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diff --git a/41529-8.txt b/41529-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index dc236bd..0000000 --- a/41529-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7038 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Tales from the X-bar Horse Camp, by Will C. Barnes - -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: Tales from the X-bar Horse Camp - The Blue-Roan Outlaw and Other Stories - -Author: Will C. Barnes - -Release Date: December 1, 2012 [EBook #41529] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES FROM THE X-BAR HORSE CAMP *** - - - - -Produced by Paul Clark, sp1nd and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - Transcriber's Note: - - Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as - possible, including non-standard spelling and inconsistent - hyphenation. Some changes of spelling and punctuation have been - made. They are listed at the end of the text. - - An oe ligature has been expanded. - - Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. - - - - -Tales From The X-Bar Horse Camp - - - - - Tales From The X-Bar Horse Camp - - _The Blue-Roan "Outlaw" and Other Stories_ - - By - - WILL C. BARNES - - Author of "Western Grazing Grounds" - - [Illustration] - - - Published by - THE BREEDERS' GAZETTE - 542 So. Dearborn Street - Chicago, Illinois - 1920 - - - - - COPYRIGHT 1920 - SANDERS PUBLISHING CO. - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - - - _To My Mother_: - - _Who shared with me many of the dangers and hardships of the old - days on the ranges of the Southwest, these stories are - affectionately dedicated._ - - _Washington, D. C._ - _September 1st, 1919._ - - - - -Contents - - - Sunrise on the Desert (poem) xi - - The Blue-Roan "Outlaw" 1 - - Campin' Out 23 - - Popgun Plays Santa Claus 32 - - "Just Regulars" 45 - - The Stampede on the Turkey Track Range 58 - - The Navajo Turquoise Ring 74 - - An Arizona Etude 86 - - Stutterin' Andy 94 - - The Passing of Bill Jackson 104 - - The Tenderfoot from Yale 114 - - "Dummy" 123 - - The Mummy from the Grand Caņon 140 - - Jumping at Conclusions 149 - - Lost in the Petrified Forest 163 - - "Camel Huntin'" 174 - - The Trinidad Kid 184 - - "Pablo" 195 - - The Shooting up of Horse Head 206 - - - - -Illustrations - - - The whole herd swam the Pecos in safety 8 - - Say, Dad, did you ever pack a burro? 23 - - Gibson managed to get everything in the two Kyacks carried - by the mule 36 - - "Just Regulars" Apache squaw and baby 45 - - The men on day herd could hold them easily 58 - - Some prehistoric people had carved queer hieroglyphics on it 71 - - He was a picture of savage finery 78 - - Now the Navajos are famous silversmiths 78 - - The mess wagon was backed up into the shade 86 - - Andy done built a little log house 97 - - We had a fire lookout station 115 - - Out on the range 1200 ewes were grazing 128 - - He had a Navajo Squaw weaving blankets 144 - - He knows where there's a bunch of Cliff Dwellings 148 - - The sails of the wind mill flashed in the sunlight 153 - - We were camped over in the petrified forest 165 - - Hawk met a forest ranger leading a pack mule 197 - - They gave the money to Jackson, the Cross J boss 210 - - - - -SUNRISE ON THE DESERT - - - Towards the east, the God of day, - Like some great red-eyed dragon, tops the rugged range. - Before his golden beams, the gray - Of dawn creeps slowly backward, till the magic change - Sweeps night away. - - The desert stirs, and wakes. - Strange-fashioned things come slipping into sight. - High overhead a buzzard idly wings, - A lonely raven robed in shades of night - "Caws" hoarsely to its mates. - - Perched on a nearby stone, - A lizard, swift as light, and clad in colors gay, - Pumps slowly up and down. - A horned toad, with crown of thorns, comes slithering by, - And then is gone. - - Atop of yonder rocky hill - A lone coyote, skulker of the desert wastes, - Greets the first beams with shrill - And piercing "yips," then hastes - To find his morning kill. - - A wandering honeybee, - Drunk with nectar from a Palo Verde's yellow bloom, - Goes stagg'ring by. - The air is heavy with the desert's sweet perfume - From flower and tree. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -The Blue-Roan "Outlaw" - -_A Tale of the "Hashknife" Range_ - -By permission _The Breeder's Gazette_, Chicago, Ill. - - -"Say, Bill, there's that old blue-roan, droop-horned cow that allus runs -over on the Coyote wash. Reckon she ain't got a calf somers' hereabout?" - -"Like as not," replied Bill, "an' I'll bet it's a blue-roan, too, for -she's raised a blue calf reg'lar fer these last four or five years. -There's a little hole of water clos't to where she's a-grazin' an' it's -a sure shot the calf's hid away in that tall grass down there clos't to -it." - -The two cowboys rode slowly down the gentle slope toward the cow, which -watched them eagerly, but with the cunning of the brute made no sign or -motion to show where her baby was hidden. When, however, one of the boys -played the time-worn trick on her by barking like a dog, it was too much -for her peace of mind. With a mad bellow of defiance she raced toward -the spot where the little fellow was hidden, exactly as the boys knew -she would. - -The calf, with the instinct of the brute already working in his little -four-day-old brain, did not move, but lay there as quietly as if he were -dead, and, not until the horsemen rode almost onto him in the deep -grass, did they discover his hiding place. - -The mother, with the fear of man too strong in her heart to stand by her -guns, ran off a few yards from the spot and the calf followed, bawling -loudly, the already awakened man-fear strong within him. - -"He's a sure blue-roan all right," said Bill. "Say, won't that old -Hashknife iron loom up big on them ribs some day?" he asked, for a brand -on a roan animal shows much more plainly than on a hide of any other -color. - -"It sure will," replied his companion; "better leave 'em here till -tomorrow an' we can swing around this a-way an' git 'em." - -So the boys rode on across the prairie, and the droop-horned blue with -her baby rested in peace that day and night. - -It was here, away out on the "staked plains," those mysterious regions -of the great Southwest, and far back from the thin line of settlements -that fringed the Pecos River, in southeastern New Mexico, that the -"blue-roan outlaw" first saw the light. - -Early next morning the leaders of the roundup party, engaged in -gathering up the cattle on the range, swung across the prairie in a -great semicircle, sweeping before them in one huge drive, everything of -the cow kind. As they divided up into couples to work down the country, -the leader said: "Bill, you look out an' catch that ole blue-roan we -seen yistiday. The old man wants all them cows to throw into that -Arizony drive, an' her an' the calf will make it in all right, I -reckon." - -So, as they rode along, Bill swung across a little draw toward the water -hole they had seen the day before. He picked up the blue-roan, who, with -her young son beside her, trotted off, following the rest of the cattle -already working down the trails toward the round-up grounds. The two -animals fell in with more of their kind as the trails converged until, -by the time the roundup ground was reached, there were more than fifteen -hundred cattle of all ages and sexes gathered in one great bunch. - -The blue-roan's baby kept close to his mother's side; the dust that -settled over the herd like a pall, choking him, while the constant -bawling of the cattle, fairly deafened him. - -Once, when two huge bulls, fighting fiercely, drove through that portion -of the herd where he and his mother were, and separated the little -family, he added to the din by raising his voice in pitiful outcry for -his protector. - -Outside of the herd the cowboys rode slowly around, turning back into -the center any stragglers that tried to escape. - -Gradually the bunch began to stop "milling" and as cow after cow found -her calf, the bawling stopped. In half an hour the herd was fairly quiet -and the wagon boss dropped off his horse to "cinch up" a little, -preparatory to the work of cutting out. - -Having reset his saddle, the boss mounted again and, calling to two -other men near him, said, "Jack, you go out there a ways and hold 'em -up, and Charley and I will get out the cows and the calves." So Jack -rode off about one hundred yards from the herd in readiness to receive -the "cut" as they came out; while the boss and Charley rode slowly into -the mass of cattle. - -"What you want out?" he asked of the boss. "The old man wants every -Hashknife cow and calf that will stand the trail trip to Arizony," he -replied. "We got to get two thousand for the first herd if we can, so -cut 'em close." - -"There's that ole blue-roan we seen yistiday," the boss remarked, "let's -throw her out first thing, she's a good one to start a bunch on." - -Now starting a "cut" is always some little trouble until you get half a -dozen head together, because the instinct of the animal is to endeavor -to either get back into the herd or to run clear off on the range. In -starting a cut, if possible, they pick out some old, sedate cow, and in -this case the blue-roan was known to be a good one for the purpose. - -So our youngster found himself being followed up by a great -fierce-looking man mounted on a small wiry "Paint" pony that kept right -at his mother's heels, no matter which way she turned or twisted. - -The cow dodged and wound through the herd, while that object behind kept -close to her, never hurrying, never crowding, but always, in some -inexplicable manner, seeming to force her to the outer rim of the herd. - -With the dim hope that possibly she could escape his presence by a break -from the herd she worked past half a dozen steers standing idly on the -edge and, with a quick dash, broke from the herd out toward the free -open prairie, the calf racing at her side. - -The man who had so persistently hung to her flank made no further -attempt to follow her, but turned his pony and was lost in the mass of -the herd. - -As she widened the distance from the edge of the herd Jack, who, up to -this time had been sitting sideways on his pony some distance from the -herd, straightened up, a movement which caught her eye, so she stopped -to inspect him and decide what new danger was about to present itself. - -To her surprise Jack seemed satisfied with her stopping and made no -attempt to come near her. The calf ranged along side of her and began -preparations for a lunch, so she, being a sensible animal, decided to -stay where she was for a time. - -A moment later a second cow and calf were also shot out of the edge of -the herd. As she charged across the open space Jack again took interest -enough in the proceedings to ride out and turn her over toward the -blue-roan, which received her with a short bawl. The two calves eyed -each other for a second and then busied themselves with their dinner -operations. - -The second cow, being young, and with her first calf, was inclined to -run off and leave the spot, but in some way every time she did so she -met Jack and his pony, who, the instant she turned toward the blue cow, -seemed satisfied and took no further steps to interfere with her -liberty. - -Soon a third and fourth cow joined them and, now that there was a -nucleus formed, every new animal turned out of the herd chased straight -for the little bunch, which stood quietly for the next three hours, -their calves sleeping at their feet paying little attention to the -uproar that was going on in the main herd. - -Having cut out some three hundred cows and calves, the "choppers" rode -out of the herd, and the "cut" was slowly driven off to water at a -near-by windmill, while the main body of cattle was allowed to drift out -onto the range at their own pleasure. - -That night the blue-roan and her calf, together with the rest of the -cut, were "bedded down" near the round-up camp. All night long two men -rode around them and any cow which tried to escape was promptly turned -back into the herd by the watchful riders. - -The next day this bunch was called the "day herd" and three herders -looked after them all day long. They were allowed to graze over a piece -of open range where the herders could watch them and see that none of -them escaped. At noon they were driven into a great prairie lake to -water. - -That evening another large bunch of cows and calves were brought out to -the day herd and turned into it so that they made quite a respectable -herd that night. - -At the end of ten days' work they had over the required number to make -up the "trail herd," and the wagon boss announced one evening that he -would send them into the main ranch on the following day to start for -the long trail trip to Arizona. - -The blue-roan calf had by this time become a seasoned traveler, and -found little difficulty in taking care of himself in the herd. A day or -two at the ranch and the preparations for the trip were over. - -One fine morning about four o'clock the cook, who had been up in the -cool morning air since half-past two, awoke the sleepers about his wagon -with a long "roll out, roll out, r-o-l-l-o-u-t" which brought the -sleepers in the camp beds scattered about the wagon to the campfire in -short order. - -By sunrise the herd was strung out on the trail for the West. In the -lead was the old blue-roan with her blue calf marching steadily along, -grazing when the herd was held up for that purpose, resting when the -outfit stopped to rest, and altogether behaving themselves remarkably -well. - -One night as the crew sat about the campfire with the herd resting -quietly not far from the wagon, the wagon boss said to one of the boys -near him: "Jim, I wish you'd take your hoss in the mawnin' and go ahead -and see how the river is. We got to cross it before long and I'm afeard -it's going to be pretty high, if all them clouds up toward the head is -good for anything." - -Late the next night Jim returned with the information that the river was -indeed high and that it would be necessary to swim the cattle, or wait -for it to run down. - -Four days later the herd was bedded down in the valley of the Pecos -River, a mile or two back from the stream. About noon the next day, when -the cattle were thirsty, the whole herd was drifted down to the river at -a place picked out by the wagon boss where the banks were broken down so -the cattle could reach the water. On the opposite side the bank was low, -making a good "coming out" place. - -The river here was half a mile wide and running swiftly. It was, -however, not swimming all the way across, and the place was known as a -safe ford because of an underlying rock ledge, which made good footing -for the cattle in a river where quicksand was almost everywhere present. - -The water was muddy and red and, as the first cattle, eager for a drink, -waded out into its depths, the old blue in the lead, the men carefully -pointed them out into the stream, keeping them moving. - -The others followed, calves bawling, men shouting, the animals plunging -and tearing through the swift waters. Soon the leaders were swimming -and, as the water deepened, the old blue touched her baby on the nose -and told him something in cow language which made him immediately get on -the upstream side of her and stay there as they swam across the river. -The swift water forced the little fellow against her side, where he hung -like a leech, while his mother swam, strong and steadily, for the -opposite bank. If the leaders had any desire to turn downstream they met -a horseman on that side, swinging his slicker, and shouting with all his -might, and keeping just far enough back of the leaders to stop them from -turning downstream, and still not check them in their swimming toward -the other side. - -Soon the old blue and her comrades found footing and she and her little -one were among the first to scramble up the muddy bank and stand on dry -land on the western side of the Pecos. The whole herd, including a -thousand calves, crossed safely. After the saddle horses had swum the -river, and the wagon had been floated over, all the beds and plunder -were carried across in a small boat, and the westward journey to Arizona -was continued. - -[Illustration: "_The whole herd swam the Pecos in safety_"] - -The day after their arrival on the Arizona range the cattle were turned -out to graze early in the morning. When the calves had all found -their mothers and settled down quietly, the boss "cut off" some three -hundred cows, each with her calf. These the boys drove to a great stone -corral about a mile away, which was almost as large inside as a city -block. In one corner a fire of cedar logs was built, into which was -stuck a lot of iron affairs with handles three or four feet long, which -were the branding irons belonging to the outfit. As he watched the irons -in the fire reaching a white heat, the boss remarked that the old man -was going to run the same old Hashknife brand and mark in Arizony as he -did back in Texas. Finally the boss, throwing away his cigarette, said -to the ropers, "Irons hot, fly at 'em boys." Two men on their horses, -rode into the mass of cattle crowded against the far side of the corral -and, with swift, dextrous throws, began catching the calves. As soon as -the rope settled about the neck of one, the horse was turned toward the -fire, and as the rope was short and tied to the saddle horn, the -unwilling, bawling calf was dragged up to the vicinity of the fire. -There two husky cowboys ran out to meet the rider and, following up the -rope to the calf dancing and bawling about at the end of it, one of them -seized him by the ear or head with one hand and the flank with the other -and, with a quick jerk, threw him upon his side. The instant he struck -the ground, the other man seized a hind leg and pulled it straight out -behind the calf, while the first man, throwing off the rope, sat on the -animal's neck and head, and another seared the tender hide with the -famous "Hashknife" brand. Still another man with a knife cut off the -point of the calf's right ear and took out a little V-shaped piece from -the under side of the left ear. This was the company's earmark. In an -instant the operation was over and the calf running back to its mother. - -The blue-roan calf was determined he should not be branded. He watched -the riders as they rode into the herd and buried himself deep in the -middle of the mass, worming under the larger cattle and hiding behind -them, until he began to believe he would escape after all. - -All morning long the men worked away with the herd until the poor -animals were half mad with fear and hunger. As the blue-roan dodged to -avoid the whirling, snakelike rope that suddenly shot out from the hand -of a man he had not noticed, he felt it draw up on his hind legs. Before -he knew it, he was lying on his side and being dragged across the rough -ground toward the fire, where he was to receive a mark for life. - -"I snared that blue-roan that's been so smart," said the rider as he -passed the other man. "Burn him deep Dick," he said, "for he's a roan -and it will show up fine when he gets grown." - -Released from his torture, the roan staggered back to his mother, who -gave him all the comfort she could. His side was bruised and sore where -he had been dragged over the rough ground, and the great burn on his -ribs pained him beyond measure. - -Soon after that the bunch was turned out to graze and, sick at heart, -the calf crawled miserably under the shade of a small ironwood bush, -while his mother went to water, leaving him alone in his wretchedness. -From this time on, the blue-roan became a hater of men. The object on -horseback was to him the source of all his suffering and pain--a thing -to be avoided, and upon which to wreak vengeance some day, if possible. - -The country in Arizona was very unlike the old range upon the staked -plains in Texas, being rough and rocky, with none of those great grassy -stretches they had been accustomed to back in their old home. There were -trees here, too, a thing they had never known on their old range, and -the cows buried themselves deep in the thickets of cedar and piņon. -There they found many tanks or reservoirs of rain water, and unless the -water gave out they seldom left their hiding places. - -Here, the blue-roan calf and his mother made their home, until one day, -when he was about a year old, he was accidentally separated from her and -never saw her again. Two years of life in the thickets made him shy and -wild as a deer; he learned to watch for objects upon horseback, which -were his one great fear. Once in the winter before he lost his mother a -trio of wolves followed them through the cedars for a whole day, -sneaking up on them as closely as they dared, even nipping at their -heels. His mother would turn upon them with a bellow of defiance and -charge toward the tormentors, head down, returning quickly to the little -bunch of friends that stood together, heads to the foe, their calves -within the circle. - -A two-year-old heifer, with more pluck than judgment, weak from a long -winter of short grass and poor range, made a dart toward the wolves, and -turning to join the circle of cows, stumbled and fell to her knees. In a -moment the wolves were upon her. While they were busy over their feast, -the other cattle slipped away from the fearsome place, and a new danger -crept into the blue-roan's life. - -Three years had passed. The blue-roan was beginning to be a noted -character upon the range. He was broad of horn, and the great black -Hashknife, outlined against the blue hide, could be seen for a long -distance. The sight of a horseman, no matter how far away, was -sufficient to send him plunging down the roughest mountainside, into the -depths of the cedar brakes, and over rocks and lava flows, where no -mounted man could follow. He was too fleet of foot for the older cows, -and the roan soon found himself alone in his glory. He then became what -is known to the cowboys of the western ranges as an "outlaw," an animal, -either horse, bovine, or even human, that, deserted by all its friends, -runs alone and has little to do with the rest of his kind; a "cimarron," -the Mexicans call them. Such animals are seldom forced into the roundups -that take place at regular intervals upon the ranges, and when caught by -that dragnet, are very hard to hold in the herd long enough to get them -to the stockyards and shipped out of the country. - -The next spring, when it was time to start on the roundup, the wagon -boss told the men to keep a sharp lookout for that blue-roan outlaw, and -"get him or bust him," if the opportunity offered. - -It fell to the lot of the boss and another man to run into the blue-roan -a few days later. They were working down a grassy draw in a thick cedar -country, when out from the trees on one side of it there burst a great -blue animal with a grand spread of horns, and fleet as a deer. In an -instant the two men had their ropes down and were after him in full -pursuit. "Cut him off from the cedars!" shouted the boss to his partner, -who happened to be closest to the cedars, and the boy spurred his pony -toward the steer, which now was doing his best to gain the friendly -shelter and protection of the trees. - -It was but a short distance, and the steer had much the best of the -race, but the boy had his pony alongside the animal before he could get -his rope into shape for a throw. The steer, with the keen instinct of -the hunted, crowded the pony over toward the trees and, just as the -rider was ready to drop his rope over the animal's wide-spread horns, an -overhanging branch caught the loop, jerking it from his grip. In a vain -attempt to turn the steer from the trees into the open, he crowded his -pony close up onto the huge bulk of the outlaw. The man's right knee was -fairly touching the animal's shoulder, while he rapidly coiled his rope -for another throw. - -Following them came the boss, cursing his rope, a new "Maguey" which had -fouled in his hands and was a mass of snarls and knots, which in his -eager haste he only made worse instead of better. At this instant, the -blue-roan turned suddenly. With a quick upward thrust of his head, he -drove his nearest horn deep into the side of the pony, which was -crowding him so closely, tearing a cruel gash in his side and throwing -horse and rider into a confused, struggling heap on the ground. - -In a moment the steer was lost in the trees, while the boss dropped off -his horse to assist his companion, who was working hard to free himself -from the body of the pony, which lay across his leg. The boy cleared -himself from his saddle-rigging, and the pony struggled to his feet. It -was very evident, however, that the animal was wounded to the death; so -the boss, with tears in his eyes, drew his six-shooter and put the poor -animal out of its misery. - -From that day the "blue-roan outlaw" became a marked animal upon the -range, and the story of how he killed "Curly Bill's" pony was told -around many a campfire on the round-ups that summer. - -Thus the roan outlaw added to his reputation and triumphs until his -capture was the dearest hope of every cowpuncher upon that range. The -word had gone out not to kill him unless absolutely necessary, but -rather to capture him alive just for the satisfaction of the thing. - -That fall, when the round-ups were working through the country in which -he was known to be, every man was ambitious to be his captor. Around the -campfires each night plans were laid for the job and stories told of his -prowess and ability to escape from his hunters. - -One fine morning, as the riders were working through a country covered -densely with cedar and piņon trees, with occasional open glades and -grassy valleys, the wagon boss and the man with him heard shouts off to -their right. Pulling up their horses they waited to locate the sound, -when suddenly from the thicket of trees along the valley there emerged -two great animals, a black, and a blue-roan steer. It was the famous -blue, together with a black, almost as much an outlaw as himself. - -The wagon boss, who had just been lamenting the fact that he was riding -a half-broken horse that day, was nearest to the blue, and professional -etiquette, as well as eagerness to be the one to capture the noted -steer, drove him straight at the big fellow. The pony he rode was a -green one, but he had plenty of speed, and before the steer could reach -the shelter of the cedars the rope, tied hard and fast to the horn of a -new fifty-dollar saddle, was settling over the head of the outlaw. -Unfortunately, however, the rope did not draw up close to the horns, or -even on the neck, but slipped back against the mighty shoulders of the -steer, giving him a pulling power on the rope that no cow-pony could -meet. Then, to quote the words of the man with the boss, "things shore -did begin to pop." - -Knowing full well that if he crowded the animal too hard he would turn -on him and probably kill another horse, the boss made a long throw and -consequently had but little rope left in his hand with which to "play" -his steer. The jerk that came, when the steer weighing twelve hundred -pounds, and running slightly down hill, arrived at the end of the rope, -tied to the saddle-horn, was something tremendous. As soon as the strain -came on the cinches the pony threw down his head and began some of the -most scientific and satisfactory bucking that was ever seen on the -Hashknife range, which is compliment enough. - -When the boys were gathered about the fire that evening "Windy Bob," who -had been with the boss, related the affair. - -"Ye see, fellers, me and Ed was a-driftin' down the wash, not expectin' -anything pertickler, when out from the cedars busts the ole blue, and a -mighty good mate for him. - -"'The blue's mine, Windy,' ses Ed, and I, not hankerin' a bit fer the -job, bein' as my shoulder I broke last fall won't stand much funny -business, lets him have the big blue all right, and I takes after his -mate; which was plenty big 'nuf fer me and the hoss I was a-ridin'. - -"I made a good throw and, everything going first rate, had my steer on -his side in half a minute, makin' a record throw and tie. Jist as I got -my hoggin' rope onto his feet all safe I heered a big doin's up towards -Ed's vicinity, and lookin' up seen his hoss jist a-pitchin' and -a-sunfishin' like a good feller. - -"Ed, he rides him fer about three or four jumps and then, as the saddle -was a crawlin' up onto the pony's neck, from his cinches a-bein too -loose, and it a-tippin' up behind like a old hen-turkey's tail, runnin' -before the wind, Ed, he decides to unload right thar and not go any -farther. - -"The pony, he keeps up his cavortin' and the steer stripped the saddle -right over his head. Away goes Mr. Blue into the thick timber, draggin' -that new Heiser Ed got up in Denver over the rocks and through the -trees, like as if it want but a picket pin at the end of a stake rope. - -"When Ed hit the sod, his Winchester drops out of the scabbard, an' he -grabs it up an' sets there on the ground a pumpin' lead after the blue -as fast as he could pull the trigger. He never stopped the steer at all, -an' when we were trailin' him up, we found the saddle where the rope had -dragged between two rocks. The saddle got hung up, but the steer was a -runnin' so hard that he jist busted the rope and kept on a goin' an' I -reckin is a goin' yet." - -"Imagine Ed's shots hit the steer, Windy?" inquired one interested -listener. - -"Reckon not," was the reply, "but one of them hit the saddle and made a -hole clean through the tree, which didn't help matters much with the -boss, I'm here to tell you. You'd orter heerd Ed talk when he sees that -there new hull of his all skinned up an' a hole shot plumb through the -fork." And Windy grinned at the memory of it. - -Not long after this adventure, the blue-roan stood on a high ridge -overlooking a valley. Out in that valley was the salt ground where great -chinks of pure white rocksalt were placed, not only to satisfy the -cravings of the salt-loving brutes, but to coax them out of the cedars -into the open where the wilder ones could be captured. - -The roan was salt-hungry and, after a careful survey of the -surroundings, started down the trail for the salt grounds. Away off to -the left, and quite out of his sight, half a dozen cowboys were driving -a bunch of cattle down a draw between two ridges. One of them rode up on -top of the ridge to take a look over the country. Some distance below -him, and well out into the valley, was a single animal. It took but a -short look to satisfy the rider that it was the blue-roan. The boy was -riding his best rope-horse that morning and, with a wave of his hat to -his comrades, he loosened the reins on old "Greyback" and tore off down -the valley toward the steer. - -He had not gone fifty yards before the roan saw he was pursued, and -wheeling out of the trail in which he was traveling struck back towards -the sheltering trees on a long swinging trot. - -A couple of miles' hard run, and the boy rode his horse out of a -deep wash, to see, across another valley, the blue-roan hurrying -majestically up the ridge, the sheltering trees but a few hundred yards -away. He spurred his horse down the rocky side of the ridge, across a -flat at the bottom, and up the steep side opposite, reaching the top -just as the blue was passing. His horse was winded, but the boy "took a -long chance" and drove after the animal with his rope down ready for a -throw. For an instant the steer hesitated, then plunged off the ridge, -down the steep side, just as the boy's rope dropped over his horns. It -was a fearful risk to rope a steer such as this, with a badly winded -horse; but tenfold more dangerous to do it just as the great animal was -starting down the steep slope. The boy knew his only hope was to keep -the steer from tightening the rope, for if that happened, no horse on -earth could hold the weight of the brute at the end of it, plunging down -hill as they were. - -"Turn the rope loose," you say? Oh no; he wasn't that kind of a cow -puncher. Come what might, he meant to hang onto that steer to the bitter -end. - -Half way down the hill was a lone piņon tree about twenty feet high, and -true to his nature the steer headed for it. The rider realized his -danger and tried to keep from straddling it with his rope, but, just as -the roan reached the tree, instead of passing it on the same side with -the horse, he dodged around it. This brought the horse and man on one -side, the steer on the other; between them a fifty foot "Tom Horn" rope -fastened firmly; one end to a twelve hundred-pound steer, the other, to -a saddle cinched to a thousand-pound horse. - -The tremendous force of the pull, when the rope drew up on the tree, -uprooted it. This prevented the rope from breaking, but there was -sufficient jerk upon it to bring both horse and steer to the ground in a -struggling heap. - -The man who was "riding for a fall," with both feet out of the stirrups, -in anticipation of just such a wreck, flew off into space, landing in a -pile of rocks twenty-five feet away by actual measurement. The horse -fell with his head under him in such a way that his neck was instantly -broken. - -When the other men who were following reached the scene, they found the -man just regaining his senses, badly cut about the head, but otherwise -unhurt. The blue, in falling, had landed flat on his back, his hind feet -down the steep hill, both his long horns buried to the very skull in the -ground. Thus he was absolutely helpless and unable to regain his feet, -no matter how hard he struggled. To "hog-tie" him in this position, was -the work of but a moment, and at last the blue-roan outlaw was a -captive. - -It was no trouble to roll him down the steep hillside to the level -ground below, and inside of half an hour the rest of the men arrived on -the scene with the bunch of cattle they had been driving. - -In the bunch was a large steer which they roped and dragged up to where -the outlaw lay, and, in cowboy parlance "dumped" him on top of the -outlaw. They then proceeded to "neck" the two steers together with a -short rope they cut for the purpose. Having done this to their -satisfaction they untied the hogging ropes and allowed the steers to -gain their feet. As this was done the bunch of cattle they had driven up -was carefully crowded around the two animals. After a few minutes of -pulling and fighting the outlaw sulkily allowed himself to be dragged -along by his unwilling mate, with the rest of the cattle, and was -eventually landed safely in the main herd. - -Great was the rejoicing in camp that night over the capture, and the -guards about the herd were cautioned not to let the two escape under any -circumstances. - -At the end of the week the herd had been worked down to the river for -shipping. As the country was open and the herd easily handled the -"twins," as the boys called them, came apart when the old rope wore out -and were not necked up again. - -That night one of the men, who had a family in town, hired a town kid to -take his place on herd, while he went up and spent the night at home. As -the boy rode his guard around the edge of the herd which lay quietly in -the cool night air, he found a big blue steer standing at the very edge -of the bunch looking off toward the mountains in a dreamy, meditative -mood. Kidlike, he could not withstand the temptation to play the -"smarty," so, instead of passing him by or gently turning him into the -herd, the boy took off his hat and swung it into the steer's face. - -It was a distinct challenge to the old warrior, and he rose to the -occasion. Gathering himself for one mighty plunge he struck the pony the -boy was riding with his powerful head, knocking him flat. Away he dashed -over horse and rider, while the herd broke into a mad stampede which -carried them five miles in the opposite direction before they could be -"milled" into a bunch and held up again. Two men were left with them, -the rest returning to camp. - -Daylight showed the blue-roan missing, and the wagon boss swore a solemn -oath that, if ever again he was captured, he would be necked and also -have his head tied down to a foot until he was safely inside the -stockyards. - -Four weeks later a party of cattle men, gathering steers in the -mountains, ran across the blue outlaw, right on the brink of a deep, -rough caņon. He was seen, with the aid of a glass, across a bend in the -caņon lying under the rim rock in fancied security. Near him were -several other steers, and it was determined to make the attempt to -capture the lot. - -Carefully driving their bunch of gentle steers as close to the place -where the outlaw was lying as they could, with the thought that, if he -ran up the trail, he would see the steers and possibly go to them and -stop; three men rode into the caņon some distance below and started up -the trail toward where he was lying. - -The instant the blue-roan saw the horsemen he jumped to his feet, -hesitated a moment, and instead of taking the smooth trail out, dove -down the steep, rocky sides of the caņon where neither horse nor man -could follow. - -Surefooted as he was, he misjudged his agility and strength, and plunged -into a mass of loose rock, which gave him no foothold. The walls of the -caņon were frightfully steep and in the loose rock, sliding, slipping, -and rolling, he was swiftly hurried towards the edge of a cliff two -hundred feet high, over which he dropped to death and destruction. Tons -of loose rock followed him to the bottom, making a roar like a thousand -cannons. It was the end of the road for the blue-roan. - -When the men climbed down the trail to see just what had happened they -found him dead and half buried in the mass of fallen rock. - -The cliff was an over-hanging one, smooth and soft enough to show -markings, and one of the men, taking a piece of hard flintrock, spent -half an hour cutting deep into the smooth, white wall the words: - -"Here died the Blue-Roan Outlaw. He was a King." - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CAMPIN' OUT - -_A Bit of Family Correspondence_ - - -Camp Roosevelt, September 5th. - -_Dear Daddy_: I promised to write every day, if I could, while we are on -our vacation; so here goes: My, but we had a hard time getting out here. -Say, Dad, did you ever pack a burro? Haven't they got the slipperiest -backs? Our pack turned over about twenty times and scattered the stuff -all over the country. The sugar spilled out of the bag and wasted. Billy -says that don't matter, though, for we can use molasses in our coffee, -like the miners up in Alaska. - -[Illustration: "_Say, Dad, did you ever pack a burro_"] - -He kept running into all the open gates along the road (the burro, not -Billy). The way he tramped up some of the gardens was awful. Billy got -so mad he wouldn't chase him out any more, 'cause once they set a dog on -to him as he was chasing the burro out of a frontyard. - -Billy says burros is the curiest things ever. - -We tried leading him (the burro, not Billy), but he wouldn't lead a -single step. He ran away last night. Billy hopes he never comes back -again. - -We are camped under a big fir tree, with branches that come down to the -ground just like an umbrella. The creek is so close to camp that we can -hear it tumbling over the rocks all night. I think it's great, but Billy -says it's so noisy it keeps him awake. Billy makes me tired, he does; -for it takes Jack and me half an hour to wake him up in the morning to -build the fire. That's his job. - -We called it "Camp Roosevelt." Billy wanted to name it "Camp Bryan," -because his father's a democrat, but me and Jack says nothin' doing in -the Bryan name, 'cause this camp's got to have some life to it, and a -camp named Roosevelt was sure to have something lively happening all the -time. - -We are sure having a fine time here. - -Your affectionate son, - -DICK. - -P. S. Tell mother that tea made in a coffee pot tastes just as good as -if it was made in a tea pot. She said it wouldn't. - -DICK. - -P. S. Pa, did you ever useto sleep with your boots for a pillow out on -the plains? Cause if you did I don't see how you got the kinks out of -your neck the next day. - -DICK. - - -Camp Roosevelt, September 7th. - -_Dear Pa_: My, but the ground's hard when you sleep on it all night. We -all three sleep in one bed, 'cause that gives us more to put under us. -I'm sorry for soldiers who have to sleep on one blanket. We toss up to -see who sleeps in the middle, for the blankets are so narrow that the -outside fellow gets the worst of it. - -The first night the burro ran off, and next morning Jack had to walk two -miles before he found him. Jack's the horse-wrangler. Isn't that what -you said they used to call the fellow who hunted up the horses every -morning on the round-ups? - -We staked him out the next night (the burro I mean, not Jack) and we all -woke up half scared to death at the worst racket you ever heard in all -your life. And what do you think it was? Nothing at all but that -miserable burro braying. - -Say, Pa, you know that quilt mother let me bring along, the one she said -you and she had when you first got married? Well, do you s'pose she'd -care if it was tore some? You see, on the way out the burro ran along a -barb wire fence and tore it, the quilt I mean. Lots of the stuffing came -out, but it don't show if you turn the tore place down. - -This morning I woke up most froze, 'cause Billy crowded me clear off the -bed and out on to the ground. It's sure great to sleep out of doors and -see the stars and things. We put a hair rope in the foot of the bed last -night. Gee, but Jack jumped high when his bare feet hit it. He thought -it was a tarantula. - -My, I wish we could stay here a year. - -Lovingly, - -DICK. - -P. S. The little red ants got into our condensed milk and spoiled it; -leastways there's so many ants we can't separate the ants from the -milk. Billy left the hole in the top of the can open. - - -Camp Roosevelt, September 9th. - -_Dear Pa_: You know Billy's dog Spot? Well, Billy said there was a -wildcat about camp, 'cause he saw the tracks. So I went down to a house -below on the creek and borrowed a steel trap they had. It was a big one -with sharp teeth on the jaws. - -I wanted to set it on the ground, but Billy he says, "No, sir; set it on -the log acrost the creek, 'cause the cat would walk on the log and -couldn't help getting caught. - -Besides, he said if we set it on the log and fastened it, when the -wildcat got caught he'd fall off into the creek and get drownded and -then we wouldn't have to kill him. Billy says that's the way trappers -catch mushrats, so they can't eat their feet off, when they get caught, -and get away. - -Well, sir, we set the trap and tied Spot up so he wouldn't get into it. - -In the night we heard the awfulest racket ever was and the biggest -splashing going on in the water. It even woke Billy up, and that's going -some, as Uncle Tom says. - -It was 'most daylight and I sat up in bed, and there in the water was -something making a dreadful fuss. Billy he looks at it a minute and -says: "Why, it's Spot. Who let him loose?" Then we all jumped up, and -sure enough there was poor old Spot in the trap by one front-foot. The -chain to the trap was just long enough so he didn't drown, but was -hanging in the water by one leg. - -Billy, it being his dog, crawled out on the log, unfastened the chain -and tried to pull Spot up. Some way he lost his balance and fell into -the creek right on top of the dog. Billy was real mad 'cause me and Jack -laughed so hard we couldn't help him a bit, Spot was pretty mad too, for -he grabbed Billy's leg in his teeth and tore a big piece out of -them--out of Billy's pajamas I mean. - -Then Billy let go of the chain, and Spot climbed out of the water on to -the bank and tried to run off with the trap. Billy waded ashore too, and -we just laid down on the ground and hollered like real wild Indians. -Billy he said it wasn't any laughing matter and to come and help him get -Spot out of the trap. - -Say, Dad, did you ever try to open a big steel trap--especially one with -a spotted dog in it? Spot wouldn't let us come near him. Billy coaxed -and coaxed, but, no siree, he wouldn't do anything but just snap at us -like a sure enough wild cat. Meantime Spot he howls something dreadful. - -Then Jack he remembers how once in a storybook a man caught a mad dog, -so he runs to the bed and gets a blanket, and while Billy and me talks -nice to Spot from in front, Jack he sneaks up behind and throws it over -him. Then Jack grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around the dog's head -so he couldn't bite, and we both stood on the trap spring and managed to -get it open wide enough so Billy got his foot out (Spot's foot I mean, -not Billy's). - -Has he come home yet? 