the tribe, pouring +down the slope in noisy confusion. Woodson swore under his breath as he +saw the moving village enter the shallow waters of the river to camp on +the same side with the caravan, for it seemed that his flowery +assurances of love and esteem had been taken at their face value; but he +was too wise to credit this, knowing that Indians were quick to take +advantage of any excuse that furthered their ends. The closer together +the two camps were the more easily could the Indians over-run the +corralled traders.</p> + +<p>Reaching the encampment's side of the stream the lodges were erected +with most praiseworthy speed, laid out in rows, and the work finished in +a remarkably short time. The conical lodges averaged more than a dozen +feet in diameter and some of them, notably that of the chief, were +somewhere near twice that size.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the morning the chiefs and the more important warriors +paid their visit to the corral and were at once put in good spirits by a +salute from the cannons, a passing of the red-stone pipes, and by +receiving presents of tobacco and trade goods. While they sat on the +ground before Woodson's wagon and smoked, the medicine man seemed +restless and finally arose to wander about. He bumped into Tom Boyd, who +had been waiting to see him alone, and was quickly led to Franklin's +wagon where the owner, hiding his laughter, was waiting. It is well to +have the good will of the chiefs, but it is better also to have that of +the medicine man; and wily Hank Marshall never overlooked that end of it +when on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> trading expedition among the Indians. He had let Woodson into +his secret before the parley of the day before, and now his scheme was +about to bear fruit.</p> + +<p>Franklin made some mysterious passes over a little pile of goods which +was covered with a gaudy red cloth on which had been fastened some beads +and tinsel; and as he did so, both Tom and Hank knelt and bowed their +heads. Franklin stepped back as if fearful of instant destruction, and +then turned to the medicine man, who had overlooked nothing, with an +expression of reverent awe on his face.</p> + +<p>For the next few minutes Franklin did very well, considering that he +knew very little of what he was talking about, but he managed to convey +the information that under the red cloth was great medicine, found near +the "Thunderer's Nest," not far from the great and sacred red pipestone +quarry of the far north. The mention of this Mecca of the Indians, +sacred in almost every system of Indian mythology, made a great +impression on the medicine man and it was all he could do to keep his +avaricious fingers off the cloth and wait until Franklin's discourse was +finished. The orator wound up almost in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Here is a sour water that has the power to foretell peace or war," he +declaimed, tragically. "There are two powders, found by the chief of the +Hurons, under the very nest of the Thunder Bird. They look alike, yet +they are different. One has no taste and if it is put into some of the +sour water the water sleeps and tells of peace; but if the other, which +has a taste, is put in the medicine water, the water boils and cries for +war. It is powerful medicine and always works."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>The eyes of the red fakir gleamed, for with him often lay the decision +as to peace or war, and in this respect his power was greater even than +that of a chief. After a short demonstration with the water, to which +had been added a few drops of acid, the two powders, one of which was +soda, were tested out. The medicine man slipped his presents under his +robe, placed his fingers on his lips and strode away. When the next +Comanche war-council was held he would be a dominating figure, and the +fame of his medicine would spread far and wide over the Indian country.</p> + +<p>"Got him, body an' soul!" chuckled Franklin, rubbing his hands. "Did ye +see his mean ol' eyes near pop out when she fizzed? He saw all th' rest +o' th' stuff an' he won't rest till he gits it all; an' he won't git it +all till his tribe or us has left. He plumb likes th' fizz combination, +an' mebby would want to try it out hyar an' now. Thar won't be no +trouble with <i>these</i> Injuns this trip."</p> + +<p>"An' that thar black sand ye gave him," laughed Hank, leaning back +against a wagon wheel, "that looks like powder, so he kin make his spell +over real powder, slip th' sand in its place, an' show how his medicine +will fix th' powder of thar enemies so it won't touch off! Did ye see +th' grin on his leather face, when he savvied that? He's a wise ol' +fakir, <i>he</i> is!"</p> + +<p>Tom grinned at Franklin. "Hank, here, has got th' medicine men o' th' +Piegan Blackfeet eatin' out o' his hand. Every time th' Crows git after +him too danged hot he heads fer th' Blackfoot country. They only +follered him thar onct. What all did ye give 'em, Hank?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, lots o' little things," chuckled Hank, reminiscently. "Th' medicine +men o' th' Blackfeet air th' great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>est in th' world; thar ain't no +others kin come within a mile o' 'em, thanks ter me an' a chemist I know +back in St. Louie. Th' other traders allus git what I leave."</p> + +<p>When the important Indian visitors left there was quite a little +ceremony, and the camp was quiet until after the noon meal. Early in the +afternoon, according to the agreement with the chief and the medicine +man, the Indians visited the encampment in squads, and at no time was +there more than thirty or forty savages in the encampment at once. +Instead of the usual attempted stampede of the animals at night all was +peaceful; and instead of having to remain for two or three days in camp, +at all times in danger of a change in the mood of the savages, the +caravan was permitted to leave on the following morning, which miracle +threw Woodson into more or less of a daze. As the last wagon rounded a +hillock several miles from the camp site a mounted Comanche rode out of +the brush and went along the column until he espied Franklin; and a few +moments later he rode into the brush again, a bulging red cloth bundle +stowed under his highly ornamented robe.</p> + +<p>But there was more than the desire to trade, the professed friendship +and the bribery of the medicine man that operated for peace in the minds +of the Comanches. Never so early in the history of the trail had they +attacked any caravan as large as this one and got the best of the fight. +In all the early years of the trail the white men killed in such +encounters under such conditions, could be counted on the fingers of one +hand; while the Indian losses had been considerable. With all their +vaunted courage the Comanches early had learned the difference between +Americans and Mexicans, and most of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> attempts against large +caravans had been more for the purpose of stampeding the animals than +for fighting, and their efforts mostly had been "full of sound and +fury," like Macbeth's idiot's tale, and signified nothing. Still, the +caravan breathed easier as mile after mile took it away from that +encampment; but their escape was not regarded so seriously as to make +them pass Middle Spring, where good water always could be found, and +here they corralled.</p> + +<p>Tom and his friends had grown more alert since leaving the Arkansas, and +without showing it had kept a close watch over Pedro and his companions. +The actions of these and of a few Americans, Franklin among the latter, +seemed to merit scrutiny. A subtle change was taking place in them. +Franklin spent more of his time near Tom and Hank, and Pedro and some of +the Mexicans were showing a veiled elation tinged with anxiety. Wherever +Tom went he was watched, and if he joined the advance guard, or the rear +guard, or the flanking parties, Franklin was certain to show up. He +seemed to have taken a belated but strong fancy to the young plainsman. +When Hank and Tom took the packs from the backs of their mules at night +not a move they made was missed; and they soon learned that quite a few +of the Mexicans were sleeping in the wagons of friends during the +morning traveling.</p> + +<p>It was here at Middle Spring where Tom and Jim Ogden staged a serious +disagreement, which spread to one between Hank Marshall and Zeb +Houghton, and resulted in the two sets of partners becoming estranged. +When questioned about it in indirect ways by Franklin, Ogden sullenly +said that he could handle his troubles without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> the aid of others, and +<i>would</i> handle them "danged quick" if a certain plainsman didn't look +out. Zeb was not so cautious and his remarks, vague as they were, were +plain enough to bring fleeting smiles to the faces of Pedro and his +friends.</p> + +<p>The grass was better here than at any place since the Arkansas had been +left and as some of the animals were beginning to show unmistakable +signs of the long journey, it was decided to remain here another night +and give them a chance to recuperate a little. The news was hailed +joyfully and numerous hunting parties were arranged at the fires the +first night. Woodson called for volunteers to form a strong day guard +for the animals, which he wanted driven from the camp to graze over the +best grass, and he asked for another strong guard to watch the corral, +since Comanches, Pawnee Picts, Kiowas, and even more northern tribes out +on horse-stealing expeditions could be looked for without unduly +straining the imagination. Arapahoes, Utes, and even Cheyennes were not +strangers to the valley of the Cimarron, and once in a while Apache +raiders paid it flying visits.</p> + +<p>Woodson made the round of the fires, trying to discourage the formation +of so many small hunting parties while the caravan was corralled in such +broken and dangerous country, and succeeded in reducing the numbers of +the hunters about half and in consolidating them into two large parties, +capable of offering some sort of resistance to an Indian attack. One of +these he put under the command of Hank, to that person's great disgust, +for Hank had planned to go on a hunt with his partner, and to join Ogden +and Houghton when well away from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> camp. Tom was to remain with the +wagons; Ogden was to have charge of the other hunting party, and +Houghton and Franklin were to stay near the grazing herd.</p> + +<p>The fires dimmed here and there as their builders forsook them for +blankets; others glowed brilliantly, among them the fire of Tom and +Hank. The former had said good night to Joe Cooper and Patience and was +walking toward his fire when Pedro silently joined him and went along +with him. Hank was off entertaining a party of tenderfeet with tales of +miraculous adventures in the mountains, and after lying to the best of +his ability for two hours, and hardly being questioned, he described a +wonderful country lying east of Henry's Fork of the Snake River; south +of the Snow Mountains; north of Jackson's Lake and west of the Shoshones +Mountains. It lay along the Yellowstone River and the headwaters of the +Stinking Water, and it contained all manner of natural wonders, which he +described earnestly and graphically, to bursts of laughter. The more +earnest he became the more his auditors roared and finally he got to his +feet, glared around the circle, declared he was not going to "eddicate +airy passel o' danged fools," and stalked away in high dudgeon, +muttering fiercely. Reaching his own fire he threw himself down by it +and glared at the glowing embers as if he held them responsible.</p> + +<p>Tom nudged Pedro. "Somebody ask ye fer a left-hand wipin' stick, Hank?" +he asked.</p> + +<p>"Thar a passel o' fools!" snorted Hank. "If hoss sense war ten paces +wide an' ten miles long in every man, ye couldn't collect enough o' it +in th' whole danged party fer ter make an ear tab fer a buffaler gnat!"</p> + +<p>"Tellin' 'em about that thar river ye saw that couldn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> find no way +outer th' valley, an' finally had ter flow up over a mounting?"</p> + +<p>"Ye mean them up-side-down water falls?" queried Hank, grinning. "Yes, +an' some o' 'em come clost ter swallerin' it. Why, I sot thar an' filled +'em plumb ter th' ears with lies an' they didn't hardly wink an eye. +Then I told 'em o' that valley on th' Yallerstun, whar th' Injuns won't +go because they figger it's th' home o' th' Devil. An' th' more I told +'em about it, th' more th' danged fools laughed! I'd like ter hold 'em +over one o' them thar water-squirts, or push 'em down into th' bilin' +mud pots! Swallered th' lies, dang 'em, an' spit out th' truth!"</p> + +<p>Tom roared and after a moment looked curiously at his partner. "I +thought ye said you'd never tell nobody about that country ag'in?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I felt so danged sorry fer thar ignorance that I reckoned I'd +eddicate 'em, th' dumb fools! If I had a ox an' it didn't know more'n +them all put together, danged if I wouldn't shoot it!" He sliced off a +pipeful of tobacco and pulled an ember from the fire. "What you an' +Pedro been hatchin' out?"</p> + +<p>"Nothin', yit," answered Tom; "but I would like ter hear a little more +'bout that thar roundabout trail inter Santa Fe." He looked at Pedro. +"How fur away from hyar does it begin?"</p> + +<p>"Not so ver' far, señor," answered the Mexican. "Thees way from thee +Upper Spr-ring, where thee soldats are used to meet thee car-ravan. We +come to eet soon. We should leeve thees camp tomor-row night."</p> + +<p>"What's th' use o' that when ye said th' soldiers ain't goin' ter meet +us this year?" demanded Tom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why don't they meet th' trains whar they oughter, 'stead o' waitin' +till they git past th' Injun dangers?" demanded Hank with some feeling.</p> + +<p>"Does not thee señor know?" chuckled Pedro. "Eet ees not for protec' +thee car-ravan that they meet eet. Eet ees that no man may leave thee +tr-rail an' smuggle hees goods past thee customs. For what does Manuel +Armijo care for protec' thee traders? Eef he deed, would he not meet +them at thee Arkansas? Eet ees only for thee customs that he sends thee +soldats. To get away fr-rom theese we mus' tak thee other tr-rail befo' +eet ees too late."</p> + +<p>"That's all right fer other years," growled Tom; "but if they ain't +goin' ter meet us <i>this</i> time we kin stick ter th' trail an' leave it a +lot closer ter Santer Fe."</p> + +<p>Pedro was doing his best to play safe from all angles. If the troops +tried to take Tom Boyd from the caravan, or show that he was a prisoner, +a great deal of trouble might come out of it, for these Americans were +devils for sticking together. If that fear were groundless, then Tom +Boyd and his trapper friends, on sight of the troops, might cut and run; +and if forced to stand and fight they could be counted on to give a good +account of themselves against the poorer arms of their Mexican enemies; +and somewhere in the hills he thought there were Texans and he knew them +well enough to know that they would only be too glad to take a hand in +any fight against Mexicans if they learned of it in time. At first he +had been content to get Tom Boyd to the Upper Spring or to Cold Spring, +only a few miles farther on, and there turn his responsibility over to +the commander of the troops. If he could get them to slip away from +their friends and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> be captured out of sight and hearing of the caravan +it would suit him much better; and if he could coax them to take their +goods with them, he and his friends could divide the spoils and slip the +plunder past the customs officers. The caravan was now within fifty +miles of Cold Spring and he must make up his mind and act quickly.</p> + +<p>"Eet ees then you weesh to pay thee char-rges?" the Mexican asked, +raising his eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"No!" growled Hank. "They air a robbery, plain an' simple."</p> + +<p>"No!" said Tom, who was giving but little thought to the customs duties, +but a great deal to his own personal freedom. He did not want to meet +any kind of officers, customs or otherwise. He would have jumped at a +secret trail into the settlements had he not known so much about Pedro. +"At th' same time I ain't hankerin' fer ter leave th' caravan so soon. +We're nigh three hundred miles from Sante Fe, an' thar ain't no way we +kin go that'll cut off ten miles. This wagon road runs nigh as straight +as th' crow flies. What about grass fer th' mules, an' water?"</p> + +<p>"Ah," breathed Pedro. "We weel not go to Santa Fe, señor; we go near +Taos, less than two hundred mile away from here. Along thee Ocate +Cr-reek I haf fr-riends who know ver' well thee mountains. They weel tak +us over them. How can thee señores sell their goods onless by ways that +ar-re made? Weeth us we haf men that know that tr-rail. We weel send one +befor-re to thee Ocate, an' follow heem fast."</p> + +<p>Tom studied the fire for a few moments and then looked up at his guest. +"We want ter think this over, Pedro," he said. "You figger what per cent +o' th' cus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>toms savings you want fer yer share, an' we'll decide +tomorrow night. Hank, here, wants ter go ter Bent's an' reckons we kin +git a good price thar fer our goods. Let you know then. Good night."</p> + +<p>After Pedro had painted the picture of the innocent-looking loads of +faggots and sheepskins, hay and produce, towering over the backs of the +nearly hidden pack mules as they toiled through the canon and over the +rough trail leading from the Valley of Taos into Santa Fe, their loads +passing the customs house without drawing even a careless glance and +then, by many turnings, safely arriving at various destinations with +their smuggled goods; after he had described the care and foresight of +his friends and their trustworthiness, and made many knowing bows and +grimaces, he smilingly departed and left the partners to themselves.</p> + +<p>Knowing that they were being watched they idled before the fire, +careless now of their store of wood, of which plenty was at hand, and +talked at random; but through the droning of their careless words many +times there could be heard the name "Bent's Fort," which Hank mentioned +with affectionate inflections. It seemed that he very strongly preferred +to go to that great trading post and rendezvous of hunters and trappers, +where old friends would be met and new ones made. Tom held out for Santa +Fe, but did not show much enthusiasm. Finally they rolled up in their +blankets, feet toward the fire and heads close together and simulated +sleep. Half an hour later they were holding a whispered conversation +which was pitched so low they barely could hear each other.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<p class='center'>TEXAN SCOUTS<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + + +<p>The day broke clear and the usual excitement and bustle of the camp was +increased by the eager activities of the two hunting parties. After the +morning meal the animals were driven some distance from the camp and the +herd guards began their day's vigil. Tom placed the outposts and +returned to report to the captain, and then added that he had something +of a very confidential nature to tell him, but did not want to be seen +talking too long with him.</p> + +<p>Woodson reflected a moment. "All right; I'll come after ye in a few +minutes an' ask ye ter go huntin' with me. 'Twon't be onusual if we +ketch th' fever, too."</p> + +<p>Tom nodded and went over to Cooper's wagons to pay his morning's +respects, and to his chagrin found that Patience had gone for a short +ride with Doctor Whiting and his friends.</p> + +<p>"Sorry to miss her, Uncle Joe," he said. "Things are going to happen +fast for me from now on. I may leave the caravan tonight. About two +days' more travel and we'll be south of Bent's. Hank and I don't want to +lose our merchandise, we can't take it with us, and we need to turn it +into money. How much can you carry from here on?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<p>Uncle Joe scratched his head. "The two big wagons can take five +hundred-weight more apiece, and this wagon can stand near eight hundred, +seein' that it ain't carryin' much more than our personal belongings. +Don't worry, Tom; if I can't handle it all, Alonzo and Enoch can take +th' balance. Them greasers showing their cards?"</p> + +<p>"It's like this: According to those Texans we met, no troops are going +to meet us this trip. Their advance guard got thrashed and Armijo and +the main body turned tail at Cold Spring and fled back to Santa Fe. I +could go with the caravan miles farther and probably be safe; but if +Pedro gets a messenger away secretly there is no telling what may +happen. If I stay with the caravan and put up a fight it might end in +embroiling a lot of the boys and certainly would make trouble for them +if the train pushed on to Santa Fe, and it's got to push on. I won't +surrender meekly. So, you see, I'll have to strike out."</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe nodded. "If it wasn't for Patience, and my brother in Santa +Fe, I'd strike out with you. Goin' to Bent's?"</p> + +<p>"Bent's nothing!" retorted Tom. "I'm going to Santa Fe, but I'm going a +way of my own."</p> + +<p>"It's suicide, Tom," warned his friend. "Better let me take in your +stuff, an' meet us here on the way back. Patience won't spoil; an' when +she learns how much you're wanted by Armijo she'll worry herself sick if +she knows you are in th' city. Don't you do it!"</p> + +<p>Tom scowled at a break in the hills and in his mind's eye he could see +her riding gaily with his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> tenderfoot rivals. "Reckon she won't fall +away," he growled. "Anyhow, there's no telling; an' there's no reason +why she should know anything. I told her I was goin' to Santa Fe, an' +I'm going!"</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe was about to retort but thought better of it and smiled +instead. "Oh, these jealous lovers!" he chuckled. "Blind as bats! Who do +you know there, in case I want to get word to you?"</p> + +<p>Tom swiftly named three men and told where they could be found, his +companion nodding sharply at the mention of two of them.</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed the trader. "Throw your packs into my wagons an' I'll +see to stowin' 'em."</p> + +<p>"No," replied Tom. "That's got to be done when th' camp's asleep. I'm +supposed to be takin' 'em with me.</p> + +<p>"But these Mexicans'll trail you, an' get you when you're asleep," +objected Uncle Joe.</p> + +<p>Tom laughed and shook his head, and turned to face Woodson, who was +walking toward them. "Th' captain an' I am goin' huntin'. See you +later."</p> + +<p>"Git yer hoss, Boyd," called the captain. "I'm goin' fer mine now. How +air ye, Mr. Cooper?"</p> + +<p>"Never felt better in my life, captain. We all owe you a vote of thanks, +an' I'll see that you get it."</p> + +<p>"Thar ain't a man livin' as kin git a vote o' thanks fer me out o' this +caravan," laughed Woodson, his eyes twinkling. "But I ain't got no call +ter kick: I ain't had nigh th' trouble I figgered on. Jest th' same, +I'll be glad when we meet up with th' greaser troops at Cold Spring. I +aim to leave ye thar an' go on ahead an' fix things in th' city."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + +<p>Uncle Joe caught himself in time. "That's where we bust up?"</p> + +<p>Woodson nodded. "Thar ain't no organization from thar in. Don't need it, +with th' sojers. All us proprietors that ain't got reg'lar connections +in th' city will be leavin' from Cold Spring on."</p> + +<p>"Any danger from th' Injuns, leavin' that way?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we slip out at night," answered Woodson. "Thar ain't much danger +from any big bands. Got ter do it; customs officers air like axles; they +work better arter they air greased. I aim ter leave two waggins behind +th' noon arter we git to th' Upper Spring, an' save five hundred apiece +on 'em. Th' other six kin make it from thar with th' extry loads, an' +th' extry animals to help pull 'em." He looked toward the wagons of +Alonzo and Enoch, where Tom had tarried on his way back. "Thar's a fine, +upstandin' young man; I've had my eye on him ever since we left th' +Grove."</p> + +<p>"He is; an' anythin' he tells you is gospel," said Uncle Joe.</p> + +<p>They saw the two traders waving their arms and soon Tom hurried up.</p> + +<p>"Alonzo an' Enoch would like to go with us, only thar hosses air with +th' herd," he said.</p> + +<p>"Then we'll go afoot," declared Woodson. "I ain't hankerin' so much fer +a hunt as I air ter git away from these danged waggins fer a spell. I'm +sick o' th' sight o' 'em. Better come along, Mr. Cooper."</p> + +<p>"That depends on how fur yer goin'; this young scamp will walk me off my +feet."</p> + +<p>"Oh, jest a-ways around th' hills; dassn't go too fur,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> on account of +airy Injuns that may be hangin' 'round."</p> + +<p>In a few moments the little group had left the encampment behind and out +of sight and Woodson, waving the others ahead, fell back to Tom's side.</p> + +<p>"Hyar we air, with nobody ter listen. What ye want ter tell me?"</p> + +<p>To the captain's growing astonishment Tom rapidly sketched his +conversation with the two Texans, his affair with the despotic New +Mexican governor and what it now meant to him. Then he told of his +determination to leave the caravan some night soon, perhaps on this +night.</p> + +<p>"Wall, dang my eyes!" exclaimed Woodson at the conclusion of the +narrative. "Good fer them Texans! Young man, which hand did ye hit him +with? That un? Wall, I'll jest shake it, fer luck." He thought a moment. +"Ye air lucky, Boyd; north o' here, acrost th' headwaters o' this river, +an' a couple more streams, which might be dry now, ye'll hit th' +Picketwire, that's allus wet. If ye find th' little cricks dry, head +more westward an' ye'll strike th' Picketwire quicker. It'll take ye +nigh inter sight o' Bent's; an' thar ain't no finer men walkin' than +William an' Charles Bent. Hate ter lose ye, Boyd; but thar ain't no two +ways 'bout it; ye got ter go, or get skinned alive."</p> + +<p>"I'm not goin' ter Bent's, captain," said Tom quietly. "I'll be in Santa +Fe soon after you git thar. Hank knows them mountains like you know this +trail. When I'm missed if ye'll throw 'em off my track I'll not fergit +it." He smiled grimly. "If I war goin' ter Bent's they could foller, an' +be damned to 'em.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> I'd like nothin' better than have 'em chase us +through this kind o' country."</p> + +<p>Woodson chuckled and then grew thoughtful. "Boyd, them Texans air goin' +ter make trouble fer us, shore as shootin'. It'll be bad fer you, fer +every American in these settlements is goin' ter be watched purty clost. +Better go ter Bent's."</p> + +<p>"Nope; Hank an' me air headin' fer Turley's, up on Arroyo Hondo. Hank +knows him well. Hyar come th' others. I've told you an' Cooper, an' +that's enough. You fellers ain't turnin' back so soon, air ye?" he +called. "Ye don't call this a hunt? Whar's yer meat?"</p> + +<p>"Whar's yourn?" countered Alonzo, grinning. "I ate so many berries I got +cramps."</p> + +<p>"Us, too," laughed Uncle Joe. "My feet air tender, ridin' so long. We're +goin' back."</p> + +<p>"Might as well jine ye, then," said Woodson. "Comin', Boyd?"</p> + +<p>"Not fer awhile," answered Tom, pushing on.</p> + +<p>He made his way along the lower levels, reveling in the solitude and the +surroundings, and his keen eyes missed nothing. A mile from camp he +suddenly stopped and carefully parted the thick berry bushes. In the +soft soil were the prints of many horses, most of them shod. Cautiously +he followed the tracks and in a few moments came to the edge of a small, +heavily grassed clearing, so well hidden by the brush and the thick +growth of the trees along the encircling, steep-faced hills that its +presence hardly would be suspected. Closely cropped circles, each +centered by the hole made by a picket pin, told him the story; and when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +he had located the sand-covered site of the fire, whose ashes and sticks +carefully had been removed, an imprint in the soft clay brought a smile +to his face.</p> + +<p>"Following us close," he muttered. "Lord help any Mexicans that wander +away from the wagons. Nearer twenty than what they said." He slipped +along the edge of the pasture and found where the party had left the +little ravine. Following the trail he soon came to another matted growth +of underbrush, and then he heard the barely audible stamp of a horse. +Creeping forward he wormed his way through the greener brush and finally +peered through an opening among the stems and branches. A dozen Texans +were lolling on the floor of the ravine, and he knew that the others +were doing sentry duty.</p> + +<p>A shadow passed him and he froze, and then relaxed as Burch came into +sight. It was needful that he make no mistake in how he made his +presence known, for a careless hail might draw a volley.</p> + +<p>Burch passed him treading softly and when the man's back was turned to +him Tom called out in a low voice. "Burch! Don't shoot!"</p> + +<p>"Boyd!" exclaimed the sentry. "Cussed if ye ain't a good un, gittin' +whar ye air an' me not knowin' it. What ye doin' hyar?"</p> + +<p>"Scoutin' fer Injuns. Glad ter see ye."</p> + +<p>Burch stepped to the edge of the ravine. "Friend o' mine comin' down, +name o' Boyd." He turned. "Go down an' meet th' boys; thar honin' fer to +shake han's with th' kiyote that hit Armijo. Be with ye soon."</p> + +<p>Tom descended and shook hands with the smiling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> Texans and in a few +moments was at home in the camp. He noticed that they all had the Colt +revolving rifles which his friend Jarvis, back in St. Louis, had +condemned. Each man wore two pistols of the same make, and most of them +carried heavy skinning knives inside their boot legs.</p> + +<p>"I heard tell them rifles warn't o' much account," he observed.</p> + +<p>"Wall, they ain't as good as they might be," confessed a lanky Texan, +"if thar used careless an' git too hot. A Hawken will out-shoot 'em; but +we mostly fight on hossback, an' like ter git purty clost. Take them +greasers we run inter; we didn't pull trigger till we war a hundred +paces away, an' by th' time we'd emptied th' rifles an' pulled pistols +th' danged fight war over. Th' Injuns don't like 'em worth a cuss. +That's a right smart rifle ye got thar, friend."</p> + +<p>Tom passed it around and it was duly admired. Then the guard was changed +and Burch and Flint appeared.</p> + +<p>"You fellers air stickin' purty clost ter us," observed Tom.</p> + +<p>"But not as clost as th' greasers air," laughed Flint. "Danged if we kin +ketch one o' 'em away from th' waggins."</p> + +<p>"That's jest as well," replied Tom. "More'n half of 'em hate Armijo as +much as we do. If ye pick 'em off careless yer bound ter make mistakes. +Thar's one gang that's fer him strong, an' 'twon't be long before they +split from th' others an' stand out so thar won't be no mistakin' 'em. +They'll be trailin' me an' Hank in a bunch. We're aimin' ter slip away +an' head<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> fer Bent's some place between hyar an' the Upper Spring."</p> + +<p>"Thought ye was goin' ter Santa Fe," said Burch in surprise. "If yer +goin' ter Bent's ye should 'a' left th' train at th' Crossin'."</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' ter Santa Fe," replied Tom, "but thar's some folks that air +anxious ter see me. If they larn I'm thar I'll likely be stood ag'in a +wall; an' Armijo'll add my ears ter his c'llection. We got ter throw 'em +off our trail." He smiled grimly around the circle. "I don't want +Salezar ter larn I'm in this part o' the country, fer I want ter git my +paws on him."</p> + +<p>At the mention of that name the eyes of the leader flamed with +flickering fires and he leaned slightly forward, unable to conceal his +eagerness. "Whar ye aimin' ter leave th' caravan, friend?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Don't know jest yet," answered Tom, "but I know th' way we'll head. Ye +know whar th' waggin road crossed McNees Crick? Wall, plumb north o' +that a crick empties inter th' Cimarron. Thar's a dry gully jines th' +crick at its mouth, makin' a V. Th' gully war made by th' buffalers +wearin' away th' top soil, which let the rains cut inter th' sand +beneath an' wash it away. That buffaler trail is th' biggest ye ever +saw, an' it's worn down so deep that every rain pours a stream along it. +It's cut a gully back fer a hundred paces to whar th' buffaler wallers +have turned a little pasture inter a swamp when it rains. Clost to its +upper end is a hill, whar my partner built a cache about ten years back. +He says th' pit could be easy seen when he war thar last."</p> + +<p>"We're aimin' ter head fer Bent's as soon as th'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> caravan gits too fur +along," said the leader, who not long since had returned from the +lepers' hospital, used as a prison in his case, in Mexico City. His +bitterness had seared him to the soul and Tom thought it strange that he +so easily would forego the desire for revenge, the flames of which +intermittently flickered in his eyes. "I've been wonderin' about th' +best an' straightest way to Bent's, with water on it. Yer pardner says +that's th' best trail?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Tom. "An' it's th' best fer us in another way. Thar's +springs in th' river bed up thar an' fer near a mile th' river's allus +wet. Ye see, we got ter throw th' greasers off our trail, which will be +too danged plain, with two hosses an' eight mules. I'd swap th' eight +mules fer two hosses, seein' as how we're fixed, but I dassn't make th' +play, fer everybody in th' caravan would larn of it. Come ter think of +it, thar'll be more hosses an' mules; couple o' friends air goin' with +us. We change our packs tonight, buildin' 'em up with buffaler rugs we +traded th' Comanches fer, in case we part with our goods an' leave th' +caravan afterward. Th' two extra hosses would be enough ter carry our +grub an' supplies, an' they'd let us make better time than th' mules +would."</p> + +<p>The Texans nodded and one of them glanced at his leader while he spoke +to Tom. "Reckon if ye got them mules ter Bent's ye could sell 'em, or +trade 'em fer a couple o' hosses?" He hesitated and then said: "We're +runnin' powerful short o' powder an' lead."</p> + +<p>"Th' caravan bein' so clost ter Santa Fe, it's got more o' both than it +needs," replied Tom. "If we kin git ye some we'll leave it behind th' +hill at that old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> cache o' Hanks. If ye go that way, look fer it." He +grinned. "Hank an' me air aimin' ter carry some in one of th' buffaler +rug packs. Thar's two fifty-pound pigs o' lead fastened to each o' th' +cannon carriages, an' they won't have no use fer more than one ter each +gun.</p> + +<p>"Wish I war goin' with ye," growled the Texan leader, his eyes flaming +again. "I'm hankerin' ter git Salezar's ears, fer I saw th' polecat +c'llect Texan ears on th' road from San Miguel ter 'Paso, ter keep th' +tally o' his prisoners straight. He strung 'em on a wire, d—n him!" His +face became livid with passion, and murder raised its grisly visage in +his eyes.</p> + +<p>Tom paled. "Yes," he said. "He took th' ears o' a friend o' mine that +war sick an' weak with hunger an' cold an' exhaustion, an' couldn't keep +up. He had traded most o' his clothes fer short rides on th' mules o' +th' guards. They killed him near Valencia, an' his ears war took ter +account fer him."</p> + +<p>"Valencia!" muttered the leader, pacing back and forth like a panther. +"I remember him! Oh, Christ!" he cried, and then got hold of himself. +"Boyd, I'd give everythin' I own ter git my han's on that Salezar; an' +go ter hell with a smile on my face!" Then he stiffened and reached +convulsively toward his holster, for the unmistakable twang of a +bowstring sounded from the bushes above his head. The Texans leaped to +their arms, but Tom stopped them with a cry.</p> + +<p>"Wait, boys! That's Hank—my pardner!" He looked up toward the bushes. +"Ye damned fool! Show yerself!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Didn't hardly know if 'twar safe," chuckled Hank, his head slowly +arising above the tangle of leaves and vines, a dozen paces from the +place where the bowstring had twanged.</p> + +<p>"Whar's that huntin' party ye war nursin'?" quickly demanded Tom.</p> + +<p>"Took 'em 'round on t'other side o' th' camp, ast 'em ter hold my hoss, +an' left 'em thar," chuckled the plainsman, making his way down the +hillside with caution and silence that had become habitual.</p> + +<p>"Boys," said Tom, "hyar's a 'dopted son o' th' Piegan tribe o' th' +Blackfeet, name o' Hank Marshall, an' he's more Injun than any brave in +th' tribe. Anyhow, I'd ruther have a Injun on my trail than him. He's +goin' with me ter Santa Fe; an' Salezar's shore goin' ter need all his +friends!"</p> + +<p>"Put her thar!" said the Texan leader. "If yer lookin' fer help I'll +jine ye, cussed if I won't!"</p> + +<p>"Don't want no help that's strange ter Taos an' Santer Fe," laughed +Hank. "We got two Green River boys, an' don't need no more; don't hardly +need them, but Zeb wants his ha'r, an' I wants his ears, ears bein' his +pet joke." He looked at the leader. "You boys run inter some 'Rapahoes? +Thar's nigh onter a dozen projectin' 'round these hills. Stumbled acrost +thar camp a-ways back. If I'd had one o' them newfangled rifles ye got +so many of, danged if I wouldn't 'a' trailed 'em." He grinned +expansively. "They cleaned out a cache o' mine, three year back, up on +Big Sandy Crick, an' I ain't paid 'em fer it yit."</p> + +<p>"We shore do need powder an' lead," said the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> leader thoughtfully. He +turned to one of his men. "Sam, reckon we kin part with pore Williams' +rifle?"</p> + +<p>"Seein' as we got three more extrys, reckon we kin," answered Sam. "It +oughter be worth a keg o' powder an' a couple o' pigs o' lead." He +walked over to where their supplies were piled and returned with a heavy +Colt repeating rifle. "Hyar, Hank," he said, handing it to the hunter. +"Be keerful ter keep th' powder from spillin' down 'round th' cap end; +an' don't empty her too fast after th' first few shots. Hyar's th' mold, +an' some caps. Git a Injun ter pay fer pore Williams. She's full loaded, +so look out."</p> + +<p>The rifle was sheathed in a saddle scabbard and Hank took it, looked +from it to his own, weighing them both. "Heavy as all git out," he +remarked. "Wall, 'twon't weigh nothin' when it's slung ter a saddle. +Might be handy purty soon. Much obliged, friends. How we goin' ter git +th' powder an' lead ter ye?"</p> + +<p>"I've arranged fer that," said Tom, picking up his rifle. "Wall, good +luck, boys. Remember us at Bent's if ye git thar."</p> + +<p>"Reckon it's you boys that need th' good luck," grimly replied the +leader. He watched the two visitors until they were lost to sight in the +brush and then turned to his men, his eyes flaming again. "Break camp, +boys; we're crossin' th' river close by, ter circle back ag'in farther +up."</p> + +<p>Tom and Hank, moving silently back toward the encampment, had covered +about half of the distance when they heard a sudden burst of shots, +yells, and the thunder of hoofs. Running up the side of a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> hill +they peered over the top and flung themselves down. Less than two +hundred paces away a little party of tenderfeet, with Patience Cooper in +the center, fought frightened horses as a band of nearly a dozen Indians +came charging straight for them across the little clearing. As they +looked one of the tenderfeet's horse went down, spilling its rider, and +throwing the group into still greater confusion.</p> + +<p>"'Rapahoes!" snorted Hank, and his rifle spoke. "<i>One</i> fer my cache!"</p> + +<p>The double-barreled rifle of his companion roared twice and another +warrior plunged from his horse, while the third fought madly to keep his +seat, but his weakening grasp loosened and he rolled over and over +across the grass. Tom dropped the empty rifle and started to rise, his +hand leaping to the Colt revolver at his belt; but Hank, who had slipped +the newly-acquired repeating rifle from its sheath, poked it into his +friend's hand and fell to re-loading his Hawken. "She's yore gal. Give +'em hell!" he grunted.</p> + +<p>The deadly and unexpected attack from the little hilltop created a +diversion which for the moment turned the thoughts of the savages from +the tenderfeet in the open, and the charging line split to pass the +forlorn group and give its full attention to the real menace; but as it +hesitated the heavy, regular crashes of the revolving rifle rolled from +the hill, its lead always selecting the warrior nearest to the +panic-stricken group. Here an Indian went down, there a horse; and with +the cry "<i>Tejanos!</i>" the rest of the savage band wheeled and dashed over +the route they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> had come. The last warrior to reach the edge of the +pasture was for one instant silhouetted against the sky on the edge of a +ravine, and at that moment Hank's rifle cracked. Throwing both arms up +over his head, he turned a backward flip from the horse and sprawled +inertly in a currant bush. Re-loading as quickly as they could while on +the run the two plainsmen hastened to the group, and Tom, pulling Dr. +Whiting from his horse, was within an inch of strangling him when +Patience's hands on his wrists checked him.</p> + +<p>"Six trusty knights!" sneered the enraged plainsman, hurling the doctor +from him. "I <i>said</i> you were six flashes. Ask a woman to go riding with +you in a country as broken as this, and as over-run with Indians!" He +took a step forward, seething with rage, and ran his eyes over the +speechless tenderfeet. "Git back to camp, all of you! Miss Cooper goes +with us!" Poised, tense, and enraged he watched them go and did not know +that Hank had run to the little hilltop for the double-barreled rifle +until the old hunter returned with it, loaded its two barrels, capped +them and threw the weapon under his arm. At that moment a burst of +firing sounded from the north and Hank cocked his head.</p> + +<p>"Sounds like them Colt rifles," he remarked, and then kicked himself +figuratively, for at his words, his two companions, almost in each +other's arms, started, stiffened, and stepped apart. Seeing that the +damage already was done, Hank placidly continued. "Is thar another +passel o' Texans loose 'round hyar, or has our friends hit th' trail +already?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," said Tom, quivering like a leaf.</p> + +<p>Patience closed her eyes. "Yes," she sighed.</p> + +<p>Hank scratched his head and frowned, very much puzzled. "Shucks! thar +ain't no doubt 'bout it, a-tall. Course it is—an' I'm a danged old +fool!"</p> + +<p>"You're one of the four best men I ever knew," said Patience, resting +her hand on his arm.</p> + +<p>Hank felt of the disgraceful, stubby beard on his face, scowled at his +blackened hands, and furtively brushed at a bloodstain on his shirt. +Then he wheeled abruptly and strode off to look over the victims of the +little affray. When he turned again he saw Patience and Tom going toward +camp, Patience on her horse and Tom striding at her side. Fixing the +strap to his own rifle he slung the weapon over his shoulder and, with +the double-barreled weapon balanced expertly in his hands, slowly +followed after to act as a badly needed protector to them both.</p> + +<p>Back in camp Tom handed Patience into her uncle's care, looked at her in +a way she would remember to the end of her days, and hastened on to +report to the captain of the caravan. When he reached Woodson he found +Hank there before him, laughingly recounting the fight. As Tom came up +Hank stepped back and slipped away, heading straight for the excited +group of tenderfeet at the other end of the encampment, and roughly +pushed in among them.</p> + +<p>"Look hyar, ye sick pups," he blurted. "My pardner dassn't thrash any o' +ye, or he'll mebby lose his gal. Anybody hyar wantin' ter take advantage +o' an old man? Huh! Then open yer dumb ears ter this: If I ketch airy +one o' ye hangin' 'round Cooper's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> waggins, or even sayin' 'how-de-do' +to that gal, I'll git ye if I has ter chase ye all the way back ter +Missoury!" He spat at the doctor's feet, turned his back and rambled +over to where his trade goods were piled. On the way he met Zeb, who +scowled at him.</p> + +<p>Hank pulled some black mops out of his pocket, showed them, and shoved +them back again.</p> + +<p>"Hell!" said Zeb, enviously. "Whar ye git 'em?"</p> + +<p>"Found one on a currant bush," chuckled Hank, and went on again.</p> + +<p>Zeb placed his fists on his hips and scowled in earnest. "I didn't know +what that shootin' war, with all th' hunters runnin' 'round. Dang him! +He allus <i>did</i> have more luck ner brains!"</p> + +<p>Up at the captain's wagon Woodson nodded as his companion finished +speaking. "I reckon ye kin have 'most anythin' in this hyar camp, Boyd. +Two bars o' lead off'n th' cannon carriages, an' a keg o' powder? Shore, +I'll put th' powder in Cooper's little waggin, an' ye kin help yerself +ter th' lead when ye git th' time."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE PASSING OF PEDRO<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + + +<p>After supper that night Hank and Tom sat around their fire and soon were +joined by Pedro, who paid them effusive compliments about their defeat +of the Arapahoes. They squirmed under his heavy flattery and finally, in +desperation, spoke of the secret trail to Taos. His face beamed in the +firelight and he leaned eagerly forward.</p> + +<p>"You have decide?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Tom. "Whar we goin' ter meet, and what time?"</p> + +<p>"Ah?" breathed Pedro. "To that have I geeve <i>mucho</i> thought. Eet should +be ear-rly, so we be far away by thee coming of thee sun. Ees eet not +so?"</p> + +<p>"Naw," growled Hank. "Folks air not sleepin' sound enough then. Nobody's +goin' ter foller us. Thar'll be lots o' 'em leavin' camp at night from +now on, tryin' ter beat each other ter th' customs fellers. Two hours +afore dawn is time enough. But we got lots o' time ter figger that; we +won't be ter th' Upper Spring fer two more days. Time enough then ter +talk about it."</p> + +<p>"But, eet ees tonight!" exclaimed Pedro. "<i>Madre de Dios!</i> You teenk I +mean near thee Upper Spreeng? No! No!"</p> + +<p>"Mebby not; but that's whar <i>we</i> mean," said Tom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> "Think we're goin' +pokin' along through this Injun country fer two nights an' a day by +ourselves? Th' caravan gits ter Willer Bar tomorrow night, an' camps at +th' Upper Spring, or Cold Spring, th' next night. That puts us near +fifty miles further on in th' protection of th' caravan."</p> + +<p>"No! No!" argued Pedro in despair. "Eet ees too <i>mucho</i> reesk!"</p> + +<p>"Of what?" demanded Tom, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Eet may be that Armijo send <i>soldats</i> to meet thee tr-rain, lak other +times. Señores, eet mus' be tonight! Tonight eet mus' be!" He looked +around suddenly. "But where ar-re thee <i>cargas</i>, thee packs? I do not +see them. What ees eet you do?"</p> + +<p>"We put 'em outside th' corral," chuckled Tom knowingly, "so folks will +git used ter seeing 'em thar. Tomorrow night we'll do th' same, an' do +it ag'in at th' Upper Spring. Somebody shore would see us if we had ter +pack 'em here an' sneak 'em through th' camp. Ye should tell yer friends +ter put thar packs outside th' waggins, too. How we goin' ter git +through th' guards around th' camp?"</p> + +<p>"By my fr-riends," answered Pedro. "But eet may be too late at Cold +Spreeng!" he expostulated. "Eef thee <i>soldats</i> ar-re there—ah, señores! +Eet ees ver' bad, Cold Spreeng!"</p> + +<p>"We ain't botherin' 'bout that," said Tom reassuringly. "Hank kin scout +on ahead o' us, an' if thar camped up thar we kin drop out o' th' train +behind any bend on th' way, an' take ter th' brush."</p> + +<p>Pedro begged and pleaded, but to no avail. He still was arguing when his +two companions rolled up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> in their blankets and settled down to go to +sleep. Sadly he walked away, hiding his anger until well out of their +sight, and then hastened to his own fire and sent three of his +compatriots to watch the sleeping pair. They had their watch for +nothing, and while they doggedly kept their eyes on the two plainsmen, +Uncle Joe and his two wagoners were busy on the other side of the camp, +stowing merchandise in the wagons and making false packs. This they +found easy to do without calling upon many buffalo rugs, for the goods +had been packed in light boxes, over which had been thrown skins and +canvas. By taking out the contents of the boxes and putting the +containers back into their original wrappings the shapes of the packs +did not change. The pigs of lead, a keg of powder and bundles of stones +were wrapped in pieces of old skins to give weight to the packs to keep +them from flopping at every step of the mules. They did not start to +work until Zeb Houghton and Jim Ogden returned from their tour of guard +duty and took up another kind of guard duty near the wagons; and long +before daylight awakened the encampment the work was done and no one the +wiser. Alonzo Webb and Enoch Birdsall had taken care of the packs +belonging to Ogden and Houghton and everything was in shape for quick +action.</p> + +<p>On the march again after an early breakfast the caravan plodded along +the trail to reach Willow Bar in good time for the next night camp. As +the wagons rolled along the road following the course of the Cimarron, +Uncle Joe and Patience dropped back to the rear guard, where Hank +Marshall scowled at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> Jim Ogden, but refrained from open hostilities. +Hank was glad to see them and entertained them mile after mile with +accounts of his life and experiences in the great West. At times his +imagination set a hard pace for his vocabulary, but the latter managed +to keep up. The men exchanged tobacco off and on and no one gave a +second thought to what they were doing. When Uncle Joe and Patience rode +forward again as the train drew near to the noon camping place, Uncle +Joe was poorer and lighter by the loss of a goodly sum in minted gold, +while Hank was richer and heavier. The balance was obtainable in Santa +Fe in the warehouse of a mutual friend.</p> + +<p>The wagons hardly had left the noon camp when a heavy rain storm burst +upon them, with a blast of cold air that quickly turned the rain into +driving sheets of hail. These storms were common along the Cimarron and +at times raged for two or three days. The animals became frantic with +fear and pain, and the train was a scene of great confusion from one end +to the other. Alternate downpours of rain, sleet, and heavy hailstones +continued all the rest of the day and the encampment at Willow Bar was +one of sullenness and discontent. The wind rose during the early part of +the night and sent the rain driving into the wagons through every crack +and crevice, and the flapping and slapping and booming of wagon covers, +added to the fury of the wind and the swish of the downpour, filled the +night with a tumult of noise. The guards around the camp either crawled +under skins or crept back to their wagons, not able to see three feet in +the blackness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tom and Hank had taken refuge under a great Pittsburg wagon owned by +Haviland and had fastened buffalo rugs to its sides to shed some of the +rain. As soon as darkness set in and Pedro's spies found that they could +not see an arm's length from them and were drenched and half frozen by +the steady downpour, they fled from their posts and sought refuge from +the storm. It took very little to convince them that the men they were +to watch would stay where they were until dawn or later, and they did +not let Pedro know of their deflection.</p> + +<p>"Nine, ten, eleven," muttered the first of two men leading packmules as +they felt their way from wagon to wagon. "This oughter be Haviland's, +Zeb. Yep, I kin feel thar skin walls." He bent down and raised the lower +edge of a skin. "Hank! Tom!"</p> + +<p>"All right, Jim," came the low answer, and the two partners, bundled in +skins until they looked like nothing human, crawled from their snug +shelter and stood up, their one and constant thought being for the +covers of the hammers of their heavy rifles. Hank pushed ahead and the +night swallowed up the little party.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe raised himself on one elbow and peered through a small opening +in the canvas at the rear end of his first huge wagon, and got a faceful +of cold rain before he could close the opening again. He had done this a +dozen times since dark. Muttering sleepily he rolled up in his blankets +and rugs and dozed again, squirming down into the warm bed as vague +thoughts sped through his mind of what his friends were going to face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> + +<p>Suddenly the soft whinny of a horse sounded squarely under him, and he +bounced from the blankets and crept to a crack where the canvas was +nailed to the tailboard of the wagon. "Hello!" he called. "Hello!"</p> + +<p>A low voice answered him and he shivered as a trickle of cold rain +rolled down his face. "Thought you had given it up till tomorrow night. +This is a hell of a night, boys, to go wandering off from the camp. Sure +you won't get lost among th' hills?" He chuckled at the reply and +shivered again. "Sure I'll tell her Bent's. Yes. No, she won't. What? +Look here, young man; she's plumb cured of tenderfeet. Yes, I remember +everything. All right; good luck, boys. God knows you'll need it!" He +listened for a moment, heard no sounds of movement, and called again. +"What's th' matter?" There came no answer and he crept back to his +blankets, his teeth chattering, and lay awake the rest of the night, +worrying.</p> + +<p>Between the wagons and the road the little pack train waited, kept +together by soft bird calls instead of by sight. A plaintive, +disheartened snipe whistled close by and was answered in kind. Hank +almost bumped into Ogden before he saw him. They both looked like +drowned rats, the water slipping from the buffalo hair and pouring from +them in little rills.</p> + +<p>"Ain't a guard in sight, or ruther feelin', fifty feet each side o' th' +road," Hank reported. "Bet every blasted one o' 'em is back in camp. +Mules all tied together? Everybody hyar? All right. Off we go."</p> + +<p>All night long the little <i>atejo</i> slopped down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> streaming road, kept +to it by the uncanny instinct and the oft repeated cheeping and +twittering of the adopted son of the Blackfeet, who could perfectly +imitate any night bird he ever had heard; and he had heard them all. +Horses whinnied, mules brayed, wolves and coyotes howled, foxes +squalled, chipmunks scolded, squirrels chattered and several other +animals performed solos in the dark at the head of the little pack +train, to be answered from the rear. Anyone unfortunate enough to be +camped at the edge of the trail would have thought himself surrounded by +a menagerie.</p> + +<p>With the first sullen sign of dawn Tom pushed on ahead, reconnoitered +the Upper Spring, found it deserted and went on, riding some hundreds of +yards from, but parallel to, the trail and soon came to Cold Spring. +Here he saw quantities of camp and riding gear, abandoned firelocks, +personal belongings, and other things "forgotten" by the brave Armijo +and his army in their precipitate retreat from the Texans, while the +latter were still one hundred and fifty miles away. Scouting in the +vicinity for awhile he rode back and met the little <i>atejo</i>, which had +been plodding steadily on at its pace of three miles an hour; and all +the urging of which the men were capable would not increase that speed.</p> + +<p>At the Upper Spring, which poured into a ravine and flowed toward the +Cimarron a few miles to the north, the wagon road drew farther from the +river and ran toward the Canadian; and here the little party left it to +turn and twist over and around hills, ravines, pastures and woods, and +then slopped down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> middle of a storm-swollen rivulet. They turned up +one of its small feeders and followed it for half a mile and then, +crossing a little divide, struck another small brook and splashed down +it until they came to the Cimarron. Here they threw into the river the +useless contents of the false packs, distributed the supplies among the +mules, and pushed on again upstream along the bank.</p> + +<p>They now were well up on the headwaters of the river and its width was +negligible, although its storm-fed torrent boiled and seethed and gave +to it a false fierceness. Their doubling and the hiding of their trail +in the streams had not been done so much for the purpose of throwing the +Mexicans off their track, as to make their pursuers think they were +trying to throw them off. They knew that the Mexicans, upon losing the +tracks, would strike straight for the old and now almost abandoned +Indian trail for Bent's Fort.</p> + +<p>"We got about a ten-hour start on 'em," growled Tom, "but they'll cut +that down quick, once they git goin'. Reckon I'll lay back a-ways an' +slow 'em up if they git hyar too soon."</p> + +<p>Zeb and Jim wheeled their horses and without a word accompanied him to +the rear.</p> + +<p>Hank, leading the bell mule, pushed on, looking for the site of his old +cache and for a good place to cross the swollen stream, and he soon +stopped at the water's edge and howled like a wolf. In a few minutes his +companions came up, reported no Mexicans in sight, and unpacked the more +perishable supplies. These they carried across to the other bank, their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +horses swimming strongly and soon the mules were ready to follow. Tom +led off, entering the stream with the picket rope of the bell mule +fastened to his saddle, and with his weapons, powder horn and "possible" +sack high above his head. His horse breasted the current strongly, +quartering against it, and the bell mule followed. After her, with a +slight show of hesitation, came the others, the three remaining hunters +bringing up the rear.</p> + +<p>As the <i>atejo</i> formed again and started forward Hank hung back, peering +into the stunted trees and brush on the other side of the stream.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Hank," said Tom. "What ye lookin' fer? They warn't in sight."</p> + +<p>"I war sorta hankerin' fer 'em ter show up," growled Hank with deep +regret. "That's plumb center range from hyar, over thar. Wouldn't mind +takin' a couple o' cracks at 'em, out hyar by ourselves, us four. Allus +hate ter turn my tail ter yaller-bellies like them varmints. I hate 'em +next ter Crows!" He slowly turned his horse and fell in behind the last +mule, glancing back sorrowfully. Then he looked ahead. "Thar's my ol' +cache," he chuckled.</p> + +<p>Before them on the right was an eroded hill with steep sides, its flat +top covered with a thick mass of brush, berry bushes and scrub timber, +and on its right was a swamp, filled with pools and rank with +vegetation. The dry wash marking the end of the great buffalo trail was +dry no longer, but poured out a roiled, yellow-brown stream into the +dirty waters of the Cimarron.</p> + +<p>Rounding the hill they stopped and exchanged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> grins, for in a little +horseshoe hollow two horses, with pack saddles on their backs, stopped +their grazing, pulled to the end of their picket-ropes, and looked +inquiringly at the invaders.</p> + +<p>"Thar's jest no understandin' th' ways o' Providence," chuckled Hank as +he dismounted. "Hyar we been a-wishin' an' a-wishin' fer a couple o' +hosses to take th' place o' these cold-'lasses mules, an' danged if hyar +they ain't, saddles an' all, right under our noses."</p> + +<p>While he went along the back trail on foot to a point from where he +could see the river, his companions became busy. They pooled their +supplies and packed them securely on the Providence-provided horses, put +the rest on their own animals, picketed the mules and removed the bell +from the old mare, tossing it aside so its warning tinkle would be +stilled. Signalling Hank, in a few minutes they were on their way again +along the faint and in many places totally effaced trail leading over +the wastes to the distant trading post on the Arkansas. Coming to a +rainwater rivulet Hank sent them westward down its middle while he rode +splashingly upstream. Soon coming to a tangle of brush he forced his +horse to take a few steps around it on the bank, returned to the stream +and then, holding squarely to its middle, picked his way through the +tangle and rode back to rejoin his friends, having left behind him a +sign of his upward passing. In case Providence went to sleep and took no +more interest in his affairs, he had the satisfaction of knowing that he +had done what he could to hide their trail.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<p>He found his friends waiting for him and he shook his head as he joined +them. "Danged if I like this hyar hidin'," he growled, coming back to +his pet grievance. "I most gen'rally 'd ruther do it myself."</p> + +<p>"But it ain't a question o' fighting," retorted Tom. "We got ter hide +our trail from now on in case some greaser gits away, like they did from +them Texans back nigh th' Crossin', an' takes th' news in ter th' +settlements that we didn't go ter Bent's after we left th' wagon road. +Ye'll git all th' danged fightin' yer lookin' fer afore ye puts Santa Fe +behind ye—an' I'm bettin' we'll all show our trails a hull lot worse +afore we git through ter Bent's. Come on; Turley's ranch is a long ways +off. If yer itchin' ter try that repeatin' rifle ye'll shore git th' +chance ter, later."</p> + +<p>Hank grinned guiltily and while he was not thoroughly convinced of the +soundness of their flight, so far as his outward appearances showed, he +grunted a little but pushed on and joined his partner. In a few minutes +he grinned again.</p> + +<p>"I ain't never had th' chanct ter try fer six plumb-centers without +takin' th' rifle from my shoulder," he remarked. "Jest wait till I take +this hyar Colt up in th' Crow country!" He chuckled with anticipated +pleasures and then glanced sidewise at his partner. "Say, Tom," he said, +reminiscently; "who air th' three other best men yer gal was thinkin' +of, back thar in that little clearin'?"</p> + +<p>"What you mean?" demanded Tom, whirling in his saddle, his face flushing +under its tan. "An' she ain't my gal, neither."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hank chirped and twittered a bit. "Then who's is she?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know; but she won't like bein' called mine. Ye oughtn't call her +that."</p> + +<p>"Not even atween us two?"</p> + +<p>"Not never, a-tall."</p> + +<p>"That so?" muttered Hank, a vague plan presenting itself to his mind, to +be considered and used later. "Huh! I must be gittin' old an' +worthless," he mourned. "I been readin' signs fer more'n thirty year, +an' I ain't never read none that war airy plainer, arter them thievin' +'Rapahoes turned tail an' lit out. Anyhow, I reckon mebby yer safe if ye +keep on <i>thinkin'</i> that she's yer gal." He scratched his chin. "But who +war th' other three?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I do remember her saying something like that," confessed Tom +slowly, tingling as his memory hurled the whole scene before him. +"Reckon she meant Uncle Joe an' her father."</p> + +<p>"That accounts fer two o' 'em," said Hank, nodding heavily; "but who in +tarnation is th' third?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know," grunted Tom.</p> + +<p>"Huh! Bet he's that stuck-up, no-'count doctor feller. Yeah; that's who +it is." He glanced slyly at his frowning friend. "Told ye I war gettin' +old an' worthless. Gosh! an' she's goin' all th' rest o' th' way ter +Santer Fe with him!" He slapped his horse and growled in mock anxiety. +"We better git a-goin' an' not loaf like we air. Santer Fe's a long ways +off!"</p> + +<p>Two miles further on they turned up a little branch of the stream and +Hank, stopping his horse, threw up his hand. "Listen!" he cried.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + +<p>Four pairs of keen ears sifted the noises of the intermittent wind and +three pairs of eyes turned to regard their companion.</p> + +<p>"What ye reckon ye heard?" curiously asked Zeb.</p> + +<p>"I'd take my oath I heard rifle shots—a little bust o' 'em," replied +Hank. "Thar ain't no questionin' it; I <i>am</i> gittin' old. Come along; +we'll keep ter th' water fur's we kin, anyhow."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Back at the encampment of the caravan dawn found the animals stampeded, +and considerable time elapsed before they were collected and before the +absence of Tom and his friends was noticed. Then, with many +maledictions, Pedro rallied his friends and set out along the wagon +road, following a trail easily seen notwithstanding the rain which had +beaten at the telltale tracks all night. Mile after mile unrolled behind +them, saturated with Spanish curses; miles covered with all the vengeful +ferocity and eagerness of Apaches. The score of Mexicans were +well-armed, having spent the winter in the Missouri settlements and +procured the best weapons to be had there. The Upper Spring came near +and was put behind in a shower of hoof-thrown mud, and without pause +they followed the tracks leading into the rough country, like hounds +unleashed. They were five to one, and these odds were deemed sufficient +in a sudden night attack. There would be satisfaction, glory, and +profits for them all. The Governor had demanded Tom Boyd's ears, on him +if possible, without him if they could be obtained in no other way; the +Governor was powerful and would reward loyal and zealous service.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> They +followed the trail of the <i>atejo</i> around hills, through ravines, and +past woods, an advance guard of three men feeling the way. Then the +tracks ceased at the side of a creek; but they did not pause. Choosing +the straightest practical route to the Cimarron at the beginning of the +old Indian trail running northward to the Arkansas, they kept on. At +last they saw the muddy flood of the river and as they reached its banks +and read them at a glance they sent up an exultant shout. Holding their +weapons and powder well above the backs of their swimming horses they +reached the further side and took up the trail again.</p> + +<p>Pedro dashed forward and flung up an arm and as his followers stopped in +answer he cheered them with a Spanish oration, in which Pedro played no +minor part. "Pedro never loses!" he boasted. "Before noon we will be on +the heels of the gringo dogs and our scouts will find their camp in the +night. Before another sun rises in the heavens we will have their ears +at our belts and their trade goods on the way to the Valley of Taos! +Forward, my braves! Forward, my warriors! Pedro leads you to glory!"</p> + +<p>They snapped forward in their saddles as the spurs went home, their +rifles at the ready, their advance guard steadily forging ahead, and +thundered along the tracks of the fleeing <i>atejo</i>. Rounding the little +hill with its frowsy cap of brush and scrub timber, they received a +stunning surprise; for dropping down the steep bank as if from the sky +charged twenty-odd vengeful Texans, their repeating rifles cracking like +the roll of a drum. Pedro's exultant face became a sickly yellow, his +burning eyes in an instant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> changed to glass, and his boasting words +were slashed across by the death rattle in his throat. Volley after +volley crashed and roared as the charging Texans wheeled to charge back +again, and as they turned once more on the hillside they pulled up +sharply and viewed the havoc of their deadly work. No man was left to +carry tales, and Pedro had spoken with prophetic vision, for he had +indeed led his warriors to glory—and oblivion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<p class='center'>"'SPRESS FROM BENT'S"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Circling back to the river so as not to lose its guidance nor stray too +far out of the direct course, they reached its desolate banks at +nightfall and camped at the base of a low hill on the top of which grew +dense masses of greasewood. Zeb had shot a black-tailed deer on their +way to the river and their supper that night, so far as the meat was +concerned, would have delighted the palate of an epicure. Cooked over +the hot, sputtering, short-lived greasewood, which constantly was added, +and kept on the windward side of the blaze, the flavor of the meat was +very little affected and they gorged, hunter-like, until they could eat +no more; and partly smoked some of the remaining meat to have against +some pressing need.</p> + +<p>As the stream dwindled the nature of its banks and of the surrounding +country changed, the vegetation steadily becoming more desert-like. +White chalk cliffs arose like painted eyebrows from the tops of the +banks, where erosion had revealed them; loose and disintegrating +sandstone lay about the broken plain in myriads of shapes. Stunted and +dead cottonwoods added their touch to the general scene, leaning this +way and that, weird, uncanny, ghostlike. The drab sagebrush and the +green fan of the palmetto became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> steadily more common, the latter +figuring largely in the daily life of the Mexicans, for its mashed, +saponaceous roots provided them with their pulpy <span class="smcap">amole</span>, which +was an excellent substitute for soap. Prickly pears, Spanish bayonets, +masses of greasewood bushes and scattering fringes of short grama grass +completed the carpeting of the desolate plain.</p> + +<p>Doggedly they pushed on, thankful for the heavy rains of the last two +days, which had reached even here and left little pools of bad-tasting +water for themselves and their beasts. At noon they stopped and built a +fire of stunted cedar, for in daylight its telltale flames told nothing. +They cooked another black-tailed deer, smoked some of the meat, and ran +bullets until they had all of the latter they could possibly use. On +again toward the Canadian until nightfall, lighting no fire, but eating +the meat they had cooked at noon. They arranged a four-shift watch and +passed a peaceful night. In their range of vision were Raton Peak, +Pike's Peak, and the Wet Mountain, that paradise for hunters; the twin +Spanish Peaks with their caps of snow, and behind these towering +sentries loomed the sullen bulk of a great mountain range under a thin +streak of glittering white.</p> + +<p>At any distance their appearance hardly would tell whether they were +white hunters or Indians from Bent's, since their garb was a mixture of +both and their skins so tanned, their hair so long as to cause grave +doubts. More than once in that country two white men have exchanged +shots, each taking the other for an Indian. At Bent's Fort on the +Arkansas there were stray Indians from far-off tribes, and they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> dressed +in what they could get; and at The Pueblo, that little trading post +farther up on the Arkansas, Indians and whites lived together and +intermarried. Not one of the four but could speak more than one savage +dialect; and Tom's three companions possessed an Indian vocabulary which +left little to be desired. If it came to a test which might prove too +severe for him he could be dumb, and fall back on the sign language.</p> + +<p>At last the Canadian was reached and passed, and Hank led them +unerringly up the valley of a little feeding stream which poured its +crystal flood down the gorges of a mountain range now almost over their +heads. Coming to a rocky bowl scooped out of the sheer, overhanging wall +at a bend, he built a fire of dry wood that was safely screened, and +from his "possible" sack he took various leaves and stems and roots he +had collected on the way. Four white men looking more like Indians had +entered that little valley just before dusk. In the morning at dawn two +white men, a Blackfoot and a Delaware, a hunting party from Bent's Fort +with messages for Bent's little Vermajo ranch, located in a mountain +valley, left the ravine and followed a little-used Ute trail that their +leader knew well. Hank wore the Blackfoot distinctive double part in his +hair just above the forehead, the isolated tuft pulled down to the +bridge of his nose, and fastened to his buckskin trousers were thin +strips of beadwork made by Blackfoot squaws.</p> + +<p>The Mexican herder working for Bent uneasily watched them as they rode +up to his makeshift lean-to and demanded a change of horses, a report of +his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> stewardship, and the use of his fire. They were not bad fellows and +were generous with their heavenly tobacco, and finally his uneasiness +wore away and he gossiped with them while the night more and more shut +in his lavish fire and seemed to soften the guttural polyglot of the two +Indians. The white men did most of the talking, as was usual, and could +make themselves understood in the herder's bastard Spanish and they +answered sociably his numerous questions. Had they heard of the great +<i>Tejano</i> army marching to avenge the terrible defeat inflicted by the +brave Armijo on their swaggering vanguard? It was the great subject from +the upper end of the Valley of Taos to the last settlement along the Rio +Grande and the Pecos. The ignoble dogs of <i>Tejanos</i> had basely murdered +the brave Mexican scouting party near the Cimarron Crossing of the +Arkansas. What could the <i>soldats</i> of Mexico do, attacked in their +sleep? Most of the murdered <i>soldats</i> had come from the Valley of Taos, +which always had been friendly to Texas. Was it true that the <i>Tejanos</i> +spit fire on dry nights and could kill a full-grown bull buffalo with +their bare hands? Ah, they were devils and the sons of devils, those +<i>Tejanos</i>; and at night all doors were tightly barred in the settlements +and strange Americans regarded with suspicion.</p> + +<p>Some nights later, down the rough, steep sides of the Arroyo Hondo, +through which trickled a ribbon of water from a recent rain, four +Indians rode carefully, leading two pack animals. They were two +Arapahoes, a Blackfoot, and a Delaware, and they followed the ravine and +soon came in sight of the little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> mountain pasture, dotted with cedar +bushes and sparsely covered with grass, which sloped gently down the +mountain side. In the fading twilight the so-called ranch stood vaguely +outlined, the nature of its log and adobe walls indiscernible, its mill +and the still house looming vaguely over the main building against the +darker background of the slope. The faint smell of sour mash almost hid +the mealy odor of the grist mill; hogs grunted in the little corral by +the fenced-in garden, while an occasional bleating of sheep came from +the same enclosure. Dark shapes moved over the cedar-brush pasture and +the frequent stamping of hoofs told they were either horses or mules. +High up near the roof of the composite building were narrow oblongs of +faint radiance, where feeble candle light shone through the little +squares of gypsum, so much used in that country in place of window +glass. As the four newcomers smilingly looked at the comfortable +building the foot-compelling strains of a cheap violin squeaked and +rasped resinously from the living quarters and a French-Canadian, far +from home, burst ecstatically into song. Dreaming chickens cackled +briefly and a sleepy rooster complained in restrained indignation, while +the rocky mountain side relayed the distant howl of a prowling coyote.</p> + +<p>The leader drew the flap over the ultra-modern rifle in its sheath at +his leg and glanced back at his companions.</p> + +<p>"Wall," he growled, "hyar we air; we're plumb inter it, now."</p> + +<p>"Up ter our scalp-locks," came a grunted reply.</p> + +<p>"Hell! 'Tain't th' fust time they've been in danger.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> They'll stand a +lot o' takin'," chuckled another voice. He softly imitated a coyote and +the sleepy inmates of the hen house burst into a frightened chorus.</p> + +<p>"Hain't ye got no sense?" asked Hank, reprovingly.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't be hyar if I had. I smell sour mash. Let's go on."</p> + +<p>Hank kneed his mount, no longer the one which had become so well known +to many eyes on the long wagon trail, and led the way down to the door. +At the soft confusion of guttural tongues outside the house the door +opened and Turley, the proprietor, stood framed in the dim light behind +him.</p> + +<p>"'Spress from Señor Bent's," said the nearest Indian, walking forward. +"It's Hank Marshall," he whispered. "Want ter palaver with ye, Turley."</p> + +<p>"Want's more whiskey, I reckon," growled Turley. "Hobble yer hosses on +th' pasture. Ye kin roll up 'most anywhar ye like. Fed yit?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Si, señor; muchos gracias</i>," answered the Indian. "<i>Señor! cary mucho +aguardiente grano!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Oh, ye do?" sarcastically replied Turley. "Whiskey, huh? Wall, ye'll do +better without it. What's Bent want o' me?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Aguardiente de grano, señor!</i>"</p> + +<p>Turley chuckled. "He does, hey? I say he picks damned poor messengers to +send fer whiskey! We'll talk about that tomorrow. Roll up some'rs in yer +blankets an' don't pester me." He stepped back and the door slammed in +the eager, pleading face of the Blackfoot, to a chorus of disappointed +grunts. The rebuffed savage timidly knocked on the door and it was flung +open, Turley glaring down at him. "Ye<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> heard what I said, an' ye savvied +it! Reckon I want four drunk Injuns 'round hyar all night? We ain't +a-goin' ter have no damned nonsense. Take yer animals off ter th' +pasture an' camp down by th' crick! <i>Vamoose!</i>"</p> + +<p>The picture of pugnacity, he stood in the door and watched them slowly, +sullenly obey him, and then he slammed it again, swearing under his +breath. "Quickest way ter git murdered is ter give them Injuns likker!" +he growled.</p> + +<p>"<i>Mais, oui</i>," said the French-Canadian, placing his fiddle back under +his chin, and the stirring air went on again.</p> + +<p>Three hours before dawn Hank awoke and without moving his body let his +eyes rove over the dark pasture. Then like a flash of light his heavy +pistol jammed into the dark blotch almost at his side, and he growled a +throaty inquiry.</p> + +<p>"It's me, Hank," came the soft reply. "Take that damned thing away! +What's up?"</p> + +<p>Three other pairs of eyes were turned on them and then their owners +stirred a little and grunted salutations, and made slight rustlings as +their hands replaced what they had held.</p> + +<p>"Nothin', only a courtin' party," chuckled Hank.</p> + +<p>"Wall, I've heard tell o' courtin' parties," ruminated Turley; "but +never one made up like Injuns and armed to th' teeth. Might know some +damned fool thing war afoot when yer mixed up in it. Who ye courtin', at +yer time o' life? Somebody's wife?"</p> + +<p>"We're aimin' fer Santer Fe," said Hank. "Got ter have help ter git thar +th' way we wants. Them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> Texans has made it hard fer us, a-stirrin' up +everythin' like they has."</p> + +<p>"Whar'd ye git yer hosses?" anxiously demanded Turley.</p> + +<p>"Inderpendence, Missoury," innocently answered Hank, his grin lost in +the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Then ye come over th' wagon trail, an' up th' Arkansas?"</p> + +<p>"Over th' wagon trail an' up th' Cimarron, with th' second caravan o' +traders. Come nigh straight acrost from Cold Spring."</p> + +<p>"Wall, I'll be damned!" muttered Turley. Then he snorted. "Ain't ye got +no sense, ye Root Digger? Everybody in th' train'll know them hosses!"</p> + +<p>"We swapped 'em at Bent's rancho on th' Vermajo—good gosh! Two o' 'em +come from them Texans!"</p> + +<p>"They didn't have no brands," said Tom. "I heard 'em say somethin' about +gettin' some at Bent's. We got ter risk it, anyhow. It'll be like addin' +a spoonful o' freight ter a wagon load."</p> + +<p>Hank's mind was running in a groove that he had been gouging deeper and +longer hour after hour and he refused to be sidetracked by any question +concerning the horses they had changed. "We want ter swap hosses ag'in +an' borry some rags fer clothes; an' before daylight, too."</p> + +<p>Tom arose on one elbow. "That's all right, fur's it goes; only it don't +go no-whar," he declared. "We want ter git rid o' these hosses, an' we +want th' clothes; but that ain't all. We want a job, Turley. Need any +mule wranglers ter take some freight inter Santer Fe?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Day after tomorrow," answered Turley. "We got ter git rid o' these +animals afore then, ye got ter git shet o' 'em afore mornin'. I'll send +Jacques out ter take 'em away as soon as I go back ter th' house. Arter +he leaves with 'em I'll bring ye some ol' clothes so ye'll look a little +different from them four fools that swapped hosses at Bent's rancho. Th' +peon up thar won't git away, nor mebby see nobody fer weeks; but we +better take th' pelt afore th' meat spiles under it. I got some hosses +th' Utes stole from th' 'Rapahoes. We stole 'em from th' Utes. They +ain't marked, an' they ain't knowed down in th' valley."</p> + +<p>"But we'll still be four," commented Tom, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"That's shore a plain trail," said Jim Ogden. "Here: You an' Hank take a +mule apiece an' go back th' way we come, fur a spell. Me an' Zeb kin +freight whiskey with Turley's <i>atejo</i>, an' meet ye along th' trail +some'rs, or in Santer Fe, at th' warehouse. Ye kin load yer mules with +faggots ter be sold in town, an' tag onter our mule train fer society +an' pertection. Yer rifles kin be hid under th' faggots."</p> + +<p>"We'll be unpackin' th' mules noon an' night," replied Tom. "How 'bout +our rifles then?"</p> + +<p>"Can't be did," grunted Hank.</p> + +<p>"We got ter risk that peon seein' anybody ter talk to," said Tom. +"Anyhow, 'tain't nothin' unusual fer him ter see fellers from th' fort. +We'll go on with th' <i>atejo</i>, after we make a few changes in our +clothes, an' ride Turley's hosses 'stead o' Bent's. But we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> can't jine +that mule train as no party o' four. We got ter lose that danged number, +that's flat."</p> + +<p>"You an' Hank," offered Zeb, "bein' Blackfoot an' Delaware, kin be +hunters from Bent's; me an' Jim, bein' 'Rapahoes turned friendly, kin +come from St. Vrain's post. Th' South Platte, up thar, is th' 'Rapahoe +stampin' ground an' we both know it from one end to t'other. That'll +count fer all o' us havin' first-class weapons. Somebody's shore goin' +ter notice them."</p> + +<p>Turley nodded. "Yes; hyar's whar ye lose that cussed four. You two +'Rapahoes git scarce afore daylight, goin' on foot an' leavin' no trail. +Come back from th' way o' th' old Ute trail from th' Bayou Salade. I'm +runnin' a little herdin' up o' my hosses on th' side o' th' mounting; +they're scatterin' in th' brush too much. Fer that I'll be needin' all +my men that ain't goin' as muleteers. I'll hire you boys, two at a time, +ter go 'long with th' <i>atejo</i> as guards. Thar's thieves atween hyar an' +Santer Fe that likes Turley's whiskey an' ground meal. I'll give ye a +writin' ter my agent in town to pay ye off, an' ye'll git through, all +right. Do ye reckon ye'll have ter git outer Santer Fe on th' jump? +Seein' as how yer so danged careful how ye git inter th' town, it may be +that ye ain't welcome a hull lot. Knowin' Hank like I do, makes me +suspicious."</p> + +<p>"We'll mebby git out quicker'n scat," answered Tom, chuckling. "They'll +mebby be touchy about strangers, with them Texans prowlin' 'round. If we +git ter goin' strong as a Texan raid an' they find out that it's only +four no-'count Injuns full o' Taos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> lightnin', they'll mebby move fast. +We may make quite a ruckus afore we git through, if they find out who we +air."</p> + +<p>"What th' hell ye aimin' ter do? Capture th' town?" demanded Turley, +unable to longer hold down his curiosity.</p> + +<p>"Aimin' ter git our trade goods money, see a young lady, hang 'round +till th' return caravan start back fer th' States, an' mebby squar up +fer a few o' them Texans that <i>didn't</i> git ter Mexico City," answered +Tom.</p> + +<p>"This hyar's th' Tom Boyd that slapped Armijo's kiyote face," explained +Hank. "We hears th' Governor is lonesome fer his company."</p> + +<p>"Great Jehovah yes!" exclaimed Turley. "Boyd, ye better jine that thar +caravan from Bent's, meetin' up with it at th' Crossin'. Armijo combed +these hyar mountings fer ye, an' watched my rancho fer nigh a week. He'd +'most give his right hand ter git a-holt o' you; an' if he does, you kin +guess what'll happen ter you!" He peered curiously at the young American +and shook his head. "I'm bettin' ye <i>do</i> leave on th' jump, if yer lucky +enough ter leave at all. Ye'll need fresh hosses, another change o' +clothes an' a cache o' grub. Tell ye what," he said, turning to Hank. +"Ye know that little mounting valley whar you an' me stopped fer two +days, that time we war helpin' find th' hosses that war run off Bent's +Vermajo rancho? Wall, I'll fix it so these hyar hosses will be waitin' +fer ye up thar. I got some men I kin trust as long as I'm playin' agin' +th' greasers. I'll cache ye some Dupont an' Galena, too," he offered, +referring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> to powder and lead. The latter came from Galena, Illinois, +and took its name from that place.</p> + +<p>"An' forty pounds o' jerked meat a man," added Hank. "We might have ter +go clean up ter th' South Park afore we dast turn fer Bent's. Hang it on +that thar dead ash we used afore, or clost by if th' tree's down. We +better leave ye some more bullets as will fit our own weapons without no +doubt. We kin run more in th' warehouse in Santer Fe if we need 'em. +Keep yer Galena, Turley, an' leave some patches, instid, along with our +bullets."</p> + +<p>"But we'll still be four arter we leave hyar," objected Jim.</p> + +<p>"No, ye won't," replied Turley. "Ye'll show up in pairs, ye'll jine in +pairs, ye'll ride an' 'sociate in pairs, an' thar'll be a dozen more +mixin' up with ye. Wall, talk it over among ye while I gits busy afore +it's light," and the friendly rancher was swallowed up in the night.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Jacques, sleepy and grumbling, loomed up out of the +darkness, collected the six horses and departed up the slope. Shortly +after him came Turley with a miscellaneous collection of odds and ends +of worn-out clothing and soon his friends had exchanged a garment or two +with him. Tom and Hank parted with their buckskin shirts and now wore +coarse garments of Pueblo make; Zeb had a Comanche leather jerkin and +Jim wore a blue cotton shirt patched with threadbare red flannel. They +bound bands of beadwork or soft tanned skin around their foreheads, and +Hank's hair proudly displayed two iridescent bronze feathers from the +tail of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> rooster. If Joe Cooper, himself, had come face to face with +them he would have passed by without a second glance.</p> + +<p>Silently Zeb and Jim melted into the night, while Tom and Hank arose and +went around to the wall of the still house, rolled up in their +newly-acquired blankets against the base of the adobe wall and slept +until discovered and awakened after dawn by one of Turley's mill hands, +who paid them a timid and genuine respect.</p> + +<p>They loafed around all day, watching the still house with eager eyes. +Their wordless pleading was in vain, however, for Turley, frankly +scowling at their first appearance, totally ignored them thereafter. +Just before dusk two half-civilized Arapahoes from St. Vrain's South +Platte trading post swung down the mountain side, cast avaricious eyes +on some horses in the pasture, sniffed deeply at the still house, and +asked for whiskey.</p> + +<p>"I'll give ye whiskey," said Turley after a moment's thought, a grin +spreading over his face, "but I won't give it ter ye hyar. If ye want +likker I'll give ye a writin' ter my agent in Santer Fe, an' he'll give +ye all yer porous skins kin hold, an' a jug ter take away with ye."</p> + +<p>"<i>Si, señor! Si, señor! Muchos gracias!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Hold on thar! Hold yer hosses!" growled Turley. "Ye don't reckon I'm +makin' ye no present, do ye? Ye got ter earn that likker. If ye want it +bad enough ter escort my <i>atejo</i> ter th' city, it's yourn. I'm combin' +my hosses outer th' brush, an' I'm short-handed. By gosh!" he chuckled, +smiling broadly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thar's a couple more thirsty Injuns 'round hyar, some'rs; hey, Jacques! +Go find them watch dogs o' th' still house. They won't be fur away, you +kin bet. These two an' them shore will scare th' thieves plumb ter death +all th' way ter town. I kin feel <i>my</i> ha'r move!"</p> + +<p>Jacques returned shortly with Bent's thirsty hirelings, and after some +negotiations and the promise of horses for them to ride, the Indians +accepted his offer. They showed a little reluctance until he had given +each of them a drink of his raw, new whiskey, which seemed to serve as +fuel to feed a fire already flaming. The bargain struck, he ordered them +fed and let them sleep on the softest bit of ground they could find +around the rancho.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<p class='center'>SANTA FE<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> + + +<p>After an early breakfast the <i>atejo</i> of nineteen mules besides the +<i>mulera</i>, or bell mule, was brought out of the pasture and the +<i>aparejos</i>, leather bags stuffed with hay, thrown on their backs and +cinched fast with wide belts of woven sea-grass, which were drawn so +cruelly tight that they seemed almost to cut the animals in two; this +cruelty was a necessary one and saved them greater cruelties by holding +the packs from slipping and chafing them to the bone. Groaning from the +tightness of the cinches they stood trembling while the huge cruppers +were put into place and breast straps tightened. Then the <i>carga</i> was +placed on them, the whiskey carriers loaded with a cask on each side, +firmly bound with rawhide ropes; the meal carriers with nearly one +hundred fifty pounds in sacks on each side. While the mules winced now, +after they had become warmed up and the hay of the <i>aparejos</i> packed to +a better fit, they could travel longer and carry the heavy burdens with +greater ease than if the cinches were slacked. The packing down and +shaping of the <i>aparejo</i> so loosened the cinch and ropes that frequently +it was necessary to stop and tighten them all after a mile or so had +been put behind.