'Cause he's gone from here. My goodness, but -camping out's sure fun. - -Your loving son, - -RICHARD. - -P. S. Billy says he don't care anyhow, for Spot had no right to chew the -rope in two and get loose so as to get into the trap. - -DICK. - -P. S. The wasps are thick here. One stung Jack on the neck and he -hollered awful over it. I made a mud poultice for it like you told me -once you used to do on the plains. - - -Camp Roosevelt, September some time. - -We forget what day it is. - -_Dear Pa_: It rained last night real hard. We didn't get much wet, and -anyhow Jack says camping out wouldn't be any fun unless you slept in wet -blankets once, like the cowboys and soldiers do on the plains. Billy -says his Uncle John says a wet bed is a warm bed, but I don't believe -him, for we 'most froze. - -Pa, what makes the red come out of the quilts where they get rained on? -Jack says we belong to the improved order of Red Men now, and if my face -looks as funny as his does, with red streaks all acrost it, I'd be -afraid to go home. - -You'd ought to see the fun we had drownding out a chipmonk what ran into -a hole in the ground. We packed the water in our hats from the creek. -Bimeby, the chipmonk, came out, and I ran after him. He was so wet he -couldn't run fast and I made a grab at him and caught him--no, he caught -me for he bit my finger horrible hard and I couldn't let go, or else he -wouldn't, I'm not sure which. - -Billy and Jack laughed at me as if it was a good joke, but I couldn't -see where it was so very funny. - -Do chipmonks have hydryfoby? Billy says he bets they do. - -Your son, DICK. - -P. S. Jack dropped the box of matches out of his shirt pocket into the -creek, and I had to go to a house about a mile away to get some more. - -P. S. You can't make a fire with two sticks of wood, for we tried it for -an hour. All we got was blisters on our hands. The Indians must of had -lots of patience if they ever did it. - - -Camp Roosevelt, Thursday. - -The man told us. - -_Dear Daddy_: If the burro comes home please shut him up in the lot. -He's gone somewhere and we can't find him. Anyhow it don't make much -difference, for Jack says he'd rather carry his share of the stuff on -his back than bother with a pack burro again. There ain't going to be -much grub to take back anyhow. The man down the creek gave us some more -bacon for what the hogs ate up and said we were welcome to all the green -corn we wanted from his field. We had just corn for supper last night -and breakfast today. The salt all got wet in the rain and melted up, so -we didn't have any, but Billy says lots of times on the plains people -didn't have any salt for weeks at a time. I'll bet they didn't have -nothing but green corn to eat, though. - -Please tell mother that I burned a hole in one of my shoes trying to dry -them out by the campfire. Also about six inches off the bottom of one -leg of my pajamas. They were hanging on a stick by the fire drying while -we made the bed. Billy said he smelt cloth a-burning, but we never saw -where it was till the harm was done. - -If mother won't mind I'm sure I won't, for Billy says no soldier or -cowboy ever wore pajamas. It was my old pair of shoes anyhow, and they -always hurt my heel when I walked, so they don't matter either. - -Camping out's sure lots of fun. - -Your loving son, - -DICK. - -P. S. The man down the creek says he's going to town pretty soon and if -we want to ride in with him we can. I wonder what made him think of it. - -P. S. A wasp stung me on the lip yesterday. He lit on an ear of corn -just as I went to bite. It don't hurt at all, leastways I'd be ashamed -if I made as much fuss about it as Jack did when one bit him. Besides a -wasp bite on the lip's lots worser than one on the neck--that's what the -man down the creek says. - - -Camp Roosevelt. - -_Dear Daddy_: Yesterday we sure had a great time playing "Pirates" -without any shirts on--for Billy says pirates always dress that -way--just their trousers on, "naked to the waist," he says. - -I was the pirate chief, and Billy was my crew. Jack he was the captain -of the vessel and stood on the log to defend the gangway of his ship. - -We had cutlasses made out of lath and when we told Jack to surrender he -called us cowardly pirates and dared us to step on board his ship. - -Then we went for him and was having a great old time when Jack's foot -slipped and he fell off the log into the creek. He got mad at me and -Billy, 'cause we laughed at him when he bumped his head on the log as -he went down. - -I wisht we could camp out here forever. - -DICK. - -P. S. What's good for a burnt finger where you burnt it trying to pick -the coffee pot off the fire to keep it from boiling over? - - -Camp Roosevelt. - -_Dear Dad_: If there's a funny smell to this letter it's on account of -the skunk. The man down the creek says if we bury our clothes in the -ground for two or three days the smell will all come off. - -We are coming home tomorrow in his wagon. We're going to leave the bed -clothes hanging in a tree. The man said he wouldn't take them home if he -was us. Anyhow it don't matter much for a spark blew onto the bed one -day and burnt a hole right through them all clear down to the ground. - -We put it out when we smelt it. It didn't hurt very much, for we changed -the blankets 'round so the holes didn't all come together, and let in -the cold, and it was all right. - -Please kiss Mother for me and tell her most of the red's come off my -face and arms. - -Billy cried last night 'cause he was homesick and wanted his Ma. He's a -sissy girl, Billy is. I'll sure be glad to see you and Ma, but I -wouldn't cry about it. Please kiss Ma for me. - -Your affectionate son, RICHARD. - -P. S. Say, Pa, do skunks out on the plains look like little kittens? The -one we caught sure did. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -POPGUN PLAYS SANTA CLAUS - -By permission of _The National Wool Growers' Magazine_ - - - "Salute yer pardners, let her go, - Balance all an' do-se-do. - Swing yer gal, then run away, - Right, an' left an' gents sashay." - -"Whoa, Mack, there's a letter in the Widow Miller's box." - -The pony sidled gingerly toward the mailbox nailed to the trunk of a -pine tree, his eyes and ears watching closely the white sheet of paper -that lay on the bottom of the open box, held by a small stone which -allowed one end to flutter and flap in the wind in a way that excited -his suspicions. - -When the Widow Miller wished to mail a letter she placed it, properly -stamped, in her box and the first neighbor passing that way took it out -and mailed it for her, she being some miles off the regular mail route. - - "Gents to right, now swing or cheat, - On to the next gal an' repeat." - -He chanted the old familiar frontier quadrille call as he tried to force -the pony close to the box to reach the paper without dismounting. - -"Stand still, you fool," he spurred the animal vigorously, "that there -little piece of paper ain't going to eat you." - -But the more he spurred the farther from the box went the animal. "Beats -all what a feller will do to save unloading hisself from a hoss," he -threw the reins over Mack's head, swung to the ground and strode toward -the box. - - "Balance next an' don't be shy; - Swing yer pards an' swing 'em high." - -He sang as he lifted the stone and picked up the paper beneath it, which -proved to be a large-sized sheet of writing paper folded three times. A -one-cent stamp evidently taken from some old letter was stuck in one -corner and beneath it was scrawled in a childish, unlettered hand the -words: - - "Mister Sandy Claws - The North Pole." - -Almost reverently Gibson unfolded the paper, feeling he was about to -have some youthful heart opened to his curious eyes. - -"Deer Sandy Claws," it began, "please bring me a train of railroad cars, -an' a pair of spurs an' a 22 rifle to shoot rabits with, an' a big tin -horn. An' Sandy, Mary wants a big Teddy bare an' a real doll what shuts -her eyes when she lays down. An' Minnie she's the baby, Sandy, so pleas -bring her a pictur book an' a doll an' a wolly lam an' bring us all a -lot of candy an' apples an' oranges an' nuts, for since Dady went away, -we ain't had none of them things much. Mother she says you know jist -where we live so don't forgit us for I've tride to be a good boy this -year. - -"James Simpson Miller, 7 years old." - -Gibson felt a lump rising in his throat, and took refuge in song to hide -his embarrassment. - - "Bunch the gals an' circle round; - Whack your feet upon the ground. - Form a basket break away, - Swing an' kiss, an' all git gay." - -He wiped something out of the corner of his eyes with the back of his -buckskin glove, and blew his nose savagely. "Hm, Shucks, seems like I'm -a gittin' a cold in my haid," he remarked sort of confidentially to the -pony. - -Once more he read the letter. - -"Hm, Shucks, wants a railroad train, hey? An' a gunchester to kill -rabbits, an' a tin horn, an' Mary wants a Teddy bear, does she, an' -apples an' oranges an' candy for all of 'em. Say, Bill Gibson, it's up -to you to play Santy Claus for these kids an' if you handle the job -right maybe you can convince their Aunt Nancy that she'd ought to say -'Yes' to a man about your size an' complexion." Again he broke into -song. - - "Aleman left an' balance all. - Lift yer hoofs an' let 'em fall. - Swing yer op'sites; swing agin, - Kiss the darlings--if ye kin." - -"Git up, Mack, les git along to camp and let the bunch in on this Santy -Claus game. Hm, Shucks, Nancy said she wanted a watermelon-pink -sweater--whatever color that may be--to wear to the New Year's dance up -on Crow Creek. Reckin the thing won't cost more'n a month's pay. I'll -jist get her one if it takes my whole roll." Once more he dropped into -song. - - "Back yer pardners, do-se-do. - Ladies break, an' gents you know. - Crow hop out, an' dove hop in, - Join yer paddies an' circle again. - "Salute yer pardner, let her go, - Balance all an' do-se-do. - Gents salute yer little sweets, - Hitch an' promenade to seats." - -That night around the table in the bunk house of the Oak Creek Sheep -Company, four or five men watched the foreman write a letter to the -owner, Mr. Barrington, who was wintering on the coast. Briefly he -explained how the letter to Santa Claus fell into their hands and the -desire of the men at the ranch to furnish the children with all the -things they asked for, and more. - -Miller, the foreman explained, had been accidentally killed a couple of -years before and his wife was putting up a hard fight to stay on the -piece of land he had homesteaded long enough to get title to it from the -government. - -There were three kids, he continued, James, the oldest, seven years, and -two girls, Mary, five, and Minnie, the baby, two. - -"The boys ain't a-limiting you in the cost, so please get anything else -you and Mrs. Barrington thinks would please the kids and let me know -the cost and I'll charge it up to the boys' pay accounts. - -"Also Bill Gibson wants that Mrs. Barrington should pick out what he -says is to be a 'watermelon-pink' sweater for Mrs. Miller's kid sister, -Nancy. Bill says Nancy is just about Mrs. Barrington's size, and what'd -fit her will fit Nancy all right. - -"Bill he says he reckons Mrs. B. will savvy what a watermelon-pink -sweater is, which is more than any of us do." - -Three days before Christmas Bill Gibson set forth for the railroad, -twenty-five miles away, to bring back the expected Christmas stuff. -There was two feet of snow on the ground and the roads were impassable -for wheels; so Bill took with him two pack animals, a horse and a mule. - -He figured he would be one day going and one coming and that on -Christmas eve, after marking and arranging all the presents, some one -would ride down to the cabin and leave the whole business on the porch -of the widow's cabin where she would be sure to find it early Christmas -morning. At the railroad Gibson found the trains all tied up with snow -to the west, and the packages had not arrived. - -"Hm, shucks," was his terse comment. "Now wouldn't it jist be hell if -the plunder didn't come in time for them kids to have their Christmas -tree?" But late that night a train came through which brought the -package he had come for. - -By unpacking the stuff from the box in which they were shipped Gibson -managed to get everything in the two kyacks carried by the mule while -upon the horse he packed a load of provisions for the camp. - -[Illustration: "_Gibson managed to get everything in the two Kyacks -carried by the mule_"] - -Barrington and his wife had added liberally to the list of toys and, -knowing well the conditions at the sheep ranch, had marked or tagged -each article with the name of the child for which it was intended. Even -Mrs. Miller had been remembered generously. - -The sweater was there, packed carefully in a fancy box. Bill loosed the -ribbon that fastened it and slipped a card into the box on which he had -laboriously written, "To Miss Nancy, from her true friend, Bill." - -But the storm broke out again and it was long after noon the next day -before he dared start, for the wind blew great guns and the air was -filled with icy particles that no one could face. - -Leading the pack horse with the mule "tailed up" to him, Gibson started -for home, but made poor progress through the drifted snow. It was almost -two o'clock the next morning when he passed the letterbox at the trail -to the Widow Miller's place. The moon had gone down behind the trees to -the west and it was quite dark, but here the wind had swept the ground -bare of snow, and his progress with his rather jaded animals was much -better. - -Sleepy and tired from his long ride Gibson reached the ranch and rode -into the warm stable to unsaddle. There to his great surprise he found -he had but one animal behind him, the rope which had been around the -mule's neck still dragging at the pack horse's tail, a mute evidence of -what had happened. - -"Hm, shucks," he commented grimly, "won't them there boys in the bunk -house give me particular hell for this night's work?" - -Wearily he unsaddled and unpacked the horses. Still more wearily he -dragged himself up the path to the house, stirred the fire in the -fireplace into a blaze, and when the coffee was hot drank a cup, ate -greedily of the food which the cook had left for him, crawled into his -blankets and in ten seconds was dead to the world. - -In his dreams he was swinging a rosy cheeked girl through the steps of -an old-fashioned quadrille, she being attired in a most gorgeous -watermelon-pink sweater. - - "Swing yer pardners, swing agin; - Kiss the darlings--if you kin." - -He essayed the kiss only to be awakened on the verge of its attainment -by a heavy hand on his shoulder, followed by a voice which demanded in -no soft tones, "Where's your Christmas plunder?" - -He sat up in bed half dazed by his night's experience. - -"Come alive, Bill; come alive, an' tell us about the things for the -kids. We can't find them nowhere." - -Gibson yawned and rubbed his eyes in a vain attempt to delay the -castastrophe which he knew would encompass him when he told of the loss -of the pack mule. - -Before he dropped off to sleep he had planned to get an early start in -the morning back on his trail to try to find the lost animal. Popgun had -been bought from the widow soon after her husband's demise and he -shrewdly guessed that the tired, hungry mule would most likely strike -direct for his old and nearby home. - -He sprang from bed and grabbed his clothes. - -"Hm, shucks," he began. "I reckon I done lost the mule coming home. Had -him tailed up to old Paint and just about the time I passed the trail -into Widder Miller's place Paint set back on the lead rope and like to -pulled the saddle offen old Mack, me havin' the rope tied hard and fast -to the nub. He let up in a minute and come along all right and I'm a -figuring 'twere just about there that Popgun gits loose, he probably -havin' been leaning back on the pack hosse's tail a right smart causing -Paint to pull back hisself. Popgun likely stripped the rope over his -head and being about all in turned off down the trail to the widder's -and it's dollars to doughnuts he's a eating hay in her shed right now. -Me being tired and sleepy I never sensed the loss till I gits here with -the mule's rope a dragging along still tied to Paint's tail. Hm, shucks, -I'll find him or bust a shoe string." - -"An' to think they have to go all the way back to Afriky to git ivory -when there's such a lot of it to be had nearer home," was the sarcastic -comment of the foreman. - - * * * * * - -From the windows of the Widow Miller's cabin the whole world seemed -wrapped in a mantle of white. Down along the creek in the meadow the -rose bushes and willows poked their heads above the snow. Changing their -skirts for overalls, she and Nancy soon picked a couple of quarts of the -brilliant red berries or fruit of the rose bushes. That night as soon as -the children were safely in bed they started in on their Christmas tree -preparations. Several days before Nancy had slipped out into the timber -and cut a small spruce which she dragged to the stable and hid under -some loose hay, and with an empty canned goods case and some stones -they managed to make a very satisfactory base for it. Over the coals in -the fireplace they popped a huge dish-pan full of corn and worked late -into the night stringing popcorn and the rose berries with which to -festoon the tree. - -"I've seen my mother use cranberries for the same thing," she told her -sister, "but these rose berries look quite as well I think." - -From the pages of a mail order catalogue they cut figures from the -brilliantly colored fashion plates which, pasted upon stiff cardboard -and hung to the tips of the branches, made famous decorations. - -Festooned with the long strings of rose berries and popcorn, with these -gaily painted ladies of fashion dangling from every bough, it made a -very satisfactory Christmas tree. After placing upon it the presents for -the children which they had been able to buy or make, together with a -few apples and oranges, some stick candy, each done up separately in -paper, "just to make it seem more," Nancy said, the two women retired -for the night. - -How long she had slept or what awakened her, Mrs. Miller could not tell, -but as she strained her ears for the slightest sound, she imagined she -could hear outside the footfalls of some heavy animal. She knew it could -be no bear, for whatever it was the snow was crunching under its feet, -nor was it a human, for the steps were those of a four-footed object. - -The moon, that earlier in the evening had flooded the valley until it -was almost as light as day, was now just dipping behind the mountain to -the west, throwing the stable into deep shadow, from which the sounds -now seemed to come. - -There was a bare possibility of its being some range cow, although they -had all long since drifted down into the lower country, but she finally -decided it must be one of the big bull elks which regularly wintered on -the wind-swept sides of the mountain above them and sometimes came down -to the ranch seeking feed during times of heavy snow. - -Shivering with the cold she crept back to bed realizing that daylight -would soon come. Rudely her dreams were broken by a sound that at first -froze the very marrow in her bones, but which with immense relief she -instantly realized could come from the throat of but one animal and -that, a mule. - -Fortunately the children slept through it all, and dressing as quickly -as they could, she and Nancy started for the stable, Mrs. Miller armed -with her automatic. - -No sooner had they stepped from the porch than the mule that had been -hanging about the stable trying to get in spotted them and greeted their -coming with a series of brays and nickerings that showed his joy at -seeing some human being. - -It was Popgun, the pack still on his back. Leading him to the cabin the -women quickly loosened the diamond hitch, took off the canvas pack cover -and piled the kyacks upon the porch after which he was placed in a -vacant stall in the stable and fed. - -To the women versed in frontier ways and signs the solution of the visit -from their long-eared friend was simple, and they sized up the situation -almost exactly as it had occurred. Therefore they felt certain some one -would be on his trail before very long. - -The rattle of the pack rigging on the porch aroused the children, and -when the women returned from the stable the two older ones were -investigating the pack. - -Bidding them not to meddle with the things, Mrs. Miller and her sister -went inside the house to get breakfast leaving the kids on the porch. -Childish curiosity could not well be stifled, especially on such a day -as this. They had been told stories of the coming of Santa Claus and -while Jimmie had learned that a reindeer looks very much like a bull elk -he had once seen, he also knew that all sorts of things could be packed -in a pair of kyacks and knew no reason why Santa should not have availed -himself of that means of transporting his gifts under certain -conditions. - -To loosen the straps that held the kyack covers was an easy matter. To -lift up the heavy canvas covers was still easier and the first thing -that met the eager eyes of both children was a long tin horn nested down -in some excelsior. As he pulled at it a fluttering tag caught his eye. -On it he read: "For James--Merry Christmas." One wild shout of delight -and he gave a blast on the toy that brought both women to the door just -in time to see Mary drag from the kyack a huge Teddy Bear. On this was -another tag marked: "To Mary--Merry Christmas." - -Before his scandalized mother could collect her senses enough to stop -him Jimmie had dropped his horn and gone on a voyage of exploration into -the depths of the two kyacks. One of his first discoveries was the box -containing the sweater. The tag tied to it cleared up in a measure the -doubts which Mrs. Miller had had as to the propriety of thus making free -with other people's property, and that Santa had been sent by the men at -the sheep camp. - - * * * * * - -An hour later a man rode down the trail back of the house and quite out -of range of its windows. Tying his horse at the side of the stable away -from the house he crept to the corner of the building and cautiously -peeped out. - -The smoke was curling briskly from the cabin chimney and in the tense -stillness he could hear noises which indicated very plainly that the -letter to "Sandy Claws" had borne fruit, for the most ear-splitting -sounds were coming from the cabin, sounds which he knew to be the -natural results of three tin horns in the mouths of three delighted -kids. - -As he stood there a door slammed, and a girl stepped out on the porch -arrayed in the most gorgeous sweater he had ever imagined. On her head -was a jaunty cap of the same color and material as the sweater, while in -her hands she held a tin bucket in which most unquestionably was the -breakfast for the chickens which were making loud demands for release -from their log coop near the stable. - -In his inmost heart Bill Gibson knew that if ever a man was blessed by -the Gods with the one opportunity of his life, it was facing him at this -very moment. Nancy came tripping down the snowy path a perfect picture -of girlish beauty and happiness. Gibson drew back so she could not see -him until she had turned the corner of the stable. As she did so and met -his eyes the song turned into a maidenly shriek. Her cheeks were -blazing like two peonies, she tried hard to speak, but the words died on -her lips. Mechanically she set the bucket of feed on a small shelf where -the chickens could not reach it. Bill interpreted the move as meaning -either a fight or complete surrender. He believed it was the latter and -took a step toward her. - -"Christmas gift, Nancy," he said. His voice had an odd quaver in it. -"Old Santy seems to have brung you the sort of sweater you wanted." He -was gaining confidence. - -"He sure did," she replied, striving in vain to keep her eyes from -meeting his. - -"Nancy," he demanded, "ain't you got nothing for me this grand Christmas -morning?" - -"What you wanting mostly?" her eyes fairly dancing with mischief and -telling what her lips dared not. - -A look of triumph swept over the man's bronzed face. - -"You--an' I'm a-going to take it right here." He took a step toward her; -she turned to run but with one bound he was at her side, caught her in -his arms and fairly smothered her with kisses. - -He drew back his head and looked deep into her eyes. "How about it?" he -demanded. - -"About what?" very archly. - -He kissed her a dozen times before she replied. Nor did she seem to -object to the action. - -"You know the Christmas present I most want, Nancy." - -He drew her closer to him, her arms found their way about his neck. -"Bill," she whispered in his ear, "you're an old darling, let's go up to -the house and tell the news to sister." - -[Illustration: _Apache Squaw and Baby_] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -"JUST REGULARS" - - -In the dark depths of an Arizona caņon, with no light but that which -came from the stars, a string of shadowy figures slowly worked its way -through tangles of thorny mesquite and cat claw, over rocks and past -great bunches of cactus which pierced hands and limbs wherever they -touched. - -If you looked closer, you saw that the figures were those of men, also -horses and mules, most of the men leading their mounts, and here and -there the yellow chevrons on some sergeant's blouse, or the broad yellow -stripe on an officer's trousers showed them to be cavalry. - -There was no talking or unnecessary noise. At times they were fairly on -their knees fighting their way up some rocky steep; again they dropped -down into the darkness, the well-trained animals following like goats. - -At the head of the line, an officer, young in years but old in this kind -of work, whispered occasionally to the veteran guide at his left. - -Just ahead of him an Apache scout, stripped for the fight, a band of red -flannel about his forehead, his body naked except for the white cotton -breechclout ("the G string") about his waist, the peculiar moccasins of -his tribe on his feet, led the way, like some bloodhound on the trail. - -Out of the darkness ahead came the weird hoot of an owl. Three times did -it sound. The scout listened till the last echo died away, and then, -with his hands gathered about his mouth, answered the call. - -Quietly he slipped away into the night, the command stopping where they -were as the whispered order flew back along the line, each man sinking -down to the ground, glad of the chance for the moment's rest. - -The night was cold, although it was midsummer in a region where at noon -the earth is baked and burned with the heat. - -An hour passed, and out of the darkness the Apache returned. - -The quarry which they sought was not far ahead, and it was best to leave -their animals and go the rest of the way without them. - -Turning to the tall Sergeant behind him, the officer gave the orders for -the movement, and back down the shivering, scattered line went the -instructions: "Number fours hold the horses, every one else take all -extra ammunition and their canteens and follow the column on foot." - -Then came whispered pleadings from the unfortunate "number four men" -doomed to remain behind to guard the horses and the rear while the -others went on into the darkness to--what? Perhaps death, perhaps a -wound from a poisoned arrow; in any event plenty of hardship and -suffering. - -How those cavalrymen begged for the privilege of getting a hole shot -through them. They urged the officers to cut down the rearguard and -leave but a couple of men to look after the packs and horses. - -"Very well, Sergeant," the commanding officer replied, well pleased when -told of the men's desire to go with the fighting force, "leave three or -four men to guard the animals and let the rest come on; God knows we are -very likely to need them." - -Then the Sergeant, knowing his men as a schoolmaster his pupils, left -behind: fat Corporal Conn whose asthmatic wheezings and puffings had -already brought forth many a muttered curse upon his head; Private Hill -who couldn't see an inch beyond his nose in the dark and who had fallen -over every bush and rock in the trail since they entered the caņon; and -two other men whose physical condition was such that he doubted their -ability to make the climb which he knew was ahead of them. - -Not one of these accepted the detail without as vigorous a protest as -soldierly duty made possible. Bless you no! Each of them felt himself an -object of especial pity, fat Conn even claiming that the higher he -climbed the less the asthma troubled him. - -Then the command once more drove into the blackness ahead, following the -lithe Apache up a mountain side which seemed almost perpendicular. - -Each man carried two belts of cartridges about his waist with a third -swung from his shoulder. Most of them wore the Apache moccasin which -gave forth no sound as they moved along. - -At last they reached the summit of the mountain breathless and tired. -Before them was a mighty caņon, the caņon of the Salt River. To their -left four granite peaks, the "Four Peaks" of the maps, pierced the -skyline like videttes on guard over the caņon. - -From its bed, two thousand feet below, the dull murmur of the river, as -it dashed along its rocky way, came softly to the soldiers' ears. - -It was the dawning of December 27, 1872. The soldiers were a detachment -of the Fifth United States Cavalry, Major Brown in command. - -At a little spring some twenty miles away they had left their supplies -and pack train. - -Their Christmas holidays had been spent in pursuit of several bands of -Apaches, and the scouts had reported that a large band of them was -located in a cave on the Salt River caņon. - -A pack mule had died in camp that day, and the Indian scouts were -allowed to make a great feast upon its remains that they might set out -on the expedition with full stomachs. - -For years efforts had been made to concentrate the Apaches, who had been -the scourge of Arizona and the Southwest, upon one or two reservations -where, under guard, they could be watched and kept in bounds. - -In the summer of 1872 General George Crook, after having held numerous -councils with the Apaches, issued an ultimatum to the effect that, if -those who were outside of the reservation did not return by the -fifteenth of the coming November, active operations would begin against -them. After that date every Indian found outside the reservation was to -be treated as a hostile and dealt with accordingly. - -The Apaches knew Crook only too well, for the "Old Grey Fox," as they -called him, had always kept his word with them in the past. - -Promptly on the day set General Crook took the field against the outlaw -Apaches and hunted them down relentlessly day and night. - -The region in which these operations took place is one of the roughest -in the United States. It is located on the western side of the great -"Tonto Basin" in central Arizona, and consists of ragged mountain -ranges, and isolated peaks, while the whole area is cut and seamed with -deep box caņons impassable for miles. - -About fifty miles from the city of Phoenix, as the crow flies, and -near the great Roosevelt irrigation reservoir and dam, four granite -peaks pierce the sky. - -Here Nature is found in one of her most inhospitable moods, and in the -fastnesses of these "Four Peaks" several bands of the hunted, harassed -Apaches took refuge. - -In its mighty caņons the Indians knew of caves and cliffs where they had -lived in safety from their old enemies for many years; there they -believed no white man could possibly reach them. - -Crook and his soldiers matched wits with the Indians and beat them at -their own game. Wherever the Indians went there the troops followed -them. They chased them on foot when their horses played out, lived on -the scantiest possible allowance of food, slept in the deep snows with -but a single blanket and without fires lest the telltale smoke give the -Indians warning of their presence. - -It was to surprise the occupants of one of these caves that Major Brown -and his men were making this night march. - -There the Apaches had fled, carrying into the cave great quantities of -food and other necessary supplies, leaving their ponies behind to shift -for themselves. - -The cave itself is not a cave in the strict sense of the word, but -rather a great weather-worn shelf, similar to those used by the ancient -cliff dwellers for their habitations all over the Southwest. - -At the outside edge the opening is about fifteen feet high from floor to -roof, and sixty feet wide. The roof slopes back into the cliff for some -thirty feet to a point where the rear wall is not over three feet high. - -At the front, the floor of the cave projects some little distance beyond -the overhanging cliff forming a sort of platform. Entirely around this -platform the Apaches had raised a stone-wall several feet high, inside -of which they rested in fancied security. - -On top of the mountain Major Brown's command, which numbered but fifty -men and officers, with two civilian guides, waited while the two scouts -wormed their way into the blackness of the caņon's depths in an attempt -to make sure that the Indians did not have any pickets outside the cave -to guard against surprise. - -The cool night breeze made the soldiers' teeth chatter. Some dropped off -to sleep, while others huddled together under the lee of the great rocks -whose surface still gave off some slight warmth stored up during the -day. Meantime they cursed, with a soldier's vehemence, the slowness of -the scouts in returning. - -Finally they came, dropping into the midst of the men as if from above, -so quietly did they move. - -Five minutes of whispering followed between the guide, the Major and the -Indians, and then Lieutenant W. J. Ross and a dozen men crawled away -into the darkness with one of the Indians to guide them. - -Again, those soldiers had begged to be taken as one of the party. No use -to call for volunteers, they were all volunteers and envied the -fortunate ones whom the tall First Sergeant named for the trip. - -Ross was to endeavor to locate the entrance to the cave in order that -the rest of the command might be posted in the most advantageous -positions. His party dropped into the caņon and was quickly swallowed up -in its sombre shadows. Down they crept, stumbling over rocks, treading -on the "Cholla" cactus balls that covered the ground everywhere, and -whose sharp needles will often pierce the heaviest buckskin gloves, -moccasins or even leather boots. A misstep meant death far below in the -caņon, while every minute they looked for the crash of the Indians' -rifles. - -As they felt their way carefully along, they saw the faint gleam of a -campfire. Ross worked his men up as closely as he could, placing them in -safe positions behind rocks scattered about. By the light of the fire, -they made out some fifteen Indians standing about it while a lot of -squaws were preparing food for them. The fire was but a few feet from -the cave which could be seen dimly in the background, and it was quite -evident the hostiles felt very secure in their retreat. - -Scarcely daring to breathe, each picked out a brave for a target and at -a whispered signal, fired. Those of the Indians who were not killed fled -into the cave, while the report of the carbines quickly brought the rest -of the command down into the caņon. - -Major Brown placed his men about the cave so as to prevent the escape of -any of the Indians, waiting for daylight before attempting further -operations. - -One Apache managed to work his way out of the cave and through the -cordon by some means. He was seen after he had passed clear through the -lines, standing for an instant on a great rock, his figure boldly -outlined against the sky. His recklessness in his fancied security was -his undoing, for one of the crack shots in the regiment, Private John -Cahill, took a hasty shot at the form, and it came tumbling down the -steep side of the caņon. - -After Major Brown had formed his lines about the cave he called on the -Indians to surrender. This they answered with cries of defiance, -followed by a few scattering shots which did no harm. Later on Brown -again called on them to surrender, or if not that, to send out their -women and children, promising no harm should come to them. Again the -Indians refused to accept the offer. They heaped epithets, dear to the -Apache heart, upon the soldiers, taunting them with cowardice, and -assuring them that they would soon be food for the buzzards and ravens. -"May the coyotes howl over your grave," is a favorite Apache expression -of contempt, which they hurled at their opponents many times during the -fight. - -Daylight came slowly, and then the siege was on in earnest. Brown again -renewed his offer of protection to the women and children, but to no -purpose. Of arrows and lances, as well as fixed ammunition for their -rifles, the Indians seemed to have an unlimited supply. They showered -arrows upon the soldiers by hundreds, sending them high into the air, so -they would fall upon the men lying behind the rocks scattered about. -Lances were also thrown in the same manner, but they were unable to -inflict any damage upon the besiegers by such tactics. The Indians also -played all the tricks belonging to their style of warfare. War bonnets -and hats were raised upon lances above the wall with the intention of -drawing the fire of some soldier and getting him exposed to a return -shot. But Brown warned his men against all such schemes, and no harm was -done by them. - -Twice did small parties of the Indians make bold dashes out of the cave, -evidently with the intention or hope of gaining the rear of the troopers -to harass them from the heights above, or else to secure assistance from -other bands of hostiles known to be in the vicinity. But these sorties -were repulsed by the soldiers with a loss of several Indians. - -Whether the trick of the Indians in shooting arrows at such an angle as -to drop on the men behind the rocks suggested retaliation in kind, no -one can say today; but finding direct firing without any great effect, -Brown conceived the idea of having his men aim their carbines so that -the bullets would strike against the roof of the cave; by so doing, he -believed the bullets would be so deflected as to strike amongst the -Indians huddled in the small space below. - -For some time the soldiers poured their fire against the rocky roof with -no apparent results, although the shriek of a wounded squaw or the -pitiful cry of some child, struck by the spattering lead, convinced them -that some of the bullets were finding a mark. - -The Indians fought with the desperation of trapped animals, but finally -there came a lull in their fire. From the cave came a weird wild chant. -It was the death chant of the Apaches, which the scouts warned the -officers meant a charge. - -Soon they came; about twenty picked warriors clambering over the rocky -wall, with the most desperate courage and recklessness. All were armed -with both bow and rifle. Each carried on his back a quiver full of the -slender reed arrows peculiar to the Apaches and, with a volley from -their rifles, charged the soldiers behind their rocky breastworks. - -Pandemonium reigned. The death chant was taken up by the squaws in the -cave; the crack of guns in the deep caņon, the shrieks of wounded and -dying squaws and children, the yells of the soldiers as they met this -fierce attack of the desperate savages, the flashing of rifle shots in -the darkness, all made what an officer who was present (the late Captain -John G. Bourke of the 3rd U. S. Cavalry) once told the writer was the -most thrilling as well as the most appalling moment he ever knew during -a lifetime full of exciting incidents. - -But the efforts of the despairing Indians were fruitless, and they were -driven back with heavy losses. Thus the fight went on for hours. The sun -rose high in the heavens and beat down on the scene until the soldiers -lying in the hot rocks suffered fearfully for water. Major Brown's -scheme was working, however, with frightful success. The death chant was -ceaseless and the cries of defiance, rage, and despair rang out -constantly from the penned-up savages. - -One little Apache boy, possibly not over four years of age, toddled out -of the side of the cave where the wall of rock was open, and stood -gazing with wide-eyed wonder at the sight before him. One of Major -Brown's Indian scouts sprang from his hiding place behind a rock a few -yards away, and running to the child, seized him by the arms, dragging -him into the soldiers' lines before a single shot could be fired at him. - -The small detachment, left behind as a rearguard and anxious to take -part in the fighting, worked its way up to the cliff above the caves. -Below them they could hear the roar of carbines and the shrieks of the -Indians. By means of straps, two adventurous soldiers were lowered far -enough over the edge of the cliff to get a clear view of the scene -below. The wall erected by the Apaches was several feet outside of the -line of the cliff or cave, and from their dizzy height they could see -the Indians lying behind their ramparts. - -The top of the cliff was covered with boulders of all sizes, and the men -at once conceived the idea of dropping boulders down on to the Indians -beneath. This forced them to take refuge from the flying rocks, by -retiring farther into the cave. When they did this the ricochette fire -from the soldiers became more deadly and the end was not far off. - -By noon the firing of the Indians had ceased. No sounds but the cries -of the squaws or groans of wounded came from the interior of the cave. -Brown now prepared for a charge believing that the cave could be stormed -without much if any loss. Corporal Hanlon of G-Troop, 5th Cavalry, was -the first man over the stone-wall, the rest following him as rapidly as -they could. - -Inside the cave was a scene that made the roughest soldier among them -shudder. Men, women, and children, either dead or in the agonies of -death, were lying in piles three and four deep. At first it appeared as -if danger was to be expected from some wounded Indian, and while part of -the soldiers worked among the debris on the floor, others watched with -guns in hand for signs of hostile intent. But nothing of the kind -occurred. - -Only one man was alive and he died soon after the soldiers entered the -cave. Some seventy-eight dead bodies were lying in the cave, and of the -living there were but eighteen, all squaws. Many of the wounded squaws -could have been saved had the troops been accompanied by a surgeon or -even provided with the necessary medical supplies. - -The few that had lived through that awful hail of lead and rocks, were -saved by screening themselves from the missiles under great slabs of -slate which the squaws had packed into the caves for cooking purposes, -or by hiding under or behind the dead bodies of their comrades. - -The fight was over; the dead babies lay in their dead mothers' arms. -Rough men as they were, the sights made the soldiers sick at heart; such -warfare was not to their liking. - -As it was impossible to bury the dead, they were left in the cave where -they fell and where they lie today, in great heaps of skulls and bones, -together with clothing and other camp impedimenta which have survived -the years in the dry atmosphere of the region. - -After satisfying themselves that no more living were among the bodies -the soldiers tramped wearily back to Fort McDowell with their prisoners -and wounded, and the brief official report of the affair closed the -incident. - -It was more than a thousand miles over desert and mountain to the -nearest railroad station and civilization. No war correspondent trailed -along in their wake, armed with kodak and typewriter, to tell a waiting -world of their prowess; no flaming headlines in the morrow's paper would -cry out their victory. They were "just regulars," and this was but the -day's work. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -THE STAMPEDE ON THE TURKEY TRACK RANGE - -By permission _The Cosmopolitan Magazine_ - - -Dark. Well, it was dark, and no mistake. We had been holding a big herd -of steers for a week. It was on the Turkey Track ranch, and they were -mostly Turkey Track steers, that is, they were branded with the Santa -Maria Cattle Company's brand, which is a design ([symbol: Arrow]) on -each side, called Turkey Track by the cowboys, who never think of using -any other means of identifying a cow than by giving the name of the -brand she carries. - -And en passant when a cowboy says "cow," he uses the word as a generic -term for everything from a sucking calf up to a ten-year-old bull. - -We were in camp in a noble valley some fifteen miles long by ten wide, -dotted here and there by cedar groves, and at that season covered with -splendid grass, where we were holding a bunch of steers that the company -was getting ready to ship; it was a lazy enough life except the -night-work. There was plenty of grass to graze them on in the daytime, -and a big "dry lake" full of water, where three thousand head could -drink at once, and never one bog or give any trouble. Two men on "day -herd" at a time could handle them easily enough, and as there were -nine of us, or enough for three guards of three men each, we didn't have -anything much to complain of. - -[Illustration: "_The men on day herd could hold them easily_"] - -"Old Dad," the cook, built pies and puddings that were never excelled -anywhere, and occasionally he'd have a plum duff for supper that simply -exhausted the culinary art. - -The steers were, as the boys say, "a rolicky lot of oxen." Most every -night they would take a little run, and it usually took all hands an -hour or so to get them back to the bed ground and quieted down, which -didn't tend to make us any better natured when the cook yelled, "Roll -out, roll out," about 4:30 every morning. - -The weather had been lovely ever since we started in, but this evening -it had clouded up, and in the west, toward sunset, great "thunder-heads" -had piled up and little detached patches had gone scudding across the -sky, although below on the prairie not a breath of air was stirring. The -muttering roll of heaven's artillery was sounding, and occasionally up -toward the mountains a flame of lightning would shoot through the -rapidly darkening sky. - -By eight o'clock, when the first guard rode out to take the herd for -their three hours' watch, it was almost black dark. The foreman or -"wagon boss" of the outfit came out with them, asked how the cattle -acted, and told the boys to be very careful, and if the herd drifted -before the rain, if possible, to try and keep them pointed from the -cedars, for fear of losing them. - -[Music: THE COWBOY'S "SWEET BYE AND BYE"] - - -THE COWBOY'S "SWEET BYE AND BYE" - - - 1 - - Last night as I lay on the prairie - And looked at the stars in the sky, - I wondered if ever a cowboy - Would drift to that sweet bye and bye? - - - CHORUS - - Roll on, roll on, - Roll on little dogies roll on, roll on; - Roll on, roll on, - Roll on little dogies roll on. - - - 2 - - The road to that bright mystic region - Is narrow and dim, so they say, - But the trail that leads down to perdition - Is staked and is blazed all the way. - - - 3 - - They say that there'll be a big round-up - Where the cowboys like dogies will stand, - To be cut by those riders from Heaven - Who are posted and know every brand. - - - 4 - - I wonder was there ever a cowboy - Prepared for that great judgment day - Who could say to the boss of the riders, - "I'm all ready to be driven away." - - - 5 - - For they're all like the cows from the "Jimpsons" - That get scart at the sight of a hand, - And have to be dragged to the round-up, - Or get put in some crooked man's brand. - - - 6 - - For they tell of another big owner - Who is ne'er overstocked, so they say, - But who always makes room for the sinner - Who strays from that bright, narrow way. - - - 7 - - And they say He will never forget you, - That He notes every action and look. - So for safety, you'd better get branded, - And have your name in His big tally book. - -As we rode back to camp we both agreed that the very first clap of -thunder near at hand would send the whole herd flying, and if it rained -it would be very hard to hold them. He told all hands not to picket -their night horses, but to tie them up to the wagon (much to the cook's -disgust), all ready for instant use. - -Perhaps I should explain a little about this business, so that my -readers may understand what a "bed ground" is, and how the cowboy stands -guard. - -At sunset the day herders work the herd up toward camp slowly, and as -the leaders feed along to about three or four hundred yards from camp, -one of the boys rides out in front and stops them until the whole herd -gradually draws together into a compact body. If they have been well -grazed and watered that day they will soon begin to lie down, and in an -hour probably nine-tenths of them will be lying quietly and chewing -their cuds. All this time the boys are slowly riding around them, each -man riding alone, and in opposite directions; so they meet twice in each -circuit. If any adventurous steer should attempt to graze off, he is -sure to be seen, headed quickly, and sent back into the herd. - -The place where the cattle are held at night is called the "bed ground," -and it is the duty of the day herders, who have cared for them all day, -to have them onto the bed ground and bedded down before dark, when the -first guard comes out and takes them off their hands. - -Well, as I said at the beginning, it was dark, and although it was not -raining when they left camp, the boys had put on their slickers, or -oilskin coats, well knowing that they'd have no time to do it when the -rain began to fall. - -The three men on first guard were typical Texas boys, almost raised in -the saddle, insensible to hardship and exposure, and the hardest and -most reckless riders in the outfit. One of them, named Tom Flowers, was -a great singer, and usually sang the whole time he was on guard. It's -always a good thing, especially on a dark night, for somehow it seems to -reassure and quiet cattle to hear the human voice at night, and it's -well too that they are not critical, for some of the musical efforts are -extremely crude. Many of the boys confine themselves to hymns, picked up -probably when they were children. - -A great favorite with the Texas boys is a song beginning "Sam Bass was -born in Indianer," which consists of about forty verses, devoted to the -deeds of daring of a noted desperado named Sam Bass, who, at the head of -a gang of cut-throats, terrorized the Panhandle and Staked Plains -country, in Western Texas, some years ago. - -We used to have a boy in our outfit, a great rough fellow from Montana, -who knew only one song, and that was the hymn "I'm a Pilgrim, and I'm a -Stranger." I have awakened many a night and heard him bawling it at the -top of his voice, as he rode slowly around the herd. He knew three -verses of it and would sing them over and over again. It didn't take the -boys long to name him "The Pilgrim," and by that name he went for -several years. He was killed in a row in town one night, and I'm not -sure then that any one knew his right name, for he was carried on the -books of the cow-outfit he was working for as "The Pilgrim." - -I lost no time in rolling out my bed and turning in, only removing my -boots, heavy leather chaps (chaparejos), and hat, and two minutes later -was sound asleep. How long I slept I can't say, but I was awakened by a -row among the night-horses tied to the wagon. - -The storm had for the present cleared away just overhead, the full moon -was shining down as it seems to do only in these high altitudes in -Arizona; not a breath of air was stirring, and I could hear the measured -"chug, chug, chug," of the ponies' feet as the men on guard slowly -jogged around the cattle. I was lazily wondering what guard it was, and -how long I had slept, when suddenly the clear, full voice of Tom Flowers -broke the quiet with one of his cowboy songs. It was set to the air of -"My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean," and as I lay there half awake and half -asleep it seemed to me, with all its surroundings, that it was as -charming and musical as the greatest effort of any operatic tenor. - - "Last night as I lay on the prairie, - And looked at the stars in the sky, - I wondered if ever a cowboy - Would drift to that sweet by and by." - -The voice would swell and grow louder as he rode round to the campside -of the cattle, and as he reached the far side the words "sweet by and -by," came to me faintly and softly, as if the very night was listening -to his song. - - "The road to that bright, mystic region, - Is narrow and dim, so they say, - But the trail that leads down to perdition, - Is staked and is blazed all the way." - -I had never heard Tom sing this song before, nor had I ever heard him -sing so well, and I raised on my elbow to catch every word: - - "They say that there'll be a big round-up, - Where the cowboys like dogies[A] will stand, - To be cut by those riders from Heaven, - Who are posted and know every brand." - - [A] A dogie is a name applied to yearlings, that have lost their - mothers when very young and just managed to live through the - winter. - -Here an enterprising steer made a sudden break for liberty, and the song -was stopped, as Tom raced away over the prairie to bring him back, which -being done in a couple of minutes, the song was again taken up: - - "I wonder was there ever a cowboy - Prepared for that great judgment day, - Who could say to the boss of the riders, - I'm all ready to be driven away." - -Another interruption which I judged from the sounds was caused by his -pony having stumbled into a prairie-dog hole, and I think Tom was -"waking him up," as the boys say, with his heavy quirt.[B] - -[B] Quirt, a short, heavy Mexican riding-whip used by cowboys. - -That done, he picked up the thread of his song again - - "And they say, He will never forget you, - That He notes every action and look, - So for safety you'd better get branded, - And have your name in His big 'tally-book.' - - "For they tell of another big owner, - Who is ne'er overstocked, so they say, - But who always makes room for the sinner, - Who strays from that bright, narrow way." - -As the closing words floated out on the cool night air, I turned -sleepily in my bed and saw that a huge black cloud had come up rapidly -from the West and bid fair to soon shut out the moon. I snuggled down in -my blankets, wondering if we would have to turn out to help hold the -steers if it rained, when the silence of the night was broken by a peal -of thunder that seemed to fairly split the skies. It brought every man -in camp to his feet, for high above the reverberation of the thunder was -the roar and rattle of a stampede. - -It is hard to find words to describe a stampede of a thousand head of -long-horned range steers. - -It is a scene never to be forgotten. They crowd together in their mad -fright, hoofs crack and rattle, horns clash against one another, and a -low moan goes through the herd as if they were suffering with pain. -Nothing stands in their way: small trees and bushes are torn down as if -by a tornado, and no fence was ever built that would turn them. Woe -betide the luckless rider who racing recklessly in front of them, waving -his slicker or big hat, or shooting in front of them, trying to turn -them, has his pony stumble or step into a dog-hole and fall, for he is -sure to be trampled to death by their cruel hoofs. And yet they will -suddenly stop, throw up their heads, look at one another as if to say, -"What on earth were you running for?" and in fifteen minutes every one -of them will be lying as quietly as any old, pet milk cow in a country -farm-yard. - -They bore right down on the camp, and we all ran to the wagon for -safety; but they swung off about a hundred feet from camp and raced by -us like the wind, horns clashing, hoofs rattling, and the earth fairly -shaking with the mighty tread. - -Riding well to the front between us and the herd was Tom trying to turn -the leaders. As he flew by he shouted in his daredevil way, "Here's -trouble, cowboys!" and was lost in the dust and night. Of course all -this took but a moment. We quickly recovered ourselves, pulled on boots, -flung ourselves into the saddle, and tore out into the dark with the -wagon boss in the lead. I was neck and neck with him as we caught up -with the end of the herd, and called to him: "Jack, they are headed for -the 'cracks.' If we get into them, some of us will get hurt." Just then, -"Bang, bang, bang," went a revolver ahead of us, and we knew that Tom -had realized where he was going, and was trying to turn the leaders by -shooting in their faces. - -These cracks are curious phenomena and very dangerous. The hard adobe -soil has cracked in every direction. Some of them are ten feet wide and -fifty deep, others half a mile long and only six inches or a foot wide. -The grass hides them, so a horse doesn't see them 'til he is fairly into -them, and every cowboy dreaded that part of the valley. - -Jack and I soon came to what, in the dust and darkness, we took to be -the leaders. Drawing our revolvers, we began to fire in front of them, -and quickly turned them to the left, and by pressing from that side -crowded them round more and more, until we soon had the whole herd -running round and round in a circle, or "milling," as it's called, and -in the course of fifteen or twenty minutes got them quieted down enough -to be left again in charge of the regular guard. - -Jack sent me around the herd to tell the second-guard men to take -charge, as it was their time, and for the rest of us to go to camp, -which was nearly a mile distant and visible only, because "Dad," the -cook, had built up the fire, well knowing we wouldn't be able to find -camp without it. - -Before we got there the rain began, and we were all wet to the skin; but -we tied up our ponies again, and five seconds after I lay down I was -sound asleep and heard nothing till the cook started his unearthly yell -of "Roll out, roll out, chuck away." I threw back the heavy canvas, that -I had pulled over my head to keep the rain out of my face, and got up. -The storm was over. In the East the morning star was just beginning to -fade, and the sky was taking that peculiar gray look that precedes the -dawn and sunrise. The night-horse wrangler was working his horses up -toward camp, and the three or four bells in the bunch jingled merrily -and musically in the cool, fresh, morning air. - -We were all sleepy and cold, and as we gathered around the fire to eat, -some one said, "Where's Flowers?" The foreman glanced around the circle -of men, set down his plate and cup, and strode over to where Tom had -rolled out his bed the evening before. It was empty, and, what was -more, hadn't been slept in at all. A hasty questioning developed the -fact that none of us had noticed him after we had come in from the -stampede. - -"Well," said Jack, "it's one of two things: either he has run into one -of those blamed cracks and is hurt, or else he has a bunch of steers -that got cut off from the herd in the rain and has had to stay with 'em -all night, because he got so far from camp he couldn't work 'em back -alone." As this was not an unusual thing we all felt sure it was the -case, and after a hasty breakfast, all of us but the men just off guard, -struck out to look for him. - -Some way I felt a premonition of trouble as I rode out into the prairie, -and leaving the rest to scatter out in different directions I rode -straight for the cracks. It was an easy matter to trail up the herd, and -as I loped along I couldn't get the song out of my head. As I drew near -the crack country I saw by the trail that we had not been at the leaders -when we thought we were, but had cut in between them and the main herd. -I could see our tracks where we had swung them around, leaving probably -one hundred head out. - -I hurried along their trail, and as the daylight got stronger and the -sun began to peep over the hills, I could make out, about a couple of -miles from me, a bunch of cattle feeding. I knew this was the bunch I -was trailing, and already some of the other boys had seen them also and -were hurrying toward them. But, between me and the cattle was, I knew, a -dangerous crack. It was some six feet wide and ten deep, and probably -half a mile long. If Tom had ridden into that he was either dead or -badly hurt. As I neared the crack my heart sank, for I saw the trail -would strike it fairly about the widest place, and my worst fears were -realized when I reached it, for there lying under a dozen head of dead -and dying steers was poor Tom. The trail told the whole story. He had -almost turned them when they reached the crack, and he had ridden into -it sideways or diagonally, and some twenty steers had followed, crushing -him and his horse to death, and killing about a dozen of them. The -balance were wandering about in the bottom of the crack trying to get -out, but its sides were precipitous everywhere. - -Drawing my six-shooter, I fired two shots, and rode my pony in circles -from left to right, which in cowboy and frontier sign language means, -"Come to me." The boys quickly rode over to where I was, and we, with -great work, managed to get his body out from under his horse and up on -top. He still held his pearl-handled Colts in his hand, every chamber -empty, and his hat was hanging round his neck by the leather string. -Tenderly we laid his body across a saddle, lashed it on with a rope, and -taking the boy thus dismounted up behind me, we led the horse with its -sad burden back to camp. - -I think death, when it strikes among them, always affects rough men more -than it does men of finer sensibilities and breeding. They get over it -more quickly, but for the time the former seem to be fairly overwhelmed -with the mystery of death, and seem dazed and helpless, where the latter -would not for a moment lose their heads. - -But Jack quickly pulled himself together. It was fifty miles to the -nearest town. With our heavy mess-wagon and slow team over a sandy -road, it would take two days to get the body there. Packing it on a -horse in that hot Arizona sun was out of the question, and so we decided -to bury him right there. - -Tom had no relatives in Arizona, nor any nearer friends than us rough -"punchers," so that no wrong would be done any one by burying him there. - -[Illustration: "_Some pre-historic people had carved hieroglyphics on -it_"] - -We laid his crushed form under a cedar tree near by, while Jack and I -went out to find a place to dig a grave. About half a mile from camp was -a big black rock that stood up on end in the prairie as if it had been -dropped from the clouds. Some prehistoric race of people had carved deep -into its smooth face dozens and scores of queer hieroglyphics which no -man today can decipher or understand. Snakes, lizards, deer, and -antelope, turtles, rude imitations of human figures, great suns with -streaming rays, human hands and feet, and odd geometrical designs, all -drawn in a rude, rough way as if the rock had been the gigantic slate of -some Aztec schoolboy which hundreds of years of storm and weather had -not rubbed out. This rock was called the "Aztec Rock." It was a landmark -for miles around, and as Jack remarked: "It was a blamed sight better -headstone than they'd give him if we put him in the little Campo -Santo,[C] in the sand at the foot of the mesa, back of town." - -[C] Campo Santo, the Mexican term for graveyard. - -So here we dug his grave, and then we wrapped him in a gorgeous Navajo -Indian blanket, and laid poor Tom Flowers away as carefully and tenderly -as in our rough way we knew how. - -The day-herders had grazed the herd up close to the rock, so that they -could be at the grave, the cattle were scattered all around us, and the -cook had taken out the mess-box and used the mess-wagon to bring the -body over in. - -When the last sods were placed on the mound, Jack with tears running -down his sunburned face, which he vainly tried to stay with the back of -his glove, looked around and said: "Boys, it seems pow'ful hard to plant -poor Tom and not say a word of Gospel over him. Can't some of ye say a -little prayer, or repeat a few lines of Scripter?" - -We all looked at one another in a hopeless sort of way, and no one spoke -a word until the youngest there, the "horse-wrangler," a boy from -Indiana, whom we had named the "Hoosier Kid," spoke up and said: "I kin -say the Lord's Prayer, ef that'll be any good." - -"Kneel down, fellers, and take off your hats," said Jack; and there in -the bright sunshine of an Arizona day, with a thousand long-horned -steers tossing their heads and looking at us with wondering and -suspicious eyes, with no sound save the occasional hoarse "caw, caw" of -a solitary desert raven idly circling above, that dozen of rough cowboys -knelt down, their heads reverently bared, while the "Hoosier Kid" with -streaming eyes, slowly recited that divinely simple prayer which we had -all learned at our mother's knee, "Our Father who art in Heaven, -hallowed be Thy name." - -As we rode slowly back to camp the words of the last song that poor Tom -ever sang would come to me again in spite of all I could do. - -Ah, me. Poor Tom. It's little religious training you got on the -prairies, or the trail, or in the cow camp; but if that "Great Owner" -looks into the heart, I am sure He found you worthy to wear His brand, -and to be cut into the herd that goes up the "trail that is narrow and -dim." - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -THE NAVAJO TURQUOISE RING - -By permission _The Argonaut_, San Francisco, Cal. - - -"I tell you, Miss Nell, it's not safe for you to ride over the range so -much all alone. That Navajo's plumb crazy about you now, and he's liable -to do you some mischief." - -The speaker, a handsome, blue-eyed young fellow, clad in the rough garb -of a cowboy, with broad sombrero, "chaparejos," his buckskin gloves -thrust through his cartridge belt, stood leaning against the door-post -of a typical Arizona ranch house. In one hand he held the end of a long -hair rope, the other end being fast to his pony, which, all saddled, -stood pawing and restless, eager to be away on the range. Slung on the -near side of the saddle was a Winchester carbine, for, between white and -red thieves, the cowboys had to be ready for all sorts of emergencies, -and besides, the big gray wolves were beginning to show up on the range, -and a wolf scalp was worth twenty dollars at the county seat. - -The person to whom these remarks were addressed stood idly switching her -riding-habit with her "quirt," a handsome piece of cowboy work, over -which one of her many admirers had spent hours by the light of a -campfire plaiting and decorating it with "Turk's heads" and other fancy -knots known to cowboy quirt-makers. She was all ready for a ride and -waiting only for her pony to be brought up from the corral, where Juan, -the Mexican, was saddling him. - -There was a pleading, pathetic tone in the man's voice that spoke the -lover, even had his eyes shown no sign of passion; but his words seemed -to rouse all the perversity of her sex. Her red lips curled and her -brown eyes snapped. "Oh, pshaw, Mr. Cameron, you're always worrying -about some imaginary danger. Please return me my ring--that is, if you -have finished examining it." - -A red wave swept over Cameron's face, like the shadow of a cloud across -the prairie on a bright day, and he stood for a full minute idly turning -the ring in question upon the very tip of the little finger of his own -sun-browned hand. It was a splendid specimen of the Navajo silversmith's -art. Now, the Navajo Indians' blankets have made them famous, but they -deserve quite as much fame for their cunning as workers in silver. - -This ring was indeed a gem. It was wide, as most of their rings are, cut -in two on the inner side so that it could be made larger or smaller by -"springing" it to fit any finger, and in the top was set a turquoise as -blue as a summer sky--a stone precious to the Navajos--that among the -tribe would have bought twenty ponies, a hundred sheep, and squaws -galore. Around the ring ran the most intricate and delicate carving, and -the whole effect was at once unique and barbaric. - -The girl's hand was outstretched for the ring, and almost mechanically -the man turned and dropped it into the upturned palm. "Well, Miss Nell, -I've warned you, and I'm sure if Mr. Hull were here that he'd feel just -as I do." His voice grew tense. "I can't go with you today, for I've got -to go over the other side of the mountain to see if I can find those -lost horses, and won't be back till dark." - -The girl, scarcely heeding his words, took the ring, and in a -mock-heroic sort of way kissed and slipped it on to her engagement -finger, a gleam of mischief in her eyes, at which action Cameron, stung -almost to madness, smothered a groan, and strode across the porch, his -spurs clanking on the floor, gathering up his hair rope as he went. With -one hand on the pommel of the saddle and the other on the pony's mane, -he leaped lightly into his seat without aid of stirrup and, bringing the -coil of rope down on the animal's flank, went off down the line of wire -fence on a dead run, and soon turned out of sight around a low hill in -the valley. - -The girl watched him in silence until he was lost to view, and then, -with a gay laugh, turned into the room, saying, "Poor Cam, what fun it -is to tease him!" - -A moment later, when Juan appeared at the door with her horse, she -pulled on her pretty buckskin gloves, and with a "Goodbye, Mary, I'll be -home by noon," to the heavy-faced cook, who stood watching her from the -door of the log kitchen, she rode off almost as fast as Cameron, but in -a different direction. - -Three months before these happenings George Hull had gone down to the -little railroad station, some thirty miles from the ranch, to meet his -wife's only sister, who was coming to spend the summer with them in -Arizona, and from her first day she had taken to the life like a duck -to water. She was a fearless horsewoman, and never so happy as when out -on the range riding with the cowboys, if they were there, or alone if -they were not. Nell Steele was a warm-hearted, impulsive girl, but she -could no more help making a slave of every man she met than she could -stop breathing. - -It was an easy task for her, too, and it mattered not whether it was -some high-bred, educated gentleman, or a rough Texas "puncher" who had -never in all his life spoken a dozen words to a woman of her class. And -naturally with such surroundings, with men unused to women's wiles, she -soon had the whole country at her feet. - -Of them all, however, young Cameron had by far the worst case of it, and -the girl, while in her heart greatly pleased with his attentions, seemed -to delight in keeping him in a state of absolute misery by alternately -raising him to the very highest pinnacle of happiness, and again -dropping him into the bottomless pit of despair. Deep in her heart she -knew he was her ideal, but she could not resist the temptation to -coquette with and tease him. - -Cameron had come west for his health some years before. Too hard -application at college had seriously impaired his strength, and he had -been ordered to live in the open air for several years. Letters of -introduction to George Hull had brought him to this ranch in the high -mountain country of northern Arizona, and he had taken to the cowboy -life from the very first, until now he was looked upon as one of the -most trusted and satisfactory "boys" on the place. - -The ranch to which George Hull brought his pretty sister-in-law was -located near the line of the Navajo Indian Reservation, and, as the -Navajos are great roamers, it was nothing unusual to have them hanging -round. One day a party of them came, bringing in some horses the boys -had missed for some time. It was Miss Steele's first sight of the -Navajo, and she came down to the corral, where they were all gathered, -to see them. Among them was a young chief named Chatto, who had attended -an Indian school at Albuquerque, and could therefore speak fairly good -English. He was a picture of savage finery. Around his waist was buckled -a costly belt made of great plates of solid silver; in his ears hung -huge silver rings; each arm was clasped by bracelets of the same -precious metal; around his neck were yards of the precious silver, -turquoise and shell beads so dear to the Navajo heart; and his moccasins -and leggings were thickly studded with buttons fashioned from dimes, -quarters, and half-dollars. Across his shoulders hung a gaudy Navajo -blanket, and his horse's bridle was fairly weighted down with glittering -trophies of the Indian silversmith's skill. - -[Illustration: "_He was a picture of savage finery_"] - -[Illustration: "_Now the Navajos are famous silversmiths_"] - -It was but a few moments before Miss Steele was bartering with him for a -bracelet; but it was of no avail, he would not sell it at any price. -However, when the other Indians left, he stayed behind, until, as the -dinner-hour was nearing, the boys asked him to eat with them. It was -soon evident that he had eyes only for Miss Steele; and after dinner she -spent an hour talking to him of his school experience and trying to -learn a few words of the Navajo tongue. - -The next day he returned, and the next, until it was plainly to be -seen that the gay laugh and brown eyes of the girl had completely -bewitched him. - -One day he came bearing the ring I have described, and shyly offered it -to her, insisting that she must place it on her engagement finger, which -she did, never dreaming that the boys, keenly watching from the -bunk-house, had put him up to it, telling him that that was the way -white lovers did, and that once she put on his ring she was his by all -the laws and customs of the white man. - -When Cameron, who was away at the time, heard of it, he was furious, and -went straight to Miss Steele and urged her to return the ring and banish -the Indian from the ranch. But she, seeing that back of his lover's -eagerness for her safety was a lover's jealousy as well, affected not to -believe him, and declared her intention of keeping and wearing the ring. -It was this ring that she had kissed so tragically and replaced on her -hand. - -On leaving the ranch, the girl gave her pony an almost free rein for the -first two or three miles. It was a glorious morning in September, when -the sun had lost its greatest power, and the air was fairly intoxicating -in its freshness. The range never looked finer than it did now, after -the summer rains had covered it with a wonderful growth of grass dotted -with millions of daisies, black-eyed Susans, purple lupines, and dozens -of other varieties of prairie flowers, which, in places, fairly made the -air heavy with their perfume. The trail led her over a wide mesa, and at -its highest point she stopped her pony and drank in the wondrous scene. -Away off to the north the great tablelands, or mesas, where live the -snake-loving Moqui Indians, hung in an almost indescribable grandeur, -blue and misty against the sky, more like a mirage than a reality. A -couple of saucy prairie dogs barked shrilly at her from their adjacent -village; a coyote, disturbed by her coming, skulked hastily away from -where he had been trying to surprise a little calf, left lying under a -sagebush while its mother went on down the trail to water. Above -her, high in the heavens, idly circled half a dozen heavy-winged -turkey-buzzards, those scavengers of the prairies, a sure sign that -somewhere below them an animal lay dead and they were gathering for a -feast. As far as the eye could reach were rolling hills, with here and -there parks of cedars, while scattered over the prairie were hundreds of -cattle and horses, for George Hull was one of the heaviest cattle-owners -in northern Arizona, and this was the heart of his range. - -Across the valley below her she could see the figure of a solitary -horseman, which, after a few moments she decided to be Cameron, although -she had thought him miles away from there by this time. Her pony having -recovered his wind, she started down the mesa toward the approaching -figure, glad to see some human being in all that waste of loneliness -around her. As she drew nearer, she saw that it was no white man, but an -Indian, the red sash tied around his head being plainly visible at quite -a distance, but undaunted, she kept on her course, presuming him to be -the Indian mail-carrier who came in from the agency twice a week with -the mail-sack tied behind his saddle. - -As the distance between them lessened, she saw with great uneasiness -that it was her admirer, Chatto, and, with a sort of guilty fear in her -heart, she turned off the trail and pushed her pony into a lope toward -a bunch of horses grazing near, as if she wanted to look at them closer. -A glance over her shoulder showed her that the Indian had also turned -and was following her, and the girl, now thoroughly alarmed, urged her -pony to his fullest speed. The Indian called to her to stop, but she -only rode the harder. Chatto, however, was well mounted and slowly -gained on the flying figure; her cowboy hat had blown from her head, but -was held by the string around her neck as she urged her pony with voice -and quirt. - -"Stop, I shoot!" called the Navajo, but she rode the faster, expecting -every instant to hear the crack of his Winchester. At last he was within -thirty feet of