</p> + +<p>The <i>atejo</i> was in charge of a major-domo, five<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> <i>arrieros</i>, or +muleteers and a cook, or the <i>madre</i>, who usually went ahead and led the +bell mule. All the men rode well-trained horses, and both men and horses +from Turley's rancho were sleek, well fed and contented, for the +proprietor was known throughout the valley, and beyond, for his +kindness, honesty and generosity; and he was repaid in kind, for his +employees were faithful, loyal, and courageous in standing up for his +rights and in defending his property. Yet the time was to come some +years hence when his sterling qualities would be forgotten and he would +lose his life at the hands of the inhabitants of the valley.</p> + +<p>The <i>atejo</i> swiftly and dexterously packed, the two pairs of +bloodthirsty looking Indian guards divided into advance and rear guard, +the <i>madre</i> led the bell mule down the slope and up the trail leading +over the low mountainous divide toward Ferdinand de Taos, the grunting +mules following in orderly file.</p> + +<p>The trail wandered around gorges and bowlders and among pine, cedar, and +dwarf oaks and through patches of service berries with their small, +grapelike fruit, and crossed numerous small rivulets carrying off the +water of the rainy season. Taos, as it was improperly called, lay twelve +miles distant at the foot of the other side of the divide, and it was +reached shortly after noon without a stop on the way. The "noonings" +observed by the caravans were not allowed in an <i>atejo</i>, nor were the +mules permitted to stop for even a moment while on the way, for if +allowed a moment's rest they promptly would lie down, and in attempting +to arise under their heavy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> loads were likely to strain their loins so +badly as to render them forever unfit for work. To remove and replace +the packs would take too much time. Because of the steady traveling the +day's journey rarely exceeded five or six hours nor covered more than +twelve to fifteen miles.</p> + +<p>Taos reached, the packs were removed and covered by the <i>aparejos</i>, each +pile kept separate. Turned out to graze with the bell mule, without +picket rope or hobbles, the animals would not leave her and could be +counted on, under ordinary circumstances, to be found near camp and all +together.</p> + +<p>Taos, a miserable village of adobes, and the largest town in the valley, +had a population of a few American and Canadian trappers who had married +Mexican or Indian women; poor and ignorant Mexicans of all grades except +that of pure Spanish blood, and Indians of all grades except, perhaps, +those of pure Indian blood. The mixed breed Indians had the more courage +of the two, having descended from the Taosas, a tribe still inhabiting +the near-by pueblo, whose warlike tendencies were almost entirely +displayed in defensive warfare in the holding of their enormous, +pyramidal, twin pueblos located on both sides of a clear little stream. +In the earlier days marauding bands of Yutaws and an occasional +war-party of Cheyennes or Arapahoes had learned at a terrible cost that +the Pueblo de Taos was a nut far beyond their cracking, and from these +expeditions into the rich and fertile valley but few returned.</p> + +<p>Here was a good chance to test the worth of their disguises, for the +three older plainsmen were well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>-known to some of the Americans and +Canadians in the village, having been on long trips into the mountains +with a few of them. And so, after the meal of <i>frijoles</i>, <i>atole</i> and +jerked meat, the latter a great luxury to Mexicans of the grade of +<i>arrieros</i>, Hank and his two Arapahoe companions left the little +encampment and wandered curiously about the streets, to the edification +of uneasy townsfolk, whose conjectures leaned toward the unpleasant. +Ceran St. Vrain, on a visit to the town, passed them close by but did +not recognize the men he had seen for days at a time at his trading post +on the South Platte. Simonds, a hunter from Bent's Fort, passed within a +foot of Hank and did not know him; yet the two had spent a season +together in the Middle Park, lying just across the mountain range west +of Long's Peak.</p> + +<p>Continuing on their way the next morning they camped in the open valley +for the night, and the next day crossed a range of mountains. The next +village was El Embudo, a miserable collection of mud huts at the end of +a wretched trail. The Pueblo de San Juan and the squalid, +poverty-stricken village of La Canada followed in turn. Everywhere they +found hatred and ill-disguised fear of the Texans roaming beyond the +Canadian. Next they reached the Pueblo de Ohuqui and here found snug +accommodations for themselves and their animals in the little valley. +From the pueblo the trail lay through an arroyo over another mountain +and they camped part way down its southeast face with Santa Fe sprawled +out below them.</p> + +<p>Morning found them going down the sloping trail,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> the Indian escort +surreptitiously examining their rifles, and in the evening they entered +the collection of mud houses honored by the name of San Francisco de la +Santa Fe, whose population of about three thousand souls was reputed to +be the poorest in worldly wealth in the entire province of New Mexico; +and, judging from the numbers of openly run gambling houses, rum shops +and worse, the town might have deserved the reputation of being the +poorest in morals and spiritual wealth.</p> + +<p>Sprawled out under the side of the mountain, its mud houses of a single +story, its barracks, <i>calabozo</i> and even the "palace" of the governor +made of mud, with scarcely a pane of glass in the whole town; its narrow +streets littered with garbage and rubbish; with more than two-thirds of +its population barefooted and unkempt, a mixture of Spaniards and +Indians for generations, in which blending the baser parts of their +natures seemed singularly fitted to survive; with cringing, starving +dogs everywhere; full of beggars, filthy and in most cases disgustingly +diseased, with hands outstretched for alms, as ready to curse the tight +of purse as to bless the generous, and both to no avail; with its +domineering soldiery without a pair of shoes between them, its arrogant +officers in shiny, nondescript uniforms and tarnished gilt, with huge +swords and massive spurs, to lead the unshod mob of privates into +cowardly retreat or leave them to be slaughtered by their Indian foes, +whose lances and bows were superior in accuracy and execution to the +ancient firelocks so often lacking in necessary parts; reputed to be +founded on the ruins of a pueblo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> which had flourished centuries before +the later "city" and no doubt was its superior in everything but +shameless immorality. There, under Sante Fe mountain and the pure and +almost cloudless blue sky, along the little mountain stream of the same +name, lay Santa Fe, the capital of the department of New Mexico, and the +home of her vainglorious, pompous, good-looking, and brutal governor; +Santa Fe, the greatest glass jewel in a crown of tin; Santa Fe, the +customs gate and the disappointing end of a long, hard trail.</p> + +<p>Through the even more filthy streets of the poverty-stricken outskirts +of the town went the little <i>atejo</i>, disputing right-of-way in the +narrow, porch-crowded thoroughfares with <i>hoja</i> (corn husk) sellers and +huge burro loads of pine and cedar faggots gathered from the near-by +mountain; past the square where the mud hovels of the soldiers lay; past +a mud church whose tall spire seemed ever to be stretching away from the +smells below; past odorous hog stys, crude mule corrals with their +scarred and mutilated creatures, and sheep pens, and groups of avid +cock-fighters; past open doors through which the halfbreed women, +clothed in a simple garment hanging from the shoulders, could be seen +cooking <i>frijoles</i> or the thin, watery <i>atole</i> and hovering around the +flat stones which served for stoves; past these and worse plodded the +<i>atejo</i>, the shrewd mules braying their delight at a hard journey almost +ended. Sullen Indians, apologetic Mexicans, swaggering and too often +drunken soldiers gave way to them, while a string of disputing, +tail-tucking dogs followed at a distance, ever wary, ever ready to wheel +and run.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> + +<p>Reaching the <i>Plaza Publica</i>, which was so bare of even a blade of grass +or a solitary tree, and its ground so scored and beaten and covered with +rubbish to suggest that it suffered the last stages of some earthly +mange, they came to the real business section of the town, where nearly +every shop was owned by foreigners. Around this public plaza stood the +architectural triumphs of the city. There was the <i>palacio</i> of the +governor, with its mud walls and its extended roof supported on rough +pine columns to form a great porch; the custom-house, with its greedy, +grafting officials; the mud barracks connected to the atrocious and much +dreaded <i>calabozo</i>, whose inmates had abandoned hope as they crossed its +threshold; the mud city hall, the military chapel, fast falling into +ruin, and a few dwellings. The interest attending the passing of the +<i>atejo</i> increased a little as the pack train crossed this square, for +the Indian guards were conspicuous by their height and by the breadth of +shoulder, and the excellence of their well-kept weapons. Strangers were +drawing more critical attention these days, with the Texan threat +hanging over the settlements along the Pecos and the Rio Grande. Peon +women and Indian squaws regarded the four with apparent approval and as +they left the square and plunged into the poorer section again, +compliments and invitations reached their ears. Hopeless <i>mozos</i>, or +ill-paid servants, most of them kept in actual slavery by debts they +never could pay off because of the system of accounting used against +them, regarded the four enviously and yearned for their freedom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of the four Indians, a tall, strapping Delaware, stooping to be less +conspicuous, whose face was the dirtiest in the <i>atejo</i>, suddenly +stiffened and then forced himself to relax into his former lazy slouch. +The rattle of an imported Dearborn, which at all times had to be watched +closely to keep its metal parts from being stripped off and stolen, +filled the street as the vehicle rocked along the ruts toward them, +drawn by two good horses and driven by one Joseph Cooper, of St. Louis, +Missouri. At his side sat his niece, looking with wondering and +disapproving eyes about her, her pretty face improved by its coat of +healthy tan, but marred somewhat by the look of worry it so plainly +showed. She appeared sad and wistful, but at times her thoughts leaped +far away and brought her fleeting smiles so soft, so tender, as to +banish the look of worry and for an instant set a glory there.</p> + +<p>Her glance took in the little pack train and its stalwart guards and +passed carelessly over the bending Delaware, and then returned to linger +on him while one might count five. Then he and the <i>atejo</i> passed from +sight and she looked ahead again, unseeing, for her memory was racing +along a wagon road, and became a blank in a frightful, all-night storm. +At her sigh Uncle Joe glanced sidewise at her and took a firmer grip on +his vile native cigar, and silently cursed the day she had left St. +Louis.</p> + +<p>"Load of wheat whiskey from th' rancho, I reckon," he said, and pulled +sharply on the reins to keep from running over a hypnotized ring of +cock-fighters. "How your paw can live all th' year 'round in this fester +of a town is a puzzle to me. I'd rather be in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> a St. Louis jail. Cigar?" +he sneered, yanking it from his mouth and regarding it with palpitant +disgust. He savagely hurled it from him. "Hell!"</p> + +<p>A tangle of arms and legs rolled out of a rum shop and fought impotently +in the dust of the street, and sotted faces grinned down at them from +the crowded door. A flaky-skinned beggar slouched from behind the corner +of the building and held out an imploring hand, which the driver's +contemptuous denial turned into a clenched fist afloat in a sea of +Spanish maledictions.</p> + +<p>The pack train having reached its destination, the two pairs of guards, +clutching their "writin'" from Turley, departed in hot haste to claim +their payment, and not long thereafter, rifleless, wandered about on +foot to see the sights, gaping and curious. In the hand of each was a +whiskey jug, the cynosure of all eyes. The <i>Plaza Publica</i> seemed to +fascinate them, for they spent most of their time there; and when they +passed the guard house in the <i>palacio</i> they generously replied to the +coaxing banter of the guard off watch, and went on again with lightened +jugs. Here as elsewhere they sensed a poorly hidden feeling of unrest, +and hid their smiles; somewhere north of Texas the <i>Tejanos</i> rode with +vengeance in their hearts and certain death in their heretic rifles. No +one knew how close they might be, or what moment they would storm into +the town behind their deadly weapons. But the fear was largely +apathetic, for these people, between the Apache and Comanche raids of +year after year, had suckled fear from their mothers' breasts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<p>Finally, apprehensive of the attention they were receiving, the strange +Indians left the plaza and sought refuge with the mules of the <i>atejo</i>, +to remain there until after dark; and at their passing, groups of +excited women or quarreling children resumed their gambling in the +streets and all was serene again.</p> + +<p>Gambling here was no fugitive evader of the law, no crime to be enjoyed +in secret, but was an institution legalized and flourishing. There even +was a public gaming house, where civil officers, traders, merchants, +travelers, and the clergy grouped avidly around the <i>monte</i> tables and +played at fever heat, momentarily beyond the reach of any other +obsession. Regularly the governor and his wife graced the temple of +chance with their august persons and held informal levees among the +tables, making the place a Mecca for favor-seekers and sycophants, and a +golden treasury for the "house." At this time, so soon after the arrival +of two great caravans and the collection of so much impost, part of +which stuck to every finger that handled it, the play ran high +throughout the crowded room.</p> + +<p>The round of festivities attending the arrival of the wagon trains were +not yet stilled, and fandangoes nightly gave hilarity a safety valve. +Great lumbering <i>carretas</i>, their wheels cut from solid sections of tree +trunks and the whole vehicle devoid of even a single scrap of precious +iron, shrieked and rattled through the dark streets, filled with shoddy +cavaliers and dazzling women, whose dresses seemed planned to tempt the +resolutions of a saint. <i>Rebosa</i> or lace <i>mantilla</i> over full, rounded, +dark and satiny breasts;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> fans wielded with an inherited art, to coax +and repel the victims of great and smouldering eyes of jet, which melted +one moment to blaze the next—this was the magic segment of the clock's +round. Now the eyesores of the squalid town were hidden from critical +sight, and the alluring softness and mystery of an ancient Spanish city +made one forget the almost unforgetable. Life and Death danced hand in +hand; Love and Hate bowed and curtsied, and the mad green fires of +Jealousy flickered or flared; while the poverty and the sordid tragedies +of the day gave place to tingling Romance in the feathery night. Violins +and guitars caressed the darkness with throbbing strains, catching the +breath, tingling the nerves and turning dull flesh to pulsing ecstasy.</p> + +<p>To the fandango came a flower of a far-off French-American metropolis, +strangely listless; and here felt her blood slowly transmute to wine and +every nerve become a harp-string to make sad music for her soul.</p> + +<p>Small wonder that Armijo stood speechless in the sight of such a one as +she, and forgot to press his questioning as to four who had somewhere +left that wagon train; small wonder that he gave no heed to men in the +presence of this exotic flower not yet unfolded, in whose veins the +French blood of the mother coursed with the Saxon of the father, and +played strange and wondrous pranks in delicate features, vivacious eyes, +and hidden whimsicalities now beginning to peek forth.</p> + +<p>The coarse sensuality of the governor's face revealed his thoughts to +all the room; his eyes never had known the need to mask the sheerness of +their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> greedy passion, and in such a moment could not dissemble. What +man like him, in his place and power, with his nature, would glance +twice at a lazy, dirty Indian looking in through the open door, or know +that the murder beast was tearing at its moral fetters in the Delaware's +seething soul? Without again taking his burning eyes from the woman +before him the governor tossed, by force of habit, a copper coin through +the door, alms to a beggar to bring him luck from heaven to further his +plans from hell. Nor did he know the magazine his contemptuous gift had +set aflame, nor see the convulsive struggle between the Delaware and +three other Indians. The guard laughed sneeringly at the fight they +made, three to one, over a single piece of copper: Who was to know that +they fought over a hollow piece of steel, charged twice times three with +leaden death? Who was to read the desperation in that furious struggle, +where a beast-man fought like a fiend against his closest friends? The +struggling four reeled and stumbled from the house, leading away a fiery +tempest and faded into the crooning night. That open door nearly had +been an Open Door, indeed!</p> + +<p>Within the room the vivacity died in the woman's eyes, the +whimsicalities drew back in sudden panic at the beast look on the +governor's face; the swing was gone from the strumming music, the rhythm +from the swaying dance. At once the festive room was a pit of slime, the +smiling faces but mocking masks, and the dark shadow of a vulture +descended like a suffocating gas. Like a flash the wall dissolved to +show a long, clean trail, winding from Yesterday into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> Tomorrow; restful +glades and creeks of shining sands, windswept prairies and a clear, blue +sky; verdant glades and miles of flowers—and a tall, dark youth with +smiling face, who worshiped reverently with tender eyes. She drew +herself up as white streaks crossed her crimson cheeks like some darting +rapier blade, and, bowing coldly to the pompous governor, stood rigidly +erect and stared for a full half-minute into his astonished eyes, and +made them fall. Deliberately and with unutterable scorn and loathing she +turned from him to her father and her uncle, who forthwith shattered the +absurd rules of pomp by showing him their broad backs and leaving at +once. The room hushed as they walked toward the door, but no man stayed +them, for on their faces there blazed the sign of Death.</p> + +<p>Armijo, still staring after them, waved his hand and three men slipped +out by another door, to follow and to learn what sanctuary that flower +might choose. As he wheeled about and snapped a profane order the +fiddlers and strummers stumbled into their stammering music; the dance +went on again, with ragged rhythm, like an automaton out of gear.</p> + +<p>Down the dark street rumbled the Dearborn, rocking perilously, the +clatter of the running horses filling the narrow way with clamor. +Sprinting at top speed behind it came barefoot soldiers: And then a +human avalanche burst from a pitch dark passage-way. The Dearborn rocked +on and turned a corner; the soldiers groped like blinded, half-stunned +swimmers and as the secretive moments passed, they stumbled to their +feet and staggered back again with garbled tales of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> prowling monsters, +and crossed themselves continuously. About the time the frightened +soldiers reached the house they had set out from, four Indians crept +along an adobe wall and knocked a signal on the studded planks of a +heavy, warehouse door. There came no creaking from its well-oiled hinges +as it slowly opened, stopped, and swiftly shut again, and left the dark +and smelly courtyard empty.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE RENDEZVOUS<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Enoch Birdsall stared in amazement at the four he had admitted, despite +the remembrance of the names they had whispered through the crack of the +partly opened door, the light from a single candle making gargoyles of +their hideously painted faces. Alonzo Webb was peering along the barrel +of a newfangled Colt, his eyes mere pin-points of concentration, his +breathing nearly suspended.</p> + +<p>Hank's low, throaty laughter filled the dim building and he slapped Tom +on the shoulder. "Didn't I say I could fix us up so our own mothers +wouldn't know us?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"God help us!" said Enoch in hopelessly inadequate accents as he groped +behind him for his favorite cask. He seated himself with great +deliberation. "When Turley's man Allbright brought aroun' yer rifles in +a packload o' hay, I knowed we'd be seein' ye soon; an' he told us plain +that four Injuns had left 'em with him. But; h—l!"</p> + +<p>Alonzo had cautiously put away the Colt and was readjusting his facial +expression to suit the changed conditions. Then he suddenly leaned back +against a bale of tobacco leaf, jammed an arm tightly against his mouth, +and laughed until he was limp.</p> + +<p>Zeb Houghton glared at him in offended dignity,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> not knowing just what +to say, but determined to say something. He felt embarrassed and +slightly huffed. "Caravan have airy trouble arter we left it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Trouble?" queried Enoch, a wise grin wreathing his face. "Some o' us +made more profits this year than we ever did afore. Soon's we found thar +warn't no custom guard ter meet us at Cold Spring, thanks ter them +Texans, we sent some riders ahead from th' ford o' th' Canadian, an' +Woodson held th' caravan thar in camp fer a couple o' days. Them greaser +<i>rancheros</i> air half starved 'most all year 'round an' they jumped at +th' chance ter earn some good U.S. gold. Some o' us had quite some +visitors one night an' some o' th' waggins, ourn among 'em, shore +strayed away from th' encampment an' got lost in th' hills. He had said +somethin' 'bout not wantin' to waste so much time, an' o' takin' a +short-cut; an' everybody war so excited about bein' so clost ter Santer +Fe, an' by this time used ter folks goin' on ahead, that we warn't +hardly missed. Them that did miss us soon forgot it. We're ahead five +hundred dollars a waggin, besides th' other imposts an' th' salve money; +our waggins air waitin' fer us when we go back, an' our goods air comin' +in from th' ranchos in <i>carretas</i> an' by pack mule, under hay, hoja an' +faggots, an' other stuff. Thar's them two axles o' Joe Cooper's that he +war so anxious about back at th' Grove an' at every stream we had ter +cross. Thar empty now, but thar war plumb full o' high-class contraband +when they got here. Woodson slung 'em under one o' his waggins that come +through on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> th' reg'lar trail, an' brought 'em in. Over thar's what's +left o' your stuff."</p> + +<p>"Have you fellers looked in a glass yit?" demanded Alonzo, taking a +mirror from the wall. "Hyar, Boyd, whichever ye air, see what ye look +like."</p> + +<p>The passing of the mirror and the candle was the cause of much hilarity, +and the room was filled with subdued merriment until there came a +peculiar knock on the massive door. The candle flame struggled under a +box while voices murmured at the portal, and then there came a cautious +shuffling of feet until the box was removed.</p> + +<p>Joe Cooper's curious glance became a stare and his jaw dropped. Tearing +his eyes from the faces of the villainous four he used them to ask a +question of the grinning Enoch which his lips were incapable of framing.</p> + +<p>Enoch looked at the four. "One o' ye, who knows who's who, interduce yer +friends ter Mr. Cooper, o' St. Louis, Missoury," he suggested.</p> + +<p>Hank shoved Jim Ogden a step forward. "This 'Rapahoe is Jim Ogden, o' +Bent's Fort an' th' Rockies; this other un is Zeb Houghton, o' th' +Louisiana Purchase, Mexico an' Texas; hyar's Tom Boyd, hopin' ter save +his ear-tabs; an' I'm—" from his mouth sounded the twang of a +bowstring.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe sank down on a pile of smuggled Mackinaw blankets, shoved a +cigar in his mouth, lit it and took several puffs before he slammed it +on the floor and crushed it with his foot. Then he recovered himself, +joyously shook hands all around and started a conversation that scorned +the flying minutes. Dur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>ing a lull Alonzo looked shrewdly at the +cheerful Indians and put his thoughts into words.</p> + +<p>"Boys, anythin' we've got is yourn fer th' askin'," he slowly said; "but +I'd hate ter reckon it war through me an' Enoch that ye lost yer lives, +an' yer ears. We all war clost friends in Independence an' on th' trail. +Clost friends o' yourn air goin' ter be watched like sin from now on. +Tom Boyd an' his friends left th' caravan ter go ter Bent's—an' a +passel o' greasers went arter 'em hot foot. Mebby th' first gang didn't +git ter Bent's—an' it's shore th' greasers ain't showed up yit—not one +o' them. Bad as Armijo is he ain't no fool by a danged sight. Fer yer +own sakes ye better stay with Armstrong till ye leave th' city. Now that +I've warned ye, I don't give a cuss what ye do; yer welcome ter stay +hyar till yer bones rot—an' ye know it."</p> + +<p>Tom nodded. "Yer right, Alonzo. I just got a brand new reason fer livin' +till th' return caravan gits past th' Arkansas. Patience Cooper has +<i>got</i> to go with it; she ain't a-goin' ter spend no winter hyar, if I +kin help it—an' if she does stay, then I do, too, ears or no ears." His +face tensed, his eyes gleaming with hatred through the paint and dirt. +"I come nigh ter commitin' murder tonight. 'Twasn't my fault that I +didn't."</p> + +<p>Hank clapped him on the shoulder and turned to Uncle Joe. "We war all +a-lookin' in at th' fandango," he explained. "It war a mighty clost +shave fer th' sheep-stealin' shepherd o' Chavez rancho, that growed up +ter be governor. If 'twarn't fer th' gal I'd never 'a' grabbed Boyd."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> + +<p>Uncle Joe shook his head. "There'll be trouble comin' out o' that," he +declared. "We couldn't do nothin' else, but Armijo'll never rest till he +wipes out th' insult o' our turnin' our backs on him an' leavin' like we +did. An' did ye see th' look she gave him? D——d if it wasn't worth th' +trip from Missouri to see it! Us Americans ain't loved a whole lot out +here, an' them blessed Texans has gone an' made things worse. I wish we +all were rollin' down to th' Crossin'. Patience is goin' back. I've +argued <i>that</i> out, anyhow; right up to th' handle!"</p> + +<p>"Get her out of town <i>now</i>," urged Tom, wriggling forward on his box. +"Us four'll whisk her up to Bent's, an' jine ye at th' Crossin'."</p> + +<p>"If we do that her father will have to leave, too," replied Uncle Joe; +"an' he's stubborn as a mule, Adam is. He says it'll be forgotten, an' +if we make a play like that it'll raise th' devil."</p> + +<p>"When her safety is at stake?" sharply demanded Tom.</p> + +<p>"He says she ain't in no danger. Him an' Armijo is real friendly. Adam +is th' one man th' Americans in this town depend on ter git 'em a little +justice. I've been arguin' with him tonight, an' I aim to keep on +arguin'; but he's set. I know Adam."</p> + +<p>Tom cursed and arose to his feet. "An' <i>I</i> know <i>Armijo</i>! I know his +vile history like a book, for I took pains to learn it. His whole career +is built on treachery, sheep-stealin', double-dealin' and assassination. +He robbed Chavez of thousands of sheep—even stealing them and selling +them back to their rightful owner. He sold one little flock back to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +Chavez over a dozen times, an' had stolen it from him in th' beginnin'. +Then he dealt <i>monte</i> and made a pile. Then he was made chief custom +house officer in this town, got caught at some of his tricks an' kicked +out. Governor Perez put another man in his place. The condition of +politics in Mexico worked in Armijo's favor and he stirred up a ferment, +headed a conspiracy, raised a force of about a thousand Mexicans an' +Pueblo Indians up at La Canada, and when Perez moved against him Perez's +troops went over to Armijo and the old governor had to flee to this +town, and out of it on th' jump. With him went a score or so of his +personal friends; but the next day the little party was caught, more +than a dozen of them put to death, an' Perez was murdered in the +outskirts of this town and his body dragged around through the streets. +Armijo had not shown his hand openly and the new governor was one of the +active leaders of the insurrection. This did not suit Armijo, who was +playing for big stakes, and he started another revolution, adopted +Federalism for a cloak, drove the insurgent governor from the city, +later shot him and, after declaring himself governor, had his +appointment made official by the Federal government at Mexico City, and +ever since has played tyrant without a check. That's Adam Cooper's +so-called friend. That's the man he trusts. God help Adam; an' God help +Armijo if he harms Patience Cooper!"</p> + +<p>His friends nodded, for they knew that he spoke the truth; and Uncle Joe +thoughtlessly lit another cigar before he remembered its make. "Adam's +last cent is sunk out here," he remarked. "He says he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> ain't goin' to +turn himself inter a pauper an' flee for his life just because his fool +brother is a-scared of shadows. He says th' beast was drunk tonight an' +didn't know what he was doin'."</p> + +<p>Tom spread out his hands helplessly, and then clenched them. He paced a +few turns and stopped again. "All right, Uncle Joe; he's her father and +he's backin' his best judgment. I'm an outsider an' have nothin' to say. +Boys," he said, looking at his three hunter friends, "we got work ter +do. We got ter watch Patience Cooper every minute that she's out o' th' +house. Thar's too much at stake fer us to rendezvous hyar, we'll stay at +Armstrong's. Enoch, git our rifles over thar as soon as ye kin. I want +another repeatin' pistol, in a leather case, to hang under my shirt, +below my left arm-pit. Thank th' Lord that Turley's plantin' a relay fer +us up in th' mountains; I'm bettin' we'll need it bad." He looked at +Hank. "Bet it's eighty mile to that place, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"Th' way we come it is," replied the hunter. "I know a straighter trail +that ain't got so many people livin' along it. It's twenty mile shorter, +but harder travelin'."</p> + +<p>"If thar's anybody at Bent's ranch on th' Purgatoire, we might pick up a +re-mount thar," muttered Tom. "That'd give us fresh hosses fer th' last +ninety miles to th' fort; but we'll have ter cross th' wagon road ter +git thar."</p> + +<p>"We'll use that fer th' second bar'l," said Hank. "I know a better way, +over an old Ute trail leadin' toward th' Bayou Salade; but we'll have +hosses at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> Bent's ranch if I kin git word ter Holt, Carson or Bill Bent. +We better go 'round an' see Armstrong right away; he may know o' +somebody that's goin' up on th' trail through Raton Pass. He'll do +anythin' fer me."</p> + +<p>"Cover th' candle," said Tom. "Give us our rifles; we kin carry 'em all +right at this time o' night, with everybody stayin' indoors on account +o' th' Texans. Any time ye have news fer us, Enoch, an' can't git it ter +Armstrong's, set a box outside th' door."</p> + +<p>"It'll be stole," said Enoch, grinning.</p> + +<p>"Then set somethin' else out."</p> + +<p>"That'll be stole, too."</p> + +<p>"What will?"</p> + +<p>"Anythin' we put out."</p> + +<p>"God help us!" ejaculated Uncle Joe. "Try a busted bottle."</p> + +<p>"Glass?" laughed Alonzo, derisively. "No good. If you kin think o' +anythin' that won't be stole, I shore want to larn o' it." He considered +a moment. "Hyar! If I git flour on my elbow an' brush ag'in th' door, we +got news fer ye. I don't think they kin steal that, not all o' it, +anyhow!"</p> + +<p>Enoch nodded. "If thar's any news we'll git it. This is th' meetin' +place o' most o' th' Americans hyar. Thar banded purty clost together +an' have made Armijo change his tune a couple o' times. Onct they war +accused o' conspiracy ag'in th' government, which war a danged lie, an' +th' scarecrow troops war ordered out ag'in 'em; but we put up such a +fierce showin' that Armijo climbed down from his high hoss an' nothin' +come o' it except hard feelin's. That's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> one o' th' reasons, I reckon, +why Adam Cooper ain't worryin' as much as he might about his dater's +safety. An' lookin' at it from a reasonable standpoint, I'm figgerin' +he's right. Boyd, hyar, would worry powerful if <i>she</i> got a splinter in +her finger."</p> + +<p>After the laughter had subsided and a little more talk the four +plainsmen slipped out of the building and cautiously made their way to +Armstrong's store and dwelling where, after a whispered palaver at the +heavy door, they were admitted by the sleepy owner of the premises and +shown where they could spread their blankets. In the faint light of the +candle they saw other men lying about on the hard floor, who stirred, +grumbled a little, and went back to sleep again.</p> + +<p>When they awakened the next morning they recognized two old friends from +Bent's Fort, a trader from St. Vrain's, and an American hunter and +trapper from the Pueblo near the junction of the Arkansas and Boiling +Spring Rivers. The simple breakfast was soon dispatched and gossip and +news exchanged, and then Hank led aside a hunter named Hatcher, who +stood high at Bent's Fort, and earnestly conversed with him. In a few +moments Hank turned, looked reassuringly at Tom and smiled. Bent's +little ranch on the Purgatoire was being worked and improved and there +would be men and a relay of horses there, providing that the Utes +overlooked the valley in the meantime.</p> + +<p>All that day they remained indoors and when night came they slipped out, +one by one, and drifted back to the corral where the <i>atejo</i> still +remained. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> had lost their rifles, were sullen and taciturn from too +much drink, and paid no attention to the knowing grins of the friendly +muleteers. Thenceforth they drew only glances of passing interest on the +streets, no one giving a second thought to the stolid, dulled and sodden +wrecks in their filthy, nondescript apparel; and the guard at the +<i>palacio</i> gave them cigarettes rolled in corn husks for running errands, +and found amusement in playing harmless tricks on them.</p> + +<p>At the barracks they were less welcome, Don Jesu and Robideau, both +subordinates of Salezar, scarcely tolerating them; while Salezar, +himself, kicked them from in front of the door and threatened to cut off +their ears if he caught them hanging around the building. They accepted +the kicks as a matter of course and thenceforth shrunk from his +approach; and he sneered as he thought of their degradation from once +proud and vengeful warriors of free and warlike tribes, to fawning +beggars with no backbone. But even he, when the need arose, made use of +them to fetch and carry for him and to do menial tasks about the mud +house he called his home. He had seen many of their kind and wasted no +thought on them.</p> + +<p>He was the same cruel and brutal tyrant who had herded almost two +hundred half-starved and nearly exhausted men over that terrible trail +down the valley of the Rio Grande, and his soldiers stood in mortal +terror of him and meekly accepted treatment that in any other race would +have swiftly resulted in his death. He had played a prominent part in +the capture and herding of the Texan prisoners and loved to boast of it +at every opportunity, using some of the incidents<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> as threats to his +unfortunate soldiers. Tom and his friends witnessed scenes that made +their blood boil more than it boiled over the indignities they elected +to suffer, and sometimes it was all they could do to refrain from +killing him in his tracks. At the barracks he was a roaring lion, but at +the <i>palacio</i>, in the sight and hearing of the chief jackal, he reminded +them of a whipped cur.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<p class='center'>TOM RENEGES<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p> + + +<p>As the days passed while waiting for the return of the caravan to +Missouri, Patience rode abroad with either her uncle or her father, +sometimes in the Dearborn, but more often in the saddle. She explored +the ruins of the old church at Pecos, where the Texan prisoners had +spent a miserable night; the squalid hamlets of San Miguel, which she +had passed through on her way to Santa Fe, and Anton Chico had been +visited; the miserable little sheep ranchos had been investigated and +other rides had taken her to other outlying districts; but the one she +loved best was the trail up over the mountain behind Santa Fe. The +almost hidden pack mules and their towering loads of faggots, <i>hoja</i>, +hay and other commodities were sights she never tired of, although the +scars on some of the meek beasts once in awhile brought tears to her +eyes. The muleteers, beneficiaries of her generosity, smiled when they +saw her and touched their forelocks in friendly salutation.</p> + +<p>On the mountain there was one spot of which she was especially fond. It +was a little gully-like depression more than halfway up that seemed to +be much greener than the rest of the mountain side, and always moist. +The trees were taller and more heavily leafed And threw a shade which, +with the coolness of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> moist little nook, was most pleasant. It lay +not far from the rutted, rough and busy trail over the mountain, which +turned and passed below it, the <i>atejos</i> and occasional picturesque +<i>caballeros</i> on their caparisoned horses, passing in review before her +and close enough to be distinctly seen, yet far enough away to hide +disillusioning details. The mud houses of the town at the foot of the +long slope, with their flat roofs, looked much better at this distance +and awakened trains of thought which nearness would have forbidden. It +was also an ideal place to eat a lunch and she and Uncle Joe or her +father made it their turning point.</p> + +<p>Her daily rides had given her confidence, and the stares which first had +followed her soon changed to glances of idle curiosity. Of Armijo she +neither had seen nor heard anything more and scarcely gave him a +thought, and the Mexican officers she met saluted politely or ignored +her altogether. Her uncle still harped about Santa Fe being no place for +her, but, having the assurance that she would return to St. Louis with +the caravan, was too wise to press the matter. His efforts were more +strongly bent to get his brother to sell out and he had sounded Woodson +to see if that trader would take over the merchandise. Adam Cooper +seemed to consider closing out his business and returning to Missouri, +but he would not sacrifice it, and there the matter hung, swaying first +to one side and then to the other. By this time Santa Fe had palled on +the American merchant and he had laid by sufficient capital to start in +business in St. Louis or one of the frontier towns, and his brother was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +confident that if the stock could be disposed of for a reasonable sum +that Adam would join the returning caravan.</p> + +<p>It was in the storehouse of Webb and Birdsall one night, about a week +before the wagons were being put in shape for the return trip that the +matter was settled. Disturbing rumors were floating up from the south +about a possible closing of the ports of entry of the Department of New +Mexico, due to the dangers to Mexican traders on the long trail because +of the presence of Texan raiding parties. The Texans had embittered the +feelings of the Mexicans against the Americans, whom they knew to be +universally in favor of the Lone Star Republic, and the Texan raids of +this summer were taken as a forecast of greater and more determined +raids for the following year.</p> + +<p>When Adam and Joe Cooper joined the little group in the warehouse on +this night, they met two Missourians who had just returned from +Chihuahua with a train of eleven wagons. These traders, finding business +so good in the far southern market, and having made arrangements with +some Englishmen there, who were high in favor with the Federal +authorities, were anxious to make another trip if they could load their +wagons at a price that would make the journey worth while. They were +certain that the next year would find the Mexican ports closed against +the overland traffic, eager to clean up what they could before winter +set in and to sell their outfits and return by water. They further +declared that a tenseness was developing between the Federal government +and the United States, carefully hidden at the present, which would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +make war between the two countries a matter of a short time. Texas was +full of people who were urging annexation to the United States, and +their numbers were rapidly growing; and when the Lone Star republic +became a state in the American federation, war would inevitably follow. +Some in the circle dissented wholly or in part, but all admitted that +daily Mexico was growing more hostile to Americans.</p> + +<p>"Wall, we ain't forcin' our opinions on nobody," said one of the +Chihuahua traders. "We believe 'em ourselves, an' we want ter make +another trip south. Adam, we've heard ye ain't settled in yer mind about +stayin' through another winter hyar. We'll give ye a chanct ter clear +out; what ye got in goods, an' what ye want fer'em lock, stock an' +bar'l?"</p> + +<p>"What they cost us here in Santa Fe," said Uncle Joe quickly, determined +to force the issue. "We just brought in more'n two wagon loads, an' what +we had on hand will go a long way toward helpin' you fill your wagons. +Come around tomorrow, look th' goods over, an' if they suit you, we'll +add twelve cents a pound for th' freight charge across th' prairies an' +close 'em out to you. Ain't that right, Adam?" he demanded so sharply +and truculently that his brother almost surrendered at once. Seeing that +they had an ally in Uncle Joe the traders pushed the matter and after a +long, haggling discussion, they offered an additional five per cent of +the purchase price for a quick decision.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe accepted it on the spot and nudged his brother, who grudgingly +accepted the terms if the traders would buy the two great wagons and +their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> teams. This they promised to do if they could find enough extra +goods to fill them, and they soon left the warehouse for fear of showing +their elation. They knew where they could sell the wagons at a profit +with a little manipulation on the part of their English friend.</p> + +<p>Elated by the outcome of his protracted arguments, Uncle Joe hurried +around to Armstrong's store and told the news to Tom and his three +friends.</p> + +<p>"We can get them goods off our hands in two days," he exulted; "an' th' +caravan will be ready to leave inside a week. Don't say a word to +nobody, boys. We'll try to sneak Adam and Patience out of town so Armijo +won't miss 'em till they're on th' trail. Them Chihuahua traders won't +disturb th' goods before we start for home because they got to get a lot +more to fill their wagons, an' th' merchandise is safer in th' store +than it will be under canvas. I wish th' next week was past!"</p> + +<p>To wish the transaction kept a secret and to keep it a secret were two +different things. The Chihuahua traders found more merchants who felt +that they would be much safer in Missouri than in Santa Fe, and the +south-bound wagon train was stocked three days before time for the +Missouri caravan to leave. There were certain customs regulations +relating to goods going through to El Paso and beyond, certain involved +and exacting forms to be obtained and filled out, much red tape to be +cut with golden shears and many palms to be crossed with specie. Uncle +Joe and his brother found that the matter of transferring their goods to +the traders took longer than they ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>pected and were busy in the store +for several days, leaving Patience to make the most of the short time +remaining of her stay in the capital of the Department of New Mexico.</p> + +<p>At last came the day when the eastbound caravan was all but ready to +start, certain last minute needs arising that kept it in the camp +outside the city until the following morning. Busily engaged in its +organizing and in numerous personal matters, they told her to stay in +the city. Uncle Joe and his brother could not accompany Patience on +another ride up the mountain and they understood that she would not +attempt one; but she changed her mind and left the town in the care and +guidance of a Mexican employee of her father, in whom full trust was +reposed. She rode out an hour earlier than was her wont, and when a +Delaware Indian called at the house to beg alms from the generous +señorita he found the building open and empty. Knowing that the last +night was to be spent in the encampment and thinking that she had gone +there, as he understood was the plan, he gave little thought to this and +wandered back to the <i>Plaza Publica</i> to look for his companions. They +were not in sight and he went over to the barracks to seek them there.</p> + +<p>Don Jesu swaggered along the side of the building, caught sight of the +disreputable Delaware and contemptuously waved him away. "Out of my +sight, you drunken beggar and son of a beggar! If I catch you here once +more I'll hang you by your thumbs! <i>Vamoose!</i>"</p> + +<p>The Delaware stiffened a little and seemed re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>luctant to obey the +command. "I seek my friends," he replied in a guttural polyglot. "I do +no harm."</p> + +<p>Don Jesu's face flamed and he drew his sword and brought the flat of the +blade smartly across the Indian's shoulder. "But once more I tell you to +<i>vamoose</i>! <i>Pronto!</i>" He drew back swiftly and threw the weapon into +position for a thrust, for he had seen a look flare up in the Indian's +eyes that warned him.</p> + +<p>The Delaware cringed, muttered something and slunk back along the wall +and as he reached the corner of the building he bumped solidly into +Robideau, who at that moment turned it. The foot of the second officer +could not travel far enough to deliver the full weight of the kick, but +the impact was enough to send the Indian sprawling. As he clawed to +hands and knees, Robideau stood over him, sword in hand, threats and +curses pouring from him in a burning stream. The Indian paused a moment, +got control over his rage, ran off a short distance on hands and knees +and, leaping to his feet, dashed around the corner of the building to +the hilarious and exultant jeers of the sycophantic soldiers. He barely +escaped bumping into a huge, screeching and ungainly <i>carreta</i> being +driven by a soldier and escorted by a squad of his fellows under the +personal command of Salezar. The lash of a whip fell across his +shoulders and cut through blanket and shirt. The second blow was short +and before another could be aimed at him, the Delaware had darted into a +passage-way between two buildings.</p> + +<p>The officer laughed loudly, nodded at the scowling driver and again felt +of the canvas cover of the cart:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> "The city is full of vermin," he +chuckled. "There's not much difference between Texans and Americans, and +these sotted Indians. Tomorrow we will be well rid of many of the gringo +dogs and we will attend to these strange Indians when this present +business has been taken care of. But there is one gringo who will remain +with us!" He laughed until he shook. "<i>Captain</i> Salezar today; +<i>Colonel</i>, tomorrow; <i>quien sabe</i>?"</p> + +<p>He looked at two of his soldiers, squat, powerful half-breeds, and +laughed again. "Jose is a strong man. Manuel is a strong man. Perhaps +tomorrow we will give each one of them two Indians and see which can +flog the longest and the hardest; but," he warned, his face growing hard +and cruel, "the man who bungles his work today will have no ears +tomorrow!"</p> + +<p>The Delaware, his right hand thrust into his shirt under the dirty +blanket, crouched in the doorway and was making the fight of his life +against the murderous rage surging through him. The words of the officer +reached him well enough, but in his fury were unintelligible. Wild, mad +plans for revenge were crowding through his mind, mixed and jumbled +until they were nothing more than a mental kaleidoscope, and constantly +thrown back by the frantic struggles of reason. He had nursed the +thought of revenge, mile after mile, day after day, across the prairies +and the desert; but for the last half month he had fought it back for +the safety his freedom might give to the woman he loved.</p> + +<p>The grotesque, ungainly cart rumbled and bumped,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> clacked and screeched +down the street, farther and farther away and still he crouched in the +doorway. The sounds died out, but still he remained in the sheltering +niche. Finally his hand emerged from under the blanket and fell to his +side, and a wretched Indian slouched down the street toward the <i>Plaza +Publica</i>. In command of himself once more he shuffled over to the guard +house in the <i>palacio</i> and leaned against the wall, the welt on his back +burning him to the soul, as Armijo's herald stepped from the main door, +blew his trumpet and announced the coming of the governor. Pedestrians +stopped short and bowed as the swarthy tyrant stalked out to his horse, +mounted and rode away, his small body-guard clattering after him. The +Delaware, to hide the expression on his face, bowed lower and longer +than anyone and then slyly produced a plug of smuggled Kentucky tobacco +and slipped it to the sergeant of the guard.</p> + +<p>"They'll catch you yet, you thief of the North," warned the sergeant, +shaking a finger at the stolid Indian. "And when they do you'll hang by +the thumbs, or lose your ears." He grinned and shoved the plug into his +pocket, not seeming to be frightened by becoming an accessory after the +fact. "Our governor is in high spirits today, and our captain's face is +like the mid-day sun. He is a devil with the women, is Armijo and his +señora doesn't care a snap. Lucky man, the governor." He laughed and +then looked curiously at his silent companion. "Where do you come from, +and where do you go?"</p> + +<p>The Delaware waved lazily toward the North. "Señor Bent. I return +soon."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Look to it that you do, or the <i>calabozo</i> will swallow you up in one +mouthful. I hear much about the <i>palacio</i>." He shook his finger and his +head, both earnestly.</p> + +<p>The Delaware drew back slightly and glanced around. Drawing his blanket +about him he turned and slouched away, leaving the plaza by the first +street, and made his slinking and apologetic way to Armstrong's, there +to wait until dark. His three friends were there already and were +rubbing their pistols and rifles, elated that the morrow would find them +on the trail again. The two Arapahoes planned to accompany the caravan +as far as the Crossing of the Arkansas and there turn back toward Bent's +Fort, following the northern branch of the trail along the north bank of +the river.</p> + +<p>"Better jine us, Tom," urged Jim Ogden. "You an' Hank an' us will stay +at th' fort till frost comes, an' then outfit thar an' spend th' winter +up in Middle Park."</p> + +<p>"Or we kin work up 'long Green River an' winter in Hank's old place," +suggested Zeb Houghton, rubbing his hands. "Thar'll be good company in +Brown's Hole; an' mebby a scrimmage with th' thievin' Crows if we go up +that way. Yer nose will be outer jint in th' Missouri settlements. I +know a couple o' beaver streams that ain't been teched yit." He glanced +shrewdly at the young man. "It's good otter an' mink country, too. We'll +build a good home camp an' put up some lean-tos at th' fur end o' th' +furtherest trap lines. Th' slopes o' th' little divides air thick with +timber fer our marten traps, an' th' tops air bare.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> Fox sets up thar +will git plenty o' pelts. I passed through it two year ago an' can't +hardly wait ter git back ag'in. It's big enough fer th' hull four o' +us."</p> + +<p>"Thar's no money in beaver at a dollar a plew," commented Hank, watching +his partner out of the corner of his eye. "Time war when it war worth +somethin', I tell ye; but them days air past—an' th' beaver, too, purty +nigh. I remember one spring when I got five dollars a pound fer beaver +from ol' Whiskey Larkin. Met him on th' headwaters o' th' Platte. He +paid me that then an' thar, an' then had ter pack it all th' way ter +Independence. But it's different with th' other skins, an' us four shore +could have a fine winter together."</p> + +<p>"It's allus excitin' ter me ter wait till th' pelts prime, settin' in a +good camp with th' traps strung out, smokin' good terbaker an' eatin' +good grub," said Ogden, reminiscently. "Then th' frosts set in, snow +falls an' th' cold comes ter stay; an' we web it along th' lines settin' +traps fer th' winter's work. By gosh! What ye say, Tom?"</p> + +<p>Tom was studying the floor, vainly trying to find a way to please his +friends and to follow the commands of an urging he could not resist. For +him the mating call had come, and his whole nature responded to it with +a power which would not be denied. On one hand called the old life, the +old friends to whom he owed so much; a winter season with them in a good +fur country, with perfect companionship and the work he loved so dearly; +on the other the low, sweet voice of love, calling him to the One Woman +and to trails untrod. The past was dead, living only in memory;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> the +future stirred with life and was rich in promise. He sighed, slowly +shook his head and looked up with moist eyes, glancing from one eager +face to another.</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' back ter Missoury," he said in a low voice. "Thar's a +question I got ter ask, back thar, when th' danger's all behind an' it +kin be asked fair. If th' answer is 'no' I promise ter jine ye at Bent's +or foller after. Leave word fer me if ye go afore I git thar. But +trappin' is on its last legs, an' th' money's slippin' out o' it, like +fur from a pelt in th' spring; 'though I won't care a dang about that if +I has ter turn my back on th' settlements." His eyes narrowed and his +face grew hard. "Jest now I'm worryin' about somethin' else. Here I am +in Santer Fe, passin' Armijo an' Salezar every day, an' have ter turn my +back on one of th' big reasons fer comin' hyar. Thar's a new welt acrost +my back that burns through th' flesh inter my soul like a livin' fire. +Thar's an oath I swore on th' memory of a close friend who war beaten +an' starved an' murdered; an' now I'm a lyin' dog, an' my spirit's +turned ter water!" He leaped up and paced back and forth across the +little room like a caged panther.</p> + +<p>Hank cleared his throat, his painted face terrible to look upon. "Hell!" +he growled, squirming on his box. "Them as know ye, Tom Boyd, know ye +ain't neither dog ner liar! Takes a good man ter stand what ye have, day +arter day, feelin' like you do, an' keep from chokin' th' life outer +him. We've all took his insults, swallered 'em whole without no salt; ye +wouldn't say <i>all</i> o' us war dogs an' liars, would ye? Tell ye what; +we've been purty clost, you an'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> me—suppose I slip back from th' +Canadian an' git his ears fer ye? 'Twon't be no trouble, an' I won't be +gone long. Reckon ye'd feel airy better then?"</p> + +<p>Zeb moved forward on his cask. "That's you, Hank Marshall!" he exclaimed +eagerly. "I'm with ye! He spit in my face two days ago, an' I want his +ha'r. Good fer you, ol' beaver!"</p> + +<p>For the next hour the argument waxed hot, one against three, and +Armstrong had to come in and caution them twice. It was Jim Ogden who +finally changed sides and settled the matter in Tom's favor.</p> + +<p>"Hyar! We're nigh fightin' over a dog that ain't worth a cuss!" he +exclaimed. "Mebby Tom will be comin' back ter Bent's afore winter sets +in. Then we kin go ter Green River by th' way o' this town, stoppin' +hyar a day ter git Salezar's ears. Won't do Tom no good if us boys git +th' skunk. If ye don't close yer traps, cussed if I won't go out an' git +him now, an' then hell shore will pop afore th' caravan gits away. Ain't +ye got no sense, ye bloodthirsty Injuns?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<p class='center'>THE KIDNAPPING<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Patience and her Mexican escort rode out of the town along the trail to +Taos Valley, the road leading up the mountain and past her favorite +retreat. She could not resist the cool of the morning hours and the +temptation to pay one more visit to the little niche in the mountain +side. The few farewell calls that she had to make could wait until the +afternoon. They were duties rather than pleasures and the shorter she +could make them the better she would like it. She passed the mud houses +of the soldiers and soon left the city behind. At intervals on the +wretched road she met and smiled at the friendly muleteers and gave +small coins to the toddling Mexican and Indian children before the +wretched hovels scattered along the way. Well before noon she reached +the little nook and unpacked the lunch she had brought along. Sharing it +with her humble escort, who stubbornly insisted on taking his portion to +one side and eating by himself, she spread her own lunch under her +favorite tree and leisurely enjoyed it as she watched the mules passing +below her along the trail. This last view of the distant town and the +mountain trail enchanted her and time slipped by with furtive speed. Far +down on the road, if it could be called such, bumped and slid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> a huge +<i>carreta</i> covered with a soiled canvas cover, its driver laboring with +his four-mule team. The four had all they could do to draw the massive +cart along the rough trail and she smiled as she wondered how many mules +it would take to pull the heavy vehicle if it were well loaded. She +tried to picture it with the toiling caravan, and laughed aloud at the +absurdity.</p> + +<p>While she idly watched the <i>carreta</i> and the little <i>atejo</i> passing it +in the direction of the city, a flash far down the trail caught her eye +and she made out a group of mounted soldiers trotting after an officer, +whose scabbard dully flashed as it jerked and bobbed about. The +<i>carreta</i> was more than half way up the slope, seeming every moment to +be threatened with destruction by the shaking it was receiving, when the +soldiers overtook and passed it. When the squad reached the short +section of the trail immediately below her it met an <i>atejo</i> of a dozen +heavily-laden mules and the arrogant officer waved his sword and ordered +them off the trail. Mules are deliberate and take their own good time, +and they also have a natural reluctance to forsake a known and +comparatively easy trail to climb over rocks under the towering packs. +Their owners tried to lead them aside, although there was plenty of room +for the troops to pass, but the little beasts were stubborn and stuck to +the trail.</p> + +<p>Impatiently waiting for perhaps a full minute that his conceit might be +pampered, the officer drew his sword again and peremptorily ordered the +trail cleared for his passing. The muleteers did their best, but it was +not good enough for the puffed-up captain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> and he spurred his horse +against a faggot-burdened animal. The load swayed and then toppled, +forcing the little burro to its knees and then over on its side, the +tight girth gripping it as in a vise. The owner of the animal stepped +quickly forward, a black scowl on his face. At his first word of protest +the officer struck him on the head with the flat of the blade and broke +into a torrent of curses and threats. The muleteer staggered back +against a huge bowlder and bowed his head, his arms hanging limply at +his sides. The officer considered a moment, laughed contemptuously and +rode on, his rag-tag, wooden-faced squad following him closely.</p> + +<p>As the soldiers passed from his sight around a bend in the trail the +muleteer leaned forward, hand on the knife in his belt, and stared +malevolently at the rocks on the bend; and then hastened to help his two +companions unpack the load of faggots and let the mule arise. The little +animal did not get up. Both its front legs were broken by the rocky +crevice into which they had been forced. The unfortunate Pueblo Indian +knelt swiftly at the side of the little beast and passed his hands along +the slender legs. He shook his head sorrowfully and stroked the burro's +flank. Suddenly leaping to his feet, knife in hand, he took two quick +steps along the trail, but yielded to his clinging and frightened +friends and dejectedly walked back to the suffering animal. For a moment +he stood above it and then, changing his grip on the knife, leaned +quickly over.</p> + +<p>Patience had seen the whole tragedy and her eyes were brimming with +tears. As the muleteer bent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> forward she turned away, sobbing. The +throaty muttering of her guide brought him back to her mind and she +called him to her.</p> + +<p>"Sanchez!" she exclaimed, taking a purse from her bosom. "Take this +money to him. It will buy him another burro."</p> + +<p>The Mexican's teeth flashed like pearls and he nodded eagerly. In a +moment he was clambering down the rocky mountain side and reached the +trail as the noisy <i>carreta</i> lumbered past the waiting <i>atejo</i>. He need +not have hastened, for each mule had seized upon the stop as a valuable +moment for resting and was lying down under its load. Here was work for +the angry muleteers, for every animal must be unloaded, kicked to its +feet and loaded anew.</p> + +<p>Sanchez slid down the last rocky wall, flung up his arms and showed the +two gold pieces, making a flamboyant speech as he alternately faced the +wondering muleteer and turned to bow to the slender figure outlined +against the somber greens of the mountain nook. Handing over the money, +he slapped the Indian's shoulder, whirled swiftly and clambered back the +way he had come.</p> + +<p>The Indian seemed dazed at his unexpected good fortune, staring at the +money in his hand. He glanced up toward the mountain niche, raised a +hand to his forelock, and then pushed swiftly back from his eager, +curious, crowding friends. They talked together at top speed and for the +moment forgot all about the mules they had so laboriously re-packed; and +when they looked behind them they found they had their work to do over +again. Again the fortunate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> muleteer looked up, his hand slowly rising +to repeat his thanks; and became a statue in bronze. He saw the ragged +troops seize his benefactress and leap for the guide. Sanchez was no +coward and he knew what loyalty meant and demanded. He fought like a +wild beast until the crash of a pistol in the hands of the officer sent +him staggering on bending legs, back, back, back. Reaching the edge of +the niche he toppled backward, his quivering arms behind him to break +his fall; and plunged and rolled down the rocky slope until stopped by a +stunted tree, where he hung like a bag of meal.</p> + +<p>Patience's strength, multiplied by terror, availed her nothing and soon, +bound, gagged and wrapped up in blankets, she was carried to the trail +and placed in the <i>carreta</i> which, its canvas cover again tightly drawn, +quickly began its jolting way down the trail. As it and its escort +passed the <i>atejo</i>, now being re-packed, the officer scowled about him +for a sight of the impudent muleteer, but could not see him.</p> + +<p>Salezar stopped his horse: "Where is that Pueblo dog?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"He is so frightened he is running all the way home," answered a +muleteer. "He has left us to do his work for him! Are we slaves that we +must serve him? Wait till we see him, Señor Capitan! Just you wait!" He +looked at his companion, who nodded sourly. "Always he is like that, +Señor Capitan."</p> + +<p>Salezar questioned them closely about what they had seen, and found that +they had been so busy with the accursed mules that they had had no time +for anything else.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> + +<p>"See that you speak the truth!" he threatened. "There is a gringo woman +missing from Santa Fe and we are seeking her. Her gringo friends are +enemies of the Governor, and those who help them also are his enemies. +Then you have not seen this woman?"</p> + +<p>"The more gringos that are missing the louder we will sing. We have not +seen her, Señor Capitan. We will take care that we do not see her."</p> + +<p>"Did you hear any shooting, then?"</p> + +<p>"If I did it would be that frightened Pablo, shooting at his shadow. He +is like that, Pablo is."</p> + +<p>"Listen well!" warned Salezar, his beady eyes aglint. "There are two +kinds of men who do not speak; the wise ones, and the ones who have no +tongues!" He made a significant gesture in front of his mouth, glared +down at the two muleteers and, wheeling, dashed down the trail to +overtake the <i>carreta</i>, where he gloated aloud that his prisoner might +hear, and know where she was going, and why.</p> + +<p>The two Pueblos listened until the hoofbeats sounded well down the trail +and then scrambled up the mountain side like goats, reaching the little +nook as Pablo dragged the seriously wounded Mexican over the edge. They +worked over him quickly, silently, listening to his broken, infrequent +mutterings and after bandaging him as best they could they put him on a +blanket and carried him to the trail and along it until they reached an +Indian hovel, where they left him in care of a squaw. Returning to the +<i>atejo</i> they had to repack every mule, but they worked feverishly and +the work was soon done and the little train plod<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>ded on down the trail. +At the foot of the mountain Pablo said something to his companions, left +the trail and soon was lost to their sight.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the <i>carreta</i>, after a journey which was a torture, mentally +and physically, to its helpless occupant, reached the town and rumbled +up to Salezar's house, scraped through the narrow roadway between the +house and the building next door and stopped in the windowless, +high-walled courtyard. Three soldiers quickly carried a blanket-swathed +burden into the house while the others loafed around the entrance to the +driveway to guard against spying eyes. In a few moments the captain came +out, briskly rubbing his hands, gave a curt order regarding alertness +and rode away in the direction of the <i>palacio</i>, already a colonel in +his stimulated imagination. This had been a great day in the fortunes of +Captain Salezar and he was eager for his reward.</p> + +<p>The sentry at the door of the <i>palacio</i> saluted, told him that he was +waited for and urgently wanted, and then stood at attention. Salezar +stroked his chin, chuckled, and swaggered through the portal. Ten +minutes later he emerged, walking on air and impatient for the coming of +darkness, when his task soon would be finished and his promotion +assured.</p> + +<p>And while the captain paced the floor of his quarters at the barracks +and dreamed dreams, an honest, courageous, and loyal Mexican was +fighting against death in a little hovel on the mountain side; and a +Pueblo Indian, stimulated by a queer and jumbled mixture of rage, +gratitude, revenge, and pity, was making his slow way, with infinite +caution, through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> the cover north of town. Sanchez in his babbling had +mentioned the caravan, a gringo name, and the urgent need for a warning +to be carried. Salezar's name the Pueblo already knew far too well, and +hated as he hated nothing else on earth. The mud-walled <i>pueblos</i> of the +Valley of Taos were regarded by Salezar as rabbit-warrens full of women, +provided by Providence that his hunting might be good.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<p class='center'>"LOS TEJANOS!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p> + + +<p>The encampment of the returning caravan was in a little pasture well +outside the town and it was the scene of bustling activity. Its +personnel was different from either of the two trains from the Missouri +frontier, for it was made up of traders and travelers from both of the +earlier, west-bound caravans. Some of the first and second wagon trains +had gone on to El Paso and Chihuahua, a handful of venturesome travelers +were to try for the Pacific coast, and others of the first two trains +had elected to remain in the New Mexican capital. While in the two +west-bound caravans there had been many Mexicans, their number now was +negligible. But this returning train was larger than either of the other +two, carried much less freight, a large amount of specie, and would +drive a large herd of mules across the prairies for sale in the Missouri +settlements, which would fan the fires of Indian avarice all along the +trail.</p> + +<p>Uncle Joe and his brother had been busy all day doing their own work, +catching up odds and ends of their Santa Fe connections, and helping +friends get ready for the long trip, and they had not given much thought +to Patience, whom they believed to be saying her farewells to friends +she had made in the city. As the afternoon passed and she and her escort +had not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> appeared, Uncle Joe became a little uneasy; and as the shadows +began to reach farther and farther from the wagons he mounted his horse +and rode back to Santa Fe to find and join her. It was nearly dark when +he galloped back to the encampment and sought his brother, hoping that +Patience had made her way to the wagons while he had sought for her in +town. He knew that she had not called on any of her friends and that she +must have stolen a last ride through the environs of the town. The two +men were frankly frightened and hurriedly made the rounds of the wagons +and then started for the city. It was dark by then and as they rode by +the last camp-fire of the encampment, four villainous Indians loomed up +in the light of the little blaze and Uncle Joe recognized them +instantly. He drew up quickly.</p> + +<p>"Have you seen Patience?" he cried, an agony of fear in his voice. "We +can't find her anywhere!"</p> + +<p>The Indians motioned for him to go on and they followed him and his +brother. When a few score paces from the fire they stopped and +consulted, hungrily fingering the locks of their heavy rifles. While +they were sketching a plan a Pueblo Indian, following the trail to the +camp like a speeding shadow, came up to them and blurted out his +fragmentary tale in a mixture of Spanish and Indian.</p> + +<p>"Salezar stole white woman on mountain. Put her in <i>carreta</i> and went +back to Santa Fe. Tell these people, that her friends will know. +Salezar, the son of a pig, stole her on the mountain." He burst into a +torrent of words unintelligible and open and shut his hands as he +raved.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p> + +<p>Finally in reply to their hot, close questioning he told all he knew, +his answers interspersed with stark curses for Salezar and pity and +anxiety for the angel señorita. His words bore the undeniable stamp of +sincerity, fitted in with what the anxious group feared, and he was +triply bound by the gold pieces crowded into his hands. After another +conference, not pointless now, a plan was hurriedly agreed upon and the +several parts well studied. The Pueblo was given a commission and loaned +a horse, and after repeating what he was to do, shot away into the +darkness. Uncle Joe and his brother grudgingly accepted their parts, +after Tom had shown them they could help in no other way, and turned +back into the encampment, where their hot and eager efforts met with +prompt help from their closest friends. Alonzo Webb and Enoch Birdsall, +mounted, led four horses out of the west side of the camp and melted +into the darkness; several hundred yards from the wagons they turned the +led horses over to four maddened Indians and followed them through the +night, to enter Santa Fe from the south. Not far behind them a cavalcade +rode along the same route, grim and silent. At the little corral where +the <i>atejo</i> had put up the Indians got the horses which Turley had +loaned them, shook hands with the two traders and listened as the +caravan's horses were led off toward the camp.</p> + +<p>Armstrong answered the knocks on his door and admitted the Delaware, +listened in amazement to the brief, tense statement of fact, strongly +endorsed Tom's plans, and eagerly accepted his own part. His caller +slipped out, the door closed, and the sounds of walking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> horses faded +out down the street. A few moments later, Armstrong, rifle in hand, +slipped out of the house and ran southward.</p> + +<p>Captain Salezar, sitting at ease in his adobe house, poured himself +another drink of <i>aguardiente</i> and rolled another corn-husk cigarette. +Lighting it from the candle he fell to pacing to and fro across the +small room. As the raw, potent liquor stimulated his imagination he +began to bow to imaginary persons, give orders to officers, and to +introduce himself as Colonel Salezar. From the barracks across the +corner of the square an occasional burst of laughter rang out, but these +were becoming more infrequent and less loud. He heard the grounding +gun-butt of the sentry outside his door as the soldier paused before +wheeling to retrace his steps over the beat.</p> + +<p>The sentry paced along the narrow driveway and stopped at the outer +corner of the house to cast an envious glance across at the barracks +where he knew that his friends were engaged in a furtive game of +<i>monte</i>, which had started before he had gone on duty not a quarter of +an hour before. He turned slowly to pace back again and then suddenly +threw up his arms as his world became black. His falling firelock was +caught as it left his hands, and soon lay at the side of its gagged and +trussed owner in the blackness along the base of a driveway wall. Two +figures slipped toward the courtyard to the rear of the house and one of +them, taking the rifle of his companion, stopped at the corner of the +wall at the driveway. The other slipped to the door, gently tried the +latch and opened it, one hand hidden beneath the folds of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> dirty +blanket. The door swung silently open and shut and the intruder cast a +swift glance around the room.</p> + +<p>Captain Salezar grinned into the cracked mirror hanging on the wall, +stiffened to attention, and saluted the image in the glass.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Salezar's orders, sir," he declaimed and then, staring with +unbelieving eyes at the apparition pushing out onto the mirror, crossed +himself, whirled and drew his sword almost in one motion.</p> + +<p>The Delaware cringed and pulled at a lock of hair straggling down past +his eyes and held out a folded paper, swiftly placing a finger on his +lips.</p> + +<p>"<i>Por le Capitan despues le Gobernador</i>," he whispered. "<i>Pronto!</i>"</p> + +<p>The captain's anger and suspicion at so unceremonious an entry slowly +faded, but he did not lower the sword. The Delaware slid forward, abject +and fearful, his eyes riveted on the clumsy blade, the paper held out at +arm's length. "<i>Por le Capitan</i>," he muttered. "<i>Pronto!</i>"</p> + +<p>"You son of swine!" growled Salezar. "You scum! Is this the way you +enter an officer's house? How did you pass the sentry? A score of lashes +on both your backs will teach you manners and him his duty. Give me that +message and stand aside till I call the guard!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Perdón, Capitan! Perdón, perdón!</i>" begged the Delaware. "<i>Le +Gobernador</i>—" his hands streaked out, one gripping the sword wrist of +the captain, the other fastening inexorably on the greasy, swarthy +throat well up under the chin. As the grips clamped down the Delaware's +knee rose and smashed into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> Mexican's stomach. The sword clattered +against a wall and the two men fell and rolled and thrashed across the +floor.</p> + +<p>"Where <i>is</i> she?" grated the Indian as he writhed and rolled, now +underneath and now uppermost. "Where <i>is</i> she, you murdering dog?"</p> + +<p>They smashed against the flimsy table and overturned it, candle, liquor +and all. The candle flickered out and the struggle went on in the +darkness.</p> + +<p>"Where <i>is</i> she, Salezar? Yore in th' hands of a <i>Texan</i>, you taker of +ears! Where <i>is</i> she?"</p> + +<p>Salezar was no weakling and although he had no more real courage than a +rat, like a rat he was cornered and fighting for his life; but Captain +Salezar had lived well and lazily, as his pampered body was now showing +evidence. Try as he might he could not escape those steel-like fingers +for more than a moment. With desperate strength he broke their hold time +and again as he writhed and bridged and rolled, clawed and bit; but they +clamped back again as often. His shouts for help were choked gasps and +the strength he had put forth in the beginning of the struggle was +waning.</p> + +<p>The table was now a wreck and they rolled in and over the débris. +Salezar made use of his great spurs at every chance and his opponent's +clothing was ripped and torn to shreds wet with blood. His fingers +searched for his enemy's eyes and missed them, but left their marks on +the painted face. They rolled against one wall and then back to the +other; they slammed again at the door and back into the wreckage of the +table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where <i>is</i> she?" panted the Delaware. "Tell me, Salezar, <i>where is +she</i>?"</p> + +<p>The captain wriggled desperately and almost gained the top, and thought +he sensed a weakened opposition. "Where she will remain!" he choked. +"Mistress of the <i>palacio</i>—until he tires—of her. You—cursed <i>Tejano</i> +dog!" He drove a spur at his enemy's side, missed, and it became +entangled in the rags.</p> + +<p>The Delaware, blind with fury, smashed his knee into the soft abdomen +and snarled at the answering gasp of pain. "Remember th' prisoners? Near +Valencia—Ernest died in the—night. You cut off his ears—and threw +his body in a—ditch!" He got the throat hold again in spite of nails +and teeth, blows and spurs. "McAllister was shot because he—could not +walk. You stole his clothes—cut off his ears and left—his body at th' +side of th'—road for the wolves!" He felt the spurs graze his leg and +he threw it across the body of the Mexican. "Golpin was shot—other side +of Dead Man's Lake. You took—<i>his</i> ears <i>too</i>!" He hauled and tugged +and managed to roll his enemy onto his other leg. "On th' Dead Man's +Journey—Griffin's brains were knocked out with a—gun butt. <i>His</i> ears +were cut off, <i>too</i>!" Hooking his feet together he clamped his powerful +thighs in a viselike grip on his enemy. "Gates died in a wagon near—El +Paso, of starvation, sickness—an' fright. You got <i>his</i>—ears!"</p> + +<p>"As—I'll get—<i>yours</i>!" hoarsely moaned Salezar, again missing with the +spurs. "The señorita will be happy—in Armijo's arms. After that—the +soldiers—can have her!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Delaware loosened his leg grip, jerked them up toward the captain's +stomach as he hauled his victim down toward them, and clamped them tight +again over the soft stomach.</p> + +<p>"Yore lies stick—in yore throat—Salezar!" he panted. "An' those +murders cry—to heaven; but you'll only—hear th' echoes ringin' through +hell—for all eternity. <i>You</i> called th' roll of th' livin'—on that +damnable march; <i>I</i>'m—callin' th' roll of th' <i>dead</i>! Yore name comes +last! There's many a Texan would give his—chance of heaven to change +places—with me, <i>now</i>!" He raised his head in the darkness. "Oh, +Ernest, old pardner; I'm payin' yore debt, <i>in full</i>!"</p> + +<p>The spurs stabbed in vain, for the Delaware was now well above their +flaying range; the nails scoring his face were growing feeble. He +shifted the leg hold again and managed to imprison one of Salezar's arms +in their grip. Lifting himself from the hips, he released the throat +hold and grabbed the Mexican's other arm, thrust it under him and fell +back on it as his two hands, free now to work their worst, leaped back +under the swarthy chin. The relentless thumbs pressed up and in.</p> + +<p>The Blackfoot on guard at the end of the driveway thought he heard the +door open and close, but there was no doubt about the labored breathing +which wheezed along the dark wall. Stumbling steps faltered and dragged +and then the Delaware bumped into him and held to him for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Git th' hosses, Hank!" came a mumbled command.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thar with Jim an' Zeb," whispered the hunter in surprise. "How'd ye get +so wet? Is that blood?"</p> + +<p>"Spurred me—I'll be all right—soon's I git breath. He—fought like +a—fiend."</p> + +<p>"Git his ears?" eagerly demanded the Blackfoot.</p> + +<p>"Thar's been ears enough took—already. Come on; <i>she's</i> in th' +<i>palacio</i>—with <i>Armijo</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Jest what we figgered, <i>damn him</i>!" growled the Blackfoot, leading the +way.</p> + +<p>In the stable at the rear of the courtyard a decrepit dog, white with +age, had barked feebly when its breath permitted, while the fight had +raged in the house. The Blackfoot had considered stopping the wheezy +warnings, but they did not have power enough to lure him from his watch. +He had accepted the lesser of the two evils and remained on guard. As +the two Indians crept from the courtyard the aged animal burst into a +paroxysm of barking, which exhausted it. To those who knew the captain's +dog, its barking long since had lost all meaning, for, as the soldiers +said, it barked over nothing. They did not know that the animal dreamed +day and night of the days of its youth and strength and now, in its +dotage, in imagination was living over again stirring incidents of hunts +and fights long past. Gradually it recovered its strength from sounding +its barked warnings in vain, and pantingly sniffed the air. Its actions +became frantic and the decrepit old dog struggled to its feet, swaying +on its feeble legs, its grizzled muzzle pointing toward its master's +house. The composite body odor it had known for so many years had +changed, and ceased abruptly. Whining and whimpering, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> dog searched +the air currents, but in vain; the scent came no more. Then, sinking +back on its haunches, it raised its gray nose to the sky and poured out +its grief in one long, quavering howl of surprising volume.</p> + +<p>The sleeping square sprang to life, superstitious terror dominated the +barracks. Lights gleamed suddenly and the barracks door opened slowly, +grudgingly as frightened soldiers hurriedly crossed themselves. Don Jesu +and Robideau pushed hesitatingly to the portal and peered fearsomely +into the night. They suddenly cried out, drew their ancient pistols, and +fired at two vague figures slinking hurriedly along the side of the +house opposite. From the darkness there came quick replies. A +coruscating poniard of spiteful flame stabbed into the night. Don Jesu +whirled on buckling legs and pitched sidewise to the street. A second +stab of sparky flame split the darkness and Robideau reeled back into +the arms of his panicky soldiers. As the heavy reports rolled through +the town they seemed to be a signal, for on the southern outskirts of +Santa Fe gun after gun crashed in a rippling, spasmodic volley. A few +stragglers in the all but deserted streets raised a dreaded cry and fled +to the nearest shelter. The cry was taken up and sent rioting through +the city; doors were doubly barred and the soldiers in the barracks, +safer behind the thick mud walls than they would be out in the dark open +against such an enemy, slammed shut the ponderous door and frantically +built barricades of everything movable.</p> + +<p>"<i>Los Tejanos!</i>" rolled the panicky cries. "<i>Los Tejanos! Los +Tejanos!</i>"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> + +<p>The wailing warning of the coming of a plague could not have held more +terror. Gone were the vaunted boastings and the sneers; gone was the +swaggering bravado of the dashing <i>caballeros</i>, who had said what they +would do to any Texan force that dared to brave the wrath of the +defenders of San Francisco de la Santa Fe. Gone was all faith, never too +sincere, in ancient <i>escopeta</i> and rusty blunderbuss, now that the +occasion was close at hand to measure them against the devil weapons of +hardy Texan fighting men, of the breed that had stood off, bloody day +after bloody day, four thousand Mexican regulars before a little adobe +church, now glorified for all the ages yet to come. To panicky minds +came magic words of evil portent; the Alamo and San Jacinto. To evil +consciences, bowed with guilt, came burning memories of that sick and +starved Texan band that had walked through winter days and shivered +through winter nights from Santa Fe to the capital, two thousand miles +of suffering, and every step a torture. Texan ears had swung from a +piece of rusty wire to feed the cruel conceit of a swarthy tyrant.</p> + +<p>"<i>Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!</i>"</p> + +<p>At the <i>palacio</i> a human brute recoiled before a barred door between him +and a desperate captive, his honeyed cajolings turning to acid on his +lying tongue. No longer did he hear the measured tread of the palace +guards, who secretly exulted as they fled and left him defenseless.</p> + +<p>"<i>Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!</i>"</p> + +<p>He dashed through a door to grab his weapons and flee, and in through +the open, undefended portal from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> the square leaped a blood-covered +Delaware, an epic of rags and rage, a man so maddened that all thought +of weapons save Nature's, had gone from his burning brain. Behind him +leaped a Blackfoot, dynamic and deadly as a panther, a Colt pistol in +one eager, upraised hand, in the other the cold length of a keen +skinning knife. Behind them from a wagon deserted in the square came the +sharp crashes of Hawken and Colt, and a shouted battlecry: "Remember th' +Alamo! Remember th' Alamo! Texans to th' fore!"</p> + +<p>As the Delaware dashed past an open door he caught a flurry of movement, +the flare of a pistol and his laughter pealed out in one mad shout as he +stopped like a cat and leaped in through the opening. Another flash, +another roar, and a burning welt across a shoulder spurred the bloody +Nemesis to a greater speed. The wavering sword he knocked aside and near +two hundred pounds of fighting, mountain sinew hurled itself behind a +driving fist. The hurtling bulk of Armijo crashed against a wall and +dropped like a bag of grain as the plunging Delaware whirled to pounce +upon it. As he turned, a scream rang out somewhere behind him, through +the door he had just entered, a scream vibrant with desperate hope, and +he bellowed a triumphant answer. Here was his mission; Armijo was a side +issue. The governor, helpless before him, was forgotten and the Delaware +whirled through the door bellowing one name over and over again. +"Patience! Patience! <i>Patience!</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!</i>" came from the public square.</p> + +<p>"<i>Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!</i>" quavered the de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>spairing echo throughout +the quaking town, while from the south there came the steady crash of +alien rifles, firing harmlessly into the air.</p> + +<p>Before him a Blackfoot methodically battered at a door, taking a few +quick steps backward and a plunging dive forward. The Delaware shouted +again and added the power of his driving weight. There came a +splintering crash and the door went in. The Blackfoot whirled and darted +to the great portal leading to the square, bouncing on the balls of his +feet like a cougar expecting danger at every point. The Delaware +scrambled to his feet and gathered a whitefaced woman in his arms, +crushing her to his bloody chest. He felt her go suddenly limp and, +throwing her across a bare and bleeding shoulder, he drew a Colt +repeating pistol and sprang after his Indian ally, not feeling the +weight of his precious burden.</p> + +<p>Lurid, stabbing rapiers of fire still sprang from the wagon barricade, +making death certain to any man who opened the barracks' door. Between +their heavy roars the woodwork of the wagon smacked sharply in time to +bursts of fire from the barracks' few windows. The Delaware darted from +the <i>palacio</i> door and held close to the wall, hidden by the portico and +the darkness. As he reached the end of the column-supported roof the +Blackfoot bulked out of the night on his horse, and leading four others. +The lost-soul call of a loon sounded and changed the deadly wagon into a +vehicle of peace and quiet as its Arapahoe defenders slipped away from +it. The sudden creaking of saddle leather was followed by the rolling +thunder of flying hoofs as the first three horses left the square.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> A +moment's pause and then two more horses galloped through the darkness +after the others, the Arapahoe rear guard sitting almost sidewise in +their saddles, their long, hot rifles pointing backward to send hotter +greetings to whoever might follow.</p> + +<p>They raced like gambling fools through the dark night, the Blackfoot +leading the way with the instinct of a homing bird. Mile after mile +strung out behind them, pastures, gullies, knolls rolling past. While +they climbed and dipped and circled they gradually sensed a steady +rising of the ground. Suddenly the Blackfoot shouted for them to halt, +and the laboring horses welcomed the moment's breathing space. The guide +threw himself on the ground and pressed his ear against it. In a moment +he was back in the saddle and gave the word to go on again. He had heard +no sounds of pursuit and he chuckled as he leaned over close to the +Delaware who rode at his flank.