her, and she felt that her pony had done his utmost and -there was no escape. Another look over her shoulder showed her that the -Indian had taken down his long rawhide reata and was swinging it round -and round his head preparatory for a throw at her. She remembered -hearing Hull tell of Mexican and cowboy fights, where the victim was -roped and pulled off his horse and across the prairie, until every -semblance of human shape was dragged out of it, and her heart sank -within her, for she knew by some woman's instinct that he had realized -she had been fooling him, and was thirsting for revenge. - -Faster and faster they rode, and nearer and nearer he drew, till she -could hear the "swish" of the rope through the air; she crouched low -over the saddle to offer as small a mark as possible, meantime praying -for deliverance, which in her heart she little thought would come. - -Cameron found his horses but a few miles out from the ranch, and, -quickly rounding them up, started the bunch toward home on a sharp run, -arriving there not long after Miss Steele had left. Questioning Mary as -to the direction she had taken, he struck off again on the range in a -course that he shrewdly judged would enable him, as if by accident, to -meet Miss Steele on her homeward way. - -Some three or four miles from the ranch the mesa he was crossing ended -abruptly in a cliff some two hundred feet high, which extended for -several miles in an unbroken line with but one or two places where an -animal could get up or down. The view from the edge of this cliff or -"rim rock," as it was more commonly called, over the wide valley spread -out below it for miles and miles was unexcelled, and Cameron, knowing -that Miss Steele must come up this cliff at one of two places, headed -for the one he felt she would be most likely to take. As he drew near -the edge of the mesa he left the trail and rode over to the cliff; and -thinking perhaps to surprise a bunch of antelope feeding quietly in the -valley below him, as well as to prevent Miss Steele from first seeing -him, should she chance to be below, he left his pony under a cedar and, -taking his Winchester in his hand, carefully walked up to the edge of -the cliff. - -The road leading down to the valley ran close under the cliff and was -lost to sight around a point of the mesa but a short distance to his -right. Carefully scanning the prairie, he could see no one, but, from -the way three or four bunches of wild horses were tearing across the -valley below him, he felt satisfied, that either she or some one else -had started them, and concluded to wait a few moments. - -Suddenly, from far below, came a sound that for an instant sent his -heart to his throat, for it seemed as if he heard a woman's voice, borne -upward from around the point to his right, and yet it was far more -likely to be the almost human cry of a mountain lion, or even the -childish yell of some lone coyote, either of which could readily be -mistaken for a female voice in distress. As Cameron stood there, fairly -holding his breath in his eagerness to catch the faintest sound from -below, one moment assuring himself that his ears were at fault and the -next so certain that it was a woman's voice that he could scarcely wait -for its repetition in order that he could be sure which way to go, once -again there came faintly and yet more definitely than before the cry of -distress. The voice was Miss Steele's, and before he was really sure -from which quarter it came, there burst into sight around the point of -the mesa, not a quarter of a mile away from him but down in the valley, -the figure of a girl on horseback leaning low over her pony's neck, and -urging him to his utmost speed on the road leading up to the cliff, -while some forty or fifty feet behind her, riding as hard as she was the -Navajo Chatto, his red head-band gone, his long black hair streaming out -in the wind, and whirling over his head in a great loop his rawhide -reata. - -It took Cameron but an instant to grasp the situation and see that the -Indian had tried to overtake the girl, and failing, meant to rope and -drag her from her horse. He quickly saw also that busied with his reata, -and not having a chance to use the quirt, his pony was falling slightly -behind, for the Navajos seldom wear spurs, and the girl was not sparing -her pony's flanks, but was using her quirt at every jump. Cameron's -first impulse was to spring down the cliff, and run to her aid, but -with a groan he realized that it would take him too long to do this, for -it was only by careful climbing that one could get down the first forty -or fifty feet of the wall, and then the rest would be slow traveling at -the very best. The race below him was in plain view now, and in a few -rods more they would pass out of his sight in the little side caņon -through which the road led up to the top of the cliff. To ride back to -that place would take too long, also, and the man quickly realized that -it was no time to delay. - -To kill a Navajo meant trouble for everybody around, for the whole tribe -would take it up, and wreak vengeance upon any white settlers they could -find, hence that was not to be thought of except in the last extremity. -But Cameron knew that he could kill the Navajo's pony and save the girl. -Throwing his Winchester over a rock for a rest, with a mental estimate -of five hundred yards' distance to his mark, he took careful aim at the -shoulder of the Indian's pony and sent a shot which sped fair and true -to its mark, the animal rolling headlong in the dirt, and the rider -sprawling fully twenty feet away, but unharmed. - -For an instant the Indian was stunned, then, evidently thinking his pony -had fallen by accident, arose and started toward him. Cameron, however, -was ready for this move. Presuming the Navajo would try to get his -rifle, which was slung in its holster underneath the dead horse, he sent -a second shot, before Chatto could get half way to the body, striking -the ground close enough to him to convince him as to the cause of the -pony's fall. With true Indian instinct he turned and, to disconcert -Cameron's aim, ran in a zig-zag way to a deep ditch, or wash, near the -road, into which he threw himself and crawled and wormed his way down to -where the sides were high enough to shelter his body. - -Meantime Cameron, not daring to leave his place until he knew the girl -was safely up the cliff, forced the Navajo to keep to cover by firing an -occasional shot in his direction, until, with a sigh of relief, he saw -the girl "raise the hill" at his left, and stood up and waved his hat to -her. Up to this time she had scarcely known to what cause she owed her -deliverance. All she knew was that a shot had been fired, and she heard -no more thunder of horse's hoofs behind her, but not being too sure of -what it all meant, she never drew rein nor spared her pony until she saw -Cameron's figure on the cliff and knew that she was safe. - -A few moments later an hysterical, sobbing girl threw herself from her -saddle straight into the arms of the man who loved her, and whom, she -now knew, she loved. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -AN ARIZONA ETUDE - - -"Las' time I was in Fo't Worth," drawled Peg Leg Russel who was -industriously working away, with marlin spike and leather strings, on a -new quirt, "I seen a circus band there a-ridin' hosses an' a-playin' at -the same time." - -"Makin' sure enuff music?" queried one of the boys. - -"They sure was," replied Peg Leg; "an' what's more, them ole white -hosses they was a-ridin' never batted an eye, but jist tromped along -like a bunch of hearse horses. - -"I'd sure love to see 'em try any such funny business with these yere -little ole diggers we're a-ridin'," he continued, "Lordy, but wouldn't -they git up an' rag when the first toot come off." - -"If ye'd been wid me in the good old 'gallopin' Sixth Cavalry,' ye'd -sure had a chanst to observe jist such a performance," said Pat the -cook, who was busy at the mess box with supper preparations. - -The mess wagon was backed up into the shade of a great, wide-spreading -juniper, and the outfit was waiting there a few days for a bunch of -fresh saddle horses from the horse camp. Ten or a dozen punchers were -lying about in the shade, some asleep, some overhauling "war bags," -sunning bedding, and others like Russel making quirts or hair ropes. - -[Illustration: "_The mess wagon was backed up into the shade_"] - -The old red-headed cook's army experiences were the butt of a great many -sly jokes among the men, but he always had something new to relate, and -the intimation, that he had seen a band mounted on western horses, was -enough to excite their curiosity. - -"Tell us about it, Pat," said Tex, "them Sixth Cavalry fellers sure rode -the outpitchenest lot of bronks I ever see outside of a cow-outfit. I -reckin' I'd oughter know, fer I were a workin' fer old man White down in -the San Simon Valley clost to Fort Bowie in them days." - -Any reference to the old man's former regiment warmed the cockles of the -cook's heart, and he needed no urging to start him off on the story. - -"We was all a-layin' up at old Fort Tonto," he said rolling out, with an -empty beer bottle, what Russel said was the "lid" of a dried apple pie, -"the whole regiment being there after two years spent chasin' over them -hills and deserts trying to catch those divils of Apaches. - -"'Twere the first time in three years we'd seen the band, an' when the -General sent word for them bandsmen to come up from Camp Lowell we sure -felt mighty pleased, for, barrin' a couple of fiddles an' Danny Hogan's -concertina, there wasn't any music worth mentioning in the whole post. - -"The old general had been over in Europe the year before an' picked up a -lot of cranky idees about soldiering which didn't set well on the old -Sixth, them bein' a bunch of rough ridin' _hombres_, very divils for -fightin', but wid mighty little love for drills an' garrison duty. - -"Wan day, I was the gineral's orderly, an' a standin' outside the door -to his quarters, I could hear him an' the adjutant a-wranglin' about -dress parade for next Sunday. - -"The old man he was insistin' that them bandsmen could play mounted -instead of afoot. 'Why,' ses he, 'didn't I see wid me own eyes in Paris, -a army band all mounted an' a-ridin' an' a-playin' like good fellies?' - -"'But, gineral,' says the adjutant, 'them there bandsmen of ours, bein' -enlisted solely for musicians, not wan of them knows anything about -ridin', an' as for ridin' an' a-playin' at the same time, on top of them -there horses of ours, sure every wan of them will git thrown off an' -hurted.' - -"'So much the worse for them,' snorted the gineral, 'let them learn to -ride--that's what they've got horses for. This is no bunch of doughboys -I'm commandin', 'tis a regiment of cavalry-men, and cavalry-men we'll -make of them or kill them a-tryin'.' - -"'Sure,' he ses, ses he 'didn't Custer's band use to play mounted, an' -why can't my band do the same?' - -"The adjutant he tried to argufy wid the old man, tellin' him them there -furrin' mounts were jist like a bunch of old dray hosses, an' edicated -like trained pigs. But nothin' would suit the gineral but a mounted -dress parade for all hands, includin' the band. - -"So the adjutant he calls to me an he ses, 'Orderly,' ses he, 'my -compliments to Mr. Schwartz, the band leader, an' ask him to report to -the office immediately.' - -"Now Schwartz, he was a little old fat Dutchman, about five feet six, -an' weighin' over two hundred pounds. When I gave him me message he ses, -ses he, - -"'What's up,' ses he. - -"'Mounted dress parade for the band,' ses I. - -"'Mein Gott, me for sick report,' ses he. - -"'Mr. Schwartz,' ses the adjutant when he waddles up to the office, -''tis the orders of the commanding officer that the band attend dress -parade next Sunday afternoon, mounted an' wid their instruments ready to -play.' - -"Schwartz he gasps an' tried hard to say a word, but the adjutant he -ses, ses he: 'Git your men out an' drill them every day till they can -handle their hosses an' instruments at the same time. An' mind ye,' ses -he, 'them there band instruments costs money, an' we want none of thim -unnecsarily injured.' - -"Schwartz he mumbled somethin' as he went out about them bein' a sight -more anxious over not injurin' the instruments than they were the men, -men bein' a matter for the recruitin' service, while instruments must be -paid for out of the regimental funds. - -"For the next four or five days the bandsmen was mighty busy a-drillin' -their hosses an' a-gettin' them usened to the sound of the instruments -by standin' on the ground in front of them an' a-playin.' - -"Comes Saturday, the word goes about the post, that the band would make -the first try at playin' on the backs of their hosses that afternoon. - -"When they led their steeds out of the corral an' formed on the cavalry -prade ground, every soul in the post, officers, sogers, apache injins, -dog robbers an' laundresses was there to see the doin's. - -"They led them bronks out an' played one chune, a-standin' at their -heads, an' barrin' a few of them what pulled back an' got loose from the -men, they stood the racket all right. - -"Then the drum major, a-ridin' a white hoss, trots out to the front of -them, waves his baton, an' gives the command, 'Prepare to mount.' - -"Ivery man, accordin' to the latest tactics, grabs a handful of mane, in -his left hand, an' his reins an' the saddle pommel wid his right, his -instruments a-hangin' to his anatemy by straps or slings. - -"When they gits the word 'mount,' they all swings up into their saddles -somehow, some of them fat old musicians clamberin' up more like loadin' -a sack of bran than anything else in all the world. - -"The chap what played the bass drum, he bowed up when it come to tryin' -to use his big drum, an' so they compromised on a pair of kittle drums, -wan strapped to each side of the saddle horn. - -"Them kittle drums looked for all the world like a pair of twenty-gallon -water kaigs on a pack saddle. - -"The horse, he eyed the load on his back sort of suspicious-like, an' -lets the drummer git settled down into his saddle wid a drumstick in -each wan of his two hands, but keepin' his ears a-workin' like a couple -of wig-wag signal flags. - -"Finally, when every wan was safely on top, an' the horses standin' -fairly quiet, the drum major he waves his stick, an' wid a sweep of his -arms, gives the signal to play. - -"An' right there the fun began. The first rap the drummer give wid his -drumsticks was too much for his horse, an' wid wan wild look at them -two great soup kittles a-hangin' onto his back, an' wid the roar of them -in his ears, he jist hung his head down, an' began some of the -scientifickest buckin' an' pitchin' you ever seen. - -"Bustin' through the band, wid them two kittles a-wavin' an' a-thumpin' -on his back, the drummer's horse had little trouble in incitin' several -more of them to the same line of conduct, an' in about two minutes half -the horses in the outfit were a-buckin' an' a-cavortin' around like very -divils. - -"The kittle drummer an' the Swiss gent, what played the tubey--an' him -a-settin' there in the middle of them great silvery coils like some -prehistoric monster--they went through that bunch of wild-eyed Dutch -musicians, like two shooting stars. - -"The drummer tried hard to stay on top of his load, but what wid them -two great copper tubs a-knockin' an' a-thumpin' away on his horse's -withers, a-barkin' his shins an' knees wid every jump, an' a-floppin' -like two big buzzards' wings, 'twas no disgrace that he couldn't stay -there, him bein' no bronco buster, but jist a Dutch bandsman. - -"He went up into the air wid them two drumsticks, wan in each hand, -describin' a lovely circle, an' a comin' down head first in the soft -dirt, while the hoss wid them two drums, beatin' a very divil's tattoo -on his ribs, tored off down the road an' out of sight. - -"As for the tubey player, he tried hard to stay in the middle of his -bucker. But, bein' handicapped as it were, wid some thirty odd feet of -German silver tubin' wrapped about his anatemy, an' it a-bumpin' an' -a-bangin' agin his head every time the hoss struck the sod, he made -hard work of it. - -"After makin' some desperate efforts to find somethin' solid to hold -onto, an' a-clawin' all the leather offen his saddle pommel in the -effort, the wind jammer gives it up for a bad job, turned all holds -loose, an' went up into the air like a musical sky rocket. The saddler -sergint of G-troop sed he was a Dutch meteor. - -"Ony how, he went up, an', encircled wid them great silvery pipes, made -a fine landin' in the soft dirt, drivin' the bell of his tubey deep into -it. - -"The next minute his hoss was a-folerin' the kittle drums like Tam -O'Shanter's ghost. - -"Then there was a tall hungry Irishman--though what a dacent Irisher was -a-doin' in that bunch of Dutchies I dunno--but there he was. He played a -clarinet about a yard long, an' when his hoss decided 'twas time for him -to do a little stunt of his own, in the buckin' line, he made a wild -grab for his reins. But 'twas no good. Ivery time he comes down, he -jabbed the sharp pint of that clarinet mouthpiece into the horse's -withers, which didn't help matters a little bit. - -"He was a-doin' some elegant reachin' for something to hold onto, but -some way he couldn't connect wid anything at all. Wan jump an' he lost -his cap, the next he landed behind the saddle, which gives his horse an -opporchunity for lettin' out a few extry holes in his performance. Back -into the saddle he goes, but not findin' conditions there to his likin', -he continued on wid a forward movement finally landin' in front of the -saddle, then a little furder forward, workin' out on the horse's neck -like some sailor lad a-climbin' out on the bowsprit of a ship. - -"Finally, the hoss took time enough to lift his nose from scrapin' the -ground bechune his two front feet, an' have a look about him; in doin' -which he turned the clarinet player end for end like a tumbler in a -circus. Down he comes, wid his precious clarinet grabbed in his hand -like a black-thorn shillalah, and when he lit, he bored a place in the -dirt deep enough for a post hole. - -"Over on the porch of the adjutant's office, a-takin' it all in, was the -old gineral wid a bunch of ladies. When the last of the twenty or more -riderless bronks disappeared over the brow of the hill down the road -toward the creek, the old man turned to his orderly standin' near by an' -ses, ses he, 'Orderly, prisint me compliments to the adjutant an' tell -him that the band's excused from attindin' dress parade mounted till -furder orders.'" - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -STUTTERIN' ANDY - - -"Oyez, oyez, o-y-e-z, the Honorable Court of the Third Judicial District -of the State of New Mexico is now in session," cried the one-armed -bailiff, and the district court in Alamo came to order for the afternoon -session. - -The judge settled back in his easy chair; the twelve jurymen at his left -idly watched the crowd pour into the little courtroom. By the time the -prisoner had been escorted in by the sheriff, every inch of space was -occupied by eager spectators, both men and women; for the case of Andy -Morrow, locally known as "Stutterin' Andy," charged by the grand jury -with stealing one red yearling branded X V from Joseph Barker, had -attracted the attention of the entire community. - -During the morning session, the prosecution had given their side of the -case. Old man Barker and a detective from Denver had each testified to -finding the hide of a yearling bearing Barker's well-known brand, buried -beneath a pile of brush on Morrow's "dry farm" claim. - -The resurrected hide was also placed before the jury, the X V on the -left ribs being plainly visible and when court adjourned for the noon -recess, Barker was jubilant. - -"We'll git him, we'll git him," he said to his foreman as they tramped -down the narrow staircase leading from the courtroom. "I'll make a -shinin' example of Mister Stutterin' Andy, what'll put the fear o' God -into a lot of them cow thieves, an' last this here community for some -time." - -"I reckin' so," replied the foreman who felt that the reputation of the -X V outfit was at stake. After lunch, court having been duly opened, the -young lawyer, who owing to Morrow's poverty, had been appointed by the -court to defend him, addressed the jury with a short statement of the -case. - -The poverty of the prisoner, his struggles to make a home, the -iniquitous "fence law" which forced the little farmer to fence his crops -against the wandering herds of the cattlemen, the wealth and standing of -Barker, the complaining witness, and his use of a hired detective to -hunt up evidence, was all pictured to the jury in his strongest -language. - -"Say, Barker," whispered a man at his side, nudging him with the point -of his elbow, "don't you feel sort of ornery like, to be made out such a -consarned old renegade?" - -"Don't you be a-feelin' sorry for me," he snapped back, "them what -laughs last laughs best, an' I reckon' we got a big ole laugh a-comin' -when this here performance is concluded." - -"I swear," muttered a man in the audience to his neighbor, "ef that -there lawyer chap hopes to make anything out of Andy's testimony that -will help him, I miss my guess. Why the pore devil stutters so that -nobody kin git a word outa him scarcely, when there's nothin' excitin' -goin' on, let alone with all these here people a-settin' there -a-listenin'. I'm a-bettin' he won't be able to tell his own name to say -nothin' about explainin' how he didn't kill that there yearlin'." - -But the attorney knew his business and Morrow remained quietly in his -seat beside the sheriff. Having finished his preliminary statement, the -young lawyer whispered to the bailiff, who walked across to a small jury -room opening off the main courtroom, and opened a door. - -A low-spoken word, and there stepped from the room a woman--the wife of -the prisoner. - -She was tall, slim and about twenty-five years of age. From the corner -of her mouth protruded the "dip-stick," that ever present solace of the -sex among her class, and without which she probably never could have -faced the crowd. - -A faded blue calico dress over which she wore a small shawl, and on her -head a bedraggled hat with a few tousled roses stuck on one side, made -up a costume which only accentuated her drawn face and sorrowful eyes. - -After a few moments of whispered conversation with the lawyer, she took -the witness chair. - -At first her answers to his questions as to her name, age, etc., were -given in a low, scarcely audible voice, and the room was so still it was -fairly oppressive. - -"You understand, do you," he asked her, "that your husband is charged -with killing a yearling belonging to Mr. Barker?" - -"I shore do," was the reply. - -"Will you, please, tell the jury in your own words, just what you know -about this matter," the lawyer said. - -"Mought I tell it jist as I want to, jist as I done tole it to you down -to the hotel?" she asked. - -"Yes," he replied very kindly, "tell the jury your story just as you -told it to me." - -She carefully removed the "dip stick" from her mouth, placing it in a -little wooden box which she carried in a battered leather hand bag. -Then, turning to the jury, she began her story in a clear firm voice, as -if she realized that upon her testimony hung the fate of her husband. - -"I want to tell you-all men, the truth about this here thing," she said -looking into their faces with unflinching eye, "jist how it happened, -an' don't mean to hide narry part of it from nobody. - -"Andy an' me's been married now nigh onto six year. We moved into this -country about a year ago, comin' from Arkin-saw in a wagon. We had two -chillen, a boy an' a gal. - -"When we gits here, Andy located down there on the claim an' tried dry -farmin'; 'kaffir korners' I reckin' some of them calls us. It tuck -mighty nigh every cent we had to git the seed an' some farmin' tools, -an' after the crap were in, Andy he gits work in a sawmill up into the -mountings, leavin' me an' the kids to make the crap. - -"Andy he done built a little loghouse an' a corral, an' puts a brush -fence around the land we broke up to keep the critters out, we not -havin' any money fer to buy barbed wire fer the fence. - -[Illustration: "_Andy done built a little ole log house_"] - -"We had a heap o' trouble with the range stock all summer an' it kep' me -a-steppin' pretty lively to keep 'em out, but I managed to fight 'em -off, an' we done pretty well that year. - -"Andy worked all winter in the sawmill and jist about spring the man -closed down, an' tole the boys a-workin' fer him that he couldn't pay -'em anything he was a-owin' 'em. Most of 'em he owed a right smart to, -because he kep' a-promisin' he'd pay every month, an' when he done -busted up he owed my man 'bout two hundred dollars. - -"So Andy he come home to put in the crap, an' we both worked powerful -hard to git it in, an' as we owed the store up thar so much, we couldn't -git anything more on our account. - -"So, 'bout all we had to eat was taters what we raised the year before. -Then the little gal took sick, an' we nussed her fer a time till she got -powerful weak, an' then Andy he goes to town fer a doctor, tellin' him -we ain't got no money to pay him, but fer God's sake to come an' see -her. - -"'Twas twenty-five miles fer the doctor to ride, but he come along with -Andy all right, an' when he sees the little gal he ses, 'Scarlet fever, -an' a bad case too.' - -"The doctor done give her some medicine he brung with him, an' said -she'd orter be carried to town where he could see her, kase he couldn't -come out that way very often, even if we done paid him fer it. - -"So me an' Andy hooked up the hosses an' brung her in here, an' bein' as -it was what the doc calls a contagious disease, we couldn't git no house -to live in; so we had to camp down below town in the creek bottom under -a big cottonwood. 'Twere powerful hard to take keer of the little gal -there, an' Andy had hard work gittin' grub an' medicine, an' 'cept fer -Frank Walton, the man what keeps the 'Bucket of Blood' saloon, we'd -never a-pulled her through. - -"Frank he sends down a lot of stuff fer us an' tells Andy to git all the -medicine he needed at the drug store an' he'd pay fer it hisself. - -"Bimeby, the little gal gits better, an' Andy he bein' anxious to git -back an' look after the crap, we packs our traps an' goes back to the -ranch. - -"The doc he ses the little gal's all rite if we git her plenty good -strengthnin' stuff, an' Frank he gits us considerable to take home. - -"When we left the place we done turned the ole milk cow out on the range -till we comes back. Andy he rode three days a-lookin' fer her an' -finally meets up with her where she lays daid in a little medder up on -the mounting. Andy ses he reckoned she was pizened eatin' wild pasnip. -She had a big long-eared calf along with her, but 'twan't nowhere about, -an', as the round-up passed that-away a few days afore, Andy he 'lowed -they done picked it up fer a dogie an' put ole man Barker's brand on it. - -"Andy he couldn't git no work, fer he couldn't leave me alone with the -two chillen, an' we tried to save the little handful of grub we brung -out fer the gal, an' lived mighty nigh on straight taters an' water. One -day, the little boy he come sick too an' Andy he gits on a hoss an' -rides to town to see the doctor agin'. - -"The doctor he ses he reckined 'twas scarlet fever too, 'cause the -simptons was about the same an' he give him some medicine to take out -an' sed he'd come out hisself soon as he could, but he had a lot of sick -folks to look after, an' didn't like to leave 'em to make the trip, he -bein' a lunger hisself, an' not fitten to work very hard. - -"Somehow the little feller didn't seem to do very well, an' Andy he goes -in after the doctor agin', an' he come out to see him. He looks mighty -serous when he gits thar an' he sed: 'I reckin' this little chap's -mighty porely; what be ye a-feedin' him?' Andy he busted out a-cryin' -an' ses; 'Doc,' ses he, 'we ain't got nothin' but taters an' a little -hawg meat what Frank Walton sent out when we brung the little gal back, -an' we been a-savin' that fer her, not thinkin' that the boy was gittin' -sick too.' - -"'Ain't ye got no cow,' ses the doc, an' Andy tole him how she done died -while we was all in town before. - -"The doc he ses fer Andy to git ready an' come on to town with him that -night, an' he'd git him some more grub, an' so 'bout a hour afore sun -Andy an' the doc sets off fer town leavin' me with the two chillen." - -The courtroom was so still excepting for the low, spiritless voice of -the woman, that one could hear the muffled sobs of one or two of the -women in the room whose hearts were touched with the sorrowful story she -was unfolding. - -She stopped for a moment to choke back her own tears, and the attorney, -leaning towards her as she faced the jury, said almost in a whisper, -"What happened that night?" - -"The pore little feller died in my arms jist about a hour before sun up -next mornin'," she replied without a quaver in her voice, but with both -hands clinched in an agony which could find no tongue in her -disheartened, hopeless condition of mind. - -"Please continue, if you can," said the lawyer kindly, knowing that in -her homely recital of their grief and misfortunes lay the open road to -her husband's acquittal. - -"Well, that mornin' Andy he come home with the grub, but 'twas too late -fer the boy. - -"He was shore all broke up over it an' sat all day long without sayin' a -word 'ceptin' he guessed the Lord 'sort of had it in fer us pore folks -an' only looked after the rich ones like ole man Barker an' his kind. - -"'Twas fifteen miles to the nearest neighbors, an' anyhow they was all -a-skeered of the fever, they havin' a lot of kids of their own, so me -an' Andy we reckoned the best thing we could do was to bury him rite in -our field whar we could take keer of his little grave. - -"'Bout this time, the range stock began to bother us a-gittin' in the -field an' a-damagin' the crap. Andy he sent word to Barker to send some -of his men down thar an' carry off the worst ones, but the foreman he -said 'twan't none of his business, thar was a fence law in this here -state, an' we must fence our land ef we wanted to raise a crap. - -"Then the grub what we brung down from town done give out an' the little -gal she sort of seemed to be a pinin' away right afore our eyes. - -"One evenin' some of the cattle broke into the field agin', an' Andy was -a-drivin' 'em out, a yearlin' calf breaks back an' dodged into the -little pole corral we done made fer a milk pen. - -"Andy he vowed he'd put a 'yoke' onto him, he bein' the wust one of em -all for breakin' through the fence; so he puts up the bars intendin' to -fix him as soon as we got the rest out. - -"Bimeby, we goes to the corral meanin' to fix him with a yoke an' turn -him out, but when I seed that there brand of Barker's onto him, an' we -ain't nothin' to eat but taters, an' Barker's stock a-ruinin' our crap -faster than it could grow; I just got that bitter I didn't much care -what did happen. - -"Andy he sets down the axe he done brung out to the corral to make the -yoke with, an' goes into the cabin fer a piece of balin' wire to tie the -yoke on with, an' while he's gone all the bad in me come to the top, an' -I drives the yearlin' into the little calf pen where we shuts up the -milk calves, an' taken the axe an' hit him a lick on the haid with it as -he made a sort of pass at me, which brung him to the ground. - -"When Andy come back with the balin' wire, the calf was daid. He were -terribly cut up about it but I ses, 'We can't be much wuss off, an' I'm -that hongry fer somethin' besides taters, that I don't care what happens -to us.' - -"As fer the rest of it, I reckin what the detective feller said is about -right. We done butchered the calf the best we could, an' buried the hide -what was found, an' so I reckin you all men knows now jist who killed -that thar yearling of Barker's, fer 'twere me what did it an' not Andy -Morrow a-tall." - -Her voice was raised as she spoke the last few words, and she threw her -head back, and swept a look of defiance around the courtroom. - -Directly before her sat old man Barker, his eyes staring straight into -hers, his great hairy hands gripping a red bandana until the cords and -veins stood out like ropes, while down his face the tears were making -their way through the rough stubbly beard that covered it without any -effort on his part to stay their course. Barker moved uneasily in his -chair; in the tense stillness of the room its creaking smote the silence -like a shot and drew every eye in the room to him. He grasped the back -of the chair in front of him, struggled partly to his feet, and then -sank back again. His mouth opened; he licked his parched lips like some -hunted wild animal. - -"The, the--gal," he gasped, never taking his eyes from the woman's face, -"the little gal, wh--what come of her?" he demanded hoarsely, a great -something in his throat almost choking him, "did-did-sh-he," and his -voice failed him completely. - -The woman smiled scornfully. "She did not," she said, realizing the -drift of his unspoken question, "we done made a pot of soup out of some -of that there yearlin' an' fed her some of the meat, an' she perked up -an' come through all right." Then--daughter of Eve that she was--she -broke down and burst into tears. - -Over the face of the old cattleman swept a look of joy and relief that -words cannot portray. He mopped his flushed face and streaming eyes with -the handkerchief, utterly unconscious that every eye in the courtroom -was upon him, then, turning, brought his great hand down upon the back -of his foreman beside him with force enough to have almost broken it. -His face was wreathed in smiles. "Glory be," he almost shouted, "glory -be--thank God for that." - - * * * * * - -Five minutes later Stutterin' Andy walked out of the courtroom a free -man. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -THE PASSING OF BILL JACKSON - -By permission _The Argonaut_, San Francisco, Cal. - - -"I tell you fellows, 'tain't no fun to swim a bunch of steers when the -water is as cold as it is now." The speaker was a short, thick-set -cowboy, whose fiery red hair had gained for him the sobriquet of -"Colorado," the Mexican name for red, which was frequently shortened to -"Colly" among the "punchers." - -Colorado, who was carefully rolling a cigarette, glanced around the -circle of listeners, as if challenging some one to contradict him. The -balance of the boys evidently agreed with him, for no one said a word -except the "Kid," and he, after taking his pipe from his lips and -carefully knocking out the ashes on the heel of his boot, said: - -"'Jever have any 'sperience at it, Colly?" - -Colorado by this time had finished rolling his cigarette and was waiting -for the cook's pot-hook, which he had thrust into the campfire, to get -red-hot, to light it. Having done this and taken a few preliminary -puffs, he answered: - -"Yes, I hev, and a mighty tough one it was, too." - -"Tell us about it, Colorado," said the cook. "Whar was it, an' how did -it happen?" - -"Yes, Colly, le's hear the story," chimed in the Kid. - -It was just the time for a story. We had come down to the railroad with -a bunch of steers, and found the Little Colorado River, which ran -between us and the railroad, swollen to a mighty torrent by the rains in -the mountains. - -We had waited four days for it to go down, but it seemed rather to rise -a little each day. As the feed was poor and we had lots of work to do, -the boss was in a hurry to get them shipped and off his hands, and so -had just announced, that at daylight the next morning he meant to try to -swim the herd across. It was late in October and the weather was snappy -cold. Overcoats and heavy clothes were an absolute necessity in the -night on guard around the herd, and the idea of going into that cold -water was not a pleasant one. But the cow-puncher is much like the -sailor, in that he never stops to think of getting wet, or cold, or -going into any danger as long as the boss himself will lead the way; so -we were all prepared to get a soaking the next day. - -It was that pleasant time in the evening between sunset and dark. The -herd was bedded down near camp, and the first guard were making their -rounds, with never a steer to turn back. The balance of us were lying -about the campfire, smoking and talking "hoss," a subject which is never -worn threadbare in a cow-camp. Colorado, who had been idly marking out -brands in the sand in front of him with the end of his fingers, said: - -"Well, boys, 'taint much of a story, but ef you want to hear it, I'll -tell you how it was. Dick, gimme a bite of your navy," and having stowed -away a huge chunk of Dick's "navy," Colly settled back on the ground and -began: - -"I was workin' fer the Diamond outfit up in Utah, 'bout three years ago, -an' the old man he come off down here into Arizona an' bought a bunch of -steers to take up thar. He done written his wagon-boss to come down with -an outfit big enough to handle two thousand head, an' we struck the -Little Colorado River 'bout the mouth of the Caņon Diablo wash, where we -was to receive the herd 'long in June. We didn' have no partickler -hap'nin's comin' down, and we got the herd turned over all right, an' -built a 'squeeze chute' an' branded 'em all before we started back; so -as, if any got lost, the outfit could claim 'em on the brand: an' about -the last of June we pushed 'em off the bed-ground one mornin', before -daylight, an' pulled our freight for the home ranch. - -"The cattle were all good to handle, an' didn't give us no trouble to -hold nights, barrin' one or two little stampedes, an' we drifted on down -toward Lee's Ferry without any mishaps, 'ceptin' one night it were -a-rainin' like all possessed, an' I wakes up a feller named Peck to go -on guard. Peck got up an' put on his slicker, walked over to where his -pony was tied, an' mounted. We was camped on the banks of a wash called -Cottonwood Creek, an' along there the wash had cut down into the 'dobe -flat, some ten or fifteen feet deep. Peck he's 'bout half asleep, an' -gets off wrong for the herd, an' rides straight up to the edge of the -creek, thinkin' all the time he's a-goin' out on the prairie to the -herd. His pony sort of balked on him an' give a snort, but Peck bein' a -cross-grained sort of cuss, an' only half awake, just bathed him with -his quirt, an' jabbed his spurs into him. The pony give a jump an' -landed in the middle of the creek, with six or eight feet of muddy water -runnin' in it. Lord, didn't Peck wake up suddenlike, an' squall for -help? We all turned out in a hurry, but he swam across, an' the opposite -side bein' sort of slopin'like, the pony scrambled out. Then Peck was -afeered to cross back in the dark, an' stayed over thar all night, -a-shiverin' an' a-shakin' an' a-cursin' like a crazy man. When we got up -for breakfast that mornin' at four o'clock it was clear, an' cold, an' -dark. The cook he goes down to the creek an' hollers to Peck sort of -sarcastic-like, 'Come to breakfast, Peck!' an' Peck he gets mad an' -swears at the _cocinero_ pretty plenty, an' said ef he didn't go back -he'd turn loose on him with his six-shooter, an' the cook, bein' pretty -rollicky hisself, he goes back to the wagon an' pulls his Winchester an' -starts fer the creek agin, but Jackson stops him an' turns him back. -When it comes daylight Peck went down the creek a mile and finds a place -to cross whar it wa'n't so deep, an' so gits back to camp jist as we was -pullin' out. - -"The Big Colorado were a powerful stream when we reached it, bein' all -swollen by heavy rains up in the mountains an' we all kinder hated to -tackle it. Before he left, the old man told the wagon-boss to ferry the -outfit an' horses over in the boat, but to swim the steers. - -"You know how Lee's Ferry is; the river comes out of a box caņon above, -an' the sides break away a little, an' then a mile below it goes into -the box agin, where the walls is three thousand feet high an' the -current runs like a mill-race. - -"It was shore a nasty place to swim a bunch of steers, an' Jackson, he -knowed we had a big job on hand when we got there. Jackson was the best -wagon-boss I ever see or worked under. He was a tall, slim chap, could -outwork any two men in the outfit, wasn't afeerd of nothin', an' though -he couldn't read or write, I tell you, boys, he savvyed cows a heap. -What he didn't know 'bout cows wa'n't worth knowin'. He didn't let the -steers water the day before, so's they'd be powerful dry an' take to the -river easier. - -"We fust got the wagon over on the ferry boat, which was a big concern, -long enuff to drive a four-hoss team onto, an' which was