</p> + +<p>"Nothin' stirrin' behind us, fur's I could make out," he said. "They can +only track us by sound in th' dark, at any speed, an' I'm gamblin' they +wait fer daylight. Thar scared ter stick thar noses out o' doors <i>this</i> +night. How's yore gal?"</p> + +<p>Tom's rumbling reply could mean anything and they kept on through the +night without further words. The trail had been growing steadily rougher +and steeper and the horses were permitted to fall into a swinging lope. +Another hour passed and then Hank signalled for a stop. From his lips +whistled the crowded, hurried, repeated call of a whip-poor-will. Three +times the insistent demand rang out, clear and piercing. At the count of +ten an echoing whistle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> sounded and a light flickered on the trail +ahead.</p> + +<p>"J'get her?" bawled a voice, tremulous with fear and anxiety, and only a +breath ahead of another.</p> + +<p>"Hell yes!" roared Hank. "Got Salezar, Don Jesu and Robideau, too; only +we left <i>them</i> behind—with thar ears!"</p> + +<p>In another moment Uncle Joe and Adam Cooper took the precious burden +from the Delaware's numbed arms, someone uncovered the lighted candle +lantern, and saddles were thrown on fresh mounts. The Pueblo pushed +forward and peered into Patience's face, and his own face broke into +smiles. His torrent of mixed Spanish and Indian brought a grin to Hank's +painted countenance.</p> + +<p>"This hyar shore is good beaver," he chuckled, clapping the Pueblo on +the shoulder, "but thar's more good news fer <i>you</i>." He put his mouth +close to the Pueblo's ear and whispered: "Yer friend Salezar will be +leadin' a percession ter th' buryin' ground. That Delaware thar killed +him with his bare hands!"</p> + +<p>The Pueblo touched Tom's arm, his hand passing down it caressingly, to +be seized in a grip which made him wince; and when Adam Cooper offered +him a handful of gold coins the Indian drew himself up proudly and +pushed them away.</p> + +<p>"For his friends Pablo do what he can," he said in Spanish. "I now take +these horses back on the trail to make a puzzle in the sand that will +take time to read. Pablo does not forget. <i>Adios!</i>" He vaulted onto his +horse, took the lead ropes of the tired mounts, and was lost in the +darkness, eager to weave a pattern of hoof marks to mock pursuing eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span></p> + +<p>The little cavalcade pushed on, following a trail that wound along the +sides of the mountains, passing many places where a handful of resolute +men could check scores. The cold mountain air bit shrewdly, and +occasional gusts of wind blustered along the timbered slopes and set the +pines and cedars whispering. Higher and higher went the narrow trail, +skirting sheer walls of rock on one side, and dizzy precipices on the +other; higher and higher plodded the little caravan in single file, +following the unhesitant leader.</p> + +<p>There came a leaden glow high up on the right. It paled swiftly as a +streak of silver flared up behind the jagged crests of the mountains, +here and there caught by a snow mantle to gleam in virgin white. On the +left lay abysmal darkness, like a lake of ink, and slowly out of it +pushed ranks of treetops as the dawn rolled downward and the mountain +fogs dissolved in dew. Deep canons, sheer precipices; long streaks on +mountain sides where resistless avalanches had scraped all greenery from +the glistening rock; green amphitheaters, fit for fairy pageants; +velvety knolls and jewels of mountain pastures lay below them, with here +and there the crystal gleam of ribbon-like mountain brooks, their waters +embarked on a long, depressing journey through capricious oceans of +billowy sands and the salty leagues of desert wastes. Birds flashed +among the branches, chipmunks chattered furiously at these unheeding +invaders of their mountain fastness; high up on a beetling crag a +bighorn ram was silhouetted in rigid majesty, and over all lazily +drifted an eagle against the paling western sky, symbolical of freedom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span></p> + +<p>There came the musical tinkle of falling water and Hank stopped, raising +his hand. Into the little mountain dell the caravan wound and in a +moment muscles tired and cramped from long, hard riding found relief in +a score of little duties. While the animals were relieved of saddles and +packs and securely picketed, and a fire made of dry wood from a bleached +windfall, Hank climbed swiftly up the mountain side for a view of the +back trail. Perched on an out-thrust finger of rock high above the dell +he knelt motionless, searching with keen and critical eyes every yard of +that windswept trail, following it along its sloping length until it +shrunk into a hair line across the frowning mountain sides and then +faded out entirely. Below him grotesque figures moved about like gnomes +performing incantations around a tiny blaze; dwarfed horses cropped the +plentiful grass and succulent leaves, and a timid streamer of pale blue +smoke arose like a plumb line until the cruising gusts above the +treetops tore it into feathery wisps and carried it away. Across the +valley the rising sun pushed golden floods of light into crevices, among +the rocks, and turned the pines and cedars into glistening cones of +green on stems of jet.</p> + +<p>"Wall," said a voice below him, "hyar I am. Go down an' feed. See +anythin'?"</p> + +<p>Hank leaned over and looked down at the climbing figure, whose laborious +progress sent a noisy stream of clicking pebbles behind him like sparks +from a rocket.</p> + +<p>"Nothin' I ain't plumb glad ter see," replied Hank. "This hyar beats th' +settlements all ter hell." As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> Jim's horrible face peered over the edge +of the rock balcony Hank eyed it critically and shook his head. "I've +seen some plumb awful lookin' 'Rapahoes; but nothin' ter stack up ag'in +you. Vermillion mebby is yer favorite color, but it don't improve yer +looks a hull lot. Neither does that sorrel juice. How's th' gal?"</p> + +<p>"Full o' spunk an' gittin' chipper as a squirrel," answered Jim. "Who's +goin' ter git th' blame fer last night's fandango?"</p> + +<p>"Four murderin' Injuns, a-plunderin' an' a-kidnappin'," chuckled Hank. +"Woodson's goin' ter raise hell about th' hull Cooper fambly bein' +stole. Armijo'll keep his mouth shet an' pass th' crime along ter us, +an' make a great show o' gittin' us; but," he winked knowingly at his +accomplice in the night's activities, "chasin' four desperite Injuns +along an open trail, whar his sojers kin spread out an' take advantage +o' thar bein' twenty ter one is <i>one</i> thing; chasin' 'em along a trail +like this, whar they has ter ride Injun fashion, is a hull lot +diff'rent. They've had thar bellies full o' chasin' along Injun trails +in th' mountings. Th' Apaches, Utes, an' Comanches has showed 'em it +don't pay. Thar's sharpshooters that can't be got at; thar's rollin' +rocks, an' ambushes; an' chasin' murderin' Injuns afoot up mounting +sides ain't did in this part o' th' country."</p> + +<p>"Meanin' we won't be chased?" demanded Jim, incredulously.</p> + + +<p>"Not meanin' nothin' o' th' kind," growled Hank, spitting into three +hundred feet of void. "We killed some of th' military aristo-crazy, as +Tom calls 'em,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> didn't we? We made fools outer th' whole prairie-dog +town, didn't we? An' what's worse, we stole th' gal that Armijo war +sweet on, an' Tom knocked <i>him</i> end over end—oh, Jim, ye should 'a' +seen that! Six feet o' greaser gov'ner a-turnin' a cartwheel in his own +house! <i>Chase</i> us? Hell, yes!"</p> + +<p>The Arapahoe rubbed his chin. "Fust ye say one thing, then ye say +another. What ye mean, Ol' Buffaler?"</p> + +<p>"I'm bettin' thar's a greaser army a-poundin' along th' wagon road fer +Raton Pass," replied Hank, spitting again with great gusto. "We're a +Delaware from Bent's, a Blackfoot from th' Upper Missoury, an' two ugly +'Rapahoes from 'tother side o' St. Vrains, ain't we? Wall, if ye know a +fox's den ye needn't foller him along th' ridges." He chuckled again. +"We're goin' another way over some Ute trails I knows of."</p> + +<p>"But s'posin' they foller us along this trail?"</p> + +<p>Hank looked speculatively back along the narrow pathway, with its +numerous bends, and then glanced pityingly at his anxious friend. "I +jest told ye why they won't; an' if they do, <i>let</i> 'em!"</p> + +<p>Ogden looked steadily southward along the trail and suddenly laughed: +"Yes; <i>let</i> 'em!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In the great courtyard of Bent's Fort one evening more than a week +later, three trappers sat with their backs against the brass cannon that +scowled at the heavy doors. They were planning their winter's trip in +the mountains, figuring out the supplies and paraphernalia for a party +of four, when Hank, glancing up, saw two people slowly walking along the +high, wide parapet on the side toward the Arkansas. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> raised an arm, +pointing, and his companions, following it with their eyes, saw the two +figures suddenly become like one against the moonlit sky.</p> + +<p>Hank sighed, bit his lip, and looked down.</p> + +<p>"Better figger on a party o' three," he said.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bring Me His Ears, by Clarence E. Mulford + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRING ME HIS EARS *** + +***** This file should be named 31699-h.htm or 31699-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/6/9/31699/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Graeme Mackreth and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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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: Bring Me His Ears + +Author: Clarence E. Mulford + +Release Date: March 19, 2010 [EBook #31699] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRING ME HIS EARS *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Graeme Mackreth and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Tom pushed on ahead to reconnoiter the Upper Spring + +[_Page 262_]] + + + + +"Bring Me His Ears" + +By CLARENCE E. MULFORD + + +AUTHOR OF + +"Bar 20," "Bar 20 Days," "Bar 20-Three," "Buck Peters, Ranchman," "The +Coming of Cassidy," "Hopalong Cassidy," "Johnny Nelson," "The Man from +Bar 20," "Tex," etc. + + +A.L. BURT COMPANY + +Publishers New York + +Published by arrangement with A.C. McClurg & Co. + +Printed in U.S.A. + + + + +Copyright A.C. McClurg & Co. 1922 + +Published October, 1922 + +_Copyrighted in Great Britain_ + + +_Printed in the United States of America_ + + + + +"Bring Me His Ears" + + + + +CHAPTER I + +HAWKENS' GUN STORE + + +The tall, lanky Missourian leaning against the corner of a ramshackle +saloon on Locust Street, St. Louis, Missouri--the St. Louis of the early +forties--turned his whiskey-marked face toward his companion, a short +and slender Mexican trader, sullenly listening to the latter's torrent +of words, which was accompanied by many and excitable gesticulations. +The Missourian shook his head in reply to the accusations of his +companion. + +"But he was on thee boat weeth us!" exclaimed the other. "An' you lose +heem--lak theese!" the sharp snap of his fingers denoted magic. + +"Thar ain't no use o' gittin' riled," replied Schoolcraft. "How in +tarnation kin a man keep th' trail o' a slippery critter like him in +these yere crowds? I'll git sight o' him, right yere." + +"That ees w'at you say," rejoined the Mexican, shrugging his shoulders. +"But w'at weel _I_ say to _le Gobernador_? Theese _hombre_ Tomaz +Boyd--he know vera many t'eengs--too vera many t'eengs--an' he ensult +_le Gobernador_. _Madre de Dios_--sooch ensult!" He shivered at the +thought. "W'en I get thee message, I tr-remble! It say 'Br-ring heem to +me--or breeng me his ears!' I am tol' to go to Senor Schoolcr-raft at +Eendependence--he ees thee man. I go; an' then you lose heem! Bah! You +do not know theese Manuel Armijo, _le Gobernador de Santa Fe_, my +fren'--I tr-remble!" + +"You need a good swig, that's what _you_ need," growled Schoolcraft. +"An' if ye warn't a chuckle-head," he said with a flash of anger, "we +wouldn't 'a' come yere at all; I told ye he's got th' prairie fever an' +shore would come back to Independence, whar I got friends; but no--we +had ter foller him!" He spat emphatically. "Thar warn't no sense to it, +nohow!" + +The other waved his arms. "But w'y we stan' here, lak theese? W'y you do +no'teeng?" + +"Now you look a-here, Pedro," growled the Missourian, his sullen gaze +passing up and down the slender Mexican. "Ye don't want ter use no spurs +on _this_ critter. I ain't no greaser! If ye'll hold them arms still fer +a minute I'll tell ye somethin'. Thar's three ways o' gittin' a deer: +one is trailin'--which we've found ain't no good; another is layin' low +near a runway--which is _yer_ job; th' third is watchin' th' salt +lick--which is _my_ job. You go down ter th' levee, git cached among +them piles o' freight an' keep a lookout on th' landin' stage o' th' +_Belle_. I'll stick right yere on this corner an' watch th' lick, which +is Hawkens' gun store. He lost his pistol overboard, comin' down th' +river, didn't he? An' th' _Belle_ ain't sailin' till arter ten o'clock, +is she? One o' us is bound ter git sight o' him, fer he'll shore go back +by th' river; an' if thar's any place in this town whar a plainsman'll +go, it's that gun store, down th' street. You do what I say, or you an' +Armijo kin go plumb ter hell! An' don't ye wave yer fists under my nose +no more, Pedro; I might misunderstand ye." + +The Mexican's face brightened. "Eet ees good, vera good, Senor +Schoolcraft. Hah! You have thee br-rains, my fren'. Armijo, he say: +'Pedro, get heem to Santa Fe, if you can. If you can't, then keel heem, +an' breeng me hees ears.' _Bueno!_ I go, senor. I go _pronto_. _Buena +dia!_" + +"Then git," growled Schoolcraft. "Thar's that long-faced clerk o' +Hawkens' openin' th' shop. Now remember: this side o' th' junction o' +th' Oregon trail I'm only ter watch him. If he goes southwest from th' +junction, yer job begins; if he heads up fer th' Platte, my job starts. +I ain't got no love fer him, but I'm hopin' he heads fer Oregon an' gets +killed quick! I hate ter think o' a white man in Armijo's paws. An' if +he hangs 'round th' settlements, we toss up fer th' job. If that's +right, _vamoose_." + +"Eet ees r-right to thee vera letter," whispered the Mexican, rubbing +his hands. "Eef only I can get heem to Santa Fe--ah, my fren'!" + +"Yer wuss nor a weasel," grunted the Missourian, slight prickles playing +up and down his spine. "Better git down to them freight piles!" + +Schoolcraft watched his scurrying friend until he slipped around a +corner and was lost to sight; then he turned and looked up the street at +the gun shop of Jake and Samuel Hawken, whose weapons were renowned all +over that far-stretching western wilderness. Shrugging his shoulders, he +glanced in disgust at the heavy, patented repeating rifle in his hand +and, letting his personal affairs take precedence over those of the +distant Mexican tyrant, he swung down the street, crossed it, and +entered the famous gun shop. He risked nothing by the move, for the +store was the Mecca of frontiersmen, and a trip to St. Louis was hardly +complete without a visit to the shop. + +The Hawkens were established, so much so that they were to be singled +out by one of the famous Colt family with a partnership proposition. The +fame of their rifles had rolled westward to the Rockies and beyond. They +were to be found across the Canadian and Mexican boundaries and wherever +hunters and trappers congregated, who scorned the Northwest fusil as fit +only for trading purposes, laughed in their sleeves at the preposterous +length and general inefficiency of the Hudson Bay muskets, and +contentedly patted the stocks of their Hawkens'. There is a tradition +that the length of the Hudson Bay muskets, which often rose over the +head of a tall man while the butt rested on the ground, was due to the +fact that the ignorant Indians could obtain a white man's gun only by +stacking up beaver skins until the pile was as high as the musket. Even +worse than the flintlock trade guns were the _escopetas_ of the south, +matchlocks of prodigious bore and no accuracy or power, which were used +by many of the Mexicans. That swarthy-skinned race which suffered under +the tyranny of Armijo seemed to believe that anything which used powder +was a weapon. The rank and file of the Mexicans were courageous and +usually fought bravely until deserted by their officers, or until they +were fully convinced that the miscellaneous junk with which they were +armed was worse than useless. It can hardly be expected that men +shooting pebbles, nails, and what-not out of nearly useless +blunderbusses; or using bows, arrows, and lances will stand up very long +against straight-shooting troops armed with the best rifles; add to this +the great difference in morale, and the ever-present distrust of the +officers, and a fair and honest understanding may be arrived at. + +Hawkens' clerk took down one of the great rifles to go over it with an +oiled rag, which was another example of painting the lily. The weapon +was stocked to the muzzle and shot a bullet weighing thirty-two to the +pound, each thus being an honest half-ounce of lead. It was brass +mounted and had a poorly done engraving of a buffalo on the trap in its +stock. He turned to replace it and take down another when the sound of +the opening door made him pause and face the incoming customer. + +The newcomer was neither hunter nor trapper, gambler nor merchant, to +judge from his nondescript and mixed attire. His left hand had an ugly +welt running across the base of the palm and it had not been healed long +enough to have lost its distinctive color. In his right hand he carried +a rifle which was new to that part of the country, and he slid it onto +the counter. + +"Swap ye," he gruffly said, stepping back and leering at the clerk. "Too +ak'ard fer me. Can't git used ter it, nohow. I like a stock with a big +drop--this un makes me hump my head down like a bull buffaler. That's +th' wuss o' havin' a long neck." + +The clerk glanced at the repeating Colt and then at the injured hand. +The faintest possible suggestion of a knowing smile flitted across his +face, and he shook his head. + +"Those are too dangerous," he replied. "We don't handle them." + +"W'y, that's a fine rifle!" growled the customer, a heavy frown +settling on his coarse face. "Six shots, with them newfangled caps, +without re-loadin'. She's a plumb fine weapon!" + +"Looks good," laughed the clerk; "but we don't care to handle them." + +"They've sorta put yer nose outer j'int, ain't they?" sneered the +customer. "Wall, ye kin bet yer peltries I wouldn't be givin' ye th' +chanct to handle _this_ un," he angrily declared, "if it had a bigger +drop an' warn't so ak'ard fer a man like me. Ye can't find a rifle in +yer danged store as kin hold a candle ter it. I bet ye ain't never seen +one afore!" + +"It's our business to keep informed," responded the clerk, still +smiling. "We heard all about that rifle as soon as it was patented." + +"But ye allus could sell a gun like this un," persisted the scowling +owner. "Ye must have a hull passel o' tenderfeet a-comin' in yere." + +The clerk frowned and his voice became slightly edged. "The reputation +of Hawkens' is a valuable asset. It was acquired in two ways: honest +goods and fair dealing. Most tenderfeet ask us for a gun that we can +recommend; we cannot recommend that rifle. Do you care to look at one +that will not shoot through the palm of your extended hand after it gets +hot from rapid shooting?" + +"I got ye thar, pardner!" retorted the customer. "I done that with a +poker. Ye don't seem anxious ter do no business." + +"Our stock and my time are at your disposal," replied the clerk; "but we +cannot take that Colt in part payment." + +"Wall, ye don't have ter: I know a man as will; an' he ain't all +swelled up, neither. You an' yer rifles kin go ter h--l together!" He +jerked the Colt from the counter and stamped out, cursing at every step, +and slammed the door behind him so hard that it shook the shop. +Thoroughly angered, he strode down the street and had gone a block +before he remembered that he was to keep watch on the shop. Cursing +anew, he wheeled and went back on the other side of the street and +stopped at the corner of a ramshackle saloon. + +The clerk was taking down another rifle when the door opened again and +he wheeled aggressively, but his frown was swiftly wiped out by a smile. + +The newcomer was somewhere in the twenties, stood six feet two in his +moccasins, and had the broad, sloping shoulders that tell of great +strength. He was narrow waisted and sinewy and walked with a step light +and springy. Dressed in buckskin from the soles of his feet to the top +of his head, he had around his waist a broad belt, from which hung +powder horn, bullet pouch, a container for caps, a buckskin bag for +spare patches, a bullet mold, and a heavy, honest skinning knife. Slung +from a strap over one shoulder hung his "possible" bag, containing +various small articles necessary to his calling. In his hand was a +double-barreled rifle which he seemed to be excited about. + +"Mr. Jarvis!" he exclaimed, offering the weapon for inspection. "Tell me +what you think of this?" + +The clerk chuckled and his eyes lighted with pleasure. "I've seen it, or +its twin, before. English, fine sights, shooting about thirty-six balls +to the pound. They're pointed, aren't they? Ah-ha! I thought so." He +took the gun and examined it carefully. "Just what I've been trying to +tell Mr. Jacob Hawken. Look at those nipples: large diameter across the +threaded end, making it much easier to worry out wet powder by removing +them and working with a bent wire from that end. We have to work at the +ball with a screw, and that is no easy task after the patch paper +becomes swollen. With this rifle you can replace the wet powder with dry +and fire the ball out in much less time. Where did you get it, Mr. +Boyd?" + +The plainsman laughed exultingly. "Won it on the boat coming down, from +an English sportsman who was returning home. He said it was a fine +weapon, and I thought so; but I wanted your opinion." + +"Take it out on the Grand Prairie and try it out. From what I can see +here it is a remarkably fine rifle; but handsome is, you know." + +"I've tried it out already," laughed the other. "It's the best rifle in +this country, always excepting, of course, the Hawken!" + +"As long as you put it that way I shall have to agree with you. Did you +see the man who left a few moments before you came in?" + +Boyd nodded shortly. "Yes; but I don't care to discuss him beyond +warning you to look out for him. He deals in draft animals in +Independence, has the name of being slippery, and is known as Ephriam +Schoolcraft. However, I'm not an unprejudiced critic, for there is not +the best of feelings between us, due to an unprincipled trick he tried +to play on my partner." His face clouded for a moment. His partner had +joined the ill-fated Texan Santa Fe Expedition and had lost his life at +the hands of one of Armijo's brutal officers, for whom Tom Boyd had an +abiding hatred. On his last visit to Santa Fe he had shown it so +actively that only his wits and forthright courage had let him get out +of the city with his life. "Well, to change the subject, I lost my +pistol in the river, and I've heard a great deal about a revolving Colt +pistol from some Texans I met. It shoots six times without re-loading +and is fitted for caps. Got one?" + +"Two," chuckled Jarvis. "A large bore and a smaller. They are fine +weapons, but never rest the barrel on your other hand when you shoot." + +"I'll remember that. Which size would you recommend for me?" + +"The larger, by all means. We are expecting a shipment by express down +the Ohio and it should reach us almost any day now. It took the Texans +to prove their worth and give them their reputation." + +"Fit it with caps, mold and whatever it needs. I need caps and powder +for the rifle, too. First quality Kentucky, or Dupont, of course." + +The purchase completed Jarvis watched his friend and customer distribute +them over his person and then asked a question. + +"Where to now, Mr. Boyd?" + +"Independence and westward," answered the other. "Spring is upon us, the +prairie grass is getting longer all the time, and Independence is as +busy and crowded as an ant hill. All kinds of people are coming in by +train and river, bound for the trade to Santa Fe and Chihuahua, and for +far away Oregon." His eyes shone with enthusiasm. "The homesteaders +interest me the most, for it is to them that we will owe our western +empire. The trappers, hunters, and traders have prepared the way, but +they are only a passing phase. The first two will vanish and in their +places the homesteaders will take root and multiply. Think of it, Mr. +Jarvis, now our frontiers are only halfway across the continent; what an +empire that will some day become!" + +Jarvis nodded thoughtfully and looked up. "What does your father say to +all this, especially after the news last fall about your narrow escape +in Santa Fe?" + +Boyd shrugged his shoulders. "Father set his heart on me becoming his +junior partner, and to passing his work over to me when he was ready to +retire. Two generations of surgeons, is his boast; and in me he hoped to +make it three. Against that, the West needs men! Those Oregon-bound +wagons bring tears to my eyes. They have cast my die for me. I am on my +way to Fort Bridger and Fort Hall and the valley of the Columbia, to +lend my strength and little knowledge of the open to those who need it +most." + +Jarvis nodded his head in sympathy, for he had heard many speak nearly +the same thoughts; indeed, at times, the yearning to leave behind him +the dim old shop and the noisy, bustling city beset him strongly, +despite his years of a life unfitting him for the hardships of the +prairies and mountains. Being able to read Greek and Latin was no asset +on the open trail; although schoolmasters would be needed in that new +country. + +"I know how you feel, Mr. Boyd. Have you seen your father since you +landed?" + +Tom reluctantly shook his head. "It would only reopen the old bitterness +and lead to further estrangement. No man shall ever speak to me again as +he did--not even him. If you should see him, Jarvis, tell him I asked +you to assure him of my affection." + +"I shall be glad to do that," replied the clerk. "You missed him by only +two days. He asked for you and wished you success, and said your home +was open to you when you returned to resume your studies. I think, in +his heart, he is proud of you, but too stubborn to admit it." As he +spoke he chanced to glance through the window of the store. "Don't look +around," he warned. "I want to tell you that Schoolcraft and a Mexican +just passed the shop, peered in at you with more than passing interest +and went on. I suppose it's nothing, though." + +"It's enough to make me keep my eyes open," replied Tom, sighting his +new rifle at the great clock on the wall, which seemed to move a little +faster under the threat. "I thought they were watching me on the boat. +Armijo's vindictive enough to go to almost any length. He isn't +accustomed to having his beast face slapped." + +Jarvis' jaw dropped in sheer amazement. "You mean--do I understand--eh, +you mean--you slapped _his_ face?" + +"So hard that it hurt my hand; I'll wager his teeth are loose," replied +Tom, his interest on his new weapon. + +"Er--slapped _Governor_ Armijo's face?" persisted Jarvis from the +momentum of his amazement. + +"The Governor of the Department of New Mexico," replied the hunter. + +Jarvis drew a sleeve across his forehead and carefully felt for the high +stool behind him. Automatically climbing upon it he seated himself with +great care and then, remembering that his customer was standing, slid +off it apologetically. He was gazing at his companion as though he were +some strange, curious animal. + +"Eh--would you mind telling me _why_?" he asked. + +"He offended me; and if I'd known then what I found out later I would +have broken every bone in his pompous carcass and thrown him to the +dogs!" His face had reddened a little and the veins on his forehead were +beginning to stand out. + +Jarvis examined the clock with almost hypnotic interest. "And how did he +offend you, Mr. Boyd, if I may inquire?" + +"Oh, the beast came swaggering along the street, followed at a +respectful distance by a crowd of his boot-lickers, and pushed me out of +his way. I asked him who in hell he thought he was, in choice Spanish, +and the conceited turkey-gobbler reached for his saber. The more I see +of this gun, Jarvis, the more I like it." + +"Yes, indeed; and then what, Mr. Boyd?" + +"Huh?" + +"He reached for his saber--and then?" + +"Oh," laughed Tom. "I helped him draw it, and broke it across his own +knee. He called me a choice name and I slapped his face. You should have +seen the boot-lickers! Before they could get their senses back and make +up their minds about rushing my pistol I had slipped through a store, +out of the back and into a place I know well, where I waited till dark. +I understand there was quite a lot of excitement for a day or so." + +"I dare say--I dare say there might have been," admitted Jarvis. "In +fact, I am sure there would be. _Damn it_, Tom, would you mind shaking +hands with me?" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ABOARD THE _MISSOURI BELLE_ + + +Tom wended his way to the levee and as he passed the last line of +buildings and faced the great slope leading to the water's edge his eyes +kindled. Two graceful stern-wheel packets were moving on the river, the +smaller close to the nearer bank on her way home from the treacherous +Missouri; the larger, curving well over toward the Illinois shore, was +heading downstream for New Orleans. Their graceful lines, open bow decks +with the great derricks supporting the huge landing stages, and the +thick, powerful masts on each edge of the lower deck toward the bow, +each holding up the great spar so necessary for Mississippi river +navigation; the tall stacks with the initials of the boat against a +lattice work between; the regular spacing of windows and doors in the +cabins, and the clean white of their hulls and superstructure, rendered +more vivid by contrast with the tawny flood on all sides of them, made a +striking and picturesque sight. Each had a curving tail of boiling brown +water behind, and a bone in its teeth. These river boats were modeled on +trim and beautiful lines and were far from being crude, frontier +makeshifts. + +Several Mackinaw boats moved anglingly across the current from the other +shore, and a keelboat glided down the river for New Orleans, or to turn +up the Ohio for Pittsburg, helped in the current by a dirty, square +sail. The little twin-hulled ferry was just coming in from the Illinois +shore, its catamaran construction giving it a safety which a casual +observation would have withheld. The passengers clung to its rails as it +pitched and bobbed in the rolling wake of the south-bound packet, a wake +dreaded by all small craft unfortunate enough to pass the slapping +paddle at too close a distance, for the following billows were high, +sharp, and close together. + +On the great levee wagons and carts rattled and rumbled; drivers shouted +and swore as they picked their impatient and erratic way through the +traffic; lazy negroes, momentarily spurred into energetic activity, +moved all kinds of merchandise between the boats and the great piles on +the sloping river bank, two long lines of them passing each other on the +bridging gangplanks reaching far ashore. Opposed to this scene of labor +and turmoil was a canoe well offshore, whose two occupants, drifting +with the current, lazily fished for the great channel catfish which the +negro population loved so much. + +On a packet, which we will call the _Missouri Belle_, a whistle blew +sharply and as the sound died away several groups of passengers hurried +across the levee, scurrying about like panicky bugs when a log is rolled +over, darting this way and that amid the careless bustle of the traffic, +as eager to reach a place of safety as are chickens affrighted by the +shadow of a drifting hawk. The crowd was cosmopolitan enough to suit the +most exacting critic. Freighters, merchants, hunters, trappers, and +Indians returning to the upper trading posts or to their own country; +gamblers; a frock-coated minister who suspiciously regarded every box +and barrel and bale that he saw rolled up the freight gangplank, and who +was a person of great interest to many pairs of eyes on and off the +boat; a priest; a voluble, chattering group of _coureurs des bois_; a +small crowd of soldiers going up to Fort Leavenworth; emigrants, +boatmen, and travelers made up the hurrying procession or stood at the +rails and watched the confusion on the levee. + +Tom joined the animated stream, swinging in behind an elderly gentleman +who escorted a young lady of unflurried demeanor through the maelstrom +of wagons, carts, mules, horses, passengers, and heavily laden negroes. +Caught in a jam and forced to make a quick decision and to follow it +instantly, the young lady dropped her glove in picking up her skirts and +a nervous horse was about to stamp it into the dirt and dust when Tom +leaped forward. Grasping the bridle with one hand, he bent swiftly and +reached for the glove with the other. As he was about to grasp it, a man +dressed in nondescript clothes left his Mexican companion and bent +forward on the other side of the horse, his lean, brown fingers eagerly +outstretched. + +Tom's surprise at this unexpected interference acted galvanically and +his hand, turning up from the glove, grasped the thrusting fingers of +the other in a grip which not only was powerful but doubly effective by +its unexpectedness. He swiftly straightened the wrist and forearm of his +rival into perfect alignment with the rest of the arm and then, with a +sudden dropping of his own elbow, he turned the other's arm throwing all +his strength and weight into the motion. The result was ludicrous. The +rival, bent forward, his other hand on the ground, had to give way in a +hurry or have his arm dislocated. His right foot arose swiftly into the +air and described a short arc as his whole body followed it; and +quicker than it takes to tell it he was bridged much the same as a +wrestler, his arched back to the ground. Tom grinned sardonically and +with a swift jerk yanked his adversary off his balance, and as the other +sprawled grotesquely in the dust, the victor of the little tilt picked +up the glove, leaped nimbly aside and looked eagerly around for its +owner. He no sooner stood erect than he saw her with a handkerchief +stuffed in her mouth and, bowing stiffly and with sober face he gravely +presented the glove to her. She had waited, despite all her escort could +do, somewhat breathlessly watching the rescue and the short, quick +comedy incidental to it; and now, with reddened cheeks and mischievous +eyes, she took the glove and murmured her thanks. The elderly gentleman, +grinning from ear to ear, raised his high beaver, thanked the plainsman, +and then hurried his charge onto the boat, fearful of the time lost. + +Tom stood in his tracks staring after them, hypnotized by the beauty of +the face and the timbre of the voice of the woman whose eyes had +challenged him as she had turned away. + +The profane remarks of the wagon driver, the more picturesque remarks of +other drivers, and the vociferous, white-toothed delight of the negroes +did not soothe Ephriam Schoolcraft's outraged dignity nor help to cool +his anger, and he arose from his dust bath seeking whom he might devour. +He did not have to seek far, for a negro's shouted warning reached Tom +in time to spin him around to await his adversary. The plainsman was +cool, imperturbable, and smiling slightly with amusement. + +Schoolcraft leaped for him and was sent spinning against a pile of +freight. As he recovered his balance his hand streaked for his belt, but +stopped in the air as he gazed down the barrel of the new Colt snuggling +against the hip of the younger man. It must have looked especially +vicious to a man accustomed to a single-shot pistol, or a +double-barreled Derringer, at best. + +"That was no killing matter," said Tom quietly. "Don't make it so, and +don't make us both miss that packet, and get locked up in a St. Louis +jail. I'll get out again quicker than you, but that hardly matters. If +you're going aboard, go ahead; I'm in no great hurry." Out of the corner +of his eye he was watching the Mexican, but found nothing threatening. + +Schoolcraft glared at him, allowed a hypocritical smile to mask his +feelings, bowed politely, and walked down the levee, the Mexican +following him, and Tom bringing up the rear. They were quickly separated +by the bustle on the boat, each giving his immediate attention to the +preparations necessary for his comfort during the voyage. + +A second blast of the whistle was followed by the groaning of the great +derrick as it lifted the landing stage and swung it aboard; lines were +hauled in and the passengers along the rails waved their adieus and +called last minute messages to those they were leaving behind. It would +be many years before some of them saw their friends again, and for a few +the reunion would not be on this earth. A bell rang aft and the great +stern paddle slapped and thrashed noisily as it bit and tore at the +yellow water beneath it. Showers of sparks, incandescent as they left +the towering stacks, fell in gray flakes on the decks and the river, the +bluish smoke of the wood fires trailing straighter and straighter astern +as the packet rounded into the boiling current and pushed upstream at a +constantly increasing speed, leaving behind her the western metropolis +on the left-hand bank and a straggling hamlet on the other. + +Here the Mississippi is a mighty river, approaching half a mile in width +between its limestone banks; deep, swift, its current boiling up the +muddy contribution of the great Missouri, as if eager to expose the +infamy of its pollution to the world. But whatever it lost in purity by +the addition of the muddy water, pouring in eighteen miles above the +city, it gained in greatness. Other large rivers have been tamed and +rendered nearly harmless, but these two have baffled man's labors and +ingenuity, and finally the contributing stream has been given up as +incorrigible. + +The confusion of the passengers attending to their baggage, places at +table and their sleeping quarters grew constantly less as mile followed +mile, and by the time the _Belle_ swung in a great, westward curve to +leave the Father of Waters for the more turbid and treacherous bosom of +the Big Muddy, many were eagerly looking for the line marking the +joining of the two great streams. It was plain to the eye, for the +jutting brown flood of the Missouri, dotted with great masses of drift, +was treated with proper suspicion by the clearer flood of the nobler +stream, and curved far out into the latter without losing the identity +of its outer edge for some distance below. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ARMIJO'S STRONG ARM + + +Piloting on the Mississippi was tricky enough, with the shifting bars +and the deadly, submerged logs, stumps, and trees; but the Missouri was +in a class by itself; indeed, at various stages of high water it seemed +hardly to know its own channels or, in some places, even its own bed. It +threw up an island today to remove it next week or ten years later, and +cut a new channel to close up an old one whenever the mood suited. +Gnawing off soft clay promontories or cutting in behind them was a +favorite pastime; and the sand and clay of its banks and the vast +expanses of its bottoms coaxed it into capricious excursions afield. +More than one innocent and unsuspecting settler, locating what he +considered to be a reasonable distance from its shores on some rich +bottom, found his particular portion of the earth's surface under the +river or on its further bank when he returned from a precipitate and +entirely willing flight. + +There were two tricks used on the river to get out of sandbar +difficulties that deserve mention. During certain stages of the river it +for some reason would cross over from one side of its bed to the other, +and between the old and the new deep channels would be a space of +considerable distance crossed by the water where there was no channel, +but only a number of shallow washes, none of which perhaps would be deep +enough to let a steamboat through. The deepest would be selected, and +if only two or three more inches of water were needed, the boat would be +run up as far as it could go, the crew would fix the two great spars +with their shoes against the bottom, slanting downstream, set the steam +capstans drawing on their ropes, and then reverse the paddle wheel. The +turning of the great wheel would force water under the hull while the +spars pushed backward and, raising a platform of water around her and +taking it with her, she would slide over the shallow place and go on +about her business. + +In case of a bar where there were no submerged banks to hold a platform +of water, and only a few more inches needed, the spars would be used as +before, but the paddle wheel would remain idle. The backward thrust of +the spars would force the boat ahead, while their lifting motion would +raise it a little. This being repeated again and again would eventually +"walk" the boat across and into deeper water on the other side. It was a +slow and laborious operation and sometimes took a day or two, but it was +preferable to lying tied to the bank and waiting for a rise, often a +matter of a week or more. + +All this was an old story to Tom, who now was on his fifth trip up the +river, for he was an observant young man and one who easily became +acquainted with persons he wished to know. These included the officers +and pilots, who took to the upstanding young plainsman at first sight +and gave painstaking answers to his many but sensible questions. In +consequence his knowledge of the river was wide and deep, although not +founded on practical experience. + +Long before the packet turned into the Missouri he had his affairs +attended to and was leaning against the rail enjoying the shifting +panorama. But the scenery did not take all of his attention, for he was +keeping a watch for a certain Mexican trader and for the young lady of +the glove; and after the boat had rounded into the Big Muddy, he caught +sight of the more interesting of the two as she walked forward on the +port side in the company of her escort. Waiting a few moments to see if +they would discover him, he soon gave it up and went in search of the +purser, who seemed to know about everyone of note in St. Louis. + +"Hello, Tom," called that officer, having recovered his breath after the +rush. "Yo're goin' back purty quick, ain't you?" + +"Reckon not. One night an' one day in th' city was enough. But this +cussed packet is near as lonesome. I don't know a passenger on board." + +"I can fix that," laughed the purser. "I know about three-quarters of +'em, an' can guess at th' rest. I counted seven professional gamblers +comin' up th' plank. They'll be in each other's way. You feelin' like +some excitement?" + +"Not with any of them," answered Tom, grinning. "I can count seven times +seven of them fellers in Independence; an' I hear some of 'em are +plannin' to join up with th' next outgoing train." + +"Well," mused the purser. His face cleared. "There's that sneakin' +minister. Havin' looked in everythin' but our mouths, he'll mebby have +time to convert a sinner. How 'bout him?" + +"Don't hardly think he can do much with me," muttered Tom. He considered +a moment and tried to hide his grin. "Now I noticed an elderly old +gentleman with a young lady, gettin' aboard jest before I did. They was +leavin' you when I showed up. Happen to know 'em?" + +"You shouldn't 'a' give back th' glove when you did," laughed the +officer. "You should 'a' had yore quarrel with Schoolcraft first, so you +could 'a' waited till we was under way before you handed it back to her. +That would 'a' give you a better chance to get acquainted. I've heard +that frontierin' sharpens a man's wits, but I dunno. Want to meet 'em? +Th' old sport's interesting when he ain't tryin' to beat th' gamblers at +their own game. An' he's plumb successful at it, too, if there ain't too +many ag'in him." + +Tom had the grace to flush under his tan, but he thankfully accepted the +bantering and the suggestion. "What you suppose I've risked wastin' my +time talkin' to you for?" he demanded. + +"You know cussed well you wasn't wastin' it," retorted the purser. "Come +on, an' meet one of th' finest young ladies in St. Louis. She won't care +if you pay more attention to her uncle." + +A few minutes later Tom had been made acquainted with the couple and +they soon discovered that they had mutual friends in the city. Time +passed rapidly and Patience Cooper and her uncle, Joseph, took a keen +interest in their companion's account of life on the prairies. He found +that the uncle was engaged in the overland trade and was going out to +Independence to complete arrangements for the starting of his wagons +with the Santa Fe caravan. Finding that they were to be seated at +different tables they had the obliging steward change their places so +they could be together, and after the meal the uncle begged to be +excused and headed for the card room, which brought a fleeting frown to +the face of his niece. Tom observed it without appearing to and led the +way to some chairs on deck near the rail. + +The blast of the whistle apprised them of a landing in sight and soon +they picked it out, as much by the great piles of firewood as by any +other sign. This was the little hamlet of St. Charles, and here came on +board several plainsmen and voyageurs who, having missed the packet at +St. Louis, had hastened across the neck of land to board it here. As +soon as the gangplank touched the bank a hurrying line of men depleted +the great wood pile, and in a few minutes the landing stage swung aboard +again and the _Missouri Belle_ circled out into mid-channel, a stream of +sparks falling astern. + +An annoying wind had been blowing when they left the parent stream, +annoying in a way a stranger to the river never would have dreamed. +There being no permanence to the channels, no fixity to the numerous +bars, no accurate knowledge covering the additions to the terrible, +destroying snags lurking under the surface, the pilot literally had to +read his way every yard and to read it anew every trip. All he had to go +by was the surface of the water, and it told him a true tale as long as +it was reasonably placid. From his high elevation he looked down into +the river and learned from it where the channel lay; and from arrow-head +ripples and little, rolling wavelets, where the snags were, for every +one close enough to the surface to merit attention was revealed by the +telltale "break" on the water. Let a moderate wind blow and his task +became harder and more of a gamble; but even then, knowing that the +waves run higher over deeper water, he still could go ahead; but above +a certain strength the wind not only baffled his reading, but gave such +a sidewise drift to the shallow-draft, high-riding vessel that he could +not hope to take it safely through some of the narrower channels. Rain +or hail, which turned the surface into a uniform area of disturbance, +instantly closed his book; and in this event he had no recourse except +to lie snugly moored to the south bank and wait until the weather +conditions changed. Sometimes these waits were for a few hours, +sometimes for a day or more; and when the persistent southwest prairie +gales blew day and night, moving great clouds of sand with them, the +boat remained a prisoner until they ceased or abated. + +There was good reason for choosing that south bank, for the stronger +winds almost invariably came from that direction during the navigation +season, and the bank gave a pleasing protection. While lying moored, +idleness in progress did not mean idleness all around, for the boilers +ate up great quantities of wood, and in many cases the fuel yards were +the growing trees and windfalls on the banks. Once the boat was moored +the crew leaped ashore and became wood-choppers, filling the fuel boxes +and stacking the remainder on shore for future use. In a pinch green +cottonwood sometimes had to be used, but it could be burned only by +adding pitch or resin. + +Nowhere on the river was a navigation mark, for nowhere was the channel +permanent enough to allow one to be placed. It was primitive, pioneer +navigation with a vengeance, requiring intelligent, sober, quickwitted +and courageous men to handle the boats. On the Missouri the word "pilot" +was a term of distinction. + +The river was high at this time of the year, caused less by the +excessive rains and melting snows in the mountains, being a little early +for them, than by the rains along the immediate valley; bottom lands +were flooded, giving the stream a width remarkable in places and adding +greatly to the amount of drift going down with the current. + +The afternoon waned and the wind died, the latter responsible for the +pilot's good nature, and the shadows of evening grew longer and longer +until they died, seeming to expand into a tenuity which automatically +effaced them. But sundown was not mooring time, for the twilight along +the river often lasted until nine o'clock, and not a minute was wasted. + +When St. Charles had been left astern Tom had led his companion up onto +the hurricane deck and placed two chairs against the pilot house just +forward of the texas, where the officers had their quarters. The water +was now smooth, barring the myriads of whirling, boiling eddies, and +from their elevated position they could see the configuration of the +submerged bars. The afterglow in the sky turned the mud-colored water +into a golden sheen, and the wind-distorted trees on the higher banks +and ridges were weirdly silhouetted against the colored sky. Gone was +the drab ugliness. The finely lined branches of the distant trees, the +full bulks of the pines and cedars and the towering cottonwoods, +standing out against the greenery of grass covered hills, provided a +soft beauty; while closer to the boat and astern where sky reflections +were not seen, the great, tawny river slipped past with a powerful, +compelling, and yet furtive suggestion of mystery, as well it might. + +Tom was telling of the characteristics of the river when the boat veered +sharply and caused him to glance ahead. A great, tumultuous ripple tore +the surface of the water, subsided somewhat and boiled anew, the +wavelets gold and crimson and steel blue against the uniform lavender +shade around them. The many-fanged snag barely had been avoided as it +reached the upward limit of its rhythmic rising and falling. + +Soon a bell rang below and the boat slowed as it headed in toward a +high, wooded bank. Nudging gently against it the packet stopped, men +hurried lines ashore, made them fast to the trees and then set a spring +line, which ran from the stern forward to the bank ahead of the bow, so +as to hold the boat offshore far enough to keep it afloat in case the +river should fall appreciably during the night. The pilot emerged behind +them, glanced down at the captain overseeing the mooring operations, and +then spoke to Tom, who made him acquainted with Patience and invited him +to join them. He gladly accepted the invitation and soon had interested +listeners to his store of knowledge about the river. Darkness now had +descended and he pointed at the stream. + +"There's somethin' peculiar to th' Missouri," he said. "Notice th' glow +of th' water, several shades lighter than th' darkness on th' bank? On +the Mississippi, now, th' water after dark only makes th' night all th' +blacker; but on this stream th' surface can be seen pretty plain, though +not far ahead. We take full advantage of that when we have to sail after +dark. We would be goin' on now, except that we got news of a new and +very bad place a little further on, an' we'd rather tackle it when we +can see good." + +"Oh," murmured Patience. "A ghost road leading through a void." + +A long, dark shape appeared on the "ghost road" and bore silently and +swiftly down upon the boat, struck the hull a glancing blow, scraped +noisily, ducked under, turned partly and scurried off astern. It was a +trimmed tree trunk, and by its lowness in the water it told of a journey +nearly ended. Before long one end would sink deeper and deeper, finally +fastening in the alluvial bottom and, anchoring securely, lie in wait to +play battering ram against some ill-fated craft surging boldly against +the current. + +The lanterns on shore began to move boatward as the last of the wooding +was finished and the fuel boxes again were full. Farther back among the +trees some trappers had started a fire and were enjoying themselves +around it, their growing hilarity and noise suggesting a bottle being +passed too often. Gradually the boat became quiet and after another +smoke the pilot arose and excused himself, saying that it was expected +that the journey would be resumed between three and four o'clock in the +morning. + +"How long will it take us to reach Independence Landing?" asked +Patience. + +The pilot shook his head. "That depends on wind, water, and th' strength +of th' current, though th' last don't make very much difference +sometimes." + +Tom looked up inquiringly. "I don't just understand th' last part," he +confessed. "Mebby I didn't hear it right." + +"Yes, you did," replied the pilot, grinning in the darkness. "When she's +high she's swift; but she's also a hull lot straighter. Th' bends of +this river are famous, an' they add a lot of miles to her length. They +also cut down th' slant of her surface, which cuts down th' strength of +th' current. At lower water we'd have a longer distance to sail, but a +gentler current. When she rises like she is now she cuts off, over or +behind a lot of th' bends an' makes herself a straighter road. An' th' +shorter she gits, th' steeper her pitch grows, which makes a stronger +current. She jest reg'lates herself accordin' to her needs, an' she gits +shet of her floods about as quick as any river on earth. Oh, I tell you, +she's a cute one; an' a mean one, too!" + +"She's shore movin' fast enough now," observed Tom, watching the +hurtling driftwood going spectrally down the almost luminous surface. +"How long will this high water last, anyhow?" + +"Considerable less than th' June rise," answered the pilot. "She's +fallin' now, which is one of th' reasons we're tied to th' bank instid +of goin' on all night. This here rise is short, but meaner than sin. Th' +June rise is slower an' not so bad, though it lasts longer. It comes +from th' rains an' meltin' snow in th' mountains up above. Down here th' +current ain't as swift as it is further up, for this slope is somethin' +less than a foot to th' mile; but if it warn't for th' big bottoms, that +let some of th' water wander around awhile instid of crowdin' along all +at once, we'd have a current that'd surprise you. Jest now I figger +she's steppin' along about seven miles an hour. Durin' low water it's +some'rs around two; but I've seen it nearer ten on some rises. There are +places where steamboats can't beat th' current an' have to kedge up or +wait for lower water. About gittin' to Independence Landin', or what's +left of it, I'll tell you that when we pass Liberty Landin'. Miles +through th' water ain't miles over th' bottom, an' it's th' last that +counts. Besides, th' weather has got a lot to say about our business. I +hope you ain't gittin' chilled, Miss Cooper, this spring air cuts in +amazin' after sundown." + +"I _am_ beginning to feel it," she replied, arising, "I'll say good +night, I believe, and 'turn in.'" + +Tom escorted her to the lower deck and watched her cross the cabin and +enter her room, for he had no illusions about some of the men on board. +As her door closed he wheeled and went to look at the engines, which +were connected directly to the huge paddle wheel. The engineer was +getting ready to climb into his bunk, but he smoked a pipe with his +visitor and chatted for a few minutes. Tom knew what it meant to be an +engineer on a Missouri river packet and he did not stay long. He knew +that his host scarcely took his hand from the throttle for a moment +while the boat was moving, for he had to be ready to check her instantly +and send her full speed astern. The over-worked system of communication +between the pilot house and the engine room had received its share of +his attention during his runs on the river. + +He next went forward along the main deck and looked at the boilers, the +heat from them distinctly pleasing. As he turned away he heard and felt +the impact from another great, trimmed log slipping along the faint, +gray highway. Some careless woodcutter upstream had worked in vain. He +stopped against the rail and looked at the scurrying water only a few +feet below him, listening to its swishing, burbling complaints as it +eddied along the hull, seeming in the darkness to have a speed +incredible. A huge cottonwood with its upflung branches and sunken +roots paused momentarily as it struck a shallow spot, shivered, lost a +snapping dead limb, collected a surprising amount of debris as it swung +slowly around and tore free from the clutching mud of the bottom and, +once more acquiring momentum, shot out of sight into the night, its +slowly rising branches telling of the heavy roots sinking to their +proper depth. Next came a tree stump like some huge squid, which must +have been well dried out and not in the water for very long, else it +would have found the bottom before this. Then a broken and waterlogged +keelboat, fully twenty-five feet long, scurried past, a great menace to +every boat afloat. Planks, rails from some pasture fence, a lean-to +outhouse, badly smashed, and a great mass of reeds and brush came along +like a floating island. The constantly changing procession and the gray +water fascinated him and he fairly had to tear himself away from it. +Strange splashings along the bank told him of undermined portions of it +tumbling into the river, and a louder splash marked the falling of some +tree not far above. + +"She's talkin' a-plenty tonight," said a rough voice behind him and he +turned, barely able to make out a figure dressed much the same as he +was; but he did not see another figure, in Mexican garb, standing in the +blackness against a partition and watching him. The speaker continued. +"More gentle, this hyar trip; ye should 'a' heard her pow-wowin' th' +last run up. I say she's wicked an' cruel as airy Injun; an' nothin' +stops her." + +"I can't hardly keep away from her," replied Tom, easily dropping into +the language of the other; "but I ain't likin' her a hull lot. A hard +trail suits me better." + +"Now yer plumb shoutin'," agreed the other. "If 'twarn't fer goin' +ashore every night, up in th' game country, I don't reckon I'd want ter +see another steamboat fer th' rest o' my days. Everythin' about 'em is +too onsartin." + +Tom nodded, understanding that his companion was a hunter employed by +the steamboat company to supply the boat's table with fresh meat. After +the game country, which really meant the buffalo range, was reached this +man went ashore almost every night and hunted until dawn or later, +always keeping ahead of the boat's mooring and within sight of the river +after daybreak. Whatever he shot he dragged to some easily seen spot on +the bank for the yawl to pick up, and when the steamboat finally +overtook him he went aboard by the same means. His occupation was +hazardous at all times because of the hostility of the Indians, some few +of which, even when their tribes were quiet and inclined to be friendly +for trade purposes, would not refuse a safe opportunity to add a white +man's scalp to their collection. The tribes along the lower sections of +the river were safer, but once in the country of the Pawnees and Sioux, +where his hunting really began, it was a far different matter. He did +not have much of the dangerous country to hunt in because the _Belle_ +did not go far enough up the river; but the hunters on the fur company's +boats went through the worst of it. + +"Goin' out this spring?" asked the hunter. + +"Yep; Oregon, this time," answered Tom. "My scalp ain't safe in Santa Fe +no more. Been thar?" + +"Santa Fe, yep; Oregon, no. Went to N'Mexico in '31, an' we got our fust +buffaler jest tother side o' Cottonwood Creek. It war a tough ol' bull. +Bet ye won't git one thar no more. We forded th' Arkansas at th' lower +crossin' an' follered th' dry route. Hear thar's a track acrost it now, +but thar warn't any then. Don't like that stretch, nohow. Longest way +'round is th' best fer _this_ critter. Ye got Bent's Fort handy ter bust +up th' trip, git supplies an' likker; an' I'd ruther tackle Raton Pass, +mean as it is, than cross that cussed dry plain atween th' Crossin' an' +th' Cimarron. I'd ruther have water than empty casks, airy time; an' +fur's th' Injuns air consarned, 'twon't be long afore ye'll have ter +fight 'em all th' way from th' frontier ter th' Mexican settlements. +They'll be gittin' wuss every year." + +"Yer talkin' good medicine," replied Tom, thoughtfully. "'Twon't be safe +fer any caravan ter run inter one o' them war parties. Thar cussin' th' +whites a'ready, an' thar bound ter jine han's ag'in us when th' buffaler +git scarce." + +The hunter slapped his thigh and laughed uproariously. "Cussed if that +ain't a good un! Why, th' man ain't alive that'll live ter see that day. +They won't git scarce till Kansas is settled solid, an' _then_ there'll +have ter be a bounty put on 'em ter save th' settlers' crops. Why, +thar's _miles_ o' 'em, pardner!" + +"I've _seen_ miles o' 'em," admitted Tom; "but they'll go, an' when they +once start ter, they'll go so fast that a few years will see 'em plumb +wiped out." + +"Shucks!" replied the hunter, "Why, th' wust enemies they got is th' +Injuns an' th' wolves. Both o' them will go fust, an' th' buffalers'll +git thicker an' thicker." + +"_We_ are thar worst enemies!" retorted Tom with spirit. "Th' few th' +Injuns kill don't matter--if it did they'd 'a' been gone long ago. They +only kill fer food an' clothin'; but we kill fer sport an' profit. Every +year that passes sees more whites on th' buffaler ranges an' more hides +comin' in ter th' settlements; an' most of them hides come from th' +cows. Look at th' beaver, man! Thar goin' so fast that in a few years +thar won't be none left. Thar's only one thing that'll save 'em, an' +that's a change in hats. Killin' fer sport is bad enough, but when th' +killin' is fer profit th' end's shore in sight. What do we do? We cut +out th' buffaler tongues an' a few choice bits an' leave th' rest for +th' wolves. Th' Injuns leave nothin' but th' bones. Why, last trip +acrost I saw one man come inter camp with sixteen tongues. He never even +bothered with th' hump ribs! I told him if he done it ag'in an' I saw +him, I'd bust his back; an' th' hull caravan roared at th' _joke_!" + +"Danged if it warn't a good un," admitted the hunter, chuckling. "Have +ter spring that on th' boys." He turned and looked around. "Them fellers +on th' bank air shore havin' a good time. They got likker enough, +anyhow. Cussed if it don't sound like a rendezvous! Come on, friend: +what ye say we jine 'em? It's too early to roll up, an' thar's only card +buzzards in th' cabin a-try-in' ter pick th' bones o' a merchant." + +"We might do wuss nor that," replied Tom; "but I don't reckon I'll go +ashore tonight." + +"Wall, if ye change yer mind ye know th' trail. I'm leavin' ye now, +afore th' bottles air all empty," and the hunter crossed the deck and +strode down the gangplank. + +Tom watched the hurrying, complaining water for a few moments and then +turned to go to the cabin. As he did so something whizzed past him and +struck the water with a hiss. Whirling, he leaped into the shadows +under the second deck, the new Colt in his hand; but after a hot, eager +search he had to give it up, and hasten to the cabin, to peer +searchingly around it from the door. The only enemy he had on board to +his knowledge was Schoolcraft--and then another thought came to him: was +Armijo reaching out his arm across the prairies? + +Joe Cooper was intent on his game; Schoolcraft and the Mexican trader +were taking things easy at a table in a corner, and both had their +knives at their belts. They did not give him more than a passing glance, +although a frown crept across the Independence horse-dealer's evil face. +Seating himself where he could watch all the doors, Tom tried to solve +the riddle while he waited to scrutinize anyone entering the cabin. At +last he gave up the attempt to unravel the mystery and turned his +attention to the card game, and was surprised to see that it was being +played with all the safeguards of an established gambling house. Having +a friend in the game he watched the dealer and the case-keeper, but +discovered nothing to repay him for his scrutiny. An hour later the game +broke up and Joe Cooper, cashing in his moderate winnings, arose and +joined Tom and suggested a turn about the deck before retiring. Tom +caught a furtive exchange of fleeting and ironical glances between the +case-keeper and the dealer, but thought little of it. He shrugged his +shoulders and followed his new friend toward the door. + +Ephriam Schoolcraft, somewhat the worse for liquor, made a slighting +remark as the two left the cabin, but it was so well disguised that it +provided no real peg on which to hang a quarrel; and Tom kept on toward +the deck, the horse-dealer's nasty laugh ringing in his ears. He could +see where he was going to have trouble, but he hoped it would wait until +Independence was reached, for always there were the makings of numerous +quarrels on board under even the best of conditions, and he determined +to overlook a great deal before starting one on his own account. It was +his wish that nothing should mar the pleasure of the trip up the river +for Patience Cooper. + +He and his companion stopped in the bow and looked at the merry camp on +shore, both sensing an undertone of trouble. Give the vile, frontier +liquor time to work in such men and anything might be the outcome. + +He put his lips close to his companion's ear: "Mr. Cooper, did you +notice anyone hurry into the cabin just before I came in? Anyone who +seemed excited and in a hurry?" + +Cooper considered a moment: "No," he replied. "I would have seen any +such person. Something wrong?" + +"Schoolcraft, now; and that Mexican friend of his," prompted Tom. "Did +they leave the cabin before you saw me come in?" + +"No; they both were where you saw them for an hour or two before you +showed up. I'm dead certain of that because of the interest Schoolcraft +seemed to be taking in me. I don't know why he should single me out for +his attentions, for he don't look like a gambler. I never saw him before +that little fracas you had with him on the levee. Something up?" + +"No," slowly answered Tom. "I was just wondering about something." + +"Nope; he was there all the time," the merchant assured him. "Seems to +me I heard about some trouble you had in Santa Fe last year. Anything +serious?" + +"Nothing more than a personal quarrel. I happened to get there after +they had started McLeod's Texans on the way to Mexico City, and learned +that they had been captured." He clenched his fists and scowled into the +night. "One of the pleasant things I learned from a man who saw it, was +the execution of Baker and Howland. Both shot in the back. Baker was not +killed, so a Mexican stepped up and shot him through the heart as he lay +writhing on the ground. The dogs tore their bodies to pieces that +night." He gripped the railing until the blood threatened to burst from +his finger tips. "I learned the rest of it, and the worst, a long time +later." + +Cooper turned and stared at him. "Why, man, that was in October! Late in +October! How could you have been there at that time, and here, in this +part of the country, now? You couldn't cross the prairies that late in +the year!" + +"No; I wintered at Bent's Fort," replied Tom. "I hadn't been in +Independence a week before I took the boat down to St Louis, where you +first saw me. There were four of us in the party and we had quite a time +making it. Well, reckon I'll be turning in. See you tomorrow." + +He walked rapidly toward the cabin, glanced in and then went to his +quarters. Neither Schoolcraft nor the Mexican were to be seen, for they +were in the former's stateroom with a third man, holding a tense and +whispered conversation. The horse-dealer apparently did not agree with +his two companions, for he kept doggedly shaking his head and +reiterating his contentions in drunken stubbornness that, no matter what +had been overheard, Tom Boyd was not going to Oregon, but back to Santa +Fe. He mentioned Patience Cooper several times and insisted that he was +right. While his companions were not convinced that they were wrong +they, nevertheless, agreed that there should be no more knife throwing +until they knew for certain that the young hunter was not going over the +southwest trail. + +Schoolcraft leered into the faces of his friends. "You jest wait an' +see!" He wagged a finger at them. "Th' young fool is head over heels in +love with her; an' he'll find it out afore she jines th' Santa Fe waggin +train. Whar she goes, _he'll_ go. I'm drunk; but I ain't so drunk I +don't know that!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOM CHANGES HIS PLANS + + +Dawn broke dull and cold, but without much wind, and when Tom awakened +he heard the churning of the great paddle wheel, the almost ceaseless +jangling of the engine room bell and the complaining squeaks of the +hard-worked steering gear. A faint whistle sounded from up river, was +answered by the _Missouri Belle_, and soon the latter lost headway while +the two pilots exchanged their information concerning the river. Again +the paddles thumped and thrashed and the boat shook as it gathered +momentum. + +On deck he found a few early risers, wrapped in coats and blankets +against the chill of the morning hour. The overcast sky was cold and +forbidding; the boiling, scurrying surface of the river, sullen and +threatening. Going up to the hurricane deck he poked his head in the +pilot house. + +"Come on in," said the pilot "We won't go fur today. See that?" + +Tom nodded. The small clouds of sand were easily seen by eyes such as +his and as he nodded a sudden gust tore the surface of the river into a +speeding army of wavelets. + +"Peterson jest hollered over an' said Clay Point's an island now, an' +that th' cut-off is bilin' like a rapids. Told me to look out for th' +whirlpool. They're bad, sometimes." + +"To a boat like this?" asked Tom in surprise. + +"Yep. We give 'em all a wide berth." The wheel rolled over quickly and +the V-shaped, tormented ripple ahead swung away from the bow. "That's +purty nigh to th' surface," commented the pilot. "Jest happened to swing +up an' show its break in time. Hope we kin git past Clay before th' wind +drives us to th' bank. Look there!" + +A great, low-lying cloud of sand suddenly rose high into the air like +some stricken thing, its base riven and torn into long streamers that +whipped and writhed. The gliding water leaped into short, angry waves, +which bore down on the boat with remarkable speed. As the blast struck +the _Missouri Belle_ she quivered, heeled a bit, slowed momentarily, and +then bore into it doggedly, but her side drift was plain to the pilot's +experienced eyes. + +"We got plenty o' room out here fer sidin'," he observed; "but 'twon't +be long afore th' water'll look th' same all over. We're in fer a bad +day." As he spoke gust after gust struck the water, and he headed the +boat into the heavier waves. "Got to keep to th' deepest water now," he +explained. "Th' snags' telltales are plumb wiped out. I shore wish we +war past Clay. There ain't a decent bank ter lie ag'in this side o' it." + +For the next hour he used his utmost knowledge of the river, which had +been developed almost into an instinct; and then he rounded one of the +endless bends and straightened out the course with Clay Point half a +mile ahead. + +"Great Jehovah!" he muttered. "Look at Clay!" + +The jutting point, stripped bare of trees, was cut as clean as though +some great knife had sliced it. Under its new front the river had cut +in until, as they looked, the whole face of the bluff slid down into the +stream, a slice twenty feet thick damming the current and turning it +into a raging fury. Some hundreds of yards behind the doomed point the +muddy torrent boiled and seethed through its new channel, vomiting +trees, stumps, brush and miscellaneous rubbish in an endless stream. Off +the point, and also where the two great currents came together again +behind it two great whirlpools revolved with sloping surfaces smooth as +ice, around which swept driftwood with a speed not unlike the horses of +some great merry-go-round. The vortex of the one off the point was +easily ten feet below the rim of its circumference, and the width of the +entire affair was greater than the length of the boat. A peeled log, not +quite water-soaked, reached the center and arose as vertical as a plumb +line, swayed in short, quick circles and then dove from sight. A moment +later it leaped from the water well away from the pool and fell back +with a smack which the noise of the wind did not drown. To starboard was +a rhythmic splashing of bare limbs, where a great cottonwood, partly +submerged, bared its fangs. To the right of that was a towhead, a newly +formed island of mud and sand partly awash. + +The pilot cursed softly and jerked on the bell handle, the boat +instantly falling into half speed. He did not dare to cut across the +whirlpool, the snag barred him dead ahead, and it was doubtful if there +was room to pass between it and the towhead; but he had no choice in the +matter and he rang again, the boat falling into bare steerageway. If he +ran aground he would do so gently and no harm would be done. So swift +was the current that the moment he put the wheel over a few spokes and +shifted the angle between the keel-line and the current direction, the +river sent the craft sideways so quickly that before he had stopped +turning the wheel in the first direction he had to spin it part way back +again. The snag now lay to port, the towhead to starboard, and holding a +straight course the _Missouri Belle_ crept slowly between them. There +came a slight tremor, a gentle lifting to port, and he met it by a quick +turn of the wheel. For a moment the boat hung pivoted, its bow caught by +a thrusting side current and slowly swinging to port and the snag. A +hard yank on the bell handle was followed by a sudden forward surge, a +perceptible side-slip, a gentle rocking, and the bow swung back as the +boat, entirely free again, surged past both dangers. + +The pilot heaved a sigh of relief. "Peterson didn't say nothin' about +th' snag or th' towhead," he growled. Then he grinned. "I bet he rounded +inter th' edge o' th' whirler afore he knowed it was thar! Now that I +recollect it he did seem a mite excited." + +"Somethin' like a boy explorin' a cave, an' comin' face to face with a +b'ar," laughed Tom. "I recken you fellers don't find pilotin' +monotonous." + +"Thar ain't no two trips alike; might say no two miles, up or down, trip +after trip. Here comes th' rain, an' by buckets; an' thar's th' place I +been a-lookin' fer. Th' bank's so high th' wind won't hardly tech us." + +He signaled for half speed and then for quarter and the boat no sooner +had fallen into the latter than her bow lifted and she came to a grating +stop. The crew, which had kept to shelter, sprang forward without a word +and as the captain crossed the bow deck the great spars were being +hauled forward. After the reversed paddles had shown the _Belle_ to be +aground beyond their help, the spars were put to work and it was not +long before they pushed her off again, and a few minutes later she nosed +against the bank. + +The pilot sighed and packed his pipe. "Thar!" he said, explosively. +"Hyar we air, an' we ain't a-goin' on ag'in till we kin see th' channel. +No, sir, not if we has ter stay hyar a week!" + +Tom led the way below and paused at the foot of the companionway as he +caught sight of Patience. He glowed slightly as he thought that she had +been waiting for him; and when he found that she had not yet entered the +cabin for breakfast, the glow became quite pronounced. He had seen many +pretty girls and had grown up with them, but the fact that she was +pretty was not the thing which made her so attractive to him. There was +a softness in her speaking voice, a quiet dignity and a certain reserve, +so honest that it needed no affectations to make it sensed; and under it +all he felt that there was a latent power of will that would make +panicky fears and actions impossible in her. And he never had perceived +such superb defenses against undue familiarity, superb in their +unobtrusiveness, which to him was proof of their sincerity and that they +were innate characteristics. He felt that she could repel much more +effectively without showing any tangible signs of it than could any +woman he ever had met. He promised himself that the study of her nature +would not be neglected, and he looked forward to it with eagerness. +There was, to him, a charm about her so complex, so subtle that it +almost completed the circle and became simple and apparent. + +She smiled slightly and acknowledged his bow as he approached her. + +"Good morning, Miss Cooper. Have you and your uncle breakfasted?" + +"Not yet," she answered, turning toward the cabin. "I think he is +waiting for us. Shall we go in?" + +The plural form of the personal pronoun sent a slight thrill through him +as he opened the door for her, showed her to the table, and seated her +so that she faced the wide expanse of the river. + +"I imagined that I felt bumps against the boat sometime during the +night," she remarked. She looked inquiringly at Tom and her uncle. "Did +we strike anything?" + +"Why," Tom answered in simulated surprise, "no one said anything about +it to me, and I've been with the pilot almost since dawn. The whole fact +of the matter is that this river's dangers are much over-estimated, +considering that boats of thirty feet and under have been navigating it +since before the beginning of this century. And they had no steam to +help them, neither." + +Uncle Joe appeared to be very preoccupied and took no part in the +conversation. + +"I have heard uncle and father speak many times about the great dangers +attending the navigation of the Missouri," she responded, smiling +enigmatically, and flashing her uncle a keen, swift glance. "They used +to dwell on it a great deal before father went out to Santa Fe. So many +of their friends were engaged in steamboat navigation that it was a +subject of deep interest to them both, and they seemed to be very well +informed about it." She laughed lightly and again glanced at her uncle. +"Since uncle learned that I might have to make the trip he has talked +in quite a different strain; but he did suggest, somewhat hopefully, +that we put up with the discomforts of the overland route and make the +trip in a wagon. Don't you believe, Mr. Boyd, that knowledge of possible +dangers might be a good thing?" + +Uncle Joe gulped the last of his watery coffee, pushed back, and arose. +"Want to see the captain," he said. "Meet you two later on deck," and he +lost no time in getting out of the cabin. + +"Well," came the slow and careful answer from Tom, "so many of us pass +numerous dangers in our daily lives, unknown, unsuspected, that we might +have a much less pleasant existence if we knew of them. If they are +dangers that we could guard against, knowledge of them certainly would +be a good thing." + +She nodded understandingly and looked out over the tawny, turbulent +flood, then leaned forward quickly; and her companion did not lose this +opportunity to admire her profile. Coming down the stream like an arrow, +with a small square sail set well forward, was a keelboat, its +hide-protected cargo rising a foot or more above the gunwale amidships. +Standing near the mast was a lookout, holding fast to it, and crouched +on top of the cargo, the long, extemporized addition to the tiller +grasped firmly in both hands, was the _patron_, or captain. Sitting +against the rear bulkhead of the hold and facing astern were several +figures covered with canvas and hides, the best shift the crew could +make against the weather. The French-Canadian at the mast waved his +hand, stopping his exultant song long enough to shout a bon voyage to +the steamboat as he shot past, and the little boat darted from their +sight into the rain and the rolling vapor of the river like a hunted +rabbit into a tangle of briars. + +"That's splendid!" she exclaimed, an exultant lilt in her voice. "That's +the spirit of this western country: direct, courageous, steadfast! Can't +you feel it, Mr. Boyd?" + +His eyes shone and he leaned forward over the table with a fierce +eagerness. In that one moment he had caught a glimpse into the heart and +soul of Patience Cooper that fanned fiercely the flame already lighted +in his heart. His own feelings about the West, the almost tearful +reverence which had possessed him at the sight of those pioneer women, +many with babes at their breasts, that he daily had seen come into +Independence from the East to leave it on the West, the hardships past +great enough to give pause to men of strength, but not shaking their +calm, quiet determination to face greater to the end of that testing +trail, and suffer privations in a vast wilderness; his feelings, his +hopes, his faith, had come back to him in those few words almost as +though from some spirit mirror. He choked as he fought to master himself +and to speak with a level voice. + +"Feel it?" he answered, his voice shaking. "I feel it sometimes until +the sheer joy of it hurts me! Wait until you stand on the outskirts of +Independence facing the sunset, and see those wagons, great and small, +plodding with the insistent determination of a wolverine to the distant +rendezvous! Close your eyes and picture that rendezvous, the caravan +slowly growing by the addition of straggling wagons from many feeding +roads. Wait until you stand on the edge of that trail, facing the west, +with rainbows in the mist of your eyes! Oh, Miss Cooper, I can't--but +perhaps we'd better go on deck and see what the weather promises." + +She did not look at him, but as she arose her hand for one brief instant +rested lightly on his outflung arm, and set him aquiver with an ecstatic +agony that hurt even while it glorified him. He shook his head savagely, +rose and led the way to the door; and only the moral fiber and training +passed on to him through generations of gentlemen kept him from taking +her in his arms and smothering her with kisses; and in his tense +struggle to hold himself in check he did not realize that such an +indiscretion might have served him well and that such a moment might +never come again. Holding open the door until she had passed through, he +closed it behind them and stumbled into a whirling gust of rain that +stung and chilled him to a better mastery of himself. Opportunity had +knocked in vain. + +"Our friends, the pilots, will not be good company on a day like this," +he said, gripping the rail and interposing his body between her and the +gusts. "The gangplank's out, but there seems to be a lack of warmth in +its invitation. Suppose we go around on the other side?" + +On the river side of the boat they found shelter against the slanting +rain and were soon comfortably seated against the cabin wall, wrapped in +the blankets he had coaxed from his friend, the purser. + +"Just look at that fury of wind and water!" exclaimed Patience. "I +wonder where that little keelboat is by now?" + +"Oh, it's scooting along like a sled down an icy slope," he answered, +hoping that it had escaped the hungry maw of the great whirlpool off +Clay Point. "They must have urgent reasons for driving ahead like that. +It must be an express from the upper Missouri posts to St. Louis. +McKenzie probably wants to get word to Chouteau before the fur company's +steamboat starts up the river. Or it may be the urging of the thrill +that comes with gambling with death." + +Behind them Uncle Joe poked his head out of the cabin door and regarded +them curiously. Satisfied that troublesome topics no longer were being +discussed he moved forward slowly. + +"Oh, here you are," he said, as though making a discovery. "I thought I +might find you out here. Captain Newell ain't fit company for a savage +wolf this morning. Have you heard how long we're going to be tied up?" + +Tom drew a chair toward him and looked up invitingly. "Sit down, Mr. +Cooper. Why, I understand we will stay here all day and night." He +understood the other man's restlessness and anxiety about the wait, but +did not sympathize with him. The longer they were in making the +river-run the better he would be suited. + +Uncle Joe glanced out over the wild water. "Oh, well," he sighed. "If we +must, then we must. That river's quite a sight; looks a lot worse than +it is. Hello! What's our reverend friend doing down there? Living in the +hold?" He chuckled. "If he is, it's a poor day to come up for air." + +They followed his glance and beheld a tall, austere, long-faced +clergyman emerging from the forward hatch, and behind him came the pilot +with whom they had talked the evening before. When both had reached the +deck and stepped out of the rain the clergyman shook his head stubbornly +and continued his argument. + +"I was told to come up on this packet and examine her carefully on the +way," he asserted, doggedly. "Liquor in vast quantities has been getting +past both Fort Leavenworth and Bellevue; and while the military +inspectors may be lax, or worse, that is an accusation which cannot +truthfully be brought against us at the upper agency. If I am not given +honest assistance in the prosecution of my search, your captain may +experience a delay at our levee that will not be to his liking. It's all +the same to me, for if it isn't found on our way up, it _will_ be found +after we reach the agency." + +"But, my reverend sir!" replied the pilot, in poorly hidden anger, +"you've been from one end of th' hold to th' other! You've crawled +'round like a worm, stuck yore nose an' fingers inter everythin' thar +war to stick 'em in; you've sounded th' flour barrels with a +wipin'-stick, an' jabbed it inter bags an' bales. Bein' a government +inspector we've had ter let ye do it, whether we liked it or not. I've +got no doubts th' captain will be glad ter take down th' engines, rip +open th' bilers, slit th' stacks an' mebby remove th' plankin' of th' +hull; but--air ye listenin' close, my reverend sir? If ye try ter git me +ter guide ye around in that thar hold ag'in, I'll prove ter ye that th' +life o' a perfect Christian leads ter martyrdom. Jest ram that down yore +skinny neck, an' be damned ter ye!" + +"I will not tolerate such language!" exclaimed the indignant shepherd. +"I shall report you, sir!" + +"You kin report an' be damned!" retorted the angry pilot. "Yo're too +cussed pious to be real. What's that a-stickin' outer yer pocket?" + +The inspector felt quickly of the pocket indicated and pulled out a +half-pint flask of liquor, and stared at it in stupefaction. +"Why--I----" + +"Yer a better actor than ye air a preacher," sneered the pilot, glancing +knowingly from the planted bottle around the faces of the crowd which +had quickly assembled. "O' course, you deal in precepts; but they'd be a +cussed sight more convincin' fer a few examples along with 'em. Good +day, my reverend sir!" + +The frocked inspector, tearing his eyes from the accusing bottle and +trying to close his mouth, gazed after the swaggering pilot and then +around the circle of grinning faces. A soft laugh from above made him +glance up to where Patience and her companions were thoroughly enjoying +the episode. + +"Parson, I'll have a snorter with ye," said a bewhiskered bullwhacker, +striding eagerly forward, his hand outstretched. "Go good on a mornin' +like this." + +"Save some fer me, brother," called a trapper, his keen eyes twinkling. +"Allus reckoned you fellers war sort o' baby-like; but thar's th' makin' +o' a man in you." He grinned. "'Sides, we dassn't let all that likker +git up ter th' Injuns." + +"Shucks!" exclaimed a raw-boned Missourian. "That's only a sample he's +takin' up ter Bellevue. He ain't worryin' none about a little bottle +like that, not with th' bar'ls they got up thar. What you boys up thar +do with all th' likker ye take off'n th' boats? Nobody ever saw none o' +it go back down th' river." + +The baited inspector hurled the bottle far out into the stream and tried +to find a way out of the circle, but he was not allowed to break +through. + +"You said somethin' about Leavenworth bein' careless, or wuss," said a +soldier who was going up to that post. "We use common sense, up thar. +Thar's as much likker gits past th' agencies on th' land side as ever +tried ter git past on th' river. Every man up-bound totes as much o' it +as he kin carry. Th' fur company uses judgment in passin' it out, fer it +don't want no drunken Injuns; but th' free traders don't care a rip. If +th' company ain't got it, then th' Injuns trade whar they kin git it; +an' that means they'll git robbed blind, an' bilin' drunk in th' +bargain. If I had my way, they'd throw th' hull kit of ye in th' river." + +"That's right," endorsed a trapper, chuckling, and slapping the +inspector on the back with hearty strength. "You hold this hyar boat to +th' bank at Bellevue jest as long as ye kin, parson. It makes better +time than th' boys goin' over th' land, an' 'tain't fair ter th' boys. +Think ye kin hold her a hull week, an' give my pardners a chanct ter +beat her ter th' Mandan villages?" He looked around, grinning. "Them +Injuns must have a hull passel o' furs a-waitin' fer th' first trader." + +"What's th' trouble here?" demanded the captain, pushing roughly through +the crowd. "What's th' trouble?" + +"Nothing but the baiting of a government inspector and a wearer of the +cloth," bitterly answered the encircled minister. + +"Oh," said the captain, relieved. "Wall, ye git as ye give. Are ye +through with th' hold?" + +The inspector sullenly regarded him. "I think so," he answered. + +The captain wheeled to one of the crew. "Joe, throw on that hatch, lock +it, and keep it locked until we get to Bellevue," he snapped. "We're +ready to comply with government regulations, at the proper time and +place. You and your friends can root around all you want after we get to +Bellevue. The next time I find you in the hold with a lighted candle +I'll take it away from you and lock you in there." He turned, ordered +the crowd to disperse and went back to the texas. + +It was an old story, this struggle to get liquor past the posts to the +upper Missouri, and there were tricks as yet untried. From the +unexpected passage of this up-bound inspector, going out to his station +at the agency, and his officious nosings, it was believed by many that +any liquor on board would not have a chance to get through. And why +should the _Belle_ be carrying it, since her destination and turning +point was Bellevue? + +"Is it true that liquor is smuggled up the river?" asked Patience as the +inspector became lost to sight below. + +Her companions laughed in unison. + +"They not only try to get it up," answered Tom, "but they succeed. I've +been watching that sour-faced parson on his restless ramblings about the +boat, and I knew at once that there must be a game on. Sometimes their +information is correct. However, I'll back the officers of this packet +against him, any time." + +"I'm afraid you'd win your bet, Mr. Boyd," choked the uncle. + +"Uncle Joe! What do you know about it?" asked his niece accusingly. + +"Nothing, my dear; not a single thing!" he expostulated, raising his +hands in mock horror, his eyes resting on three new yawls turned +bottomside up on the deck near the bow. He mentally pictured the +half-dozen bullboats stowed on the main deck near the stern, each +capable of carrying two tons if handled right, and he shook with +laughter. This year the fur company's boat carried no liquor and its +captain would insist on a most thorough inspection at Bellevue; but the +fur posts on the upper river would be overjoyed by what she would bring +to them. After the inspection she would proceed on her calm way, and tie +against the bank at a proper distance above the agency; just as the +_Belle_ would spend a night against the bank at a proper distance below +Bellevue; and what the latter would run ashore after midnight, when the +inquisitive minister was deep in sleep, would be smuggled upstream in +the smaller boats during the dark of the night following, and be put +aboard the fur boat above. + +"Uncle Joe!" said his niece. "You know something!" + +"God help the man that don't!" snorted her uncle. "Look there!" + +A heavily loaded Mackinaw boat had shot around the next bend. It was of +large size, nearly fifty feet long and a dozen wide. In the bow were +four men at the great oars and in the stern at the tiller was the +_patron_, singing in lusty and not unpleasant voice and in mixed French +and English, a song of his own composing. + +Patience put a finger to her lips and enjoined silence, leaning forward +to catch the words floating across the turbulent water, and to her they +sounded thus: + + _"Mon pere Baptiste for Pierre Chouteau + He work lak dam in le ol' bateau; + From Union down le ol' Missou + Lak chased, by gar, by carcajou._ + + _"Le coureurs des bois, le voyageur, too, + He nevaire work so hard, mon Dieu, + Lak Baptiste pere an' Baptiste fils, + Coureurs avant on le ol' Missou._ + + _"McKenzie say: 'Baptiste Ladeaux, + Thees lettaire you mus' geeve Chouteau; + Vous are one dam fine voyageur-- + So hurry down le ol' Missou._ + + _"Go get vous fils an' vous chapeau, + You mebby lak Mackinaw bateau'-- + Lak that he say, lak one dam day + Le voyage weel tak to ol' St. Lou!"