rowed by four -men. The cook he was mighty skerry 'bout goin' onto this here boat, -'cause he said 'bout a year afore that he'd been a-punching cows in -southern Arizony, an' a feller there shipped a lot of cattle up inter -Californey to put on an island in the ocean near Los Angeles. They -loaded 'em onto flat scows with a high railin' round 'em, an' put 'bout -fifty head on each scow an' a puncher on it to look out fer 'em. Goin' -over to the island the tug what was a-towin' 'em by the horn of the -saddle, so to speak, busted the string, an' thar bein' quite a wind -blowin', an' big ole waves a-floppin' round, the four scows began to -butt an' bump up agin' one another like a lot of muley bulls a-fightin', -an' the cattle got to runnin' back an' forth an' a-bellerin' an' -a-bawlin', an' them punchers, they shore thought their very last day had -come. The cook he never expected to see dry land agin', an' he jist -vowed if he ever got back to the prairie that he'd punch no more cows on -boats. - -"Well, bimeby, the tug got a new lariat onto 'em agin' an' corraled 'em -all safe enuff at the wharf, but the cook 'lowed he war a dry-land -terrapin an' wouldn't ever agin get into no such scrape, not ef he -knowed hisself. However, he did get up 'nuff spunk to tackle the ferry, -an' went over safely. After we got the wagon acrost, we went back an' -started the cattle down the side caņon what leads into the crossin'. - -"Jackson's idee was to git the hosses ahead of the steers an' let 'em -follow. You know hosses swim anywheres, an' the cattle will allers -foller 'em. So he puts three men in a little boat, two to row an' one to -lead a hoss knowin' the balance would foller him right across. - -"The hoss-wrangler hed the 'cavvy' all ready, an' jist as the leaders of -the herd come down to the water's edge the boys in the boat pulled out, -a-leadin' a hoss, an' the other hosses follered right in an' was soon -a-swimmin'. Then when they was all strung out an' doin' fine, we crowded -the steers into the water after 'em. They was all powerful dry an' took -to the water easy 'nuff, an' afore the leaders knowed it they was -a-swimmin' in fine shape. Jackson wouldn't let us holler or shoot till -we got 'em all inter the water, an' then we jerked our six-shooters an' -began to fog 'em an' yell like a bunch of Comanches. - -"You all know thar's one thing to be afeered of in swimmin' a lot of -cattle, and that's when they gets to millin'. Jackson had swum cattle -across the Pecos in Texas, an' the Yellowstone in Montana, an' saveyed -'xactly what to do. But this here Colorado at Lee's Ferry is a bad place -to tackle, fer you're bound to get out on the other side afore you get -into the box caņon, or your name's Dennis, 'cause once a feller gits -into the caņon he's got to go on clean down about a hundred miles afore -he can strike a level place big enuff to crawl out on. - -"Soon as the cattle got well strung out, Jackson began to undress -hisself. He took off all his clothes but his pants, an' then buckled his -six-shooter belt around him, an' pulled the saddle off'n his hoss. - -"I says, 'Bill, you ain't a-goin' to try to swim it, are you?' an' he -says, 'No, not 'less I have to; but if they gets to millin' out thar -we'll lose the whole herd, an' the only way to break it up is to ride -out an' shoot among 'em an' skeer 'em.' He knowed it were risky, for if -anything went wrong he was shore to be carried into the caņon an' -drowned. But Bill Jackson wa'n't the sort of a wagon-boss to stop at -anything to save the herd, an' sure 'nuff, 'bout the time the leaders -got fairly into the middle of the river, 'long comes a big cottonwood -tree a-driftin' an' whirlin' down stream right into 'em. That skeert 'em -an' turned 'em, an' 'fore we knowed it they was doubled back on the -balance an' swimmin' round an' round, for all the world like driftwood -in a big eddy in a creek. This was what Jackson was afeerd of, an' he -pushed his hoss into the river an' takes his six-shooter in his hand. He -was ridin' a little Pinto pony they called 'Blue Jay,' one of the best -all-around cow-ponies I ever see. - -"Old Blue Jay he jist seemed to savey what was wanted of him, an' swam -'long without any fuss. When Jackson gits out close to the millin' -steers he begin to holler an' shoot, an' he called to the fellers in the -boat to come back an' try to stop 'em. Now, you all know what a risky -thing it is to go near a steer a-swimmin' in the water, for he's sure -to try to climb up on you. Jackson knowed this, but he swam Blue Jay -right slap-dab inter the bunch an' tried to scatter 'em an' stop 'em -from millin'. - -"Just how it happened we couldn't tell; but first thing we seen Jackson -was right in the middle of the millin' critters, an' in a minute they -had crowded pore old Blue Jay under, an' all we seen of Jackson was his -hands went up an' then he was lost in the whirlin' mass of horns that -was goin' round and round. A man had no chance at all to swim, 'cause -their hoofs kep' him under all the time, an' they was packed so close a -feller couldn't come up between 'em, anyway. The boys in the boat tried -to do something, but 'twan't no use, fer he never come up, an' when they -got too close one big steer throwed his head over the side of the boat -an' purty nigh upset 'em, so they had to keep away to save theirselves. -But they kep' up a-shootin' an' a-hollerin' 'till the leaders finally -struck out for shore, an' in a few minutes the whole herd was strung out -for the opposite side an' sooner than I kin tell it they was all -standin' on dry land, an' not a single one missin'. - -"Meantime the boys in the boat had watched everywhere for pore Jackson's -body, but they never got sight of it, though they went 'most down to the -mouth of the box caņon. Thar was lots of big trees an' drift a-runnin', -an' we guessed his body had been caught in the branches of a tree an' -carried down with it. Pore old Blue Jay come floating past 'em, an' they -tried to catch him, but the current was so swift they couldn't do it. -All they wanted was to get Jackson's silver-mounted bridle off'n him, -'cause 'twas easy 'nuff to see that the pony was quite dead. - -"Well, the rest of us crossed in the big ferry-boat an' rounded up the -steers, which was grazin' up the caņon on the other side, an' moved 'em -out a couple of miles to camp. Shorty, bein' the oldest hand in the -outfit, took charge, an' sent two of us back to the ferry, to try an' -see ef Jackson's body could be found, but the feller what runs the ferry -said 'tain't no use lookin' fer him, 'cause the swift current would -carry him miles and miles down the caņon without ever lodgin' anywhere. -So we went back, an' Shorty gave it up an' decided to push the herd on -next day. We was a blue ole crowd that night around the campfire, I tell -you. All the boys liked Jackson, an' besides, they was a-thinkin' of his -wife an' two kids what was a-waitin' for him at the headquarter ranch up -in Utah. - -"Shorty sent a letter from the ferry settlement to the old man, -a-tellin' him what had happened, an' we come along up with the cattle, -arrivin' safely at the ranch without any more misfortunes." - -"An' didn't they never find Jackson's body, Colly?" queried the Kid. - -"Wal," said Colly, "that's a singular thing, too. When we gets back to -the ranch the old man he was orful cut up about it, an' hated to think -that the body wasn't found. He'd been down in the Grand Caņon the summer -afore with a lot of fellers, an' he said he believed he could find it -'bout a hundred miles below the ferry, 'cause thar were a place down -thar in the caņon whar the walls widened out fer some twenty miles, an' -thar was quite a valley with grassy meadows an' trees. So he takes one -of the boys an' a pack outfit an' goes off down thar. They had to leave -everything on top of the caņon an' climb down a-foot an' pack their -stuff on their backs. The walls was six thousand feet high thar, an' -they had a hard time gettin' down. Course, it was jist a scratch, but -I'm blest if after four or five days' hunt they didn't find it lodged in -a pile of drift along the river. 'Twas easy 'enuff to tell Jackson's -body, fer he'd had two fingers of his left hand shot off in a fight -once; so they takes it off to a place in the valley whar it was safe -from flood, an' buries it as well as they could, an' next year, he went -back an' packed the remains out of the caņon an' took them clean to the -ranch an' buried 'em jist as if it was his own brother. I tell you, the -boys was ready to swear by old man Saunders after that." - -Colorado's story was finished, and as it was about ten-thirty the second -guard-men began putting on overcoats and heavy gloves preparatory to two -hours and a half of watching the herd. - -The stars were shining clear and bright, the bells of the horse-herd -came softly over the prairie, making a tuneful chime on the frosty night -air, and as I untied the rope that bound my roll of bedding and kicked -it out on the ground, I could not keep from thinking of poor Jackson's -death and wondering if the morrow held a like fate in store for any of -us. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -THE TENDERFOOT FROM YALE - -By permission _American Forestry Magazine_. - - -"The trouble with this here forest service business nowadays is, that -they're sendin' out, from the effete and luxurious East, a lot of -half-baked kids, what never seen a mountain in all their lives, don't -know whether beans is picked from trees or made in a factory at Battle -Creek, an' generally ain't got savvy enough to find their way home after -dark. - -"Now here's this kid we've drawed in the last deal; nice enough boy, I -reckon, but who's goin' to play nursey to him up in these here hills?" -The speaker glared at his companion as if defying him to meet his -charges against the newcomer and his kind. - -"But he's got eddication, Jack," replied his listener, "an' that's what -counts in these days. We got into the service in them good old days when -it was a case of ability to ride a pitchin' bronc, rope a maverick, -chase sheep herders off the earth, shoot the eyes out of a wildcat at -forty yards an' all them things. Nowadays they picks 'em out by their -brand of learnin' an' not by their high-heeled boots." - -"Howsomever," he continued, "there's some of them that makes good in -spite of their eddicational handicap. Over on the Sierra last fall we -was all a-settin' in camp one Sunday afternoon when the phone rings like -they was trying to wake the dead with it. The old man gits up to answer -it. When he says, sort of startled-like, 'Fire, where?' we all pricks up -our ears. 'Twas a mighty dry time an' every one was a-prayin' for rain, -for we'd been fightin' fire for the last month and was all in. - -"We had a fire lookout station up on top of a high peak an' a man, with -the best glasses money could buy, a-sittin' there who could see all over -the range for fifty miles. - -[Illustration: "_We had a fire lookout station on top of a high peak_"] - -"Say, people got so they was afraid to make a campfire anywheres in them -hills, an' the rangers swore they had to go behind a tree to light their -pipes, lest he'd see the smoke an' send in a fire call. - -"'Shut-eye,' said the old man, meaning the lookout, 'Shut-eye says -there's a big smoke a-comin' out of the caņon below Gold Gulch to the -left of Greyback Peak, an' I reckon we'd better be a-movin' that way.' - -"It didn't take us long to saddle up, slap a pack onto a couple of -mules, an' hit the trail. 'Twas a good ten-mile over a rough country, -an' it was mighty nigh dark afore we gets to where we could see smoke -a-boiling out of the caņon over a ridge ahead of us. - -"We was all old-timers at the work, 'ceptin' a young feller fresh from -the Yale Forestry School, what had come out for a sort of post-graduate -course in forestry, an' some of them boys was seein' to it he got it all -right. - -"He had all the fixin's them fellers bring along with them, fancy ridin' -panties, a muley saddle, a wind bed an' a automatic six-pistol, one of -them things what, after she once gits to shootin', you jist got to throw -her into the creek to stop her goin'. - -"'Bout two miles from the ridge where we reckoned we'd git our first -view of the fire we meets up with Hank Strong an' his wife. You know, -Hank's woman is just about as crazy to go to a fire as a boy to the -circus, an' she always comes in mighty handy to start a camp, take care -of the boys' horses an' the packs while we're a-workin'. - -"Generally she'd make up a big pot of coffee and fetch it out to the -line. Once she comes a-ridin' along carryin' a pot full an' a bear -skeered her hoss--but that's nothin' to do with this yarn. - -"Hank says that there's also a big smoke comin' up from the vicinity of -Granite Basin, an' the old man he says some one better go over there an' -see what's goin' on. Thar's a chap named Brown a-livin' in the Basin, -an' the Super, he's afraid, mebbe so he'd get caught in the fire an' be -singed some, the Basin bein' in the allfiredest lot of chapparal brush -you ever see. - -"This feller Brown, he's a sort of pet of them boys over that a-way, him -bein' a lunger an' not able to do much but draw funny pictures for the -Sunday supplements. Seems he broke down back East an' comes West to try -an' git over it. - -"There he sets a-drawin' pictures for them funny papers an' sendin' 'em -in regular, while he ses he's jist a-walkin' around to beat the -undertaker. - -"Nobody else is a-livin' in the basin, there bein' nothin' but a little -old cabin, what a bee-man put up once, an' a few hives of bees Brown -bought along with the cabin. 'Them bees is jist to teach me habits of -industry,' ses Brown, when some of the boys asked him if he calculated -to git rich on the output of them hives. - -"The old man he reckons he can't spare any of us old hands to go over -there, an' so he says to the young tenderfoot: 'Son,' he says, 'do you -reckon you can make it over there in the dark and find out what's doin' -in Granite Basin an' come back an' let us know?' - -"The boy he ses he reckoned he could, only he didn't know the trail all -the way. Then Hank's wife she speaks up an' says she can go along as far -as the top of the mountain, an' show him the trail down into the basin. - -"It sort of hacked the kid to have a woman show him the trail, but the -old man said it were the very idee, an' so she an' the boy struck off, -leavin' us to take care of the fire ahead. - -"There wa'n't but one way into the basin an' that was down a graded -trail about two miles long from top to bottom that the bee man had made -to git in and out on. - -"The lower part of this basin was one great mass of brush, an' as thick -as the hair on a dog's back, so you couldn't git through it only where -the brush had been cut out. - -"When they gits to the top an' could see over the basin there wa'n't any -doubt but there was a fire all right an' it was mighty plain that if -Brown wa'n't already out of there it was time he was startin'. - -"Hank's wife were a-dyin' to go down with him, but the kid he ses, 'This -here's my job, please,' and bluffed her out. - -"'You look out you don't get cut off on the trail,' she warns him, 'the -way that fire's a-eatin' along the side of the basin, it's a-goin' to -reach the trail inside of an hour, an' there ain't no other way out -'ceptin' a foot path what goes up the side of the basin back of the -cabin, but it's more like a ladder than a trail an' you can't take your -hoss there a-tall.' - -"Down into the basin goes the boy, while instead of goin' back to the -outfit the woman stopped there on a little point of rock where she could -look all over the basin an' waited to see what'd happen. - -"Brown slep' out under a big ole oak-tree, an' as he gits near the cabin -the kid he lets out a yell or two to wake him an' finds Brown settin' up -in bed sort of half-dazed, what with the yellin' an' onnatural -brightness of the skies all abouts. - -"Inside of five minutes they was a-ridin' for the trail up the mountain -with Brown a-settin' behind on the kid's horse. But it were too late. -When they reached the foot of the trail they could see where 'bout half -way up the whole blamed mountain was afire. Nothin' could pass through -it an' live, so there wa'n't nothin' to do but go back an' try to get -out on the foot trail. - -"Brown he begs the kid to go an' leave him an' save hisself. 'I'm only a -worn-out shell, anyhow,' he ses, 'an' it's jist a question of time till -it's all over for me an' I cash in, but you got something to live for -ahead of you.' - -"But the kid wouldn't stand for it. - -"'Don't you talk to me 'bout leavin' you here like a rat in a trap,' ses -he, 'we'll make it up that trail all right; jist you hang onto me and -we'll make the hoss pack us as far as he can go, an' then we'll take it -afoot. If it comes to a showdown I can carry you easy enough.' - -"So they rides the hoss up the trail till where it runs into a cliff -'bout twenty feet high. Here thar was a ladder to git up the cliff, an' -the kid he strips off the saddle, takes his water bag, an' turns his -hoss to shift fer hisself. Time they gits up that ladder pore Brown he -were all in an' had to lie down on the ground a-coughin' fit to kill -hisself. - -"This trail was jist a foot trail cut through the chapparal, an' the -smoke an' heat was already a-rollin' down onto 'em where they was like a -blast from a furnace. The kid he wets their handkerchiefs from his water -bag an' they each tied 'em about their faces to sort of protect 'em a -little. - -"The boy, he looks mighty anxiouslike at them big high walls of flames -a-comin' down toward 'em, an' fairly forced Brown to git on his back -'pick-a-back' like you'd take a little kid, an' started slowly up the -trail. - -"Foot by foot he climbed to'rd the top. Sometimes the smoke got so thick -they had to lie down a minute clost to the ground to git their breath, -sometimes the wind dropped big blazin' brands onto 'em an' set their -clothes afire, an' he'd have to stop an' rub it out with his hands. - -"Every time he took a look up to'rds the top, he'd see the fire a-comin' -closter an' closter to the trail. Pore Brown he tried to help him some -by walkin', but between the excitement an' the smoke gittin' into his -lungs, it were too much for him, an' he dropped down helpless as a -newborn baby. - -"The kid, he takes a survey of things an', little as he knowed 'bout -fires in the chapparal, he seen mighty plain, that they were at the -critical pint, an' if they didn't git past the next hundred feet mighty -soon, the fire would cut 'em off, an' it would be good-bye gay world to -'em both. - -"Then he hears a moan from Brown an', lookin' round, sees him lyin' flat -on the ground with one hand clapped over his mouth, an' tricklin' -between his fingers was a stream of blood. Didn't take him but a second -to know it were a hemorrhage; beats all what them fellers do learn at -them colleges, don't it? - -"Brown were a-workin' away with one hand at the little pocket in his -shirt an', in his eagerness an' excitement, the button wouldn't come -open. The boy jumped to his side, tore the button loose, an' pulled from -the pocket a little tobacco sack with something in it. Brown he holds -out one hand palm up, an' nodded to the boy to open the sack, which he -did, an' then poured out into his hand a little pile of common table -salt. You know them lunger-fellers most of 'em carries a little sack of -salt agin' jist such emergencies. Brown he throwed his head back an' -swallowed every grain of it an', bimeby, the blood stopped running so -hard. He struggled to his feet, then waved his hand to'rd the top an', -with a beseechin' look in his eyes, tried to git the kid to savvy that -he was to go on an' leave him to die. - -"But the boy he wa'n't made of that sort of stuff. He's jist about -skeered to death at the sight of the blood, but he pulls hisself -together, grabs Brown in his arms agin, an' grits his teeth for another -fight for their lives. - -"Finally, he comes to a place where, about ten feet ahead, the fire was -clean acrost the trail. He puts Brown down for a minute, pulls off his -coat, lays it on the ground, an' pours over it what water was left in -his water bag. Then he wraps Brown's head an' shoulders in the coat an', -grabbing him up in his arms, agin makes a last dash through the smoke -an' fire. - -"Seems like he hears a woman's voice above the roar of the fire an' he -sort of wonders is he gittin' a little loco with it all. Next he knows -he's a-drawin' in big gulps of air that ain't full of smoke, an' there's -a woman a-walkin' longside of him, steadyin' him as he staggers under -his load an' a-rubbin' out, with a wet gunny sack, the places where his -an' Brown's clothes are a-smokin'. - -"It all appears as a horrible dream to him, an' fust thing he knows, he -don't know nothin', for he's gone an' keeled over in a dead faint. Don't -laugh, you fool; didn't you ever work at a fire till it seemed as if -your lungs was a-goin' to bust an' your heart was a-beatin' like a cock -patridge on a log? - -"Then he gits a quart or more of cold water slap in the face, opens his -eyes, an' there's Hank's wife a-standin' over him. Clost by was Brown, -alive an' apparently uninjured. She knowed if he got through a-tall he's -bound to come out right about there and was a-watchin' for him. - -"When we comes along 'bout three hours later, we finds the boy and the -woman hard at work, back-firin' along the old stage road an' the fire -pretty well under control on that side. - -"Say, that kid were a sight to look at. He ain't got no more eyebrows or -lashes than a rabbit, an' that there curly mop of his was singed an' -scorched like the rats had been a chawin' onto it." - -"And Brown?" asked Jack. - -"Oh, Brown, why he come through all right. Saw a lot of his funny -pictures in the Sunday supplement last week. 'Peared like the fire done -him good." - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -DUMMY - -By permission _National Wool Growers' Magazine_ - - -"Take him, Bob; take him, boy." The woman pointed to a coyote skulking -in the sage brush a hundred yards from the camp wagon beside which she -stood. The dog raced toward the animal which turned and stopped, a nasty -snarl coming from its lips, teeth bared, every hair of its mane erect. -Almost as large as a full grown wolf it outweighed the dog by many -pounds. - -Surprised at the coyote's hostile attitude the Airedale stopped for a -moment, then advanced cautiously, realizing that this coyote differed -somewhat from those he had met before. - -Instantly the coyote flew at the dog, burying its keen teeth deep in his -left leg, leaping quickly back to avoid a clinch, its jaws snapping like -castanets. The dog, though taken by surprise, fought with all the fury -of his breed, but being only a pup was manifestly overmatched. Realizing -the dangerous character of the coyote, the woman seized the camp axe -standing at the front wheel of the wagon and ran to the aid of her -protector. - -The coyote tore loose from the dog's grip and jumped at her as she came -nearer. She swung the axe as the animal raised in the air, missed its -head by six inches, and, before she could gather herself for another -blow, it sank its fangs deep into her bare arm. Encouraged by her -presence the dog fastened himself to the animal's hindquarters, but -shaking him loose it lunged at her again. She stood her ground, -thrusting the axe at the brute in an endeavor to keep it at bay. -Meantime the door to the camp wagon opened, a boy about fifteen jumped -to the ground, in his hand a heavy automatic pistol. As the coyote -sprang at the woman's body he thrust the weapon under her arm almost in -the animal's face, and the shot that followed blew half its ugly head -away. - -As the beast sank to the ground the woman dropped the axe, ran to the -wagon, picked up a rope hobble that lay on the tongue, tied it around -her arm above the wound and, with a short piece of stick, twisted the -improvised tourniquet until it sank deep into the white flesh. The boy, -the while uttering those strange inarticulate sounds of the deaf and -dumb, wrote a few words upon the slate that hung from his neck by a -leather thong and handed it to the woman. "The signal--shoot the -signal," she read. - -She seized the automatic the boy had used, raised it above her head, -fired two quick shots, waited a moment, and fired two more. As she -listened there came through the still cold air an answer, sharp and -staccato as the spark from a wireless. - -Then, and not until then, did the woman relax and sink to the ground as -if dead. - -The physical disabilities of the boy had given him a keenness and -comprehension far beyond his years. He clambered into the wagon, drew -from its scabbard a heavy rifle, jumped to the ground and repeated the -signal three times. Could his ears have served him he would have heard -the answering shots, this time much nearer. - -No rider in a Wild West relay race ever quit his pony with greater speed -than did Jim Stanley as he reached his camp, where with one quick glance -he realized what had happened. As he dropped beside his wife she opened -her eyes, grasped his hand and struggled to rise. The boy ran to the -wagon returning quickly with a small box, the well known red cross on -its black shining side proving it to be a "first aid kit." The woman -smiled faintly. Away back in the mountains the forest ranger's wife had -once showed her the box the government furnished all its rangers, and -when the lambs were shipped in August she coaxed Stanley to bring one -back. He rather laughed at the idea, but to please her, bought one and, -with a woman's foresight, it had always been kept in the camp wagon. - -The prevalence of rabies among the coyotes was the one live topic in -every sheep and cattle camp all over the range country and, realizing -the serious nature of the wound, the man took the box from the boy, -opened it and seized the booklet which told briefly what to do in such -an emergency. - -The pressure of the tourniquet was lessened, causing the wound to bleed -freely, a most valuable aid to its cleansing, and in a few minutes it -had been well washed with hot water, flooded with a strong solution of -carbolic acid and bound tightly with one of the bandages from the box. - -In the meantime, the man had decided on his course. At a sign from him -the boy mounted the horse Stanley had ridden into camp and rode rapidly -off across the range. While he was gone, Stanley outlined his plans to -his wife. With good luck they could intercept the auto stage, that -passed down the road every day, at a point some thirty miles distant. -From there it was seventy-five miles to town which they would reach that -night in time to catch the midnight train to the nearest Pasteur -institute. - -"But the sheep, Jim?" and the woman looked anxiously out on the range. -"We can't leave them all alone, you better let me make the ride by -myself and you stay here, for I can get through all right." - -Stanley shook his head. "Not for all the sheep in the world would I let -you go alone." He kissed her cheeks. - -"But Jim," she pleaded, "it's too much to risk and I'll make it without -a bit of trouble." - -The boy was just turning the point of a little hill near camp driving -before him the two horses hobbled out the night before. Stanley pointed -to him. "Dummy can turn the trick all right enough, he's the best herder -in this whole range for his age, and he'll get 'em through if any one -can. He's only a boy, but he has a lot of good horse-sense and if the -weather holds out he'll work the herd from here to the winter range and -not lose a sheep." - -"But we'll take the team with us; how can he move camp?" and she glanced -at the big roomy camp wagon. - -"That saddle pony of mine will carry all the grub and bedding he'll need -and the wagon can stand right here till some of us can get back and haul -it away." - -The man hung a nose bag full of oats on each horse, saddling them as -they ate, and while he was getting out the pack outfit, food, and other -supplies for the boy, she was writing his instructions on the slate, -supplemented by many signs and motions which he read as easily as the -written words. He was to stay in this camp two or three days longer, -then pack the pony with his camp outfit and drift the sheep slowly -toward the winter range seventy-five miles below. - -"Take plenty of food," she wrote, "for it may be ten days before some -one gets out to relieve you. You know the way, don't you?" - -Dummy nodded eagerly. He had come up with the sheep in the spring and -knew every camp and bed-ground on the trail. - -"Don't you worry about him," Stanley told his wife, when she again spoke -of the danger of leaving the boy all alone. "He's short two good ears, -that's sure, but he more than makes up for them in gumption and -common-sense. If it don't come on to storm, he'll make it through all -right and by the time he gets there I'll have a man ready to relieve -him, if I'm not there myself." - -"And if it does storm," he continued, "he'll probably do just about as -well as any one else, for out here, if it comes on a blizzard, all the -best man in the world could do would be to let the sheep drift before it -till they strike shelter." - -Fifteen minutes later, the boy watched them ride out of sight, over a -ridge near camp. As the two figures were lost to view he turned toward -the wagon and took a short survey of his surroundings. Out on the range -twelve hundred ewes were peacefully grazing with no hand but his to -guide and protect them; what a chance to show the stuff in him! Deep -down in his heart he hoped that the man who was to come out from the -railroad to relieve him would be delayed for many days. It would give -him a chance to make good and show his worth. - -[Illustration: "_Out on the range 1200 ewes were grazing_"] - -For three days Dummy led an uneventful life. The dog was recovering from -his wounds, the sheep were doing well, and he had shot another rascally -coyote that came skulking about the camp one evening. - -On the fourth day the sky was overcast with heavy clouds that seemed -threatening and, as the feed near camp was about gone, he decided it was -time to be moving. In two hours he was off, the dog limping along by his -side, the herd slowly grazing their way across the range. - -As a precautionary measure he led the pack horse lest old "Slippers" -take it into his head to desert him. That night Dummy made camp under -the lee of some small hills where a few scattered cedars offered -fire-wood and shelter. The sun had set in an angry sky, there was a -strange feeling in the air, and the sheep seemed to sense an approaching -storm. - -He bedded them down in the most sheltered spot he could find, set up his -little miner's tent close to a cedar and, after cooking his supper, took -the dog into the tent, tied the flaps and slept as only a tired boy of -his age can sleep. - -The tent was lit with the dim gray of early dawn, when the dog's cold -nose on his face awoke him, and he was soon outside, opening up the fire -hole he had carefully covered the night before. The wind was blowing -a gale while overhead the sky was that dull leaden color that in the -range country means snow. - -Late that afternoon he worked the sheep toward a line of low cliffs that -cut across the prairie and bedded them down in their lee, finding for -himself a snug overhanging shelf of rock, under which he placed his camp -outfit, and cooked his first meal since daylight. - -Dummy dared not hobble out his horse in such a night, but after giving -him a small feed of grain he had brought from the wagon, staked the -animal in a little grassy wash near camp. - -By dark the snow began to fall heavily and he knew that for him and his -woolly companions the morrow would be full of new troubles. - -Lost to all sounds of the storm, the lad sat before the little campfire -under the overhanging rock and watched the snow drive before the wind. -With the confidence of one born and raised amid such conditions, Dummy -rather enjoyed the prospect of a struggle against the elements. His -parents were Basques from the Spanish Pyrenees, a sturdy dependable race -that for centuries have been sheepherders in their own land. Every -winter, from the open ranges of the West, come tales of "basco" -sheepherders facing death in the storms, rather than desert their herds. -Their devotion to their woolly charges, good judgment in handling them -and loyalty to their employers' interests, even unto death, is -recognized all over the western range country, until the name "basco" -stands for the best in sheepherders. - -From such as these sprang this boy, deaf and dumb from his birth. His -father and his uncle were among the best herders in the state, and from -a child he had been used to the rough life of a sheep camp. Deficient as -he was in two vital senses, the remaining ones had been developed until -his ability to grasp and understand things about him seemed almost -uncanny. It was this knowledge of the boy's breeding and peculiarities -that made Stanley feel he would take the best possible care of the sheep -left in his charge. - -When Dummy opened his eyes the next morning, the air was so full of snow -driving before a fifty-mile gale that he could not see a hundred feet -from camp. He cooked his breakfast, fed Slippers the last of the grain, -and waited for the storm to break, realizing that until it did it would -be folly to leave the shelter of the cliffs. - -The sheep were getting restless and hungry and occasionally small -bunches drifted out into the storm in search of feed, but after -buffeting with the wind for a few moments were glad to come back. About -noon there came a lull in the gale and the snow came straight down -almost in clouds. The sheep were uneasy over the change, and even -Slippers seemed to sense some new danger. - -Suddenly with a roar the wind swept upon them from a new direction so -that they were now exposed to its full fury, whereas, before, they had -been sheltered by the cliffs. - -The sheep tried to face it, but the fierce wind was too much for them, -and they slowly drifted before the gale across the snow-covered range. - -All that day Dummy struggled along behind the herd tired, cold, hungry, -and almost blinded by the frozen tears, leading the pack horse lest he -lose him. As for controlling the movements of the sheep, he did nothing -for they could travel in but one direction, and that was away from the -arctic blast which grew in strength as the day wore on. Wherever there -was a sign of anything eatable upon which the hungry animals could feed, -they ate even the woody stems of the sage or the dry yellow fibre-like -leaves of the Yuccas that here and there showed above the snow. - -The short winter day began to wane, and darkness was slowly creeping -across the white cover that lay over the land. All sense of direction -and time had long since left the lad, but he struggled on, the dog -limping along at his side. - -Just as the last signs of daylight faded away the sheep stopped moving, -and he was unable to start them again. He wrapped the lead rope of his -horse about a sage bush as best he could, then worked his way through -the herd looking for the cause of their stopping. Stumbling and falling -over snow-hidden rocks and bushes, he found himself almost stepping off -into empty space over a cliff, where the snow had built out from its -edge in such a manner as to conceal its presence, and, even as he threw -himself back from the step he was about to take, he saw several sheep -walk blindly out into the semi-darkness and disappear into the depth -below. - -The loss of these roused into action every drop of his basco blood. In -the dim light he could just make out where the edge of the cliff lay -and, carefully working his way along it, beat the stolid mass of animals -back from the danger. By this time it was almost dark and he turned back -to find his horse, but after half an hour's search gave it up and -returned to the herd, hoping the animal might be with them somewhere. -He stumbled around in the snow for some time before he came up with the -tail enders of the herd slowly working their way through a break in the -cliff down which the leaders had evidently gone. He found the herd -huddled up in the shelter of the cliff and eagerly looked through them -for the pack horse with its precious burden of food and bedding, but -without success. - -Once he stumbled over several soft objects in the dark which he made out -to be some of the sheep that had fallen over the cliff. When he finally -realized that the pack horse was gone, he knew where he could at least -get his supper and breakfast, and after starting a fire skinned out a -hind quarter of one of the fallen sheep and soon had some of it -roasting. Fortunately for the boy, he found piled against the cliff a -lot of poles that had evidently been part of an old corral, which made -it possible for him to keep the fire going all night and over which he -huddled dropping off to sleep only to be awakened by his numbed limbs -and body. - -Eagerly Dummy peered through the falling snow the next day as the gray -dawn came slowly into the east. The snow sweeping over the cliff from -above had formed a drift that almost completely shut the sheep in as if -with a fence and he knew there was no possibility of leaving the shelter -where he was until the sky cleared off enough for him to get his -bearings. Even then he doubted if it would be possible for the sheep to -travel, so deep was the snow. - -About noon the snow stopped falling, and Dummy worked his way up to the -top of the cliff from which as far as he could see there was but a broad -expanse of snow-covered range. - -To his left the view was cut off by a small hill that stood close to the -cliff. He went over to it and from its top saw below him in the open -plain a small board shack with a rough shed stable near it. - -Instantly he remembered that, as they passed up with the sheep in the -spring, a man and his wife were busy building the shack preparatory to -taking up the land about it for dry farming purposes. Eagerly he watched -the house for signs of occupancy, but as there was no smoke coming from -the chimney, he decided it was empty. Two things interested him, -however. One, the fact that the plowed field near the house, being on a -slight elevation, was blown almost clear of snow, and the other, there -was something half hidden by the house which looked mightily like a -stack of hay, although it scarcely seemed that this could be true. - -In the field, which covered perhaps forty acres, he saw the possibility -of finding a little feed for the sheep until the snow should settle -enough to allow them to travel and, if the stack really was hay or any -rough feed, his troubles were over for the present at least. - -As the lad turned back to camp he realized only too well the difficulty -of moving the herd until the snow settled, it being fully eighteen -inches deep on the level, and everywhere there were drifts many feet -high through which the sheep in their weakened condition could not make -their way. - -But it was less than half a mile at the most from the camp to the shack, -and he was sure he could work the sheep to the field where there would -be some pickings that would keep them from starving. - -As he suspected, he found the place deserted, and the stack proved to -be fodder of some description surrounded by a strong fence. The shed, -which had a small door hanging on one hinge and about half open, was as -dark as a cellar and, as he stepped inside, the nose of his lost horse -was fairly pushed into his face, and but for his infirmity he could have -heard the most gladsome nickering and whinnying to which a lone hungry -horse ever gave tongue. A few threads of canvas on the door post told -the story of the trap the animal had walked into. Looking for food and -shelter, he had squeezed through the half open door, but, once inside, -the wide pack striking it on one side and the door post on the other, -held him a prisoner. - -Quickly the boy removed the pack, then, armed with the camp shovel and -axe, went to investigate the stack. It looked more like weeds than -anything else and when he grabbed a handful it was rough and harsh and -pricked his hands. It was green, however, and the horse ate it greedily. - -With the finding of his horse the lad's spirit rose and he set to work -to move the sheep over. Between the camp and the house there was a deep -wash which the drifting snow had almost filled, while elsewhere there -was fully eighteen inches. With the pack-saddle on the horse, the lash -rope for traces, and an old sled, evidently used by the farmer to haul -water, he started to break a trail through which the sheep could make -their way, the shovel being used on the drifts. With a little coaxing he -got them started through this narrow lane, and eventually the whole -bunch was inside the