_ + +As the square stern of the fur-laden boat came opposite the packet the +mercurial _patron_ stopped his song and shouted: "_Levez les perches!_" +and the four oars rose from the water and shot into the air, vertical +and rigid. The pilot of the steamboat, chancing to be in the pilot +house, blew a series of short blasts in recognition, causing the +engineer to growl something about wasting his steam. The crew of the +Mackinaw boat arose and cheered, the _patron_ firing his pistol into the +air. Gay vocal exchanges took place between the two boats, and the +patron, catching sight of Patience, placed a hand over his heart and +bowed, rattling off habitant French. She waved in reply and watched the +boat forge ahead under the thrust of the perfectly timed oars. + +"Mackinaw boat," said Tom, "and in a hurry. _There's_ the express. There +is a belief on the river that the square stern of those boats gives them +a speed in rapids greater than that of the current. They are very safe +and handy for this kind of navigation, and well built by skilled +artisans at the boat yards of the principal trading posts up the river. +They are a great advance over the bullboat, which preceded them." + +"And which are still in use, makeshifts though they are," said Captain +Newell as he stopped beside them. "But you can't beat the bullboat for +the purpose for which it was first made; that of navigating the +shallower streams. I thought you would be glad to know that we expect to +be under way again early in the morning. But, speaking of bullboats, did +you ever see one, Miss Cooper?" + +"I've had them pointed out to me at St. Louis, but at a distance," she +answered. "Somehow they did not impress me enough to cause me to +remember what they looked like." + +"Why, I'll show you some," offered Tom eagerly. "There's half a dozen on +the main deck." + +Uncle Joe squirmed as he glanced around, and arose to leave for the card +room, but the captain smiled and nodded. + +"Yes, that's so, Mr. Boyd. Take a look at them when the rain lets up. +We're always glad to carry a few of them back up the river, for we find +them very handy in lightering cargo in case we have mean shallows that +can be crossed in no other way. You'd be surprised how little water this +boat draws after its cargo is taken ashore." + +"But why do they call them bullboats?" asked Patience. + +"They're named after the hides of the bull buffalo, which are used for +the covering," explained the captain. "First a bundle of rather heavy +willow poles are fashioned into a bottom and bound together with +rawhide. To this other and more slender willow poles are fastened by +their smaller ends and curved up and out to make the ribs. Then two +heavy poles are bent on each side from stem to stern and lashed to the +ends of the ribs, forming the gunwale. Everything is lashed with rawhide +and not a bolt or screw or nail is used. Hides of buffalo bulls, usually +prepared by the Indians, although the hunters and trappers can do the +work as well, are sewn together with sinew after being well soaked. They +are stretched tightly over the frame and lashed securely to the gun'le, +and they dry tight as drumheads and show every rib. Then a pitch of +buffalo tallow and ashes is worked into the seams and over every +suspicious spot on the hides and the boat is ready. Usually a false +flooring of loosely laid willow poles, three or four inches deep, is +placed in the bottom to prevent the water, which is sure to leak in, +from wetting the cargo. In the morning the boat rides high and draws +only a few inches of water; but often at night there may be six or eight +inches slopping around inside. I doubt if any other kind of a boat can +be used very far up on the Platte, and sometimes even bullboats can't go +up." + +"How was it that the fur company's boat was tied at the levee at St. +Louis, after we left?" asked Tom. "Rather late for her, isn't it?" + +"Yes, it is," answered the captain. "The great event on this river has +always been the annual upstream fur packet. She is coming along +somewhere behind us, and very likely will pass us before we reach the +mouth of the Kaw. They take bigger chances with the river than we do +because they've got to get up to Fort Union and away again while +there's water enough." He looked at Patience. "Are you going far, Miss +Cooper?" he asked, anxious to get the conversation into channels more to +his liking. + +"Santa Fe, captain," she answered as placidly as though it were a +shopping trip from her home to the downtown stores of St. Louis. + +"Well, well!" he exclaimed, as if he had not known it. "That will be +quite an undertaking!" + +Tom Boyd was staring at her aghast, doubting his ears. The slowly +changing expression on his face caught her attention and she smiled at +him. + +"You look as if you had seen a ghost, Mr. Boyd," she laughed. + +"I'm going to do my very best not to see one, Miss Cooper; or let anyone +else see one," he answered mysteriously. "I am glad that I, too, am +bound for Santa Fe. It is a great surprise and pleasure to learn that +you are going over the same trail." + +"Why, didn't you say that you were going over the Oregon Trail this +year?" she quickly asked. "At least, I understood you that way." + +"I often let my enthusiasm run away with me," he answered. "Much as I +would like to go out to Oregon I will have to wait until my affairs will +permit me to follow my inclination. You see, I've made two trips to +Santa Fe, it has got into my blood, and there are reasons why I must go +over that trail again. And then, knowing the trail so well, it is +possible that I can make very good arrangements this year. But isn't it +a most remarkable coincidence?" + +"Very," drily answered the captain. "By the way, Mr. Boyd: you and Mr. +Cooper seem to be quite friendly, and neither of you waste much time in +the company of your present roommates. Seeing that you are both bunked +with strangers, how would it suit you if I put you together in the same +room? Good: then I'll speak to Mr. Cooper, and if it's agreeable to him +I'll have the change made. Sorry to tear myself away from you two, but I +must be leaving now." He bowed and stepped into the cabin, smiling to +himself. He distinctly remembered his conversation with the young man, +only the day before, when Tom had assured him with great earnestness +that he no longer could resist the call of the emigrant trail and that +he was going to follow it with the first outgoing caravan. The captain +was well pleased by the change in the young man's plans, for he knew +that the niece of his old friend would be safer on her long journey +across the plains if Tom Boyd was a member of the caravan. He turned his +steps toward the gaming tables to find her uncle, whom he expected would +be surrounded by the members of a profession which Joe Cooper had +forsaken many years before for a more reputable means of earning a +living. + +The reputation of "St. Louis Joe" was known to almost everyone but his +niece; and the ex-gambler was none too sure that she did not know it. +While his name was well-known, there were large numbers of gamblers on +both rivers, newcomers to the streams, who did not know him by sight; +and it was his delight to play the part of an innocent and unsuspecting +merchant and watch them try to fleece him. Not one of the professionals +on the _Missouri Belle_ knew he was playing against a man who could +tutor him in the finer points of his chosen art; but by this time they +had held a conference or two in a vain attempt to figure why their +concerted efforts had borne bitter fruit. One of them, smarting over his +moderate, but annoyingly persistent losses, was beginning to get ugly. +While his pocketbook was lightly touched, his pride was raw and +bleeding. Elias Stevens was known as a quick-tempered man whom it were +well not to prod; and Joseph Cooper was prodding him again and again, +and appearing to take a quiet but deep satisfaction in the operation. At +first Stevens had hungered only for the large sum of money his older +adversary had shown openly and carelessly; but now it was becoming +secondary, and the desire for revenge burning in Stevens was making him +more and more reckless in his play. + +The careless way in which Joe Cooper had shown his money to arouse the +avarice of the gamblers had awakened quick interest in others outside +the fraternity, and other heads were planning other ways of getting +possession of it. Two men in particular, believing that the best chance +of stealing it was while the owner of it was on the boat, decided to +make the attempt on this night. If the boat should remain tied to the +bank their escape would be easy; and if it started before daylight they +could make use of the yawl, which was towed most of the time, and always +during a run after dark. + +Captain Newell looked in at the gambling tables and did not see his +friend, but as he turned to look about the upper end of the cabin he +caught sight of him coming along the deck, and stepped out to wait for +him. + +"Looking for me?" asked Uncle Joe, smiling. + +"Yes; want to tell you that your young friend Boyd has changed his mind +and is going out to Santa Fe to look after his numerous interests +there. Ordinarily I would keep my mouth shut, but I know his father and +the whole family, and no finer people live in St. Louis. Who have you in +mind to go in charge of your wagons?" + +Uncle Joe scratched his chin reflectively. "Well, I'd thought of Boyd +and was kinda sorry he was going out over the other trail. I'll keep my +eyes on the scamp. Strikes me he'd take _my_ wagons through for his +keep, under the circumstances! He-he-he! Changed his mind, has he? +D----d if I blame him; I'd 'a' gone farther'n that, at his age, for a +girl like Patience. How about a little nip, for good luck?" + +"Not now. How would you like to change sleeping partners?" asked the +captain, quickly explaining the matter. + +"First rate idea; th' partner I got now spends most of his nights +scratching. Better shift me instead of him, or Boyd'll get cussed little +sleep in that bunk." + +Captain Newell leaned against the cabin and laughed. "All right, Joe; +I'll have your things taken out and the change made by supper time, at +the latest. Look out those gamblers in there don't skin you." + + * * * * * + +True to his word the captain shifted Joe Cooper to the room of his new +friend, and sent the bull-necked, bullwhacking bully who had shared +Tom's cabin to take the ex-gambler's former berth. This arrangement was +suitable both ways, for not only were the two friends put together, but +the two loud-voiced, cursing, frontier toughs found each other very +agreeable. They had made each other's acquaintance at the camp-fire on +the bank the night previous and like many new and hastily made +friendships, it had not had time to show its weaknesses. One of them had +stolen a bottle of liquor at the camp-fire carousal and upon learning of +the change shortly after supper, had led his new roommate to their joint +quarters to celebrate the event; where they both remained. + +The early part of the night was passed as usual, Uncle Joe at the card +tables, Tom Boyd with Patience and later mingling with the hunters and +trappers in the cabin until his eyes became heavy and threatened to +close. Leaving his friend at the table, he went to their room and in a +few moments was so fast asleep that he did not hear the merchant come +in. It seemed to him that he had barely closed his eyes when he awakened +with a start, sitting up in the berth so suddenly that he soundly +whacked his head against the ceiling. He rolled out and landed on the +floor like a cat, pistol in hand, just as his roommate groped under the +pillow for his own pistol and asked what the trouble was all about. + +The sound of it seemed to fill the boat. Shouts, curses, crashes against +the thin partition located it for them as being in the next room, and +lighting a candle, the two friends, pistols in hands, cautiously opened +the door just as one of the boat's officers came running down the +passage-way with a lantern in his hand. There was a terrific crash in +the stateroom and they saw him put down the light and leap into a dark +shadow, and roll out into sight again in a tangle of legs and arms. +Other doors opened and night-shirted men poured out and filled the +passage. + +The battle in the stateroom had taken an unexpected turn the moment the +officer appeared, for the door sagged suddenly, burst from its hinges +and flew across the narrow way, followed by a soaring figure, to one +leg of which Ebenezer Whittaker, bully bullwhacker of the Santa Fe +trail, was firmly fastened. After him dived his new friend, who once had +ruled a winter-bound party of his kind in Brown's hole with a high and +mighty hand. The trapper went head first into the growling pair rolling +over the floor, his liquor-stimulated zeal not permitting him to waste +valuable time in so small a matter as the identity of the combatants. He +knew that one of them was his new roommate, the other a prowling thief, +and being uncertain in the poor light as to which was which, he let the +Goddess of Chance direct his energies. + +At the other end of the passage-way the boat's officer, now reinforced +by so many willing helpers that the affair was fast taking on the air of +a riot, at last managed to drag the thief's lookout from the human +tangle and hustle him into the eager hands of three of the crew, leaving +the rescuers to fight it out among themselves, which they were doing +with praiseworthy energy and impartial and indefinite aims. Considering +that they did not know whom they were fighting, nor why, they were doing +so well that Tom wondered what force could withstand them if they should +become united in a compelling cause and concerted in their attack. + +At the inner end of the passage, having beaten, choked, and gouged the +thief into an inert and senseless mass, the bullwhacker turned his +overflowing energies against his new and too enthusiastic friend, and +they rolled into the stateroom, out again, and toward the heaving pile +at the upper end of the hall. Striking it in a careless, haphazard but +solid manner, just as it was beginning to disintegrate into its bruised +and angry units, the fighting pair acted upon it like a galvanic current +on a reflex center; and forthwith the scramble became scrambled anew. + +Finally, by the aid of capstan-bars, boat hooks, axe handles, and +cordwood, the boat's officers and crew managed to pry the mass apart and +drag out one belligerent at a time. They lined them up just as Captain +Newell galloped down the passage-way, dressed in a pair of trousers, +reversed; one rubber boot and one red sock and a night shirt partly +thrust inside the waistband of the trousers; but he was carefully and +precisely hatted with a high-crowned beaver. He looked as if he were +coming from a wake and going to a masquerade. Notwithstanding the very +recent and exciting events he received a great amount of attention. + +"What-in-hell's-th'-matter?" he angrily demanded, glaring around him, a +pistol upraised in one hand, the other gripping a seasoned piece of ash. +"Answer-me-I-say-what-in-hell's-th'-matter-down-here?" + +"There was a fight," carefully explained the weary officer. + +"Hell's-bells-I-thought-it-was-a-prayer-meetin'!" yelped the captain. +"Who-was-fightin'?" + +"_They_ was," answered the officer, waving both hands in all directions. + +"What-about?" + +The officer looked blank and scratched his head, carefully avoiding the +twin knobs rising over one ear. "Damned if _I_ know, sir!" + +"Were _you_ fightin', Flynn?" demanded the captain aggressively and with +raging suspicion. "Come, up with it, were you?" + +"No, sir; I was a-stoppin' it." + +"My G-d! Then don't you never dare start one!" snapped the captain, +staring around. "You look like the British at N'Orleans," he told the +line-up. "What was it all about? Hell's bells! It _must_ 'a' had a +beginning!" + +"Yessir," replied the officer. "It sorta begun all at once, right after +th' explosion." + +"What explosion?" + +"I dunno. I heard it, 'way up on th' hurricane deck, an' hustled right +down here fast as I could run. Just as I got right over there," and he +stepped forward and with his foot touched the exact spot, "that there +stateroom door come bustin' out right at me. I sorta ducked to one side, +an' plumb inter somebody that hit me on th' eye. I reckon th' fightin' +was from then on. Excuse me, sir; but you got yore pants on +upside-down--I means stern-foremost, sir." + +"What's my pants got to do with this disgraceful riot, or mebby mutiny?" +blazed the reddening captain. He couldn't resist a downward glance over +his person, and hastily slipped the red-socked foot behind its booted +mate. + +Somebody snickered and the sound ran along the line, gathering volume. +Glaring at the battle-scarred line-up, Captain Newell waved the pistol +and seemed at a loss for words. + +Uncle Joe stepped forward with the bullwhacker. "Captain, this man says +he woke up an' found a thief reachin' under his pillow, where he keeps +his bottle. I think the thief is against the wall, there; and his +partner, who doubtless acted as his lookout, is in the hands of those +two men. The rest of th' fightin' was promiscuous, but well meant. I +reckon if you put those two thieves in irons an' let th' rest of us go +back to our berths it'll be th' right thing to do. As for Flynn, he +deserves credit for his part in it." + +"That's my understanding of it, captain," said Tom, and again burst out +laughing. "Evidently they were after Mr. Cooper's money, which he has +shown recklessly, and they did not know that he had changed staterooms." + +"Reckon that's it, captain!" shouted someone, laughingly. "Anyhow, it's +good enough. Come on, captain; it's time for a drink all 'round!" + +In another moment a shirt-tailed picnic was in full swing, the bottles +passing rapidly. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE INSULT + + +Shortly after dawn Tom awakened and became conscious of a steady +vibration and the rhythmical splash of the paddle wheel. Hurriedly +dressing he went out on deck and glanced shoreward. The +cream-and-chocolate colored water, of an opacity dense enough to hide a +piece of shell only a quarter of an inch below its surface, rioted past; +to port was a low-lying island covered with an amazing mass of piled-up +trees, logs and debris, deposited there by the racing current of the +rapidly-falling stream; and the distant shore was covered with dense +forests of walnut and cottonwood, interspersed with rich bottoms masked +by tangles of brush. Farther up he knew the sight would change into an +almost treeless expanse of green prairies, gashed by scored bluffs of +clay. The surface of the river was not smooth and the wind already had +reached disturbing strength, while an occasional gust of chilling rain +peppered the water and assaulted the boat. From the beat of the paddles +and the high frequency of the vibrations he knew the _Belle_ was going +ahead under full steam, but his momentary frown was effaced by the +thought that the pilot was competent and knew what he was doing. Still, +he felt a little uneasy, and went forward to pay the pilot a visit. + +Reaching the hurricane deck he saw both pilots at the wheel and also a +lookout on the roof of the little house, while in the very point of the +bow, on the main deck, another lookout was scrutinizing the river ahead. + +"We're makin' good time," said Tom pleasantly as he poked his head in +the pilot house. + +"Yes," came an answering grunt; "too good, mebby." + +His words and manner were not calculated to encourage conversation and +the visitor went down to see about breakfast. Fortified by a cup of +coffee he felt able to wait until the meal was ready and went out on +deck again, standing in the shelter of an angle of the cabin, pretending +to be interested in the slowly shifting panorama, but really impatiently +waiting for the appearance of Patience Cooper. He had waited for about +an hour, hardly stirring from his post near the door which she had used +the morning before, when he caught sight of her crossing the cabin. +Turning from the window and stepping forward he opened the door for her +and after a short, cheerful talk about being under way again, led her to +the breakfast table, ignoring the scowling horse-dealer who sat at a +table in a corner talking to Elias Stevens. + +Their breakfast did not take as long as it had on the previous morning, +one reason being that while they ate they sensed the boat turn toward +the shore and before they had finished it stopped along the bank and +moored again. + +"I do believe the rain has ceased for the day," Patience observed, +peering out of the window by her side. "It is growing brighter every +minute. I wonder why the boat has stopped?" + +"Too much wind," answered her companion, nodding at the waves running +past the boat. + +"If that is all, I'm going ashore," she declared. + +"You may find it disagreeable," warned Tom, delighted by the prospect of +a tramp with her. "It is bound to be wet under foot and the wind will be +cold and penetrating; but if you don't mind it, I'm sure _I_ don't." He +finished his coffee and smiled. "It will be a great relief to get off +this boat." + +"Come on, then; I'll meet you at the landing stage in ten minutes," she +exclaimed. "This will be a good opportunity to get accustomed to the +heavy boots Uncle Joe had made for me. They smell like tallow candles +with leather wicks, if you can imagine the combination." + +He saw her enter her stateroom and then went to his own, got his rifle +and stood at the gangplank like a sentry. In less than the allotted time +she joined him, waved gaily at her uncle and the captain, who were +talking together near the pilot house, and went down the sloping plank, +eager to explore the river bank. As they reached the top of the +terrace-like bank and turned to wave again, the sun broke through the +clouds and turned the moisture-laden trees and brush into a jeweled +fairyland. They did not go far south since they were restricted to the +more open spaces where they could walk without rubbing against wet +foliage, but they found comparatively open lanes along the top of the +bank, from where they could keep watch over the packet and get back +without undue haste at the sound of her warning whistle. + +They crossed the trails of several animals and she listened with +interest to her companion's description of their makers, wondering at +his intimate knowledge of animal habits. Finally, coming to a great +cottonwood log, stripped of its bark and shining in the sunlight, he +helped her upon it and sat down by her side. + +"You surprised me, Miss Cooper, when you mentioned you were going to +Santa Fe," he said, turning to one of the subjects uppermost in his +mind. "It is a long, tedious, trying journey to men, and it might prove +infinitely more so to a woman." + +"I suppose so," she replied reflectively. "But you know, Mr. Boyd, I +haven't seen my father in five years, and his letter, sent back by the +eastbound caravan from Santa Fe last year, told us how he missed me and +how dissatisfied he was with his housekeeping arrangements and how he +dreaded to spend another winter away from us. It was too late then, of +course, to make the trip, but I determined to go to him with the first +caravan leaving Independence this spring. Uncle Joe fumed and fussed +about it and collected all the stories of privation, loss of sanity and +sudden death, and everything else of a deterring nature and brought them +home to me to serve as warnings. I can do anything I want with him +except keep him from gambling, and when he really understood that +nothing could stop me, he gave in and I soon had him so busy explaining +away the woeful tales he had brought me, and hunting up new ones of a +bright and cheerful aspect that he half believed them himself. I learned +that all the Indians were pets, that there were miles of flowers all the +way, that people near death from all kinds of causes miraculously +recovered their health by the end of the first two days, and that the +caravan had to watch closely to keep its members from leaving it and +settling all along the trail." + +They burst out laughing together. He could easily picture her uncle +frantically reversing himself. He had taken a great liking to Joseph +Cooper, who was a humorous, warm-hearted old fox among his friends, +delighting in their pleasures and sunning himself complacently in their +approbation. No trouble was too great for him to go through if it would +bring happiness to those he cared for. + +They laughed and chatted and enjoyed themselves greatly, and were very +much surprised when his lean figure appeared beside the pilot house and +they saw him wave his hat and motion toward his mouth with animation and +great exaggeration. + +"Good heavens! Is it dinner time already?" exclaimed Tom, sliding from +the log, and becoming aware for the first time that the log had been far +from as dry as he thought. + +Laughing and scampering, they hurried back toward the landing, racing +down the hill that led to the little opening in the grove not far from +the water's edge. As they started down it Tom caught sight of several +figures sprawled on the sand, which had dried quickly under the combined +attacks of sun and wind. Among them he saw the lank form of Ephriam +Schoolcraft slowly arising to one elbow as the horse-dealer turned and +watched them come down the incline. + +Patience stumbled, her heavy boots bothering her, and her companion +checked himself and caught her as she pitched forward. Swinging her +through the air, he put her down again on the other side of him and +laughingly offered his arm. + +"Thar ain't nothin' like 'lasses fer to draw flies," came the drawling, +unpleasant voice of the sneering figure on the ground. "Blow flies air +included. Wrap it in skirts an' young fellers make plumb fools o' +theirselves. Any flirt kin pull th' wool over thar eyes like it war a +loose skin cap." His raucous laugh was doubly disagreeable because of +the sneer envenoming it, and Tom stiffened. + +"I seed an example o' that right yere on this hyar packet; an' most +likely I'll see a hull lot more o' it if I has patience. He-he-he!" + +Tom checked his stride, but the quick, reassuring pressure on his arm +made him keep on, his burning face held rigidly toward the boat. He +dared not look at his companion. They walked silently up the landing +stage and into the cabin, Tom waiting with ill concealed impatience +until his companion should join her uncle at the table. But he was +surprised, for she spoke in a pleasant, soft tone and ordered him to +remain where he was for a few minutes. Before he could make up his mind +what she meant he saw her lean over her uncle's table and say something. +The ex-gambler pushed suddenly back, patted her on the head and walked +briskly but nonchalantly toward the curious onlooker. + +"You young folks never have any regard for an old man's comfort," he +chuckled as he took hold of Tom's arm. "Now, sir, I'll take great +pleasure in stretching my legs in any direction you may select, and in +stretching the neck of any officious meddler. I am at your service, Tom; +and, damn it, I'm not too old to become a principal!" + +Tom stared at him for a moment as the words sunk in. "By G-d!" he +murmured. "There ain't another like her in th' whole, wide world! Thank +you, Mr. Cooper: if you'll be kind enough to stand on one side and keep +the affair strictly between myself and that polecat, I'll try not to +keep you from your dinner very long. He might have been decent enough +to have picked his quarrel in some other way!" + +Schoolcraft arose alertly as they entered the little clearing, and +watched Tom hand the double-barreled rifle to his companion, slip off +his belt and throw his coat over it. The horse-dealer grinned with +savage elation as he discarded his own weapons and coat, hardly +believing in his good fortune. Not many men along the border cared to +meet him unarmed. + +Tom stepped forward. "Every time I look at that terbaccer juice +a-dribblin' down yer chin, Schoolcraft, it riles me," he said evenly. +"I'm a-goin' ter wipe it off," and his open hand struck his enemy's jaw +with a resounding whack as he stepped swiftly to one side. "You've allus +had a sneakin' grudge ag'in me," he asserted, giving ground before the +infuriated horse-dealer, "since I caught ye cheatin' at Independence. +You've been tryin' ter work it off ever since we left th' levee. I +reckon this belongs to you!" + +He stepped in quickly and drove his right fist into Schoolcraft's mouth, +avoiding the flailing blows. "If ye'll stand up ter it an' make it a +fight," he jeered, "I'll be much obliged to ye, fer I've promised my +friend not ter keep him from his dinner." Again he stepped in and struck +the bleeding lips. He boxed correctly according to the times, except +that he used his feet to good advantage. His education at an eastern +university had been well rounded and he never allowed himself to get out +of condition. + +Schoolcraft, stung to fury, leaped forward to grapple, hoping to make it +a rough-and-tumble affair, at which style of fighting he had but few +equals. Instead of his adversary stepping to one side, he now stood +solidly planted in one spot, his left foot a little advanced, and drove +in a series of straight-arm blows that sent the horse-dealer staggering +back. The younger man pressed his advantage, moving forward with +unswerving determination, his straight punches invariably beating the +ill-timed and terrific swings of his bleeding opponent, who showed a +vitality and an ability to take punishment not unusual among the men of +his breed. The horse-dealer knew that if the fight remained an open +affair he would not last long, and he got command over his rage and +began to use his head. + +Suddenly he dropped to hands and knees under a right-hand blow that was +a little short of hurting him, and sprang up under his enemy's guard, +and brought exultant ejaculations from his little group of friends. But +for the warning conveyed to Tom by the knowledge that he barely had +touched the horse-dealer's jaw with that blow, and could not have +knocked him down, the trick might have worked; and as it was it +succeeded in bringing the two men to close grips. Schoolcraft's right +arm slid around his enemy's waist and hugged him close, while the left +slipped up between them until the hand went under the younger man's chin +and began to push it up and back. It was the horse-dealer's favorite and +most deadly trick and he exulted as he arched his back and threw his +full strength into the task. Never had it failed to win, for the victim +of that hold must either quit or have his neck broken; and the choice +did not rest with the victim. + +The muscles of Tom's neck stood out as though they would burst, the +veins of his forehead and throat swelling into tiny serpents, and his +crimson face grew darker and darker, a purplish tint creeping into it. +But Schoolcraft found that he was dealing with a man who had studied +wrestling as eagerly as its sister science. He also found that there was +a counter to his favorite hold, always providing that it had been robbed +of its greatest factor: surprise. For it to be deadly effective his +whole strength had to be thrown into it instantly and meet no ready, +rigid opposition; and in this he had failed because of the subtle +warning conveyed to his adversary when he fell before a harmless blow. +Almost before he knew it Tom's left arm, circling high in air, jammed in +between their heads and forced its way down to Schoolcraft's cheek. At +the same instant the right hand dashed down and got a hold inside his +left thigh, close up against the crotch; and as the left arm thrust his +head sidewise with a power not to be withstood, the right hand lifted +suddenly to the right and he struck the ground on his head and shoulder +with a shock which rendered him senseless. + +The winner staggered back, braced himself and swayed a little on his +feet as he sucked in great gulps of air. He wheeled savagely as he heard +a shuffling step to one side and slightly behind him, but the precaution +was not necessary, for simultaneously with the shuffling came Joe +Cooper's snapped warning, cold and deadly. + +"Better stop, Stevens! I'm only lookin' for an excuse to blow you open!" + +Elias Stevens obeyed, standing irresolute and scowling. "You talk d----d +big behind a gun!" he sneered. + +"Only half as big as I might, seeing it's a double gun," retorted the +older man. "If it don't suit you we can turn, step off ten paces an' +fire when we're ready. Might as well make a good job of it while we're +about it. I ain't no Mike Fink; but you ain't no Carpenter, so I reckon +it's purty even." + +"I'll take care of any objectors, in any fashion," said Tom, facing +Stevens and the others. "I'll be ready fer you, Stevens, by th' time you +get your weapons an' coat off, if you choose that way. Pickin' on an old +man don't go while there's a younger one around; an', besides, it's my +quarrel. There it is, in your teeth; take it, and eat it!" + +"It war a fair fight," said an onlooker in grudging admiration. He +expressed the ethics of the fighting current at that time in that part +of the country. Any kind of fighting, be it with hands, feet, nails, +teeth or other weapons was fair as long as no outsider took a hand in +it. It had been the rule of the keelboatmen and they had carried it up +and down the waterways, from New Orleans to the upper Mississippi and +from Pittsburg to the Rockies. + +Tom nodded. "All right. You can tell him that he won't get in close, +next time," he said, glancing at the stirring loser. "Come on, Uncle +Joe; your dinner's plumb cold an' ruined." + +"I'm hot enough to warm it as I chaw!" snapped his friend. "I was scared +for a moment, though; fighting out in this country don't get you nothin' +but a tombstone, generally, an' you'll be cussed lucky if you get that. +But you did what you started out to do; I couldn't see no tobacco juice +on his chin th' last time I looked." He followed his companion down the +bank and as they crossed the gangplank he chuckled. "I won't eat no +liver for a long time, I reckon: his face near made me sick!" + +"I shouldn't 'a' cut him up so," admitted Tom; "but I was forking off a +grudge. Next time, I'll kill him." Then he thought of Patience and +glowed all over. "There ain't another like her, nowhere!" he muttered. + +Uncle Joe glanced sideways at the slightly marked face of his companion, +shrewdly noting the expression of reverent awe and adoration. + +"Young man," he said, "you're a little mite hasty, but I like 'em that +way. I reckon if you took my waggins inter Santa Fe you'd get patience." + +At this second play on her name within the last half hour Tom whirled in +his tracks and held out his hand. "Uncle Joe, if you think I'm able to +handle 'em, I'll take 'em through h--l if I have to, without a +blister--" then he faltered and his face grew hard as he shook his head +in regret. "I can't do it," he growled. "It wouldn't be fair to bring +down Armijo's wrath on your niece and brother. He'd hound them like the +savage brute he is. No; you'll have to keep to whatever arrangements you +had in mind." + +Uncle Joe shook his head. "That's too bad, Tom. I was counting on you +keeping an eye on Patience and seeing her through. It's too cussed bad." + +Tom's laugh rang out across the water. "Oh I'm going to do that! I'm +bound for Santa Fe, either as a free lance or with trade goods of my +own; but I am not going with your wagons. I got it pretty well figured +out." + +"I'm allus gettin' into places where I've got to back out," grumbled +Uncle Joe. "Now I reckon I'll have to tell Patience you're too young an' +giddy to handle my outfit. An' _then_ mebby I'll have to back out ag'in! +Tell you one thing, this here Santa Fe trip may be fine for invalids, +but it ain't done _my_ health no good!" While Tom laughed at him he +considered. "Huh! I don't reckon it'll be a good thing to let her know +that you an' Armijo are as friendly as a Cheyenne an' a Comanche. Cuss +it! Oh, well; put away this gun an' come on in an' eat, if there's +anything left." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +INDIANS AND GAMBLERS + + +Shortly after noon the wind died down enough to let the packet resume +her upstream labors, and expectations ran high that she would make a +long, peaceful run. They were not to be realized. + +The first unpleasant incident occurred when the boat had been run +against a bank at a woodpile to replenish her fuel. The lines were made +fast and the first of the wood-carriers had reached the stacked cordwood +when from behind it arose a dozen renegade Indians, willing to turn +momentarily from their horse-stealing expedition long enough to levy a +tribute of firewater on the boat. They refused to allow a stick to be +removed without either a fight or a supply of liquor and trade goods, +and the leader of the band grappled with the foremost member of the crew +and tried to drag him behind the shelter of the pile and so gain a +hostage to give additional weight to their demands and to save them from +being fired on. + +Goaded by despair and fright from the unexpectedness of the attack and +what might be in store for him the white man struggled desperately and, +with the return of a measure of calmness, worked a neat cross-buttock on +his red adversary and threw him sprawling out in plain sight of the +boat. Half a dozen plainsmen on board had leaped for their rifles and +shouted the alarm; a four pound carronade was wheeled swiftly into +position and a charge of canister sent crashing over the woodpile into +the brush and trees. The roar of the gun and the racket caused by the +charge as it rattled through the branches and brush filled the savages +with dismay and, not daring to run from the pile and up the bank under +the cannon and the rapidly augmented rifles on the decks of the boat, +they raised their hands and slowly emerged from their worthless +breastwork. + +Captain Newell shouted frantic instructions to his grim and accurate +volunteers, ordering and begging in one breath for them not to fire, for +he knew that bloodshed would start a remorseless sniping warfare along +the river that might last for several seasons. At such a game the +snipers on the banks, concealed as they would be, could reasonably be +expected to run up quite a list of casualties on the boat. This was no +new experience for him and he knew that nothing serious would grow out +of it as long as none of the Indians were injured. This little party was +composed of the renegade scourings of the frontier tribes which had been +debauched by their contact with the liquor-selling whites and they were +more fitted for petty thievery than the role of warriors. He shouted and +argued and cursed and pleaded with the eager riflemen, most of whom +burned with the remembrance of stolen packs of furs and equipment at the +hands of such Indians as these. + +The growling plainsmen, knowing that he was right and understanding his +position, reluctantly kept their trigger fingers extended and finally +lowered their pieces, hoping that the Indians would lose their heads and +do some overt act; but the Indians were not fools, whatever else they +might have been. With eager alertness on one side and sullen +acquiescence on the other the wooding was finished, ropes cast off and +the _Missouri Belle_ pushed quickly out into the stream, her grim faced +defenders manning the stern decks and praying for an excuse to open +fire. + +No sooner had a reasonable distance been opened between the boat and the +bank than the Indians, at a signal from their leader, leaped behind the +woodpile and opened fire on the boat with muskets and bows and arrows, +the latter weapons far more accurate than the miserable trade guns which +a few of the braves carried. With them dropping an arrow is an instinct +and they have developed it to a degree that is remarkable, to say the +least; while with the smooth-bore trade guns, with varying charges of +trade powder and sizes of balls, they were poor shots at any distance. +Instantly two score rifles replied from the boat, pouring their leaden +hail into the stacked wood, but without any noticeable result; and +before a second round could be fired the distance had been increased to +such an extent that only one or two excitable tenderfeet tried a second +shot. The chief result of the incident was the breaking of the monotony +of the trip and the starting of chains of reminiscences among the +hunters and trappers to which the tenderfeet listened with eager ears. + +After this flurry of excitement interest slowly swung far astern, where +the American Fur Company's boat was supposed to be breasting the current +on her long voyage to Fort Union and beyond, and many eyes were on the +lookout for a glimpse of her smoke. A sight of the boat itself, except +at close range, was almost hopeless because the bends in the river were +so numerous and close together that the stream seemed like a narrow +lake. + +The surface of the water was becoming different from what it had been, +for the great masses of floating debris had thinned and no longer came +down in raft-like formations. This was due to the rapid falling of the +water, which had stranded more and more of the bulkier drift and piled +it up at the head of every island, emerging bar and jutting point. At +the height of the freshets, especially the April rise, often the logs +and trees came down so thick and solid that they resembled floating +islands. This was in large measure due to the simultaneous floating of +the vast accumulations piled up all along the banks, and it aroused +disgust and anxiety in the hearts of the boatmen, who feared for hulls +and paddle wheels. + +The harmless brush with the Indians and the stories the affair had +started quickened interest in firearms, and during the rest of the +afternoon there was considerable target practice against the ducks, +geese, and debris, and an occasional long shot at some animal on the +distant bank. + +Tom Boyd did his share of this, glad of the opportunity to try out his +new and strange weapons, and to put off meeting Patience Cooper as long +as he could, fearing her attitude concerning his fight with Schoolcraft. +He found that the newly marketed Colt six-shooter was accurate and +powerful at all reasonable ranges, beautifully balanced and well +behaving. It attracted a great deal of attention from fellow travelers, +for it was not as well-known in Missouri as it was in other parts of the +country. The English rifle, not much heavier than the great Hawken +weapons of his companions, despite its two barrels, shot true and +strong, and the two ready shots at his command easily recompensed him +for the additional weight. At this time, in the country into which he +was going, an instantly available second shot had an importance not to +be overlooked. To the Indians, especially, was it disconcerting, and its +moral effect partook of the nature of magic and made a white man's +"medicine" that demanded and received a wholesome respect. He found that +it followed the rough and ready rule of the frontier that up to a +hundred yards the proper charge was as much powder as would cover the +bullet in the palm of the hand. In the long range shots the weapon was +surprisingly accurate, and one thoughtful and intelligent hunter, who +had guided several English sporting parties, gave the credit to the +pointed bullets. + +"Thar ain't no doubt about it, pardner," he confided to Tom as he slyly +produced his own bullet mold, and showed it to his companion. "I've +tried 'em out in my own rifle, an' they shore do shoot straighter an' +further. This hyar mold war give ter me by a city hunter I had in my +party when we found it would fit my rifle. I ain't usin' th' old un no +more. Rub a leetle b'ar grease or buffaler tallow on th' patch paper, +young man, ter make 'em go down easier. Thar good beaver." + +The sun set in a gold and crimson glory, working its magic metamorphosis +on river, banks, and bottoms, painting the colored cliffs and setting +afire the crystals in which their clay was rich. Though usually the +scenery along this river at this time of the year was nothing to boast +of, there were certain conditions under which it resembled a fairyland. +The rolling wavelets bore their changing colors across the glowing water +and set dancing myriad flashes of sunlight; streaks of sunlight reached +in under the trees along the bank and made fairy paths among the +trunks, while the imbedded crystals in the clay bluffs glittered in +thousands of pin-points of iridescent flame. + +When supper time came around Tom still felt a little reluctant to meet +Patience, worried by how she might greet him, although her actions +preceding the fight should have told him that his fears were groundless. +To his great relief she met him as graciously as she had before, and as +a matter of fact he thought he detected a little more warmth and +interest, but discounted this because he feared that his judgment might +be biased in his favor by his hopes. + +Uncle Joe apparently had forgotten all about the affair and did not +refer to it in any way, confining himself to subjects connected with the +great southwest highway, its trade, outfitting, the organization of the +caravans, the merchandising at Santa Fe and bits of historical and +personal incidents, not forgetting to comment on the personality of +Armijo and his arbitrary impost of five hundred dollars on each wagon to +cross the boundary, regardless of what its contents might be. He +chuckled over the impost, for the goods which he had sent up to +Independence by an earlier boat had been selected with that tax in mind. +He had his own ideas about the payment of the impost, and although he +could not entirely avoid it, he intended to take a great deal of the +sting out of it. + +He contended that the beating of unlawful duties was not cheating, since +it was purely a game of one individual outwitting another, one being an +arbitrary tyrant who was strongly suspected of pocketing the wagon tax +for his own uses. The only trouble with his philosophy was what it set +going, for having proved one evasion of tax to be honest it tended to go +farther and justify other evasions which fairly crossed the ethical +boundaries. One of these was the rumored prohibition of Mackinaw +blankets and the export tax on specie. This last would be something of a +hardship, for coin was the best and most easily carried of all mediums +of payment, and the Mexican government, in levying this tax, would tend +to force the traders to barter rather than sell their goods. If payment +were had in specie, the wagons could be disposed of at a fair profit and +mules used to pack it back to Missouri. When sewed tightly in rawhide +bags it became an unshifting mass by the shrinking of the leather under +the rays of the sun. Some of the traders took mules in exchange for +their goods which, if they could be safely delivered in the Missouri +settlements, would give an additional profit of no mean per centum; but +losses in mules were necessarily suffered on the long return trip, and +the driving, corralling, and guarding of a herd was a task to try the +patience of a saint and the ingenuity of the devil. The Indians would +take almost any kind of chances to stampede a herd of mules, and they +were adepts at the game. + +Uncle Joe had been over the trail, having gone out with that band of +Missourians who took the first wagons across from Franklin in 1824, and +he had kept in close touch with the New Mexican and Chihuahuan trade +ever since. He knew the tricks, and had invented some of his own, which +he guarded well. For the despotic Armijo he had a vast contempt, which +was universal among the great majority of the men who knew anything at +all about the cruel, conceited, and dishonest Governor of the +Department of New Mexico. The unfortunate Texan Santa Fe Expedition had +aroused bitter feelings among Americans and Texans against the Mexican, +many of them having had friends and relatives in that terrible winter +march of two thousand miles on foot from Santa Fe to the City of Mexico, +which followed so close upon the heart-breaking and disastrous northward +march from Texas to a vile betrayal and barbarous treatment. Anything +American or Texas plainsmen could do to hurt or discredit the inhuman +pomposity whose rise to power had been through black treachery and +coldly planned murder, would be done with enthusiastic zeal. + +At the close of the leisurely eaten meal they went on deck in time to +see the _John Auld_ round the next upstream bend and forge forward, soon +stopping, however, to drift past the slowed _Missouri Belle_ while their +pilots exchanged terse information about the channels and snags. The +_John Auld_ carried a small cargo of fur packs on her main deck and a +few free hunters and trappers on their way to St. Louis to dispose of +their goods and to outfit anew. By this time the fur of the pelts +slipped and the fur taking season was over, but there was always the +buffalo to lure them afield again. + +The evening was delightful and hopes ran high for an uninterrupted +voyage. Uncle Joe expressed the belief that the boat would run all night +in view of the favorable weather; Tom demurring on the grounds of the +rapidly falling river and the blackness of the nights. The boat curved +sharply to avoid a jutting bar and straightened out again. Prompted by +sight of some of the passengers who promenaded past them the talk swung +to the fur trade in general and to the end of it, which was rapidly +being brought nearer by the great tide of emigration setting in. +Discussions regarding the emigrants and the great Oregon Trail followed +as a matter of course and almost before they knew it it was time for +Patience to retire, and her companions soon followed her example, Uncle +Joe foregoing his usual night game. + +When morning broke they found that they had sailed nearly all the night, +and the boat kept on all day, stopping only at a few landings and to +take on wood, of which she burned an amazing quantity. Another night's +run brought them well up the river, but the following day found them +tied to a bank, because of adverse weather. In the afternoon, the wind +dying out, they were on the way again and another night's sail was +looked for. Patience retired earlier than usual and when Tom returned +from seeing her safely into her room he found Uncle Joe impatiently +waiting for him. + +"Come on, Tom," said the merchant. "I've still got a lot to learn about +gamblin' an' there ain't much time left to do it in. Let's go back an' +see if there's a game runnin'. I might as well let somebody else pay th' +expenses of this trip." + +Tom nodded and followed his companion into the cabin set apart for men +and sat down at a table with two trappers, from where he could watch the +game at close range, for he realized that the time for the gamblers to +get the merchant's money also was getting short. Under the conditions +almost anything might occur and he felt that he owed a debt to his +friend for the part he had played during the fight with Schoolcraft. + +Uncle Joe joined Stevens and a companion, who were idly playing and who +seemed to be impatiently and nervously waiting for his appearance; soon +a tense game was in progress. At a table in a corner from where the +players could be closely watched Ephriam Schoolcraft, his face still +badly bruised, was talking in sullen undertones to the little Mexican +and another companion, while hunters, traders, trappers, and men of +various other callings kept up a low hum of conversation throughout the +cabin. + +From one group came fragments of fur trade gossip: "Th' American Fur +Company's talkin' about abandonin' Fort Van Buren. Thar's been a lot o' +posts let go to grass th' last two years. Th' business ain't what it was +ten year ago." + +"On th' other hand," replied a companion, "Fox an' Livingston air goin' +fer to put up a post at th' mouth o' th' Little Bighorn, which evens up +fer Van Buren; an' Chardon's aimin' fer to put one up at th' mouth o' +th' Judith. Th' trade's all right, only th' American's got more buckin' +agin' it." + +"'Tain't what it onct was, though," said a third trader. "Thar's too +many posts an' private parties. Ye can't go nowhere hardly in th' Injun +country without comin' slap up ag'in a post o' some kind. Thar's Zack: +hey, Zack! Come over hyar!" + +Zack, a mountain hunter and a free one, swung over and joined the group. + +"Jest been palaverin' with some Canucks," he said. "Fur's I could git +th' hang o' thar parley-vouz thar goin' up ter help open Fort William, +at th' mouth o' th' Yallerstun, fer Fox an' Livingston. They sez Pratte +an' Cabanne had took over Fort Platte, up nigh th' Laramie. How fur ye +goin' on this packet, Smith?" + +"Bellevue," answered Smith. "I'm headin' up th' Platte a-ways, if th' +danged Pawnees let me git past. Pardner's waitin' near th' mouth with a +bullboat. Reckon we kin count on enough water, this time o' year, fer +ter float _that_; 'though I shore ain't bettin' on it," he chuckled. + +Zack laughed. "Th' Platte shore comes close ter bein' all shadder an' no +substance. Dangest stream _I_ ever seen, an' I've seen a-plenty." + +"Don't think a hull lot o' that country, nohow," said a third. "Them +Pawnees air th' worst thieves an' murderers this side o' th' Comanchees. +They kin steal yer shirt without techin' yer coat, danged if they can't. +Blast 'em, I _know_ 'em!" + +Zack laughed shortly. "They ain't no-whar with th' Crows when it comes +ter stealin'," he averred. + +Smith chuckled again. "Yer right, Zack. He's pizen set ag'in 'em ever +sence they stole his packs an' everythin' that wasn't a-hangin' ter him. +'Twarn't much o' a walk he had, though, only a couple hundred miles." + +"Ye kin bet I'm pizen ag'in 'em sence then," retorted the Pawnee-hater +vehemently. "If I tuk scalps I could show ye somethin'. They've paid a +lot fer what they stole that time." + +From another group came the mention of a name which took Tom's instant +attention. + +"I hears Ol' Jim Bridger's quit tradin' in furs as a reg'lar thing," +said the voice. "They say he's gone in fer tinkerin' an' outfittin' up +nigh Teton Pass. Got a fust rate post too, they say." + +"Tinkerin' what?" demanded a listener. "What kin he outfit 'way up +thar?" + +"Emigrants!" snorted the first speaker. "Figgers on sellin' 'em supplies +an' sich, an' repairin' fer 'em at his smithy. I shore reckon they'll +need him a hull lot more'n he'll need them. That's a long haul fer +wagons, tenderfeet's 'spacially--Independence ter th' Divide--'though it +ain't what it was when Hunt an' Crooks went out thirty year ago." + +"No, 'tain't," replied a third man. "An' it's a lucky thing fer th' +tenderfeet that Nat Wyeth went an' built Fort Hall whar he did, even if +'twas fer th' Hudson Bay. I'm tellin' ye these hyar emigrants would be +stayin' ter home from Oregon an' Californy if 'twarn't fer what us +trappers has did fer th' country. Thar ain't nary a trail that we didn't +locate fer 'em." + +The first man nodded. "Not mentionin' th' Injuns afore us, we found thar +roads, passes, an' drinkin' water fer 'em; an' now thar flockin' in ter +spile our business. One thing, though, thar goin' straight acrost, most +on 'em. It could be a hull lot worse." + +While Tom's ears caught bits of the conversation roundabout his eyes +paid attention to the gambling table and on two occasions he half arose +from his chair to object profanely to the way Stevens played; but each +time he was not quite sure. On the third occasion one of the trappers +glanced at him, smiled grimly, and nodded at the hard-pressed gambler. + +"Th' fur trade ain't th' only skin game, young feller," he softly said. +"Ol' man a friend o' yourn?" + +Tom nodded and watched more closely, and a moment later he stiffened +again. + +"Why, h--l!" growled the trapper, sympathizing with one of his own +calling. "Go fur him, young feller, an' chuck him inter th' river! I'll +hold off his pardner fer ye!" + +An older trapper sauntered over and seated himself at Tom's side. "Been +watchin' them fer quite a spell," he said in a low voice. "Ain't that +ol' feller St Louis Joe?" + +Tom shrugged his shoulders, and saw a great light. Who hadn't heard of +St. Louis Joe? His new friend's love of gambling, and his success +against Stevens and his crowd would be accounted for if the trapper was +right. He glanced at the speaker and replied: "Don't know. I never saw +him till I crossed th' levee at St. Louis jest afore we sailed." + +"Looks a heap like him, anyhow," muttered the newcomer. "Fair an' squar, +_he_ war. I seen him play when I war goin' down to N'Orleans, ten year +ago. Never fergit a face, an' I shore remember _his_, fer he war playin' +that time fer 'most all th' money in th' Mississippi Valley, I reckon. +Consarn it, I _know_ it's him! Fer ol' times' sake, if he gits inter +trouble with that skunk, I'm with him ter th' hilt." He started to leave +the table, thought better of it and slid forward to the edge of his +chair. "He's bein' cheated blind. I saw that skunk palm a card!" + +Tom nodded, his hand resting on his belt, but he did not take his eyes +from the game. He suspected that Uncle Joe was pretty well informed +about what was going on and would object when it suited him. + +The first trapper leaned over the table and whispered to his friend. +"This young feller is watchin' the cheat, an' I'm watchin' th' pardner. +You might keep an eye on that Independence hoss-thief over thar--that +feller with th' raw meat face, that _this_ youngster gave him. From th' +way he's lookin' thar ain't no tellin' how this hyar party is goin' ter +bust up." + +The second plainsman nodded and after a moment dropped his pipe on the +floor. He shifted in his chair as he reached down for it and when he sat +up again he was in a little different position, and not a thing at +Schoolcraft's table escaped his eyes. + +"I'll take th' greaser 'longside him," muttered the third plainsman. +"W'ich is a plain duty an' a pleasure. Bet ye a plew I nail him atween +his eyes, fust crack, if he gits hostile." + +Suddenly there came a loud smack as Uncle Joe's left hand smashed down +on the cards in Stevens' hand, holding them against the table while his +right hand flashed under the partly buttoned edge of his long frock +coat. It hung there, struggling with something in the inside pocket. +Stevens had jerked his own hand loose, relinquishing the cards, and with +the sharp motion a small, compact percussion pistol slid out of his +sleeve and into his grasp as his hand stopped. He was continuing the +motion, swinging the weapon up and forward when Tom, leaning suddenly +forward in his chair, sent his heavy skinning knife flashing through the +air. The first trapper had thrown a pistol down on the gambler's +partner, the second stopped Ephriam Schoolcraft's attempted draw against +Tom, and the third plainsman was peering eagerly along the barrel of his +pistol at a spot between the Mexican's eyes. Had it been a well +rehearsed act things could not have happened quicker or smoother. + +Not five other persons in the cabin had any intimation of what was +coming until Tom's knife, flying butt first through the air, knocked +the pistol from Stevens' hand. The weapon struck the floor and exploded, +the bullet passing through a cabin window. As the knife left his hand +the thrower had leaped after it and he grabbed the desperate gambler in +a grip against which it was useless to struggle. Uncle Joe, loosening +his hold on the pocket pistol tangled in the lining of his coat, leaped +around the table and quickly passed his hands over the clothing of the +prisoner. + +"What's th' trouble here?" demanded the quick, authoritative voice of +the captain as he ran in from the deck. "Who fired that shot, an' why?" + +He soon was made familiar with the whole affair and stepped to the +table, picked up the cards and spread them for everyone to see. Asking a +few questions of disinterested eye-witnesses, he looked about the cabin +and spoke. + +"I've nothing to say about gambling on this boat as long as gentlemen +play," he said sharply. "When the play is crooked, _I_ take a hand. I +can't overlook this." He motioned to the group of boat hands crowding +about the door and they took hold of Stevens and his partner. "Take +these men and get their effects, and then put them ashore in the yawl. +I'll have provisions put aboard while you're gone. Stevens, due south +not many miles is the St. Louis-Independence wagon road. It is heavily +traveled this time of the year. You can't miss it. Besides that there +are numerous cabins scattered about the bottoms, and not far upstream is +a settlement. Take 'em away." Glancing over the cabin again and letting +his eyes rest for a moment on Ephriam Schoolcraft, he wheeled and +started for the door, but paused as he reached it. "If there's any +further trouble I'll be on the hurricane deck, for'rd. We're going to +run all night if we can. I don't want any more disturbance on this +packet." + +As the captain left, Uncle Joe thanked Tom and the trappers and joined +them at their table, providing the refreshment most liked by the +plainsmen, and the reminiscences became so interesting that the little +group scarcely noticed Tom arise and leave it. He was too restless to +stay indoors and soon found a place to his liking on the deck below, +near the bow, where he paced to and fro in the darkness, wrestling with +a tumult of hopes and fears. Reaching one end of his beat, he wheeled +and started back again, and as he passed the cabin door he suddenly +stopped and peered at the figure framed in the opening, and tore off his +hat, too surprised to speak. + +"Mr. Boyd?" came a soft, inquiring, and anxious voice. + +"Yes, Miss Cooper; but I thought you were fast asleep long ago!" + +"I was," she replied; "but something that sounded like a shot awakened +me, and thinking that it seemed to come from the card tables, I became +fearful and dressed as hurriedly as I could in the dark. Is--is Uncle +Joe--all right?" + +"In good health, good company, and in the best of spirits," replied Tom, +smiling at how the last word might be interpreted. "I left him only a +moment ago, swapping tales with some trappers." + +"But the shot. Surely it _was_ a shot that awakened me?" + +Tom chuckled. "Sleeve pistol fell to the floor and went off +accidentally," he explained. "Luckily no one was hurt, for the ball +passed out of a window and went over the river. Are you warm enough? +This wind is cutting." At her assent he took a step forward. "I'll see +you to your room if you wish." + +"I'm too wide awake now to sleep for awhile," she replied, joining him. +"Didn't the boat stop?" + +"Yes; two passengers went ashore in the yawl," he answered. "These +packets are certainly accommodating and deserve patronage. Why, Miss +Cooper, you're shivering! Are you sure you are warm enough?" + +"Yes," she answered. "Something is bothering me. I don't know what it +is. I wish we were at Independence though. Day and night this river +fascinates me and almost frightens me. It is so swift, so treacherous, +so changeful. It reminds me of some great cat, slipping through a +jungle; and I can't throw the feeling off. If you don't mind, I'll join +you in your sentry-go, you seem to give me the assurance I lack; but +perhaps I'll interfere with your thoughts?" + +"Hardly that," he laughed, thrilling as she took his arm for safety +against stumbles in the dark. "You stimulate them, instead. I really was +pacing off a fit of restlessness; but it's gone now. Look here; I wonder +if you fully realize the certain hardships and probable dangers of the +overland journey you are about to make?" + +"Perfectly, Mr. Boyd," she answered, quietly. "You'll find me a +different person on land. I underestimate nothing, but hope for the +best. From little things I've picked up here and there I really believe +that the dangers of the trail will be incidental when compared with +those at the other end--at Santa Fe. I have reason to believe that +father has had a great deal of trouble, along with other Americans, with +Governor Armijo. Why is it that American citizens are insulted with +impunity by Mexican officials? I understand that an Englishman may +safely travel from one end of Mexico to the other, secure from +annoyance, unless it be at the hands of Indians over whom the government +exercises but little control." + +"It's a universal complaint along the frontier," he replied. "It seems +to be the policy of this country to avoid hurting the sensibilities of +any vicious officialdom or ignorant populace. We seem to prefer to have +our citizens harassed, insulted, and denied justice, rather than assert +unequivocally that the flag goes in spirit with every one of us so long +as we obey the laws of any country we are in. If it were not for the +banding together of the American traders and merchants in Santa Fe, it +would be very hazardous for an American to remain there. Armijo has had +a few clashes with our people and is beginning to have a little respect +for their determination and ability to defend their rights. Since the +sufferings of the Texans have become known, there are any number of +Americans in frontier garb who would cheerfully choke him to death. It +would be a godsend to the New Mexican people if----" + +There came a terrific crash, the boat stopped suddenly and the deck +arose under their feet as a huge log smashed up through it. They were +torn apart and thrown down, and as Tom scrambled to his feet, calling +his companion's name, he felt a great relief surge through him as he +heard her answer. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE WRECKING OF THE MISSOURI BELLE + + +Tom grasped his companion's arm and hurried her toward the place where +the yawl was tied as shouts, curses, tearing wood and a panic-stricken +crowd of passengers pouring out of the cabins and rooms turned the night +into a pandemonium, over which the hysterical blasts of the whistle +bellowed its raucous calls for help far and wide across water and land. +There came a rush of feet and several groups of passengers dashed toward +the yawl, but stopped abruptly and hesitated as the Colt in Tom's hand +glinted coldly in the soft light of a cabin window. + +"Women first!" he snarled, savage as an animal at bay. "I'll kill th' +first man that comes any closer! Get those bullboats overside, an' +somebody round up th' other women an' bring 'em here! Keep cool, an' +everybody'll be saved--lose yore heads an' we'll all die, _some_ +quicker'n others! Not another step forward!" + +"Right ye air, friend," said a voice, and Zack, pistol in hand, dropped +from the deck above and alighted at Tom's side like a fighting bobcat. +"Put over them bullboats--an' be shore ye get hold o' th' ropes when ye +do. _Lady!_" he shouted, catching sight of an emigrant and his wife. +"Come hyar! An' you," he commanded her husband, "stan' by us--shoot ter +kill if ye pulls trigger. Fine bunch o' cattle!" he sneered, and the +rapidly growing crowd, finding that the guns facing them did not waver, +turned and stampeded for the bullboats, every man of it bellowing orders +and getting in the way of everyone else. There came a splash, a chorus +of curses as a bullboat, thrown overboard upside down, slipped away in +the darkness. + +"Right side up, ye tarnation fools!" roared a voice, accompanied by a +solid smash as a hunter near the boats knocked down a frantic freighter +and took charge of the mob. "I'm fixin' fer to kill somebody!" he +yelled. "Hang onter that rope or I'll spatter yer brains all over +creation! Right side up, damn ye! Hold her! Thar! Now then, put over +another--if ye git in that boat till I says so ye won't have no need fer +it!" + +Friends coming to his aid helped him hold the milling mob, and their +coolness and determination, tried in many ticklish situations, stood +them in good stead. + +"Ask th' captain how bad she is!" shouted Tom as he caught sight of Joe +Cooper tearing through the crowd like a madman. "I got Patience an' +another woman here!" + +"I might 'a' known it," yelled Uncle Joe, fighting back the way he had +come. In a moment he returned and shouted until the frantic crowd gave +him heed. "Cap'n says she can't sink! Cap'n says she can't sink! Listen, +damn ye! Cap'n says she can't sink. He's groundin' her on a bar! Keep +'em out of them boats, boys! _Don't_ let them fools get in th' boats! +Not till th' very last thing! They'll only swamp 'em." + +"Good fer you, St. Louis!" roared a mountaineer, playing with a skinning +knife in most suggestive manner. + +"Th' boilers'll blow up! Th' boilers'll blow up! Look out for th' +boilers!" yelled a tenderfoot, fighting to get to the boats. "They'll +blow up! They'll blow----" + +Zack took one swift step sideways and brought the butt of his pistol +down on the jumping jack's head. "Let 'em blow, sister!" he shouted. +"_You_ won't hear 'em! Any more scared o' th' boilers?" he yelled, +facing the crowd menacingly. "They won't blow up till th' water gits to +'em, an' when it does we'll all be knee-deep in it. Thar on this hyar +deck, ye sheep!" + +One man was running around in a circle not five feet across, moaning and +blubbering. Tom glanced at him as he came around and stepped quickly +forward, his foot streaking out and up. It caught the human pinwheel on +the chest and he turned a beautiful back flip into the crowd. Zack's +booming laugh roared out over the water and he slapped Tom resoundingly +on the shoulder. + +"More fun right hyar than in a free-fer-all at a winter rendyvoo, +pardner. You kick wuss nor a mule. An' whar _you_ goin'?" he asked a +tin-horn gambler who took advantage of his lapse of alertness to dart +past him. Zack swung his stiff arm and the gambler bounced back as +though he had been struck with a club. "Thar's plenty o' it hyar if yer +lookin' fer it," he shouted, raising his pistol. + +Uncle Joe clawed his way back again, Tom's double-barreled rifle in his +hands, and grimly took his place at his friend's side. Suddenly he +cocked his head and then heard Tom's voice bellow past his ear. + +"Listen, you fools! Th' fur boat! Th' fur boat!" he yelled at the top of +his lungs. His companions and the other little group of resolute men +took up the cry, and as the furor of the crowd died down, the answering +blasts rolled up the river. Suddenly a light, and then an orderly series +of them pushed out from behind the last bend downstream, and showers of +sparks from the belching stacks of the oncoming fur company boat danced +and whirled high into the night, the splashing tattoo of her churning +paddles sounding like music between the reassuring blasts of her +whistle. The two stokers hanging from the levers of her safety valves +kicked their feet in time with her whistle, not knowing which kick would +usher them on an upward journey ending at St. Peter's eager gate. Their +skins were as black as the rods they swung from, but their souls were as +white as their rolling eyes. + +"Thank God!" screamed a woman who was fighting her way through the crowd +toward Tom's post, her clothing nearly torn from her; and at the words +she sagged to the deck, inert, unresisting. Tom leaped forward and +hauled her back with him, passed her on to Patience and resumed his grim +guard. + +A great shout, still tinged with horror and edged with fear, arose from +the decks of the _Belle_ and thundered across the river, the answering +roar chopped up by the insistent whistle. Several red, stringy, +rapier-like flashes pierced the night and the heavy reports barked +across the hurrying water, to be juggled by a great cliff on the north +bank. + +Captain Newell had been busy. Learning that cool minds were dominating +the panicky crowd, and that the bullboats were being properly launched +and were ready for use if the worst came, he gave his undivided +attention to the saving of the _Belle_. Her paddle still thrashed, but +at a speed just great enough to overcome the current and to hold the +snag in the wound it had made. Experience told him that once she drew +back from that slimy assassin blade and fully opened the rent in her +hull her sinking would follow swiftly. Already men had sounded the river +on both sides and reported a steep slant to the bottom, twenty feet of +water on the port side and fifteen on the starboard. One of the spare +yawls, manned by two officers and a deck hand, shot away from the boat +and made hurried soundings to starboard, the called depths bringing a +look of hope to the captain's face. Forty yards to the right lay a +nearly flat bar; but could he make that forty yards? There remained no +choice but to try, for while the _Missouri Belle_, if she sank in her +present position, would not be entirely submerged, she would be even +less so every foot she made toward the shallows. + +Part of the crew already had weighted one edge of a buffalo hide and +stood in the bow, directly over the snag, which luckily had pierced the +hull more above than below the water line. The captain signalled and the +great paddle wheel turned swiftly full speed astern. The grating, +splitting sound of the snag leaving the hull was followed by a shouted +order and the hide was lowered overside and instantly sucked against the +rent; and the paddle wheel, quickly reversing, pushed the boat ahead at +an angle to the current until, low in the water, she grounded solidly on +the edge of the flat bar. Anchors were set and cables made taut while +the _Belle_ settled firmly on the sandy bottom and rested almost on an +even keel. There she would stay if the river continued to fall, until +the rent was fully exposed and repaired; and there she would stay, +repaired, until another rise floated her. The captain signalled for the +paddles to stop and then drew a heavy arm across his forehead, sighed, +and turned to face the fur company packet. + +The passengers were becoming calm by stages, but the calm was largely +the reaction of hysteria for a few moments until common sense walled up +the breach. Every eye now watched the oncoming steamboat, which had +sailed doggedly ahead for the past two nights and days while the _Belle_ +had loitered against the banks. Even the most timid were now calmed by +the sight of her lighted cabins as she ploughed toward her stricken +sister. Fearful of the snag, she came to a stop when nearly abreast of +the _Belle_ and the two captains held a short and shouted conversation. +Her yawl soon returned and reported the water safe, but shoaling +rapidly; and at this information she turned slightly oblique to the +current and, sounding every few feet, crept up to within two gangplanks' +reach of the _Belle_ and anchored bow and stern. Her own great landing +stage swung out over the cheated waters and hung poised while that of +the _Belle_ circled out to meet it, waveringly, as though it had lost a +valuable sense. They soon touched, were made to coincide and then lashed +securely together. At once, women first, the passengers of the _Belle_ +began to cross the arched span a few at a time, and sighed with relief +as they reached the deck of the uninjured vessel. On the main deck of +the _Belle_ the crew already was piling up such freight as could be +taken from the hold and the sound of hammering at her bow told of +temporary repairs being made. + +Among the last to leave the _Belle_ were Uncle Joe and Tom and as they +started toward the gangplank, Captain Newell hurriedly passed them, +stopped, retraced his steps, and gripped their hands tightly as he +wished them a safe arrival at Independence. Then he plunged out of +sight toward the engine room. + +The transfer completed, the fur company boat cast free, raised her +anchors, and sidled cautiously back into the channel. Blowing a hoarse +salute, she straightened out into the current and surged ahead, +apparently in no way daunted by the fate of her sister. Captain Graves +had commanded a heavily loaded boat when he left St. Louis and the +addition of over a hundred passengers and their personal belongings, for +whom some sort of provision must be made in sleeping arrangements and +food, urged him to get to Independence Landing as quickly as he could. +Turning from his supervision of the housing of the gangplank, he bumped +into Uncle Joe, was about to apologize, and then peered into the face of +his new passenger. The few lights which had been placed on deck to help +in the transfer of the passengers, enabled him to recognize the next to +the last man across the plank and his greeting was sharp and friendly. + +"Joe Cooper, or I'm blind!" he exclaimed. "Alone, Joe?" + +"Got my niece with me, and my friend, Tom Boyd, here." + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Boyd--seems to me I've heard something about a +Tom Boyd fouling the official craft of the Government of New Mexico," +said the captain, shaking hands with the young plainsman. "We'll do our +best for you-all the rest of the night, and we'll put Miss Cooper in my +cabin. We ought to reach Independence early in the morning. I suppose +that's your destination? Take you on to Westport just as easily." + +"Independence is where I started for," said Uncle Joe. + +"Then we'll put you ashore there, no matter what the condition of the +landing is. It's easier to land passengers than cargo. But let me tell +you that if you are aiming to go in business there, that Westport is the +coming town since the river ruined the lower landing. Let's see if the +cook's got any hot coffee ready, and a bite to eat: he's had time +enough, anyhow. Come on. First we'll find Miss Cooper and the other +women. I had them all taken to one place. Come on." + +Shortly after dawn Tom awakened, rose on one elbow on the blanket he had +thrown on the deck and looked around. Uncle Joe snored softly and +rhythmically on his hard bed, having refused to rob any man of his +berth. He had accepted one concession, however, by throwing his blanket +on the floor of the texas, where he not only would be close to his +niece, but removed from the other men of the _Belle_, many of whom were +not at all reassuring in the matter of personal cleanliness. Arising, +Tom went to a window and looked out, seeing a clear sky and green, +rolling hills and patches of timber bathed in the slanting sunlight. A +close scrutiny of the bank apprised him that they were not far from +Independence Landing and he stepped to the rail to look up the river. +Far upstream on a sharp bend on the south bank were the remains of Old +Fort Clark, as it was often called. About twenty miles farther on the +same side of the river was his destination. He turned to call Uncle Joe +and met the captain at the door of the texas; and he thought he caught a +glimpse of a head bobbing back behind the corner of the cabin. As he +hesitated as to whether to go and verify his eyes, the captain accosted +him, and he stood where he was. + +"Fine day, Mr. Boyd," said the officer. "Sleep well on the soft side of +the deck?" + +Tom laughed. "I can sleep well any place, captain. If I could have +scooped out a hollow for my hips I wouldn't feel quite so stiff." + +"Let me know as soon as Miss Cooper appears and I'll have some breakfast +sent up to her. If you'd like a bite now, come with me." + +"Thank you; you are very considerate. I'll call Uncle Joe and bring him +with me." + +"You will, hey?" said a voice from the texas. "Uncle Joe is ready right +now, barring the aches of his old bones; and I've just been interrupted +by Patience. She says she can chew chunks out of the cups, she's so +hungry. What's that? You didn't? All right; all right; I'm backing up +again! Have it your own way; you will, anyhow, in the end." + +"You stay right where you are, Miss Cooper," called the captain. "I'll +send up breakfast enough for six, and if you keep an eye on this pair +perhaps you can get a bit of it. And let me tell you that it's lucky +that you're real hungry, for the fare on this boat is even worse than it +was on the _Belle_. I'll go right down and look to it." + +Breakfast over, the three went out to explore the boat, Patience taking +interest in its human cargo, especially its original passengers, and she +had a good chance to observe them during the absence of the rescued +passengers of the _Belle_, to whom had been given the courtesy of the +first use of the dining-room. + +Almost all of the original list on this boat were connected in some way +with the fur trade, the exceptions being a few travelers bound for the +upper Missouri, and two noncommissioned officers going out to Fort +Leavenworth, who had missed the _Belle_ at St Louis, missed her again at +St. Charles, and had been taken aboard by Captain Graves, who would have +to stop at the Fort for inspection. + +The others covered all the human phases of the fur business and included +one _bourgeois_, or factor; two partisans, or heads of expeditions; +several clerks, numerous hunters and trappers, both free and under +contract to the company; half a dozen "pork-eaters," who were green +hands engaged for long periods of service by the company and bound to it +almost as tightly and securely as though they were slaves. Some of them +found this to be true, when they tried to desert, later on. They were +called "pork-eaters" because the term now meant about the same as the +word "tenderfeet," and its use came from the habit of the company to +import green hands from Canada under contracts which not only made them +slaves for five years, but almost always left them in the company's debt +at the expiration of their term of service. On the way from Canada they +had been fed on a simple and monotonous diet, its chief article being +pork; and gradually the expression came to be used among the more +experienced voyageurs to express the abstract idea of greenness. There +were camp-keepers, voyageurs, a crew of keelboatmen going up to the +"navy yard" above Fort Union and two skilled boat-builders bound for the +same place; artisans, and several Indians returning either to one of the +posts or to their own country. They made a picturesque assemblage, and +their language, being Indian, English, and French, or rather, +combinations of all three, was not less so than their appearance. Over +them all the bully of the boat, who had reached his semi-official +position through elimination by consent and by combat, exercised a more +or less orderly supervision as to their bickerings and general behavior, +and relieved the boat's officers of much responsibility. + +The boat stopped a few minutes at Liberty Landing and then went on, +rounding the nearly circular bend, and as the last turn was made and the +steamboat headed westward again there was a pause in the flurry which +had been going on among the rescued passengers ever since Liberty +Landing had been left. Independence Landing was now close at hand and +the eager crowd marked time until the bank should be reached. + +Soon the boat headed in toward what was left of the once fine landing, +its slowly growing ruin being responsible for the rising importance of +the little hamlet of Westport not far above, and for the later and +pretentious Kansas City which was to arise on the bluff behind the +little frontier village. Independence was losing its importance as a +starting point for the overland traffic in the same way that she had +gained it. First it had been Franklin, then Fort Osage, then Blue Mills, +and then Independence; but now, despite its commanding position on one +of the highest bluffs along the river and its prestige from being the +county seat, the latter was slowly settling in the background and giving +way to Westport; but it was not to give up at once, nor entirely, for +the newer terminals had to share their prominence with it, and until the +end of the overland traffic Independence played its part. + +The landing was a busy place. Piles of cordwood and freight, the latter +in boxes, barrels, and crates, flanked the landing on three sides; +several kinds of new wagons in various stages of assembling were scenes +of great activity. Most of these were from Pittsburg and had come all +the way by water. A few were of the size first used on the great trail, +with a capacity of about a ton and a half; but most were much larger and +could carry nearly twice as much as the others. Great bales of Osnaburg +sheets, or wagon covers, were in a pile by themselves, glistening white +in their newness. It appeared that the cargo of the _John Auld_ had not +yet been transported up the bluff to the village on the summit. + +The landing became very much alive as the fur company's boat swung in +toward it, the workers who hourly expected the _Missouri Belle_ crowding +to the water's edge to welcome the rounding boat, whose whistle early +had apprised them that she was stopping. Free negroes romped and sang, +awaiting their hurried tasks under exacting masters, the bosses of the +gangs; but this time there was to be no work for them. Vehicles of all +kinds, drawn by oxen, mules, and horses, made a solid phalanx around the +freight piles, among them the wagons of Aull and Company, general +outfitters for all kinds of overland journeys. The narrow, winding road +from the water front up to and onto the great bluff well back from the +river was sticky with mud and lined with struggling teams pulling heavy +loads. + +When the fur company boat drew near enough for those on shore to see its +unusual human cargo, both as to numbers and kinds, conjecture ran high. +This hardy traveler of the whole navigable river was no common packet, +stopping almost any place to pick up any person who waved a hat, but a +supercilious thoroughbred which forged doggedly into the vast wilderness +of the upper river. Even her curving swing in toward the bank was made +with a swagger and hinted at contempt for any landing under a thousand +miles from her starting point. + +Shouts rang across the water and were followed by great excitement on +the bank. Because of the poor condition of the landing she worked her +way inshore with unusual care and when the great gangplank finally +bridged the gap her captain nodded with relief. In a few moments, her +extra passengers ashore, she backed out into the hurrying stream and +with a final blast of her whistle, pushed on up the river. + +Friends met friends, strangers advised strangers, and the accident to +the _Belle_ was discussed with great gusto. Impatiently pushing out of +the vociferous crowd, Joe Cooper and his two companions swiftly found a +Dearborn carriage which awaited them and, leaving their baggage to +follow in the wagon of a friend, started along the deeply rutted, +prairie road for the town; Schoolcraft, his partner, and his Mexican +friend sloping along behind them on saddle horses through the lane of +mud. The trip across the bottoms and up the great bluff was wearisome +and tiring. They no sooner lurched out of one rut than they dropped into +another, with the mud and water often to the axles, and they continually +were forced to climb out of the depressed road and risk upsettings on +the steep, muddy banks to pass great wagons hopelessly mired, +notwithstanding their teams of from six to a dozen mules or oxen. +Mud-covered drivers shouted and swore from their narrow seats, or waded +about their wagons up to the middle in the cold ooze. If there was +anything worse than a prairie road in the spring, these wagoners had yet +to learn of it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE NEW SIX-GUN + + +Independence was alive all over, humming with business, its muddy +streets filled with all kinds of vehicles drawn by various kinds and +numbers of animals. Here a three-yoke ox team pulled stolidly, there a +four-mule team balked on a turn, and around them skittish or dispirited +horses carried riders or drew high-seated carriages. The motley crowd on +foot picked its way as best it could. Indians in savage garb passed +Indians in civilization's clothes, or mixtures of both; gamblers rubbed +elbows with emigrants and made overtures to buckskin-covered trappers +and hunters just in from the prairies and mountains, many of whom were +going up to Westport, their main rendezvous. Traders came into and went +from Aull and Company's big store, wherein was everything the frontier +needed. Behind it were corrals filled with draft animals and sheds full +of carts and wagons. + +Boisterous traders and trappers, in all stages of drunkenness, who +thought nothing of spending their season's profits in a single week if +the mood struck them, were still coming in from the western foothills, +valleys, and mountains, their loud conversations replete with rough +phrases and such names as the South Park, Bent's Fort, The Pueblo, Fort +Laramie, Bayou Salade, Brown's Hole, and others. Many of them so much +resembled Indians as to leave a careless observer in doubt. Some were +driving mules almost buried under their two packs, each pack weighing +about one hundred pounds and containing eighty-odd beaver skins, +sixty-odd otter pelts or the equivalent number in other skins. Usually +they arrived in small parties, but here and there was a solitary +trapper. The skins would be sold to the outfitting merchants and would +establish a credit on which the trapper could draw until time to outfit +and go off on the fall hunt. Had he sold them to some far, outlying post +he would have received considerably less for them and have paid from two +hundred to six hundred per cent more for the articles he bought. As long +as there was nothing for him to do in his line until fall set in, he +might just as well spend some of the time on the long march to the +frontier, risking the loss of his goods, animals, and perhaps his life +in order to get better prices and enjoy a change of scene. + +The county seat looked good to him after his long stay in the solitudes. +Pack and wagon trains were coming and going, some of the wagons drawn by +as many as a dozen or fifteen yokes of oxen. All was noise, confusion, +life at high pressure, and made a fit surrounding for his coming +carousal; and here was all the liquor he could hope to drink, of better +quality and at better prices, guarantees of which, in the persons of +numerous passers-by, he saw on many sides. + +Rumors of all kinds were afloat, most of them concerning hostile Indians +lying in wait at certain known danger spots along the trails, and of the +hostile acts of the Mormons; but the Mormons were behind and the trail +was ahead, and the rumors of its dangers easily took precedence. It was +reported that the first caravan, already on the trail and pressing hard +on the heels of spring, was being escorted by a force of two hundred +United States dragoons, the third time in the history of the Santa Fe +trade that a United States military escort had been provided. Dangers +were magnified, dangers were scorned, dangers were courted, depending +upon the nature of the men relating them. There were many noisy +fire-eaters who took their innings now, in the security of the town, who +would become as wordless, later on, as some of the tight-lipped and +taciturn frontiersmen were now. Greenhorns from the far-distant East +were proving their greenness by buying all kinds of useless articles, +which later they would throw away one by one, and were armed in a manner +befitting buccaneers of the Spanish Main. To them, easiest of all, were +old and heavy oxen sold, animals certain to grow footsore and useless by +the time they had covered a few hundred miles. They bought anything and +everything that any wag suggested, and there were plenty of wags on +hand. The less they knew the more they talked; and experienced caravan +travelers shook their heads at sight of them, recognizing in them the +most prolific and hardest working trouble-makers in the whole, long +wagon train. Here and there an invalid was seen, hoping that the long +trip in the open would restore health, and in many cases the hopes +became realizations. + +Joseph Cooper installed his niece in the best hotel the town afforded +and went off to see about his wagons and goods, while Tom Boyd hurried +to a trapper's retreat to find his partner and his friends. The retreat +was crowded with frontiersmen and traders, among whom he recognized +many acquaintances. He no sooner had entered the place than he was +soundly slapped on the shoulder and turned to exchange grins with his +best friend, Hank Marshall, who forthwith led him to a corner where a +small group was seated around a table, and where he found Jim Ogden and +Zeb Houghton, two trapper friends of his who were going out to Bent's +trading post on the Arkansas; Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, two +veteran traders, and several others who would be identified with the +next caravan to leave. + +"Thar's one of them danged contraptions, now!" exclaimed Birdsall, +pointing to the holster swinging from Tom's broad belt. "I don't think +much o' these hyar newfangled weapons we're seein' more an' more every +year. An' cussed if he ain't got a double-bar'l rifle, too! Dang it, +Tom, don't put all yer aigs in one basket; ain't ye keepin' no weapons +ye kin be shore on?" + +"Thar both good, Enoch," replied Tom, smiling broadly. + +"Shore they air," grunted Birdsall's partner. "Enoch don't reckon +nothin's no good less'n it war foaled in th' Revolutionary War, an' has +got whiskers like a Mormon bishop. Fust he war dead sot ag'in +steamboats; said they war flyin' in th' face o' Providence an' wouldn't +work, nohow. Then he said it war plumb foolish ter try ter take waggins +inter Santer Fe. Next he war dead sot ag'in mules fer anythin' but +packin'. Now he's cold ter caps an' says flints war made 'special by th' +Lord fer ter strike fire with--_but_, he rides on th' steamboats when he +gits th' chanct; he's taken waggins clean ter Chihuahua, drivin' mules +ter 'em; an' he's sorter hankerin' fer ter use caps, though he won't +admit it open. Let him alone an' watch him try ter borrer yer new +pistol when th' Injuns try ter stampede th' animals. He's a danged old +fool in his talk, but you jest keep an eye on him. Thar, I've said my +say." + +"An' a danged long say it war!" snorted Enoch, belligerently. "It stands +ter reason that thar pistol can't shoot 'em out o' one bar'l plumb down +the dead center of another _every_ time! An' suppose ye want ter use a +double charge o' powder, whar ye goin' ter put it in them danged little +holes? Suppose yer caps hang fire--what then, I want ter know?" + +"S'posin' th' wind blows th' primin' out o' yer pan?" queried Zeb. +"S'posin' ye lose your flint? S'posin' yer powder ain't no good? +S'posin' ye ram down th' ball fust, like ye did that time them Crows +tried ter lift our cache. Fine mess ye nigh made o' that! Onct ye start +thar ain't no end o' s'posin', nohow. Caps is all right, _I_ use 'em!" + +"_He_ uses 'em!" chuckled Enoch. "Ain't that a sensible answer? Caps is +all right, if _he_ uses 'em! Danged if he don't make me laugh: but he's +a good ol' beaver, at that, Zeb is. As fur rammin' down th' ball fust, +that time; he never told ye about how he swallered a hull mouthful o' +balls when Singin' Fox sent a arrer through his cap, did he?" + +Zeb looked a little self-conscious. "Beaver's shore gittin' scarce," he +said. + +"Thar's a passel o' Oregoners rendyvouin' out ter Round Grove," said +Hank. "If we're goin' with 'em we better jine 'em purty quick." + +Tom shook his head. "I'm aimin' fer th' Arkansas this trip. Goin' ter +try it onct more." + +Hank's jaw dropped. "Thar!" he snorted. "Kin ye beat that?" + +"Glad ter hear it," said Jim Ogden. "We'll be with ye fur's th' +Crossin'; but ain't ye gamblin', Tom?" + +"Armijo shore will run up th' flags an' order out his barefoot army," +said Hank, grimly, "if he larns o' it. An' he'll mebby need th' army, +too." + +"He'll larn o' it," declared Birdsall. "Thar's a passel o' greasers +goin' over th' trail with us--an' shore as shootin' some o' 'em will go +ahead with th' news arter we reach th' Cimarron. Don't be a danged fool, +Tom; you better go 'long th' Platte with th' emigrants." + +"Can't do it," replied Tom. "I've give my word an' I'm goin' through ter +Santa Fe. Armijo'll larn o' it, all right. I've seen signs o' that +already. Some greaser fanned a knife at me on th' boat; but I couldn't +larn nothin' more about it." + +"Dang my hide if I ain't got a good notion ter let ye go alone!" snorted +Hank, whereat a roar of laughter arose. It seemed that he was very well +known. + +"I'll see how things bust," said Ogden. "I war aimin' fer Bent's, but +thar ain't no use o' gittin' thar much afore fall." He thought a moment, +and then slammed his hand on the table. "I'm goin' with ye, Tom!" + +"Talkin' like a blind fool!" growled Zeb Houghton, his inseparable +companion. "I'm startin' fer th' fort, an' I'm goin' thar! If you ain't +got no sense, _I_ has!" + +Hank laughed and winked at the others. "I'll go with ye, Zeb. Me an' +you'll go thar together an' let these two fools git stood up ag'in a +wall. Sarve 'em right if he cuts 'em up alive. We'll ask him ter send us +thar ears, fer ter remember 'em by." + +Zeb's remarks about the Governor of New Mexico caused every head in the +room to turn his way, and called forth a running fire of sympathetic +endorsements. He banged the table with his fists. "Hank Marshall, ye got +more brains nor I has, but I got ter go 'long an' keep that pore critter +out o' trouble. If I don't he'll lose hoss _an'_ beaver!" + +A stranger sauntered over, grinned at them and slid a revolving Colt +pistol on the table. "Thar, boys," he said. "Thar's what ye need if yer +goin' ter Santer Fe. I'm headin' fer home, back east. What'll ye give me +fer it, tradin' in yer old pistol? Had a run o' cussed bad luck last +night, an' I need boat fare. Who wants it?" + +Enoch Birdsall and Hank Marshall both reached for it, but Hank was the +quicker. He looked it over carefully and then passed it to his partner. +"What ye think o' her, Tom?" he asked. + +After a moment's scrutiny Tom nodded and gave it back. "Looks brand new, +Hank. Good pistol. I tried mine out on th' boat comin' up. They shoot +hard an' straight." + +Hank looked up at the stranger and shook his head deprecatingly, +starting the preliminary to a long, hard-driven barter; but he hadn't +reckoned on Birdsall, the skeptic. + +"Ten dollars an' this hyar pistol," said Enoch quickly. + +"Wall!" exclaimed Hank, staring at him. "Dang ye! Eleven dollars an' +_this_ pistol!" + +"Twelve," placidly said Enoch. + +"Twelve an' a half!" snapped Hank. + +"An' three quarters." + +"Thirteen!" growled Hank, trying to hide his misery. + +Enoch raised again and, a quarter at a time, they ran the price up to +sixteen dollars, Enoch bidding with Yankee caution and reluctance, Hank +with a stubborn determination not to let his friend get ahead of him. +One was a trader, shrewd and thrifty; the other, a trapper, which made +it a game between a canny barterer on one side and a reckless spender on +the other. At twenty-three dollars Birdsall quit, spat angrily at a box, +and scowled at his excited companion, who was counting the money onto +the table. Hank glared at Enoch, jammed the Colt in his belt and bit +savagely into a plug of tobacco, while the stranger, hiding his smile, +bowed ironically and left them; and in a moment he was back again with +another Colt. + +"I knowed it!" mourned Hank. "Dang ye, Enoch!" + +"Boys," said the stranger, sadly, "my friend is in th' same fix that I +am. He is willin' ter part with his Colt for th' same money an' another +old fashioned pistol. His mother's dyin' in St. Louie an' he's got ter +git back ter her." + +"Too danged bad it ain't him, an' you," snorted Hank. + +Jim Ogden held out his hand, took the weapon and studied it. Quietly +handing over his own pistol and the money, he held out his other hand, +empty. "Whar's th' mold; an' some caps?" + +"Wall," drawled the stranger, rubbing his chin. "They don't go with th' +weapons--they're separate. Cost ye three dollars fer th' mold; an' th' +caps air two dollars a box o' two hundred." + +"Then hand her back ag'in an' take th' Colt," said Ogden, slowly +arising. "Think I'm goin' ter whittle, or chew bullets fer it? Neither +one of them guns has even been used. Thar bran' new, an' with 'em goes +th' mold. Jest because I've spent a lot o' my days up on Green River +ain't sayin' I'm green. They named it that because I left my greenness +thar." + +"Th' caps air extry," said the vendor of Colt pistols. + +"Ain't said nothin' about no caps, yit," retorted Ogden. "I'm talkin' +molds. Gimme one, an' give Hank one; or ye'll both shore as hell miss +his mother's funeral." + +The stranger complied, sold some caps and left the saloon in good humor; +but he had not been gone two minutes before Enoch hastily arose and +pleaded that he had to meet a man; and when they saw him again he had a +newfangled contraption in a holster at his belt. + +Hank carelessly opened his mold and glanced at it. "Pinted!" he +exclaimed. + +Tom explained swiftly and reassured his friends, and then suggested that +they go down to a smithy owned by a mutual friend, and run some bullets. +"We better do it while we're thinkin' about it, an' have th' time," he +added. + +"Got lots o' time," said Ogden. "Be three weeks afore th' second caravan +starts. Thar's two goin' out this year. If 'twarn't fer th' early warm +weather on th' prairies th' fust wouldn't 'a' left yet. Th' grass is +comin' up fast." + +"Thar's some waggins o' th' second game out ter Council Grove already," +said Alonzo Webb. "They wanted me an' Enoch ter go 'long with 'em, but +we couldn't see th' sense o' leavin' town so fur ahead o' time, an' +totin' that much more grub. 