field eagerly gnawing every eatable thing in sight. - -About half an hour before dark that evening a long string of pack -horses, with a rider in the lead and another following, came ploughing -through the snow up to the cliff above where the sheep had been bedded. -Two of the horses carried ordinary camp packs, the rest were loaded with -hay, three bales to the horse. At the edge of the cliff the leader -pulled up while every animal stopped in its tracks. - -"If we can't see anything of the sheep from here we might just as well -give it up for the night," he called back to his companion. "Come on up -and have a look." - -For a few minutes they both sat gazing out into the plain below, across -which the evening shadows were slowly trailing. As far as they could see -there was but a white unbroken sheet of snow, the only living thing -visible being half a dozen ravens cawing hoarsely as they drifted into -the distance. - -The second man pulled out his pipe, loaded, and lit it. - -"Jim," he queried, "do you know what night this is?" - -"I reckon I do," and Stanley's voice choked. "It's Christmas eve, an' I -been a-thinkin' an' a-thinkin' all afternoon of that poor little chap -out here a-fightin' his way through a storm, the like of which this -range ain't seen in twenty years. Don't seem possible he's pulled -through, although I'd back Dummy to make it and save his herd if any kid -could." - -Suddenly he turned his head and sniffed. - -"Seems like I smell smoke, and cedar smoke at that," he said eagerly. -"Don't you git it, Bob?" - -"Which way's the wind?" and Bob blew a cloud of smoke into the frosty -air. - -"What there is comes from the direction of that there little hill," -pointing to the very hill on which Dummy had stood. - -The instant they topped it, each caught sight of the dry farmer's place, -the haystack, the sheep in the field and knew they had found that for -which they sought. - -"You know the place?" asked Bob, as they hurried down. - -"I do for a fact," Stanley grinned, "last time I passed this-a-way the -old digger what built that shack an' taken up the dry farm was cuttin' -an' stackin' Russian thistles. When I laughed at him for a fool he said -he ain't raised nothing' else, an' up North Dakota way they used to put -'em up for roughness when the crops failed, an' he's seen many an old -Nellie pulled through a hard winter on 'em." - -Ten minutes later the two rode up to the shack. A line of scattered -fodder from the stack to the shed showed what the boy had been doing. -Bob picked up a handful of the stuff: "Roosian thistles by all that's -holy," was his comment, "an' whoever before heerd tell of them tumble -weeds a-bein' good for anything to eat." - -As he spoke the lad came round the corner of the shed in which -"Slippers" had been comfortably stabled and fed. - -What with smoke from campfires, and the charcoal he had smeared over it -to save his eyes, his face was as black as Toby's hat, but to Stanley it -was the face of a hero. Uttering those strange guttural sounds, waving -his arms towards the sheep, his dark eyes shining with pride and joy the -boy ran to Stanley as a child to its father. - -The man, too overwhelmed and happy to speak, grabbed the lad close to -his heart, stroking the tousled head and patting tenderly the dirty -cheeks down which the child's tears were now cutting deep trails in -their extra covering while, as he realized the boy could hear not a word -of the praise and thanks he was showering on him for his pluck and -fidelity the tears came to his own eyes nor did he try to stop them. - -In the shack that night the boy, worn out by his exposure and the -reaction, dropped into his bed the instant supper had been eaten and was -fast asleep in ten seconds. - -The two men smoked in silence before the little fireplace in the corner. - -"Do you reckon we could make a stab at some sort of a Christmas tree an' -kinda s'prise the kid in the morning?" Stanley glanced toward the figure -asleep on the floor. - -"Jest what I was a studyin' over," was Bob's reply. "These here bascos -make a heap of such holidays an' Dummy he'd be the tickledest kid ever, -if he was to find something like Christmas time a settin' by his bed -when he wakes up in the morning." - -Bob knocked the ashes from his pipe and put it away. - -"There's a bunch of piņons and cedars down along the wash," he said, -"sposin' I take the axe an' git a little branch, or the tip of a piņon -an' we set her up here by his bed? What kin we dig up to put onto it -that's fittin' for such a thing?" - -"For a starter I got them nine silver cart wheels the store keeper give -me in change," was Stanley's quick response. Bob was already going -through his pockets. - -"Here's a handful of chicken feed, that'll help some," handing the -change to Stanley, "yep, an' a paper dollar the postmaster gimme. -Reckon the kid'll know what it is? I been skeert I'd use it fer a -cigarette paper." - -Stanley started for the two kyacks lying in the corner. - -"You hustle out an' git the tree," said he, "an' I'll see what else I -can scare up in the packs. I know there's a couple of apples an' a -orange I throwed in with the grub when we was packin'." - -An hour later the two men stood by the boy's bed, their faces fairly -shining with the true Christmas spirit over their efforts to make an -acceptable Christmas tree out of such scanty material. On the floor at -his head stood a small piņon tree top held erect by several stones. Both -men had exhausted their ingenuity to find things with which to decorate -it and on its branches hung the oddest lot of plunder that ever old -"Santy" left on his rounds. - -"I'll never miss them spurs," said Bob pointing to an almost new pair he -had recently bought, "an' Dummy, he's been just daffy about 'em." - -"Same with that new knife," said Stanley. "I jist bought it to be a -doin' somethin' an' I know Dummy ain't got one that'll cut cold butter." - -In nine separate little packages wrapped in newspaper the silver dollars -were swinging at the end of pieces of thread from a spool in Bob's "war -bag," the loose silver had been placed in two empty tobacco sacks each -hanging pendant from the tip of a limb, while three unbroken packages of -chewing gum, two apples and one rather dilapidated orange swung from -other branches. - -Stanley picked up the boy's slate. "Less' see," he asked, "what's -Dummy's real name?" - -"Pedro," answered Bob, busy making down their bed on the floor. - -Painstaking and slowly, he wrote: - - TO PEDRO - - A MERRY CHRISTMAS. - - YOU ARE SURE SOME SHEEP MAN. - -Then he propped the slate against the tree in plain sight of the lad's -eyes when he woke. - -"Beats hell how a man's eyes gits to waterin' this cold weather." -Stanley wiped his eyes rather furtively as he turned toward their bed. - -"Same here," replied Bob, blowing his nose with more than usual vigor. -"Somethin' sure does act onto 'em." - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -THE MUMMY FROM THE GRAND CAŅON - - -"Bang, bang, bang!" went three shots in the night air. Sounds like some -feller's a huntin' a warm place to sleep," said Little Bob Morris, one -of three men who were sitting in front of the fireplace in the snug -little dugout at the winter horse camp of the X bar outfit. - -"Open the door, Bob, and show 'em a light," said one of the others. In a -few minutes, with a wild "whoo-pee," a mounted figure rode out of the -darkness and the boys were shaking hands with "Hog-eye" Jackson, who had -a pair of eyes that, as one man put it, "didn't track," one being blue, -the other black, and both so badly crossed that he looked both ways at -once. - -After supper had been cooked and the dishes put away, the boys gathered -about the fireplace for a smoke. - -"I hain't been out this a-way since the time me and Little Bob here was -a huntin' for a dead Chinee," said Jackson, with a look about the room. - -"Huntin' for a dead Chink?" said Grimes. "What ye mean by that?" - -"Ain't you never heard tell about the Chinee what died over in Williams -and was stoled away from the joss house where the other Chinks had him -laid out?" said Jackson, with a look of surprise. - -"Nary a hear," replied the two boys, "le's have it." - -"'Bout two years ago, along in the fall," Jackson began, "after we had -shipped the last steers from Williams, a Chinese laundryman there died -one night, and was laid out in the little room where the Chinamen of the -town kept their joss. The day following there was a tremendous squalling -among the heathen, for during the night Ah Yen had disappeared from the -coffin, and not a trace of him could be found. The coffin was there all -right; it stood just where they left it the night before, surrounded by -paper prayers, burning punk sticks, and all the other things used by the -heathens to frighten away the devils which are supposed to be lyin' in -wait for the spirit of a diseased celestial. But punk or no punk, devils -or no devils, Ah Yen was gone, of that there was no doubt. The city -marshal and the sheriff both came to investigate and question, the town -was scoured, old stables and lofts searched, but still, 'no catch 'em.' -After a couple of days' work the sheriff said: 'I'm danged if I'm not -clear stumped. The Chink was plum dead, that's a sure thing, so he -didn't git up and walk away, and if he was hauled off by some one, they -didn't leave any sign that I can find, and, anyhow (which to him was the -most convincing thing of all), what'd any one want for to steal a dead -Chinaman, I'd like to know?' - -"There was a doctor livin' over on Cataract caņon that fall, a sort of -lunger chap, and when some one suggested that perhaps he had packed the -Chink off for dissectin' purposes (Ah Yen bein' six feet tall and the -best specimen of a Chinaman I'd ever seen), the sheriff, just to make a -sort of showin' to the other Chinks, sent me--I bein' a deputy sheriff -at that time--to make a sort of scout round and see what I could pick -up. - -"We dropped into his camp, but nothin' doin', and after prowling around -for a day or two I went back to town. The next day Scotty Jones got on a -tear and shot up the burg pretty plenty, and in tryin' to ride his horse -into a Front Street saloon got a load of buckshot into his countenance. -This made so much excitement that by the time the coroner's jury got -done with the inquest the loss of Ah Yen's remains had become a matter -of past history. - -"Meantime the Chinks raised a powerful rookus over the loss of the body -of Ah Yen, he bein' a sort of high muck-a-muck among them, but even the -offer of a $100 reward for the body didn't get any clews to the -disappearance." - -"I remember hearin' something about it," said Grimes, "but I was down in -the Tonto basin that fall a-huntin' some hosses we lost on the spring -work, and never before did hear jist what happened." - -"An' didn't they never find out what went with the Chink?" queried -Russel, who was a newcomer in the country. - -"Well," said Jackson rather evasively, "so fur as I know nobody's ever -yit claimed the reward." - -"Le's change the subject," said Grimes, lighting his pipe with a long -pine sliver. "Hog-eye, where you been sence I seen you last fall a year -ago over on the Tonto steer round up?" he asked of the newcomer. - -"Me?" said Jackson, with a start, blowing a cloud of smoke skyward. "Oh, -I been a driftin' about pretty promiscous like sence then. When we come -to ship the last of the steers that fall, old Mose, the Spur boss, axed -me if I wanted to go back to Kansas and help take care of 'em where the -outfit was going to winter 'em. Well, me not being sure of a winter's -job here, and likely to have to ride the chuck line before spring, I -reckons I'd best nab the job whilst it was open, so I took it." - -"How long did you last on the cornstalk job?" asked Russel. - -"Oh, I hung and rattled with it till about April, and then I begins to -git oneasy and sort of hankering for the range agin. One day I was in -town for some grub and other plunder and goes down to the depot to see -the train come through, and me a wishin' to God I was a goin' off in -her, no matter which-a-way she was pointed. When number two comes along, -who should drop off but old Pickerell, who used to live out here on the -caņon and take tourists out and show 'em the sights. Pick were powerful -glad to see me and he sed, ses he, 'What be ye a doin' here, Jackson?' - -"'I'm a doin' of the prodigal son act,' ses I. - -"'Come again,' ses he, lookin' sort of mystified like. - -"'I'm a-feedin' a bunch of hawgs and steers out here on a farm,' ses I, -'where I ain't seen the sun shine but twicet in four months.' - -"Pickerell, he laughed sort of tickled like, an' ses to me, 'Why don't -you quit and go back to Arizony, where the sun shines all the time?' - -"'I'm a goin' to,' ses I, 'just as shore as next pay day comes.' I -didn't like to tell him that I was flat busted count of goin' into K. C. -with a load of hawgs an' meetin' up with a bunch of _amigos_ what worked -me for a sure enough sucker. They gits all my _dinero_ an' leaves me -locked up in a little old room where we went to git a drink." - -Hog-eye sighed and sucked vigorously at his pipe, while the boys grinned -at each other and waited to hear the rest of the story, which was -evidently hanging on his lips. - -"Well, go on Hog-eye, tell us the rest. Might as well 'fess up and feel -better," said High-pockets encouragingly. - -"I reckon so," replied Jackson with a chuckle, as if there was some -pleasure in the memories of the past. "You see, after talkin' a few -minutes with Pick he up and makes me an offer to go back east, where he -was a runnin' a show what were a part of a street carnival outfit and -a-makin' all kinds of money. He wanted me to rig up in a 'Montgomery -Ward outfit,' big hat, goatskin chaps, spurs an' gloves, with stars and -fringe like them fellers in the movie outfits gits onto 'em, an' sort of -loaf round the door and git people excited an' toll 'em into the show. -So I hits the high places back to the farm, and tells the granger feller -to git him a new cornstalk pusher to take my place pretty _pronto_. When -he comes I strikes out for the place back in Illinoy where Pick sed he'd -be showin' an' waitin' for my arrival. - -"Pick he pays me forty beans a month, an we sleeps on our round-up beds -in one of the tents. He shore had a mess of plunder inside the big tent. -They was a Navajo squaw weavin' blankets, a couple of loafer wolves, -some coyotes, wildcats, badgers, a lot of rattlers, centipedes and -tarantulas, and a whole box full of them heely monsters. Besides this, -he had a lot of glass cases in which he had a bunch of them stone axes, -_metates_, _mano_ stones, arrow-heads, and all that sort of plunder -which they digs up from them prehistoric ruins all over this country out -here. - -[Illustration: "_He had a Navajo Squaw weaving blankets_"] - -"But the main drawin' card he had was the mummy which he sed he dug up -somewheres out here in the Grand Caņon. He had all sorts of certificates -and letters to prove its genuineness, as well as photographs taken when -they dug it up in the cave. - -"One day a odd-lookin' four-eyed feller comes along, and he ses to Pick, -'Mought I inspect this mummy of your'n?' and Pick he ses, 'Shore, -pardner, jist as much as you like. You come round to-morrow mornin' fore -the show begins and I'll be glad to have you look the gent over.' - -"The old boy ses he'll shore be on hand, for he's powerful interested in -them prehistoric things out West. So that evening, after the show -closed, Pick ses to me, 'Jackson, you git a screwdriver and take them -screws outen the lower lid of that there mummy case.' So I loosens up -the screws, and havin' nothin' particular to do, I takes off the lid to -get a better look at his Nibs. I ain't never seen a mummy before, an' -was sort of curious to know what a shore enuff mummy did look like. He -was naked down to his waist, and the skin was as dry and leathery as an -old cowhide that's been laying out in the weather for ten years. His -eyes were shut tight and his teeth showed through his thin lips with a -grin that give me a cold chill for a month afterwards. But, say, boys, -talk about a surprise. One look was all I wanted to show me that this -here mummy of old Pick's was nothin' else but the remains of old Ah -Yen, the Chink what died in Williams and was stole out of the joss -house. Then I remembered the reward offered for it, but old Pick were -too square a feller to soak that-a-way. I never said nothin' to nobody -about what I'd seen, but slipped the lid back on the case and went off -to bed in the other tent. - -"Long about midnight I was woke up by somebody a hollerin' fire, and -when I busted out of the tent the whole row of shacks was a blazin'. Our -big tent was too far gone to save anything, but we drug out our beds and -what little baggage we had in the small tent and did well to git that -much out. Inside an hour there wasn't nothin' left but a pile of ashes -to show where the whole outfit stood. - -"Old man Pick, he took on considerable, but 'twan't no use cryin' over -spilt milk, an' so we hit the trail for Arizony an' a little sunshine." - -"But how did Pickerell git holt of that there Chink's body?" asked -Morris, who had listened with amazement at the story. - -Jackson grinned as he slowly knocked the ashes from his pipe. "It sort -of hacked the old man when he found I was wise to his little game with -the Chink," he said. "Over in Albuquerque he met up with a feller who -was a-goin' down into Central America on a sort of bug huntin' -expedition and he talked Pick into goin' with him. The night before we -split at Albuquerque he gits fuller than a goat, an' seein' as how he -wasn't comin' back to these parts agin, he give me a great old -confidential an' tole me how he turned the trick. - -"I disremember all that Pickerell done tole me of the way the job was -worked," continued Jackson, "but, howsomever, the day the Chink died the -one-lunged doctor was in town. Pickerell he's been a tellin' him about -the mummies they occasionally found out in them cliff dwellers' ruins in -the caņon, and when the Doc meets Pick hangin' about town that afternoon -he suggests carryin' off the Chink's body and makin' a mummy out of it. -That hits Pick all right and he didn't let no grass grow under his feet -gittin' ready to do it. - -"The night of the body snatchin', he gits up about midnight, slips -uptown, finds the door of the joss house open and no one watchin' it. -Hurryin' back to his cabin, he saddles up one mule and slaps a -packsaddle on the other, an' an hour later drifted out of town with a -pack on his mule lookin' for all the world like a long roll of bedding. -By noon the next day he reached his den in the caņon, where he and the -doctor went to work, and between 'em did a mighty good job of embalmin', -endin' it all up with a three months' smokin' of the body with green -cedar wood. - -"Pick ses that then come the tickledest part of the hull job, fer whilst -he's got a mummy all right, he's got to git it sort of discovered like -to make it of any scientific value, an' he studies the matter aplenty. -He knows a bunch of fellers what was a-coming out to the Grand Caņon -from the East to poke about an' try an' discover prehistoric things, and -he knows them's the very chaps to help him out. So when they shows up he -tells 'em sort of accidental like that he knows where they's a bunch of -them there clift dwellings what nobody'd ever yit seen, and they grabs -at his bait like hungry trout. They just can't skeercely wait to git out -there, and Pick ses the rest were plumb easy, for the whole place looked -like it had never been disturbed before, and when they digs out the -mummy all buried in the dirt and rubbish in one of the cliff dwellings, -the thing was done. - -"Them fellers jist nachelly never suspicioned a thing and was perfectly -willin' to sign a statement testifyin' to the genuineness of the mummy. -Then they took photographs of the cliff dwellings and the mummy as it -lay in the room, and all the surroundin's, with all these here -scientific chaps a-standin' around, which clinched the thing. Pick ses -he'll take the mummy fer his share, and he gits the fellers to take it -on east with their plunder when they goes, so no one won't never -suspicion him and connect him up with the deal." - -"I reckon you and him would have been chasin' 'bout the country back -thar to this very yit, if the fire hadn't cleaned up the outfit, -wouldn't you?" inquired Russel. - -"Sure," replied the ex-showman; "we was makin' all kinds of money at it -and makin' of it easier than I ever did in all my life before. But, say, -when it comes to makin' mummies, old Pickerell and that there one-lung -doctor had 'em old Pharaoh fellers beaten a whole mile." - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: "_He knows where there's a bunch of them there Cliff -dwellings_"] - - - - -[Illustration] - -JUMPING AT CONCLUSIONS - - -It certainly seemed good to be back on the old range again after a six -months' absence. As we "topped" the last hill I pulled up the team. Down -in the Valley below us the white adobe walls of the ranch house, like -some desert light house, blazed through the glorious green of the -cottonwoods that hovered about it. To its right a brown circle marked -the big stockade corral. A smooth mirror-like spot out in the flat in -front of the house was the stock-watering reservoir, into which the -windmill, seconded by an asthmatic little gas engine, pumped water from -the depths. Above it the galvanized iron sails of the great mill -glittered and flickered and winked in the bright sunlight as if to -welcome us home. A cloud of dust stringing off into the distance marked -the trail where a bunch of "broom tails" were scurrying out onto the -range after filling themselves at the tank with water and salt. - -Suddenly, a gleam of color caught our eyes. It was "Old Glory" at the -top of the tall pole, stirred by a little gust of wind that shook out -its folds, the green of the trees making a splendid background. -Evidently the boys were expecting us, for the flag was only run up on -holidays, Sundays, and when guests were due to arrive. - -A soft hand slipped quietly into mine. "Be it ever so humble, there's no -place like home," she sang, and as the words of the homesick, -world-tired Payne came from her lips, there came into my throat a great -lump, my eyes filled with tears, and to us both, the sage brush plain -shimmering and baking in the bright Arizona sunshine, those brown rugged -mountains in the distance and that desert oasis in the foreground were -by far the loveliest thing we had seen in all our travels. The team, -too, seemed to sense our feelings, for they freshened up and took us -across the intervening distance as if they had not already made a good -forty miles from the railroad. - -Old Dad, the ranch cook, was at the "snorting post" to greet us as we -pulled up, and we soon were sitting on the broad veranda plying the old -rascal with questions about the work, the men, and all the happenings -while we had been away; for of all forlorn, unsatisfactory things on -earth the worst are the letters written by the average cow-puncher ranch -foreman concerning matters upon which his absent boss has requested full -and frequent information. - -One of the first anxious inquiries on the part of the madam was as to -the whereabouts of her Boston terrier, a bench show prize winner sent -out to her shortly before we left. The letter accompanying the dog -advised us that, barring accidents, the animal should in a few months -bring into the world some offspring, which, considering its parentage, -ought to bring fancy prices on the dog market. - -"Where's Beauty?" she asked. - -"I reckon she done went off with the boys this morning. They's down to -Walnut Spring, buildin' a new corral." - -"But didn't she--er--hasn't she--" She looked at me appealingly. - -"Where are her pups?" was my blunt inquiry. - -"Them pups?" The old man took his pipe from his jaws. A queer look -flashed across his brown face; he chuckled as if the words brought up -some rather amusing recollection. Now, old Dad was one of the worst -practical jokers in the West. Nor did he count the cost or think of the -results as long as he could carry his point, and fool some one with one -of his wildly improbable yarns. To "pick a load" into some innocent -tenderfoot was his most joyous occupation. I waited patiently for him to -recover from the fit of mirth into which my innocent question seemed to -have plunged him. There was a look of extreme disgust on the face of the -lady sitting nearby. - -"Ye 'member that there young kid-like chap what drifted in here last -spring after the steer gatherin'?" Again that witless chuckle. - -Yes, I remembered. We both did--the madam nodded. - -"Well, along about the time them there pups came into this here state of -Arizony"--the madam's face lighted; there were some pups after all--"the -kid and I was here at the ranch all alone, the whole outfit bein' out on -the _rodeo_, an' we havin' been left behind to watch the pasture fence, -where a bunch of yearlin's was bein' weaned. One mornin' the kid busted -into the kitchen. 'The mut's got four purps! Come an' look at em; they's -all de-formed!' ses he, almost breathless with the news." - -(Business of surprise and horror on part of listening lady.) - -"'De-formed?'" ses I. - -"'That's what I sed,' he snaps back at me." - -(More business of S. and H. on part of lady; also friend husband.) - -"I follers the kid out to the shed back of the house, where the dog had -a pile of ole saddle blankets for a bed, and sure enough she had four -white faced brindle purps all right, whinin' an' sniffin' just as purps -allers does. - -"'What's wrong with 'em?' says I, me not seein' anything de-formed about -'em. - -"'Hell' ses he, 'can't you see they's all de-formed?' - -"'Search me,' ses I, lookin' 'em all over carefully. - -"The kid picked up two of 'em. 'Lookit them tails then.' He turned one -of 'em around. Now Beauty ain't got no great shakes of a tail herself, -but what she has is straight. 'By Heck!' ses I, seein' a chanst to have -some fun with him, 'sure enough, they is sort of de-formed in their -little ole _colas_. Reckon they's no use botherin' to raise 'em, is -they--what with their tails all as crooked as a gimlet. Too bad, too -bad,' ses I, 'fer the missus will be monstrously disapp'inted over it.' - -"'They's every dad burned one of 'em got a watch eye too, jist like that -there ole Pinto hoss I rides.' The kid's sure worried. - -"'Wuss an' more of it,' I comes back at him. - -"'What we goin' to do with 'em?' droppin' the animiles back into the -blankets. - -"'Nothin', I reckon,' lookin' straight down my nose, 'less'n we drownds -'em--said job not bein' one I'm actually hankerin' fer.'" - -[Illustration: "_The galvanized iron sails of the windmill flashed in -the sunlight_"] - -(Business of fury, anger and indignation, with signs of approaching -tears on part of listening lady.) - -"You blithering old idiot!" I shrieked, "do you mean to say that you -loaded the kid with that sort of a story till he went off and drowned -those valuable pups under the mistaken impression that they were -deformed and therefore worthless?" I glared at him as if to wither his -old carcass with one look. (More of above mentioned business by -lady--with real tears.) - -"Well"--and the old renegade emitted that infernal chuckle again--"well, -how should I sense that he didn't savvy that crooked tails and a glass -eye were sure enough signs of birth an' breedin' with them there Boston -terriers?" He looked away; we felt sure he dared not face the wrath in -both our eyes. - -I stormed up and down the porch for a few moments, speechless. The lady -was registering every known phase of indignation. Her voice, however, -was silent. Evidently there are times in her life when words fail her. -This was one of them. - -"Where's that kid?" I finally demanded. "I want to have a little heart -to heart talk with that _hombre_! As for you"--and I tried to look the -indignation I knew the madam felt--"it seems to me your fondness for -picking loads into idiots green enough to be fooled by such a gabbling -old ass as you are has gone just about far enough. After I've seen the -kid, I'll talk to you further." - -Old Dad was slowly and carefully reloading his pipe. From his shirt -pocket he dug a match. With most aggravating deliberation he struck it -on the door-post against which he leaned, held it over the bowl, gave -several long pulls at the pipe to assure himself it was well lit before -he even deigned to raise his keen gray eyes to mine. The madam's face -was a study in expression. "Where's the kid?" I really thought he had -not heard my first inquiry as to the whereabouts of that individual. - -"Where's he at?" with the grandest look of innocent inquiry on his -weather beaten face that could possibly be imagined. For mere facial -expression he should be a star performer in some big movie company. - -"Yes!" I snapped out the words as if to annihilate him. "I want to hold -sweet converse with him, _muy pronto, sabe_?" - -"Well, he's _vamosed_--drifted yonderly" and he waved his pipe towards -the eastern horizon. - -"Ahead of the sheriff?" I never did have much faith in the young -gentleman from Missouri. - -"Yep--in a way he was." Once more that devilish chuckle. - -I saw the old man evidently had a story concealed about his person and -that, with his usual contrariness the more we crowded him the longer he -would be in getting it out of his system. I dropped angrily into the -porch swing, where I could watch his face, while the madam sat herself -down on the steps of the porch apparently utterly oblivious of -everything but the sage-dotted prairie spread out before us. Finally the -aged provision spoiler began to emit words. - -"The last time the outfit shipped steers over at the railroad," he said -slowly, "the kid he tanked up pretty consid'able till he's a feeling his -oats, an' imaginin' hisself a reg'lar wild man from Borneo, and -everything leading up to his gittin' into trouble before he was many -hours older. Comes trotting down the sidewalk old man Kates, the Justice -of the Peace who, on account of his gittin' the fees in all cases -brought up before him, was allers on the lookout for biz. Also he done -set into a poker game the night before and lose his whole pile, which -didn't tend to make him view this here world through no very rosy specs. -The kid comes swaggering along and the two meets up jist in front of the -'Bucket of Blood' saloon. You know Kates he allers wears a plug hat, one -of them there old timers of the vintage of '73 or thereabouts, an' the -kid he bein' a comparative stranger in these parts, and not knowin' who -the judge was nor havin' seen any such headgear for some time, he ses to -hisself, 'Right here's where I gits action on that _sombrero grande_,' -and he manages to bump into the judge in such a way as to knock off the -tile, and before it hits the ground the kid was filling it so full of -holes that it looked like some black colander. - -"Every one came pouring out of the saloon and nearby stores to see what -was up, and the judge he takes advantage of the kid's having to stop and -reload his six pistol, to relieve hisself of some of the most expressive -and profane language ever heard in the burg before or since, windin' up -by informin' the gent from ole Missou that he was goin' straight to his -office and swear out a warrant for him and send him down to Yuma by the -next train. - -"When the boys tells the kid who he's been tamperin' with he gits onto -his hoss and tears outa town like hell a-beatin' tanbark, he havin' no -particular likin' for court proceedin's, owing to several little -happenin's in that line down on the Pecos in Texas. About a week later -the sheriff he gits a tip that the kid's probably hangin' out at Deafy -Morris's sheep camp up on Wild Cat, so he saunters up that a-way and -nabs the young gent as he's a helpin' Deafy fix up his shearin' pens. -Sheriff he sort of throws a skeer into the kid, tellin' him Kates is -liable to send him up for ten years for assaultin' the honor and dignity -of a J. P., but the kid's mighty foxy and also plumb sober by that time, -and he tells the sheriff he's willing to go back to town and take his -medicine. - -"Next morning Deafy he ses as how he's a-goin' down to town, and the -sheriff, havin' got track of somebody else he's a wantin' up on the -mountain, and believin' the kid's story about bein' willing to go to -town, he deputizes Deafy to take him in and deliver him at the -'Hoosgow.'[D] - -[D] Jusgado--The prisoner's dock in a Spanish criminal court. - -"Deafy he tells the sheriff he's not a goin' clean through to town that -day, but is a-goin' to camp at the Jacob's Well, a place about half way -down, on the edge of the pines, where he's arranged to meet up with the -camp rustler of one of his bands of sheep grazin' in that section. Ever -been at that there Jacob's Well?" And the old man looked at me -inquiringly. I nodded affirmatively. - -The Jacob's Well was located in the center of a very large level mass of -sandstone covering perhaps three or four acres, with a dense thicket of -cedar and piņon trees all about it. It was a fairly round hole about -five feet wide and perhaps ten deep, bored down into the sandstone -formation either by human agency or some peculiar action of nature. The -lay of the rocks all about it was such as to form a regular watershed, -so that the natural drainage from the rain and snow kept it nearly -filled almost all the year round. - -Just what made this well was a moot question in the country. A -scientific investigator promptly put it down to the action of hard flint -rocks lying in a small depression and rolled about by the wind until -they dug a little basin in the rock, then the water collecting in it -continued the attrition until, finally, after what may have been ages, -the well was the result. My private opinion was that it was the work of -prehistoric or even modern Indians who, wishing to secure a supply of -water at this particular point, possibly for hunting purposes, formed -the hole by fire. A large fire was built upon the rock, then when at a -white heat water was thrown upon it, causing the stone to flake and -crack so it could easily be removed. This was a slow process, of course, -but having myself once seen a party of Apache squaws by the same -primitive means remove over half of a huge boulder that lay directly in -the line of an irrigating ditch they were digging, and which they -otherwise could not get around, I am convinced the scientific person -missed the true methods employed to excavate the hole. - -However, without regard to its origin, the well was a fine camping -place, for water was scarce in that region and there was always good -grass for the horses near it. The old man rambled on. - -"Deafy he gits a poor start next mornin' 'count of a pack mule what -insisted on buckin' the pack off a couple of times and scatterin' the -load rather promisc'ous-like over the landscape, an' by the time they -reached the well it was plumb dark. They unsaddles and hobbles their -hosses out, and then Deafy he sets to work buildin' a fire, tellin' the -kid to take his saddle rope and the coffee pot and git some water. The -kid he's never been there afore, but Deafy tells him the well's only -about a hundred feet from where they unpacked, so he moseys out into the -dark lookin' for the well, his rope in one hand, the camp coffee pot in -'tother, the idee bein' to let the pot down into the well with the rope. - -"It were sure dark in them trees, and the kid he's a blunderin' and -stumblin' along, a-cursin' the world by sections, when all to once he -stepped off into fresh air, and the next thing he knows he's a standin' -at the bottom of the well in about four or five feet of ice-cold water, -and him a-still hangin' onto the rope and pot with a death grip. Took -him about five minutes to git his breath and realize he done found the -well all rightee, and then he sets up a squall like a trapped wildcat. -He ain't forgot, neither, that Deafy ain't likely to hear him, the ole -man bein' deafer than a rock; so after hollerin' a while and gittin' no -results he stops it and begins cussin' jist to relieve his mind and help -keep him from shakin' all his teeth outen his head account o' shiverin' -so blamed hard. - -"Up on top Deafy he's busy startin' a fire and openin' up the packs -gittin' ready to cook supper. The kid not bein' back with the water yit, -and he bein' obliged to have water fer bread makin' purposes, Deafy -finally decides the kid's gone and got hisself lost out there in the -dark, and so he takes a _pasear_ out that a-way huntin' fer him. The -ole man's a hollerin' and a trompin' through the cedars an' rocks, -thinkin' more how much his wool's a-goin' to fetch than anything else, -when he thinks he hears someone a-callin'. He turns to listen, gits a -little more sound in his ears, takes a step or two in its direction, -and, kerslop, he's into that there well hole, square on top of the young -gent from 'ole Missou'. Say, the things them two fellers sed to each -other, an' both at the same time, most cracked the walls of the hole." - -Dad wiped his eyes with the heel of his fat hand. - -"Talk about your Kilkenny cats," he continued, "they wan't in it with -them two pore devils down in that cold water. Finally, they both run out -of mouth ammunition an' set to work to figger out how they was goin' to -git outen the well. It was too wide to climb out of by puttin' a foot on -each side and coonin' up the walls like a straddle bug, an' it was -mostly too deep for either of 'em to reach the top with their hands. So -they mighty soon agrees between 'em that there's but one way to git out, -an' that's fer one of 'em to stand on 'tother's shoulder so's to git a -grip on the edge, pull hisself out, an' then help his shiverin', shakin' -_amigo_ what's down in the hole onto terry firmy. Bein' a foot taller -than Deafy, Bob agrees that the old man can climb onto his shoulders an' -git out first. But Deafy, he's heavy on his feet, an' bein' sixty years -old an' none too spry, he cain't seem to make the riffle to git onto the -kid's back, so he finally gives it up, an' lets the kid have a try at -it. The kid he's soon on Deafy's shoulders, an' one jump an' he's on -top. - -"Meantime the kid he's been doin' some powerful hard thinkin'. He ain't -hankerin' after a close-up view of that there indignant judge down in -town. The sheep man he's got a monstrous fine hoss, a new Heiser saddle, -an' a jim dandy pack mule and outfit, while his own hoss an' saddle -ain't nothin' much to brag on. He knows the sheep man's dead safe where -he's at till some one comes to help him out, which will be when his camp -rustler arrives on the scene, which may be in an hour an' may be in ten -minutes. Meantime, bein' a cow-puncher bred and born on the Pecos, he -ain't lovin' a sheep person any too well, so he makes up his mind he -jist as well die for an 'ole sheep as a lamb, and within ten minutes -he's hittin' the trail for New Mexico a straddle of Deafy's hoss an' -saddle, leadin' his pack mule, with a bully good pack rig onto his back. - -"Also the pore old feller down in the well is a holdin' up his hands -expectin' every minute the kid will reach down an' help him out; -incidentally, as far as his chatterin' teeth will let him, doin' some -mighty fancy cussin' along broad an' liberal lines." - -Dad stopped a moment to light his pipe. My curiosity could wait no -longer. - -"What happened to Deafy and how did he get out?" burst from my eager -lips. - -Once again that chuckle. "Seems he tole the camp rustler to meet him -there that night, but the _paisano_ was late gittin' his sheep bedded -down on account of a bear skeerin' of 'em just about sundown, so he -didn't git round till the kid had done been gone for two hours. Even -then he might not 'a' found him, for the fire was all out an' it was too -dark to see much, but the ole man he had his six shooter with him when -he started in to bathe, also about forty beans in his catridge belt. -Knowin' mighty well his only hope was in drawin' some one's attention -with his shootin', he was mighty economical with his beans, only -shootin' about onc't every five minutes. The herder he hears him, runs -the sound down, an' finds his ole boss a soakin' in the well, him bein' -jist about ready to cash in his chips, he's that numbed and chilled." - -"And the kid?" gasped the lady listener. - -"Oh, he done got clean away over the line into New Mexico and they ain't -never got no track of him to this very yit." - -We heard a raucous squeak from the corral back of the house, indicating -the opening of one of the heavy pole gates. Evidently the boys had come -in. I was just rising from my seat in the swing, when from around the -corner of the house dashed a brindle Boston terrier, followed by four -crazy pups