'Sides, th' roads'll be better, mebby, later +on." + +The smith welcomed them and they used his fire during the lulls in his +business. + +"Hear Zachary Woodson's goin' out with eight waggins this year," he told +them. "Missed th' fust caravan. Says he'll be tetotally cussed if he's +goin' ter be captain ag'in this year." + +"That's what he says every year," grunted Alonzo. + +"He'll be captain if we has th' say-so," replied Hank. "Only thing, he's +a mite too easy with th' fools; but thar's goin' ter be less squabblin' +about obeyin' orders this trip than ever afore. We'll see ter that." + +While they discussed matters pertaining to the caravan, and ran bullets, +listening to the gossip of the smith's customers, they saw Uncle Joe and +his two wagoners driving his mules toward the shop to have them re-shod. +They shook hands all around and soon Uncle Joe, grinning from ear to +ear, told them that he was going out with the caravan. He was as tickled +as a boy with a new knife. + +"Just as I feared," he said in explanation. "I couldn't find any trader +that was takin' any of his women folks along; so there was only one way +out of it. I got to go. An' I don't mind tellin' you boys that it suits +me clean down to th' ground. Anyhow, all I wanted was an excuse. I got a +light wagon for Patience an' me an' our personal belongings, an' I'm +goin' to drive it myself. Bein' th' only woman in th' caravan, fur as I +know, it'll mebby be a little mite hard on her. Reckon she'll git +lonesome, 'specially since she's so danged purty." + +When the laughter died down Hank Marshall, shifting his cud to the other +cheek, looked from Uncle Joe to Tom and back again. + +"Wall," he drawled, "I war puzzled a little at fust, but now I reckon +I'm gittin' th' hang o' this hyar thing. Tom war shore hell-bent fer ter +go out ter Oregon this year." He paused, scratched his head, and +grinned. "Reckon I kin drive them mules all by myself. 'Twon't be as +though it war th' fust time I've done it." + +After a little good-natured banter Tom and Hank left the smithy to look +after their affairs, for there was quite a lot to be done. The next few +days would be busy ones for them both, but especially so for Tom, who +was expected to share his company between Patience, Hank, and Uncle Joe. + +As they swung up the street Hank edged to cross it, pointing to +Schoolcraft's corral. "Might as well be gittin' th' mules afore thar all +run over an' th' best took. If he kin skin me in a mule deal I'm willin' +ter abide by it." + +"Not there," objected Tom. "I've had some trouble with him. I'll play +pack animal myself before I'll buy a single critter from him." + +Hank shook with silent laughter. "_That's_ whar he got it, huh?" he +exulted. "Cussed if he warn't trimmed proper. I might 'a' knowed it war +you as done it by th' way it looked." He shook again and then became +alert "Thar he is now; an' his friends air with him. Keep yer primin' +dry, boy." + +"I reckoned I could shake a laig," said a voice behind them, and they +looked over their shoulders to see Jim Ogden at their heels, and close +behind him came his partner; "but you two kiyotes plumb made me hoof it. +What's yer hurry, anyhow?" + +The little group in front of the corral gate shifted in indecision and +looked inquiringly at the horse-dealer. There was a difference between +stirring up trouble between themselves and Tom Boyd for the purpose of +manhandling _him_, and stirring it up between themselves and the four +trappers. + +Schoolcraft said something out of the corner of his mouth and the group +melted away into the little shack at the corral gate. He remained where +he was, scowling frankly at his enemy. + +"Looks like they war a-fixin' ter try it on us," growled Hank, returning +the scowl with interest. "Let's go over an' say how-de-do ter 'em. This +here town's been too peaceable, _anyhow_." + +"What's th' trouble?" asked Ogden, curiously, his partner pressing +against him to hear the answer. + +"Ain't none," answered Tom. "Thar might 'a' been, but it's blowed over." + +"Wall," drawled Ogden. "Ye never kin tell about these hyar frontier +winds. Yer th' partisan o' this hyar expedition, Tom. We'll foller yer +lead. It's all one ter us whar ye go; we're with ye." + +Schoolcraft, knowing that trouble with these plainsmen would almost +certainly end in serious bloodshed, shrugged his shoulders and entered +the shack; and after him, from behind the corral wall darted the slender +Mexican. + +"Thar!" exclaimed Tom, pointing. "See that greaser? Keep yer eyes +skinned fer him. He's bad medicine." + +"Looks like he war fixin' fer ambushin' us, hidin' behind that wall," +growled Hank. + +"He's got a fine head o' hair ter peel," snorted Zeb Houghton, whose +reputation in regard to scalp lifting was anything but to his credit. +The fingers of his left hand closed involuntarily with a curling motion +and the wrist turned suggestively; and the Mexican, well back from the +dirty window of the shack, felt a rising of his stomach and was poor +company for the rest of the day. + +The four swung on again, Ogden and his partner soon leaving the party to +go to their quarters, while Tom and Hank went on along the street and +stopped at another horse-dealer's, where they bought two riding horses +and eight broken-in mules, the latter covered with scars. The horses +were broken to saddle and would carry them over the trail; two of the +mules were to carry their necessaries and the other six their small +stock of merchandise, which they now set out to obtain. In procuring the +latter they were very fortunate, for they found a greenhorn who had paid +too much attention to rumors and had decided at the last moment that +trail life and trading in the far west did not impress him very +favorably; and he sold his stock to them almost at their own terms, glad +to get out of his venture so easily. They took what they wanted of it +and then sold the remainder at a price which nearly paid for their own +goods. Leaving their purchases at Uncle Joe's wagons under the care of +his teamsters, they went to his hotel to spend the night. + +After supper Hank, who had shown a restlessness very foreign to him, +said that he was going out to take a walk and would return soon. When +Tom offered to go with him he shook his head, grinned, and departed. + +The evening passed very pleasantly for Tom, who needed nothing more than +Patience's presence to make him content, and after she had said good +night he accompanied her uncle to the bar for a night-cap. As he +entered the room he thought he saw a movement outside the window, down +in one corner of the sash, and he slipped to the door and peered out. As +he cogitated about scouting around outside he heard Uncle Joe's voice +calling to him over the noise of the crowd and he made his way back to +the bar, drank to the success of the coming expedition, and engaged in +small talk with his companion and those around them. But his thoughts +were elsewhere, for Hank had been gone a long time. + +"Uncle Joe, how long have you known your wagoners?" he asked. + +"Long enough to know 'em well." The trader regarded him quizzically. +"Not worryin' about your merchandise, are you?" + +"I'm wondering where Hank is." + +"In some trapper's rendezvous; he'll show up in th' mornin' with nothin' +worse than a headache." + +"I'm not treating him right," soliloquized Tom. "A man shouldn't forget +his friends, especially when they're as close as Hank is. I'm goin' +lookin' for him. Good night." + +Uncle Joe watched him push his way directly through the crowd, leaving a +few scowls in his wake, and pop out of the door; and the older man +nodded with satisfaction. "A man shouldn't, Tom, my boy," he muttered. +"Stick to them that's stuck to you--always--forever--in spite of hell. +That's good medicine." + +A tour of the places where trappers congregated was barren of results +until he had reached the last of such resorts that he knew, and here he +found Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, who welcomed him with such +vociferous greetings that he knew they had nearly reached the +quarrelsome stage. To his inquiries as to the whereabouts of his partner +they made boisterous replies, their laughter rattling the windows. + +"Ol' beaver's settin' a-top his house--no, 'tain't no house. Settin' +a-top yer pile o' goods cached with Cooper's--you tell 'im," yelled +Alonzo, slapping Enoch across the back and nearly knocking him out of +the chair. "You tell 'im, Ol' Buff'ler!" + +"Prairie hen on his nest is more like _him_," shouted Enoch, returning +his friend's love tap with interest, whereupon Alonzo missed twice and +fell to the floor. + +"Prairie hen on yer nose!" yelled the prostrate trader, trying to swim +toward his partner. "Thar ain't no prairie beaver as kin knock me down +an' _keep_ me thar! Stan' up like a man, ye polecat! An' I kin lick +_you_, too!" he yelled, as Tom avoided his sweeping arm and hastened +toward the door. "Better run! Better run! Git 'im Enoch, ye fool!" + +Tom did not reach the front door, for with astonishing speed and agility +for one so far in his cups Enoch, taking up the quarrel of his friend, +whom he presently would be fighting, leaped from the table, vaulted over +a chair, and by some miracle of drunken equilibrium landed on his feet +with his back to the door and swung both fists at the surprised +plainsman. Tom's eyes glinted, and then twinkled. He had few better +friends than these two quarrelsome traders and, stepping back, he leaped +over the prostrate and anything but silent Alonzo and darted out through +the back door, laughing at the furious squabbling he left behind. +Reaching the corner of the building, he fell into his habitual softness +of tread and slipped along the rear of the shacks on a direct course +for the place where his and Cooper's merchandise was stored. +Schoolcraft's corral loomed up in front of him and he skirted it +silently. He almost had reached its far corner when a Mexican's voice, +raised in altercation inside the inclosure, caught his ear and checked +him, balanced on one foot. + +"For why he do eet?" demanded the Mexican, excitedly. "I tol' heem that +he mus' leeve Tomaz tr-rade goods by themselves. He ees goin' to Santa +Fe weethout for-rce; an' now eet ees all spoil! For what he do eet? Bah! +For hees revenge he say. What ees hees revenge like Armijo's?" + +"Oh, shut yer mouth an' stop yer yowlin'," growled a gruff voice. "Eph +allus knows what he's a-doin'." + +The poised listener outside the corral paused to hear no more but was +off like a shadow, his stride a long, swinging lope, for he was too wise +to dash at full speed and waste fighting breath for the sake of gaining +a few seconds. He made his devious way across a plain studded with +wagons, piles of freight and heaps of debris, and before he reached his +objective the sounds of conflict singled it out for him had he been in +any doubt. + +The open wagon-shed loomed suddenly before him and he made out a +struggling mass on the ground before it, his partner's grunted curses +and the growls of Cooper's wagoner saving them from his attack. He went +into the mass feet first, landing with all his weight and the momentum +of his run on a crouched man whose upraised arm was only waiting for a +sure opening. The knife user grunted as he went down, and his head +struck the edge of a wagon-wheel with such force that he no longer was +a combatant. Tom had fallen to his knees after his catapulting impact +and when he arose he held a squirming halfbreed over his head at the +height of his upraised arms. One heave of his powerful body and the +human missile flew through the air and struck two of the half-breed's +friends as they sprang to their feet in sudden alarm. They went down +like tenpins and before they could gain their feet again Tom dropped on +one of them, his knees squarely in the pit of the man's stomach, his +right hand on the throat of the other, while his left gripped his +adversary's knife hand and bent it steadily and inexorably back toward +the wrist. + +"Th' little bobcat's j'ined us," panted Hank, crawling onto the man he +now rolled under him. "Tom Boyd, Armijo's pet, with his fangs bared an' +his claws out. Take _this_, you----!" he grunted as his shoulder set +itself behind the smashing blow. "How ye makin' out with yer friend, +Abe?" he asked of the other rolling pair. + +It seemed that Abe was not making out according to Hank's +specifications, so he crawled over to help him, and reached out a hand. +It fastened onto a skinny neck and clamped shut, whereupon Abe rolled +victoriously free and paused to glower at his victim. His surprise, +while genuine, was of short duration, and he shook his head at the +cheerful Hank and then pounced onto the man who had been used as a +missile, and pinned him to the ground. In a few moments the fight was +over, and the victors grinned sheepishly at each other in the +semi-darkness and re-arranged various parts of their clothing. + +"I saw somethin' smash inter th' waggin wheel an' sorta reckoned you +war some'rs 'round," panted Hank. "Then I saw somethin' else sail inter +th' air an' knock over two o' th' thieves. Then I knowed ye war hyar. Me +an' Abe war doin' our best, but we war beginnin' ter slip, like fur at +th' end o' winter." + +"Ye mebbe war sheddin' a little," laughed Tom, "but you'd 'a' shed them +thieves afore ye petered out. Tell me about it." + +"Thar ain't nothin' ter tell," replied Hank. "I'm nat'rally suspicious +by bein' up in th' Crow country so much o' my time, an' I got ter +thinkin' 'bout Schoolcraft. I'm mostly stronger on hindsight than I am +on foresight, but this hyar's onct I sorta lined 'em both up an' got a +good bead. I snuk up ter his shanty an' heard him an' that thar greaser +chawin' tough meat with each other. So I come down hyar, expectin' ter +lay fer 'em with Abe; but danged if him an' them warn't at it already! I +only got two feet, two han's an' one mouth, an' I had ter waste one foot +a-standin' on it; but th' rest o' me jined th' dance. Then you come. +That's all." + +"How long war you two holdin' off th' six o' 'em?" demanded Tom of Abe +with great interest, and thinking that Cooper's trust was well placed. + +"'Twarn't long; two comets an' about six hundred stars, I reckon," +mumbled the shrinking hero between swollen lips. "I war jest gittin' mad +enough to go fur my knife when Hank gits in step with th' music, an' +jines han's with us. What we goin' ter do with 'em?" + +"Oh, give 'em a kick apiece an' turn 'em loose without thar weapons," +suggested Hank. + +Tom shook his head. "They come from Schoolcraft; let's take 'em back to +him," he suggested. + +"Go ahead!" enthused Abe. Then he scratched his head. "But who's goin' +ter watch th' goods while we're gone? Jake ain't due fer couple o' hours +yet." + +"You air!" snorted Hank. "You need a rest, an' us two is shore enough." +He prodded the figures on the ground with the toe of his moccasin. "Git +up, you squaw dogs!" he ordered. + +In a moment five thoroughly cowed men were plodding before their guards. +The sixth, who was still wandering about on the far side of the boundary +of consciousness, was across Tom's shoulder. Reaching the horse-dealer's +shanty, the prisoners opened the door by the simple expedient of surging +against it as they shrunk from the pricks of Hank's skinning knife. The +two men inside escaped the crashing door by vaulting over a small table, +and before they could recover their wits in the face of this amazing +return of their friends they were looking down the barrels of two +six-shooters. + +Tom dumped his burden onto the table, kicked a chair through a closed +window, swept an open ink bottle onto Schoolcraft's manly stomach, and +made a horrible face at the pop-eyed Mexican. "Hyar they air, polecat," +he growled. "Any more raids on our goods an' I trail ye an' shoot on +sight. Don't give a cuss who does it, or why; _I'll git you_. If I miss, +Hank won't; an' we both got good friends. Come on, Hank, it stinks in +here." + +Tom turned and stalked out, but not so Hank. He backed out behind his +newfangled weapon, pleasantly thinking of its six ready shots, slid +along the outside of the shack and then waited with great hope for a +head to pop out of the door. Having had no chance to try out the Colt he +was curious regarding its accuracy. No head popped, however, and after +a moment he sighed, slipped along the corral wall and crossed the street +when far enough away to be covered by the darkness. Hank had no faith in +hostile humans and did not believe in showing off. The thieving, +treacherous Crows agreed that the brave who took Hank Marshall's scalp +would be entitled to high honors; with the mournful reflection that by +the time it was taken, if ever, the tribe would have paid a very high +price for it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CARAVAN + + +At last came the day, and the dawn of it showed a cloudless sky, a +sleeping town and a little caravan winding, with rattle of chains and +squeak of harness, past the silent, straggling houses, bound westward +for the "prairie ocean." Despite the mud and the slowness of the going +high spirits ruled the little train. Youth was about to do and dare, +eager for the gamble with fate; and age looked forward to the lure of +the well-known trail even as it looked backward in memory for faces and +experiences of the years gone by. The occasion was auspicious, for the +start was prompt to the minute and earlier than any they would make +later. They were on the luxuriant and better wooded eastern rim of the +great plains, and would be on it for several days. + +Joe Cooper, driving the small wagon with Patience seated at his side, +led the way, eager and exultant. Following him closely came his two +great Pittsburg wagons with their still spotless new sheets, each loaded +with nearly three tons of selected merchandise, their immense wheels +grumbling a little as they slid a fraction of an inch along their +well-greased axles, their broad, new tires squashing out twin canyons in +the mud. Next came two emigrant wagons, their proprietors fearing that +they would not reach the Oregon-bound train at its rendezvous in time to +leave with it. Under their stained and patched canvases two women slept +as though in a steady bed, their children at their sides. Weeks of this +traveling had given to them the boon of being able to fall asleep almost +at will. Then came Enoch Birdsall and Alonzo Webb, sober and gay, +abusing each other humorously, each in his own wagon, handling their +strung-out teams with nonchalant ease. Close to the rear of the last +wagon came the eight mules of Tom Boyd and Hank Marshall, four to a +string, followed by their horse-mounted owners; and behind them were Jim +Ogden and Zeb Houghton, each driving two mules before them. + +The road was in execrable condition, its deep ruts masked by a mud as +miry as it appeared to be bottomless, and several times the great wagons +were mired so hard and fast that it took the great ox teams of Alonzo +and Enoch, hooked on in addition to the original mule teams, to pull +them out; and the emigrant wagons, drawn by over-worked oxen, gave +nearly as much trouble. The story of their progress to Council Grove +would be tiring, since it would be but little more than a recital of the +same things over and over again--the problems presented by the roads. + +At Round Grove they said good-bye to the emigrants, who joined the rear +guard of their own caravan at this point. Along the so-called Narrows, +the little ridge forming the watershed between the Kansas and Osage +rivers, for a stretch extending quite some distance westward from Round +Grove, the roads were hardly more than a series of mudholes filmed over +and masked by apparently firm ground. In some of these treacherous traps +the wagons often sank to the hubs, and on two occasions the bottom of +the wagon-box rested on the mud. It was hopeless to try to pull them +out with the animals so deep in mud, and only by finding more firm +ground along the side of the trail, the use of long chains and the aid +of every draft animal in the train were the huge wagons dragged out. The +men themselves waded into the traps, buried at times almost to the +waist, and put their shoulders to wheels and wagon-boxes and pushed and +heaved and floundered; and they kept their spirits high despite the +penetrating cold of the mire. Under these conditions stops were frequent +to rest both teams and men, the "noonings" were prolonged, camp made +earlier in the evening than was usual and left later in the morning. The +tally of miles was disheartening, and to make matters worse a heavy +downpour of chilling rain fell half a day before they reached 110 Mile +Creek which, besides making everyone miserable and spoiling the cooking, +swelled the stream so much that it was crossed only with the greatest +difficulty. + +One of the few things they were grateful for was the fact that they did +not have to keep regular guard watches at night, for while the Kaws and +Osages might steal an animal or two in hope of receiving a little +whiskey, powder, or tobacco for its return, there was no danger of +wholesale stampeding, and a man or two was sufficient to watch the camp. + +One pleasant incident occurred when they pulled in sight of Switzler's +Creek, where they found another section of the caravan in camp. The +augmented train now numbered about twenty-six wagons and formed a rear +guard worthy of the name. The weather had cleared again and the sun +shone brightly all the way to Council Grove. To offset the pleasant +effect of joining the other train, it was at Switzler's Creek that a +hard-pushed mule train overtook them. With it came the little Mexican +and half a dozen of his compatriots, and several of Ephriam +Schoolcraft's chosen bullies. At their appearance Hank Marshall found a +new interest in life, and there was very little occurring in the new +mule train that he missed. His habits now became a little similar to +those of the cat tribe, for he resorted to his old trick of dozing while +riding, catching naps at the noonings, before dark and after dawn. With +him awake at night and Tom awake during the day, and with Jim Ogden's +and Zeb Houghton's nocturnal prowlings thrown in the balance, it looked +as though Hank's remark about "nobody ketchin' these beavers asleep" +would be fully justified. + +Council Grove was reached one noon, and they learned that they would +have plenty of time to do the many little things neglected on the way, +for they would stay here two days. This was welcome news, as it gave +them an opportunity to let the draft animals rest and feed well in +preparation for the long prairie haul ahead. + +Council Grove of the caravan days is worthy of notice. It was the +meeting place as well as the council place for those who were to cross +the prairies together. To it ran the feeding roads, gradually growing as +strands feed a rope, the loose and frayed ends starting from the +Missouri River points and converging as they neared the grove. Named +from a council and a treaty which took place there between a government +commission sent out to survey a wagon road to the Arkansas River, and a +tribe of Osages, in which safety for the traders was obtained from these +savages, it was doubly well named because of the yearly councils which +were held between the traders themselves to perfect the organization of +the caravan. + +The grove itself, of oak, ash, hickory, elm, and many other kinds of +trees, was about half a mile wide and extended along the sides of the +little valley of Council Grove Creek, a large tributary of the Neosho +River. With its dense timber, its rich bottom pastures, and fine, high +prairies it made an ideal spot for a rendezvous; and it was about the +last of the really fine and productive country seen from Independence. +Here were hard woods in plenty, the last to be found on the long trip, +from which to obtain replacements for broken axles and other wagon +parts. This also was the farthest point reached by the trains without +real organization, for from here on every important movement was +officially ordered. + +Scattered about the beautiful, green little valley were wagons great and +small, and piles of mule packs, each camp somewhat by itself. There was +much calling and getting acquainted, fun and frolic, much hewing of +trees, mending of gear, and, in general, busy preparation for the +journey over the land of the short buffalo grass. Tenderfeet wasted +their time and ammunition at target practice or in hunting for small +game, and loafed to their hearts' content; but the experienced traveler +put off his loafing and play until he knew that he had done everything +there was to be done. There were horse races and mule races and even +ox-team races; tugs of war, running, jumping, and, in fact, everything +anyone could think of to help pass the time. + +After a good night's sleep the Cooper party found there was little to do +except to get timber for "spares," and notwithstanding that a spare axle +was slung from under each of the huge freighters, Uncle Joe insisted +that each wagon carry another, and he personally superintended the +cutting. They had been obtained and slung in place beside the others +when a bugle was heard and criers passed among the little camps calling +everyone for roll call. Nearly two hundred persons answered, all but one +of them being men, and then the electioneering began for the choice of +captain. To be a success a caravan must have one head, and the more +experienced he was the better it would be for the caravan. + +Now came the real excitement of the day, for party spirit was strong and +insistent, and the electioneering was carried on with such gusto that +several fights grew out of it. There were four parties at first, among +which was Mike Wardell's, comprising the rougher, more lawless frontier +element. He was a close friend of Ephriam Schoolcraft and he had his +admirers outside of his own class, for a group of tenderfeet which was +impressed by his swaggering, devil-may-care manners backed him in a +body; and another group which was solidly behind him was composed of the +poorer Mexican traders. The second of the larger parties with a +candidate in the field, who had been nominated by a series of caucuses, +was made up of the more experienced and more responsible traders, +veterans of the trail who put safety and order above all other +considerations. This party nominated Zachary Woodson, who had more +wagons in the caravan than any other one man, therefore having more at +stake, and who had not missed his round trip over the route for a dozen +years. His nomination split the Mexicans, for half of them had wagons +and valuable freights, and were in favor of the best leadership. + +At first Woodson flatly refused to run, sneeringly reminding his friends +of the lack of cooperation he could expect from the very men who needed +law and order and leadership most. He knew by bitter experience that the +captain of a Santa Fe caravan had no real authority and that his orders +were looked upon as mere requests, to be obeyed or not, as the mood +suited. He was obdurate in his refusal until a split occurred in the +other strong party and resulted in a disgraceful fight among its +members, which was kept from having disastrous results only by the +determined interposition of the more resolute members of his own party. +This caused the two smaller factions to abandon their own candidates and +throw themselves against Wardell, and resulted in the overwhelming +election of the man best suited for the position. + +His first act after grudgingly accepting the thankless leadership was to +ask for a list of the men, wagons, and pack animals, and he so +engineered the division of them that each section had as its lieutenant +a man whom he could trust and who did not lack in physical courage so +much needed to get some kind of order and to keep it. The great train +was divided into four divisions, at the present to join so as to march +in two columns; but later to spread out and travel in divisional order +of four straight columns abreast, far enough apart so that the width of +the whole front roughly would equal the length of a column. + +Next came the arrangement of the watches, the most cordially hated of +all caravan duties. In this train of nearly ninety wagons there were +nearly one hundred and eighty men physically able to stand a guard, and +no one who was able to stand his trick was let off. The captain +preferred the regular and generally accepted system of two watches, each +of four squads, which put one squad on duty for three hours each +alternate night; but there were so many men for this disagreeable task +that he allowed himself to be over-ruled and consented to a three watch +system, six squads to the watch, which put one watch of nine men and a +corporal on duty for two hours every third night. Almost any concession +was worth making if it would arouse a little interest and a sense of +duty in this very important matter of guarding the camp. The corporal of +each squad arranged to shift up one tour each time their squad went on, +which would give no one squad the same hours for its successive tours of +duty. Nothing could have been fairer than this, but there were objectors +in plenty. Each one of the kickers had his own, perfect plan. Some +wanted smaller squads with the same number of watches so that each tour +of duty would be less; some wanted two watches and smaller squads, to +the same end, both of which would have caused endless changing of the +guard, endless awakenings all night long, with practically continuous +noise and confusion. Captain Woodson, having abandoned the regular and +tried system so as to let the men feel a sense of cooperation, flatly +refused to allow any further changes, and in consequence earned the +smoldering grudges of no small number, which would persist until the end +of the trail and provide an undercurrent of dissatisfaction quick to +seize on any pretext to make trouble. + +For the division officers he chose the four men he had in mind, after +over-ruling a demand for a vote on them. As long as he was responsible +for the safety of the caravan he declared that it was his right to +appoint lieutenants whom he knew and could trust. The bickering had +fresh fuel and continued strong all day, and it would last out the +journey. + +Arranging the divisions so far as possible to put friends together, with +the exception of some of the tenderfoot parties, they were numbered, +from left to right, as they would travel, and he was careful to put the +more experienced plainsmen on the two outside ranks and, where possible, +the better drivers in the two inner columns. These latter had a little +more complex course to follow in case of sudden need to corral the +caravan. For corralling while traveling in two columns, he instructed +the drivers to follow the wagon ahead and to stop when his own wagon +tongue came even with the rim of the rear wheel of the wagon he was +following. In case of corralling in face of danger, they were to swing +their teams to the inside of the leading wagon, so as to have all the +animals on the inside of the corral; in ordinary camping they were to +swing their teams in the other direction, so the animals would be ready +to graze outside of the corralled wagons. They were to pay no attention +to direction or to sudden inspirations, but were blindly to follow the +wagon in front of them and to close up the gaps. The leading driver of +each column would set the curving track which would bring the wagons +into a great ellipse or a circle while moving in the two column +formation. + +The first and fourth columns were commanded by Jim Ogden and Tom Boyd, +while the two inner columns were under a trader named Haviland and a +sullen, mean-tempered trader of Independence and a warm friend of +Schoolcraft. His name was Franklin, and while his personal attributes +were unpleasant and he was a leader of the Schoolcraft element, he was +a first class caravan man and had proved his coolness and +resourcefulness in many a tight place. His appointment also served in a +measure to placate the rebellious element, which nursed the thought that +it could do about as it pleased in its own column. Whether they were +right or wrong in this remained to be seen. While the two column +formation was in use the first and second divisions made up one of them; +the third and fourth, the other. To Tom's delight he found that the +Cooper wagons had been assigned to his own division; but as an offset to +this two wagons belonging to gallivanting tenderfeet had been placed +directly behind them. It was not pleasant to think of these dandified +city sports being so close to Patience Cooper all the way to Santa Fe. +Like many men in love, he was prone to discount the intelligence and +affections of the loved one and to let his fears threaten his common +sense. + +The first great watch went on duty at seven o'clock that night, more for +the purpose of breaking the men in to their work than for any need of +defense, for no Indian troubles, despite the rumors afloat in +Independence, were to be looked for so far east. There was a great deal +of joking and needless challenging that night and very little attempt to +follow instructions. An Indian likes nothing better than a noisy, +standing sentry; but this savage preference hardly would be shown in the +vicinity of Council Grove. Woodson knew that discipline could not be +obtained and that every man would do as he pleased until the encampment +received a good scare, but his own sense of responsibility impelled him +to make an effort to get it. + +The next day was passed in resting, in placing the wagons in their order +of march, and in drilling the drivers in caravan tactics; and that night +the guard was as noisy as it had been the night before. The squad which +went on duty at one o'clock contained two tenderfeet and between them +they succeeded in shattering the monotony. + +A quarter of an hour after the guard had been changed tenderfoot Number +One thought he heard a sound and saw a movement. He promptly challenged +and fired in the same instant. His weapon was a double-barreled fowling +piece charged with buckshot, and there was no doubt about the deadly +efficiency of such a combination when the corporal found the carcass of +a mule with a hole in it nearly as big as a hat. The camp was thrown +into an uproar, guns flashed from the wagons to the imminent peril of +the rest of the sentries, and only the timely and rough interference of +a cool-headed trapper kept the two four-pounders from being fired. They +were loaded with musket balls and pebbles and trained on three wagons +not fifty yards from them. Orders, counter orders, suggestions, shouts +for balls, powder, flints, caps, patches, ramrods, and for about +everything human minds could think of kept the encampment in a +pandemonium until sense was driven into the panicky men and the camp +allowed to resume its silence. + +Tenderfoot Number Two heard and saw an Indian approaching him and fired +his pistol at the savage. This took place near the end of the same guard +tour. Only his fright and the poor light which made his wobbling aim all +the more uncertain saved the life of his best friend who, restless and +lonely, was going out to share the remainder of the watch with him. +Again pandemonium reigned and weapons exploded, but this time the +cattle stampeded in the darkness, doing the best they could with their +handicap of hobbles. + +At dawn the caravan was astir, the blast from the bugle not needed this +time, for almost every man had animals to hunt for and drive in, and as +a result of this breakfasts were late and the whole day's operations +were thrown out of step. Finally after all the stampeded animals had +been rounded up and the morning meal was out of the way, and things done +at the last minute which should have been done the day before, +preparations were started to get under way. Mules and horses broke loose +and had to be chased and brought back; animals balked and kicked and +helped to turn the camp into a scene of noisy confusion. Several parties +found that they had neglected to cut spare axles and forthwith sallied +off to get them. Others frantically looked for articles they had +misplaced or loaned, one wagon being entirely unpacked to find a coffee +pot and a frying pan which someone else later discovered at the edge of +the creek where they had been dropped after they had been washed, their +owner having left them to get a shot at a squirrel he thought he saw. +The forehanded and wiser members of the caravan took advantage of the +delay and turmoil to cut an extra supply of firewood against a future +need, add to their store of picket stakes and also to fill their water +casks to keep them swelled tight beyond question, against the time when +the much dreaded dry stretch should be reached. + +At last from the captain's camp the well-known summons of "Catch up!" +was heard, and passed on from group to group along the creek. Those who +had not yet hitched up their teams, almost at every case old hands at +the game who were wise enough to let their animals graze until the last +minute, now exultantly drove in their teams and filled the little valley +with the rattle of chains, the clicking of yokes, the braying of +indignant mules, and their own vociferations. Soon a teamster yelled +"All's set!" and answering shouts rolled up and down the divisions. At +the shouted command of "Stretch out!" whips cracked, harness creaked, +chains rattled and wagons squeaked as the shouting drivers straightened +out their teams. "Fall in!" came next, and the teams were urged into the +agreed-upon order, the noses of the leaders of one team close to the +tailboard of the wagon ahead. The second and third divisions, falling in +behind the first and fourth, made two strings rolling up the long +western slope of the valley toward the high prairie at its crest. + +Songs, jokes, exultant shouts ran along the trains as the valley was +left behind, for now the caravan truly was embarked on the journey, and +every mile covered put civilization that much farther in the rear. +Straight ahead lay the trail, beaten into a plain, broad track leading +toward the sunset, a mark which could not be mistaken and which rendered +the many compasses valueless so far as the trail itself was concerned. + +The first day's travel was a comparatively short one, and during the +drive the officers rode back along the lines and again explained the +formation which would be used at the next stopping place. This point was +so near that the caravan kept on past the noon hour and did not stop +until it reached Diamond Spring, a large, crystal spring emptying into a +small brook close to a very good camping ground. The former camp no +sooner had been left than the tenderfeet began to show their +predilection to do as they pleased and to ride madly over the prairie in +search of game which was not there, finally gravitating to a common body +a mile or more ahead of the wagons, a place to which they stuck with a +determination worthy of better things. + +At Diamond Spring came the first clash against authority, for the +captain had told each lieutenant to get his division across all streams +before stopping. The word had been passed along the twin lines and +seemed to have been tacitly accepted, yet when the wagons reached the +brook many of the last two divisions, thinking the farther bank too +crowded and ignoring the formation of the night encampment, pulled up +and stopped on the near side. After some argument most of them crossed +over and took up their proper places in the corral, but there were some +who expressed themselves as being entirely satisfied to remain where +they were, since there was no danger from Indians at this point. The +animals were turned loose to graze, restrained only by hobbles until +nightfall, the oxen in most cases yoked together to save trouble with +the stubborn beasts until they should become trained and more docile. +They were the most senseless of the draft animals, often stampeding for +no apparent cause; the sudden rattle of a chain or a yoke often being +all that was needed to turn them into a fleshy avalanche; and while the +Indians did not want oxen, they seemed to be aware of the excitable +natures of the beasts and made use of their knowledge to start stampedes +among the other animals with them, much the same as fulminate of mercury +is used to detonate a charge of a more stable explosive. + +The first two watches of the night were pleasant, but when Tom Boyd's +squad went on duty an hour before midnight there was a change in the +weather, and before half an hour had passed the rain fell in sheets and +sent some of the guards to seek shelter in the wagons. Two of them were +tenderfeet, one of Schoolcraft's friends and a trader. Tom was the +so-called corporal of this watch and he was standing his trick as +vigilantly as if they were in the heart of the Kiowa or Comanche +country. He carefully had instructed his men and had posted them in the +best places, and he knew where each of them should be found. After half +an hour of the downpour he made the rounds, called the roll and then +slipped back into the encampment in search of the missing men. Not +knowing them well enough at this time he did not know the wagons to +which they belonged, and he had to wait until later to hunt them out. + +Dawn found a wet and dispirited camp as the last guard returned to the +wagons an hour before they should have left their posts. Not a fire +would burn properly and not a breakfast was thoroughly cooked. Everyone +seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, and the animals were mean and +rebellious when driven in for the hobbles to be removed and picket ropes +substituted to hold them. Breakfast at last over, the caravan was about +to start when Tom went along his own division and called four men +together. + +"Last night you fellers quit yer posts an' slunk back ter yer wagons," +he said, ominously. "Two of ye air tenderfeet, an' green ter this life; +one is a trader an' th' other is an old hand on th' trail. You all ought +ter know better. I'm lettin' ye off easy _this_ time, but th' next man +that breaks guard is goin' ter git a cussed fine lickin'. If it's +necessary I'll make an invalid out o' any man in my squad that sneaks +off his post. Git back ter yer wagons, an' don't fergit what I've said." + +The tenderfeet were pugnacious, but doubtful of their ground; the trader +was abashed by the keen knowledge of his guilt and the enormity of his +offense. He was a just man and had no retort to make. The teamster, a +bully and a rough, with a reputation to maintain, scowled around the +closely packed circle, looking for sympathy, and found plenty of it +because the crowd was anxious to see the corporal, as personifying +authority, soundly thrashed. They felt that no one had any right to +expect a man to stand guard in such a rain out in the cheerless dark for +two hours, especially when it was admitted that there was no danger to +be feared. Finding encouragement to justify his attitude, and eager to +wipe out the sting of the lecture, the bully grinned nastily and took a +step forward. + +"Reg'lar pit-cock, ain't ye?" he sneered. "High an' mighty with yer +mouth, ain't ye? Goin' ter boss things right up ter th' hilt, _you_ air! +Wall, ye--I'm wettin' yer primin', hyar an'----" + +Tom stopped the words with a left on the mouth, and while the fight +lasted it was fast and furious; but clumsy brute strength, misdirected +by a blind rage, could not cope with a greater strength, trained, agile, +and cool; neither could a liquor soaked carcass for long take the heavy +punishment that Tom methodically was giving it and come back for more. +As the bullwhacker went down in the mud for the fifth time, there was a +finality about the fall that caused his conqueror to wheel abruptly +from him and face the ring of eager and disappointed faces. + +"I warn't too busy ter hear some o' th' remarks," he snarled. "Now's th' +time ter back 'em up! If ye don't it makes a double liar out o' ye! Come +on--step out, an' git it over quick!" He glanced at the two pugnacious +tenderfeet. "You two make about one man, th' way we rate 'em out hyar; +come on, both o' ye!" + +While they hesitated, Captain Woodson pushed through the crowd into the +ring, closely followed by Tom's grim and silent friends, and a slender +Mexican, the latter obviously solicitous about Tom's welfare. In a few +moments the excitement died down and the crowd dispersed to its various +wagons and pack animals. As Tom went toward his mules he saw Franklin, +the tough officer of the third division, facing a small group of his own +friends, and suddenly placing his hand against the face of one of them, +pushed the man off his balance. + +"I'll cut yer spurs," Franklin declared. "Fust man sneaks off guard in +_my_ gang will wish ter G-d he didn't!" He turned away and met Tom face +to face. "We'll larn 'em, Boyd," he growled. "I'm aimin' ter bust th' +back o' th' first kiyote of _my_ gang that leaves his post unwatched. If +one o' them gits laid up fer th' rest o' th' trip th' others'll stand +ter it, rain or no rain. Ye should 'a' kicked in his ribs while ye had +'im down!" + +After a confused and dilatory start the two trains strung out over the +prairie and went on again; but the rebellious wagon-owners on the east +side of the creek were not with the caravan. They were learning their +lesson. + +The heavy rain had swollen the waters of the stream, stirred up its soft +bed and turned its banks into treacherous inclines slippery with mud. +When the mean-spirited teams had been hooked to the wagons and sullenly +obeyed the commands to move, they balked in mid-stream and would not +cross it in their "cold collars;" and there they remained, halfway over. +In vain the drivers shouted and swore and whipped; in vain they pleaded +and in vain they called for help. The main part of the caravan, for once +united in spirit, perhaps because it was a mean one, went on without +them, knowing that the recalcitrant rear guard was in no danger; the +sullen spirit of meanness in every heart rejoicing in the lesson being +learned by their stubborn fellow travelers. The captain would have held +up the whole train to give necessary assistance to any unfortunate +wagoner; but there was no necessary assistance required here, for they +could extricate themselves if they went about it right; and there was a +much-needed lesson to be assimilated. Their predicament secretly pleased +every member of the main body, which was somewhat humorous, when it is +considered that the great majority of the men in the main body had no +scruples against disobeying any order that did not suit their mood. + +Finally, enraged by being left behind, the stubborn wagoners remembered +one of the reasons advanced by the captain the day before when he had +urged them to cross over and complete the corral. He had spoken of the +difficulty of getting the animals to attempt a hard pull in "cold +collars," when they would do the work without pausing while they were +"warmed up." So after considerable eloquence and persistent urging had +availed them naught, the disgruntled wagoners jumped into the cold +water, waded to the head of the teams and, turning them around, got +them back onto the bank they had left after vainly trying to lead them +across. Once out of the creek, the teams were driven over a circle a +mile in circumference to get their "collars warm." Approaching the creek +at a good pace, the teams crossed it without pausing and slipped and +floundered up the muddy bank at the imminent risk of overturning the +wagons. Reaching the top, they started after the plodding caravan and in +due time overtook it and found their allotted places in the lines, to +some little sarcastic laughter. Never after that did those wagoners +refuse to cross any stream at camp time, while their teams were warmed +up and willing to pull; but instead of giving the captain any credit for +his urging and his arguments, wasted the day before, they blamed him for +going on without them, and nursed a grudge against him and his officers +that showed itself at times until the end of the long journey. They +would not let themselves believe that he would have refused really to +desert them. + +The caravan made only fifteen miles and camped on a rise of the open +prairie, where practice was obtained in forming a circular corral, with +the two cannons on the crest of the rise. The evolution was performed +with snap and precision, the sun having appeared in mid-forenoon and +restored the sullen spirits to natural buoyancy. The first squad of the +watch went on duty with military promptness, much to the surprise of the +more experienced travelers. Here for the first time was adopted a system +of grazing which was a hobby with the captain, who believed that hobbled +animals wasted too much time in picking and choosing the best grass and +in wandering around. He maintained that picketed animals would eat more +in the same time, and so each wagoner was given a stretch of prairie as +wide as the space occupied by his wagon and reaching out about one +hundred yards, fan-wise, from the corral. Picket ropes of from twenty to +thirty feet in length let each animal of his team graze over a circle of +that radius, the center being a stake of hardwood two inches thick and +about two feet long. Some of the pickets were pointed with iron and had +a band of the same metal shrunk around the upper and near the top to +keep them from splitting under repeated axe blows. Many of the others +had their points hardened by fire, and a pointed hickory or ash picket +so treated will stand a lot of abuse. Before dark the pickets were +shifted to new places and the animals left to graze all night, for +Indian visits still were a matter of the future. + +After they had finished their supper and washed and put away the few +utensils, Tom as usual drifted off to spend an hour or two with Uncle +Joe and Patience. He had not been gone long before Hank got up to loosen +a pack to get a fresh plug of smoking tobacco, and caught sight of +Pedro, the Mexican, sauntering toward him. The visitor grinned +cheerfully and sat down by the dying fire, acting as though he had every +reason to be accorded a cordial welcome. + +"Hah!" exclaimed the self-invited guest in rare good humor. "Eet ess +good to get out on thee gr-reat pr-rairie; but eet would haf been better +eef we had went weeth thee fir-rst tr-rain. Weeth that tr-rain was thee +tr-roops. We would be better pr-rotect." + +Hank was undecided whether he should turn his back on the visitor and +walk away, or grab him by the collar and the slack of his trousers and +throw him from the fire, when habitual cunning made him grunt his +endorsement of the other's remarks. He never was above acquiring what +information he could get, no matter how trivial it might be. + +"Yeah," he replied, passing the plug to his guest. "Fill yer pipe, or +make a cigarette," he invited. "Them danged settlements air all right +fer a change, but this hyar is a hull lot better; an' th' mountings air +better'n this. As fer th' dragoons with th' fust train, it's plumb +welcome to 'em. Thar more trouble than thar worth; an' they allus will +be till they larn ter fight Injuns in th' Injun way. Th' idear o' usin' +th' right hand fer a sword an' th' left fer a pistol! I'd ruther be with +a passel o' mounting boys, fur's fightin' Injuns air consarned. Anyhow, +jest when they git whar they're needed most, down on th' edge o' th' +Kiowa an' Comanche country, th' danged dragoons has ter stop." + +"But senor; they must not tr-read on Mexican soil," protested Pedro. + +Hank grinned and choked down the retort he was about to make, nodding +his head instead. "Shore; that's th' trouble. Now, if that danged +Governor o' yourn would meet th' train at Cimarron Crossin' an' go th' +rest o' th' way with it, thar'd be some sense ter troop escorts. Thar +ain't a sojer along th' worst stretch o' th' whole trail. I'll bet ye we +won't see hide ner hair o' 'em this side o' Cold Spring, when th' danger +from raidin' Injuns is 'most over." + +Pedro spread his hands helplessly. "That ees but too tr-rue, senor. +Theese time we weel not see thee br-rave tr-roops of Mexico befor-re we +r-reach thee Wagon Mound." + +"Thar!" triumphantly exclaimed Hank. "What did I tell ye? They used ter +git as fur as Cold Spring, anyhow; but now thar waitin' at th' Wagon +Mound. Next thing we know they'll be waitin' at San Miguel fer ter see +us safe th' last fifty miles through th' settlements!" + +"Eet ees thee Apaches that ar-re to blame theese time," explained Pedro +with oily smoothness. "They ar-re ver' bad theese year along thee Rio +Gr-rande del Norte. Ver' bad!" + +"Yeah," grunted Hank, puffing reflectively on his pipe. "Mexico an' +Texas both claim all that country east o' th' Grande, but th' Apaches +shore own it, an' run it ter suit theirselves. Bad Injuns, they air." + +"Thee customs they ar-re ver' str-rict theese year," commented Pedro, +closely watching his companion. "They ar-re ver' har-rd on my poor +countrymen. They keep thee pr-rices so high on all theese goods." + +"Tarnation bother," grunted Hank, beginning to get the reason for the +Mexican's interest in him. "Too bad we don't know somebody that kin git +us past 'em," he suggested, hopefully. + +Pedro rubbed his hands complacently and helped to maintain a prolonged +silence; which at last was broken by small talk concerning the caravan +and its various members. After half an hour of this aimless conversation +he arose to leave. + +"Thee customs, as you haf so tr-ruly said, ar-re ver' gr-reat bother, +Senor Hank. I know thees ver' much, for I haf a br-rother in thee custom +house. We ar-re ver' close, my br-rother an' me. I weel see you again, +senor. Eet ees good that we get acquaint, weeth so ver' many _milla_ yet +to tr-ravel together. _Buenos noches_, senor." + +"Good night," replied Hank, carefully pulling the unburned wood out of +the fire to serve for the cooking of the breakfast. He glanced after the +dapper Mexican and grinned, re-roped the pack, and wandered off to join +his trapper friends at their fire. + +"Grease is slippery; an' so is greasers," he chuckled. "Wall, thar's +plenty o' time to figger _jest_ what he's arter. Might be cheatin' th' +customs, an' then ag'in it might not." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +EN ROUTE + + +Tom's duties as a lieutenant were to supervise his column, ride ahead of +the train on lookout for possible obstructions or dangers, go on ahead +to creeks and see that the banks sloped enough to permit the wagons to +take them safely, to hunt out and bridge morasses and quagmires that +could not be avoided. If the banks were too steep he and others of the +caravan were to ride ahead with axes, shovels, and mattocks and cut a +sloping road through them; if a morass or a treacherous creek bed had to +be crossed they had to cut great numbers of saplings, branches, and +brush and build up a causeway of alternate layers of wood and dirt. This +would not take long and if properly done, every wagon could cross in +safety. + +The caravan in movement should have presented a formation of wagons in +orderly array, preceded by the captain and officers, flanked at a good +distance on both sides by well-armed riders, and followed by a fairly +strong rear-guard; but no such ideal formation could be maintained +except under the discipline of a military or paid force. The flankers +rode far and wide searching endlessly for game and usually wound up with +the advance guard, a mile or more ahead. The rear guard dwindled rapidly +and soon joined the others far in advance, leaving the crawling wagons +entirely unprotected from any sudden attack by Indians who might have +lain concealed in one of the numerous prairie hollows. + +There were four conditions every twenty-four hours especially liked by +the savages. One was during the night, between midnight and dawn; +another as the caravan got under way, when there was more or less +confusion and the wagons had broken the corral formation enough so it +could not be re-formed quickly; a third was during the day when every +man who did not have to drive was galivanting a mile or more away, +blazing at rattlesnakes or prairie dogs and making a fool of himself +generally, his thoughts on everything except the safety of the train he +had deserted; and the fourth was in the evening just as the animals were +being staked outside, when most of the men were busy with them and some +distance outside the wagon ramparts, many of the more careless being +unarmed. To offset these conditions so favorable to surprise attacks on +the caravan was one of the captain's most important duties, and the +urgent consideration of water and good grass many times complicated his +problems. + +Captain Woodson at one time had been a trapper, and his early +experiences with the fur expeditions here stood him in good stead, +especially his knowledge about Indians. He continually hammered at the +men to flank properly and to scour the country on each side of the +caravan for a mile or more and to investigate every hollow and rise +capable of hiding horses. Before he called the halt for the "noonings" +or the encampments in the evenings, he urged that the surrounding +country be well scouted over and everything suspicious reported. For the +crews of the two cannons, which had been changed the morning following +the narrowly averted calamity of a few days back, he had picked men who +appeared to be calm and resourceful, and these weapons trundled along on +their wheeled carriages in a strategic position, their crews ordered not +to leave them unattended at any time during the day's march--but who +cared for orders? + +The trail here being easy and plain, the banks of the streams cut by the +previous caravan, Tom dropped back after a brief exploration along the +flanks, which he made because the flankers would not, to join his +partner and their pack train, plodding along on the left-hand side of +Joe Cooper's wagons. + +Hank was a placid, easy-going individual and cared little whether or not +he had company. For the last few days he had been highly amused by +watching several pack animals owned and led by tenderfeet, who had +learned neither to follow them nor to load them right. These green +travelers were continually in trouble. If they were not arguing with +mules gone balky because of unevenly distributed loads, or chasing some +running and kicking animal that scattered the contents of its pack far +and wide over the plain, they were collecting their possessions +piece-meal from a score of acres of prairie and hurriedly re-packing +somewhere behind the caravan, cursing, perspiring, out of breath, and +murderously savage. Some of them re-packed more than a dozen times a day +and were hard put even to keep the caravan in sight. Their natural anger +at their misfortunes was turned into a simmering or a coruscating rage, +that ever and anon burst out with volcanic force as they realized the +utter hopelessness of their position. This was for the first few days, +for the wiser ones used their eyes and ears and mouths to good +advantage, and soon got the knack of packing; but there were some who +seemingly were too dumb to learn. + +Hank never obtruded any advice, but cheerfully explained the art of +packing to any man who sought him. He and his partner's animals never +shifted a pack on this smooth going, and this fact began to sink into +some of the tenderfeet, and they eagerly took lessons from the veteran. +It was not long before a spilled pack in that column of the train was an +uncommon occurrence. These eight mules behaved in an admirable manner +and there was a good reason for it. When they had been selected, only +those showing the unmistakable signs of the veteran pack mule were +chosen. The marks of the crupper, _aparejo_ and girth never would +disappear. Tenderfeet scornfully would have passed them by and chosen +sleek, smooth-haired animals of far better appearance; but Hank and Tom +did not make this mistake, realizing that here, indeed, beauty was only +skin deep. + +Hank judged that it was about time to take full advantage of the mules' +early training and the results were regarded as downright miracles by +the greenhorns, who attempted to duplicate the system, but with +disastrous endings. One of the mules was an old mare, and her actions, +even in the corral at Independence, told Hank all about her. He now took +from a pack a bell and, riding up to the plodding, sedate pack animal, +fastened it around her neck. Then he tied her to the rear of the second +of Cooper's big wagons, until she should learn that this was to be her +place under all conditions, and dropped back farther and farther while +he watched the other seven. At the sound of the tinkling bell they had +pricked up their long ears and rolled them forward; a certain important +dignity came over each one and they went ahead with an air of +satisfaction that was so apparent that it was ludicrous. Hank grinned +and rode off to play rear guard all by himself, well knowing that his +seven animals would follow the old bell-mare wherever she led, whether +he was there or not. Later he rewarded her by changing her pack and +substituting that of the dwindling food supply, which grew lighter after +every camp. When he finally freed her from the wagon she moved up +alongside the off-wheel mule, for whom she seemed to have an abiding +affection, and from then on she would not stray from his side, nor her +seven followers from her. + +On this occasion when Tom returned and found his partner absent, he +surmised that the trapper was off looking for an antelope to vary the +monotony of their fare and to save their bacon and flour. Until the +buffalo country was reached the caravan had to live on flour, bacon, and +perhaps beans, of which each traveler had a limited supply. The chief +reliance for food was the buffalo, and their range was still well ahead. +Tom and Hank, however, not knowing what contingency awaited them on the +Mexican end of the trail, had far exceeded the regular allowance per +man, of fifty pounds of flour, same of bacon, dozen pounds of coffee, +twenty-five pounds of sugar, and a goodly amount of salt. Topping one of +the packs, and dwarfing the patient mule nearly hidden under the load, +were two ten-gallon water casks, each with a few quarts sloshing around +inside. At every stop these kegs were shifted a little so as to give +each portion of them a soaking in turn. The powder, two twenty-five +pound kegs covered with oiled cloth and over that with a heavy, greased +bull-buffalo leather, were in the same packs with the bar lead and a +reserve supply of caps and patches. The bullet molds, nipple wrenches, +and other small necessaries were carried in their "possible" sacks, each +being a beautifully beaded and quilled bag obtained in their trade with +the Indians. Along with the ammunition each had packed a buffalo-hide +bag, fitted with shoulder, breast, and head lines; and should it become +necessary for them to disappear, without a mule, they were equipped to +remain in the mountains and hills for a long time. Later on they would +pack the big bags and keep them ready for instant use. + +Tom found not only that his partner had gone, but that the city sports, +tiring of aimless riding ahead, had fallen back to the train and were +now riding leg to leg on both sides of Joe Cooper's small wagon, vying +with each other in their endeavors to be entertaining to Patience. They +were laughing uproariously when the plainsman appeared and one of them, +Dr. Whiting, acknowledged his introduction to Tom with an ironical grin. +Here, he thought, was a mountain yokel all ripe to play target for his +shafts of satire. He would shine out resplendently against this ignorant +plainsman and have a lot of fun in the bargain. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, his mouth open in pretended admiration. "Regular +Daniel Boone! I suppose you know how to bark squirrels; and barking +buffaloes must be an old trick with you by this time." + +Tom regarded him thoughtfully. He did not mind the words, but the tone +in which they were spoken was distinctly offensive. He smiled +pleasantly. "Thar ain't no squirrels ter bark on th' prairies; but thar +air some barkin' prairie dogs, though they mostly chatter 'stead o' +bark. They set up an' make a lot o' noise, but don't amount to nothin'. +Th' funny part o' it is, th' dumber they air th' more they chatter. As +fer bein' Dan'l Boone, tenderfeet mostly find it a boon ter have a Dan'l +handy afore this air trail is left." He gravely acknowledged the +introduction to the others and looked at Patience again, and from her +back to the saddled horse tied to the rear of the wagon. "Feel like a +little ride, Miss Cooper" he asked. "Must be tirin' settin' up thar mile +arter mile listenin' to th' chatterin'." + +She nodded, holding back her laughter, and Tom led up the horse. + +"But, Miss Cooper!" expostulated the doctor. "What are we going to do +without you? We are desolate! Might I offer you a noble escort, six +trusty, knightly blades to flash in your defense?" + +She smiled sweetly but shook her head. "When we reach the Indian country +I will be very glad to accept such an escort; but out here I would not +think of imposing on your generosity. This seems to be Mr. Boyd's +expedition; perhaps he may invite you." + +Tom shook his head sadly. "Reckon I'll have all I kin do to look arter +Miss Cooper in case we meets airy Injuns, without botherin' with six +_flashes_. See you-all later, mebby." + +They drew rein and waited for the crawling column to pass them, smiling +and nodding in reply to the cheerful salutations of the wagoners and +traders. Pedro, the slender Mexican, who took such a deep interest in +the doings of Tom Boyd, removed his wide hat and bowed, in true cavalier +fashion, showing his gleaming teeth in a pearly smile. The interest the +plainsman was showing in his pretty companion was an assurance that Tom +Boyd would need no further persuasion to enter the Mexican settlements. +Franklin, the leader of the third division, temporarily the second +section of Tom's column, allowed himself the luxury of a sullen smile. +He knew his part in the scheme of Pedro and Schoolcraft perfectly and +had no thought of deviating from it, but he could not help admiring the +upstanding plainsman, who was a man after his own heart. They were bound +together by a common interest, the safety of the caravan, and until they +were met by the escort of Mexican cavalry, somewhere near Rock Creek or +the Canadian River, Franklin gave little heed to personal grudges. All +he was supposed to do was to see that the plainsman did not leave the +caravan for good before the escort met it. + +The two four-pounders trundled along their rumbling way, only one man to +each gun, the rest of their crews off with the advance guard. Tom +glanced at the all but deserted weapons and frowned. Franklin, noticing +it, frowned in reply. It was not because full cannon crews were needed +on this part of the trail, but because both men knew that it would be +the same all the way. + +After the last wagon had passed, Tom and his companion rode forth and +turned when half a mile from the column, riding ahead on a course +parallel with it. The prairie was studded with the earlier flowers of +spring, in some places a rich carpet of delicate colors. Suddenly Tom +pointed to a gray object nearly covered with earth, dried grass of the +year before, and the fresh greenery of this season's slender blades +pushing up through it. + +"Buffalo skull," he explained. "Let's look at it; it may tell us +something interesting." + +They rode close to it and the plainsman nodded in quick understanding. + +"That bull was killed by an Indian," he said. "Notice that it faces the +west? They place them that way to propitiate their gods. A skull hardly +lasts more than three years on the prairie, which means that this animal +was killed about that long ago. It is more than likely that he was an +old, renegade bull, wandering far from the herd to die alone. The +significant fact is, however, that not more than three years ago he +grazed here and was here killed by an Indian; coupled to that is another +significant fact, about one hundred thousand buffalo skins are taken to +the settlements every year. Remembering both those facts and adding +another, that it will be some days before we see even such a bull on the +very outskirts of the buffalo range, what does it mean? And here is a +fact I nearly overlooked; those hundred thousand skins taken each year +are from cow buffalo." He shook his head sadly. "The day of the buffalo, +countless as their numbers still are, is fast setting. Their range is +shrinking hour by hour, almost; and a comparatively few years more will +see them gone. Wait till you witness the brainless slaughter when the +herds are met with. Ah, well, we are a prodigal race, Miss Cooper, +spending our natural heritage with almost a drunken recklessness. If it +were drunken there might be found some excuse for us; but we are doing +it in our sober senses. Excuse me, when I get to thinking along those +lines I'm afraid I get a little fanatical. There's something more +interesting," he said, pointing to the north. "See it?" + +After a moment's intense scrutiny she shook her head, and looked up at +him inquiringly. + +"I forget that you haven't a plainsman's eyes," he laughed, "accustomed +to focussing for long distances. Why, over there, well beyond that +series of flat-topped prairie swells, is a red handkerchief waving +lazily in the air. It is fastened to a ramrod, and I'm willing to bet +that it belongs to Hank Marshall. He has been grumbling about a steady +diet of bacon. Now that we are getting into antelope country, his +disappearance from his trained mules is easily explained. I can promise +you and Uncle Joe antelope meat tonight. He never would have planted +that flag if he hadn't seen his victim; and while we are a long way off, +let's ride on so he won't be able to blame us if he fails to get his +shot." + +Patience was laughing heartily, and hurriedly explained the cause of her +mirth. + +"I saw him tie the bell to that old mule's neck. The sudden pride she +showed, the quick alertness of the other seven, and the satisfaction +shared equally by the mules and your partner was one of the most +ludicrous sights I've ever seen. When Uncle Joe, who was in his best +vein, explained the whole affair, I laughed until I cried. Is it true +that the seven worshipers won't leave her?" + +Tom, laughing in sympathy with her mirth, nodded. "Picket her, with her +bell on, and we can let the others graze without hobbles or ropes. They +won't leave her. Don't ask me why, for if you do I can only answer by +saying that they have been trained that way; why it is possible for them +to be trained in such a way, and so easily, is beyond me. When we left +Independence Hank and I caught many a scornful glance directed at our +_atejo_, for I must confess that it was made up of eight scarecrows; but +handsome is as handsome does, and now our pack train troubles are +confined solely to packing and unpacking the animals. We don't even have +to remember what pack or _aparejo_ belongs to each mule; they know their +own unerringly, and will shower kicks on any careless or stupid +companion who blunders up to the wrong pack. Perhaps you've heard that +mules are stupid; that's something that you can discount heavily. They +are stupid only when it serves their purpose." He laughed again. "We +have one mule that takes a thrashing every morning, regular as a clock. +Hank calls him 'Dummy,' but I am not sure that he is well named. I can't +decide whether he is dumb or perverse. But the fact remains that he +never selects his own pack, and gets kicked along the line until he +reaches it by elimination. I shall enjoy studying him as we go along." + +As they jogged on, a strip of timber running almost at right angles to +their course and thinning out to the north in about the same proportion +that it thickened to the south, came in sight and Tom knew it to be +Cottonwood Creek, and their last glimpse of the waters of the Neosho. He +well remembered the somewhat sharp bend formed by it on the farther +side, which was taken advantage of by some caravans and the corral +formation ignored. A line of closely spaced wagons across the neck of +the bend made corral enough. + +"Well, we better get back to the caravan," he said. "While the creek is +all right there are many who are only waiting for a chance to cry that +the officers are remiss in their duties. I'll leave you with your uncle, +well guarded by six trusty knights, and go ahead with the advance +guard." + +She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and the repression of +her smile did not seriously affect the witchery of the dimples. + +"I was a little afraid that I might become lonesome on this long +journey; but things have turned out splendidly. Don't you think Dr. +Whiting has a very distinguished air?" + +"Very; it would distinguish him out of hundreds," replied Tom, scowling +at the timber fringe ahead. "He is quite impressive when he is silent. +It's a pity he doesn't realize it." + +He turned in the saddle and looked behind. "What did I say? There comes +Hank, with an antelope slung before his saddle. I doubt if the doctor +would need the red handkerchief; antelope are notoriously affected by +anything curious." + +She turned away and regarded the caravan studiously. "Isn't every man +expected to do his share in the general duties?" she asked. + +"Yes; but most of them dodge obligations. When we left Council Grove +more than half of the members of the train were friendly to Woodson. By +the time we leave Cimarron his friends will be counted on the fingers of +your two hands. That is only what he expects, so it won't come as an +unpleasant surprise." + +"What is the doctor's party supposed to do?" + +"Two of them have been assigned to the rear guard; the other four, to +our right flank. They can be excused somewhat because of their +greenness. Besides, they only came along for the fun of it. In the +college of life they are only freshmen. Its seriousness hasn't sunk in +yet. The majority of the shirkers should know better, and have their +fortunes, meagre as they may be, at stake. Well, here we are. You don't +know how much I've enjoyed our ride. Uncle Joe," he said as Patience +settled into the wagon seat, "here she is, safe and sound. I'll drop +around with some antelope meat by the time you have your fire going." + +"It's been ten years since I've broiled game over a fire," chuckled the +driver. "I'm anxious to get my hand in again. Thank you, Tom." + +Tom fastened the horse to the rear of the wagon, waved to his friends, +and loped ahead toward the nearing creek. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +INDIAN COUNTRY + + +After an enjoyable supper of antelope meat, Hank Marshall drifted over +to visit Zeb Houghton and Jim Ogden, and judging from the hilarity +resulting from his call, it was very successful. The caravan was now +approaching the Indian country and was not very far from the easternmost +point where traders had experienced Indian deviltry. Neither he nor his +friends were satisfied with the way guard was kept at night, and he +believed that a little example was worth a deal of precept. On his way +back to his own part of the encampment he dropped over to pay a short +visit to some tenderfeet, two of whom were to mount guard that night. +Jim Ogden, sauntering past, discovered him and wandered over to borrow a +pipeful of tobacco. + +"Wall," said Ogden, seating himself before the cheerful fire, "'twon't +be long now afore we git inter buffaler country, an' kin eat food as is +food. Arter ye sink yer teeth inter fat cow an' chaw a tongue or two, +ye'll shore forgit what settlement beef tastes like. That right, Hank?" + +"It's shore amazin' how much roast hump ribs a man kin store away +without feelin' it," replied Hank. "But thar's allus one drawback ter +gittin' inter th' buffaler range; whar ye find buffaler ye find Injuns, +an' nobody kin tell what an Injun's goin' ter do. If they only try ter +stampede yer critters yer gittin' off easy. Take a Pawnee war-party, +headin' fer th' Comanche or Kiowa country, fer instance. Thar off fer +ter steal hosses; but thar primed ter fight. If thar strong enough a +caravan'll look good ter 'em. One thing ye want ter remember: if th' +Injuns ain't strong, don't ye pull trigger too quick; as long as yer +rifle's loaded thar'll be plumb respectful, but soon's she's empty, look +out." + +"I've been expecting to see them before this," said one of the hosts. + +"Wall, from now on mebby ye won't have ter strain yer eyes," Hank +remarked. "They like these hyar timber fringes, whar they kin sneak +right up under yer nose. They got one thing in thar favor, in attackin' +at night; th' twang o' a bowstring ain't heard very fur; but onct ye +hear it ye'll never fergit th' sound. Ain't that so, Jim?" + +Jim nodded. "Fer one, I'm keepin' an eye open from now on. Wall, reckon +I'll be movin' on." + +"Where do you expect to run into Indians?" asked one of the men near the +fire. + +Jim paused, half turned and seemed to be reflecting. "'Most any time, +now. Shore ter git signs o' 'em at th' little Arkansas, couple o' days +from now. May run inter 'em at Turkey Creek, tomorrow night." + +Hank arose, emptied his pipe, and looked at Jim. "Jine ye, fur's our +fire," he said, and the two friends strolled away. They had not been +gone long when two shadowy figures met and stopped not far from the +tenderfeet's fire, and held a low-voiced conversation, none of which, +however, was too low to be overheard at the fire. + +"How'd'y, Tom." + +"How'd'y, Zeb." + +"On watch ter night?" + +"No; you?" + +"No. Glad of it." + +"Me, too." + +"This is whar Taos Bill war sculped, ain't it?" + +"They killed 'im but didn't git his ha'r." + +"How'd it happen?" + +"Owl screeched an' a wolf howled. Bill snuk off ter find out about it." + +"Arrer pizened?" + +"Yes; usually air." + +"Whar ye goin'?" + +"Ter th' crick fer water." + +"I'm goin' ter see th' capting. Good night." + +"Good night; wish it war good mornin', Zeb." + +"Me, too. Good night." + +At that instant an owl screeched, the quavering, eerie sound softened by +distance. + +"Hear that?" + +The mournful sound of a wolf floated through the little valley. + +"An' that? Wolves don't generally answer owls, do they?" + +"Come along ter th' crick, Zeb. Thar ain't no tellin'." + +"I'm with ye," and the two figures moved silently away. + +The silence around the camp-fire was profound and reflective, but there +was some squirming and surreptitious examination of caps and flints. The +questioning call of the hoot owl was answered by a weird, uncanny, +succession of sharp barks growing closer and faster, ending in a +mournful, high-pitched, long-drawn, quavering howl. The noisy activity +of the encampment became momentarily slowed and then went on again. + +The first guard came off duty with an apparent sense of relief and grew +very loquacious. One of them joined the silent circle of tenderfeet +around the blazing fire. + +"Phew!" he grunted as he sat down. "Hear those calls?" His question +remained unanswered, but he did not seem surprised. "When you go on, +Doc?" he asked. + +"One o'clock," answered Dr. Whiting. He looked around pityingly. +"Calls?" he sneered. "Don't you know an owl or a wolf when you hear +one?" There was a lack of sincerity in his voice which could not be +disguised. The doctor was like the boy who whistled when going through +the woods. + +Midnight came and went, and half an hour later the corporal of the next +watch rooted out his men and led them off to relieve the present guard. +He cautioned them again against standing up. + +"To a Injun's eyes a man standin' up on th' prairie is as plain as +Chimbly Rock," he asserted. "Besides, ye kin see a hull lot better if +yer eyes air clost ter th' ground, lookin' agin' th' horizon. Don't git +narvous, an' don't throw th' camp inter a scare about nothin'." + +An hour later an owl hooted very close to Dr. Whiting and he sprang to +his feet. As he did so he heard the remarkably well imitated twang of a +bowstring, and his imagination supplied his own interpretation to the +sound passing his ear. Before he could collect his panic-stricken senses +he was seized from behind and a moment later, bound with rawhide and +gagged with buckskin, he lay on his back. A rough hand seized his hair +at the same instant that something cold touched his scalp. At that +moment his attacker sneezed, and a rough, tense voice growled a +challenge from the darkness behind him. + +"Who's thar?" called Tom Boyd, the clicking of his rifle hammers sharp +and ominous. + +The hand clutching the doctor's hair released it and the action was +followed by a soft and hurried movement through the woods. + +"Who's thar?" came the low growl again, as Tom crept into the bound +man's range of vision and peered into the blackness of the woods. +Waiting a moment, the plainsman muttered something about being mistaken, +and departed silently. + +After an agony of suspense, the bound man heard the approach of another +figure, and soon the corporal of his guard stopped near him and swore +vengefully under his breath as his soft query brought no answer. + +"Cuss him," growled Ogden, angrily. "He's snuk back ter camp. I'll peg +his pelt out ter dry, come daylight." He moved forward to continue his +round of inspection and stumbled over the doctor's prostrate form. In a +flash the corporal's knife was at the doctor's throat. "Who air ye?" he +demanded fiercely. The throaty, jumbled growls and gurgles which +answered him apprised him of the situation, and he lost no time in +removing the gag and cutting the thongs which bound the sentry. "Thar, +now," he said in a whisper. "Tell me about it." + +The doctor's account was vivid and earnest and one of his hands was +pressed convulsively against his scalp as if he feared it would leave +him. + +Ogden heard him through patiently, grunting affirmatively from time to +time. "Jest what I told th' boys," he commented. "Wall, I reckon they +war scared away. Couldn't 'a' been many, or they'd 'a' rushed us. It war +a scatterin' bunch o' bucks, lookin' fer a easy sculp, or a chanct ter +stampede th' animals. Thievin' Pawnees, I reckon. Mebby they'll come +back ag'in: we'll wait right hyar fer 'em, dang thar eyes." + +"Ain't you going to alarm the camp?" incredulously demanded the doctor, +having hard work to keep his teeth from chattering. + +"What in tarnation fer? Jest 'cause a couple o' young bucks nigh got yer +h'ar? Hell, no; we'll wait right hyar an' git 'em if they come back." + +"Do you think they will?" asked the doctor, trying to sound fierce and +eager. + +"Can't never tell what a Injun'll do. They left ye tied up, an' mebby +want yer h'ar plumb bad. Reckon mebby I ought ter go 'round an' warn th' +rest o' th' boys ter keep thar eyes peeled an' look sharp fer 'em; +'specially them nigh th' animals. Bet ye stood up when ye heard 'em?" + +"Yes, I did; but I'll never do it again!" + +"Thought so. Now you lay low out hyar till I tells th' others. Be back +soon," and before any reply could be made the corporal had become +swallowed up in the night. The weather was not warm, yet Doctor Whiting +sweat copiously, and after he had been relieved and sent back to the +encampment he had great trouble in falling asleep. + +Hank Marshall slipped up behind Jim Ogden as that person came in, and +imitated the significant twang. Jim jumped a foot in the air and then +bent over, convulsed with silent laughter. + +"Dang ye, Hank; I don't know how ye do it!" he exclaimed. "I never heard +th' like. Thar'll be one bunch o' greenhorns lyin' flat, an' all eyes +an' ears from now on. I war weak from laughin' afore I went out to +stumble over him. When th' guard war changed they couldn't hardly find +him, he war spread out so flat. Jest like a new born buffaler calf that +its maw has cached in a bunch o' grass. Bet ye could fool an Injun with +that thar twang." + +"I've did it," said Hank, chuckling. + +The next morning Dr. Whiting was quite a hero, and as the caravan left +the creek he rode by the side of Patience, talking until he had +thoroughly exhausted the subject. After he had left her to go +helter-skeltering over the prairie a mile ahead in eager and hopeful +search of buffalo, Hank Marshall rode up to the wagon and took his +place. + +He listened to Patience's excited comment about the doctor's narrow +escape, and then, picking up the reins, twanged sharply, winked at her, +and rode off to the flanking line. She stared after him for a moment and +then stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth. When she had command over +herself again she turned indignantly toward her chuckling uncle. + +"Just the same, it was a mean trick!" she declared. + +"Giddap," said Uncle Joe, and chuckled all the more. + +"But it was!" + +"It learned 'em all a lesson," he replied. "May save their fool lives, +and ours, too. Giddap!" + +It was a long haul to Turkey Creek, but the caravan made it and was +corralled before dark. Buffalo signs had been seen shortly before the +creek was reached, and when old Indian signs were found near the camp +site, the day's excitement took on new life. A broken lodge-pole, some +odds and ends of tanned hides and a discarded moccasin, somehow +overlooked by the Indians' dogs, were discovered near the blackened +spots on the prairie where camp-fires had burned. The night passed +quietly, every sentry flat against the earth and trying to rob the +senses of smell and touch to enrich those of sight and hearing. + +In leaving the creek, the two column formation was abandoned and the +wagons rolled up the little divide in four evenly spaced divisions. +There was some semblance of flankers and a rear guard now, and even the +cannons were not forsaken. Then came the great moment. + +Two hours after the creek had been left the first herd of buffalo was +sighted. That it was a small one and more likely to provide tough bull +rather than fat cow, made no difference; rear guard, flankers, and +cannon were forgotten in one mad, frantic, and ridiculous rush. Men +dashed off toward the herd without even their pistols. In ten minutes a +moderate sized war-party could have swept down on the caravan and had +things nearly their own way. There would have been no buffalo meat in +camp that night except that the experienced hunters with the advance +guard managed to down two cows and three bulls before the yelling, +excitement-maddened crowd stampeded the little herd and drove it all +over the prairie. + +One tenderfoot, better mounted than his fellows, managed to keep up with +a running bull, firing ball after ball into it as fast as he could +re-load. He was learning that a bull-buffalo was a hard animal to kill, +and when it finally wheeled and charged him, he also learned that it was +willing to fight when goaded and made desperate with wounds. Another +greenhorn, to get better aim, dismounted and knelt on the earth. With +the roar of his gun his horse, with all its trappings, gave one snort +and ran away, joining the herd and running with it. It was an hour +before anyone had time to listen to his entreaties, and then it was too +late to go after the runaway animal. He hoofed it back to the caravan, +an angry but wiser man, and was promptly robbed by the man from whom he +bought a horse. + +It was an open question whether buffalo tongue or beaver tail was the +better eating, but no one in the caravan had any fault to find with the +portions of buffalo meat which fell to their lot. Despite the toughness +and tastelessness of the old bull meat, it was the first fresh meat they +had enjoyed since leaving Independence, with the exception of the few +who had shared in Hank's antelope, and its poor qualities were +overlooked. No one had a chance to gorge himself and to learn that +overeating of buffalo flesh causes no distress. They found the meat with +the fat and lean more intermixed, juicier, and of a coarser grain than +beef. The choice bits were from the tongue, the udder came next in +merit, followed by the hump-ribs, tenderloins, and marrow bones. They +were fortunate in the selection of the bulls which had been killed, for +they were quite fat and in this condition ran the cow meat a close race; +all but one old bull, which was tough and stringy beyond belief. Despite +the fact that the next camp spot was not very far ahead, the caravan +nooned on the open prairie for the cooking of the fresh meat. + +The captain signalled for the four-square corral and the evolution was +creditably performed. The animals were unhitched and staked outside the +enclosure and soon many fires were burning around the encampment and the +savory odors of broiling buffalo meat arose on all sides. Coffee pots +steeped or boiled at every fire, for coffee was the one unstinted drink +of the caravan. It was not long before the encampment was surrounded by +groups seated around the fires, most of the men eating with their +fingers, Indian fashion, and from the universal satisfaction shown it +was evident that buffalo meat had been given a high place by every +palate. In contrast to a steady diet of bacon it was a feast fit for +epicures. The travelers cared little about their good fortune in finding +cows with the first small herd, instead of the usual vanguard or outpost +of bulls, for the cows had been there and they had obtained two of them. +Two hours later the caravan was moving again, and late that afternoon +reached the Little Arkansas, where the first trouble with a treacherous +river bed was experienced. + +Knowing what was in store for them, the captain and his lieutenants went +ahead with a force of workers to cut a way through the steep banks and +to bridge the muddy bed. They found that the banks had been cut by the +preceding caravan, but the causeway by now was useless, except as a +foundation for a new one. The stream was not very wide, but made up for +that by the meanness of its bottom. The trees and brush along the banks +provided material for the temporary causeway and it did not take long to +build up a "bridge." + +The more or less easy-going manner of the captain changed here and his +commands had a snap to them that should have given them an unquestioned +weight. Because of the restricted space chosen for the camp, the +circular corral was formed, and as the divisions reached and crossed the +causeway they fell in behind the last wagon of the one ahead and crawled +around until the circle was complete and compact. All animals were to be +staked outside the circle until twilight and then driven inside and +hobbled for the night. Care was taken to see that there were but few +gaps between the wagons and that those were securely closed by chains. + +The length of the first tour of guard duty was increased considerably, +for the first watch went on as soon as the wagons stopped. They were +getting fairly into the Indian country now. Directly north of them lay +the range of the Pawnees; to the west of that the home of the Cheyennes; +directly west of the Little Arkansas roamed the Arapahoes, and to the +southwest were the Kiowas and Comanches, both of the latter superb +cavalrymen. The last three tribes were being stirred by jealous New +Mexicans to harass the caravans. And the interest of all these tribes, +and of others beyond them in several directions, was centered on the +prairie between the Little Arkansas and the valley of the Arkansas, +eastward from where the latter river left the mountains. This was the +great range of the buffalo, and the buffalo was food, clothing, +habitation, and figured very largely in other necessaries of the savage +tribes. + +The peculiar, curving, and ever-shifting migration of the great herds +was followed by hunting parties, which became war-parties in a wink. +Many were the bloody battles fought between the tribes on that stretch +of prairie between the Little Arkansas and the two Coon Creeks. The +Pawnees claimed sovereignty over that part of the country around Pawnee +Rock, but it was one that the tribe did not dare to enjoy with any +degree of permanence. Raiding parties from the south, west, and north +constantly challenged their title, and because of these collisions +hardly a hunting party dared show itself unless in strength. There were, +it is true, small bands roaming the plains, especially after dark, which +traveled on foot; but these were out with the avowed and set purpose of +stealing horses, on which, if successful, they made their escape and +rode home. This especially was a Pawnee trick, and especially adept were +the Pawnees in creeping up to a herd of draft animals and stampeding the +whole bunch. More than one party of traders had thus been left afoot in +mid-prairie and forced to abandon what they could not carry on their +backs. While the Pawnee country was supposed to be north of the Platte, +up around the Loup Fork, they often raided in force well into the +Comanche and Apache country and were as much at home on the south side +of the Arkansas River as on any other part of the plains. + +When the orders came to drive the animals inside the corral and hobble +them, there was a great deal of complaint. It was contended that they +could not get food enough in such a restricted space, crowded as it +would be with horses, oxen, and mules; that they would injure each +other; that there would be great trouble in each man getting his own in +the morning; that they would burst through some weak spot and wander +away during the night. To all these objections the captain remained +obdurate. Any man who left his animals outside the corral and lost them +would not be given replacements at the expense of other teams, and could +make what shift he thought best for the transportation of his +merchandise. + +Tom and his trapper friends, with some of the more experienced traders, +went among the grumblers and labored with them, preaching that from now +on the utmost, unremitting vigilance would be necessary day and night, +for the danger of losing the animals would grow with every mile and +would not cease until the Mexican settlements were nearly in sight. And +the worse the weather was, the greater would be the need to be alert; +for with tumultuous Nature to arouse the excitability of the animals and +to mask the movements of the Indians, a savage raid would scarcely fail +to cause a wholesale stampede unless the strictest watch was maintained. +To make up for the poor grazing inside the corralled wagons, the +picketing outside the circle in the evening would be supplemented by +more grazing on the outside before leaving in the morning. This would +necessitate later starts, but it could not be avoided. + +Tom and Hank were not quite through eating their evening meal when Pedro +paid them a visit. + +"Ah, senores," he beamed, "I haf laughed thees day! Just like my Mexico +eet was to see thee _atejo_ that you haf! Thee _mulera_ weeth her seven +childr-ren mar-rching behind her like _soldats_!" He leaned back and +laughed heartily, his teeth gleaming like old ivory. + +Hank grinned and glanced at Tom. "If she'd only lead 'em 'round th' +customs we'd think a hull lot more o' her. It riles me ter have ter pay +ter git our goods inter a town arter such hard work gittin' 'em _to_ +it." + +"Ah," replied Pedro, smiling broadly. "That ees thee law," he reproved +them. "But I deed not know you were going to Santa Fe, senores. Eet was +said somewhere, by somebody, I do not remember who, that you were going +to thee Senor Bent on thee Arkansas. To hunt and to tr-rap, was eet +not?" + +Tom emptied his pipe and blew through the stem. "No," he said. "We're +goin' ter Santa Fe. After we sell th' goods we aim ter go up ter Bent's +for th' fall an' winter huntin' an' trappin'. Takes a lot o' money ter +outfit two men th' way they should be, fer a hull season in the +mountains." He grinned. "That's why we're packin' goods ter Santa Fe. +Got to raise some money." Arising he nodded to his guest. "Now, if ye'll +excuse me, friend, I'll leave ye with Hank. See ye later, mebby?" + +Pedro nodded and laughed heartily, wagging an accusing finger at the +young plainsman. "Ah, what should keep a br-rave _caballero_ from sooch +a senorita! Pedro has eyes, senor; an' Pedro, he weesh you ver' _mucho_ +luck. He weesh you so ver' _mucho_ luck that per-rhaps he can get you +past those customs. Of thees we weel talk more, eh?" + +Hank slapped his leg and pushed his plug of tobacco into the visitor's +hands. "Smoke some of that thar Virginny, friend," he urged. "Ye'll find +it some better than that thar husk, or willer bark you people smoke." He +looked at his partner and chuckled. "These hyar young fellers, now; thar +jest ain't no holdin' 'em." + +Pedro thought that this particular young "feller" was going to be held +very securely before he saw Santa Fe, but he grinned and waved his hand, +and after Tom had disappeared among the wagons he turned toward the +hunter. + +"Has Senor Boyd ever been een our Santa Fe?" he asked in polite +curiosity. + +Hank nodded carelessly. "He war thar some years back." + +"Perhaps then I can show heem a new way to thee city," said Pedro, +significantly. "One that my br-rother knows ver' good. Thee knowledge of +thees tr-rail ees of _mucho_ less cost than thee customs that you an' me +like so leetle. But of thees we weel talk more some other time. I must +leeve you, senor. _Adios._" + +"_Adios_, senor," beamed Hank, again offering the plug. + +After a quiet night and a somewhat later start than usual, the day's run +to Cow Creek began, and not five miles from the camp site a sizable herd +of buffalo was sighted. The same thing took place again, the same +confusion, the same senseless chasing without weapons, but this time +there was added the total abandonment of several wagons while the +drivers, unhitching one animal, grabbed guns and joined in the attack, +not realizing that mules hardly were suited for chasing an animal which, +clumsy as it appeared, nearly equalled a horse in speed when once +started on its awkward gallop. But in the results of the chase there was +one noticeable difference between this and the previous hunt, for the +green nimrods had asked questions of the hunters since their first try +at the prairie cattle, and they had cherished the answers. They no +longer fired blindly, after the first flush of their excitement died +down, for now they ranged up alongside their lumbering victims from the +rear and aimed a little behind the short ribs, or a few inches above +the brisket and behind the shoulder. And this hunt was a great success +from the standpoint of the plainsmen who had bought Colt's newfangled +repeating pistols, for they proved their deadliness in such capable +hands, and speeded up the kill. + +A group of tenderfeet watched an old hunter butcher a fat cow in almost +the time it takes to tell of it, slitting the skin along the spine from +the shoulder to the tail, and down in front of the shoulder and around +the neck. He removed it as far down as the brisket and laid the freed +skin on the ground to receive the fleece from along the spine, the +protruding hump ribs, which he severed with a tomahawk; and then he +added the liver, tongue, kidneys, certain parts of the intestine, and +one shoulder. Severing the other shoulder and cutting the skin free on +both sides of the body, he bundled up the choice cuts in it, carried it +to his horse and returned to camp. In a few moments the butchering +became general, and soon the triumphant hunters returned to the wagons +with fresh meat enough to provide an unstinted feast for the entire +caravan. + +The journey was resumed and the twenty miles to Cow Creek was made in +good time. Here the difficulties of the Little Arkansas were again met +and conquered and the wagons corralled before dark. + +It was at this camp that Tom and Hank became certain that they were +being spied upon by Pedro and his companions. Seated around their fire, +smoking with deep content after a heavy meal of fresh buffalo meat, Hank +began to push his foot back and forth on the ground, making deeper and +deeper, longer and longer, the groove his moccasin heel was slowly +wearing in the soft earth. Finally his foot touched his companion's knee +but, without pausing, kept wearing down the groove. + +"Th' geese went over early this year," he said, looking up at the starry +sky. "Reckon we'll have th' hot weather a leetle ahead o' time on th' +Dry Route." + +Tom did not change a muscle as the familiar, warning sentence struck his +ears. "Yes," he replied. "Be glad when I gits inter Santa Fe, with th' +cool mountains all around. Reckon you'll spend most o' your time playin' +_monte_, an' be clean busted when it's time ter hit th' trail fer +Bent's." + +Hank laughed softly. "Did I hear ye say Jim Ogden had some good likker?" +he asked. + +"That's what I said." + +"'Tain't none o' that thar Taos lightnin'?" skeptically inquired Hank. + +"How could it be, him jest a-comin' from Missouri?" + +"Wall," chuckled Hank, slowly rising. "Reckon I'll wander over an' see +fer myself. Jim must be considerable lonesome, 'bout now." + +"Must be, with only Zeb, Alonzo, Enoch, and a passel o' them fool +tenderfeet a-settin' 'round his fire," snorted Tom. "Go ahead an' git +yer likker; I'll wait fer ye hyar." + +It was only a few minutes later when Hank returned, shaking his head. +"All gone," he mourned, and sat down again, regarding the dying embers. +"Jest my luck." + +Tom laughed. "Yer better off without it," he replied, and communed with +his thoughts. + +Minutes passed in reflective silence and then Jim Ogden loomed up beside +them. "Come on over," he invited, grinning. "Thar warn't no use showin' +a bottle with them thirsty greenhorns settin' 'round ter lick it up. Now +that thar gone, we'll pass it 'round." + +Hank looked knowingly at his partner as he hastily arose, and the three +went off together. When half way to the other fire Jim spoke in a low +voice. + +"He war thar, Hank; layin' in that little gully, watchin' ye like ye war +pizen." He turned to Tom. "Shall we go an' drag him out?" + +"No," answered Tom. "Let him think we don't know nothin' about it. Him +an' his trail inter Santa Fe! Reckons mebby that if them barefoot +soldiers try ter take us in front o' th' caravan they'll get a good +lickin'; but if he can coax us off from th' rest, he kin run us inter an +ambush. If thar's airy way inter Santa Fe that we don't know, I'm danged +if _he_ knows it! Let him spy on us, now that we know he's doin' it. +Thankee, Jim." + +By the time they had reached Jim's little fire a figure was wriggling +down the gully, and at an opportune time arose to hands and knees and +scurried to the shelter of Franklin's wagons, a smile on its face. Now +it was certain that Tom Boyd was going through to Santa Fe, and all +would be well. He chuckled as he recalled what he had said about the +Mexican troops not meeting the caravan until Point of Rocks was reached; +they would meet the train at any point his messenger told them to. + +At Cow Creek another quiet night was followed by another delayed start +and shortly after noon the vanguard raised a shout of elation, which +sent every mounted man racing ahead; and the sight repaid them for their +haste. + +Under their eyes lay the Arkansas River, dotted with green islands, its +channel four or five hundred yards wide, and so shallow that at normal +stage it was formidable at many points. While its low, barren banks, +only occasionally tinted with the green of cottonwoods, were desolate in +appearance, they had a beauty peculiar and striking. As far as the eye +could see spread the sand-hills and hillocks, like waves of some pale +sea, here white and there yellow, accordingly as to how the light was +reflected from them. Its appearance had been abrupt, the prairie floor +rising slightly to the crumbling edge, below which and at some distance +flowed the river, here forming the international boundary between Texas +and the United States. While territorially Texas lay across the river, +according to Texan claims, actually, so far as supervision was +concerned, it was Mexico, for the Texan arm was yet too short to +dominate it and the ordinary traveler let it keep its original name. + +While its northern bank was almost destitute of timber, the southern one +showed scattered clumps of cottonwood, protected from the devastating +prairie fires from the North not only by the river itself, but also by +the barren stretch of sand, over which the fires died from starvation. +To the right of the caravan lay the grassy, green rolls of the prairie, +to an imaginative eye resembling the long swells of some great sea; on +the left a ribbon of pale tints, from gleaming whites to light golds +which varied with the depths of the water and the height and position of +the sun. Massive sand dunes, glittering in the sunlight made a rampart +which stretched for miles up and down the river and struck the eye with +the actinic power of pure, drifted snow. Here the nature of the prairie +changed, losing its rich, luxuriant verdure, for here the short buffalo +grass began to dominate to a noticeable extent. + +The excitement spread. Eager couriers raced back to the plodding caravan +to tell the news. Some of the more impressionable forthwith rode toward +the river, only a few yards away, hot to be the first to splash in its +waters; but they found that prairie air was deceptive and that the +journey over the rolling hillocks was a great deal longer than they had +thought. But a few miles meant nothing to them and they pushed on, +careless of Comanche, Kiowa, or Pawnee Picts, some with their guns empty +from the salute they had fired at sight of the stream. The caravan kept +stolidly on, following a course roughly paralleling the river and not +stopping until evening found it on the far side of Walnut Creek after +they had crossed a belt of such poor grass that they had grave doubts +about the pasturage at the encampment; and the flinty, uncompromising +nature of the ground down the slope of the little divide, in which +seemingly for eternity was graven the strands of the mighty trail, +seemed to justify their fears. But then, while they were worrying the +most, the grass improved and when they had crossed the creek not far +from its mouth they found themselves in a little, timber-fringed valley +thick with tall grass. And they now had entered one of the great danger +spots of the long trail. + +Hank Marshall got his fire started in a hurry while his partner looked +after the pack mules; and when Tom came back to attend to the fire and +prepare the supper, Hank dug into his "possible" sack and produced some +line and a fish hook. Making a paste of flour, he mixed it with some +dried moss he had put away and saved for this use. Rolling the little +doughballs and hardening them over the fire he soon strode off up the +creek, looking wise but saying nothing; and a quarter of an hour later +he returned with three big catfish, one of which he ate after he had +consumed a generous portion of buffalo hump-ribs; and he followed the +fish by a large tongue raked out of the ashes of the fire. To judge from +his expression he had enjoyed a successful and highly gratifying day, +and since he was heavy and drowsy with his gorging and had to go on +watch that night, he rolled up in his blanket under a wagon and despite +the noise on all sides of him, fell instantly asleep. He had "set +hisself" to awaken at eleven o'clock, which he would do almost on the +minute and be thoroughly wide awake. + +Fearing for the alertness of the sentries that night, a number of +plainsmen and older traders agreed upon doing duty out of their turns +and followed Hank's example, "settin'" themselves to awaken at different +hours; and despite these precautions had a band of Pawnees discovered +the camp that night they most certainly would have been blessed with +success; and no one understood why the camp had not been discovered, for +the crawling train made a mark on the prairie that could not be missed +by savage eyes miles away. + +Because of the height and the luxuriance of the grass within the corral +the morning feeding, beyond the time needed for getting ready to leave, +was dispensed with and the train got off to an early start, fairly +embarked on the eastern part of the great buffalo range and a section of +the trail where Indians could be looked for in formidable numbers. + +This great plain fairly was crowded with bison and was dark with them as +far as the eye could see. They could be numbered by the tens of +thousands and actually impeded the progress of the caravan and +threatened constant danger from their blind, unreasoning stampedes which +the draft animals seemed anxious to join. Because of the matted hair in +front of their eyes their vision was impaired; and the keenness of their +scent often hurled them into dangers which a clearer eyesight would have +avoided. So great did this danger become shortly after the train had +left the valley of the Walnut that the rear guard, which had grown +slightly as the days passed, now was sent out to protect the flanks and +to strengthen the vanguard, which had fallen back within a few hundred +feet of the leading wagons. Time after time the stupid beasts barely +were kept from crashing blindly into the train, and the wagoners had the +most trying and tiring day of the whole journey. + +Several bands of Indians at times were seen in the distance pursuing +their fleeing game, but all were apparently too busy to bother with the +caravan, which they knew would stop somewhere for the night. No longer +was there any need to freight buffalo meat to the wagons; for so many of +the animals were killed directly ahead that the wagoners only had to +check their teams and help each other butcher and load. This constant +stopping, now one wagon and now another, threw the train out of all +semblance of order and it wandered along the trail with its divisions +mixed, which caused the sweat to stand out on the worried captain's +forehead. His lieutenants threatened and swore and pleaded and at last, +after the wagons had all they could carry of the meat, managed to get +four passable divisions in somewhat presentable order. + +While the caravan shuffled itself, chased buffalo out of the way, turned +aside thundering ranks of the formidable-looking beasts, and had a time +hectic enough to suit the most irrational, Pawnee Rock loomed steadily +higher, steadily nearer, and the great sand-hills of the Arkansas +stretched interminably into the West, each fantastic top a glare of +dazzling light. + +Well to the North, rising by degrees out of the prairie floor, and +gradually growing higher and bolder as they neared the trail and the +river, were a series of hills which terminated abruptly in a rocky cliff +frowning down upon the rutted wagon road. From the distance the mirage +magnified the ascending hills until they looked like some detached +mountain range, which instead of growing higher as it was approached, +shrunk instead. It was a famous landmark, silent witness of many bloody +struggles, as famous on this trail as was Chimney Rock and Courthouse +Rock along the great emigrant trail going up the Platte; but compared to +them in height it was a dwarf. Here was a lofty perch from which the +eagle eyes of Indian sentries could descry crawling caravans and pack +trains, in either direction, hours before they reached the shadow of the +rocky pile; and from where their calling smoke signals could be seen for +miles around. + +Two trails passed it, one east and west; the other, north and south. The +former, cut deep, honest in its purpose and plainness, here crossed the +latter, which was an evanescent, furtive trail, as befits a pathway to +theft and bloodshed, and one made by shadowy raiders as they flitted to +and from the Kiowa-Comanche country and the Pawnee-Cheyenne; only marked +at intervals by the dragging ends of the lodgepoles of peacefully +migrating Indian villages, and even then pregnant with danger. Other +eyes than those of the prairie tribes had looked upon it, other blood +had been spilled there, for distant as it was from the Apaches, and +still more distant from the country of the Utes, war parties of both +these tribes had accepted the gage of battle there flung down. On the +rugged face of the rock itself human conceit had graven human names, and +to be precise as to the date of their foolishness, had added day, month, +and year. + +While speaking of days, months, and years it may not be amiss to say +that regarding the latter division of time the caravan was fortunate. +Troubles between Indians and whites developed slowly during the history +of the Trail, from the earlier days of the fur trains and the first of +the traders' caravans, when Indian troubles were hardly more than an +occasional attempted theft, in many cases successful, but seemingly +without that lust for blood on both sides which was to come later. After +the wagon period begun there was a slight increase, due to the need +which certain white men found for shooting game. If game were scarce, +what could be more interesting when secure from retaliation by the +number of armed and resolute men in the caravans, than to pot-shoot some +curious and friendly savage, or gallantly put to flight a handful of +them? The ungrateful savages remembered these pleasantries and were +prone to retaliate, which caused the death of quite a few honest and +innocent whites who followed later. The natural cupidity of the Indian +for horses, his standard of wealth, received a secondary urge, which +later became the principal one, in the days when theft was regarded as a +material reward for killing. While they may have grudged these periodic +crossings of the plains as a trespass, and the wanton slaughter of their +main food supply as a constantly-growing calamity, they still were +keener to steal quietly and get away without bloodshed, and to barter +their dried meat, their dressed hides, their beadwork, and other +manufactures of their busy squaws than to engage in pitched battle at +sight. Had Captain Woodson led a caravan along that same trail twenty or +thirty years later, he would have had good reason to sweat copiously at +the sight of so many dashing savages. + +The captain knew the Indian of his day as well as a white man could. He +knew that they still depended upon trading with the fur companies, with +free trappers and free traders, and needed the white man's goods and +good will; they wanted his trinkets, his tobacco to mix with their inner +bark of the red willow; his powder, muskets, and lead, and, most of all, +his watered alcohol. He knew that a white man could stumble into the +average Indian camp and receive food and shelter, especially among those +tribes not yet prostituted by contact with the frontier; that such a +man's goods would be safe and, if he minded his own business, that he +would be sent on his way again unharmed. But he also knew their lust for +horses and mules; he felt their slowly growing feeling of contempt for +men who would trade them wonderful things for worthless beaver, mink, +and otter skins; and a fortune in trade goods for the pelt of a single +silver fox, which neither was warmer nor more durable than the pelt of +other foxes. And he knew the panicky feeling of self-preservation which +might cause some greenhorn of the caravan to shoot true at the wrong +time. So, without worrying about any "deadly circles" or about any +period of time a score or more years away, he sweat right heartily. And +when at last he drew near to Ash Creek, the later history of which +mercifully was spared him, he sighed with relief but worked with the +energy befitting a man who believed that God helped those who helped +themselves; he hustled the caravan down the slope and across the stream +with a speed not to be lightly scorned when the disorganized arrangement +of the train is considered; and he halted the divisions in a circular +formation with great dispatch, making it the most compact and solid wall +of wagons seen so far on the journey. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +PAWNEES + + +At this Ash Creek camp before the wagoners had unhitched their teams +there was a cordon around the corral made up of every man who could be +spared, and the cannon crews stood silently around their freshly primed +guns. The air of tenseness and expectancy pleased Woodson, for it was an +assurance that there would be no laxity about this night's watch. With +the animals staked as close to the wagons as practicable, which caused +some encroachments and several fist fights between jealous wagoners, the +fires soon were cooking supper for squads of men from the sentry line; +and as soon as all had eaten and the camp was not distracted by too many +duties, the cordon thinned until it was composed of a double watch. +Before dusk the animals were driven inside, secured by side-line +hobbles, which are much more effective than hobbling the forelegs, and +all gaps were closed as tightly as possible. + +The evening shadows darkened and ran into blackness; the night wind +crept among the branches of the thin line of trees on both banks of the +creek and made soft soughings in the tall, thick grass; overhead the sky +first darkened and then grew lighter, shot with myriads of stars, which +gleamed as only prairie stars can; and among them, luminous and bright, +lay the Milky Way. The creek murmured in musical tones as it fretted at +some slight obstruction and all nature seemed to be at peace. Then +sounded the howl of a buffalo wolf, the gray killer of the plains, deep, +throaty, full, and followed by a quick slide up the scale with a ringing +note that the bluffs and mountains love to toss back and forth. Yet it +was somehow different. Woodson and his trapper aides, seated together +against a wagon, stirred and glanced sidewise at each other. Not one of +them had felt the reflex answer of his spine and hair; not one of them +had thrilled. A simple lack; but a most enlightening one. + +Franklin bit into a plug of tobacco, pushed the mouthful into his cheek +with deft tongue, and crossed his legs the other way. "Hell!" he +growled. "Reckon we're in fer it." + +"They jest can't git it _all_ in, kin they?" commented Zeb Houghton, +coming up. + +"No," answered Tom Boyd. "They leave out th' best part o' it." He +glanced in the direction of the nearest fringe of trees, noisy +cottonwoods all, and shook his head. "We been havin' too fine a stretch +o' weather. Hear them trees? In two hours it'll be blowin' hard; an' I +kin feel th' rain already." + +From the blackness of the creek there arose a series of short, sharp +barks, faster and faster, higher and higher, the lost-soul howl climbing +to a pitch that was sheer torture to some ears. + +"Kiyote sassin' a gray," chuckled Zeb, ironically. + +"'Upon what meat hath--'" began Tom, and checked the quotation. "He +oughter be tuckin' his tail atween his laigs an' streakin' fer th' +Platte; or mebby _he_ missed somethin', too," he said. "Everythin' else +shuts up when th' gray wolf howls." + +"Doubled watches air not enough fer tonight," growled Woodson, as a +tremulous, high-pitched, chromatic, and descending run in a minor key +floated through the little valley. If it were an imitation of a +screech-owl it was so perfectly done that no man in the caravan could +detect the difference. + +"Us boys will be scoutin' 'round all night," replied Tom. "Hank an' th' +others air gittin' some winks now. I don't look fer no fight afore +daylight; but they'll shore try ter stampede us afore then. Reckon I'll +take a good listen out yonder," he said, and arose. He went to Joe +Cooper's little wagon and was promptly challenged. + +"It's Boyd," he answered. "Stick to the wagon, Uncle Joe. We ain't +looking for any rush before daylight. If one comes Hank and I will get +here quick. Where is Miss Cooper?" + +"In th' wagon, of course!" + +"That's no place for her," retorted Tom. "Those sheets won't stop +arrows. Put her under the wagon, an' hang blankets down th' sides, loose +at th' bottoms. Tight blankets or canvas are little better than paper; +but a loose Mackinaw yields to th' impact somewhat. I've seen a loose +blanket stop a musket ball." + +"Can I do anything useful, Mr. Boyd?" came Patience's voice from the +wagon. "I can load and cap, anyhow." + +Tom's chuckle came straight from his heart. "Not yet, God bless you. +Despite their reputation in some quarters, Pawnees are not the most +daring fighters. Any of the tribes east of the Mississippi are paragons +of courage when compared to these prairie Indians. Pawnees would rather +steal than fight; and they know that this is no helpless caravan, but +one with nearly two hundred armed men. If they were Comanches or Kiowas, +Utes or Apaches, I'd be bothered a lot more than I am now. And they know +that there are two cannons pointing somewhere into the night. All we +have to worry about is our animals." + +The mournful, hair-raising screech of an owl sounded again, and then all +the demons of hell seemed to have broken loose around the camp. The +corralled animals, restless before, now surged one way and now another, +largely cancelling their own efforts because wave met wave; but all the +while they were getting wilder and more frantic and the blood-chilling +yells on all sides finally set them into a sort of rhythm which more and +more became uniform. They surged from one side to the other, striking +the wagons harder and harder. Then the yelling ceased and the Pawnee +whistle was heard. There ensued a few minutes of silence and then the +whistle sounded again. It set off a hellish uproar on one side of the +encampment and the frantic animals whirled and charged in the other +direction. The shock rocked some of the wagons and would have overturned +them but for the great weight of their loads. Anticipating this surge of +the animals some of the traders, told off by the captain, had bound +bundles of twigs and dried grass to long cottonwood sticks and now set +them afire and crawled under the wagons, thrusting the torches into the +faces of the charging mass. This started the animals milling and soon +the whole herd was running in a circle. The stampede had failed. + +Here and there from under the wagons on the threatened side of the +encampment guns stabbed into the night, showing where tenderfeet were +gallantly engaged in guessing matches. Arrows curved over the wagon tops +and some of the torch wavers on the other side of the camp had narrow +escapes before their purpose was accomplished and the torches burned +out. + +A cricket chirped twice and then twice again not far from Joe Cooper's +little wagon, and the alert plainsman crouched behind an outer wheel +answered by three short trills. "Don't shoot, Uncle Joe," Tom softly +called. "That's Hank." + +Hank seemed to be having a hard time of it and made more noise than was +his wont. Alarmed, Tom was about to crawl out and help his friend to the +corral when Hank's querulous complaint barely reached him. + +"Danged if ye ain't so plumb full o' buffaler meat ye nigh weigh a ton," +growled the hunter. "Yourn as heavy as mine, Jim?" + +"Wuss," complacently answered Ogden. + +"Huh!" snorted another voice, crowding so much meaning into the grunt +that he had the best of the little exchange and the last word. + +"If I could twang like you, Hank," said Ogden, pausing a moment to rest, +"I'd have a hull dozen, danged if I wouldn't. Mine's got nigh ter six +feet o' feathers a-hangin' ter him." + +Tom rocked back and forth, laughing silently. "Then he makes up fer th' +rest o' yer dozen!" he gasped. "Hostages, by th' Great Horned Spoon!" He +made some funny noises in his throat and gasped again. "A _chief_, too!" + +"An' a plumb waste o' good ha'r," growled Hank. "But jest now it's wuth +more on thar heads than fastened ter our belts. Hyar, haul this hyar +warrior o' mine under th' waggin. I'm all tuckered out." + +"Hank kin shoot more arrers with his mouth than some Injuns kin with +thar bows," panted Jim, grasping a spoke and yanking his captive roughly +against the wheel. "All I kin imitate is a lance." He chuckled at his +joke and rested. + +"When Hank twanged, Big Polecat, hyar, got right up an' stumbled plumb +over me," said Zeb's weary voice. "I near busted his skull with that +newfangled pistol. It's heftier than I'm used ter. Wonder is I didn't +bash his brains out. Hyar, gimme a hand, I can't hardly wiggle no more." + +"Wonder what them danged fools air firin' at?" queried Hank, as several +shots rang out in quick succession from the other side of the +encampment. "Don't they know th' dance is over till mornin'?" + +"Oh, them greenhorns'll be shootin' all night," growled Ogden. "If +thar's a rush at daylight they won't have no more powder an' ball. When +they hadn't oughter shoot, they shoot; when they oughter shoot, thar too +danged scared to pull trigger." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HURRAH FOR TEXAS + + +At daylight the only Indians in sight were several rifle shots from the +caravan, but encircling it. Hostilities of every nature apparently had +ceased, but without causing the travelers to relax in their vigilance. +Breakfast was over before the savages made any move and then a sizable +body of them came charging over the prairie, brandishing their weapons +and yelling at the top of their voices. While not the equals of the +Comanches in horsemanship they were good riders and as they raced toward +the encampment, showing every trick they knew, the spectacle was well +worth watching. + +"Showin' off," said Jim Ogden. "Want ter talk with us. Now we got ter +stop them fool greenhorns from shootin'!" + +At his warning his companions ran along the line of wagons and begged +that not a shot be fired until the captain gave the word. If the Indians +wanted a parley the best thing would be to give it to them. + +Meanwhile the captain and two experienced men rode slowly forward, +stopping while still within rifle shot of their friends. The charging +savages pulled up suddenly and stopped, three of their number riding +ahead with the same unconcern and calm dignity as the white men had +shown. One of them raised a hand, palm out, and when well outside of the +range of the rifles of the encampment, stopped and waited. Captain +Woodson, raising his hand, led his two companions at a slow walk toward +the waiting Indians and when he stopped, the two little parties were +within easy speaking distance of each other. Each group was careful to +show neither distrust nor fear, and apparently neither was armed. Erect +in their saddles, each waited for the other to speak. + +"My young men are angry because the white men and their wagons have +crossed the Pawnee country and have frightened away the buffalo," said +the leader of the warriors, a chief, through an interpreter. + +"The buffalo are like the grass of the prairies," replied Woodson. "They +are all around us and are bold enough to charge our wagons on the march +and frighten our animals." + +"From the Loup Fork to the Arkansas, from the Big Muddy to the great +mountains, is Pawnee country, which none dare enter." + +"The Cheyennes, the Arapahoes, the Osages, and other brave tribes tell +us the same thing. We do not know what tribe owns this prairie; but we +do know that friends are always welcome in the Pawnee country, and we +bring presents for our brave brothers, presents of beads and colored +cloth and glasses that show a man his spirit." + +"The white chief speaks well; but my braves are angry." + +"And my young men are angry because they could not sleep and their +animals were frightened like the Comanches are frightened by the +Pawnees," replied Woodson. "They are hot-headed and are angry at me +because I would not let them make war on our friends, the Pawnees." + +"The young men of the Pawnees have not the wisdom of years and did not +know the white men were friends, and had brought them presents of horses +and powder and whiskey." + +"I have told my young men that the Pawnees are friends. We did not think +we would meet our red brothers and have horses only for ourselves. Our +whiskey and powder are for the great Pawnee chiefs; our beads and cloth +for their young men." + +"It is well," replied the chief. After a moment's silence he looked +keenly into Woodson's eyes. "The Pawnees are sad. White Bear and two of +our young men have not returned to their people." His eyes flashed and a +tenseness seized him and his companions. "Great Eagle wants to know if +his white friends have seen them?" + +"Great Eagle's friends found three brave Pawnees in front of their +thunder guns and they feared our young men would fire the great medicine +rifles and hurt the Pawnees. We sent out and brought White Bear and his +warriors to our camp and treated them as welcome guests. Each of them +shall have a horse and a musket, with powder and ball, that they will +not misunderstand our roughness." + +At that moment yells broke out on all sides of the encampment and +warriors were seen dashing west along the trail. A well-armed caravan of +twenty-two wagons crawled toward the creek, and Woodson secretly +exulted. It was the annual fur caravan from Bent's Fort to the Missouri +settlements and every member of it was an experienced man. + +The fur train did not seem to be greatly excited by the charging horde, +for it only interposed a line of mounted men between the wagons and the +savages. The two leaders wheeled and rode slowly off to meet the Indians +and soon a second parley was taking place. After a little time the fur +caravan, which had moved steadily ahead, reached the encampment and +swiftly formed on one side of it. With the coming of this re-enforcement +of picked men all danger of war ceased. + +Before noon the Pawnee chiefs and some of the elder warriors had paid +their visit, received their presents, sold a few horses to wagoners who +had jaded animals and then returned to their camp, pitched along the +banks of the creek a short distance away. The afternoon was spent in +visiting between the two encampments and the night in alert vigilance. +At dawn the animals were turned out to graze under a strong guard and +before noon the caravan was on its way again, its rear guard and +flankers doubled in strength. + +Shortly after leaving Ash Creek they came to great sections of the +prairie where the buffalo grass was cropped as short as though a herd of +sheep had crossed it. It marked the grazing ground of the more compact +buffalo herds. The next creek was Pawnee Fork, but since it lay only six +miles from the last stopping place, and because it was wise to put a +greater distance between them and the Pawnees, the caravan crossed it +close to where it emptied into the Arkansas, the trail circling at the +double bend of the creek and crossing it twice. Great care was needed to +keep the wagons from upsetting here, but it was put behind without +accident and the night was spent on the open prairie not far from Little +Coon Creek. + +The fuel question was now solved and while the buffalo chips, plentiful +all around them, made execrable, smudgy fires in wet weather if they +would burn at all, in dry weather they gave a quick, hot fire excellent +to cook on and one which threw out more heat, with equal amounts of +fuel, than one of wood; and after an amusing activity in collecting the +chips the entire camp was soon girdled by glowing fires. + +The next day saw them nooning at the last named creek, and before +nightfall they had crossed Big Coon Creek. For the last score of miles +they had found such numbers of rattlesnakes that the reptiles became a +nuisance; but notwithstanding this they camped here for the night, which +was made more or less exciting because several snakes sought warmth in +the blankets of some of the travelers. It is not a pleasant feeling to +wake up and find a three-foot prairie rattlesnake coiled up against +one's stomach. Fortunately there were no casualties among the travelers +but, needless to say, there was very little sleep. + +Next came the lower crossing of the Arkansas, where there was some +wrangling about the choice of fords; many, fearing the seasonal rise of +the river, which they thought was due almost any minute, urged that it +be crossed here, despite the scarcity of water, and the heavy pulling +among the sand-hills on the other side. + +Woodson and the more experienced traders and hunters preferred to chance +the rise, even at the cost of a few days' delay, and to cross at the +upper ford. This would give them better roads, plenty of water and +grass, a safer ford and a shorter drive across the desert-like plain +between the Arkansas and the Cimarron. Eventually he had his way and +after spending the night at the older ford the caravan went on again +along the north bank of the river, and reached The Caches in time to +camp near them. The grass-covered pits were a curiosity and the story of +how Baird and Chambers had been forced to dig them to cache their goods +twenty years before, found many interested listeners. + +All this day a heavy rain had poured down, letting up only for a few +minutes in the late afternoon, and again falling all night with +increased volume. With it came one of those prairie windstorms which +have made the weather of the plains famous. Tents and wagon covers were +whipped into fringes, several of them being torn loose and blown away; +two lightly loaded wagons were overturned, and altogether the night was +the most miserable of any experienced so far. While the inexperienced +grumbled and swore, Woodson was pleased, for in spite of the delayed +crossing of the river, he knew that the dreaded Dry Route beyond +Cimarron Crossing would be a pleasant stretch in comparison to what it +usually was. + +Morning found a dispirited camp, and no effort was made to get under way +until it was too late to cover the twenty miles to the Cimarron Crossing +that day, and rather than camp without water it was decided to lose a +day here. It would be necessary to wait for the river to fall again +before they would dare to attempt the crossing and the time might as +well be spent here as farther on. The rain fell again that night and all +the following day, but the wind was moderate. The river was being +watched closely and it was found that it had risen four feet since they +reached The Caches; but this was nothing unusual, for, like most prairie +streams, the Arkansas rose quickly until its low banks were overflowed, +when the loss of volume by the flooding of so much country checked it +appreciably; and its fall, once the rains ceased, would be as rapid. +High water was not the only consideration in regard to the fording of +the river, for the soft bottom, disturbed by the strong current, soon +lost what little firmness it had along this part of the great bend, and +became treacherous with quicksand. That it was not true quicksand made +but little difference so long as it mired teams and wagons. + +Another argument now was begun. There were several fords of the Arkansas +between this point and the mountains; and there were two routes from +here on, the shorter way across the dry plain of the Cimarron, as direct +as any unsurveyed trail could be, and the longer, more roundabout way +leading another hundred miles farther up the river and crossing it not +far from Bent's Fort, over a pebbly and splendid ford. From here it +turned south along the divide between Apishara Creek and the Purgatoire +River, climbed over the mountain range through Raton Pass, and joined +the more direct trail near Santa Clara Spring under the shadow of the +Wagon Mound. Beside the ford above Bent's Fort there was another, about +thirty miles above The Caches, which crossed the river near Chouteau's +Island. + +Each ford and each way had its adherents, but after great argument and +wrangling the Dry Route was decided upon, its friends not only proving +the wisdom of taking the shorter route, but also claimed that the +unpleasantness of the miles of dry traveling was no worse than the rough +and perilous road over Raton Pass, where almost any kind of an accident +could happen to a wagon and where, if the caravan were attacked by Utes +or Apaches before it reached the mountain pasture near the top, they +would be caught in a strung-out condition and corralling would be +impossible. The danger from a possible ambush and from rocks rolled down +from above, in themselves, were worse than the desert stretch of the +shorter route. + +At last dawn broke with a clear sky, and with praiseworthy speed the +routine of the camp was rushed and the wagons were heading westward +again. Late that afternoon the four divisions became two and rolled down +the slope toward the Cimarron Crossing, going into camp within a short +distance of the rushing river. The sun had shone all day and the night +promised to be clear, and some of the traders whose goods had been +wetted by the storm at The Caches when their wagon covers had been +damaged or blown away, took quick advantage of the good weather to +spread their merchandise over several acres of sand and stubby brush to +dry out thoroughly; and the four days spent here, waiting for the river +to fall, accomplished the work satisfactorily, although at times the sky +was overcast and threatened rain, while the nights were damp. + +Some of the more impetuous travelers urged that time would be saved if +bullboats were made by stretching buffalo hides over the wagon boxes and +floating them across. This had been done more than once, but with only a +day or so to wait, and no pressing need for speed, the time saved would +not be worth the hard work and the risk of such ferrying. At last the +repeated soundings of the bottom began to look favorable and word was +passed around that the crossing would take place as soon as the camp +was ready to be left the next morning, providing that no rain fell +during the night. + +Daylight showed a bright sky and a little lower level of the river and +it was not long before the first wagon drawn by four full teams, after a +warming-up drive, rumbled down the bank and hit the water with a splash. +The bottom was still too soft to take things easy in crossing and the +teams were not allowed to pause after once they had entered the water. A +moment's stop might mire both teams and wagons and cause no end of +trouble, hard work, and delay. All day long the wagons crossed and at +night they were safely corralled on the farther bank, on the edge of the +Dry Route and no longer on United States soil. + +That evening the leaders of the divisions went among their followers and +urged that in the morning every water cask and container available for +holding water be filled. This flat, monotonous, dry plain might require +three days to cross and every drop of water would be precious. Should +any be found after the recent rains it would be in buffalo wallows and +more fit for animals than for human beings. Again in the morning the +warning was carried to every person in the camp and the need for heeding +it gravely emphasized; and when the caravan started on the laborious and +treacherous journey across the fringe of sand-hills and hillocks which +extended for five or six miles beyond the river, where upsetting of +wagons was by no means an exception, half a dozen wagons had empty water +casks. Their owners had been too busy doing inconsequential things to +think of obeying the orders for a "water scrape," given for their own +good. + +The outlying hilly fringe of sand was not as bad as had been expected +for the heavy rains had wetted it well and packed the sand somewhat; but +when the great flat plain was reached and the rough belt left behind, +two wagons had been overturned and held up the whole caravan while they +were unloaded, righted, and re-packed. Since no one had been injured the +misfortunes had been taken lightly and the columns went on again in good +spirits. + +It was not yet noon when the advance guard came upon an unusual sight. +The plain was torn and scored and covered with sheepskin saddle-pads, +broken riding gear, battered and discarded firelocks of so ancient a +vintage that it were doubtful whether they would be as dangerous to an +enemy as they might be to their owners; broken lances, bows and arrows, +torn clothing, a two-wheeled cart overturned and partly burned, and half +a score dead mules and horses. + +Captain Woodson looked from the strewed ground, around the faces of his +companions. + +"Injuns an' greasers?" he asked, glancing at the remains of the +_carreta_ in explanation of the "greaser" end of the couplet. The +replies were affirmative in nature until Tom Boyd, looking fixedly at +one remnant of clothing, swept it from the ground and regarded it in +amazement. Without a word he passed it on to Hank, who eyed it knowingly +and sent it along. + +"I'm bettin' th' Texans licked 'em good," growled Tom. "It's about time +somebody paid 'em fer that damnable, two thousand mile trail o' +sufferin' an' death! Wish I'd had a hand in this fight!" + +Assenting murmurs came from the hunters and trappers, all of whom would +have been happy to have pulled trigger with the wearers of the coats +with the Lone Star buttons. + +Tom shook his head after a moment's reflection. "Hope it war reg'lar +greaser troops an' not poor devils pressed inter service. That's th' +worst o' takin' revenge; ye likely take it out o' th' hides of them that +ain't to blame, an' th' _guilty_ dogs ain't hurt." + +"Mebby Salezar war leadin' 'em!" growled Hank. "Hope so!" + +"Hope not!" snapped Tom, his eyes glinting. "_I_ want Salezar! I want +him in my two hands, with plenty o' time an' nobody around! I'd as soon +have _him_ as Armijo!" + +"Who's he?" asked a tenderfoot. "And what about the Texans, and this +fight here?" + +"He's the greaser cur that had charge o' th' Texan prisoners from Santa +Fe to El Paso, where they war turned over to a gentleman an' a +Christian," answered Tom, his face tense. "I owe him fer th' death, by +starvation an' abuse, of as good a friend as any man ever had: an' if I +git my hands on him he'll pay fer it! _That's_ who he is!" + +The first day's travel across the dry stretch, notwithstanding the start +had been later than was hoped for, rolled off more than twenty miles of +the flat, monotonous plain. Even here the grama grass was not entirely +missing, and a nooning of two hours was taken to let the animals crop as +much of it as they could find. While the caravan was now getting onto +the fringe of the Kiowa and Comanche country, trouble with these tribes, +at this time of the year, was not expected until the Cimarron was +reached and for this reason the urging for mileage was allowed to keep +the wagons moving until dark. During the night the wagoners arose +several times to change the picket stakes of their animals, hoping by +this and by lengthened ropes to make up for the scantiness of the grass. +In one other way was the sparsity of the grazing partly made up, for the +grama grass was a concentrated food, its small seed capsules reputed to +contain a nourishment approaching that of oats of the same size. + +The heat of the day had been oppressive and the contents of the water +casks were showing the effects of it. The feather-headed or stubborn +know-it-alls who had ignored the call of "water scrape" back on the bank +of the Arkansas now were humble pilgrims begging for drinks from their +more provident companions. Tom and Hank had filled their ten-gallon +casks and put them in Joe Cooper's wagons for the use of his and their +animals which, being mules, found a dry journey less trying than the +heavy-footed oxen of other teams. The mules also showed an ability far +beyond their horned draft fellows in picking up sufficient food; they +also were free from the foot troubles which now began to be shown by the +oxen. The triumphant wagoners of the muddier portions of the trail, +whose oxen had caused them to exult by the way they had out-pulled the +mules in every mire, now became thoughtful and lost their levity. + +Breakfast was cooked and eaten before daylight and the wagons were +strung out in the four column formation before dawn streaked the sky. A +few buffalo wallows, half full of water from the recent rains, relieved +the situation, and the thirsty animals emptied their slightly alkaline +contents to the last obtainable drop. This second day found the plain +more barren, more desolate, its flat floor apparently interminable, and +the second night camp was not made until after dark, the wagons +corralling by the aid of candle lanterns slung from their rear axles. It +was a silent camp, lacking laughter and high-pitched voices; and the +begging water seekers, while not denied their drinks, were received with +a sullenness which was eloquent. One of them was moved to complain +querulously to Tom Boyd of the treatment he had received at one wagon, +and forthwith learned a few facts about himself and his kind. + +"Look hyar," drawled Tom in his best frontier dialect. "If I war runnin' +this caravan yer tongue would be hangin' out fer th' want o' a drink. +You war warned, fair an' squar, back on th' Arkansas, ter carry all th' +water ye could. But ye knew it all, jest like ye know it all every time +a better man gives ye an order. If it warn't fer yer kind th' Injuns +along th' trail would be friendly. Hyar, let me tell ye somethin': + +"We been follerin', day after day, a plain trail, so plain that even +_you_ could foller it. But thar was a time when thar warn't no trail, +but jest an unmarked plain, without a landmark, level as it is now, all +'round fur's th' eye could reach. Thar warn't much knowed about it years +ago, an' sometimes a caravan wandered 'round out hyar, its water gone +an' th' men an' animals slowly dyin' fer a drink. Some said go _this_ +way, some said to go _that_ way; others, _other_ ways. Nobody knowed +which war right, an' so they went every-which way, addin' mile to mile +in thar wanderin'. Then they blindly stumbled onter th' Cimarron, which +they had ter do if they follered thar compasses an' kept on goin' south; +an' when they got thar they found it dry! Do ye understand that? They +found th' river _dry_! Jest a river bed o' sand, mile after mile, dry as +a bone. + +"Which way should they go? It warn't a question _then_, o' headin' fer +Santa Fe; but o' headin' _any_ way a-tall ter git ter th' nearest water. +If they went down they was as bad off as if they went up, fer th' bed +war dry fer miles either way in a dry season. Sufferin'? Hell! you don't +know what sufferin' is! A few o' you fools air thirsty, but yer beggin' +gits ye water. Suppose thar warn't no water a-tall in th' hull caravan, +fer men, wimmin, children, or animals? Suppose ye war so thirsty that +you'd drink what ye found in th' innards o' some ol' buffalo yer war +lucky enough ter kill, an' near commit murder ter git furst chanct at +it? That war done onct. Don't ye let me hear ye bellerin' about bein' +thirsty! Suppose we all had done like you, back thar on th' Arkansas? +An' don't ye come ter _us_ fer water! If we had bar'ls o' it, we'd pour +it out under yer nose afore we'd give ye a mouthful! Yer larnin' some +lessons this hyar trip, but yer larnin' 'em too late. Go 'bout yer +business an' think things over. We're comin' ter bad Injun country. If +ye got airy sense a-tall in yer chuckle head ye'll mebby have a chanct +ter show it." + +Before noon on the third day, after crossing more broken country which +was cut up with many dry washes through which the wagons wallowed in +imminent danger of being wrecked, the caravan came to the Cimarron, and +found it dry. Cries of consternation broke out on all sides, and were +followed by dogmatic denials that it was the Cimarron. The arguments +waged hotly between those who were making their first trip and the more +experienced traders. Who ever heard of a dry river? This was only +another dry wash, wider and longer, but only a wash. The Cimarron lay +beyond. + +Here ensued the most serious of all the disagreements, for a large +number of the members of the caravans scoffed when told that by +following the plain wagon tracks they would soon reach the lower spring +of the Cimarron. How could the spring be found when this was not the +Cimarron River at all? They knew that when Woodson had been elected at +Council Grove that he was not fitted to take charge of the caravan; that +his officers were incompetent, and now they were sure of it. Anyone with +sense could see that this was no river. If it were a river, then the +prairie-dog mounds they had just passed were mountains. Here was a +situation which needed more than tact, for if the doubting minority was +allowed to follow their inclinations they might find a terrible death at +the end of their wanderings. Dogmatic and pugnacious, almost hysterical +in their repeated determination to go on and find the river, they must +be saved, by force if necessary, from themselves. They would not listen +to the plea that they go on a few miles and let the spring prove them to +be wrong; there was no spring to be found in a few miles if it was +located on the Cimarron. Woodson and others argued, begged, and at last +threatened. They pointed out that they were familiar with every foot of +the trail from one end to the other; that they had made the journey year +after year, spring and fall; that here was the deeply cut trail, +pointing out the way to water, where other wagons had rolled before +them, following the plain and unequivocal tracks. The debate was growing +noisier and more heated when Tom stepped forward and raised his hand. + +"Listen!" he shouted again and again, and at last was given a grudged +hearing. "Let's prove this question, for it's a mighty serious one," he +cried. "Last year, where th' trail hit th' Cimarron, which had some +water in it then, a team of mules, frantic from thirst, ran away with a +Dearborn carriage as the driver was getting out. When we came up with +them we found one of them with a broken leg, struggling in the wreckage +of the carriage. I have not been out of your sight all morning, and if I +tell you where to find that wrecked carriage, and you _do_ find it, +you'll know that I'm tellin' th' truth, an' that this is th' Cimarron. +Go along this bank, about four hundred yards, an' you'll find a +steep-walled ravine some thirty feet higher than th' bed of th' river. +At th' bottom of it, a hundred yards from th' river bank, you'll find +what's left of th' Dearborn. When you come back we'll show you how to +relieve your thirst and to get enough water to let you risk goin' on to +th' spring." + +Sneers and ridicule replied to him, but a skeptical crowd, led by the +man he had lectured the night before, followed his suggestion and soon +returned with the word that the wrecked carriage had been found just +where Tom had said it would be. The contentious became softened and made +up in sullenness what they lacked in pugnacity; for there are some who, +proven wrong, find cause for anger in the correction, their stubbornness +of such a quality that it seems to prefer to hold to an error and take +the penalties than to accept safety by admitting that they are wrong. + +In the meanwhile the experienced travelers had gone down into the river +bed and dug holes in the sand which, thanks to the recent rains, was a +masked reservoir and yielded all the water needed at a depth of two or +three feet. After a hard struggle with the thirsty animals to keep them +from stampeding for the water their nostrils scented, at last all had +been watered and the wagons formed for the noon camp. Humbled greenhorns +who had neglected the "water scrape" at the Arkansas were silently +digging holes along the river bed and filling every vessel they could +spare. They were making the acquaintance of a river of a kind they never +had seen before. + +Here they found a dry stretch, despite the heavy rains; had they now +gone down or up its bed they would have found alternating sections of +water and dry sand, and in the water sections they would have found a +current. Some of the traders maintained that its real bed was solid, +unfractured rock, many feet below the sand which covered it, which held +the water as in a pipe and let it follow its tendency to seek its level. +The deep sand blotted and hid the meager stream where the bottom was +farther below the sand's surface; but where the porous layer was not so +thick, the volume of water, being larger than that of the sand, +submerged the filling and flowed in plain sight. Some of the more +uncritical held that the water flowed with the periodicity of tides, +which like many other irrational suppositions, seemed to give the +required explanation of the river's peculiarities. There was no doubt, +however, about the porosity of its sandy bed, nor the amount of sand in +it, for even after the most severe and prolonged summer rainstorms, +which filled the river to overflowing, a few days sufficed to dry it up +again and restore its characteristics. + +Having full water casks again the hysteria had subsided and the caravan +set out toward the lower spring, which was reached just before +nightfall. Here they found two men comfortably camped, despite the fact +that they were in the country of their implacable foes. At first they +showed a poorly hidden alarm at the appearance of the wagons but, +finding that they aroused no especial interest, they made themselves a +part of the camp and began to get acquainted; but it was noticeable that +they chose the hunters and trappers in preference to the traders, and +carefully ignored the many Mexicans with the train. But no matter how +careful they were in their speech they could not hide their identity, +for the buttons on their torn and soiled clothing all showed the Lone +Star of Texas, and to certain of the plainsmen this insignia made them +cordially welcome. Among the Mexicans it made them just as cordially +hated. + +Tom Boyd espied them when the corral had been formed and invited them to +join him and Hank at supper. A few words between the Texans and the two +plainsmen established a close bond between them, and they became friends +the instant Tom mentioned the partner he had lost on the march of the +First Texan Expedition. Hank's careless reference to the treatment his +partner had given Armijo on the streets of Santa Fe caused them to look +carefully around and then, in low voices, tell the two plainsmen about +the events which recently had transpired between the Cimarron and the +Arkansas. + +"Th' greasers in this hyar train air plumb lucky," said one of the +Texans, who called himself Jed Burch. "Ain't that so, Buck?" + +Buck Flint nodded sourly. "They kin thank them d----d dragoons o' yourn, +friend," he answered. + +"How's that?" asked Tom. "An' what about th' fight we saw signs of, a +couple o' days back?" + +"It's all part of a long story," replied Jed, gloomily. "Reckon ye might +as well have th' hull of it, so ye'll know what's up, out hyar." He +looked around cautiously. "Don't want no d----d greasers larnin' it, +though. Who air these fellers comin' now?" + +"Good friends o' ourn," said Hank. "Couple o' hunters that hang out, +most o' th' time, at Bent's Fort." + +Jim and Zeb arrived, were introduced and vouched for, and the little +circle sat bunched together as the strangers explained some recent +history. + +"Ye see, boys," began Burch, "us Texans air pizen ag'in greasers, +'specially since Armijo treated McLeod's boys wuss nor dogs. So a passel +o' us got together this spring an' come up hyar ter git in a crack they +wouldn't fergit. Me an' Buck, hyar, was with th' first crowd, under +Warfield, an' we larned 'em a lesson up on th' Mora. Thar warn't more'n +a score of us, an' we raided that village, nigh under th' nose o' Santer +Fe, killed some o' th' greasers, didn't lose a man, an' run off every +hoss they had, ter keep 'em from follerin' us. But we got careless an' +one night th' danged greasers an' settlement Injuns come up ter us an' +stampeded all thar own hosses an' ourn, too, an' didn't give us a lick +at 'em. That put us afoot with all our stuff. Thar warn't nothin' we +could do, then, but burn our saddles an' what we couldn't carry, an' +hoof it straight fer Bent's. We was on U.S. soil thar, so Warfield +disbanded us an' turned us loose; but we knowed whar ter go, an' we +went. + +"Colonel Snively war ter be at a sartin place on th' Arkansas, an' he +war thar. We jined up with him an' went along this hyar trail, larnin' +that Armijo war a-lookin' fer us somewhar on it. Hell! He warn't +a-lookin' fer us: he had a powerful advance guard out feelin' th' way, +but _he_ warn't with it. We come up ter that party and cleaned it up, +nobody on our side gittin' more'n a scratch. But we couldn't git no news +about th' caravan that war due ter come along 'most any day, an' some o' +th' boys got discouraged an' went home. Th' rest o' us went back ter th' +Arkansas, campin' half a day's ride below th' Caches, whar we could keep +our eyes on th' old crossin' an' th' main trail at th' same time. An' we +hadn't been thar very long afore 'long comes th' caravan, full o' +greasers. But, hell: it war guarded by a couple hundred dragoons under +yer Captain Cook which kept us from hittin' it till it got acrost th' +river an' past th' sand-hills, whar U.S. troops dassn't go, seein' it's +Texas soil. + +"Everythin' would 'a' been all right if Snively hadn't got polite an' +went over ter visit Cook. They had a red-hot palaver, Cook sayin' he +warn't goin' ter escort a caravan till it was plumb inter danger an' +then stand by an' let it go on ter git wiped out. Snively told him we +warn't aimin' ter wipe it out, but only ter get th' greasers with it. +They had it powerful hard, I heard, an' Cook up an' says he's goin' ter +take our guns away from us if it cost him every man he had. Danged if he +didn't do it, too!" + +Flint was laughing heartily and broke in. "Wonder what he thought o' our +weapons?" he exulted. "Not one o' 'em that he got from _our_ bunch war +worth a dang." + +Burch grinned in turn. "Ye see, we had took th' guns belongin' ter +Armijo's scoutin' party, an' when Cook took up his collection, a lot o' +th' boys, hidin' thar own good weapons, sorrerfully hands over th' +danged _escopetas_ an' blunderbusses an' bows an' arrers o' th' +greasers. However, he disarmed us an' kept us thar till th' caravan got +such a big start thar warn't no earthly use o' goin' after it, thar not +bein' more'n sixty or seventy o' us that had good weapons. Some o' th' +boys struck out fer home, an' a couple o' score went with th' dragoons +back ter Missouri. Us that war left, about as many as went home, made +Warfield captain ag'in an' went after th' danged caravan, anyhow. We +follered it near ter Point o' Rocks before we gave it up. Nobody +reckoned thar war two caravans on th' trail this year, so Warfield an' +most o' th' boys went back ter Texas; but thar's considerable few o' us +roamin' 'round up hyar, dodgin' th' Comanches on a gamble o' gittin' in +a crack at some o' Armijo's sojers that might come scoutin' 'round ter +see if we has all went back. Anyhow, bein' so fur from home, an' +hankerin' fer a little huntin', we figgered that we might stay up hyar +till fall, or mebby all winter if we hung out at Bent's." + +"We made a big mistake, though," confessed Flint. "Ye see, a greaser +must 'a' got away from that fight an' took th' news ter Armijo. When we +passed Cold Spring, follerin' th' caravan, we come on his camp, an' it +war plumb covered with ridin' gear an' belongin's that none o' his brave +army had time ter collect proper. Some o' us that had ter burn our +saddles war ridin' bareback, but we got saddles thar. He must 'a' lit +out _pronto_ when he larned Texans war a-rampagin' along th' trail. From +th' signs he didn't even wait fer th' caravan he war goin' ter protect, +but jest went a-kiyotin' fer home." + +"He knew th' difference between starved an' betrayed Texans, an' Texans +that war fixed ter fight," growled Tom. "Go on: what was th' mistake?" + +"Wall, Warfield said that if we had made that vanguard surrender +peaceful, which they would 'a' done, we could 'a' captured every man, +kept th' news from Armijo, an' larned jest whar ter find him. He would +'a' been waitin' fer his scoutin' party, an' some mornin' about daylight +he would 'a' found a scoutin' party--from Texas, an' mad an' mean as +rattlers. It don't allus pay ter let yer tempers git th' best o' ye, an' +make ye jump afore ye look. We'd 'a' ruther got Armijo than th' whole +cussed advance guard, an' th' rest o' his army, too." + +"With Salezar," muttered Tom. + +Burch jumped. "Aye!" he snarled. "With Salezar! Fer them two I'd 'a' +been in favor o' lettin' all th' rest go!" + +"What you boys goin' ter do now?" asked Hank. + +"Fool 'round up hyar, dodgin' war-parties that air too big ter lick," +answered Flint. "We been scoutin' up th' river, an' our friends air on a +scout back in th' hills, tryin' ter locate th' nearest Comanche village. +We cleaned out one on th' way up, back on th' Washita. We're aimin' ter +run a big buffaler hunt as soon as we locates th' hostiles." + +"How many are there of you?" asked Tom, thoughtfully. + +"'Bout a dozen or fifteen: why?" asked Burch. + +"Not a very big party to be playin' tag with th' Comanches in thar own +country," Tom replied. + +With his foot Burch pushed a stick back into the fire and then glanced +around the little circle. "Wonder what th' _white_ men o' this wagon +train would do if we rode up an' asked fer th' greasers in it ter be +turned over ter us?" he asked. + +Tom smiled. "Fight as long as we could pull trigger," he answered. "We +ain't betrayin' no members o' th' caravan. Lord knows we don't like +greasers, an' we _do_ feel strong for Texas; but we'd be plain skunks if +we didn't stick with our feller travelers." + +"An' what could we say when we got inter Santer Fe, if we dared go +thar?" asked Hank. + +Burch nodded, shrugged his shoulders, and changed the subject to that of +the unfortunate First Texan Expedition and the terrible sufferings it +underwent, a subject at that time very prominent in all Texan hearts. It +did not take them long to judge accurately the real feelings of their +hosts and to learn that their sympathies were all for Texas; but even +with this knowledge they did not again refer to anything connected with +their presence along the trail; instead, they were careful to create the +impression that their little party intended to start almost immediately +northwest across the Cimarron desert for Bent's Fort, and from there to +scour the plains for buffalo skins. They even asked about the Bayou +Salade and its contiguous mountain "parks" as a place to hunt and trap +during the coming winter. After dark they said their good-byes and left +the encampment, to the vast relief of the Mexicans with the train. And +that night and the next, the Mexicans who chanced to be on watch were +the most alert of all the guards. + +After their guests had gone the four friends sat in silence for awhile, +reviewing what they had learned, and then Hank spoke up. + +"Reckon we better tell Woodson that thar won't be no greaser troops +waitin' fer us this trip?" he asked. + +Tom was about to nod, but changed his mind and quickly placed his hand +on his partner's shoulder. "No," he said slowly. "I'm beginnin' ter see +through th' holes in th' ladder! Not a word, boys, ter _anybody_! +Pedro's lie about thar bein' no guard ter meet us this year ain't a lie +no more; but he don't know it, an' he ain't goin' ter know it! Meantime, +we'll keep our ears an' eyes open, an' be ready ter jump like cats. I +got a suspicion!" + +"I got a bran' new one," chuckled Hank. "Hurrah for Texas!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VALLEY OF THE CIMARRON + + +Because of the next stretch to certain water, a matter of about +thirty-five miles, another very early start was made after the +surrounding country had been searched by the plainsmen for signs of +Indians. Although later in the season than usual for a caravan to cover +this part of the route, the dreaded dry stretch along the usually empty +river bed was found broken here and there by shallow pools and advantage +was taken of these to soak the wooden rims of some of the older and more +faulty wagon wheels. One trader with a wagon which never should have +left Missouri had been put to great trouble to keep the tires on his two +front wheels and had "borrowed" about all the wire and hoop-iron his +friends felt disposed to give him. He had driven so many pieces of iron +between the felloes and the tires that daylight could be seen between +the two; and on topping a little hill between two ravines near the river +bank one of the tires slipped off and went rolling and bounding down the +slope onto the dry river bed. Amid roars of laughter the column stopped +until he had recovered it and re-wedged it onto the wheel, and at the +next nooning stop he drove the wagon into a trickle of water running +down the middle of the river bed and spent most of his time backing and +pulling to get every part of the wheels soaked. + +A strong body of scouts which had pushed on ahead of the column +returned shortly after the noon camp had been left, and reported that +about ten miles farther on a section of the river several hundred yards +long was full of water. Not being able to make the Middle Spring that +day, this wet section of the river was decided upon for the night camp. +A score of mounted men were sent on ahead to scour the country for signs +of Indians, but became so hungry for the numerous kinds of wild fruits +and berries along the sides of the ravines, that they did their work +poorly and did not reach the proposed camp site much before the caravan +got there. + +The country was cut by a maze of ravines and gullies and studded with +small hills, little pastures of excellent grass nestling between them. +As the wagons filed down a narrow road onto a pasture fronting on the +Cimarron a plainsman, who had pushed on ahead of the caravan because he +doubted the seriousness and intelligence of the scouting party, was seen +dashing down to the farther bank of the river and splashing across it +without checking the speed of his horse. + +One look at him was enough for Woodson, and the sharp blast of the bugle +cut the air. Wagoners whipped their tired teams into the best speed they +could give and the clatter and screeching of the rumbling wagons filled +the air as they raced around into the circular formation. The scout +barely had left the river and the wagons still were forming when over +the crest of a hill across the stream appeared a mass of horsemen, their +lances standing like drunken pickets against the sky. No need to ask +what tribe they belonged to, for the hint conveyed by their lances soon +was endorsed by their fantastic two-color blankets, one half red and the +other half blue. Most of them wore, in addition to the regular attire +of the plains Indians, a leather jacket, and from the heels of their +moccasins trailed tassels, another mark of their tribe. + +These warriors, magnificent specimens of manhood and superb horsemen, +appeared to be gigantic as they paused and spread out along the crest of +the hill, boldly outlined against the bright sky behind them. They +watched the running circle of wagons stop by jerks as vehicle after +vehicle crowded against the one ahead of it and came to a stand, the +teams inside the corral. They rode slowly down the hill, their numbers +constantly growing, as a line of defenders moved out from the encampment +to interpose itself between the camp and the Comanche warriors; and as +the line stopped to wait for the cannons to get into position the red +enemy charged with a bedlam of whoops and yells. The two quick roars of +the cannons and the hurtling solid shot, which raised dust-puffs high up +on the hill, checked them and they spread out into two thin lines of +racing horsemen running toward both sides of the encampment. + +Woodson, glad that the cannoneers had missed in their panicky aim, +ordered the defenders to fall back to the wagons, which they were only +too glad to do; but they did not obey his command to cease firing, and +sent their hastily aimed balls in the general direction of the enemy. No +harm was done by these, not only because of the poor aim but also +because the racing Indians were as yet well out of rifle shot and were +hanging over on the far side of their mounts. + +Tom ran to the frantically working cannoneers and threw himself among +them without regard to how he handled them, shouting for them not to +fire until Woodson gave the word, and then to load with musket balls and +fire as fast and true as they could. Franklin joined him, his face as +black as a thunder cloud, and made threats they knew he would carry out +if the instructions were not obeyed. + +The racing line drew nearer and nearer, those of the warriors who had +guns discharging them into the air. It looked like a desperate fight was +only a few seconds away when Hank yelled his discovery. Over the crest +of the same hill appeared the women and children of the tribe, their +dogs dragging burdens on their small travoises and the horses pulling +the dragging lodgepoles loaded down with the possessions of their +owners. This meant peace, for if war was intended, all but the warriors +would have been sent away. Some of the more quickwitted of the plainsmen +and traders waved their hats at the debouching village across the river, +and Woodson, with Tom and Franklin at his side, held up his hand and +walked toward the slowing line. An arrow suddenly quivered in the ground +almost under his feet and he stopped, raising both hands. An Indian +dashed back across the river, where he berated a group of non-combatants +and waved them toward the top of the hill. The traveling village +instantly became a confusion of quick movement and climbed the hill and +dipped over its crest much quicker than it had appeared. + +Woodson swore under his breath. "Reckon we got ter fight, boys. Look +sharp an' fall back ter th' caravan. Drop th' first brave that lifts bow +an' arrer!" He glanced back to see how far they had to go and glimpsed a +dozen men under Hank and Zeb coming to their aid. He raised his hand to +them and they instantly dropped to their knees, their rifles leaping to +their shoulders. "Now," he grated. "We're bein' covered; turn an' run!" +As the three men reached the covering party they checked themselves, +joined it, faced the savages, and the entire party fell slowly back to +the wagons. + +"Funny they didn't send in more'n that one arrer," growled Woodson, +thoroughly puzzled. "These hyar ain't Pawnee hoss-stealers; thar +fightin' men. _Knock down that gun!