about two months old. The mother barked a joyous welcome to -the madam, to whom she flew and in whose arms she found a warm -reception. I turned to the cook. That same aggravating chuckle again. - -"But you told us they were drowned" was the only thing the amazed and -perplexed woman could find words to utter. - -The old reprobate was gazing into the bowl of his pipe as if in its -depths he had found something extremely interesting. I began to see a -light. - -"You miserable old hot air artist!" I said. "You picked a load into us -the very first hour after we landed on the ranch, didn't you? You've -been humbugging us all this time, haven't you?" I tried hard to be -fiercely indignant. - -"You fooled your own selves," he snickered, "fer I never tole you them -there pups was drownded; you jist nachelly jumped at it of your own -accord, an' seein' as how you'd find it out anyhow when the boys came -in, I jist let it run along." - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - -LOST IN THE PETRIFIED FOREST - -By permission _Overland Monthly_, San Francisco, Calif. - - -When the stockholders of the "Lazy H" outfit met annually in solemn -conclave to receive the report of their range manager and find out how -much more the expenses for the year had been than the receipts, they -called it the "Montezuma Cattle Company," but as their brand was an H -lying down on the sides of their cattle thus, ([symbol: H]) everyone on -the range called it the "Lazy H" outfit. - -We were in the Lazy H winter horse camp looking after a hundred and -seventy-five cow-ponies that had seen a hard summer's work, and the job -was a snap. Two men rode out every morning and saw that none of the -animals strayed too far, bringing them all in for water down the trail -in the caņon, salting them once a week, and keeping a sharp lookout for -horse thieves, both white and Indian. - -The camp was a dugout in the side of a hill, part logs, part hill, with -a dirt roof a foot thick. A grand fireplace in one end served alike for -heating and cooking purposes, and at night with a fire of pine knots you -could lie in the "double decker" bunks and read as if the place was -lighted with an arc lamp. There was a heavy door in the end, while half -a dozen loopholes cut in the logs served for windows and for defense if -necessary. - -Two of the boys were playing a solemn game of "seven-up" to decide which -of them should build the fire in the morning, and the balance were -smoking or reading some two-weeks-old newspapers that had come out from -town with the last load of grub. - -Outside the wind was whistling around the corner, and the coyotes, -attracted by the scent of a freshly killed yearling hanging in a -cedar near the dugout, were howling and shrieking like a lot of -school-children at play. - -"Just about such a night outside as the night old man Hart's wife and -kids got lost two years ago," remarked Peg Leg Russel, who was busy with -leather strings and an awl plaiting a fancy quirt. - -"Didn't you help hunt for 'em?" queried a voice from one of the bunks. - -"Sure thing I did," answered the quirt maker, "and, what's more," he -continued, "I hope I never get another such job as long as I live." - -"Tell us about it Peg Leg. You know I was over in Kansas looking after a -bunch of company steers that fall and never did get the straight of it." -The speaker turned from his game of solitaire toward the one-legged -cow-puncher. With his knife Russel clipped the end of a leather string -from the finished "Turk's head," laid the quirt on the floor and rolled -it back and forth under the sole of his boot to give it the proper "set" -and finish, finally hanging it on the wall. Then he filled and lighted -his pipe, and after a few preliminary puffs, began his story. - -[Illustration: "_We was camped over in the petrified forest_"] - -"Well, boys, that was one of the toughest nights I've seen in Arizony. -We was camped up near the 'Peterified' Forest on our way back to the -headquarter ranch. We'd been down to the railroad with a bunch of -steers, and expected to bust the outfit up for the winter when we got -back to the ranch. It were late in November, an' you all know how -everlastin' cold it gits 'long in November an' December. - -"Well, 'long comes one of them tearin' howlin' sandstorms 'bout two -o'clock in the afternoon, and the wagon boss camped us under the lee of -a hill and wouldn't go any furder. And 'twas well he did, too, fer the -wind blowed a gale, snow begin to fall, and ag'in sunset it was as -ornery a piece of weather as I ever seen anywheres. You all know wood's -pow'ful skeerce up thar, too, and all the cook had was sage brush an' -'chips.' - -"We put in a mis'able night. The wind blowed every way, an' drifted sand -an' snow into our beds in spite of all a feller could do. Me and Sandy, -the horse-wrangler, slep' together, an' Sandy he lowed, he did, that the -Lord mus' have it in fer us pore ignorant cow-punchers that night, -shore. About daylight I heard a shot, then another, an' another. -Everybody 'most in camp waked up, an' Wilson, the wagon boss, he takes -his six-shooter an' fires a few shots to answer 'em. - -"We all speculated as to what it meant at such a time, an' Wilson he -says he'd bet a yearlin' ag'in a sack of terbaccer that it were some -derned tenderfoot bug-hunter who'd been out to the Petrified Forest an' -gone an' lost hisself, an' now was a bellerin' around like a dogie -calf. The cook he lowed 'twan't no bug-hunter, 'cause that was the -crack of a forty-five, an' them bug-hunter fellers ginerally packed a -little short twenty-two to stand off the Injuns, an' we all laughed at -this, fer the night we got the steers shipped the cook went up town an' -got full as a goat, an' tried to run a 'sandy' over a meek-looking -tenderfoot, who wan't a harmin' nobody; but he wan't near so meek as he -looked, an' fust thing the _cocinero_ knowed he war a gazin' in to one -of them same little twenty-twos, an' I'm blessed if the stranger didn't -take his forty-five away from him an' turned him over to the sheriff to -cool off--but I guess you all know about that. - -"We could soon hear the 'chug chug' of a pony's feet, an' then a voice a -hollerin'. We all gave a yell, and in a few minutes a man named Hart -rode into camp. We all knowed him. He was a sheep man with a ranch over -on the 'tother side of the Petrified Forest. He was nearly froze an' -half crazy with excitment, an' 'twas some minutes afore we could git him -to tell what was a hurtin' him. - -"'Boys,' he says, 'for God's sake git up an' help me find my wife an' -chillun.' - -"An' then he told us he had been away from his ranch all the day before, -at one of his sheep camps over on the Milky Holler. When he left in the -mornin' his wife tole him she'd hitch up the hosses to the buckboard -after dinner an' take the kids an' drive down to the railroad station -an' git the mail, an' git back in time for supper. You know it's 'bout -eight miles down to the station at Carrizo. - -"Comin' home at night in the wust of the storm, Hart had found the shack -empty, his wife not home yit an' the hosses gone. Thinkin' that the -storm had kept 'em, he waited an hour or two, when he got so blamed -oneasy he couldn't wait no longer, but saddled up his hoss an' drug it -for the station. When he got there they told him his wife had left 'bout -an hour by sun, an' they hadn't seen nothin' of her sence, although they -had begged her not to start back, an' the wind a-blowin' like it was. -'Twas then about as dark as the inside of a cow, and leavin' the men at -the station to foller him, Hart struck out across the prairie, ridin' in -big circles, and tryin', but without no luck, to cut some 'sign' of the -buckboard and hosses. You know, fellers, how them sandy mesas are about -there, and, between the driftin' sand and the snow, every mark had been -wiped out slick and clean. Then he pulled his freight for the ranch, -thinkin' mebbeso she'd got back while he were away; but nary a sign of -them was there about the place. He struck out agin, makin' big circles, -and firin' his six-shooter and hollerin' like an Apache Injin, all the -time a-listenin' an' a-prayin' fer some answer. Then he heerd our shots -and thought sure he'd found her, fer she always carried a gun when she -went out alone, and he jist hit the high places till he ran onto our -camp and he war sure disappointed when he seen us an' not her. - -"'Tain't no use for to tell you that we got a move onto ourselves. -You've all seen the Cimarron Kid git a move on an' tear round and just -bust hisself to get out to the herd in the mornin' to relieve the last -guard, along in the fall when the boss was pickin' out men for the -winter work. Well, that was the way we all tore round, an' as everybody -kep' up a night hoss (you all know what a crank that feller Wilson was -'bout night hosses; he'd make every man keep one up if he had the whole -cavyyard in a ten-acre field), we soon had a cup of coffee into us an' -was ready to ride slantin'. Pore Hart was so nigh crazy that he couldn't -say nothin', an' 'twas hard to see a big, strong feller as he was all -broke up like. - -"By this time 'twas gettin' daylight in the east an' we struck out, -scatterin' every way, but keepin' in sight an' hearin' of each other. -'Bout two miles from camp I ran slap dab onto the buckboard, with one of -the hosses tied up to the wheel, an' 'tother gone. The harness of the -other hoss laid on the ground, an' from the sign, she had evidently -unharnessed the gentlest hoss of the two, an' got on him, with the kids, -an' tried to ride him bareback. I fired a couple of shots, which brought -some of the other boys to me, an' we follered up the trail, step by -step, 'cause 'twas a hard trail to pick out, owin', as I said, to the -sand an' snow. - -"Pretty soon we come to where she had got off the hoss an' led him for a -ways; then we found the tracks of the kids; an' we judged they'd all got -so cold they had to walk to git warm; an' all that time my fingers an' -ears was tinglin' an achin', they was so cold, an' what was them pore -kids an' that little woman goin' to do, when a big, stout puncher like -me was shiverin' an' shakin' like a old cow under a cedar in a norther? - -"Bimeby we struck the hoss standin' there all humped up with the cold, -the reins hooked over a little sage bush. I sent one of the boys back -with the hoss, an' tole him to hitch up to the buckboard an' foller on, -fer I knowed shore we'd need it to put their pore frozen bodies on when -we found 'em. - -"Here we saw signs where she'd tried to build a fire, but, Lord -A'mighty, you know how hard it is to find anything to burn round that -there Petrified Forest country, an' she only had three or four matches, -an' nothin' to make a fire catch with. Then she started on ag'in, an' I -judged she'd got a star to go by, 'cause she kep' almost straight north -to'ds the railroad. By the trail, she was a-carryin' the youngest kid, a -boy 'bout two years old, an' leadin' the other, which was a little gal -'bout five. - -"Right here, fellers, she showed she was fit to be the wife of a man -livin' in such a country. She knowed mighty well that she'd be follered, -an' that her trail would be hard to find, so what does she do but tear -pieces out of the gingham skirt she had on, an' hang 'em along on a sage -brush here, an' a Spanish bayonet there, so's we could foller faster. -When we struck this sign an' seed what sh'd done, one of the boys says, -says he, 'Fellers, ain't she a trump, an' no mistake?' An' so she shore -was. - -"We jist turned our hosses loose along here, an' one of us would lope -ahead an' cut for sign, an' as soon as he found it, another would cut in -ahead of him, an' in that way we trailed her up, right peart. We soon -ran the trail down to the edge of the big mesa back of the Carrizo -station. - -"If you remember, it's quite a cliff there, mebbeso two hundred feet -down; sort of in steps, from two to six feet high. We seen where she -jumped over the fust ledge an' helped the young ones down. She worked -her way down the rocky cliff that way, step by step, an' it must 'a' -been a job, too, in the dark, an' as cold as she was. Two of us went on -down the cliff, an' I sent the other boys around with the hosses, to a -break, where there was a good trail. - -"Right here I began to think that p'raps she's been saved, after all. -'Twas only a mile from the foot of the mesa to the station at Carrizo, -an' in plain sight from where we were. - -"Me an' Little Bob, who was with me, was so sure that she was all right -that we quit follerin' the trail an' jist got down the cliff anywhere we -could. When we got to the bottom an' clear of the rocks, we set out to -cut for her trail ag'in, when Little Bob says, says he, 'There she is, -Jack.' - -"Lord, how my heart jumped into my mouth. Seemed as if I could most -taste it. I looks where Bob was a-p'intin', and shore enough, there she -were a-sittin' on a rock with the little boy in her lap, an' the little -girl a-leanin' up ag'in her an' a-lookin' into her face. - -"We both gave a yell an' started to'ds her, but she never paid no -'tention to us, which seemed to me mighty queer like. But we were a -little to one side of her, an' I thought mebbe she were so tired she -didn't notice us. Bob he got up to her fust, an' walked up an' put his -hand on her shoulder to shake her, but, fellers, you all know how 'twas, -the pore little woman an' the two young ones were dead. - -"Little Bob was so skeert that he couldn't do nothin', but I fired all -the shots in my six-shooter, an' the balance of the outfit soon came up -to us. - -"Wilson he had a little more savvy than the rest of us, an' rode back -an' met pore Hart, who had got off to one side, an' tells him sort o' -kindly like, what we'd found; an' I reckon that Jim never had no harder -job in all his life. - -"Hart says, says he, 'Jim, old man, you take 'em inter town as tenderly -as you kin, an' make all the arrangements for the funeral, an' I'll -follow you in tonight.' - -"'Course Jim swore we'd all do everything we could, an' Hart rode off -to'ds his ranch without comin' nigh the place where his little family -was a restin' so peaceful an' quiet. - -"Say, fellers, that was the pitifullest sight I ever seed, an' I've seed -some sad work in the days when old Geronimo an' his murderin' gang of -government pets used to range all over the country. - -"'Twas easy enuff to read the whole thing now. She'd come to the edge of -the mesa an' seen the lights in the station house, for they get up 'bout -four o'clock every mornin' to get breakfast for the section men. -Climbin' down the cliff had used her up, an' knowin' she was so clost to -help, she had set down on a big flat rock at the bottom to rest a minute -before starting to walk the mile from the foot of the mesa to the -station. To set down, as cold and tired as she was, meant sleep, an' to -sleep was shore death that night, an' she went to sleep an' never woke -up no more. - -"The little boy was cuddled up ag'in her under her shawl, with the -peacefullest look on his little face you ever see, an' the little girl -was a-leanin' on her lap an' a-lookin' up into her face, with the big -tears frozen on her cheeks, an' so natural that it was hard to believe -she was dead. - -"One of the boys went over to the station an' got two wagon sheets and -some blankets, an' when the buckboard came we rolled 'em up as carefully -an' softly as we could. They was so stiff we had to leave the little -feller where he was, but the girl we rolled up separate. - -"Now, say, boys, that was a hard thing to do, for a bunch of rough -cow-punchers, if you hear me. Hookey Jim he'd been through a yellow -fever year down in Memphis once, an' he was more used to such things, so -he sort of bossed the job. - -"I ain't ashamed to say I bawled like a baby, fellers. Mrs. Hart was -awful good to us boys, even if her husband was a sheep man. No puncher -ever went there without gettin' a good square meal, no matter when it -was; an' when Curly Joe got sick over at the 'Rail N' ranch, she jist -made the boys fetch him over to her place, an' she nussed him like his -own mammy would have done. - -"After we got 'em packed on the buckboard, Wilson sent the rest of the -outfit back to camp, an' him an' me rode on into town, leavin' Shorty -French to drive the team in. We met everybody in town out on the road to -hunt for Mrs. Hart, for the word had got round that she had got lost; -an' everyone that could leave had turned out on the search. - -"'Twas a sorrowful place that day, an' the next. Everybody in town knew -an' loved the little woman, an' her awful death made it seem more -pitiful an' sad. They made one coffin an' put her an' the two chillun -into it, one on each arm, an' they looked so sweet an' peaceful, like -they was only asleep--an', anyway, that's what he read from the book at -the grave--that they was only asleep. - -"You fellers all know how everybody in town was at the funeral, an' how -one of the men in town had to say a little prayer at the grave, 'cause -there wasn't no parson, they all bein' away off in Afriky an' Chiney -a-prayin' an' a-singin' with niggers an' Chinees, an' not havin' no time -to tend to their own kind of people to home, who p'raps needed prayin' -for jist as much as the heathen in Chiney. - -"Then two sweet little girls sung a hymn 'bout 'Nearer my God to Thee,' -an' when they got to the second verse everybody was a-cryin' an' the -little girls jist busted out too, an' couldn't finish the song for a -long time. - -"An', boys, that's about all there is to tell." - -I glanced around the dugout. The fire had burned low and I guess the -most of them were glad; for, in the uncertain light, I could see -moisture on more than one sunburned cowboy cheek, and my own eyes were, -as one of them quaintly put it, "jist a-spillin' clean over with tears." - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -CAMEL HUNTIN' - -By permission _The Breeder's Gazette_, Chicago, Ill. - - -"Did any of yez ever go camel huntin'?" asked the cook, who had been -listening to some tales of bear and lion hunting that had been going the -rounds of the men about the chuck wagon. - -"Camel hunting?" cried the horse-wrangler, a look of astonishment on his -face. "What on earth do you mean by camel hunting? We ain't none of us -ever been to Afriky." - -"Camel huntin' is jest what I said," replied the knight of the dish-rag, -flourishing that useful article in the air as he mopped off the lid of -the chuck box. - -"Do you mean sure enough camels, camels with humps on 'em like what we -seen at the circus in Albuquerque las' fall?" queried another doubting -one. - -"Faith an' I do that," answered the cook; "an' what's more, I didn't -have to go to no Afriky to hunt 'em neither." - -"Whar did ye find any camels hereabouts, 'ceptin in a circus?" asked -"Tex," an old-time puncher who had followed the chuck wagon for thirty -years. - -"Right here in Arizony, me lads," said the cook, with an affirmative nod -of his red head. - -"Gee!" and the wagon boss looked incredulous. "Camels in Arizony! Who -ever heard tell of any of them critters down this-a-way?" - -Pat by this time had finished his after-dinner work, and while the team -horses were eating their grain, he sat down to peel a panful of potatoes -in readiness for the evening meal. - -"Tell us about them there camels, Pat," begged one of the boys. - -"Sure," with a grin, "I don't mind givin' yez a little bit of -enlightenment on the subject of camels, seein' as none of yez ever heern -tell of thim before now. When I first came to Arizony, ye know I was a -sojer in the regular army, in the Sixth Cavalry, the gallopin' Sixth, -they called it in them days." - -"Aw, give us a rest, Pat, about your army days, an' tell us about them -camels," for the Galloping Sixth and its adventures was an old story to -the boys. - -"Well," he resumed, "we was scoutin' down the Santy Cruz valley, west of -Too-sawn, a lookin' for old Geronimo and his murderin' gang. One night -we was camped in a little openin' in the mesquites, wid guards out on -all sides ag'in a surprise, when somethin' stampeded every hoss in the -herd an' left us plumb afoot, exceptin' them the guards was a-ridin'. -Next morning when the captain asked the sargint of the guard what made -'em stampede, he sort of grinned an' looked sheepish like. - -"'Captain,' ses he, 'ye'll not be after thinkin' me a dirty liar, but, -sor, by the blissid Saint Patrick I'd be willin' to swear that the -animiles that set them there crazy hosses off like a bunch of skeered -sheep were nothin' less nor camels--camels, sor, with two humps an' long -necks on 'em; the same as I be seein' in the maynageries whin I were a -lad.' - -"'Camels, sargint?' sez the captain, lookin' sort o' puzzled like. 'Do -ye surely mean what ye be a-sayin'?' - -"'That I do, sor,' sez the sargint, 'an' the men on guard with me will -bear me out--at least them that glimpsed them.' - -"Then the captain he sort of grins an' sez, 'That's all right, sargint; -I'd plumb forgot there used to be a lot of camels herabouts on these -deserts, an' 'twas probably some of thim.' - -"Then the captain, he bein' a fine old sojer man, with no frills or -grand airs with the men when out on a scout, tells the sargint that -before the war Jeff Davis (that same Jeff, by the way, what was -Prisident of the Confideracy, he bein' then Secretary of War) gits a -fancy that camels was the very trick for usin' out West, for packin' -stuff for the troops. So old Jeff he gets Uncle Sam to send 'way off to -Afriky an' import a lot of thim an' sint them out to Texas an' Arizony -on the deserts. - -"But the packers couldn't get used to them, an' besides, they stampeded -ev'ry horse an' mule in the entire southwest with their queer ways an' -ungainly looks. So one day the quartermaster at Yuma he turns out a lot -of thim with a 'Good-bye to yez, an' God bless yez, an' here's hopin' we -niver meet ag'in,' slappin' the nearest one with a halter shank to sort -of hasten him on his way. They took to the deserts like a duck to water, -an' the captain said 'twas doubtless one of thim that the sargint -seed." - -"How about huntin' of 'em, Pat?" asked an interested listener. "You sure -didn't stop to hunt camels then, did you?" - -"Hunt camels thin!" snorted the cook with disgust. "By the powers 'twas -precious little opportunity we had for camel huntin' thim days, with old -Geronimo onto his job ev'ry day from sun-up to dark. No, my son, 'twas -ten years or more later whin I went camel huntin'. I was workin' for the -M. C. outfit, up to Williams, an' they had a contract to deliver some -beef steers to the Injun agent at the Moharvey reservation down below -the Needles on the Big Colorado. We'd had an elegant summer for rain, -an' the desert was covered with grass an' water. So the old man decides -to trail them across the country, an' we takes the herd an' struck off -down the mountain towards the head of the big Chino Valley an' then on -west till we struck the Bill William's fork of the Big Colorado down -which we was to drift till we reached the main river. - -"We started with a young moon, an' by the time we hit the Bill William's -fork the job of night herding was a plumb picnic, so far as the steers -went. We had them all as do-cile as a bunch of trained pigs; an' what -with the grand feed to handle them on we'd never yet lost a single one -of them nor had a stampoodle of any kind. - -"We bedded them oxen down one night in a great open valley after an easy -day's drive. There was only five of us, four with the steers, an' me, -cook an' horse-wrangler, we havin' everything on four pack mules, which -I drove with the remuda. - -"That night Billy St. Joe asked me if I wouldn't take his guard for -him, he bein' about sick all day with nuralgy. So when I was called -along about midnight to spoon them for two hours I jumps an' was soon -joggin' around the bunch, which was all a-lyin' down as decent as one -could wish fer. 'Twere hard to keep awake, an' I reckon I must 'a' been -a-noddin' in the saddle, for, the first thing I knowed there was a snort -an' a cracklin' of horns an' hocks, an' away went me steers like the -very old divil himself was behind them. - -"I pulled meself together, slapped old Shoestring down the hind leg with -me quirt, an' put spurs after them, hopin' to turn them. Old Shoestring -snorted an' kept them sharp ears of his workin' an' looking' back over -his shoulder like, as if he was a-feered too. I hadn't been sidin' them -fer more than a hundred yards when, hearin' a snortin' an' a gruntin' -behind me, I takes a look meself over me shoulder, an' such a sight as -me eyes did get. - -"'Twas sure no wonder them steers was a-runnin away, fer right behind us -was three great figures with long necks an' humps on their backs like -two water kegs a-settin' up there. They wasn't gallopin', nayther was -they trottin', but jist a-shufflin' along over the ground like ghosties, -an' every once in a little while one of them gives a grunt an' a gurgle -which sent them oxen wild with terror. Hangin' to these creatures was -long strings of somethin' more like a lot of ragged clothes than -anything else, an' what with the flutterin' an' wavin' they resembled a -lot of animated scarecrows. - -"When we first set out on our race with thim ugly divils a-follerin' of -us, the three night horses tied up in camp, takin' wan look an' sniff -of them teeterin' figgers a-puffin' an' a-gruntin' in our rear, jist -quit the flats wid the rest of the live stock, an' as we tore along we -picked up every mother's son of the other horses, them all bein' -foot-loose, an' a-hangin' round with the pack mules. - -"By the blissed saints, but me an' that Shoestring horse was havin' a -lovely ole time of it all by ourselves, for, with the night horses gone, -thim lads back in camp had nothin' to do but set there an' lave it to me -to hang an' rattle with them. Thim shufflin' monsters behind didn't seem -to want to git past us, but jist kep' at the heels of the drags, an' -it's mesilf's a-tellin' ye that every toime I'd take wan hasty glimpse -of thim 'twould be the cold chills I'd be after havin', an' me a-cursin' -the night I ever took Billy St. Joe's guard fer him. - -"What wid the fear in his heart, an' good work wid me 'pet makers', I -makes out to git old Shoestring up clost to the leaders. I'd also -managed to get me slicker untied from the back of me saddle an' was -wavin' it in their faces, hopin' by thim means to git the bunch turned -an' millin', an' maybe thim lost sowls that was a-follerin' us wud leave -us in peace an' quiet. - -"Thim three saddle horses a-runnin' an' rompin' an' snortin' in the -midst of the steers wasn't helpin' matters, ayther. Iv'ry toime wan of -the stake ropes what was a-draggin' after thim struck the hocks of a -steer he'd give a wild beller of fright, and thin the entire bunch wud -put on a few extra bursts of speed, an' thim preambulatin' scarecrows -behind wud do a little more gruntin' an' gurglin' an' make matters all -the worse. - -"'Bout this time old Shoestring, bein' occupied principally wid lookin' -over his shoulder an' takin' stock of those wanderin' hoboes behind, -failed to notice a big ole badger hole like an open coal hole in a city -sidewalk, an' steps wan of his front legs square into it an' turns a -hand-spring, landin' in a bunch of _cholla_ cactus, wid me under him. -Whin I come to my sinsis, which was some minutes after, I finds meself -afoot on the desert an' it just a-gittin' gray in the east. - -"Barrin' a big gash across me cheek, where I digs me face into the -ground as me old Shoestring lit, I was none the worse for the fall, -'ceptin' of coorse a large an' illigant assortment of _cholla_ barbs in -me anatemy. Comes daylight I limps back to camp, for I were in no fix -for ridin' till I'd lain fer two mortal hours flat on me stummick on a -saddle blanket--an' me as naked as a Yuma Indian kid in July--whilst -Billy St. Joe done a grand job of pullin' them divilish cactus barbs -from various an' prominent portions of me system. Thim infernal things -stuck out of me carcas till, as one of the byes remarked, 'I was more -porcupine than human.' - -"'What skeered your cows, Pat?' says Jim, the boss, as I come cripplin' -into camp. 'Sure an' if I knowed I'd tell ye,' sez I. They was all -a-lyin' that ca'm an' peaceful as wan could well wish fer. Thin up they -hops an' immigrates. Me an' old Shoestring we busted out after 'em, an' -as we tore along I glimpsed a bunch of hairy, wobbly-legged monsters -a-follerin' us, a-groanin' an' a-gurglin' like a lot of hobgoblins from -hell,' sez I. - -"'Git out' sez Jim; ''twas aslape ye were, ye an' old Shoestring both, -an' he had a bad dream an' bucked ye off into a cholla'. - -"'Not on yer life,' sez I, mad enough to fight a grizzly between the -grin on his face an' the stingin' of the cactus barbs in me back. - -"The boys managed to get the horses rounded up, an' all the steers -together by noon, but too late to move camp that day. That afternoon Jim -sez, 'Git yer gun, Pat, an' come wid me.' So I saddles up me pony, slips -me Winchester into me scabbard, an' him an' me rides off from camp. - -"'What's up?' sez I. - -"'Nothin', sez he, 'only over here a ways I struck the curiousest tracks -I ever seen in all me life; an' me a-knowin' the sign of every critter -that ever walks on legs in this here country.' We soon struck the trail -Jim had seen an' it sure were a new one on both of us. So we follows it -up, feelin' it was our juty, as law-abidin' citizens, to run down an' -kill all such disorderly, outlandish creatures that was a-runnin' at -large. 'Twan't long before we comes to a ridge a-lookin' out over a -little valley, an' leadin' our horses we footed it fer the top of the -ridge, an' peekin' over we seed down in the middle of the flat three -hungry lookin' yaller divils. ''Tis me wanderin' rag-bags what skeered -the herd last night,' sez I, triumphant like--after Jim accusin' me of -goin' to sleep on guard an' dreamin' things. - -"'I reckon you're right,' sez Jim, with a grin on his mug. - -"They was a dirty yaller color, an' what wid the bare spots all over -thim, like sheep wid the scab, Jim sez they looked more like a lot of -mangy coyotes than anythin' he iver seen in all his life. ''Twas sure no -fault wid thim steers that they all gits up an' stampoodles whin such a -bad-smellin', evil-lookin' lot of monsters come a-driftin' down on top -of them,' sez he. - -"'Twere not so hard to git closer to thim, an' whin we finally gits as -near as we thought we could, an' not skeer thim, we each picks out wan -an' let him have it where we believed it would do the most good. Mine -never ran ten feet; Jim's fell down within a quarter; the third wan -struck off down the valley at a great rate, an' Jim, bein' hell-bent fer -ropin' things, hollered, 'Le's rope it, le's rope it!' an' jabbed his -spurs into his pony an' tore off, takin' down his rope an' makin a loop -as he wint. - -"'Rope him if ye will,' sez I, lammin' me old digger wid me quirt, 'but -it's meself that ropes no outlandish heathin thing lookin' more like it -come out of old Noah's ark than a daycent, respectable range critter'. -But I follered along as fast as I could git me pony to move, him bein' -none too anxious to git close to the slobberin' cross between a -step-ladder an' a hayrack, that was lumberin' along ahead of us. - -"Jim's pony was a darlin' to run, an' as he was a-gittin' closer for a -throw I sez to meself, 'If iver that crazy lad ahead puts his line on to -that there travelin' maynagerie he's a-follerin' he's a-goin' to need -help to turn it loose, sure.' So I waits fer the outcome, feelin' -certain I'd be needed before long. - -"Bimeby Jim he gits a good chanst fer a throw an' drops his line over -the long, ungainly head in front of him; but the rope, instid of -grippin' the critter's throat, slipped back an' drew up ag'in its -breast, an' whin Jim tried to check him up the pony couldn't hold him. -Whin the hard jerk come Jim's flank cinch busted, the pony begins to -pitch, an' between the pitchin' an' the saddle drawin' up on the pony's -neck, poor Jim lost out an' went up into the air like a shootin' star, -landin' on his head in a pile of rocks. The saddle stripped over the -pony's head, an' away went the whole outfit, through brush, over rocks, -across washes, like hell a-beatin' tanbark. The rope bein' tied hard an' -fast to the horn, Jim's new $50 saddle wint danglin' along behind, like -a tin can tied to a dog's tail. When Jim come to, a few minutes later -on, he wiped his hand across his face, looked at the blood on it, an' -sez to me, sort of foolish like, 'What struck me, Pat?' - -"'I reckon 'twas wan of Jeff Davis's camels,' sez I." - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -THE TRINIDAD KID - - - There's a girl I'd love to see, - She's a waiting there for me, - 'Way down yonder in the southwest land. - - She has eyes of dreamy blue, - And her heart is always true, - 'Way down yonder on the Rio Grande. - -The singer was riding slowly around a herd of steers "bedded down" on an -open flat about a quarter of a mile from the western, or Mexican bank of -the river of which he sang. - -It was the first guard, from eight to ten, and the steers, having had a -fine day's grazing, were all lying down chewing their cuds as -comfortably as a bunch of milk cows in a dairy barn. - -Across the herd his "side partner" on the guard was riding toward him, -so that twice in each circle of the herd they met for an instant and -then each jogged on into the darkness. - -As they met this time the singer finished the verse, and his pony -acknowledged the slight shifting of his rider's body in the saddle by -coming to a stop. - -"Gimme a match," demanded the singer as he felt in his vest pocket for -the "makings." "Here 'tis," replied the other, "and I reckon I'll just -build a smoke myself." - -"Let's jog along together," suggested the second man, "and you sing, for -if we stand here and strike a match this herd of oxen will just about -get up and quit the flats." - -Down along the river bank the dim spark of the cook's fire showed where -the outfit was camped, while a short distance beyond it the Rio Grande -at full flood roared like a sullen yellow monster. - -The fringe of cottonwoods and _Tornillos_ along its bank were outlined -against the background of the sky like shadow pictures, while an -occasional dull crash told of the loss of another slice of the Republic -of Mexico where, undermined by the swift flood, a piece of the bank had -dropped into the river and was on its way to the gulf. - -"Do you reckon we'll have much trouble swimmin' these steers tomorrow?" -asked the singer, as, contrary to the rules of night-herding of all cow -outfits, they rode along together. - -"No, I don't believe we will," was the reply. "Uncle John savvys this -river like a native, an' if he looks at it tomorrow an' says 'Cross -'em,' they'll make it all right." - -"Well, she's sure high, and 'tain't the water I'm afraid of half so much -as the infernal quicksand. I never did like the water, nohow." He shook -his head: "Once I got into the quicksand in the Little Colorado over in -Arizony and like to ended up in the _Campo Santo_ fer sure." - -"Say" and his companion handed him a flaming match--"you smoke up a -little an' fergit all that. We got troubles aplenty without huntin' up -imaginary things to git skeered of. Did you hear the yarn that stray man -was a-tellin' in camp tonight?" he remarked, with the evident intention -of drawing his friend from so gloomy an outlook. - -"Never a word; I was shoeing my horse when he was talkin' an' didn't -hear what he was sayin'. What was he talkin' about?" the singer queried. - -"Well," said the other, "it 'pears like he was workin' fer the Turkey -Track outfit in Arizony and him an' another Turkey Track screw comes -over the line to git a little touch of high life among the _paisanos_ on -this side. Well, they gits it all right, for between half a dozen -Mexican women, two or three _hombres_, an' a kaig of mescal, 'tain't -hard to start something; an' when the dust settled down this stray gent -finds hisself with a dead man on his hands an' him over here where it's -the eagle an' the snake instead of the Stars an' Stripes a-flyin' -overhead. I was busy makin' down my bed an' never heerd how he come out -'ceptin' he says there was some fool law these Mexicans has which don't -allow the body of any one what dies on Mexican soil to be taken out of -the country for five years. So he had to leave his friend there instead -of gittin' him acrost an' plantin' him up in the Pan Handle where his -folks lived." - -"What for don't they let any dead body be taken out of this here -country?" And the boy turned uneasily in his saddle. - -"Damfino," replied the other; "reckon it's just some cranky notion these -Greasers got; maybeso they likes your sassiety an' hates to part with -you, but, anyhow, that's the law all right, all right, an' if you dies -here, you stays here, for five years, if no longer." - -"Say, Jim," the kid's voice was full of awe; "My old mammy's up yonder -in Trinidad, an' by hooky, if I was to die down here an' she couldn't -git hold of me to bury me up there where she laid the old man an' my -sister, she's like to go plum loco, fer sure." - -"Well, you better make your plans to die on 'tother side the line or -else so close to it that somebody can haze you across without any of -them there _Rurales_ gittin' on to your game," was Jim's reply, as he -returned from chasing a steer back into the herd. "So far as I'm -concerned," he continued, "I don't reckon it makes much difference where -I'm stuck away, for I'm a drifter an' ain't got no kin that I knows of, -an' I guess when a feller's dead he kin hear ole Gabe blow his horn on -this side the Rio Grande jist as easy as on 'tother." - -The next morning the sun was just peeping over the sand hills away to -the east when Uncle John, who had been down along the river since the -first gray streak in the sky announced the coming of day, rode into camp -as the boys were catching out their horses. As the wagon boss glanced at -him, he nodded and said, "All right, George, we'll try it this morning; -the river has fallen a lot since last night." - -"Which means that I turns this here mule loose an' gits me a horse," -remarked one of the riders who had just roped a little black saddle -mule, "fer a mule ain't no earthly good in water. If they gits their -ears wet, they jist lays down on you, an' quits right there." - - "On her hand I placed a ring, - When I left her in the spring, - 'Way down yonder in the southwest land." - -The singer's voice rose above the shouts of the other boys as they -pushed the cattle along toward the river. - - "An' she said she'd not forget me, - Oh, she'll be there to meet me, - 'Way down yonder on the Rio Grande." - -"That's right, Kid, sing to 'em. Time you've got through with this here -muddy water job she won't know you if she is there to meet you," laughed -the horse-wrangler. - -As the herd swung down to the river, the horse-wrangler had his entire -_remuda_ at the water's edge, and with two men to help him he slowly -forced the horses out into the stream, with old Bennie, the crack -"cutting horse" of the outfit, in the lead. The old rascal had been used -for this work for ten years and well knew that there was a nose bag full -of oats waiting for him on the further bank of the river. - -As the steers on the O. T. ranch had always been handled by placing the -horse herd ahead of them when corraling or taking a narrow trail down -some caņon, they followed the horses with little delay. - -On the upper side of the lead cattle rode the Trinidad Kid on his best -horse. - - "Oh I know a shady spot, - Where we'll build a little cot, - 'Way down yonder in the southwest land. - - "And the mocking birds will sing, - And the wedding bells will ring, - 'Way down yonder on the Rio Grande," - -he sang loudly as his pony plowed through the muddy water. - -"Say Dick," shouted the man behind him, "ain't you going to ask us to -all the doings when them wedding bells cut loose?" - -"I reckon so," was the answer, "and what's more, if I gets me onto the -yonderly side of this streak of mud, I'm a going to stay there. I've -seen all I want to of this 'maņana land.'" - -Just at the critical time, when everything seemed to be working out all -right, a great wave of water swept down the stream and broke with a -crash right in front of the leading steers. They hesitated for a moment, -then another wave broke, and still another, and in an instant the -leaders were swinging back on to each other in their senseless panic. In -less than a minute a hundred of them were swimming round and round in -the muddy waters, a whirling, struggling mass of horns and bodies. They -jumped upon one another, bearing the under ones down into the water, -until it was boiling with the fighting, maddened animals. - -The kid did not wait for orders. Well he knew that it was up