_" he snapped as a tenderfoot rested +a powerful rifle across a wagon wheel. The man beside the ambitious +Indian fighter struck it aside and the ball went into the ground. "Th' +next man as pulls trigger till I says fer him to is goin' to be d----d +sorry!" cried the captain, drawing his pistol. + +The running line, moving back farther under the threat of the two +cannons, gradually stopped, facing the waiting defenders. It seemed like +the calm that precedes a storm. Then down the hill across the river came +a small group of savages more outrageously decked out than any seen so +far. + +"Th' chiefs," growled Woodson. "Hope we git out o' this without a fight. +Even th' Comanches ain't usually anxious ter git inter a clawin' match +with Americans, though they air th' best o' th' prairie tribes." + +"They do about what they please with th' Mexicans," replied Tom; "but +they've larned that Americans air a different breed, an' have better +guns. But some o' thar raids inter Texas have puffed 'em up. I don't +like thar village climbin' back over that hill." + +"If it's ter be peace, I'd a cussed sight ruther have it over th' hill +than planted somewhar close ter us; they'd over-run th' camp an' +friction would be shore ter grow. While mebby they can't steal as slick +as th' Pawnees, they kin do it good enough ter make us cross-eyed +watchin' 'em. Some tenderfoot shore will ketch one of 'em stealin' his +belongin's an' start a fight thar an' then, with a hull passel o' 'em +inside th' corral. Wall, we'll soon find out what's goin' ter come of +it; they've jined th' line." + +The white defenders eagerly watched the pow-wow being held to the +southwest of the encampment, their rifles balanced for quick handling; +then they slowly relaxed and some rested their weapons on the ground. +The consulting group of warriors split and from it, riding with slow +dignity toward the wagons, came two chiefs and two lesser warriors. They +held up their hands when within rifle shot and stopped. Woodson, Tom, +Franklin, and Haviland, mounted this time, rode with the same slow +dignity out to meet them. Franklin could speak their tongue well enough +to make himself understood, and Woodson and Tom knew the universal sign +language well enough to express themselves in it. As they left the camp +they caught a glimpse of another band of warriors riding around the +upper end of the hill and roughly estimated the combined force to be +close to five hundred. Here was good reason to be as tactful as +possible. When within speaking distance of the Comanche envoys they drew +up and the two groups eyed each other in silence for several minutes. + +"Our village on the Washita is no more," said a chief who had enough +long hair to supply any hirsute deficiency of a dozen men and not suffer +by it. "Its ashes are blown by the winds and its smoke brings tears to +the eyes of our squaws and children. Our winter maize is gone and our +storehouses lie about the ground. White Buffalo and his braves were +hunting the buffalo beyond the Cimarron. Their old men and their squaws +and children were with them. Some of my young men have just returned and +brought us this news. What have the white men to say of this?" + +"Our hearts are heavy for our friends the Comanches," answered Woodson. +"There are many tribes of white men, as there are many tribes of +Indians. There are the Americanos, the Mexicanos, the Englise, and the +Tejanos. The Americans come from the North and the East along their +great trail, with goods to trade and with friendship for the Comanches. +The Mexicanos would not dare to burn a Comanche village; but with the +Tejanos are not the Comanches at war? And we have seen Tejanos near the +trail. We have seen where they defeated Armijo's soldiers, almost within +sight of the Arkansas River. Cannot White Buffalo read the signs on the +earth? Our trail is plain for many days to the east, for all to see. Has +he seen our wagon tracks to the Washita? Are his young men blind? We are +many and strong and have thunder guns, but we do not fight except to +protect ourselves and our goods. We are traders." + +"We are warriors!" exclaimed the chief. "We also are many and strong, +and our lances are short that our courage may be long. White Buffalo has +listened. He believes that the white chief speaks with a single tongue. +His warriors want the white man's guns and powder; medicine guns that +shoot like the clapping of hands. Such have the Tejanos. He has skins +and meat and _mulos_." + +"The medicine guns are Tejano medicine," replied Woodson. "We have only +such as I see in the hands of some of our friends, the Comanches. Powder +and lead we have little, for we have come far and killed much game; blue +and red cloth we have, medicine glasses, beads, awls, knives, tobacco, +and firewater we have much of. Our mules are strong and we need no +more." He looked shrewdly at a much-bedecked Indian at the chief's side. +"We have presents for the Comanche Medicine Man that only his eyes may +see." + +The medicine man's face did not change a muscle but there came a gleam +to his eyes that Woodson noted. + +"The Comanches are not like the Pawnees or Cheyennes to kill their eyes +and ears with firewater," retorted the chief. "We are not Pawnee dogs +that we must hide from ourselves and see things that are not. Our hair +is long, that those may take it who can. I have spoken." + +There was some further talk in which was arranged a visit from the +Comanche chief; the bartering price of mules, skins, and meat, as was +the custom of this tribe; a long-winded exchange of compliments and +assurances of love and good will, in the latter both sides making plenty +of reservations. + +When Woodson and his companions returned to the encampment they went +among the members of the caravan with explicit instructions, hoping by +the use of tact and common sense to avert friction with their expected +visitors. Small articles were put away and the wagon covers tightly +drawn to minimize the opportunities of the Indians for theft. + +The night passed quietly and the doubled guard apparently was wasted. +Shortly after daylight the opposite hill suddenly swarmed with dashing +warriors, whose horsemanship was a revelation to some of the tenderfeet. +Following the warriors came the non-combatants of the tribe, pouring +down the slope in noisy confusion. Woodson swore under his breath as he +saw the moving village enter the shallow waters of the river to camp on +the same side with the caravan, for it seemed that his flowery +assurances of love and esteem had been taken at their face value; but he +was too wise to credit this, knowing that Indians were quick to take +advantage of any excuse that furthered their ends. The closer together +the two camps were the more easily could the Indians over-run the +corralled traders. + +Reaching the encampment's side of the stream the lodges were erected +with most praiseworthy speed, laid out in rows, and the work finished in +a remarkably short time. The conical lodges averaged more than a dozen +feet in diameter and some of them, notably that of the chief, were +somewhere near twice that size. + +In the middle of the morning the chiefs and the more important warriors +paid their visit to the corral and were at once put in good spirits by a +salute from the cannons, a passing of the red-stone pipes, and by +receiving presents of tobacco and trade goods. While they sat on the +ground before Woodson's wagon and smoked, the medicine man seemed +restless and finally arose to wander about. He bumped into Tom Boyd, who +had been waiting to see him alone, and was quickly led to Franklin's +wagon where the owner, hiding his laughter, was waiting. It is well to +have the good will of the chiefs, but it is better also to have that of +the medicine man; and wily Hank Marshall never overlooked that end of it +when on a trading expedition among the Indians. He had let Woodson into +his secret before the parley of the day before, and now his scheme was +about to bear fruit. + +Franklin made some mysterious passes over a little pile of goods which +was covered with a gaudy red cloth on which had been fastened some beads +and tinsel; and as he did so, both Tom and Hank knelt and bowed their +heads. Franklin stepped back as if fearful of instant destruction, and +then turned to the medicine man, who had overlooked nothing, with an +expression of reverent awe on his face. + +For the next few minutes Franklin did very well, considering that he +knew very little of what he was talking about, but he managed to convey +the information that under the red cloth was great medicine, found near +the "Thunderer's Nest," not far from the great and sacred red pipestone +quarry of the far north. The mention of this Mecca of the Indians, +sacred in almost every system of Indian mythology, made a great +impression on the medicine man and it was all he could do to keep his +avaricious fingers off the cloth and wait until Franklin's discourse was +finished. The orator wound up almost in a whisper. + +"Here is a sour water that has the power to foretell peace or war," he +declaimed, tragically. "There are two powders, found by the chief of the +Hurons, under the very nest of the Thunder Bird. They look alike, yet +they are different. One has no taste and if it is put into some of the +sour water the water sleeps and tells of peace; but if the other, which +has a taste, is put in the medicine water, the water boils and cries for +war. It is powerful medicine and always works." + +The eyes of the red fakir gleamed, for with him often lay the decision +as to peace or war, and in this respect his power was greater even than +that of a chief. After a short demonstration with the water, to which +had been added a few drops of acid, the two powders, one of which was +soda, were tested out. The medicine man slipped his presents under his +robe, placed his fingers on his lips and strode away. When the next +Comanche war-council was held he would be a dominating figure, and the +fame of his medicine would spread far and wide over the Indian country. + +"Got him, body an' soul!" chuckled Franklin, rubbing his hands. "Did ye +see his mean ol' eyes near pop out when she fizzed? He saw all th' rest +o' th' stuff an' he won't rest till he gits it all; an' he won't git it +all till his tribe or us has left. He plumb likes th' fizz combination, +an' mebby would want to try it out hyar an' now. Thar won't be no +trouble with _these_ Injuns this trip." + +"An' that thar black sand ye gave him," laughed Hank, leaning back +against a wagon wheel, "that looks like powder, so he kin make his spell +over real powder, slip th' sand in its place, an' show how his medicine +will fix th' powder of thar enemies so it won't touch off! Did ye see +th' grin on his leather face, when he savvied that? He's a wise ol' +fakir, _he_ is!" + +Tom grinned at Franklin. "Hank, here, has got th' medicine men o' th' +Piegan Blackfeet eatin' out o' his hand. Every time th' Crows git after +him too danged hot he heads fer th' Blackfoot country. They only +follered him thar onct. What all did ye give 'em, Hank?" + +"Oh, lots o' little things," chuckled Hank, reminiscently. "Th' medicine +men o' th' Blackfeet air th' greatest in th' world; thar ain't no +others kin come within a mile o' 'em, thanks ter me an' a chemist I know +back in St. Louie. Th' other traders allus git what I leave." + +When the important Indian visitors left there was quite a little +ceremony, and the camp was quiet until after the noon meal. Early in the +afternoon, according to the agreement with the chief and the medicine +man, the Indians visited the encampment in squads, and at no time was +there more than thirty or forty savages in the encampment at once. +Instead of the usual attempted stampede of the animals at night all was +peaceful; and instead of having to remain for two or three days in camp, +at all times in danger of a change in the mood of the savages, the +caravan was permitted to leave on the following morning, which miracle +threw Woodson into more or less of a daze. As the last wagon rounded a +hillock several miles from the camp site a mounted Comanche rode out of +the brush and went along the column until he espied Franklin; and a few +moments later he rode into the brush again, a bulging red cloth bundle +stowed under his highly ornamented robe. + +But there was more than the desire to trade, the professed friendship +and the bribery of the medicine man that operated for peace in the minds +of the Comanches. Never so early in the history of the trail had they +attacked any caravan as large as this one and got the best of the fight. +In all the early years of the trail the white men killed in such +encounters under such conditions, could be counted on the fingers of one +hand; while the Indian losses had been considerable. With all their +vaunted courage the Comanches early had learned the difference between +Americans and Mexicans, and most of their attempts against large +caravans had been more for the purpose of stampeding the animals than +for fighting, and their efforts mostly had been "full of sound and +fury," like Macbeth's idiot's tale, and signified nothing. Still, the +caravan breathed easier as mile after mile took it away from that +encampment; but their escape was not regarded so seriously as to make +them pass Middle Spring, where good water always could be found, and +here they corralled. + +Tom and his friends had grown more alert since leaving the Arkansas, and +without showing it had kept a close watch over Pedro and his companions. +The actions of these and of a few Americans, Franklin among the latter, +seemed to merit scrutiny. A subtle change was taking place in them. +Franklin spent more of his time near Tom and Hank, and Pedro and some of +the Mexicans were showing a veiled elation tinged with anxiety. Wherever +Tom went he was watched, and if he joined the advance guard, or the rear +guard, or the flanking parties, Franklin was certain to show up. He +seemed to have taken a belated but strong fancy to the young plainsman. +When Hank and Tom took the packs from the backs of their mules at night +not a move they made was missed; and they soon learned that quite a few +of the Mexicans were sleeping in the wagons of friends during the +morning traveling. + +It was here at Middle Spring where Tom and Jim Ogden staged a serious +disagreement, which spread to one between Hank Marshall and Zeb +Houghton, and resulted in the two sets of partners becoming estranged. +When questioned about it in indirect ways by Franklin, Ogden sullenly +said that he could handle his troubles without the aid of others, and +_would_ handle them "danged quick" if a certain plainsman didn't look +out. Zeb was not so cautious and his remarks, vague as they were, were +plain enough to bring fleeting smiles to the faces of Pedro and his +friends. + +The grass was better here than at any place since the Arkansas had been +left and as some of the animals were beginning to show unmistakable +signs of the long journey, it was decided to remain here another night +and give them a chance to recuperate a little. The news was hailed +joyfully and numerous hunting parties were arranged at the fires the +first night. Woodson called for volunteers to form a strong day guard +for the animals, which he wanted driven from the camp to graze over the +best grass, and he asked for another strong guard to watch the corral, +since Comanches, Pawnee Picts, Kiowas, and even more northern tribes out +on horse-stealing expeditions could be looked for without unduly +straining the imagination. Arapahoes, Utes, and even Cheyennes were not +strangers to the valley of the Cimarron, and once in a while Apache +raiders paid it flying visits. + +Woodson made the round of the fires, trying to discourage the formation +of so many small hunting parties while the caravan was corralled in such +broken and dangerous country, and succeeded in reducing the numbers of +the hunters about half and in consolidating them into two large parties, +capable of offering some sort of resistance to an Indian attack. One of +these he put under the command of Hank, to that person's great disgust, +for Hank had planned to go on a hunt with his partner, and to join Ogden +and Houghton when well away from the camp. Tom was to remain with the +wagons; Ogden was to have charge of the other hunting party, and +Houghton and Franklin were to stay near the grazing herd. + +The fires dimmed here and there as their builders forsook them for +blankets; others glowed brilliantly, among them the fire of Tom and +Hank. The former had said good night to Joe Cooper and Patience and was +walking toward his fire when Pedro silently joined him and went along +with him. Hank was off entertaining a party of tenderfeet with tales of +miraculous adventures in the mountains, and after lying to the best of +his ability for two hours, and hardly being questioned, he described a +wonderful country lying east of Henry's Fork of the Snake River; south +of the Snow Mountains; north of Jackson's Lake and west of the Shoshones +Mountains. It lay along the Yellowstone River and the headwaters of the +Stinking Water, and it contained all manner of natural wonders, which he +described earnestly and graphically, to bursts of laughter. The more +earnest he became the more his auditors roared and finally he got to his +feet, glared around the circle, declared he was not going to "eddicate +airy passel o' danged fools," and stalked away in high dudgeon, +muttering fiercely. Reaching his own fire he threw himself down by it +and glared at the glowing embers as if he held them responsible. + +Tom nudged Pedro. "Somebody ask ye fer a left-hand wipin' stick, Hank?" +he asked. + +"Thar a passel o' fools!" snorted Hank. "If hoss sense war ten paces +wide an' ten miles long in every man, ye couldn't collect enough o' it +in th' whole danged party fer ter make an ear tab fer a buffaler gnat!" + +"Tellin' 'em about that thar river ye saw that couldn't find no way +outer th' valley, an' finally had ter flow up over a mounting?" + +"Ye mean them up-side-down water falls?" queried Hank, grinning. "Yes, +an' some o' 'em come clost ter swallerin' it. Why, I sot thar an' filled +'em plumb ter th' ears with lies an' they didn't hardly wink an eye. +Then I told 'em o' that valley on th' Yallerstun, whar th' Injuns won't +go because they figger it's th' home o' th' Devil. An' th' more I told +'em about it, th' more th' danged fools laughed! I'd like ter hold 'em +over one o' them thar water-squirts, or push 'em down into th' bilin' +mud pots! Swallered th' lies, dang 'em, an' spit out th' truth!" + +Tom roared and after a moment looked curiously at his partner. "I +thought ye said you'd never tell nobody about that country ag'in?" + +"Oh, I felt so danged sorry fer thar ignorance that I reckoned I'd +eddicate 'em, th' dumb fools! If I had a ox an' it didn't know more'n +them all put together, danged if I wouldn't shoot it!" He sliced off a +pipeful of tobacco and pulled an ember from the fire. "What you an' +Pedro been hatchin' out?" + +"Nothin', yit," answered Tom; "but I would like ter hear a little more +'bout that thar roundabout trail inter Santa Fe." He looked at Pedro. +"How fur away from hyar does it begin?" + +"Not so ver' far, senor," answered the Mexican. "Thees way from thee +Upper Spr-ring, where thee soldats are used to meet thee car-ravan. We +come to eet soon. We should leeve thees camp tomor-row night." + +"What's th' use o' that when ye said th' soldiers ain't goin' ter meet +us this year?" demanded Tom. + +"Why don't they meet th' trains whar they oughter, 'stead o' waitin' +till they git past th' Injun dangers?" demanded Hank with some feeling. + +"Does not thee senor know?" chuckled Pedro. "Eet ees not for protec' +thee car-ravan that they meet eet. Eet ees that no man may leave thee +tr-rail an' smuggle hees goods past thee customs. For what does Manuel +Armijo care for protec' thee traders? Eef he deed, would he not meet +them at thee Arkansas? Eet ees only for thee customs that he sends thee +soldats. To get away fr-rom theese we mus' tak thee other tr-rail befo' +eet ees too late." + +"That's all right fer other years," growled Tom; "but if they ain't +goin' ter meet us _this_ time we kin stick ter th' trail an' leave it a +lot closer ter Santer Fe." + +Pedro was doing his best to play safe from all angles. If the troops +tried to take Tom Boyd from the caravan, or show that he was a prisoner, +a great deal of trouble might come out of it, for these Americans were +devils for sticking together. If that fear were groundless, then Tom +Boyd and his trapper friends, on sight of the troops, might cut and run; +and if forced to stand and fight they could be counted on to give a good +account of themselves against the poorer arms of their Mexican enemies; +and somewhere in the hills he thought there were Texans and he knew them +well enough to know that they would only be too glad to take a hand in +any fight against Mexicans if they learned of it in time. At first he +had been content to get Tom Boyd to the Upper Spring or to Cold Spring, +only a few miles farther on, and there turn his responsibility over to +the commander of the troops. If he could get them to slip away from +their friends and be captured out of sight and hearing of the caravan +it would suit him much better; and if he could coax them to take their +goods with them, he and his friends could divide the spoils and slip the +plunder past the customs officers. The caravan was now within fifty +miles of Cold Spring and he must make up his mind and act quickly. + +"Eet ees then you weesh to pay thee char-rges?" the Mexican asked, +raising his eyebrows. + +"No!" growled Hank. "They air a robbery, plain an' simple." + +"No!" said Tom, who was giving but little thought to the customs duties, +but a great deal to his own personal freedom. He did not want to meet +any kind of officers, customs or otherwise. He would have jumped at a +secret trail into the settlements had he not known so much about Pedro. +"At th' same time I ain't hankerin' fer ter leave th' caravan so soon. +We're nigh three hundred miles from Sante Fe, an' thar ain't no way we +kin go that'll cut off ten miles. This wagon road runs nigh as straight +as th' crow flies. What about grass fer th' mules, an' water?" + +"Ah," breathed Pedro. "We weel not go to Santa Fe, senor; we go near +Taos, less than two hundred mile away from here. Along thee Ocate +Cr-reek I haf fr-riends who know ver' well thee mountains. They weel tak +us over them. How can thee senores sell their goods onless by ways that +ar-re made? Weeth us we haf men that know that tr-rail. We weel send one +befor-re to thee Ocate, an' follow heem fast." + +Tom studied the fire for a few moments and then looked up at his guest. +"We want ter think this over, Pedro," he said. "You figger what per cent +o' th' customs savings you want fer yer share, an' we'll decide +tomorrow night. Hank, here, wants ter go ter Bent's an' reckons we kin +git a good price thar fer our goods. Let you know then. Good night." + +After Pedro had painted the picture of the innocent-looking loads of +faggots and sheepskins, hay and produce, towering over the backs of the +nearly hidden pack mules as they toiled through the canyon and over the +rough trail leading from the Valley of Taos into Santa Fe, their loads +passing the customs house without drawing even a careless glance and +then, by many turnings, safely arriving at various destinations with +their smuggled goods; after he had described the care and foresight of +his friends and their trustworthiness, and made many knowing bows and +grimaces, he smilingly departed and left the partners to themselves. + +Knowing that they were being watched they idled before the fire, +careless now of their store of wood, of which plenty was at hand, and +talked at random; but through the droning of their careless words many +times there could be heard the name "Bent's Fort," which Hank mentioned +with affectionate inflections. It seemed that he very strongly preferred +to go to that great trading post and rendezvous of hunters and trappers, +where old friends would be met and new ones made. Tom held out for Santa +Fe, but did not show much enthusiasm. Finally they rolled up in their +blankets, feet toward the fire and heads close together and simulated +sleep. Half an hour later they were holding a whispered conversation +which was pitched so low they barely could hear each other. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +TEXAN SCOUTS + + +The day broke clear and the usual excitement and bustle of the camp was +increased by the eager activities of the two hunting parties. After the +morning meal the animals were driven some distance from the camp and the +herd guards began their day's vigil. Tom placed the outposts and +returned to report to the captain, and then added that he had something +of a very confidential nature to tell him, but did not want to be seen +talking too long with him. + +Woodson reflected a moment. "All right; I'll come after ye in a few +minutes an' ask ye ter go huntin' with me. 'Twon't be onusual if we +ketch th' fever, too." + +Tom nodded and went over to Cooper's wagons to pay his morning's +respects, and to his chagrin found that Patience had gone for a short +ride with Doctor Whiting and his friends. + +"Sorry to miss her, Uncle Joe," he said. "Things are going to happen +fast for me from now on. I may leave the caravan tonight. About two +days' more travel and we'll be south of Bent's. Hank and I don't want to +lose our merchandise, we can't take it with us, and we need to turn it +into money. How much can you carry from here on?" + +Uncle Joe scratched his head. "The two big wagons can take five +hundred-weight more apiece, and this wagon can stand near eight hundred, +seein' that it ain't carryin' much more than our personal belongings. +Don't worry, Tom; if I can't handle it all, Alonzo and Enoch can take +th' balance. Them greasers showing their cards?" + +"It's like this: According to those Texans we met, no troops are going +to meet us this trip. Their advance guard got thrashed and Armijo and +the main body turned tail at Cold Spring and fled back to Santa Fe. I +could go with the caravan miles farther and probably be safe; but if +Pedro gets a messenger away secretly there is no telling what may +happen. If I stay with the caravan and put up a fight it might end in +embroiling a lot of the boys and certainly would make trouble for them +if the train pushed on to Santa Fe, and it's got to push on. I won't +surrender meekly. So, you see, I'll have to strike out." + +Uncle Joe nodded. "If it wasn't for Patience, and my brother in Santa +Fe, I'd strike out with you. Goin' to Bent's?" + +"Bent's nothing!" retorted Tom. "I'm going to Santa Fe, but I'm going a +way of my own." + +"It's suicide, Tom," warned his friend. "Better let me take in your +stuff, an' meet us here on the way back. Patience won't spoil; an' when +she learns how much you're wanted by Armijo she'll worry herself sick if +she knows you are in th' city. Don't you do it!" + +Tom scowled at a break in the hills and in his mind's eye he could see +her riding gaily with his tenderfoot rivals. "Reckon she won't fall +away," he growled. "Anyhow, there's no telling; an' there's no reason +why she should know anything. I told her I was goin' to Santa Fe, an' +I'm going!" + +Uncle Joe was about to retort but thought better of it and smiled +instead. "Oh, these jealous lovers!" he chuckled. "Blind as bats! Who do +you know there, in case I want to get word to you?" + +Tom swiftly named three men and told where they could be found, his +companion nodding sharply at the mention of two of them. + +"Good!" exclaimed the trader. "Throw your packs into my wagons an' I'll +see to stowin' 'em." + +"No," replied Tom. "That's got to be done when th' camp's asleep. I'm +supposed to be takin' 'em with me. + +"But these Mexicans'll trail you, an' get you when you're asleep," +objected Uncle Joe. + +Tom laughed and shook his head, and turned to face Woodson, who was +walking toward them. "Th' captain an' I am goin' huntin'. See you +later." + +"Git yer hoss, Boyd," called the captain. "I'm goin' fer mine now. How +air ye, Mr. Cooper?" + +"Never felt better in my life, captain. We all owe you a vote of thanks, +an' I'll see that you get it." + +"Thar ain't a man livin' as kin git a vote o' thanks fer me out o' this +caravan," laughed Woodson, his eyes twinkling. "But I ain't got no call +ter kick: I ain't had nigh th' trouble I figgered on. Jest th' same, +I'll be glad when we meet up with th' greaser troops at Cold Spring. I +aim to leave ye thar an' go on ahead an' fix things in th' city." + +Uncle Joe caught himself in time. "That's where we bust up?" + +Woodson nodded. "Thar ain't no organization from thar in. Don't need it, +with th' sojers. All us proprietors that ain't got reg'lar connections +in th' city will be leavin' from Cold Spring on." + +"Any danger from th' Injuns, leavin' that way?" + +"Oh, we slip out at night," answered Woodson. "Thar ain't much danger +from any big bands. Got ter do it; customs officers air like axles; they +work better arter they air greased. I aim ter leave two waggins behind +th' noon arter we git to th' Upper Spring, an' save five hundred apiece +on 'em. Th' other six kin make it from thar with th' extry loads, an' +th' extry animals to help pull 'em." He looked toward the wagons of +Alonzo and Enoch, where Tom had tarried on his way back. "Thar's a fine, +upstandin' young man; I've had my eye on him ever since we left th' +Grove." + +"He is; an' anythin' he tells you is gospel," said Uncle Joe. + +They saw the two traders waving their arms and soon Tom hurried up. + +"Alonzo an' Enoch would like to go with us, only thar hosses air with +th' herd," he said. + +"Then we'll go afoot," declared Woodson. "I ain't hankerin' so much fer +a hunt as I air ter git away from these danged waggins fer a spell. I'm +sick o' th' sight o' 'em. Better come along, Mr. Cooper." + +"That depends on how fur yer goin'; this young scamp will walk me off my +feet." + +"Oh, jest a-ways around th' hills; dassn't go too fur, on account of +airy Injuns that may be hangin' 'round." + +In a few moments the little group had left the encampment behind and out +of sight and Woodson, waving the others ahead, fell back to Tom's side. + +"Hyar we air, with nobody ter listen. What ye want ter tell me?" + +To the captain's growing astonishment Tom rapidly sketched his +conversation with the two Texans, his affair with the despotic New +Mexican governor and what it now meant to him. Then he told of his +determination to leave the caravan some night soon, perhaps on this +night. + +"Wall, dang my eyes!" exclaimed Woodson at the conclusion of the +narrative. "Good fer them Texans! Young man, which hand did ye hit him +with? That un? Wall, I'll jest shake it, fer luck." He thought a moment. +"Ye air lucky, Boyd; north o' here, acrost th' headwaters o' this river, +an' a couple more streams, which might be dry now, ye'll hit th' +Picketwire, that's allus wet. If ye find th' little cricks dry, head +more westward an' ye'll strike th' Picketwire quicker. It'll take ye +nigh inter sight o' Bent's; an' thar ain't no finer men walkin' than +William an' Charles Bent. Hate ter lose ye, Boyd; but thar ain't no two +ways 'bout it; ye got ter go, or get skinned alive." + +"I'm not goin' ter Bent's, captain," said Tom quietly. "I'll be in Santa +Fe soon after you git thar. Hank knows them mountains like you know this +trail. When I'm missed if ye'll throw 'em off my track I'll not fergit +it." He smiled grimly. "If I war goin' ter Bent's they could foller, an' +be damned to 'em. I'd like nothin' better than have 'em chase us +through this kind o' country." + +Woodson chuckled and then grew thoughtful. "Boyd, them Texans air goin' +ter make trouble fer us, shore as shootin'. It'll be bad fer you, fer +every American in these settlements is goin' ter be watched purty clost. +Better go ter Bent's." + +"Nope; Hank an' me air headin' fer Turley's, up on Arroyo Hondo. Hank +knows him well. Hyar come th' others. I've told you an' Cooper, an' +that's enough. You fellers ain't turnin' back so soon, air ye?" he +called. "Ye don't call this a hunt? Whar's yer meat?" + +"Whar's yourn?" countered Alonzo, grinning. "I ate so many berries I got +cramps." + +"Us, too," laughed Uncle Joe. "My feet air tender, ridin' so long. We're +goin' back." + +"Might as well jine ye, then," said Woodson. "Comin', Boyd?" + +"Not fer awhile," answered Tom, pushing on. + +He made his way along the lower levels, reveling in the solitude and the +surroundings, and his keen eyes missed nothing. A mile from camp he +suddenly stopped and carefully parted the thick berry bushes. In the +soft soil were the prints of many horses, most of them shod. Cautiously +he followed the tracks and in a few moments came to the edge of a small, +heavily grassed clearing, so well hidden by the brush and the thick +growth of the trees along the encircling, steep-faced hills that its +presence hardly would be suspected. Closely cropped circles, each +centered by the hole made by a picket pin, told him the story; and when +he had located the sand-covered site of the fire, whose ashes and sticks +carefully had been removed, an imprint in the soft clay brought a smile +to his face. + +"Following us close," he muttered. "Lord help any Mexicans that wander +away from the wagons. Nearer twenty than what they said." He slipped +along the edge of the pasture and found where the party had left the +little ravine. Following the trail he soon came to another matted growth +of underbrush, and then he heard the barely audible stamp of a horse. +Creeping forward he wormed his way through the greener brush and finally +peered through an opening among the stems and branches. A dozen Texans +were lolling on the floor of the ravine, and he knew that the others +were doing sentry duty. + +A shadow passed him and he froze, and then relaxed as Burch came into +sight. It was needful that he make no mistake in how he made his +presence known, for a careless hail might draw a volley. + +Burch passed him treading softly and when the man's back was turned to +him Tom called out in a low voice. "Burch! Don't shoot!" + +"Boyd!" exclaimed the sentry. "Cussed if ye ain't a good un, gittin' +whar ye air an' me not knowin' it. What ye doin' hyar?" + +"Scoutin' fer Injuns. Glad ter see ye." + +Burch stepped to the edge of the ravine. "Friend o' mine comin' down, +name o' Boyd." He turned. "Go down an' meet th' boys; thar honin' fer to +shake han's with th' kiyote that hit Armijo. Be with ye soon." + +Tom descended and shook hands with the smiling Texans and in a few +moments was at home in the camp. He noticed that they all had the Colt +revolving rifles which his friend Jarvis, back in St. Louis, had +condemned. Each man wore two pistols of the same make, and most of them +carried heavy skinning knives inside their boot legs. + +"I heard tell them rifles warn't o' much account," he observed. + +"Wall, they ain't as good as they might be," confessed a lanky Texan, +"if thar used careless an' git too hot. A Hawken will out-shoot 'em; but +we mostly fight on hossback, an' like ter git purty clost. Take them +greasers we run inter; we didn't pull trigger till we war a hundred +paces away, an' by th' time we'd emptied th' rifles an' pulled pistols +th' danged fight war over. Th' Injuns don't like 'em worth a cuss. +That's a right smart rifle ye got thar, friend." + +Tom passed it around and it was duly admired. Then the guard was changed +and Burch and Flint appeared. + +"You fellers air stickin' purty clost ter us," observed Tom. + +"But not as clost as th' greasers air," laughed Flint. "Danged if we kin +ketch one o' 'em away from th' waggins." + +"That's jest as well," replied Tom. "More'n half of 'em hate Armijo as +much as we do. If ye pick 'em off careless yer bound ter make mistakes. +Thar's one gang that's fer him strong, an' 'twon't be long before they +split from th' others an' stand out so thar won't be no mistakin' 'em. +They'll be trailin' me an' Hank in a bunch. We're aimin' ter slip away +an' head fer Bent's some place between hyar an' the Upper Spring." + +"Thought ye was goin' ter Santa Fe," said Burch in surprise. "If yer +goin' ter Bent's ye should 'a' left th' train at th' Crossin'." + +"I'm goin' ter Santa Fe," replied Tom, "but thar's some folks that air +anxious ter see me. If they larn I'm thar I'll likely be stood ag'in a +wall; an' Armijo'll add my ears ter his c'llection. We got ter throw 'em +off our trail." He smiled grimly around the circle. "I don't want +Salezar ter larn I'm in this part o' the country, fer I want ter git my +paws on him." + +At the mention of that name the eyes of the leader flamed with +flickering fires and he leaned slightly forward, unable to conceal his +eagerness. "Whar ye aimin' ter leave th' caravan, friend?" he asked. + +"Don't know jest yet," answered Tom, "but I know th' way we'll head. Ye +know whar th' waggin road crossed McNees Crick? Wall, plumb north o' +that a crick empties inter th' Cimarron. Thar's a dry gully jines th' +crick at its mouth, makin' a V. Th' gully war made by th' buffalers +wearin' away th' top soil, which let the rains cut inter th' sand +beneath an' wash it away. That buffaler trail is th' biggest ye ever +saw, an' it's worn down so deep that every rain pours a stream along it. +It's cut a gully back fer a hundred paces to whar th' buffaler wallers +have turned a little pasture inter a swamp when it rains. Clost to its +upper end is a hill, whar my partner built a cache about ten years back. +He says th' pit could be easy seen when he war thar last." + +"We're aimin' ter head fer Bent's as soon as th' caravan gits too fur +along," said the leader, who not long since had returned from the +lepers' hospital, used as a prison in his case, in Mexico City. His +bitterness had seared him to the soul and Tom thought it strange that he +so easily would forego the desire for revenge, the flames of which +intermittently flickered in his eyes. "I've been wonderin' about th' +best an' straightest way to Bent's, with water on it. Yer pardner says +that's th' best trail?" + +"Yes," replied Tom. "An' it's th' best fer us in another way. Thar's +springs in th' river bed up thar an' fer near a mile th' river's allus +wet. Ye see, we got ter throw th' greasers off our trail, which will be +too danged plain, with two hosses an' eight mules. I'd swap th' eight +mules fer two hosses, seein' as how we're fixed, but I dassn't make th' +play, fer everybody in th' caravan would larn of it. Come ter think of +it, thar'll be more hosses an' mules; couple o' friends air goin' with +us. We change our packs tonight, buildin' 'em up with buffaler rugs we +traded th' Comanches fer, in case we part with our goods an' leave th' +caravan afterward. Th' two extra hosses would be enough ter carry our +grub an' supplies, an' they'd let us make better time than th' mules +would." + +The Texans nodded and one of them glanced at his leader while he spoke +to Tom. "Reckon if ye got them mules ter Bent's ye could sell 'em, or +trade 'em fer a couple o' hosses?" He hesitated and then said: "We're +runnin' powerful short o' powder an' lead." + +"Th' caravan bein' so clost ter Santa Fe, it's got more o' both than it +needs," replied Tom. "If we kin git ye some we'll leave it behind th' +hill at that old cache o' Hanks. If ye go that way, look fer it." He +grinned. "Hank an' me air aimin' ter carry some in one of th' buffaler +rug packs. Thar's two fifty-pound pigs o' lead fastened to each o' th' +cannon carriages, an' they won't have no use fer more than one ter each +gun. + +"Wish I war goin' with ye," growled the Texan leader, his eyes flaming +again. "I'm hankerin' ter git Salezar's ears, fer I saw th' polecat +c'llect Texan ears on th' road from San Miguel ter 'Paso, ter keep th' +tally o' his prisoners straight. He strung 'em on a wire, d--n him!" His +face became livid with passion, and murder raised its grisly visage in +his eyes. + +Tom paled. "Yes," he said. "He took th' ears o' a friend o' mine that +war sick an' weak with hunger an' cold an' exhaustion, an' couldn't keep +up. He had traded most o' his clothes fer short rides on th' mules o' +th' guards. They killed him near Valencia, an' his ears war took ter +account fer him." + +"Valencia!" muttered the leader, pacing back and forth like a panther. +"I remember him! Oh, Christ!" he cried, and then got hold of himself. +"Boyd, I'd give everythin' I own ter git my han's on that Salezar; an' +go ter hell with a smile on my face!" Then he stiffened and reached +convulsively toward his holster, for the unmistakable twang of a +bowstring sounded from the bushes above his head. The Texans leaped to +their arms, but Tom stopped them with a cry. + +"Wait, boys! That's Hank--my pardner!" He looked up toward the bushes. +"Ye damned fool! Show yerself!" + +"Didn't hardly know if 'twar safe," chuckled Hank, his head slowly +arising above the tangle of leaves and vines, a dozen paces from the +place where the bowstring had twanged. + +"Whar's that huntin' party ye war nursin'?" quickly demanded Tom. + +"Took 'em 'round on t'other side o' th' camp, ast 'em ter hold my hoss, +an' left 'em thar," chuckled the plainsman, making his way down the +hillside with caution and silence that had become habitual. + +"Boys," said Tom, "hyar's a 'dopted son o' th' Piegan tribe o' th' +Blackfeet, name o' Hank Marshall, an' he's more Injun than any brave in +th' tribe. Anyhow, I'd ruther have a Injun on my trail than him. He's +goin' with me ter Santa Fe; an' Salezar's shore goin' ter need all his +friends!" + +"Put her thar!" said the Texan leader. "If yer lookin' fer help I'll +jine ye, cussed if I won't!" + +"Don't want no help that's strange ter Taos an' Santer Fe," laughed +Hank. "We got two Green River boys, an' don't need no more; don't hardly +need them, but Zeb wants his ha'r, an' I wants his ears, ears bein' his +pet joke." He looked at the leader. "You boys run inter some 'Rapahoes? +Thar's nigh onter a dozen projectin' 'round these hills. Stumbled acrost +thar camp a-ways back. If I'd had one o' them newfangled rifles ye got +so many of, danged if I wouldn't 'a' trailed 'em." He grinned +expansively. "They cleaned out a cache o' mine, three year back, up on +Big Sandy Crick, an' I ain't paid 'em fer it yit." + +"We shore do need powder an' lead," said the leader thoughtfully. He +turned to one of his men. "Sam, reckon we kin part with pore Williams' +rifle?" + +"Seein' as we got three more extrys, reckon we kin," answered Sam. "It +oughter be worth a keg o' powder an' a couple o' pigs o' lead." He +walked over to where their supplies were piled and returned with a heavy +Colt repeating rifle. "Hyar, Hank," he said, handing it to the hunter. +"Be keerful ter keep th' powder from spillin' down 'round th' cap end; +an' don't empty her too fast after th' first few shots. Hyar's th' mold, +an' some caps. Git a Injun ter pay fer pore Williams. She's full loaded, +so look out." + +The rifle was sheathed in a saddle scabbard and Hank took it, looked +from it to his own, weighing them both. "Heavy as all git out," he +remarked. "Wall, 'twon't weigh nothin' when it's slung ter a saddle. +Might be handy purty soon. Much obliged, friends. How we goin' ter git +th' powder an' lead ter ye?" + +"I've arranged fer that," said Tom, picking up his rifle. "Wall, good +luck, boys. Remember us at Bent's if ye git thar." + +"Reckon it's you boys that need th' good luck," grimly replied the +leader. He watched the two visitors until they were lost to sight in the +brush and then turned to his men, his eyes flaming again. "Break camp, +boys; we're crossin' th' river close by, ter circle back ag'in farther +up." + +Tom and Hank, moving silently back toward the encampment, had covered +about half of the distance when they heard a sudden burst of shots, +yells, and the thunder of hoofs. Running up the side of a little hill +they peered over the top and flung themselves down. Less than two +hundred paces away a little party of tenderfeet, with Patience Cooper in +the center, fought frightened horses as a band of nearly a dozen Indians +came charging straight for them across the little clearing. As they +looked one of the tenderfeet's horse went down, spilling its rider, and +throwing the group into still greater confusion. + +"'Rapahoes!" snorted Hank, and his rifle spoke. "_One_ fer my cache!" + +The double-barreled rifle of his companion roared twice and another +warrior plunged from his horse, while the third fought madly to keep his +seat, but his weakening grasp loosened and he rolled over and over +across the grass. Tom dropped the empty rifle and started to rise, his +hand leaping to the Colt revolver at his belt; but Hank, who had slipped +the newly-acquired repeating rifle from its sheath, poked it into his +friend's hand and fell to re-loading his Hawken. "She's yore gal. Give +'em hell!" he grunted. + +The deadly and unexpected attack from the little hilltop created a +diversion which for the moment turned the thoughts of the savages from +the tenderfeet in the open, and the charging line split to pass the +forlorn group and give its full attention to the real menace; but as it +hesitated the heavy, regular crashes of the revolving rifle rolled from +the hill, its lead always selecting the warrior nearest to the +panic-stricken group. Here an Indian went down, there a horse; and with +the cry "_Tejanos!_" the rest of the savage band wheeled and dashed over +the route they had come. The last warrior to reach the edge of the +pasture was for one instant silhouetted against the sky on the edge of a +ravine, and at that moment Hank's rifle cracked. Throwing both arms up +over his head, he turned a backward flip from the horse and sprawled +inertly in a currant bush. Re-loading as quickly as they could while on +the run the two plainsmen hastened to the group, and Tom, pulling Dr. +Whiting from his horse, was within an inch of strangling him when +Patience's hands on his wrists checked him. + +"Six trusty knights!" sneered the enraged plainsman, hurling the doctor +from him. "I _said_ you were six flashes. Ask a woman to go riding with +you in a country as broken as this, and as over-run with Indians!" He +took a step forward, seething with rage, and ran his eyes over the +speechless tenderfeet. "Git back to camp, all of you! Miss Cooper goes +with us!" Poised, tense, and enraged he watched them go and did not know +that Hank had run to the little hilltop for the double-barreled rifle +until the old hunter returned with it, loaded its two barrels, capped +them and threw the weapon under his arm. At that moment a burst of +firing sounded from the north and Hank cocked his head. + +"Sounds like them Colt rifles," he remarked, and then kicked himself +figuratively, for at his words, his two companions, almost in each +other's arms, started, stiffened, and stepped apart. Seeing that the +damage already was done, Hank placidly continued. "Is thar another +passel o' Texans loose 'round hyar, or has our friends hit th' trail +already?" + +"Yes," said Tom, quivering like a leaf. + +Patience closed her eyes. "Yes," she sighed. + +Hank scratched his head and frowned, very much puzzled. "Shucks! thar +ain't no doubt 'bout it, a-tall. Course it is--an' I'm a danged old +fool!" + +"You're one of the four best men I ever knew," said Patience, resting +her hand on his arm. + +Hank felt of the disgraceful, stubby beard on his face, scowled at his +blackened hands, and furtively brushed at a bloodstain on his shirt. +Then he wheeled abruptly and strode off to look over the victims of the +little affray. When he turned again he saw Patience and Tom going toward +camp, Patience on her horse and Tom striding at her side. Fixing the +strap to his own rifle he slung the weapon over his shoulder and, with +the double-barreled weapon balanced expertly in his hands, slowly +followed after to act as a badly needed protector to them both. + +Back in camp Tom handed Patience into her uncle's care, looked at her in +a way she would remember to the end of her days, and hastened on to +report to the captain of the caravan. When he reached Woodson he found +Hank there before him, laughingly recounting the fight. As Tom came up +Hank stepped back and slipped away, heading straight for the excited +group of tenderfeet at the other end of the encampment, and roughly +pushed in among them. + +"Look hyar, ye sick pups," he blurted. "My pardner dassn't thrash any o' +ye, or he'll mebby lose his gal. Anybody hyar wantin' ter take advantage +o' an old man? Huh! Then open yer dumb ears ter this: If I ketch airy +one o' ye hangin' 'round Cooper's waggins, or even sayin' 'how-de-do' +to that gal, I'll git ye if I has ter chase ye all the way back ter +Missoury!" He spat at the doctor's feet, turned his back and rambled +over to where his trade goods were piled. On the way he met Zeb, who +scowled at him. + +Hank pulled some black mops out of his pocket, showed them, and shoved +them back again. + +"Hell!" said Zeb, enviously. "Whar ye git 'em?" + +"Found one on a currant bush," chuckled Hank, and went on again. + +Zeb placed his fists on his hips and scowled in earnest. "I didn't know +what that shootin' war, with all th' hunters runnin' 'round. Dang him! +He allus _did_ have more luck ner brains!" + +Up at the captain's wagon Woodson nodded as his companion finished +speaking. "I reckon ye kin have 'most anythin' in this hyar camp, Boyd. +Two bars o' lead off'n th' cannon carriages, an' a keg o' powder? Shore, +I'll put th' powder in Cooper's little waggin, an' ye kin help yerself +ter th' lead when ye git th' time." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE PASSING OF PEDRO + + +After supper that night Hank and Tom sat around their fire and soon were +joined by Pedro, who paid them effusive compliments about their defeat +of the Arapahoes. They squirmed under his heavy flattery and finally, in +desperation, spoke of the secret trail to Taos. His face beamed in the +firelight and he leaned eagerly forward. + +"You have decide?" he asked. + +"Yes," answered Tom. "Whar we goin' ter meet, and what time?" + +"Ah?" breathed Pedro. "To that have I geeve _mucho_ thought. Eet should +be ear-rly, so we be far away by thee coming of thee sun. Ees eet not +so?" + +"Naw," growled Hank. "Folks air not sleepin' sound enough then. Nobody's +goin' ter foller us. Thar'll be lots o' 'em leavin' camp at night from +now on, tryin' ter beat each other ter th' customs fellers. Two hours +afore dawn is time enough. But we got lots o' time ter figger that; we +won't be ter th' Upper Spring fer two more days. Time enough then ter +talk about it." + +"But, eet ees tonight!" exclaimed Pedro. "_Madre de Dios!_ You teenk I +mean near thee Upper Spreeng? No! No!" + +"Mebby not; but that's whar _we_ mean," said Tom. "Think we're goin' +pokin' along through this Injun country fer two nights an' a day by +ourselves? Th' caravan gits ter Willer Bar tomorrow night, an' camps at +th' Upper Spring, or Cold Spring, th' next night. That puts us near +fifty miles further on in th' protection of th' caravan." + +"No! No!" argued Pedro in despair. "Eet ees too _mucho_ reesk!" + +"Of what?" demanded Tom, in surprise. + +"Eet may be that Armijo send _soldats_ to meet thee tr-rain, lak other +times. Senores, eet mus' be tonight! Tonight eet mus' be!" He looked +around suddenly. "But where ar-re thee _cargas_, thee packs? I do not +see them. What ees eet you do?" + +"We put 'em outside th' corral," chuckled Tom knowingly, "so folks will +git used ter seeing 'em thar. Tomorrow night we'll do th' same, an' do +it ag'in at th' Upper Spring. Somebody shore would see us if we had ter +pack 'em here an' sneak 'em through th' camp. Ye should tell yer friends +ter put thar packs outside th' waggins, too. How we goin' ter git +through th' guards around th' camp?" + +"By my fr-riends," answered Pedro. "But eet may be too late at Cold +Spreeng!" he expostulated. "Eef thee _soldats_ ar-re there--ah, senores! +Eet ees ver' bad, Cold Spreeng!" + +"We ain't botherin' 'bout that," said Tom reassuringly. "Hank kin scout +on ahead o' us, an' if thar camped up thar we kin drop out o' th' train +behind any bend on th' way, an' take ter th' brush." + +Pedro begged and pleaded, but to no avail. He still was arguing when his +two companions rolled up in their blankets and settled down to go to +sleep. Sadly he walked away, hiding his anger until well out of their +sight, and then hastened to his own fire and sent three of his +compatriots to watch the sleeping pair. They had their watch for +nothing, and while they doggedly kept their eyes on the two plainsmen, +Uncle Joe and his two wagoners were busy on the other side of the camp, +stowing merchandise in the wagons and making false packs. This they +found easy to do without calling upon many buffalo rugs, for the goods +had been packed in light boxes, over which had been thrown skins and +canvas. By taking out the contents of the boxes and putting the +containers back into their original wrappings the shapes of the packs +did not change. The pigs of lead, a keg of powder and bundles of stones +were wrapped in pieces of old skins to give weight to the packs to keep +them from flopping at every step of the mules. They did not start to +work until Zeb Houghton and Jim Ogden returned from their tour of guard +duty and took up another kind of guard duty near the wagons; and long +before daylight awakened the encampment the work was done and no one the +wiser. Alonzo Webb and Enoch Birdsall had taken care of the packs +belonging to Ogden and Houghton and everything was in shape for quick +action. + +On the march again after an early breakfast the caravan plodded along +the trail to reach Willow Bar in good time for the next night camp. As +the wagons rolled along the road following the course of the Cimarron, +Uncle Joe and Patience dropped back to the rear guard, where Hank +Marshall scowled at Jim Ogden, but refrained from open hostilities. +Hank was glad to see them and entertained them mile after mile with +accounts of his life and experiences in the great West. At times his +imagination set a hard pace for his vocabulary, but the latter managed +to keep up. The men exchanged tobacco off and on and no one gave a +second thought to what they were doing. When Uncle Joe and Patience rode +forward again as the train drew near to the noon camping place, Uncle +Joe was poorer and lighter by the loss of a goodly sum in minted gold, +while Hank was richer and heavier. The balance was obtainable in Santa +Fe in the warehouse of a mutual friend. + +The wagons hardly had left the noon camp when a heavy rain storm burst +upon them, with a blast of cold air that quickly turned the rain into +driving sheets of hail. These storms were common along the Cimarron and +at times raged for two or three days. The animals became frantic with +fear and pain, and the train was a scene of great confusion from one end +to the other. Alternate downpours of rain, sleet, and heavy hailstones +continued all the rest of the day and the encampment at Willow Bar was +one of sullenness and discontent. The wind rose during the early part of +the night and sent the rain driving into the wagons through every crack +and crevice, and the flapping and slapping and booming of wagon covers, +added to the fury of the wind and the swish of the downpour, filled the +night with a tumult of noise. The guards around the camp either crawled +under skins or crept back to their wagons, not able to see three feet in +the blackness. + +Tom and Hank had taken refuge under a great Pittsburg wagon owned by +Haviland and had fastened buffalo rugs to its sides to shed some of the +rain. As soon as darkness set in and Pedro's spies found that they could +not see an arm's length from them and were drenched and half frozen by +the steady downpour, they fled from their posts and sought refuge from +the storm. It took very little to convince them that the men they were +to watch would stay where they were until dawn or later, and they did +not let Pedro know of their deflection. + +"Nine, ten, eleven," muttered the first of two men leading packmules as +they felt their way from wagon to wagon. "This oughter be Haviland's, +Zeb. Yep, I kin feel thar skin walls." He bent down and raised the lower +edge of a skin. "Hank! Tom!" + +"All right, Jim," came the low answer, and the two partners, bundled in +skins until they looked like nothing human, crawled from their snug +shelter and stood up, their one and constant thought being for the +covers of the hammers of their heavy rifles. Hank pushed ahead and the +night swallowed up the little party. + +Uncle Joe raised himself on one elbow and peered through a small opening +in the canvas at the rear end of his first huge wagon, and got a faceful +of cold rain before he could close the opening again. He had done this a +dozen times since dark. Muttering sleepily he rolled up in his blankets +and rugs and dozed again, squirming down into the warm bed as vague +thoughts sped through his mind of what his friends were going to face. + +Suddenly the soft whinny of a horse sounded squarely under him, and he +bounced from the blankets and crept to a crack where the canvas was +nailed to the tailboard of the wagon. "Hello!" he called. "Hello!" + +A low voice answered him and he shivered as a trickle of cold rain +rolled down his face. "Thought you had given it up till tomorrow night. +This is a hell of a night, boys, to go wandering off from the camp. Sure +you won't get lost among th' hills?" He chuckled at the reply and +shivered again. "Sure I'll tell her Bent's. Yes. No, she won't. What? +Look here, young man; she's plumb cured of tenderfeet. Yes, I remember +everything. All right; good luck, boys. God knows you'll need it!" He +listened for a moment, heard no sounds of movement, and called again. +"What's th' matter?" There came no answer and he crept back to his +blankets, his teeth chattering, and lay awake the rest of the night, +worrying. + +Between the wagons and the road the little pack train waited, kept +together by soft bird calls instead of by sight. A plaintive, +disheartened snipe whistled close by and was answered in kind. Hank +almost bumped into Ogden before he saw him. They both looked like +drowned rats, the water slipping from the buffalo hair and pouring from +them in little rills. + +"Ain't a guard in sight, or ruther feelin', fifty feet each side o' th' +road," Hank reported. "Bet every blasted one o' 'em is back in camp. +Mules all tied together? Everybody hyar? All right. Off we go." + +All night long the little _atejo_ slopped down the streaming road, kept +to it by the uncanny instinct and the oft repeated cheeping and +twittering of the adopted son of the Blackfeet, who could perfectly +imitate any night bird he ever had heard; and he had heard them all. +Horses whinnied, mules brayed, wolves and coyotes howled, foxes +squalled, chipmunks scolded, squirrels chattered and several other +animals performed solos in the dark at the head of the little pack +train, to be answered from the rear. Anyone unfortunate enough to be +camped at the edge of the trail would have thought himself surrounded by +a menagerie. + +With the first sullen sign of dawn Tom pushed on ahead, reconnoitered +the Upper Spring, found it deserted and went on, riding some hundreds of +yards from, but parallel to, the trail and soon came to Cold Spring. +Here he saw quantities of camp and riding gear, abandoned firelocks, +personal belongings, and other things "forgotten" by the brave Armijo +and his army in their precipitate retreat from the Texans, while the +latter were still one hundred and fifty miles away. Scouting in the +vicinity for awhile he rode back and met the little _atejo_, which had +been plodding steadily on at its pace of three miles an hour; and all +the urging of which the men were capable would not increase that speed. + +At the Upper Spring, which poured into a ravine and flowed toward the +Cimarron a few miles to the north, the wagon road drew farther from the +river and ran toward the Canadian; and here the little party left it to +turn and twist over and around hills, ravines, pastures and woods, and +then slopped down the middle of a storm-swollen rivulet. They turned up +one of its small feeders and followed it for half a mile and then, +crossing a little divide, struck another small brook and splashed down +it until they came to the Cimarron. Here they threw into the river the +useless contents of the false packs, distributed the supplies among the +mules, and pushed on again upstream along the bank. + +They now were well up on the headwaters of the river and its width was +negligible, although its storm-fed torrent boiled and seethed and gave +to it a false fierceness. Their doubling and the hiding of their trail +in the streams had not been done so much for the purpose of throwing the +Mexicans off their track, as to make their pursuers think they were +trying to throw them off. They knew that the Mexicans, upon losing the +tracks, would strike straight for the old and now almost abandoned +Indian trail for Bent's Fort. + +"We got about a ten-hour start on 'em," growled Tom, "but they'll cut +that down quick, once they git goin'. Reckon I'll lay back a-ways an' +slow 'em up if they git hyar too soon." + +Zeb and Jim wheeled their horses and without a word accompanied him to +the rear. + +Hank, leading the bell mule, pushed on, looking for the site of his old +cache and for a good place to cross the swollen stream, and he soon +stopped at the water's edge and howled like a wolf. In a few minutes his +companions came up, reported no Mexicans in sight, and unpacked the more +perishable supplies. These they carried across to the other bank, their +horses swimming strongly and soon the mules were ready to follow. Tom +led off, entering the stream with the picket rope of the bell mule +fastened to his saddle, and with his weapons, powder horn and "possible" +sack high above his head. His horse breasted the current strongly, +quartering against it, and the bell mule followed. After her, with a +slight show of hesitation, came the others, the three remaining hunters +bringing up the rear. + +As the _atejo_ formed again and started forward Hank hung back, peering +into the stunted trees and brush on the other side of the stream. + +"Come on, Hank," said Tom. "What ye lookin' fer? They warn't in sight." + +"I war sorta hankerin' fer 'em ter show up," growled Hank with deep +regret. "That's plumb center range from hyar, over thar. Wouldn't mind +takin' a couple o' cracks at 'em, out hyar by ourselves, us four. Allus +hate ter turn my tail ter yaller-bellies like them varmints. I hate 'em +next ter Crows!" He slowly turned his horse and fell in behind the last +mule, glancing back sorrowfully. Then he looked ahead. "Thar's my ol' +cache," he chuckled. + +Before them on the right was an eroded hill with steep sides, its flat +top covered with a thick mass of brush, berry bushes and scrub timber, +and on its right was a swamp, filled with pools and rank with +vegetation. The dry wash marking the end of the great buffalo trail was +dry no longer, but poured out a roiled, yellow-brown stream into the +dirty waters of the Cimarron. + +Rounding the hill they stopped and exchanged grins, for in a little +horseshoe hollow two horses, with pack saddles on their backs, stopped +their grazing, pulled to the end of their picket-ropes, and looked +inquiringly at the invaders. + +"Thar's jest no understandin' th' ways o' Providence," chuckled Hank as +he dismounted. "Hyar we been a-wishin' an' a-wishin' fer a couple o' +hosses to take th' place o' these cold-'lasses mules, an' danged if hyar +they ain't, saddles an' all, right under our noses." + +While he went along the back trail on foot to a point from where he +could see the river, his companions became busy. They pooled their +supplies and packed them securely on the Providence-provided horses, put +the rest on their own animals, picketed the mules and removed the bell +from the old mare, tossing it aside so its warning tinkle would be +stilled. Signalling Hank, in a few minutes they were on their way again +along the faint and in many places totally effaced trail leading over +the wastes to the distant trading post on the Arkansas. Coming to a +rainwater rivulet Hank sent them westward down its middle while he rode +splashingly upstream. Soon coming to a tangle of brush he forced his +horse to take a few steps around it on the bank, returned to the stream +and then, holding squarely to its middle, picked his way through the +tangle and rode back to rejoin his friends, having left behind him a +sign of his upward passing. In case Providence went to sleep and took no +more interest in his affairs, he had the satisfaction of knowing that he +had done what he could to hide their trail. + +He found his friends waiting for him and he shook his head as he joined +them. "Danged if I like this hyar hidin'," he growled, coming back to +his pet grievance. "I most gen'rally 'd ruther do it myself." + +"But it ain't a question o' fighting," retorted Tom. "We got ter hide +our trail from now on in case some greaser gits away, like they did from +them Texans back nigh th' Crossin', an' takes th' news in ter th' +settlements that we didn't go ter Bent's after we left th' wagon road. +Ye'll git all th' danged fightin' yer lookin' fer afore ye puts Santa Fe +behind ye--an' I'm bettin' we'll all show our trails a hull lot worse +afore we git through ter Bent's. Come on; Turley's ranch is a long ways +off. If yer itchin' ter try that repeatin' rifle ye'll shore git th' +chance ter, later." + +Hank grinned guiltily and while he was not thoroughly convinced of the +soundness of their flight, so far as his outward appearances showed, he +grunted a little but pushed on and joined his partner. In a few minutes +he grinned again. + +"I ain't never had th' chanct ter try fer six plumb-centers without +takin' th' rifle from my shoulder," he remarked. "Jest wait till I take +this hyar Colt up in th' Crow country!" He chuckled with anticipated +pleasures and then glanced sidewise at his partner. "Say, Tom," he said, +reminiscently; "who air th' three other best men yer gal was thinkin' +of, back thar in that little clearin'?" + +"What you mean?" demanded Tom, whirling in his saddle, his face flushing +under its tan. "An' she ain't my gal, neither." + +Hank chirped and twittered a bit. "Then who's is she?" + +"Don't know; but she won't like bein' called mine. Ye oughtn't call her +that." + +"Not even atween us two?" + +"Not never, a-tall." + +"That so?" muttered Hank, a vague plan presenting itself to his mind, to +be considered and used later. "Huh! I must be gittin' old an' +worthless," he mourned. "I been readin' signs fer more'n thirty year, +an' I ain't never read none that war airy plainer, arter them thievin' +'Rapahoes turned tail an' lit out. Anyhow, I reckon mebby yer safe if ye +keep on _thinkin'_ that she's yer gal." He scratched his chin. "But who +war th' other three?" + +"Why, I do remember her saying something like that," confessed Tom +slowly, tingling as his memory hurled the whole scene before him. +"Reckon she meant Uncle Joe an' her father." + +"That accounts fer two o' 'em," said Hank, nodding heavily; "but who in +tarnation is th' third?" + +"Don't know," grunted Tom. + +"Huh! Bet he's that stuck-up, no-'count doctor feller. Yeah; that's who +it is." He glanced slyly at his frowning friend. "Told ye I war gettin' +old an' worthless. Gosh! an' she's goin' all th' rest o' th' way ter +Santer Fe with him!" He slapped his horse and growled in mock anxiety. +"We better git a-goin' an' not loaf like we air. Santer Fe's a long ways +off!" + +Two miles further on they turned up a little branch of the stream and +Hank, stopping his horse, threw up his hand. "Listen!" he cried. + +Four pairs of keen ears sifted the noises of the intermittent wind and +three pairs of eyes turned to regard their companion. + +"What ye reckon ye heard?" curiously asked Zeb. + +"I'd take my oath I heard rifle shots--a little bust o' 'em," replied +Hank. "Thar ain't no questionin' it; I _am_ gittin' old. Come along; +we'll keep ter th' water fur's we kin, anyhow." + + * * * * * + +Back at the encampment of the caravan dawn found the animals stampeded, +and considerable time elapsed before they were collected and before the +absence of Tom and his friends was noticed. Then, with many +maledictions, Pedro rallied his friends and set out along the wagon +road, following a trail easily seen notwithstanding the rain which had +beaten at the telltale tracks all night. Mile after mile unrolled behind +them, saturated with Spanish curses; miles covered with all the vengeful +ferocity and eagerness of Apaches. The score of Mexicans were +well-armed, having spent the winter in the Missouri settlements and +procured the best weapons to be had there. The Upper Spring came near +and was put behind in a shower of hoof-thrown mud, and without pause +they followed the tracks leading into the rough country, like hounds +unleashed. They were five to one, and these odds were deemed sufficient +in a sudden night attack. There would be satisfaction, glory, and +profits for them all. The Governor had demanded Tom Boyd's ears, on him +if possible, without him if they could be obtained in no other way; the +Governor was powerful and would reward loyal and zealous service. They +followed the trail of the _atejo_ around hills, through ravines, and +past woods, an advance guard of three men feeling the way. Then the +tracks ceased at the side of a creek; but they did not pause. Choosing +the straightest practical route to the Cimarron at the beginning of the +old Indian trail running northward to the Arkansas, they kept on. At +last they saw the muddy flood of the river and as they reached its banks +and read them at a glance they sent up an exultant shout. Holding their +weapons and powder well above the backs of their swimming horses they +reached the further side and took up the trail again. + +Pedro dashed forward and flung up an arm and as his followers stopped in +answer he cheered them with a Spanish oration, in which Pedro played no +minor part. "Pedro never loses!" he boasted. "Before noon we will be on +the heels of the gringo dogs and our scouts will find their camp in the +night. Before another sun rises in the heavens we will have their ears +at our belts and their trade goods on the way to the Valley of Taos! +Forward, my braves! Forward, my warriors! Pedro leads you to glory!" + +They snapped forward in their saddles as the spurs went home, their +rifles at the ready, their advance guard steadily forging ahead, and +thundered along the tracks of the fleeing _atejo_. Rounding the little +hill with its frowsy cap of brush and scrub timber, they received a +stunning surprise; for dropping down the steep bank as if from the sky +charged twenty-odd vengeful Texans, their repeating rifles cracking like +the roll of a drum. Pedro's exultant face became a sickly yellow, his +burning eyes in an instant changed to glass, and his boasting words +were slashed across by the death rattle in his throat. Volley after +volley crashed and roared as the charging Texans wheeled to charge back +again, and as they turned once more on the hillside they pulled up +sharply and viewed the havoc of their deadly work. No man was left to +carry tales, and Pedro had spoken with prophetic vision, for he had +indeed led his warriors to glory--and oblivion. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"'SPRESS FROM BENT'S" + + +Circling back to the river so as not to lose its guidance nor stray too +far out of the direct course, they reached its desolate banks at +nightfall and camped at the base of a low hill on the top of which grew +dense masses of greasewood. Zeb had shot a black-tailed deer on their +way to the river and their supper that night, so far as the meat was +concerned, would have delighted the palate of an epicure. Cooked over +the hot, sputtering, short-lived greasewood, which constantly was added, +and kept on the windward side of the blaze, the flavor of the meat was +very little affected and they gorged, hunter-like, until they could eat +no more; and partly smoked some of the remaining meat to have against +some pressing need. + +As the stream dwindled the nature of its banks and of the surrounding +country changed, the vegetation steadily becoming more desert-like. +White chalk cliffs arose like painted eyebrows from the tops of the +banks, where erosion had revealed them; loose and disintegrating +sandstone lay about the broken plain in myriads of shapes. Stunted and +dead cottonwoods added their touch to the general scene, leaning this +way and that, weird, uncanny, ghostlike. The drab sagebrush and the +green fan of the palmetto became steadily more common, the latter +figuring largely in the daily life of the Mexicans, for its mashed, +saponaceous roots provided them with their pulpy _amole_, which was an +excellent substitute for soap. Prickly pears, Spanish bayonets, masses +of greasewood bushes and scattering fringes of short grama grass +completed the carpeting of the desolate plain. + +Doggedly they pushed on, thankful for the heavy rains of the last two +days, which had reached even here and left little pools of bad-tasting +water for themselves and their beasts. At noon they stopped and built a +fire of stunted cedar, for in daylight its telltale flames told nothing. +They cooked another black-tailed deer, smoked some of the meat, and ran +bullets until they had all of the latter they could possibly use. On +again toward the Canadian until nightfall, lighting no fire, but eating +the meat they had cooked at noon. They arranged a four-shift watch and +passed a peaceful night. In their range of vision were Raton Peak, +Pike's Peak, and the Wet Mountain, that paradise for hunters; the twin +Spanish Peaks with their caps of snow, and behind these towering +sentries loomed the sullen bulk of a great mountain range under a thin +streak of glittering white. + +At any distance their appearance hardly would tell whether they were +white hunters or Indians from Bent's, since their garb was a mixture of +both and their skins so tanned, their hair so long as to cause grave +doubts. More than once in that country two white men have exchanged +shots, each taking the other for an Indian. At Bent's Fort on the +Arkansas there were stray Indians from far-off tribes, and they dressed +in what they could get; and at The Pueblo, that little trading post +farther up on the Arkansas, Indians and whites lived together and +intermarried. Not one of the four but could speak more than one savage +dialect; and Tom's three companions possessed an Indian vocabulary which +left little to be desired. If it came to a test which might prove too +severe for him he could be dumb, and fall back on the sign language. + +At last the Canadian was reached and passed, and Hank led them +unerringly up the valley of a little feeding stream which poured its +crystal flood down the gorges of a mountain range now almost over their +heads. Coming to a rocky bowl scooped out of the sheer, overhanging wall +at a bend, he built a fire of dry wood that was safely screened, and +from his "possible" sack he took various leaves and stems and roots he +had collected on the way. Four white men looking more like Indians had +entered that little valley just before dusk. In the morning at dawn two +white men, a Blackfoot and a Delaware, a hunting party from Bent's Fort +with messages for Bent's little Vermajo ranch, located in a mountain +valley, left the ravine and followed a little-used Ute trail that their +leader knew well. Hank wore the Blackfoot distinctive double part in his +hair just above the forehead, the isolated tuft pulled down to the +bridge of his nose, and fastened to his buckskin trousers were thin +strips of beadwork made by Blackfoot squaws. + +The Mexican herder working for Bent uneasily watched them as they rode +up to his makeshift lean-to and demanded a change of horses, a report of +his stewardship, and the use of his fire. They were not bad fellows and +were generous with their heavenly tobacco, and finally his uneasiness +wore away and he gossiped with them while the night more and more shut +in his lavish fire and seemed to soften the guttural polyglot of the two +Indians. The white men did most of the talking, as was usual, and could +make themselves understood in the herder's bastard Spanish and they +answered sociably his numerous questions. Had they heard of the great +_Tejano_ army marching to avenge the terrible defeat inflicted by the +brave Armijo on their swaggering vanguard? It was the great subject from +the upper end of the Valley of Taos to the last settlement along the Rio +Grande and the Pecos. The ignoble dogs of _Tejanos_ had basely murdered +the brave Mexican scouting party near the Cimarron Crossing of the +Arkansas. What could the _soldats_ of Mexico do, attacked in their +sleep? Most of the murdered _soldats_ had come from the Valley of Taos, +which always had been friendly to Texas. Was it true that the _Tejanos_ +spit fire on dry nights and could kill a full-grown bull buffalo with +their bare hands? Ah, they were devils and the sons of devils, those +_Tejanos_; and at night all doors were tightly barred in the settlements +and strange Americans regarded with suspicion. + +Some nights later, down the rough, steep sides of the Arroyo Hondo, +through which trickled a ribbon of water from a recent rain, four +Indians rode carefully, leading two pack animals. They were two +Arapahoes, a Blackfoot, and a Delaware, and they followed the ravine and +soon came in sight of the little mountain pasture, dotted with cedar +bushes and sparsely covered with grass, which sloped gently down the +mountain side. In the fading twilight the so-called ranch stood vaguely +outlined, the nature of its log and adobe walls indiscernible, its mill +and the still house looming vaguely over the main building against the +darker background of the slope. The faint smell of sour mash almost hid +the mealy odor of the grist mill; hogs grunted in the little corral by +the fenced-in garden, while an occasional bleating of sheep came from +the same enclosure. Dark shapes moved over the cedar-brush pasture and +the frequent stamping of hoofs told they were either horses or mules. +High up near the roof of the composite building were narrow oblongs of +faint radiance, where feeble candle light shone through the little +squares of gypsum, so much used in that country in place of window +glass. As the four newcomers smilingly looked at the comfortable +building the foot-compelling strains of a cheap violin squeaked and +rasped resinously from the living quarters and a French-Canadian, far +from home, burst ecstatically into song. Dreaming chickens cackled +briefly and a sleepy rooster complained in restrained indignation, while +the rocky mountain side relayed the distant howl of a prowling coyote. + +The leader drew the flap over the ultra-modern rifle in its sheath at +his leg and glanced back at his companions. + +"Wall," he growled, "hyar we air; we're plumb inter it, now." + +"Up ter our scalp-locks," came a grunted reply. + +"Hell! 'Tain't th' fust time they've been in danger. They'll stand a +lot o' takin'," chuckled another voice. He softly imitated a coyote and +the sleepy inmates of the hen house burst into a frightened chorus. + +"Hain't ye got no sense?" asked Hank, reprovingly. + +"Wouldn't be hyar if I had. I smell sour mash. Let's go on." + +Hank kneed his mount, no longer the one which had become so well known +to many eyes on the long wagon trail, and led the way down to the door. +At the soft confusion of guttural tongues outside the house the door +opened and Turley, the proprietor, stood framed in the dim light behind +him. + +"'Spress from Senor Bent's," said the nearest Indian, walking forward. +"It's Hank Marshall," he whispered. "Want ter palaver with ye, Turley." + +"Want's more whiskey, I reckon," growled Turley. "Hobble yer hosses on +th' pasture. Ye kin roll up 'most anywhar ye like. Fed yit?" + +"_Si, senor; muchos gracias_," answered the Indian. "_Senor! cary mucho +aguardiente grano!_" + +"Oh, ye do?" sarcastically replied Turley. "Whiskey, huh? Wall, ye'll do +better without it. What's Bent want o' me?" + +"_Aguardiente de grano, senor!_" + +Turley chuckled. "He does, hey? I say he picks damned poor messengers to +send fer whiskey! We'll talk about that tomorrow. Roll up some'rs in yer +blankets an' don't pester me." He stepped back and the door slammed in +the eager, pleading face of the Blackfoot, to a chorus of disappointed +grunts. The rebuffed savage timidly knocked on the door and it was flung +open, Turley glaring down at him. "Ye heard what I said, an' ye savvied +it! Reckon I want four drunk Injuns 'round hyar all night? We ain't +a-goin' ter have no damned nonsense. Take yer animals off ter th' +pasture an' camp down by th' crick! _Vamoose!_" + +The picture of pugnacity, he stood in the door and watched them slowly, +sullenly obey him, and then he slammed it again, swearing under his +breath. "Quickest way ter git murdered is ter give them Injuns likker!" +he growled. + +"_Mais, oui_," said the French-Canadian, placing his fiddle back under +his chin, and the stirring air went on again. + +Three hours before dawn Hank awoke and without moving his body let his +eyes rove over the dark pasture. Then like a flash of light his heavy +pistol jammed into the dark blotch almost at his side, and he growled a +throaty inquiry. + +"It's me, Hank," came the soft reply. "Take that damned thing away! +What's up?" + +Three other pairs of eyes were turned on them and then their owners +stirred a little and grunted salutations, and made slight rustlings as +their hands replaced what they had held. + +"Nothin', only a courtin' party," chuckled Hank. + +"Wall, I've heard tell o' courtin' parties," ruminated Turley; "but +never one made up like Injuns and armed to th' teeth. Might know some +damned fool thing war afoot when yer mixed up in it. Who ye courtin', at +yer time o' life? Somebody's wife?" + +"We're aimin' fer Santer Fe," said Hank. "Got ter have help ter git thar +th' way we wants. Them Texans has made it hard fer us, a-stirrin' up +everythin' like they has." + +"Whar'd ye git yer hosses?" anxiously demanded Turley. + +"Inderpendence, Missoury," innocently answered Hank, his grin lost in +the darkness. + +"Then ye come over th' wagon trail, an' up th' Arkansas?" + +"Over th' wagon trail an' up th' Cimarron, with th' second caravan o' +traders. Come nigh straight acrost from Cold Spring." + +"Wall, I'll be damned!" muttered Turley. Then he snorted. "Ain't ye got +no sense, ye Root Digger? Everybody in th' train'll know them hosses!" + +"We swapped 'em at Bent's rancho on th' Vermajo--good gosh! Two o' 'em +come from them Texans!" + +"They didn't have no brands," said Tom. "I heard 'em say somethin' about +gettin' some at Bent's. We got ter risk it, anyhow. It'll be like addin' +a spoonful o' freight ter a wagon load." + +Hank's mind was running in a groove that he had been gouging deeper and +longer hour after hour and he refused to be sidetracked by any question +concerning the horses they had changed. "We want ter swap hosses ag'in +an' borry some rags fer clothes; an' before daylight, too." + +Tom arose on one elbow. "That's all right, fur's it goes; only it don't +go no-whar," he declared. "We want ter git rid o' these hosses, an' we +want th' clothes; but that ain't all. We want a job, Turley. Need any +mule wranglers ter take some freight inter Santer Fe?" + +"Day after tomorrow," answered Turley. "We got ter git rid o' these +animals afore then, ye got ter git shet o' 'em afore mornin'. I'll send +Jacques out ter take 'em away as soon as I go back ter th' house. Arter +he leaves with 'em I'll bring ye some ol' clothes so ye'll look a little +different from them four fools that swapped hosses at Bent's rancho. Th' +peon up thar won't git away, nor mebby see nobody fer weeks; but we +better take th' pelt afore th' meat spiles under it. I got some hosses +th' Utes stole from th' 'Rapahoes. We stole 'em from th' Utes. They +ain't marked, an' they ain't knowed down in th' valley." + +"But we'll still be four," commented Tom, thoughtfully. + +"That's shore a plain trail," said Jim Ogden. "Here: You an' Hank take a +mule apiece an' go back th' way we come, fur a spell. Me an' Zeb kin +freight whiskey with Turley's _atejo_, an' meet ye along th' trail +some'rs, or in Santer Fe, at th' warehouse. Ye kin load yer mules with +faggots ter be sold in town, an' tag onter our mule train fer society +an' pertection. Yer rifles kin be hid under th' faggots." + +"We'll be unpackin' th' mules noon an' night," replied Tom. "How 'bout +our rifles then?" + +"Can't be did," grunted Hank. + +"We got ter risk that peon seein' anybody ter talk to," said Tom. +"Anyhow, 'tain't nothin' unusual fer him ter see fellers from th' fort. +We'll go on with th' _atejo_, after we make a few changes in our +clothes, an' ride Turley's hosses 'stead o' Bent's. But we can't jine +that mule train as no party o' four. We got ter lose that danged number, +that's flat." + +"You an' Hank," offered Zeb, "bein' Blackfoot an' Delaware, kin be +hunters from Bent's; me an' Jim, bein' 'Rapahoes turned friendly, kin +come from St. Vrain's post. Th' South Platte, up thar, is th' 'Rapahoe +stampin' ground an' we both know it from one end to t'other. That'll +count fer all o' us havin' first-class weapons. Somebody's shore goin' +ter notice them." + +Turley nodded. "Yes; hyar's whar ye lose that cussed four. You two +'Rapahoes git scarce afore daylight, goin' on foot an' leavin' no trail. +Come back from th' way o' th' old Ute trail from th' Bayou Salade. I'm +runnin' a little herdin' up o' my hosses on th' side o' th' mounting; +they're scatterin' in th' brush too much. Fer that I'll be needin' all +my men that ain't goin' as muleteers. I'll hire you boys, two at a time, +ter go 'long with th' _atejo_ as guards. Thar's thieves atween hyar an' +Santer Fe that likes Turley's whiskey an' ground meal. I'll give ye a +writin' ter my agent in town to pay ye off, an' ye'll git through, all +right. Do ye reckon ye'll have ter git outer Santer Fe on th' jump? +Seein' as how yer so danged careful how ye git inter th' town, it may be +that ye ain't welcome a hull lot. Knowin' Hank like I do, makes me +suspicious." + +"We'll mebby git out quicker'n scat," answered Tom, chuckling. "They'll +mebby be touchy about strangers, with them Texans prowlin' 'round. If we +git ter goin' strong as a Texan raid an' they find out that it's only +four no-'count Injuns full o' Taos lightnin', they'll mebby move fast. +We may make quite a ruckus afore we git through, if they find out who we +air." + +"What th' hell ye aimin' ter do? Capture th' town?" demanded Turley, +unable to longer hold down his curiosity. + +"Aimin' ter git our trade goods money, see a young lady, hang 'round +till th' return caravan start back fer th' States, an' mebby squar up +fer a few o' them Texans that _didn't_ git ter Mexico City," answered +Tom. + +"This hyar's th' Tom Boyd that slapped Armijo's kiyote face," explained +Hank. "We hears th' Governor is lonesome fer his company." + +"Great Jehovah yes!" exclaimed Turley. "Boyd, ye better jine that thar +caravan from Bent's, meetin' up with it at th' Crossin'. Armijo combed +these hyar mountings fer ye, an' watched my rancho fer nigh a week. He'd +'most give his right hand ter git a-holt o' you; an' if he does, you kin +guess what'll happen ter you!" He peered curiously at the young American +and shook his head. "I'm bettin' ye _do_ leave on th' jump, if yer lucky +enough ter leave at all. Ye'll need fresh hosses, another change o' +clothes an' a cache o' grub. Tell ye what," he said, turning to Hank. +"Ye know that little mounting valley whar you an' me stopped fer two +days, that time we war helpin' find th' hosses that war run off Bent's +Vermajo rancho? Wall, I'll fix it so these hyar hosses will be waitin' +fer ye up thar. I got some men I kin trust as long as I'm playin' agin' +th' greasers. I'll cache ye some Dupont an' Galena, too," he offered, +referring to powder and lead. The latter came from Galena, Illinois, +and took its name from that place. + +"An' forty pounds o' jerked meat a man," added Hank. "We might have ter +go clean up ter th' South Park afore we dast turn fer Bent's. Hang it on +that thar dead ash we used afore, or clost by if th' tree's down. We +better leave ye some more bullets as will fit our own weapons without no +doubt. We kin run more in th' warehouse in Santer Fe if we need 'em. +Keep yer Galena, Turley, an' leave some patches, instid, along with our +bullets." + +"But we'll still be four arter we leave hyar," objected Jim. + +"No, ye won't," replied Turley. "Ye'll show up in pairs, ye'll jine in +pairs, ye'll ride an' 'sociate in pairs, an' thar'll be a dozen more +mixin' up with ye. Wall, talk it over among ye while I gits busy afore +it's light," and the friendly rancher was swallowed up in the night. + +A few minutes later Jacques, sleepy and grumbling, loomed up out of the +darkness, collected the six horses and departed up the slope. Shortly +after him came Turley with a miscellaneous collection of odds and ends +of worn-out clothing and soon his friends had exchanged a garment or two +with him. Tom and Hank parted with their buckskin shirts and now wore +coarse garments of Pueblo make; Zeb had a Comanche leather jerkin and +Jim wore a blue cotton shirt patched with threadbare red flannel. They +bound bands of beadwork or soft tanned skin around their foreheads, and +Hank's hair proudly displayed two iridescent bronze feathers from the +tail of a rooster. If Joe Cooper, himself, had come face to face with +them he would have passed by without a second glance. + +Silently Zeb and Jim melted into the night, while Tom and Hank arose and +went around to the wall of the still house, rolled up in their +newly-acquired blankets against the base of the adobe wall and slept +until discovered and awakened after dawn by one of Turley's mill hands, +who paid them a timid and genuine respect. + +They loafed around all day, watching the still house with eager eyes. +Their wordless pleading was in vain, however, for Turley, frankly +scowling at their first appearance, totally ignored them thereafter. +Just before dusk two half-civilized Arapahoes from St. Vrain's South +Platte trading post swung down the mountain side, cast avaricious eyes +on some horses in the pasture, sniffed deeply at the still house, and +asked for whiskey. + +"I'll give ye whiskey," said Turley after a moment's thought, a grin +spreading over his face, "but I won't give it ter ye hyar. If ye want +likker I'll give ye a writin' ter my agent in Santer Fe, an' he'll give +ye all yer porous skins kin hold, an' a jug ter take away with ye." + +"_Si, senor! Si, senor! Muchos gracias!_" + +"Hold on thar! Hold yer hosses!" growled Turley. "Ye don't reckon I'm +makin' ye no present, do ye? Ye got ter earn that likker. If ye want it +bad enough ter escort my _atejo_ ter th' city, it's yourn. I'm combin' +my hosses outer th' brush, an' I'm short-handed. By gosh!" he chuckled, +smiling broadly. + +"Thar's a couple more thirsty Injuns 'round hyar, some'rs; hey, Jacques! +Go find them watch dogs o' th' still house. They won't be fur away, you +kin bet. These two an' them shore will scare th' thieves plumb ter death +all th' way ter town. I kin feel _my_ ha'r move!" + +Jacques returned shortly with Bent's thirsty hirelings, and after some +negotiations and the promise of horses for them to ride, the Indians +accepted his offer. They showed a little reluctance until he had given +each of them a drink of his raw, new whiskey, which seemed to serve as +fuel to feed a fire already flaming. The bargain struck, he ordered them +fed and let them sleep on the softest bit of ground they could find +around the rancho. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SANTA FE + + +After an early breakfast the _atejo_ of nineteen mules besides the +_mulera_, or bell mule, was brought out of the pasture and the +_aparejos_, leather bags stuffed with hay, thrown on their backs and +cinched fast with wide belts of woven sea-grass, which were drawn so +cruelly tight that they seemed almost to cut the animals in two; this +cruelty was a necessary one and saved them greater cruelties by holding +the packs from slipping and chafing them to the bone. Groaning from the +tightness of the cinches they stood trembling while the huge cruppers +were put into place and breast straps tightened. Then the _carga_ was +placed on them, the whiskey carriers loaded with a cask on each side, +firmly bound with rawhide ropes; the meal carriers with nearly one +hundred fifty pounds in sacks on each side. While the mules winced now, +after they had become warmed up and the hay of the _aparejos_ packed to +a better fit, they could travel longer and carry the heavy burdens with +greater ease than if the cinches were slacked. The packing down and +shaping of the _aparejo_ so loosened the cinch and ropes that frequently +it was necessary to stop and tighten them all after a mile or so had +been put behind. + +The _atejo_ was in charge of a major-domo, five _arrieros_, or +muleteers and a cook, or the _madre_, who usually went ahead and led the +bell mule. All the men rode well-trained horses, and both men and horses +from Turley's rancho were sleek, well fed and contented, for the +proprietor was known throughout the valley, and beyond, for his +kindness, honesty and generosity; and he was repaid in kind, for his +employees were faithful, loyal, and courageous in standing up for his +rights and in defending his property. Yet the time was to come some +years hence when his sterling qualities would be forgotten and he would +lose his life at the hands of the inhabitants of the valley. + +The _atejo_ swiftly and dexterously packed, the two pairs of +bloodthirsty looking Indian guards divided into advance and rear guard, +the _madre_ led the bell mule down the slope and up the trail leading +over the low mountainous divide toward Ferdinand de Taos, the grunting +mules following in orderly file. + +The trail wandered around gorges and bowlders and among pine, cedar, and +dwarf oaks and through patches of service berries with their small, +grapelike fruit, and crossed numerous small rivulets carrying off the +water of the rainy season. Taos, as it was improperly called, lay twelve +miles distant at the foot of the other side of the divide, and it was +reached shortly after noon without a stop on the way. The "noonings" +observed by the caravans were not allowed in an _atejo_, nor were the +mules permitted to stop for even a moment while on the way, for if +allowed a moment's rest they promptly would lie down, and in attempting +to arise under their heavy loads were likely to strain their loins so +badly as to render them forever unfit for work. To remove and replace +the packs would take too much time. Because of the steady traveling the +day's journey rarely exceeded five or six hours nor covered more than +twelve to fifteen miles. + +Taos reached, the packs were removed and covered by the _aparejos_, each +pile kept separate. Turned out to graze with the bell mule, without +picket rope or hobbles, the animals would not leave her and could be +counted on, under ordinary circumstances, to be found near camp and all +together. + +Taos, a miserable village of adobes, and the largest town in the valley, +had a population of a few American and Canadian trappers who had married +Mexican or Indian women; poor and ignorant Mexicans of all grades except +that of pure Spanish blood, and Indians of all grades except, perhaps, +those of pure Indian blood. The mixed breed Indians had the more courage +of the two, having descended from the Taosas, a tribe still inhabiting +the near-by pueblo, whose warlike tendencies were almost entirely +displayed in defensive warfare in the holding of their enormous, +pyramidal, twin pueblos located on both sides of a clear little stream. +In the earlier days marauding bands of Yutaws and an occasional +war-party of Cheyennes or Arapahoes had learned at a terrible cost that +the Pueblo de Taos was a nut far beyond their cracking, and from these +expeditions into the rich and fertile valley but few returned. + +Here was a good chance to test the worth of their disguises, for the +three older plainsmen were well-known to some of the Americans and +Canadians in the village, having been on long trips into the mountains +with a few of them. And so, after the meal of _frijoles_, _atole_ and +jerked meat, the latter a great luxury to Mexicans of the grade of +_arrieros_, Hank and his two Arapahoe companions left the little +encampment and wandered curiously about the streets, to the edification +of uneasy townsfolk, whose conjectures leaned toward the unpleasant. +Ceran St. Vrain, on a visit to the town, passed them close by but did +not recognize the men he had seen for days at a time at his trading post +on the South Platte. Simonds, a hunter from Bent's Fort, passed within a +foot of Hank and did not know him; yet the two had spent a season +together in the Middle Park, lying just across the mountain range west +of Long's Peak. + +Continuing on their way the next morning they camped in the open valley +for the night, and the next day crossed a range of mountains. The next +village was El Embudo, a miserable collection of mud huts at the end of +a wretched trail. The Pueblo de San Juan and the squalid, +poverty-stricken village of La Canada followed in turn. Everywhere they +found hatred and ill-disguised fear of the Texans roaming beyond the +Canadian. Next they reached the Pueblo de Ohuqui and here found snug +accommodations for themselves and their animals in the little valley. +From the pueblo the trail lay through an arroyo over another mountain +and they camped part way down its southeast face with Santa Fe sprawled +out below them. + +Morning found them going down the sloping trail, the Indian escort +surreptitiously examining their rifles, and in the evening they entered +the collection of mud houses honored by the name of San Francisco de la +Santa Fe, whose population of about three thousand souls was reputed to +be the poorest in worldly wealth in the entire province of New Mexico; +and, judging from the numbers of openly run gambling houses, rum shops +and worse, the town might have deserved the reputation of being the +poorest in morals and spiritual wealth. + +Sprawled out under the side of the mountain, its mud houses of a single +story, its barracks, _calabozo_ and even the "palace" of the governor +made of mud, with scarcely a pane of glass in the whole town; its narrow +streets littered with garbage and rubbish; with more than two-thirds of +its population barefooted and unkempt, a mixture of Spaniards and +Indians for generations, in which blending the baser parts of their +natures seemed singularly fitted to survive; with cringing, starving +dogs everywhere; full of beggars, filthy and in most cases disgustingly +diseased, with hands outstretched for alms, as ready to curse the tight +of purse as to bless the generous, and both to no avail; with its +domineering soldiery without a pair of shoes between them, its arrogant +officers in shiny, nondescript uniforms and tarnished gilt, with huge +swords and massive spurs, to lead the unshod mob of privates into +cowardly retreat or leave them to be slaughtered by their Indian foes, +whose lances and bows were superior in accuracy and execution to the +ancient firelocks so often lacking in necessary parts; reputed to be +founded on the ruins of a pueblo which had flourished centuries before +the later "city" and no doubt was its superior in everything but +shameless immorality. There, under Sante Fe mountain and the pure and +almost cloudless blue sky, along the little mountain stream of the same +name, lay Santa Fe, the capital of the department of New Mexico, and the +home of her vainglorious, pompous, good-looking, and brutal governor; +Santa Fe, the greatest glass jewel in a crown of tin; Santa Fe, the +customs gate and the disappointing end of a long, hard trail. + +Through the even more filthy streets of the poverty-stricken outskirts +of the town went the little _atejo_, disputing right-of-way in the +narrow, porch-crowded thoroughfares with _hoja_ (corn husk) sellers and +huge burro loads of pine and cedar faggots gathered from the near-by +mountain; past the square where the mud hovels of the soldiers lay; past +a mud church whose tall spire seemed ever to be stretching away from the +smells below; past odorous hog stys, crude mule corrals with their +scarred and mutilated creatures, and sheep pens, and groups of avid +cock-fighters; past open doors through which the halfbreed women, +clothed in a simple garment hanging from the shoulders, could be seen +cooking _frijoles_ or the thin, watery _atole_ and hovering around the +flat stones which served for stoves; past these and worse plodded the +_atejo_, the shrewd mules braying their delight at a hard journey almost +ended. Sullen Indians, apologetic Mexicans, swaggering and too often +drunken soldiers gave way to them, while a string of disputing, +tail-tucking dogs followed at a distance, ever wary, ever ready to wheel +and run. + +Reaching the _Plaza Publica_, which was so bare of even a blade of grass +or a solitary tree, and its ground so scored and beaten and covered with +rubbish to suggest that it suffered the last stages of some earthly +mange, they came to the real business section of the town, where nearly +every shop was owned by foreigners. Around this public plaza stood the +architectural triumphs of the city. There was the _palacio_ of the +governor, with its mud walls and its extended roof supported on rough +pine columns to form a great porch; the custom-house, with its greedy, +grafting officials; the mud barracks connected to the atrocious and much +dreaded _calabozo_, whose inmates had abandoned hope as they crossed its +threshold; the mud city hall, the military chapel, fast falling into +ruin, and a few dwellings. The interest attending the passing of the +_atejo_ increased a little as the pack train crossed this square, for +the Indian guards were conspicuous by their height and by the breadth of +shoulder, and the excellence of their well-kept weapons. Strangers were +drawing more critical attention these days, with the Texan threat +hanging over the settlements along the Pecos and the Rio Grande. Peon +women and Indian squaws regarded the four with apparent approval and as +they left the square and plunged into the poorer section again, +compliments and invitations reached their ears. Hopeless _mozos_, or +ill-paid servants, most of them kept in actual slavery by debts they +never could pay off because of the system of accounting used against +them, regarded the four enviously and yearned for their freedom. + +Of the four Indians, a tall, strapping Delaware, stooping to be less +conspicuous, whose face was the dirtiest in the _atejo_, suddenly +stiffened and then forced himself to relax into his former lazy slouch. +The rattle of an imported Dearborn, which at all times had to be watched +closely to keep its metal parts from being stripped off and stolen, +filled the street as the vehicle rocked along the ruts toward them, +drawn by two good horses and driven by one Joseph Cooper, of St. Louis, +Missouri. At his side sat his niece, looking with wondering and +disapproving eyes about her, her pretty face improved by its coat of +healthy tan, but marred somewhat by the look of worry it so plainly +showed. She appeared sad and wistful, but at times her thoughts leaped +far away and brought her fleeting smiles so soft, so tender, as to +banish the look of worry and for an instant set a glory there. + +Her glance took in the little pack train and its stalwart guards and +passed carelessly over the bending Delaware, and then returned to linger +on him while one might count five. Then he and the _atejo_ passed from +sight and she looked ahead again, unseeing, for her memory was racing +along a wagon road, and became a blank in a frightful, all-night storm. +At her sigh Uncle Joe glanced sidewise at her and took a firmer grip on +his vile native cigar, and silently cursed the day she had left St. +Louis. + +"Load of wheat whiskey from th' rancho, I reckon," he said, and pulled +sharply on the reins to keep from running over a hypnotized ring of +cock-fighters. "How your paw can live all th' year 'round in this fester +of a town is a puzzle to me. I'd rather be in a St. Louis jail. Cigar?" +he sneered, yanking it from his mouth and regarding it with palpitant +disgust. He savagely hurled it from him. "Hell!" + +A tangle of arms and legs rolled out of a rum shop and fought impotently +in the dust of the street, and sotted faces grinned down at them from +the crowded door. A flaky-skinned beggar slouched from behind the corner +of the building and held out an imploring hand, which the driver's +contemptuous denial turned into a clenched fist afloat in a sea of +Spanish maledictions. + +The pack train having reached its destination, the two pairs of guards, +clutching their "writin'" from Turley, departed in hot haste to claim +their payment, and not long thereafter, rifleless, wandered about on +foot to see the sights, gaping and curious. In the hand of each was a +whiskey jug, the cynosure of all eyes. The _Plaza Publica_ seemed to +fascinate them, for they spent most of their time there; and when they +passed the guard house in the _palacio_ they generously replied to the +coaxing banter of the guard off watch, and went on again with lightened +jugs. Here as elsewhere they sensed a poorly hidden feeling of unrest, +and hid their smiles; somewhere north of Texas the _Tejanos_ rode with +vengeance in their hearts and certain death in their heretic rifles. No +one knew how close they might be, or what moment they would storm into +the town behind their deadly weapons. But the fear was largely +apathetic, for these people, between the Apache and Comanche raids of +year after year, had suckled fear from their mothers' breasts. + +Finally, apprehensive of the attention they were receiving, the strange +Indians left the plaza and sought refuge with the mules of the _atejo_, +to remain there until after dark; and at their passing, groups of +excited women or quarreling children resumed their gambling in the +streets and all was serene again. + +Gambling here was no fugitive evader of the law, no crime to be enjoyed +in secret, but was an institution legalized and flourishing. There even +was a public gaming house, where civil officers, traders, merchants, +travelers, and the clergy grouped avidly around the _monte_ tables and +played at fever heat, momentarily beyond the reach of any other +obsession. Regularly the governor and his wife graced the temple of +chance with their august persons and held informal levees among the +tables, making the place a Mecca for favor-seekers and sycophants, and a +golden treasury for the "house." At this time, so soon after the arrival +of two great caravans and the collection of so much impost, part of +which stuck to every finger that handled it, the play ran high +throughout the crowded room. + +The round of festivities attending the arrival of the wagon trains were +not yet stilled, and fandangoes nightly gave hilarity a safety valve. +Great lumbering _carretas_, their wheels cut from solid sections of tree +trunks and the whole vehicle devoid of even a single scrap of precious +iron, shrieked and rattled through the dark streets, filled with shoddy +cavaliers and dazzling women, whose dresses seemed planned to tempt the +resolutions of a saint. _Rebosa_ or lace _mantilla_ over full, rounded, +dark and satiny breasts; fans wielded with an inherited art, to coax +and repel the victims of great and smouldering eyes of jet, which melted +one moment to blaze the next--this was the magic segment of the clock's +round. Now the eyesores of the squalid town were hidden from critical +sight, and the alluring softness and mystery of an ancient Spanish city +made one forget the almost unforgetable. Life and Death danced hand in +hand; Love and Hate bowed and curtsied, and the mad green fires of +Jealousy flickered or flared; while the poverty and the sordid tragedies +of the day gave place to tingling Romance in the feathery night. Violins +and guitars caressed the darkness with throbbing strains, catching the +breath, tingling the nerves and turning dull flesh to pulsing ecstasy. + +To the fandango came a flower of a far-off French-American metropolis, +strangely listless; and here felt her blood slowly transmute to wine and +every nerve become a harp-string to make sad music for her soul. + +Small wonder that Armijo stood speechless in the sight of such a one as +she, and forgot to press his questioning as to four who had somewhere +left that wagon train; small wonder that he gave no heed to men in the +presence of this exotic flower not yet unfolded, in whose veins the +French blood of the mother coursed with the Saxon of the father, and +played strange and wondrous pranks in delicate features, vivacious eyes, +and hidden whimsicalities now beginning to peek forth. + +The coarse sensuality of the governor's face revealed his thoughts to +all the room; his eyes never had known the need to mask the sheerness of +their greedy passion, and in such a moment could not dissemble. What +man like him, in his place and power, with his nature, would glance +twice at a lazy, dirty Indian looking in through the open door, or know +that the murder beast was tearing at its moral fetters in the Delaware's +seething soul? Without again taking his burning eyes from the woman +before him the governor tossed, by force of habit, a copper coin through +the door, alms to a beggar to bring him luck from heaven to further his +plans from hell. Nor did he know the magazine his contemptuous gift had +set aflame, nor see the convulsive struggle between the Delaware and +three other Indians. The guard laughed sneeringly at the fight they +made, three to one, over a single piece of copper: Who was to know that +they fought over a hollow piece of steel, charged twice times three with +leaden death? Who was to read the desperation in that furious struggle, +where a beast-man fought like a fiend against his closest friends? The +struggling four reeled and stumbled from the house, leading away a fiery +tempest and faded into the crooning night. That open door nearly had +been an Open Door, indeed! + +Within the room the vivacity died in the woman's eyes, the +whimsicalities drew back in sudden panic at the beast look on the +governor's face; the swing was gone from the strumming music, the rhythm +from the swaying dance. At once the festive room was a pit of slime, the +smiling faces but mocking masks, and the dark shadow of a vulture +descended like a suffocating gas. Like a flash the wall dissolved to +show a long, clean trail, winding from Yesterday into Tomorrow; restful +glades and creeks of shining sands, windswept prairies and a clear, blue +sky; verdant glades and miles of flowers--and a tall, dark youth with +smiling face, who worshiped reverently with tender eyes. She drew +herself up as white streaks crossed her crimson cheeks like some darting +rapier blade, and, bowing coldly to the pompous governor, stood rigidly +erect and stared for a full half-minute into his astonished eyes, and +made them fall. Deliberately and with unutterable scorn and loathing she +turned from him to her father and her uncle, who forthwith shattered the +absurd rules of pomp by showing him their broad backs and leaving at +once. The room hushed as they walked toward the door, but no man stayed +them, for on their faces there blazed the sign of Death. + +Armijo, still staring after them, waved his hand and three men slipped +out by another door, to follow and to learn what sanctuary that flower +might choose. As he wheeled about and snapped a profane order the +fiddlers and strummers stumbled into their stammering music; the dance +went on again, with ragged rhythm, like an automaton out of gear. + +Down the dark street rumbled the Dearborn, rocking perilously, the +clatter of the running horses filling the narrow way with clamor. +Sprinting at top speed behind it came barefoot soldiers: And then a +human avalanche burst from a pitch dark passage-way. The Dearborn rocked +on and turned a corner; the soldiers groped like blinded, half-stunned +swimmers and as the secretive moments passed, they stumbled to their +feet and staggered back again with garbled tales of prowling monsters, +and crossed themselves continuously. About the time the frightened +soldiers reached the house they had set out from, four Indians crept +along an adobe wall and knocked a signal on the studded planks of a +heavy, warehouse door. There came no creaking from its well-oiled hinges +as it slowly opened, stopped, and swiftly shut again, and left the dark +and smelly courtyard empty. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE RENDEZVOUS + + +Enoch Birdsall stared in amazement at the four he had admitted, despite +the remembrance of the names they had whispered through the crack of the +partly opened door, the light from a single candle making gargoyles of +their hideously painted faces. Alonzo Webb was peering along the barrel +of a newfangled Colt, his eyes mere pin-points of concentration, his +breathing nearly suspended. + +Hank's low, throaty laughter filled the dim building and he slapped Tom +on the shoulder. "Didn't I say I could fix us up so our own mothers +wouldn't know us?" he demanded. + +"God help us!" said Enoch in hopelessly inadequate accents as he groped +behind him for his favorite cask. He seated himself with great +deliberation. "When Turley's man Allbright brought aroun' yer rifles in +a packload o' hay, I knowed we'd be seein' ye soon; an' he told us plain +that four Injuns had left 'em with him. But; h--l!" + +Alonzo had cautiously put away the Colt and was readjusting his facial +expression to suit the changed conditions. Then he suddenly leaned back +against a bale of tobacco leaf, jammed an arm tightly against his mouth, +and laughed until he was limp. + +Zeb Houghton glared at him in offended dignity, not knowing just what +to say, but determined to say something. He felt embarrassed and +slightly huffed. "Caravan have airy trouble arter we left it?" he asked. + +"Trouble?" queried Enoch, a wise grin wreathing his face. "Some o' us +made more profits this year than we ever did afore. Soon's we found thar +warn't no custom guard ter meet us at Cold Spring, thanks ter them +Texans, we sent some riders ahead from th' ford o' th' Canadian, an' +Woodson held th' caravan thar in camp fer a couple o' days. Them greaser +_rancheros_ air half starved 'most all year 'round an' they jumped at +th' chance ter earn some good U.S. gold. Some o' us had quite some +visitors one night an' some o' th' waggins, ourn among 'em, shore +strayed away from th' encampment an' got lost in th' hills. He had said +somethin' 'bout not wantin' to waste so much time, an' o' takin' a +short-cut; an' everybody war so excited about bein' so clost ter Santer +Fe, an' by this time used ter folks goin' on ahead, that we warn't +hardly missed. Them that did miss us soon forgot it. We're ahead five +hundred dollars a waggin, besides th' other imposts an' th' salve money; +our waggins air waitin' fer us when we go back, an' our goods air comin' +in from th' ranchos in _carretas_ an' by pack mule, under hay, hoja an' +faggots, an' other stuff. Thar's them two axles o' Joe Cooper's that he +war so anxious about back at th' Grove an' at every stream we had ter +cross. Thar empty now, but thar war plumb full o' high-class contraband +when they got here. Woodson slung 'em under one o' his waggins that come +through on th' reg'lar trail, an' brought 'em in. Over thar's what's +left o' your stuff." + +"Have you fellers looked in a glass yit?" demanded Alonzo, taking a +mirror from the wall. "Hyar, Boyd, whichever ye air, see what ye look +like." + +The passing of the mirror and the candle was the cause of much hilarity, +and the room was filled with subdued merriment until there came a +peculiar knock on the massive door. The candle flame struggled under a +box while voices murmured at the portal, and then there came a cautious +shuffling of feet until the box was removed. + +Joe Cooper's curious glance became a stare and his jaw dropped. Tearing +his eyes from the faces of the villainous four he used them to ask a +question of the grinning Enoch which his lips were incapable of framing. + +Enoch looked at the four. "One o' ye, who knows who's who, interduce yer +friends ter Mr. Cooper, o' St. Louis, Missoury," he suggested. + +Hank shoved Jim Ogden a step forward. "This 'Rapahoe is Jim Ogden, o' +Bent's Fort an' th' Rockies; this other un is Zeb Houghton, o' th' +Louisiana Purchase, Mexico an' Texas; hyar's Tom Boyd, hopin' ter save +his ear-tabs; an' I'm--" from his mouth sounded the twang of a +bowstring. + +Uncle Joe sank down on a pile of smuggled Mackinaw blankets, shoved a +cigar in his mouth, lit it and took several puffs before he slammed it +on the floor and crushed it with his foot. Then he recovered himself, +joyously shook hands all around and started a conversation that scorned +the flying minutes. During a lull Alonzo looked shrewdly at the +cheerful Indians and put his thoughts into words. + +"Boys, anythin' we've got is yourn fer th' askin'," he slowly said; "but +I'd hate ter reckon it war through me an' Enoch that ye lost yer lives, +an' yer ears. We all war clost friends in Independence an' on th' trail. +Clost friends o' yourn air goin' ter be watched like sin from now on. +Tom Boyd an' his friends left th' caravan ter go ter Bent's--an' a +passel o' greasers went arter 'em hot foot. Mebby th' first gang didn't +git ter Bent's--an' it's shore th' greasers ain't showed up yit--not one +o' them. Bad as Armijo is he ain't no fool by a danged sight. Fer yer +own sakes ye better stay with Armstrong till ye leave th' city. Now that +I've warned ye, I don't give a cuss what ye do; yer welcome ter stay +hyar till yer bones rot--an' ye know it." + +Tom nodded. "Yer right, Alonzo. I just got a brand new reason fer livin' +till th' return caravan gits past th' Arkansas. Patience Cooper has +_got_ to go with it; she ain't a-goin' ter spend no winter hyar, if I +kin help it--an' if she does stay, then I do, too, ears or no ears." His +face tensed, his eyes gleaming with hatred through the paint and dirt. +"I come nigh ter commitin' murder tonight. 'Twasn't my fault that I +didn't." + +Hank clapped him on the shoulder and turned to Uncle Joe. "We war all +a-lookin' in at th' fandango," he explained. "It war a mighty clost +shave fer th' sheep-stealin' shepherd o' Chavez rancho, that growed up +ter be governor. If 'twarn't fer th' gal I'd never 'a' grabbed Boyd." + +Uncle Joe shook his head. "There'll be trouble comin' out o' that," he +declared. "We couldn't do nothin' else, but Armijo'll never rest till he +wipes out th' insult o' our turnin' our backs on him an' leavin' like we +did. An' did ye see th' look she gave him? D----d if it wasn't worth th' +trip from Missouri to see it! Us Americans ain't loved a whole lot out +here, an' them blessed Texans has gone an' made things worse. I wish we +all were rollin' down to th' Crossin'. Patience is goin' back. I've +argued _that_ out, anyhow; right up to th' handle!" + +"Get her out of town _now_," urged Tom, wriggling forward on his box. +"Us four'll whisk her up to Bent's, an' jine ye at th' Crossin'." + +"If we do that her father will have to leave, too," replied Uncle Joe; +"an' he's stubborn as a mule, Adam is. He says it'll be forgotten, an' +if we make a play like that it'll raise th' devil." + +"When her safety is at stake?" sharply demanded Tom. + +"He says she ain't in no danger. Him an' Armijo is real friendly. Adam +is th' one man th' Americans in this town depend on ter git 'em a little +justice. I've been arguin' with him tonight, an' I aim to keep on +arguin'; but he's set. I know Adam." + +Tom cursed and arose to his feet. "An' _I_ know _Armijo_! I know his +vile history like a book, for I took pains to learn it. His whole career +is built on treachery, sheep-stealin', double-dealin' and assassination. +He robbed Chavez of thousands of sheep--even stealing them and selling +them back to their rightful owner. He sold one little flock back to +Chavez over a dozen times, an' had stolen it from him in th' beginnin'. +Then he dealt _monte_ and made a pile. Then he was made chief custom +house officer in this town, got caught at some of his tricks an' kicked +out. Governor Perez put another man in his place. The condition of +politics in Mexico worked in Armijo's favor and he stirred up a ferment, +headed a conspiracy, raised a force of about a thousand Mexicans an' +Pueblo Indians up at La Canada, and when Perez moved against him Perez's +troops went over to Armijo and the old governor had to flee to this +town, and out of it on th' jump. With him went a score or so of his +personal friends; but the next day the little party was caught, more +than a dozen of them put to death, an' Perez was murdered in the +outskirts of this town and his body dragged around through the streets. +Armijo had not shown his hand openly and the new governor was one of the +active leaders of the insurrection. This did not suit Armijo, who was +playing for big stakes, and he started another revolution, adopted +Federalism for a cloak, drove the insurgent governor from the city, +later shot him and, after declaring himself governor, had his +appointment made official by the Federal government at Mexico City, and +ever since has played tyrant without a check. That's Adam Cooper's +so-called friend. That's the man he trusts. God help Adam; an' God help +Armijo if he harms Patience Cooper!" + +His friends nodded, for they knew that he spoke the truth; and Uncle Joe +thoughtlessly lit another cigar before he remembered its make. "Adam's +last cent is sunk out here," he remarked. "He says he ain't goin' to +turn himself inter a pauper an' flee for his life just because his fool +brother is a-scared of shadows. He says th' beast was drunk tonight an' +didn't know what he was doin'." + +Tom spread out his hands helplessly, and then clenched them. He paced a +few turns and stopped again. "All right, Uncle Joe; he's her father and +he's backin' his best judgment. I'm an outsider an' have nothin' to say. +Boys," he said, looking at his three hunter friends, "we got work ter +do. We got ter watch Patience Cooper every minute that she's out o' th' +house. Thar's too much at stake fer us to rendezvous hyar, we'll stay at +Armstrong's. Enoch, git our rifles over thar as soon as ye kin. I want +another repeatin' pistol, in a leather case, to hang under my shirt, +below my left arm-pit. Thank th' Lord that Turley's plantin' a relay fer +us up in th' mountains; I'm bettin' we'll need it bad." He looked at +Hank. "Bet it's eighty mile to that place, ain't it?" + +"Th' way we come it is," replied the hunter. "I know a straighter trail +that ain't got so many people livin' along it. It's twenty mile shorter, +but harder travelin'." + +"If thar's anybody at Bent's ranch on th' Purgatoire, we might pick up a +re-mount thar," muttered Tom. "That'd give us fresh hosses fer th' last +ninety miles to th' fort; but we'll have ter cross th' wagon road ter +git thar." + +"We'll use that fer th' second bar'l," said Hank. "I know a better way, +over an old Ute trail leadin' toward th' Bayou Salade; but we'll have +hosses at Bent's ranch if I kin git word ter Holt, Carson or Bill Bent. +We better go 'round an' see Armstrong right away; he may know o' +somebody that's goin' up on th' trail through Raton Pass. He'll do +anythin' fer me." + +"Cover th' candle," said Tom. "Give us our rifles; we kin carry 'em all +right at this time o' night, with everybody stayin' indoors on account +o' th' Texans. Any time ye have news fer us, Enoch, an' can't git it ter +Armstrong's, set a box outside th' door." + +"It'll be stole," said Enoch, grinning. + +"Then set somethin' else out." + +"That'll be stole, too." + +"What will?" + +"Anythin' we put out." + +"God help us!" ejaculated Uncle Joe. "Try a busted bottle." + +"Glass?" laughed Alonzo, derisively. "No good. If you kin think o' +anythin' that won't be stole, I shore want to larn o' it." He considered +a moment. "Hyar! If I git flour on my elbow an' brush ag'in th' door, we +got news fer ye. I don't think they kin steal that, not all o' it, +anyhow!" + +Enoch nodded. "If thar's any news we'll git it. This is th' meetin' +place o' most o' th' Americans hyar. Thar banded purty clost together +an' have made Armijo change his tune a couple o' times. Onct they war +accused o' conspiracy ag'in th' government, which war a danged lie, an' +th' scarecrow troops war ordered out ag'in 'em; but we put up such a +fierce showin' that Armijo climbed down from his high hoss an' nothin' +come o' it except hard feelin's. That's one o' th' reasons, I reckon, +why Adam Cooper ain't worryin' as much as he might about his dater's +safety. An' lookin' at it from a reasonable standpoint, I'm figgerin' +he's right. Boyd, hyar, would worry powerful if _she_ got a splinter in +her finger." + +After the laughter had subsided and a little more talk the four +plainsmen slipped out of the building and cautiously made their way to +Armstrong's store and dwelling where, after a whispered palaver at the +heavy door, they were admitted by the sleepy owner of the premises and +shown where they could spread their blankets. In the faint light of the +candle they saw other men lying about on the hard floor, who stirred, +grumbled a little, and went back to sleep again. + +When they awakened the next morning they recognized two old friends from +Bent's Fort, a trader from St. Vrain's, and an American hunter and +trapper from the Pueblo near the junction of the Arkansas and Boiling +Spring Rivers. The simple breakfast was soon dispatched and gossip and +news exchanged, and then Hank led aside a hunter named Hatcher, who +stood high at Bent's Fort, and earnestly conversed with him. In a few +moments Hank turned, looked reassuringly at Tom and smiled. Bent's +little ranch on the Purgatoire was being worked and improved and there +would be men and a relay of horses there, providing that the Utes +overlooked the valley in the meantime. + +All that day they remained indoors and when night came they slipped out, +one by one, and drifted back to the corral where the _atejo_ still +remained. They had lost their rifles, were sullen and taciturn from too +much drink, and paid no attention to the knowing grins of the friendly +muleteers. Thenceforth they drew only glances of passing interest on the +streets, no one giving a second thought to the stolid, dulled and sodden +wrecks in their filthy, nondescript apparel; and the guard at the +_palacio_ gave them cigarettes rolled in corn husks for running errands, +and found amusement in playing harmless tricks on them. + +At the barracks they were less welcome, Don Jesu and Robideau, both +subordinates of Salezar, scarcely tolerating them; while Salezar, +himself, kicked them from in front of the door and threatened to cut off +their ears if he caught them hanging around the building. They accepted +the kicks as a matter of course and thenceforth shrunk from his +approach; and he sneered as he thought of their degradation from once +proud and vengeful warriors of free and warlike tribes, to fawning +beggars with no backbone. But even he, when the need arose, made use of +them to fetch and carry for him and to do menial tasks about the mud +house he called his home. He had seen many of their kind and wasted no +thought on them. + +He was the same cruel and brutal tyrant who had herded almost two +hundred half-starved and nearly exhausted men over that terrible trail +down the valley of the Rio Grande, and his soldiers stood in mortal +terror of him and meekly accepted treatment that in any other race would +have swiftly resulted in his death. He had played a prominent part in +the capture and herding of the Texan prisoners and loved to boast of it +at every opportunity, using some of the incidents as threats to his +unfortunate soldiers. Tom and his friends witnessed scenes that made +their blood boil more than it boiled over the indignities they elected +to suffer, and sometimes it was all they could do to refrain from +killing him in his tracks. At the barracks he was a roaring lion, but at +the _palacio_, in the sight and hearing of the chief jackal, he reminded +them of a whipped cur. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +TOM RENEGES + + +As the days passed while waiting for the return of the caravan to +Missouri, Patience rode abroad with either her uncle or her father, +sometimes in the Dearborn, but more often in the saddle. She explored +the ruins of the old church at Pecos, where the Texan prisoners had +spent a miserable night; the squalid hamlets of San Miguel, which she +had passed through on her way to Santa Fe, and Anton Chico had been +visited; the miserable little sheep ranchos had been investigated and +other rides had taken her to other outlying districts; but the one she +loved best was the trail up over the mountain behind Santa Fe. The +almost hidden pack mules and their towering loads of faggots, _hoja_, +hay and other commodities were sights she never tired of, although the +scars on some of the meek beasts once in awhile brought tears to her +eyes. The muleteers, beneficiaries of her generosity, smiled when they +saw her and touched their forelocks in friendly salutation. + +On the mountain there was one spot of which she was especially fond. It +was a little gully-like depression more than halfway up that seemed to +be much greener than the rest of the mountain side, and always moist. +The trees were taller and more heavily leafed And threw a shade which, +with the coolness of the moist little nook, was most pleasant. It lay +not far from the rutted, rough and busy trail over the mountain, which +turned and passed below it, the _atejos_ and occasional picturesque +_caballeros_ on their caparisoned horses, passing in review before her +and close enough to be distinctly seen, yet far enough away to hide +disillusioning details. The mud houses of the town at the foot of the +long slope, with their flat roofs, looked much better at this distance +and awakened trains of thought which nearness would have forbidden. It +was also an ideal place to eat a lunch and she and Uncle Joe or her +father made it their turning point. + +Her daily rides had given her confidence, and the stares which first had +followed her soon changed to glances of idle curiosity. Of Armijo she +neither had seen nor heard anything more and scarcely gave him a +thought, and the Mexican officers she met saluted politely or ignored +her altogether. Her uncle still harped about Santa Fe being no place for +her, but, having the assurance that she would return to St. Louis with +the caravan, was too wise to press the matter. His efforts were more +strongly bent to get his brother to sell out and he had sounded Woodson +to see if that trader would take over the merchandise. Adam Cooper +seemed to consider closing out his business and returning to Missouri, +but he would not sacrifice it, and there the matter hung, swaying first +to one side and then to the other. By this time Santa Fe had palled on +the American merchant and he had laid by sufficient capital to start in +business in St. Louis or one of the frontier towns, and his brother was +confident that if the stock could be disposed of for a reasonable sum +that Adam would join the returning caravan. + +It was in the storehouse of Webb and Birdsall one night, about a week +before the wagons were being put in shape for the return trip that the +matter was settled. Disturbing rumors were floating up from the south +about a possible closing of the ports of entry of the Department of New +Mexico, due to the dangers to Mexican traders on the long trail because +of the presence of Texan raiding parties. The Texans had embittered the +feelings of the Mexicans against the Americans, whom they knew to be +universally in favor of the Lone Star Republic, and the Texan raids of +this summer were taken as a forecast of greater and more determined +raids for the following year. + +When Adam and Joe Cooper joined the little group in the warehouse on +this night, they met two Missourians who had just returned from +Chihuahua with a train of eleven wagons. These traders, finding business +so good in the far southern market, and having made arrangements with +some Englishmen there, who were high in favor with the Federal +authorities, were anxious to make another trip if they could load their +wagons at a price that would make the journey worth while. They were +certain that the next year would find the Mexican ports closed against +the overland traffic, eager to clean up what they could before winter +set in and to sell their outfits and return by water. They further +declared that a tenseness was developing between the Federal government +and the United States, carefully hidden at the present, which would +make war between the two countries a matter of a short time. Texas was +full of people who were urging annexation to the United States, and +their numbers were rapidly growing; and when the Lone Star republic +became a state in the American federation, war would inevitably follow. +Some in the circle dissented wholly or in part, but all admitted that +daily Mexico was growing more hostile to Americans. + +"Wall, we ain't forcin' our opinions on nobody," said one of the +Chihuahua traders. "We believe 'em ourselves, an' we want ter make +another trip south. Adam, we've heard ye ain't settled in yer mind about +stayin' through another winter hyar. We'll give ye a chanct ter clear +out; what ye got in goods, an' what ye want fer'em lock, stock an' +bar'l?" + +"What they cost us here in Santa Fe," said Uncle Joe quickly, determined +to force the issue. "We just brought in more'n two wagon loads, an' what +we had on hand will go a long way toward helpin' you fill your wagons. +Come around tomorrow, look th' goods over, an' if they suit you, we'll +add twelve cents a pound for th' freight charge across th' prairies an' +close 'em out to you. Ain't that right, Adam?" he demanded so sharply +and truculently that his brother almost surrendered at once. Seeing that +they had an ally in Uncle Joe the traders pushed the matter and after a +long, haggling discussion, they offered an additional five per cent of +the purchase price for a quick decision. + +Uncle Joe accepted it on the spot and nudged his brother, who grudgingly +accepted the terms if the traders would buy the two great wagons and +their teams. This they promised to do if they could find enough extra +goods to fill them, and they soon left the warehouse for fear of showing +their elation. They knew where they could sell the wagons at a profit +with a little manipulation on the part of their English friend. + +Elated by the outcome of his protracted arguments, Uncle Joe hurried +around to Armstrong's store and told the news to Tom and his three +friends. + +"We can get them goods off our hands in two days," he exulted; "an' th' +caravan will be ready to leave inside a week. Don't say a word to +nobody, boys. We'll try to sneak Adam and Patience out of town so Armijo +won't miss 'em till they're on th' trail. Them Chihuahua traders won't +disturb th' goods before we start for home because they got to get a lot +more to fill their wagons, an' th' merchandise is safer in th' store +than it will be under canvas. I wish th' next week was past!" + +To wish the transaction kept a secret and to keep it a secret were two +different things. The Chihuahua traders found more merchants who felt +that they would be much safer in Missouri than in Santa Fe, and the +south-bound wagon train was stocked three days before time for the +Missouri caravan to leave. There were certain customs regulations +relating to goods going through to El Paso and beyond, certain involved +and exacting forms to be obtained and filled out, much red tape to be +cut with golden shears and many palms to be crossed with specie. Uncle +Joe and his brother found that the matter of transferring their goods to +the traders took longer than they expected and were busy in the store +for several days, leaving Patience to make the most of the short time +remaining of her stay in the capital of the Department of New Mexico. + +At last came the day when the eastbound caravan was all but ready to +start, certain last minute needs arising that kept it in the camp +outside the city until the following morning. Busily engaged in its +organizing and in numerous personal matters, they told her to stay in +the city. Uncle Joe and his brother could not accompany Patience on +another ride up the mountain and they understood that she would not +attempt one; but she changed her mind and left the town in the care and +guidance of a Mexican employee of her father, in whom full trust was +reposed. She rode out an hour earlier than was her wont, and when a +Delaware Indian called at the house to beg alms from the generous +senorita he found the building open and empty. Knowing that the last +night was to be spent in the encampment and thinking that she had gone +there, as he understood was the plan, he gave little thought to this and +wandered back to the _Plaza Publica_ to look for his companions. They +were not in sight and he went over to the barracks to seek them there. + +Don Jesu swaggered along the side of the building, caught sight of the +disreputable Delaware and contemptuously waved him away. "Out of my +sight, you drunken beggar and son of a beggar! If I catch you here once +more I'll hang you by your thumbs! _Vamoose!_" + +The Delaware stiffened a little and seemed reluctant to obey the +command. "I seek my friends," he replied in a guttural polyglot. "I do +no harm." + +Don Jesu's face flamed and he drew his sword and brought the flat of the +blade smartly across the Indian's shoulder. "But once more I tell you to +_vamoose_! _Pronto!_" He drew back swiftly and threw the weapon into +position for a thrust, for he had seen a look flare up in the Indian's +eyes that warned him. + +The Delaware cringed, muttered something and slunk back along the wall +and as he reached the corner of the building he bumped solidly into +Robideau, who at that moment turned it. The foot of the second officer +could not travel far enough to deliver the full weight of the kick, but +the impact was enough to send the Indian sprawling. As he clawed to +hands and knees, Robideau stood over him, sword in hand, threats and +curses pouring from him in a burning stream. The Indian paused a moment, +got control over his rage, ran off a short distance on hands and knees +and, leaping to his feet, dashed around the corner of the building to +the hilarious and exultant jeers of the sycophantic soldiers. He barely +escaped bumping into a huge, screeching and ungainly _carreta_ being +driven by a soldier and escorted by a squad of his fellows under the +personal command of Salezar. The lash of a whip fell across his +shoulders and cut through blanket and shirt. The second blow was short +and before another could be aimed at him, the Delaware had darted into a +passage-way between two buildings. + +The officer laughed loudly, nodded at the scowling driver and again felt +of the canvas cover of the cart: "The city is full of vermin," he +chuckled. "There's not much difference between Texans and Americans, and +these sotted Indians. Tomorrow we will be well rid of many of the gringo +dogs and we will attend to these strange Indians when this present +business has been taken care of. But there is one gringo who will remain +with us!" He laughed until he shook. "_Captain_ Salezar today; +_Colonel_, tomorrow; _quien sabe_?" + +He looked at two of his soldiers, squat, powerful half-breeds, and +laughed again. "Jose is a strong man. Manuel is a strong man. Perhaps +tomorrow we will give each one of them two Indians and see which can +flog the longest and the hardest; but," he warned, his face growing hard +and cruel, "the man who bungles his work today will have no ears +tomorrow!" + +The Delaware, his right hand thrust into his shirt under the dirty +blanket, crouched in the doorway and was making the fight of his life +against the murderous rage surging through him. The words of the officer +reached him well enough, but in his fury were unintelligible. Wild, mad +plans for revenge were crowding through his mind, mixed and jumbled +until they were nothing more than a mental kaleidoscope, and constantly +thrown back by the frantic struggles of reason. He had nursed the +thought of revenge, mile after mile, day after day, across the prairies +and the desert; but for the last half month he had fought it back for +the safety his freedom might give to the woman he loved. + +The grotesque, ungainly cart rumbled and bumped, clacked and screeched +down the street, farther and farther away and still he crouched in the +doorway. The sounds died out, but still he remained in the sheltering +niche. Finally his hand emerged from under the blanket and fell to his +side, and a wretched Indian slouched down the street toward the _Plaza +Publica_. In command of himself once more he shuffled over to the guard +house in the _palacio_ and leaned against the wall, the welt on his back +burning him to the soul, as Armijo's herald stepped from the main door, +blew his trumpet and announced the coming of the governor. Pedestrians +stopped short and bowed as the swarthy tyrant stalked out to his horse, +mounted and rode away, his small body-guard clattering after him. The +Delaware, to hide the expression on his face, bowed lower and longer +than anyone and then slyly produced a plug of smuggled Kentucky tobacco +and slipped it to the sergeant of the guard. + +"They'll catch you yet, you thief of the North," warned the sergeant, +shaking a finger at the stolid Indian. "And when they do you'll hang by +the thumbs, or lose your ears." He grinned and shoved the plug into his +pocket, not seeming to be frightened by becoming an accessory after the +fact. "Our governor is in high spirits today, and our captain's face is +like the mid-day sun. He is a devil with the women, is Armijo and his +senora doesn't care a snap. Lucky man, the governor." He laughed and +then looked curiously at his silent companion. "Where do you come from, +and where do you go?" + +The Delaware waved lazily toward the North. "Senor Bent. I return +soon." + +"Look to it that you do, or the _calabozo_ will swallow you up in one +mouthful. I hear much about the _palacio_." He shook his finger and his +head, both earnestly. + +The Delaware drew back slightly and glanced around. Drawing his blanket +about him he turned and slouched away, leaving the plaza by the first +street, and made his slinking and apologetic way to Armstrong's, there +to wait until dark. His three friends were there already and were +rubbing their pistols and rifles, elated that the morrow would find them +on the trail again. The two Arapahoes planned to accompany the caravan +as far as the Crossing of the Arkansas and there turn back toward Bent's +Fort, following the northern branch of the trail along the north bank of +the river. + +"Better jine us, Tom," urged Jim Ogden. "You an' Hank an' us will stay +at th' fort till frost comes, an' then outfit thar an' spend th' winter +up in Middle Park." + +"Or we kin work up 'long Green River an' winter in Hank's old place," +suggested Zeb Houghton, rubbing his hands. "Thar'll be good company in +Brown's Hole; an' mebby a scrimmage with th' thievin' Crows if we go up +that way. Yer nose will be outer jint in th' Missouri settlements. I +know a couple o' beaver streams that ain't been teched yit." He glanced +shrewdly at the young man. "It's good otter an' mink country, too. We'll +build a good home camp an' put up some lean-tos at th' fur end o' th' +furtherest trap lines. Th' slopes o' th' little divides air thick with +timber fer our marten traps, an' th' tops air bare. Fox sets up thar +will git plenty o' pelts. I passed through it two year ago an' can't +hardly wait ter git back ag'in. It's big enough fer th' hull four o' +us." + +"Thar's no money in beaver at a dollar a plew," commented Hank, watching +his partner out of the corner of his eye. "Time war when it war worth +somethin', I tell ye; but them days air past--an' th' beaver, too, purty +nigh. I remember one spring when I got five dollars a pound fer beaver +from ol' Whiskey Larkin. Met him on th' headwaters o' th' Platte. He +paid me that then an' thar, an' then had ter pack it all th' way ter +Independence. But it's different with th' other skins, an' us four shore +could have a fine winter together." + +"It's allus excitin' ter me ter wait till th' pelts prime, settin' in a +good camp with th' traps strung out, smokin' good terbaker an' eatin' +good grub," said Ogden, reminiscently. "Then th' frosts set in, snow +falls an' th' cold comes ter stay; an' we web it along th' lines settin' +traps fer th' winter's work. By gosh! What ye say, Tom?" + +Tom was studying the floor, vainly trying to find a way to please his +friends and to follow the commands of an urging he could not resist. For +him the mating call had come, and his whole nature responded to it with +a power which would not be denied. On one hand called the old life, the +old friends to whom he owed so much; a winter season with them in a good +fur country, with perfect companionship and the work he loved so dearly; +on the other the low, sweet voice of love, calling him to the One Woman +and to trails untrod. The past was dead, living only in memory; the +future stirred with life and was rich in promise. He sighed, slowly +shook his head and looked up with moist eyes, glancing from one eager +face to another. + +"I'm goin' back ter Missoury," he said in a low voice. "Thar's a +question I got ter ask, back thar, when th' danger's all behind an' it +kin be asked fair. If th' answer is 'no' I promise ter jine ye at Bent's +or foller after. Leave word fer me if ye go afore I git thar. But +trappin' is on its last legs, an' th' money's slippin' out o' it, like +fur from a pelt in th' spring; 'though I won't care a dang about that if +I has ter turn my back on th' settlements." His eyes narrowed and his +face grew hard. "Jest now I'm worryin' about somethin' else. Here I am +in Santer Fe, passin' Armijo an' Salezar every day, an' have ter turn my +back on one of th' big reasons fer comin' hyar. Thar's a new welt acrost +my back that burns through th' flesh inter my soul like a livin' fire. +Thar's an oath I swore on th' memory of a close friend who war beaten +an' starved an' murdered; an' now I'm a lyin' dog, an' my spirit's +turned ter water!" He leaped up and paced back and forth across the +little room like a caged panther. + +Hank cleared his throat, his painted face terrible to look upon. "Hell!" +he growled, squirming on his box. "Them as know ye, Tom Boyd, know ye +ain't neither dog ner liar! Takes a good man ter stand what ye have, day +arter day, feelin' like you do, an' keep from chokin' th' life outer +him. We've all took his insults, swallered 'em whole without no salt; ye +wouldn't say _all_ o' us war dogs an' liars, would ye? Tell ye what; +we've been purty clost, you an' me--suppose I slip back from th' +Canadian an' git his ears fer ye? 'Twon't be no trouble, an' I won't be +gone long. Reckon ye'd feel airy better then?" + +Zeb moved forward on his cask. "That's you, Hank Marshall!" he exclaimed +eagerly. "I'm with ye! He spit in my face two days ago, an' I want his +ha'r. Good fer you, ol' beaver!" + +For the next hour the argument waxed hot, one against three, and +Armstrong had to come in and caution them twice. It was Jim Ogden who +finally changed sides and settled the matter in Tom's favor. + +"Hyar! We're nigh fightin' over a dog that ain't worth a cuss!" he +exclaimed. "Mebby Tom will be comin' back ter Bent's afore winter sets +in. Then we kin go ter Green River by th' way o' this town, stoppin' +hyar a day ter git Salezar's ears. Won't do Tom no good if us boys git +th' skunk. If ye don't close yer traps, cussed if I won't go out an' git +him now, an' then hell shore will pop afore th' caravan gits away. Ain't +ye got no sense, ye bloodthirsty Injuns?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE KIDNAPPING + + +Patience and her Mexican escort rode out of the town along the trail to +Taos Valley, the road leading up the mountain and past her favorite +retreat. She could not resist the cool of the morning hours and the +temptation to pay one more visit to the little niche in the mountain +side. The few farewell calls that she had to make could wait until the +afternoon. They were duties rather than pleasures and the shorter she +could make them the better she would like it. She passed the mud houses +of the soldiers and soon left the city behind. At intervals on the +wretched road she met and smiled at the friendly muleteers and gave +small coins to the toddling Mexican and Indian children before the +wretched hovels scattered along the way. Well before noon she reached +the little nook and unpacked the lunch she had brought along. Sharing it +with her humble escort, who stubbornly insisted on taking his portion to +one side and eating by himself, she spread her own lunch under her +favorite tree and leisurely enjoyed it as she watched the mules passing +below her along the trail. This last view of the distant town and the +mountain trail enchanted her and time slipped by with furtive speed. Far +down on the road, if it could be called such, bumped and slid a huge +_carreta_ covered with a soiled canvas cover, its driver laboring with +his four-mule team. The four had all they could do to draw the massive +cart along the rough trail and she smiled as she wondered how many mules +it would take to pull the heavy vehicle if it were well loaded. She +tried to picture it with the toiling caravan, and laughed aloud at the +absurdity. + +While she idly watched the _carreta_ and the little _atejo_ passing it +in the direction of the city, a flash far down the trail caught her eye +and she made out a group of mounted soldiers trotting after an officer, +whose scabbard dully flashed as it jerked and bobbed about. The +_carreta_ was more than half way up the slope, seeming every moment to +be threatened with destruction by the shaking it was receiving, when the +soldiers overtook and passed it. When the squad reached the short +section of the trail immediately below her it met an _atejo_ of a dozen +heavily-laden mules and the arrogant officer waved his sword and ordered +them off the trail. Mules are deliberate and take their own good time, +and they also have a natural reluctance to forsake a known and +comparatively easy trail to climb over rocks under the towering packs. +Their owners tried to lead them aside, although there was plenty of room +for the troops to pass, but the little beasts were stubborn and stuck to +the trail. + +Impatiently waiting for perhaps a full minute that his conceit might be +pampered, the officer drew his sword again and peremptorily ordered the +trail cleared for his passing. The muleteers did their best, but it was +not good enough for the puffed-up captain, and he spurred his horse +against a faggot-burdened animal. The load swayed and then toppled, +forcing the little burro to its knees and then over on its side, the +tight girth gripping it as in a vise. The owner of the animal stepped +quickly forward, a black scowl on his face. At his first word of protest +the officer struck him on the head with the flat of the blade and broke +into a torrent of curses and threats. The muleteer staggered back +against a huge bowlder and bowed his head, his arms hanging limply at +his sides. The officer considered a moment, laughed contemptuously and +rode on, his rag-tag, wooden-faced squad following him closely. + +As the soldiers passed from his sight around a bend in the trail the +muleteer leaned forward, hand on the knife in his belt, and stared +malevolently at the rocks on the bend; and then hastened to help his two +companions unpack the load of faggots and let the mule arise. The little +animal did not get up. Both its front legs were broken by the rocky +crevice into which they had been forced. The unfortunate Pueblo Indian +knelt swiftly at the side of the little beast and passed his hands along +the slender legs. He shook his head sorrowfully and stroked the burro's +flank. Suddenly leaping to his feet, knife in hand, he took two quick +steps along the trail, but yielded to his clinging and frightened +friends and dejectedly walked back to the suffering animal. For a moment +he stood above it and then, changing his grip on the knife, leaned +quickly over. + +Patience had seen the whole tragedy and her eyes were brimming with +tears. As the muleteer bent forward she turned away, sobbing. The +throaty muttering of her guide brought him back to her mind and she +called him to her. + +"Sanchez!" she exclaimed, taking a purse from her bosom. "Take this +money to him. It will buy him another burro." + +The Mexican's teeth flashed like pearls and he nodded eagerly. In a +moment he was clambering down the rocky mountain side and reached the +trail as the noisy _carreta_ lumbered past the waiting _atejo_. He need +not have hastened, for each mule had seized upon the stop as a valuable +moment for resting and was lying down under its load. Here was work for +the angry muleteers, for every animal must be unloaded, kicked to its +feet and loaded anew. + +Sanchez slid down the last rocky wall, flung up his arms and showed the +two gold pieces, making a flamboyant speech as he alternately faced the +wondering muleteer and turned to bow to the slender figure outlined +against the somber greens of the mountain nook. Handing over the money, +he slapped the Indian's shoulder, whirled swiftly and clambered back the +way he had come. + +The Indian seemed dazed at his unexpected good fortune, staring at the +money in his hand. He glanced up toward the mountain niche, raised a +hand to his forelock, and then pushed swiftly back from his eager, +curious, crowding friends. They talked together at top speed and for the +moment forgot all about the mules they had so laboriously re-packed; and +when they looked behind them they found they had their work to do over +again. Again the fortunate muleteer looked up, his hand slowly rising +to repeat his thanks; and became a statue in bronze. He saw the ragged +troops seize his benefactress and leap for the guide. Sanchez was no +coward and he knew what loyalty meant and demanded. He fought like a +wild beast until the crash of a pistol in the hands of the officer sent +him staggering on bending legs, back, back, back. Reaching the edge of +the niche he toppled backward, his quivering arms behind him to break +his fall; and plunged and rolled down the rocky slope until stopped by a +stunted tree, where he hung like a bag of meal. + +Patience's strength, multiplied by terror, availed her nothing and soon, +bound, gagged and wrapped up in blankets, she was carried to the trail +and placed in the _carreta_ which, its canvas cover again tightly drawn, +quickly began its jolting way down the trail. As it and its escort +passed the _atejo_, now being re-packed, the officer scowled about him +for a sight of the impudent muleteer, but could not see him. + +Salezar stopped his horse: "Where is that Pueblo dog?" he demanded. + +"He is so frightened he is running all the way home," answered a +muleteer. "He has left us to do his work for him! Are we slaves that we +must serve him? Wait till we see him, Senor Capitan! Just you wait!" He +looked at his companion, who nodded sourly. "Always he is like that, +Senor Capitan." + +Salezar questioned them closely about what they had seen, and found that +they had been so busy with the accursed mules that they had had no time +for anything else. + +"See that you speak the truth!" he threatened. "There is a gringo woman +missing from Santa Fe and we are seeking her. Her gringo friends are +enemies of the Governor, and those who help them also are his enemies. +Then you have not seen this woman?" + +"The more gringos that are missing the louder we will sing. We have not +seen her, Senor Capitan. We will take care that we do not see her." + +"Did you hear any shooting, then?" + +"If I did it would be that frightened Pablo, shooting at his shadow. He +is like that, Pablo is." + +"Listen well!" warned Salezar, his beady eyes aglint. "There are two +kinds of men who do not speak; the wise ones, and the ones who have no +tongues!" He made a significant gesture in front of his mouth, glared +down at the two muleteers and, wheeling, dashed down the trail to +overtake the _carreta_, where he gloated aloud that his prisoner might +hear, and know where she was going, and why. + +The two Pueblos listened until the hoofbeats sounded well down the trail +and then scrambled up the mountain side like goats, reaching the little +nook as Pablo dragged the seriously wounded Mexican over the edge. They +worked over him quickly, silently, listening to his broken, infrequent +mutterings and after bandaging him as best they could they put him on a +blanket and carried him to the trail and along it until they reached an +Indian hovel, where they left him in care of a squaw. Returning to the +_atejo_ they had to repack every mule, but they worked feverishly and +the work was soon done and the little train plodded on down the trail. +At the foot of the mountain Pablo said something to his companions, left +the trail and soon was lost to their sight. + +Meanwhile the _carreta_, after a journey which was a torture, mentally +and physically, to its helpless occupant, reached the town and rumbled +up to Salezar's house, scraped through the narrow roadway between the +house and the building next door and stopped in the windowless, +high-walled courtyard. Three soldiers quickly carried a blanket-swathed +burden into the house while the others loafed around the entrance to the +driveway to guard against spying eyes. In a few moments the captain came +out, briskly rubbing his hands, gave a curt order regarding alertness +and rode away in the direction of the _palacio_, already a colonel in +his stimulated imagination. This had been a great day in the fortunes of +Captain Salezar and he was eager for his reward. + +The sentry at the door of the _palacio_ saluted, told him that he was +waited for and urgently wanted, and then stood at attention. Salezar +stroked his chin, chuckled, and swaggered through the portal. Ten +minutes later he emerged, walking on air and impatient for the coming of +darkness, when his task soon would be finished and his promotion +assured. + +And while the captain paced the floor of his quarters at the barracks +and dreamed dreams, an honest, courageous, and loyal Mexican was +fighting against death in a little hovel on the mountain side; and a +Pueblo Indian, stimulated by a queer and jumbled mixture of rage, +gratitude, revenge, and pity, was making his slow way, with infinite +caution, through the cover north of town. Sanchez in his babbling had +mentioned the caravan, a gringo name, and the urgent need for a warning +to be carried. Salezar's name the Pueblo already knew far too well, and +hated as he hated nothing else on earth. The mud-walled _pueblos_ of the +Valley of Taos were regarded by Salezar as rabbit-warrens full of women, +provided by Providence that his hunting might be good. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +"LOS TEJANOS!" + + +The encampment of the returning caravan was in a little pasture well +outside the town and it was the scene of bustling activity. Its +personnel was different from either of the two trains from the Missouri +frontier, for it was made up of traders and travelers from both of the +earlier, west-bound caravans. Some of the first and second wagon trains +had gone on to El Paso and Chihuahua, a handful of venturesome travelers +were to try for the Pacific coast, and others of the first two trains +had elected to remain in the New Mexican capital. While in the two +west-bound caravans there had been many Mexicans, their number now was +negligible. But this returning train was larger than either of the other +two, carried much less freight, a large amount of specie, and would +drive a large herd of mules across the prairies for sale in the Missouri +settlements, which would fan the fires of Indian avarice all along the +trail. + +Uncle Joe and his brother had been busy all day doing their own work, +catching up odds and ends of their Santa Fe connections, and helping +friends get ready for the long trip, and they had not given much thought +to Patience, whom they believed to be saying her farewells to friends +she had made in the city. As the afternoon passed and she and her escort +had not appeared, Uncle Joe became a little uneasy; and as the shadows +began to reach farther and farther from the wagons he mounted his horse +and rode back to Santa Fe to find and join her. It was nearly dark when +he galloped back to the encampment and sought his brother, hoping that +Patience had made her way to the wagons while he had sought for her in +town. He knew that she had not called on any of her friends and that she +must have stolen a last ride through the environs of the town. The two +men were frankly frightened and hurriedly made the rounds of the wagons +and then started for the city. It was dark by then and as they rode by +the last camp-fire of the encampment, four villainous Indians loomed up +in the light of the little blaze and Uncle Joe recognized them +instantly. He drew up quickly. + +"Have you seen Patience?" he cried, an agony of fear in his voice. "We +can't find her anywhere!" + +The Indians motioned for him to go on and they followed him and his +brother. When a few score paces from the fire they stopped and +consulted, hungrily fingering the locks of their heavy rifles. While +they were sketching a plan a Pueblo Indian, following the trail to the +camp like a speeding shadow, came up to them and blurted out his +fragmentary tale in a mixture of Spanish and Indian. + +"Salezar stole white woman on mountain. Put her in _carreta_ and went +back to Santa Fe. Tell these people, that her friends will know. +Salezar, the son of a pig, stole her on the mountain." He burst into a +torrent of words unintelligible and open and shut his hands as he +raved. + +Finally in reply to their hot, close questioning he told all he knew, +his answers interspersed with stark curses for Salezar and pity and +anxiety for the angel senorita. His words bore the undeniable stamp of +sincerity, fitted in with what the anxious group feared, and he was +triply bound by the gold pieces crowded into his hands. After another +conference, not pointless now, a plan was hurriedly agreed upon and the +several parts well studied. The Pueblo was given a commission and loaned +a horse, and after repeating what he was to do, shot away into the +darkness. Uncle Joe and his brother grudgingly accepted their parts, +after Tom had shown them they could help in no other way, and turned +back into the encampment, where their hot and eager efforts met with +prompt help from their closest friends. Alonzo Webb and Enoch Birdsall, +mounted, led four horses out of the west side of the camp and melted +into the darkness; several hundred yards from the wagons they turned the +led horses over to four maddened Indians and followed them through the +night, to enter Santa Fe from the south. Not far behind them a cavalcade +rode along the same route, grim and silent. At the little corral where +the _atejo_ had put up the Indians got the horses which Turley had +loaned them, shook hands with the two traders and listened as the +caravan's horses were led off toward the camp. + +Armstrong answered the knocks on his door and admitted the Delaware, +listened in amazement to the brief, tense statement of fact, strongly +endorsed Tom's plans, and eagerly accepted his own part. His caller +slipped out, the door closed, and the sounds of walking horses faded +out down the street. A few moments later, Armstrong, rifle in hand, +slipped out of the house and ran southward. + +Captain Salezar, sitting at ease in his adobe house, poured himself +another drink of _aguardiente_ and rolled another corn-husk cigarette. +Lighting it from the candle he fell to pacing to and fro across the +small room. As the raw, potent liquor stimulated his imagination he +began to bow to imaginary persons, give orders to officers, and to +introduce himself as Colonel Salezar. From the barracks across the +corner of the square an occasional burst of laughter rang out, but these +were becoming more infrequent and less loud. He heard the grounding +gun-butt of the sentry outside his door as the soldier paused before +wheeling to retrace his steps over the beat. + +The sentry paced along the narrow driveway and stopped at the outer +corner of the house to cast an envious glance across at the barracks +where he knew that his friends were engaged in a furtive game of +_monte_, which had started before he had gone on duty not a quarter of +an hour before. He turned slowly to pace back again and then suddenly +threw up his arms as his world became black. His falling firelock was +caught as it left his hands, and soon lay at the side of its gagged and +trussed owner in the blackness along the base of a driveway wall. Two +figures slipped toward the courtyard to the rear of the house and one of +them, taking the rifle of his companion, stopped at the corner of the +wall at the driveway. The other slipped to the door, gently tried the +latch and opened it, one hand hidden beneath the folds of a dirty +blanket. The door swung silently open and shut and the intruder cast a +swift glance around the room. + +Captain Salezar grinned into the cracked mirror hanging on the wall, +stiffened to attention, and saluted the image in the glass. + +"Colonel Salezar's orders, sir," he declaimed and then, staring with +unbelieving eyes at the apparition pushing out onto the mirror, crossed +himself, whirled and drew his sword almost in one motion. + +The Delaware cringed and pulled at a lock of hair straggling down past +his eyes and held out a folded paper, swiftly placing a finger on his +lips. + +"_Por le Capitan despues le Gobernador_," he whispered. "_Pronto!_" + +The captain's anger and suspicion at so unceremonious an entry slowly +faded, but he did not lower the sword. The Delaware slid forward, abject +and fearful, his eyes riveted on the clumsy blade, the paper held out at +arm's length. "_Por le Capitan_," he muttered. "_Pronto!_" + +"You son of swine!" growled Salezar. "You scum! Is this the way you +enter an officer's house? How did you pass the sentry? A score of lashes +on both your backs will teach you manners and him his duty. Give me that +message and stand aside till I call the guard!" + +"_Perdon, Capitan! Perdon, perdon!_" begged the Delaware. "_Le +Gobernador_--" his hands streaked out, one gripping the sword wrist of +the captain, the other fastening inexorably on the greasy, swarthy +throat well up under the chin. As the grips clamped down the Delaware's +knee rose and smashed into the Mexican's stomach. The sword clattered +against a wall and the two men fell and rolled and thrashed across the +floor. + +"Where _is_ she?" grated the Indian as he writhed and rolled, now +underneath and now uppermost. "Where _is_ she, you murdering dog?" + +They smashed against the flimsy table and overturned it, candle, liquor +and all. The candle flickered out and the struggle went on in the +darkness. + +"Where _is_ she, Salezar? Yore in th' hands of a _Texan_, you taker of +ears! Where _is_ she?" + +Salezar was no weakling and although he had no more real courage than a +rat, like a rat he was cornered and fighting for his life; but Captain +Salezar had lived well and lazily, as his pampered body was now showing +evidence. Try as he might he could not escape those steel-like fingers +for more than a moment. With desperate strength he broke their hold time +and again as he writhed and bridged and rolled, clawed and bit; but they +clamped back again as often. His shouts for help were choked gasps and +the strength he had put forth in the beginning of the struggle was +waning. + +The table was now a wreck and they rolled in and over the debris. +Salezar made use of his great spurs at every chance and his opponent's +clothing was ripped and torn to shreds wet with blood. His fingers +searched for his enemy's eyes and missed them, but left their marks on +the painted face. They rolled against one wall and then back to the +other; they slammed again at the door and back into the wreckage of the +table. + +"Where _is_ she?" panted the Delaware. "Tell me, Salezar, _where is +she_?" + +The captain wriggled desperately and almost gained the top, and thought +he sensed a weakened opposition. "Where she will remain!" he choked. +"Mistress of the _palacio_--until he tires--of her. You--cursed _Tejano_ +dog!" He drove a spur at his enemy's side, missed, and it became +entangled in the rags. + +The Delaware, blind with fury, smashed his knee into the soft abdomen +and snarled at the answering gasp of pain. "Remember th' prisoners? Near +Valencia--Ernest died in the--night. You cut off his ears--and threw his +body in a--ditch!" He got the throat hold again in spite of nails and +teeth, blows and spurs. "McAllister was shot because he--could not walk. +You stole his clothes--cut off his ears and left--his body at th' side +of th'--road for the wolves!" He felt the spurs graze his leg and he +threw it across the body of the Mexican. "Golpin was shot--other side of +Dead Man's Lake. You took--_his_ ears _too_!" He hauled and tugged and +managed to roll his enemy onto his other leg. "On th' Dead Man's +Journey--Griffin's brains were knocked out with a--gun butt. _His_ ears +were cut off, _too_!" Hooking his feet together he clamped his powerful +thighs in a viselike grip on his enemy. "Gates died in a wagon near--El +Paso, of starvation, sickness--an' fright. You got _his_--ears!" + +"As--I'll get--_yours_!" hoarsely moaned Salezar, again missing with the +spurs. "The senorita will be happy--in Armijo's arms. After that--the +soldiers--can have her!" + +The Delaware loosened his leg grip, jerked them up toward the captain's +stomach as he hauled his victim down toward them, and clamped them tight +again over the soft stomach. + +"Yore lies stick--in yore throat--Salezar!" he panted. "An' those +murders cry--to heaven; but you'll only--hear th' echoes ringin' through +hell--for all eternity. _You_ called th' roll of th' livin'--on that +damnable march; _I_'m--callin' th' roll of th' _dead_! Yore name comes +last! There's many a Texan would give his--chance of heaven to change +places--with me, _now_!" He raised his head in the darkness. "Oh, +Ernest, old pardner; I'm payin' yore debt, _in full_!" + +The spurs stabbed in vain, for the Delaware was now well above their +flaying range; the nails scoring his face were growing feeble. He +shifted the leg hold again and managed to imprison one of Salezar's arms +in their grip. Lifting himself from the hips, he released the throat +hold and grabbed the Mexican's other arm, thrust it under him and fell +back on it as his two hands, free now to work their worst, leaped back +under the swarthy chin. The relentless thumbs pressed up and in. + +The Blackfoot on guard at the end of the driveway thought he heard the +door open and close, but there was no doubt about the labored breathing +which wheezed along the dark wall. Stumbling steps faltered and dragged +and then the Delaware bumped into him and held to him for a moment. + +"Git th' hosses, Hank!" came a mumbled command. + +"Thar with Jim an' Zeb," whispered the hunter in surprise. "How'd ye get +so wet? Is that blood?" + +"Spurred me--I'll be all right--soon's I git breath. He--fought like +a--fiend." + +"Git his ears?" eagerly demanded the Blackfoot. + +"Thar's been ears enough took--already. Come on; _she's_ in th' +_palacio_--with _Armijo_!" + +"Jest what we figgered, _damn him_!" growled the Blackfoot, leading the +way. + +In the stable at the rear of the courtyard a decrepit dog, white with +age, had barked feebly when its breath permitted, while the fight had +raged in the house. The Blackfoot had considered stopping the wheezy +warnings, but they did not have power enough to lure him from his watch. +He had accepted the lesser of the two evils and remained on guard. As +the two Indians crept from the courtyard the aged animal burst into a +paroxysm of barking, which exhausted it. To those who knew the captain's +dog, its barking long since had lost all meaning, for, as the soldiers +said, it barked over nothing. They did not know that the animal dreamed +day and night of the days of its youth and strength and now, in its +dotage, in imagination was living over again stirring incidents of hunts +and fights long past. Gradually it recovered its strength from sounding +its barked warnings in vain, and pantingly sniffed the air. Its actions +became frantic and the decrepit old dog struggled to its feet, swaying +on its feeble legs, its grizzled muzzle pointing toward its master's +house. The composite body odor it had known for so many years had +changed, and ceased abruptly. Whining and whimpering, the dog searched +the air currents, but in vain; the scent came no more. Then, sinking +back on its haunches, it raised its gray nose to the sky and poured out +its grief in one long, quavering howl of surprising volume. + +The sleeping square sprang to life, superstitious terror dominated the +barracks. Lights gleamed suddenly and the barracks door opened slowly, +grudgingly as frightened soldiers hurriedly crossed themselves. Don Jesu +and Robideau pushed hesitatingly to the portal and peered fearsomely +into the night. They suddenly cried out, drew their ancient pistols, and +fired at two vague figures slinking hurriedly along the side of the +house opposite. From the darkness there came quick replies. A +coruscating poniard of spiteful flame stabbed into the night. Don Jesu +whirled on buckling legs and pitched sidewise to the street. A second +stab of sparky flame split the darkness and Robideau reeled back into +the arms of his panicky soldiers. As the heavy reports rolled through +the town they seemed to be a signal, for on the southern outskirts of +Santa Fe gun after gun crashed in a rippling, spasmodic volley. A few +stragglers in the all but deserted streets raised a dreaded cry and fled +to the nearest shelter. The cry was taken up and sent rioting through +the city; doors were doubly barred and the soldiers in the barracks, +safer behind the thick mud walls than they would be out in the dark open +against such an enemy, slammed shut the ponderous door and frantically +built barricades of everything movable. + +"_Los Tejanos!_" rolled the panicky cries. "_Los Tejanos! Los +Tejanos!_" + +The wailing warning of the coming of a plague could not have held more +terror. Gone were the vaunted boastings and the sneers; gone was the +swaggering bravado of the dashing _caballeros_, who had said what they +would do to any Texan force that dared to brave the wrath of the +defenders of San Francisco de la Santa Fe. Gone was all faith, never too +sincere, in ancient _escopeta_ and rusty blunderbuss, now that the +occasion was close at hand to measure them against the devil weapons of +hardy Texan fighting men, of the breed that had stood off, bloody day +after bloody day, four thousand Mexican regulars before a little adobe +church, now glorified for all the ages yet to come. To panicky minds +came magic words of evil portent; the Alamo and San Jacinto. To evil +consciences, bowed with guilt, came burning memories of that sick and +starved Texan band that had walked through winter days and shivered +through winter nights from Santa Fe to the capital, two thousand miles +of suffering, and every step a torture. Texan ears had swung from a +piece of rusty wire to feed the cruel conceit of a swarthy tyrant. + +"_Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!_" + +At the _palacio_ a human brute recoiled before a barred door between him +and a desperate captive, his honeyed cajolings turning to acid on his +lying tongue. No longer did he hear the measured tread of the palace +guards, who secretly exulted as they fled and left him defenseless. + +"_Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!_" + +He dashed through a door to grab his weapons and flee, and in through +the open, undefended portal from the square leaped a blood-covered +Delaware, an epic of rags and rage, a man so maddened that all thought +of weapons save Nature's, had gone from his burning brain. Behind him +leaped a Blackfoot, dynamic and deadly as a panther, a Colt pistol in +one eager, upraised hand, in the other the cold length of a keen +skinning knife. Behind them from a wagon deserted in the square came the +sharp crashes of Hawken and Colt, and a shouted battlecry: "Remember th' +Alamo! Remember th' Alamo! Texans to th' fore!" + +As the Delaware dashed past an open door he caught a flurry of movement, +the flare of a pistol and his laughter pealed out in one mad shout as he +stopped like a cat and leaped in through the opening. Another flash, +another roar, and a burning welt across a shoulder spurred the bloody +Nemesis to a greater speed. The wavering sword he knocked aside and near +two hundred pounds of fighting, mountain sinew hurled itself behind a +driving fist. The hurtling bulk of Armijo crashed against a wall and +dropped like a bag of grain as the plunging Delaware whirled to pounce +upon it. As he turned, a scream rang out somewhere behind him, through +the door he had just entered, a scream vibrant with desperate hope, and +he bellowed a triumphant answer. Here was his mission; Armijo was a side +issue. The governor, helpless before him, was forgotten and the Delaware +whirled through the door bellowing one name over and over again. +"Patience! Patience! _Patience!_" + +"_Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!_" came from the public square. + +"_Los Tejanos! Los Tejanos!_" quavered the despairing echo throughout +the quaking town, while from the south there came the steady crash of +alien rifles, firing harmlessly into the air. + +Before him a Blackfoot methodically battered at a door, taking a few +quick steps backward and a plunging dive forward. The Delaware shouted +again and added the power of his driving weight. There came a +splintering crash and the door went in. The Blackfoot whirled and darted +to the great portal leading to the square, bouncing on the balls of his +feet like a cougar expecting danger at every point. The Delaware +scrambled to his feet and gathered a whitefaced woman in his arms, +crushing her to his bloody chest. He felt her go suddenly limp and, +throwing her across a bare and bleeding shoulder, he drew a Colt +repeating pistol and sprang after his Indian ally, not feeling the +weight of his precious burden. + +Lurid, stabbing rapiers of fire still sprang from the wagon barricade, +making death certain to any man who opened the barracks' door. Between +their heavy roars the woodwork of the wagon smacked sharply in time to +bursts of fire from the barracks' few windows. The Delaware darted from +the _palacio_ door and held close to the wall, hidden by the portico and +the darkness. As he reached the end of the column-supported roof the +Blackfoot bulked out of the night on his horse, and leading four others. +The lost-soul call of a loon sounded and changed the deadly wagon into a +vehicle of peace and quiet as its Arapahoe defenders slipped away from +it. The sudden creaking of saddle leather was followed by the rolling +thunder of flying hoofs as the first three horses left the square. A +moment's pause and then two more horses galloped through the darkness +after the others, the Arapahoe rear guard sitting almost sidewise in +their saddles, their long, hot rifles pointing backward to send hotter +greetings to whoever might follow. + +They raced like gambling fools through the dark night, the Blackfoot +leading the way with the instinct of a homing bird. Mile after mile +strung out behind them, pastures, gullies, knolls rolling past. While +they climbed and dipped and circled they gradually sensed a steady +rising of the ground. Suddenly the Blackfoot shouted for them to halt, +and the laboring horses welcomed the moment's breathing space. The guide +threw himself on the ground and pressed his ear against it. In a moment +he was back in the saddle and gave the word to go on again. He had heard +no sounds of pursuit and he chuckled as he leaned over close to the +Delaware who rode at his flank. + +"Nothin' stirrin' behind us, fur's I could make out," he said. "They can +only track us by sound in th' dark, at any speed, an' I'm gamblin' they +wait fer daylight. Thar scared ter stick thar noses out o' doors _this_ +night. How's yore gal?" + +Tom's rumbling reply could mean anything and they kept on through the +night without further words. The trail had been growing steadily rougher +and steeper and the horses were permitted to fall into a swinging lope. +Another hour passed and then Hank signalled for a stop. From his lips +whistled the crowded, hurried, repeated call of a whip-poor-will. Three +times the insistent demand rang out, clear and piercing. At the count of +ten an echoing whistle sounded and a light flickered on the trail +ahead. + +"J'get her?" bawled a voice, tremulous with fear and anxiety, and only a +breath ahead of another. + +"Hell yes!" roared Hank. "Got Salezar, Don Jesu and Robideau, too; only +we left _them_ behind--with thar ears!" + +In another moment Uncle Joe and Adam Cooper took the precious burden +from the Delaware's numbed arms, someone uncovered the lighted candle +lantern, and saddles were thrown on fresh mounts. The Pueblo pushed +forward and peered into Patience's face, and his own face broke into +smiles. His torrent of mixed Spanish and Indian brought a grin to Hank's +painted countenance. + +"This hyar shore is good beaver," he chuckled, clapping the Pueblo on +the shoulder, "but thar's more good news fer _you_." He put his mouth +close to the Pueblo's ear and whispered: "Yer friend Salezar will be +leadin' a percession ter th' buryin' ground. That Delaware thar killed +him with his bare hands!" + +The Pueblo touched Tom's arm, his hand passing down it caressingly, to +be seized in a grip which made him wince; and when Adam Cooper offered +him a handful of gold coins the Indian drew himself up proudly and +pushed them away. + +"For his friends Pablo do what he can," he said in Spanish. "I now take +these horses back on the trail to make a puzzle in the sand that will +take time to read. Pablo does not forget. _Adios!_" He vaulted onto his +horse, took the lead ropes of the tired mounts, and was lost in the +darkness, eager to weave a pattern of hoof marks to mock pursuing eyes. + +The little cavalcade pushed on, following a trail that wound along the +sides of the mountains, passing many places where a handful of resolute +men could check scores. The cold mountain air bit shrewdly, and +occasional gusts of wind blustered along the timbered slopes and set the +pines and cedars whispering. Higher and higher went the narrow trail, +skirting sheer walls of rock on one side, and dizzy precipices on the +other; higher and higher plodded the little caravan in single file, +following the unhesitant leader. + +There came a leaden glow high up on the right. It paled swiftly as a +streak of silver flared up behind the jagged crests of the mountains, +here and there caught by a snow mantle to gleam in virgin white. On the +left lay abysmal darkness, like a lake of ink, and slowly out of it +pushed ranks of treetops as the dawn rolled downward and the mountain +fogs dissolved in dew. Deep canyons, sheer precipices; long streaks on +mountain sides where resistless avalanches had scraped all greenery from +the glistening rock; green amphitheaters, fit for fairy pageants; +velvety knolls and jewels of mountain pastures lay below them, with here +and there the crystal gleam of ribbon-like mountain brooks, their waters +embarked on a long, depressing journey through capricious oceans of +billowy sands and the salty leagues of desert wastes. Birds flashed +among the branches, chipmunks chattered furiously at these unheeding +invaders of their mountain fastness; high up on a beetling crag a +bighorn ram was silhouetted in rigid majesty, and over all lazily +drifted an eagle against the paling western sky, symbolical of freedom. + +There came the musical tinkle of falling water and Hank stopped, raising +his hand. Into the little mountain dell the caravan wound and in a +moment muscles tired and cramped from long, hard riding found relief in +a score of little duties. While the animals were relieved of saddles and +packs and securely picketed, and a fire made of dry wood from a bleached +windfall, Hank climbed swiftly up the mountain side for a view of the +back trail. Perched on an out-thrust finger of rock high above the dell +he knelt motionless, searching with keen and critical eyes every yard of +that windswept trail, following it along its sloping length until it +shrunk into a hair line across the frowning mountain sides and then +faded out entirely. Below him grotesque figures moved about like gnomes +performing incantations around a tiny blaze; dwarfed horses cropped the +plentiful grass and succulent leaves, and a timid streamer of pale blue +smoke arose like a plumb line until the cruising gusts above the +treetops tore it into feathery wisps and carried it away. Across the +valley the rising sun pushed golden floods of light into crevices, among +the rocks, and turned the pines and cedars into glistening cones of +green on stems of jet. + +"Wall," said a voice below him, "hyar I am. Go down an' feed. See +anythin'?" + +Hank leaned over and looked down at the climbing figure, whose laborious +progress sent a noisy stream of clicking pebbles behind him like sparks +from a rocket. + +"Nothin' I ain't plumb glad ter see," replied Hank. "This hyar beats th' +settlements all ter hell." As Jim's horrible face peered over the edge +of the rock balcony Hank eyed it critically and shook his head. "I've +seen some plumb awful lookin' 'Rapahoes; but nothin' ter stack up ag'in +you. Vermillion mebby is yer favorite color, but it don't improve yer +looks a hull lot. Neither does that sorrel juice. How's th' gal?" + +"Full o' spunk an' gittin' chipper as a squirrel," answered Jim. "Who's +goin' ter git th' blame fer last night's fandango?" + +"Four murderin' Injuns, a-plunderin' an' a-kidnappin'," chuckled Hank. +"Woodson's goin' ter raise hell about th' hull Cooper fambly bein' +stole. Armijo'll keep his mouth shet an' pass th' crime along ter us, +an' make a great show o' gittin' us; but," he winked knowingly at his +accomplice in the night's activities, "chasin' four desperite Injuns +along an open trail, whar his sojers kin spread out an' take advantage +o' thar bein' twenty ter one is _one_ thing; chasin' 'em along a trail +like this, whar they has ter ride Injun fashion, is a hull lot +diff'rent. They've had thar bellies full o' chasin' along Injun trails +in th' mountings. Th' Apaches, Utes, an' Comanches has showed 'em it +don't pay. Thar's sharpshooters that can't be got at; thar's rollin' +rocks, an' ambushes; an' chasin' murderin' Injuns afoot up mounting +sides ain't did in this part o' th' country." + +"Meanin' we won't be chased?" demanded Jim, incredulously. + +"Not meanin' nothin' o' th' kind," growled Hank, spitting into three +hundred feet of void. "We killed some of th' military aristo-crazy, as +Tom calls 'em, didn't we? We made fools outer th' whole prairie-dog +town, didn't we? An' what's worse, we stole th' gal that Armijo war +sweet on, an' Tom knocked _him_ end over end--oh, Jim, ye should 'a' +seen that! Six feet o' greaser gov'ner a-turnin' a cartwheel in his own +house! _Chase_ us? Hell, yes!" + +The Arapahoe rubbed his chin. "Fust ye say one thing, then ye say +another. What ye mean, Ol' Buffaler?" + +"I'm bettin' thar's a greaser army a-poundin' along th' wagon road fer +Raton Pass," replied Hank, spitting again with great gusto. "We're a +Delaware from Bent's, a Blackfoot from th' Upper Missoury, an' two ugly +'Rapahoes from 'tother side o' St. Vrains, ain't we? Wall, if ye know a +fox's den ye needn't foller him along th' ridges." He chuckled again. +"We're goin' another way over some Ute trails I knows of." + +"But s'posin' they foller us along this trail?" + +Hank looked speculatively back along the narrow pathway, with its +numerous bends, and then glanced pityingly at his anxious friend. "I +jest told ye why they won't; an' if they do, _let_ 'em!" + +Ogden looked steadily southward along the trail and suddenly laughed: +"Yes; _let_ 'em!" + + * * * * * + +In the great courtyard of Bent's Fort one evening more than a week +later, three trappers sat with their backs against the brass cannon that +scowled at the heavy doors. They were planning their winter's trip in +the mountains, figuring out the supplies and paraphernalia for a party +of four, when Hank, glancing up, saw two people slowly walking along the +high, wide parapet on the side toward the Arkansas. He raised an arm, +pointing, and his companions, following it with their eyes, saw the two +figures suddenly become like one against the moonlit sky. + +Hank sighed, bit his lip, and looked down. + +"Better figger on a party o' three," he said. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bring Me His Ears, by Clarence E. 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