to him to -break up that milling mighty quick or the whole day's work was lost. -Heading his pony toward the struggling mass of animals, he drove at them -without an instant's hesitation. - - "Oh the mocking birds will sing, - And the wedding bells will ring, - 'Way down yonder on the Rio Grande." - -Singing at the top of his voice and swinging his slicker over his head, -he swept down on the outside steers, being crowded on to them by the -swift current against which his plucky pony struggled hard. Had he -abandoned the effort and turned the animal up stream, facing the -current, he might have breasted it and held his own, but the kid -resolutely kept his place as well as he could. - - "'Way down yonder on the Rio Grande, - 'Way down yonder in that southwest land," - -he sang valiantly as he thrashed the steers with his yellow slicker, -trying to turn them from their course. He was rapidly accomplishing his -purpose, and a few of the leaders were already turned and about to -string out for the shore, when one broad-horned fellow right behind him -raised in the water like some huge sea monster, and lunged upon his -horse's hips with both front feet. - -The weight of the steer drove the horse down into the water, the swift -current swept him on to his side, and in a second he was under the mass -of steers, his rider hanging to him. - -A few minutes later the horse came into view from below the cattle but -the boy was missing. Uncle John, at the first sign of trouble had dashed -toward the spot, and as the horse came into sight leaned from his -saddle, grabbed the bridle rein and pulled the half-drowned animal on -to his feet in the shallower water. Spurring into the deep water again, -he and the men with him swung up and down the line of cattle, watching -with eager, anxious eyes for the slightest sign of a human form, but -they could see nothing. - -Meantime the steers were rapidly crossing, and the leaders had already -climbed out on to the opposite bank and were working back from the -river, coughing and shaking their dripping bodies. - -Two other men joined Uncle John in the search for the lost singer, but -though they watched every spot, riding up and down the stream for a -mile, they were unable to discover any sign of the boy. - -Leaving Jim and another man to watch the river, the rest of the outfit -pushed the steers out on to the open range to graze. - -Up and down the bank all that day the two men rode, reinforced by all -the others who could be spared from the herd. Across the seat of the -saddle on the horse ridden by the boy was a deep scar where the rowels -of his spur had cut the leather, done probably as he slipped from the -horse as he went under. - -The steers could not be held there long, so the next morning Uncle John, -with a heavy heart, started the outfit at daybreak for the railroad -loading pens, thirty miles away, leaving Jim, who had asked for the job, -behind to keep a lookout for the body of the drowned cowboy. All day -long he rode the banks of the river. Every eddy as well as the great -rafts of driftwood, was carefully searched. Just a short time before -sunset he noticed a couple of buzzards a little lower down on the river -slowly circling overhead. He knew their keen eyes saw something, and -both hoping and dreading that it was what he sought, he worked his way -down towards the point over which the great birds were hovering. Here -the river had cut into the sandy bank and a thicket of willows hung over -the yellow water. Getting down onto one knee, Jim peered under them. - -Yes, there was "something" there. His heart came into his mouth, he -gasped for breath, and the cold sweat stood on his face in great drops. -A long, lance like pole from a nearby pile of drift wood, furnished him -with a tool to sound the depth of water along the bank. It was not over -waist deep, the bottom was firm, and, dropping off the bank, he waded -down under the overhanging brush. There, floating in the stream, was the -body of the Kid. A bough had caught in the belt of his leather "chaps" -and held it firmly. It was the work of a moment for Jim to attach one -end of his saddle rope to the belt and carry the other back with him to -the open spot above the willows. His first intention was to tow the body -up to a place where it could be taken out and then go for help. - -Wading up the stream, he climbed out on the bank and sat down to rest -for a moment. It was second nature for him to get out his pipe and -tobacco, and as he sat there the talk between himself and the singer -around the herd the night before the crossing came to his mind. What -could he do? The body was found on Mexican soil. About a hundred yards -from the bank behind his was a little Mexican _jacal_, or hut, where he -had noticed half a dozen children--even now he could hear their shouts -as they played. To get it away from there was seemingly impossible. - -The twilight was nearly over and in the east the sky was glowing with -the light of the moon, which almost at the full would soon rise. For -half an hour he sat there thinking, the pipe smoked out and dead between -his teeth. Then he rose, knocked the ashes out on his boot heel, slipped -the pipe into his pocket, and worked his way carefully up to the top of -the bank behind him. Peering through the fringe of trees, he saw in the -moonlight the mud daubed _jacal_. A dog barked, in the distance a coyote -answered with its shrill "yip, yip," and from the limbs of a -mesquite--the family chicken coop--a rooster saluted the rising of the -moon with a cheerful crow. In front of the _jacal_ a bright spark glowed -where the fire of mesquite limbs over which the evening supper had been -cooked, was dying away, and he could dimly make out the forms of the -family asleep on the ground near the hut. - -Then, satisfied with the condition of things, he carefully worked his -way back to the edge of the river, and, having looked to the rope, which -he had fastened to a sharp piece of drift driven into the sand, lay down -by it and in ten seconds was fast asleep. - -About three o'clock the next morning, just as the moon dropped behind -the cottonwoods along the river, throwing deep shadows over its sullen -tide, four steers, probably lost from the herd the day before, came down -to the river to drink. As they reached the edge of the water one raised -his head quickly and snuffed the air. The others also threw up their -heads and tested the air with their keen noses, their great ears cocked -forward to catch the slightest sound. High headed and suspicious, they -all stood for an instant, and then as if with one impulse ran back a few -steps and stopped to look again. - -Out there in the deep shadow something moved slowly and heavily. Now and -then a splash came from the object as the water struck against it. - -The steers snuffed and licked their lips as do such animals where fear -and curiosity is struggling in them for the mastery. Then as the -something moved more distinctly, with terror in their eyes they all -turned and burst into the darkness behind them, crashing through the -young cottonwoods and over piles of loose driftwood in their mad haste -to escape--they knew not what. Still, the "something" came on; slowly it -moved through the muddy waters until the form of a man could be -distinguished in the uncertain light, carrying some heavy load. - -At the edge of the river the man placed his burden on the soft sand and -dropped down, panting for breath. - - * * * * * - -At noon that day, a single horseman rode a tired, sweat-covered animal -into a little town on the railroad some thirty miles from the river. Two -hours later, away to the north, under the snow-capped Rockies, where the -city of Trinidad nestles below the Raton Pass, a lone woman received -this brief message: - - "Dick was accidentally drowned yesterday crossing the river. Wagon - will be here tomorrow with body, Please wire instructions. - - "JAMES SCOTT." - - - - -[Illustration] - -PABLO - -By permission _The Breeder's Gazette_, Chicago, Ill. - - -"And Pablo." - -"Seņor?" And the boy looked inquiringly at the speaker. "You stay right -here around this meadow. Here's plenty of feed and water for your band -till I come back from town. Savvey?" - -"Si, Seņor." - -"I won't be gone but three days, Pablo," continued the man, shifting -uneasily in his saddle, "an' it's a tough deal to give you, but there's -nothing else to do. That misable, onery Mack is drunk down in town an' -won't never git out till his money's all gone an' somebody takes him by -the scruff of the neck an' kicks him out of the saloon an' loads him -onto his horse. You've got twelve hundred ewes an' 'leven hundred of the -best lambs that this here range has ever seen. There's ten _negros_, -_tres campanas_, an' _cinco chivos_; reckon you can keep track of 'em -all?" - -"Si, Seņor," assented the boy, in whose veins flowed the blood of almost -three centuries of sheepherders, "_tres_ bells-_campanas_," and three -fingers indicated the number of belled ewes in the bunch, "_cinco_ -goats," and one outspread hand showed the number of goats with the ewes, -"_diez_ black-a markers," holding up all ten fingers. - -"That's right, _muchacho_," answered the man; "you keep track of your -markers an' bells an' goats, an' you won't lose any sheep. There's -plenty of water here for your camp, and the sheep won't need any for -some days. There's a lot of poison weeds lower down on the mountain, an' -it won't do to graze the band that-a-way. Take 'em up toward the top if -you go anywhere; but keep your camp here an' stay with it till I come -back, savvey?" - -"Si, Seņor," with a quick nod of the head. - -The man dropped off his horse, gave the curly black mop on the boy's -head a hasty pat, picked up the lead rope of a pack mule standing near -and, mounting, rode off down the trail. - -The little meadow was located on a small bench high on the breast of a -mountain whose bare granite peaks rose rough and ragged far above the -timber line. At one side of the meadow, under a mighty fir tree, stood -the herder's tent, a white pyramid among the green foliage. If there was -another human being nearer than the little railroad town forty-five -miles away, the boy knew it not. He watched the man ride slowly down the -trail until he disappeared behind a mass of trees. The dog at his side -whined as the man was lost to view and poked his cold muzzle into the -boy's hand. - -"Ah, _perrito mio_," and he hugged the fawning animal close to his body, -"the _patron_ has gone and left us here all alone to care for the sheep. -Think of it, I, Pablo, to be trusted with so much. Shall we not care for -them as for our own? Didst hear him say we were not to leave this camp -while he was away? Ten black ones for markers, three bells and five -great _chivos_. Aha, we shall count them each a hundred times a day, and -sly indeed will be the ewe that shall escape from us. Is it not so, my -brave Pancho?" And for answer the dog barked and romped about the lad as -if to show he also appreciated the honor and responsibility thrust upon -the two. - -Down the trail the sheepman, Hawk, jogged along toward the town where -Mac, the recreant herder, was doubtless wasting his substance in riotous -living. "If ever I git holt of that there rascal, I'll wear out the -ground with him," he soliloquized. "To go off and leave me with a band -of ewes on my hands at such a time and not come back as he promised. -Serves me right for letting him go, for I might 'a' known he'd not come -back in time. That there Pablo's a good kid all right, but it's a pretty -big risk to turn over to a twelve-year-old boy that many ewes and lambs. -Lucky for me he happened to stay in camp after the lambing was over; his -father's about the best sheepherder on the whole range, and them Mexican -kids would rather herd a bunch of sheep than ride on a merry-go-round. -Well," and he slapped his horse with the end of his rope, "he's got a -good dog, the best in the mountains, an' if he keeps track of his bells -an' markers 'tain't likely he'll lose any sheep. However, there ain't no -use worrying over it, for I couldn't stay there myself any longer, an' -the sooner I gits to town an' hustles that there red headed Mac out to -camp, the better." - -[Illustration: "_Hawk met a forest ranger leading a pack mule_"] - -Down at the foot of the mountain he met a forest ranger leading a pack -mule. - -"What's doing?" asked Hawk of the government man. - -"Big fire over on 'tother side of the mountain," answered the ranger. -"Old man phoned me to get over there as soon as ever I could and lend a -hand. Mighty dry season now, and if fire ever gets started it'll take a -lot more men to stop it than we got in this forest. I been riding now -night and day for the last thirty days patroling my district, to lookout -for fires, and I hate to have to go clear over on the other side and -leave it all uncovered." - -"How big a district you got, anyhow?" queried the sheepman. - -"Little over six townships and a half; that's over a hundred and fifty -thousand acres, and it's all a-standing on edge too"--he waved his -gloved hand toward the range about them--"so there's twice as much, if -you count the mountain sides. The Super, he asked for six more rangers -last fall when he sent in his annual report, but the high collars back -there in Washington said Congress was cutting down expenses and so we'd -have to spread ourselves out and cover the ground, and do the best we -could. That's why the boss rustled the boys out in such a hurry, for we -can't afford to take any chances on a fire getting a start. If it ever -does, it's good-bye trees, for once a fire gets under good headway in -these mountains, with conditions just right, all the fire fighters in -hell couldn't stop it. So long, old man, I've got to be a-drifting." - -As the ranger moved off up the caņon, the sheepman turned and glanced up -at the sky toward the spot where he had left Pablo and his charges. -There were no signs of smoke in the clear blue above, so he touched the -horse with his spurs and resumed his journey, content to leave the fire -fighting to the ranger force until he was called on for aid. Anyhow, it -was clear over on the other side of the mountain and he wasn't -interested there, and it would be time enough to worry when it got over -on to his side. Meanwhile, there was that miserable Mac drunk in town -and another band of lambs and ewes somewhere on the range, that he ought -to look in on before long. - -Back on the mountain meadow Pablo and his ewes and lambs got on -famously. The boy pushed the band out on to the mountainside, away from -camp, telling Pancho to care for them while he went to find the two pack -burros and drive them back to camp. All day long the boy watched the -herd as a hen watches her chicks. Over and over again he counted the ten -black "markers," those black sheep that come in every flock and without -which no herder would work. If all ten of them were there in the herd it -was safe to presume that none of the ewes had been lost, for, as they -grazed back and forth through the timber, "cuts" might happen to the -best of herders. Once he counted but nine. Yes, surely there were but -nine. He called the dog to his side, pointed to a ridge beyond them and -told the animal to go over there and look for the missing ones. - -Away Pancho bounded, stopping often to look back at his master for -orders. The boy waved his arm and the dog went on until he stood a black -speck at the top of the ridge. With foot upraised and ears cocked, he -watched again for commands. Another wave of the arm and the dog dashed -over the ridge and out of sight. Half an hour later an eager bark came -from the ridge, and there, slowly toiling through the trees, came the -lost sheep, followed by the faithful dog, keeping them moving toward -the herd and yet not hurrying them beyond the speed of the lambs. In -their lead was the black marker. Once more his ten _negros_ were all -there. - -The next night from over the mountain-top rolled a great wave of black -smoke. The sheep, "bedded down" near the camp, were uneasy and kept -sniffing at the heavy air. At daylight the boy pushed them from the bed -ground and worked them up toward the mountain-top, where the trees -stopped growing and there was little danger of fire reaching them. -Leaving the dog to care for the sheep, the boy climbed up higher until -he could see about him. On every side was a sea of smoke. Great black -billows rolled up from below him and the wind blew a gale from the -direction of the other side of the mountain. The _patron_ would be back -that night, but until then Pablo must stay where he was, for had he not -been told to do so? All day he watched the smoke boiling up about him. -The sheep were restless and bunched up in spite of his efforts to get -them to scatter out and graze as they should. - -In the afternoon he worked his way down the mountainside, below the -meadow and, perched on a huge boulder, watched the fire licking its way -slowly through the forest. As far as he could see the red line stretched -like a fiery snake, but unless the wind changed it would not reach his -camp for some time yet. - -If only the _patron_ would come and relieve him of this responsibility! -All those ewes with their fine lambs grazing there, and depending on -him, Pablo, for protection and care. What should he do? He must not -leave the camp, and still, if he kept the sheep there and the fire -really came to the meadow, they might all die. - -Late that evening the wind changed and blew up the caņon like a gale, -carrying with it clouds of smoke and burning brands which started fires -far in advance of the main line. But the boy stayed with the sheep, wide -awake and watchful, hardly taking time to eat his simple meals of -_frijoles_, mutton and bread. Below him, the sky was alight with the -flames. Now and then a thunderous crash told where some giant of the -forest had given up the fight--three hundred and fifty years' work -undone in an hour. Half a dozen coyotes and a wildcat skulked out of the -timber that fringed the meadow and buried themselves in the little clump -of willows that grew about the spring. By midnight he realized that to -stay where he was meant death for himself and his woolly charges. The -sheep were restless, constantly moving about on the bed ground, the -lambs running and bleating through the herd as if they, too, realized -the danger. The dog whined and looked anxiously toward the coming light, -which now made the night almost as bright as noonday. - -"What would'st thou do, Panchito?" said the boy. "Did not the _patron_ -tell us to remain here until he came, and yet, shall we stay and die -when the fire comes?" Then the thought came to him that up higher on the -mountain the sheep would be safe if once there. - -At the first sign of coming day he set about his preparations for -leaving. First, he tore from its pins the light tent, spread it out on -the ground, swept into it the small supply of food which the camp -contained, and rolled the tent about it. Then, with a short-handled -camp shovel he dug a shallow hole in the soft mountain soil into which -he placed, first, the sheepskins and blankets which formed his bed and -then the bundle of the tent, covering it all with the dirt, thus -securing it from the fire. - -Having thus protected his food supply, he sent the dog around the sheep -to bunch them up and started them up the mountainside. The sheep, -frightened by the smoke and approaching fire, moved rapidly, and inside -of half an hour the boy had them all bedded down on a great bare granite -field in the middle of a little boulder-strewn valley where, ages ago, -some slipping, sliding glacier had smoothed and polished the surface of -the rocks until they were like some gigantic table top. The valley was -far above timber and the sheep safe from fire. - -Leaving the dog to watch the sheep, he hastened back to the meadow, -there to await the coming of the _patron_ as he had been bidden. Once -upon the prairie, where his father lived, he had seen the men go out to -meet an approaching fire and by means of back firing keep it away from -the houses and fields. - -In the camp was a stick of pitch pine which some one had brought for -starting fires. Taking the ax, he quickly split off a handful of -splinters, which he bound together with a handy piece of baling wire. -Going to the lower end of the meadow toward the fire with his improvised -torch, he started a line of small fires, hoping they would spread and -thus be some slight protection to the meadow. - -The wind favored him, and in a short time he had a wide swath burned -clear along one side of the meadow and his fire was eating out into the -forest and would keep the flames back some distance. - -As the main fire line came along he was smothered with the clouds of -smoke and waves of heat which swept down as from a furnace. He stood it -as long as he could, fighting back the fire at every point where the -flames were eating out into the meadow. Burning brands ate holes in his -cotton shirt, and the soles of his "teguas," or rawhide moccasins, were -burned through and through. As the mass of fire reached his back-fire -line he ran to the little spring in the middle of the meadow and threw -himself into it, rolling over and over in the mud and water about it. -The coyotes and wildcat that had taken refuge there hardly noticed his -presence in the face of the coming danger. - -Half an hour or more of stifling smoke and burning heat and he dared to -leave his place in the spring. About the meadow some of the trees were -burning clear to their tops, and great logs were blazing everywhere, but -the force of the fire was spent and had gone on past him and he was left -as on an island in midocean. - -It was far past noon. Perhaps the _patron_ would come today. He found -the shovel and dug up the buried tent with its precious contents and -made a hasty meal of bread and meat. Then, taking a piece of the meat -for the faithful Pancho, he struck out into the blackened area about him -to find the sheep which he had left to the dog's care that morning. - -He was very tired and his almost bare feet were badly cut and burned, -causing him to stop and rest frequently, but he finally reached the -granite ledge, and there found the sheep, with the dog watching their -every movement, and woe unto the ewe or venturesome lamb that attempted -to wander too far into the valley, for he was at its heels in a minute -to drive it back. - -That evening, about dark, two men rode into the upper end of the meadow. -The face of each was black and grimy with smoke and sweat. Their eyes -were red and swollen and their horses so tired they stumbled as they -moved. As they came out of the blackened area about the meadow and were -able to see across it the man in advance stopped his horse. - -"Lord, I do hate to think of leaving that poor little devil up here all -alone with them sheep," he said to his companion. "Naturally I hate to -think of losing the sheep, but to have him burnt up too is awful." - -Suddenly he straightened up in his saddle and rubbed his eyes. "Say, -Bill," he called, "is that a bunch of sheep there, or are my eyes -fooling me?" Before Bill could reply a dog barked and came racing toward -them. - -"Well, if it ain't Pancho as I'm a sinner," was the man's delighted cry. - -Then the tinkle of a sheep bell reached their ears. They spurred their -tired horses into a trot and soon reached the spot where once stood the -camp tent. In the dim light they saw a freshly dug hole with a tent -lying beside it, upon which was piled a miscellaneous assortment of food -and camping utensils, mutely telling the story of how the camp outfit -had been saved. - -Nearby on a pile of sheep skins and under an old blanket lay a boy -sleeping soundly. The eager barking of the dog and the heavy tread of -the horses awoke him, and with a start he sprang to his feet. His -clothing was a mass of mud, his face so black and tear-stained that it -was almost unrecognizable, but the sheepman sprang from his horse and -grabbed him in his arms with a strange choking in his throat he could -hardly conquer. - -"Why, Pablo boy, _muchacho mio_, how did you pull through this hell fire -and save yourself and the sheep too?" he asked, patting the dirty cheeks -and mud-filled hair. - -"The _patron_ told me to stay here till he returned," said the boy, -"there are all the sheep, the ten markers, the three _campanas_, and the -five _chivos_, that the _patron_ left with me. All are there." The -child's eyes glowed with the pride of accomplishment. - -"Bill," said the sheepman, "what's that little feller's name what we -used to recite about in school, him that did the stunt about standing on -the burning deck?" - -"You mean Casabianca?" - -"That's him, that's the chap. Say, Pablo"--his voice choked and he -swallowed hard before the words would come to his lips--"Pablo, you're -Casabianca all righty, and then some, for that little feller didn't save -his bacon by stayin' where he was tole to. You not only saved yours but -twelve hundred of the best ewes and lambs in the state besides. I'll -promise you that ole Santa Claus'll bring you somethin' mighty fine next -Christmas to pay you for this here job." - - - - -[Illustration] - -THE SHOOTING UP OF HORSE HEAD - -By permission _The Argonaut_, San Francisco, Cal. - - -The town of Horse Head had turned over a new leaf. There was to be no -more "shooting up" of the village. Patience ceased to be a virtue when -the "Cross J" outfit shipped their last train of steers, and everybody -in the gang came into town for a big time, which culminated in a general -"shooting up" of the place. - -The lights in all the saloons were bored full of holes, the solitary -street lamp-post, standing in front of the "Apache House"--and the pride -of the heart of the old woman who kept the place--was riddled over and -over again, and every woman in town scared into a fit of hysterics. Then -the town people rose up in their wrath and called on the marshal to put -a stop to it, or resign his office. - -Now Jenkins, the marshal, who held the position by virtue of his ability -to shoot quick and true, was something of a diplomat. He was not anxious -to have a row with any of the boys, if it could be avoided, and he was -still further anxious not to lose the confidence of the townspeople, a -nominating convention being due before long. Jenkins was a candidate for -sheriff on the Democratic ticket, and in Colorado County, a nomination -on that ticket was equivalent to an election. Accordingly, being of a -diplomatic turn of mind, as aforesaid, he decided that a little scheming -on his part might work to his advantage. To this end, he rode down to -the little cottonwood "bosque" a few miles below town, where the Cross J -outfit was camped, busily engaged in shoeing horses for another trip -into the mountains, and overhauling the wagon generally. - -The result of his visit was that he was authorized by the guilty -"punchers" to enter into negotiations with the town justice, and make -some sort of terms with him, based upon their pleading guilty and -promising good behavior for the future. All this Jenkins successfully -accomplished, and about three o'clock the next afternoon the wily -marshal rode into town accompanied by eight or ten of the boys. - -Being arraigned before the town barber, who upheld the dignity of the -law as justice of the peace, they gravely plead guilty to disturbing the -peace and dignity of the place, were fined one dollar and costs each, -which they promptly paid, with many promises of future good conduct. - -But alas for such promises! "Cow punchers is pore weak critters, shore," -old Dad, the cook, used to say; and before sunset that day every last -one of them, unmindful of promises or pledges, was again full of -enthusiasm and cheap whiskey. - -"Tex," the bartender at the "Bucket of Blood," had all their -six-shooters behind the bar, and for safety had slyly removed all the -cartridges and inserted empty shells in their place. - -About sunset the gang started for camp, their weapons returned to them -with many warnings from Tex not to shoot until clear out of town. They -mounted their ponies and struck out on a dead run down the main street, -whooping and yelling like a bunch of coyotes, but carefully refraining -from firing a shot. About half a mile below town, however, the white -"Yard Limit" sign of the railroad company was too good a mark for the -crowd to pass unchallenged. True, the heavy piece of boiler iron, some -thirty inches across, was pierced in a hundred places from previous -attacks, but a few more wouldn't hurt it, and Baldy Peters, the crack -shot of the camp, drew his revolver and, spurring his pony into a dead -run, took quick aim at the black spot in the center and pulled the -trigger. No answering shot came, and, although he tried all five of the -chambers (no true cowboy or frontiersman ever carries six cartridges in -his revolver) they were all silent. - -Baldy jerked his pony up on its haunches, and carefully examined the -cylinder. Sure enough every shell was there, but empty. Jack Gibson, who -had followed Baldy, had the same luck, and when the rest came up a -general investigation followed. It did not take them long to see that -they had been tricked by some one. Their indignation knew no bounds. -"Jes to think," said Big Pete, "s'posin' one of us ud a got inter a row, -and some blame town galoot had a drawed a gun on him, wouldn't he 'a' -been in a fine ole fix to 'a' jerked his 'hog-leg,' and nary a bean in -the wheel?" - -The more they thought about it the madder they got. Revenge they must -have. What its form, they scarcely knew, nor cared. Without more talk, -they all reloaded the weapons from their well-filled belts and turned -their horses' heads toward town, speculating as they rode along as to -just what they would do to show the town of Horse Head the danger of -monkeying with a cow puncher's weapons. As they rode, they hatched up a -plan, suggested from the fertile brain of Mac, the horse-wrangler, -which, they thought, if successfully carried out, would give them the -requisite amount of satisfaction for their wounded dignity. - -It was on Tex, the bartender, and Jenkins, the town marshal, that they -poured out the vials of their wrath. Who else than they would have -removed the cartridges from all those cylinders and replaced them with -empty shells? - -Now, they knew that Tex was the marshal's right-hand man when it came to -any trouble, and that, during the shipping season, when the outfits were -around town a good deal, each of them kept a horse in the corral back of -the "Bucket of Blood," ready for any emergency. Arriving in town, they -proceeded to get gloriously full again, while Tex and Jenkins, secure in -the knowledge of those empty shells they had placed in their revolvers, -enjoyed the fun and allowed them full play. - -Along toward ten o'clock the boys drifted down to the only restaurant in -Horse Head that kept open all night as well as all day. It was kept by -"Chinese Louie," an almond-eyed celestial who ran a store, restaurant, -wash-house, and the village photograph gallery, all under one long roof. - -Now, when a puncher gets into a restaurant, the only thing he craves is -ham and eggs. Of beef he has a surfeit. The menu of the round-up wagon -is coffee, bread, and meat three times a day, with awful regularity. -Therefore, the gang was soon busy, seated on high stools at the long -counter. After they had eaten their fill each wadded up his paper napkin -and fired it at the cook, lit a cigar from the case at the end of the -counter, and paid his bill. - -Then the fun opened by some one pulling a revolver and taking a shot at -the big kerosene lamp that hung from the ceiling. In an instant twenty -shots were fired; every lamp in the place was out and bored full of -holes; the fancy water cooler that sat in the corner was riddled; and -the coffee and tea pots on the big range behind the counter, as well as -a lot more tempting marks in the way of copper cooking utensils that -hung overhead on a rack, were turned into sieves. - -Poor Chinese Louie and his assistant lost no time in making themselves -scarce; and, after it got too dark, for want of lamp-light, to see to -shoot anything more, the now hilarious punchers swaggered out to their -ponies, standing quietly at the "snorting post" in front of the -restaurant, and with a parting volley up the main street toward the -"Bucket of Blood," rode furiously out of town. - -Instead of going straight on down the railroad track they turned sharp -to the left, at the first corner, and headed for the county bridge which -spanned the river at Horse Head, a wooden structure with huge beams -overhead, and some six or seven spans long. - -Just as they turned the corner out of the main street a couple of shots -whistled past the bunch, proving that Tex and the marshal were alive -and in pursuit. This was what the boys wanted, and they gave shrill -yells of defiance as they pounded through the heavy sand that covered -the road to the bridge. They slowed down a little along here to give -their pursuers a chance to catch up a little; and when the officers -announced their coming, by more shots, some of which came rather close -to the bunch of riders, they fired a few in reply, and thundered across -the bridge at full speed, in spite of the warning sign that promised all -sorts of fines and imprisonment for any one "riding across the bridge -faster than a walk." - -Along about the center span four of the boys, Baldy Peters, Jack Gibson, -Dutch Henry, and Long Jim, dropped from their saddles, their ropes in -their hands, and two on each side of the roadway, in the shelter of the -huge beams, hastily made loops in their ropes, and awaited the coming of -the two men. The rest of the gang clattered across the bridge with -shrill whoops, and out on to the hard rocky road beyond, with the four -loose horses following them, as if their riders were still on their -backs. - -Now, the four men on the bridge were the most skillful rope-tossers in -all that range. Rope-tossers, instead of swinging the rope around their -heads before throwing, spread it out behind and to one side of them, and -with a quick, graceful throw, or toss, launch it with unerring aim over -the head of the animal at which they throw. This method is used almost -entirely in catching horses out of the "cavyyard," and also in catching -calves out of a herd, as it is done so quietly and easily that the -animal is snared before it has a chance to dodge or move. - -Tex and the marshal were not quite so foolhardy or ignorant as to feel -that they could capture and arrest the crowd they were after, but the -marshal wanted that nomination in the fall, and felt it was a good -chance to make a "rep" for himself. Tex was to be his chief deputy, if -elected, so he was also eager to do something to prove his valor. Their -idea, therefore, was to make a sort of grandstand play, follow the boys -out a ways, fire a few shots after them at parting, and come back to -town. Hearing them rattle across the bridge and out over the rocky road -beyond, they feared no trap or ambush, and so kept riding in their wake, -firing a shot every few seconds, as much to show the townspeople what -they were up to, as anything else. - -As they passed the spot where the four boys were awaiting them, four -silent ropes settled down over the heads and shoulders of the luckless -officers of the law. Going at full speed as they were, there was no -chance to throw off those snakelike coils, and the two riders were -jerked backward over their horses' hips and landed heavily upon the hard -plank flooring of the bridge. - -The marshal's six-shooter went off into the air as he wildly threw up -his arms to clear his body of that python-like embrace, while the one -Tex held in his hands flew off into space and dropped into the muddy -waters below. Both men were stunned by the force of the fall, and lay as -if dead on the bridge; but no sooner had they struck than they were -promptly covered by the four men. - -The avengers first took their small "hogging ropes" (a short piece of -rope about six feet long, which every well regulated puncher carries, -either in his saddle pocket, or around his waist, to be used in tying -together the feet of any cow or steer he might have to tie down on the -ranges), and secured their prisoners' wrists firmly behind their backs; -then they took a lariat rope and wound it round and round the men's -bodies from shoulders to heels, so that moving their feet or arms was an -impossibility. To do this was not hard, for both men were stunned from -their fearful fall, and lay like logs, while the boys worked on them. - -The end of another lariat was passed through under their arms, around -the body, and tied in a "bow-line hitch" behind the back. The two -luckless officers were by this time regaining consciousness, and began -to curse and struggle, but to no avail. At first they feared they were -to be hung, and begged for their lives like good fellows; but as they -were swung off the edge of the bridge and found how they were lashed -with ropes, they pleaded even more fervently, for it looked as if the -boys meant to drown them like rats in a cage. All to no avail. The boys -never answered a word, but went ahead with their work, in the most -matter-of-fact way imaginable. The ropes, tied as they were, suspended -the men by the arms in such a way that they hung fairly upright, and -without any particular pain or suffering from them. - -Now, the water of the Puerco is about as vile-smelling and oleaginous -stuff as any one ever saw, tasted, or smelled; indeed, the offensiveness -of the water suggested the name of the river--"Nasty." Especially in -time of floods does it deserve its name. The water then is more like -thin gruel of a yellowish red color, and smells to Heaven. Into this -mess the conspirators slowly lowered the two officers of the law, -regardless of their prayers, entreaties, threats, or curses, of which -each of the two men poured out a liberal supply in tones to wake the -dead. - -A turn of the rope about one of the bridge rods served to check the -speed of their descent, and while Baldy Peters got over the railing and -down on to the stone abutment, that he might the better see how far to -lower the men, the rest held onto the ropes and let them down. - -Baldy, crouching low on the abutment, peered down into the darkness and -gave orders for the work, so that when the two ropes were tied to a rod, -each man was swinging in the water breast deep. He clambered back onto -the bridge, and the four punchers hastened out into the darkness after -the rest of the gang, who were waiting for them not far off. - -The next morning about daybreak, four horsemen rode out of the camp and -headed for the New Mexico line, across which they felt themselves -reasonably safe; for they well knew that the marshal would never follow -and bring them back to relate in court the way they outwitted him and -Tex. All they feared was that he would take a shot at them the first -time he got sight of them, as he certainly would have done had he ever -"met up with" either of the guilty four. - -The boys were "drifters," anyhow, as much at home in one place as -another, and good hands were always in demand on the ranches in those -days, so it mattered little where they brought up. - -As for the marshal and Tex, their first impression was that they were to -be lynched; then they thought that they were to drown, which was even -worse; finally, however, when they realized what the boys really meant -to do, their rage knew no bounds. The marshal would almost have -preferred to be hung, for he quickly foresaw that when they were -rescued, the ridicule the affair would cause throughout the county would -everlastingly kill his chances for any office. Had they been hung, or -even drowned, they would have been heroes, even though dead ones; but -this trick would turn a laugh against them as long as they lived. - -Luckily for the two unfortunates, right below the place from which they -were lowered, instead of the river running in its regular channel, there -was a great eddy, or swirl, where the water had cut a deep hole in the -sandy river bed. Here the water was quite deep and had but little -movement, except a slow circling motion. In this they swung at anchor, -from midnight until broad daylight. The water caused the ropes to shrink -and draw until they suffered a great deal where they cut into their -wrists, making it an utter impossibility for them to untie the knots, -although they worked diligently trying to get them loose in some way. -The water was cold and their limbs soon became so numb that they could -hardly move either hands or legs. They wore their voices out calling for -help. - -The boys, in lowering them down, had been cunning enough to fasten them -far enough apart so they could not aid each other to get loose, and -while from the motion of the water they occasionally bumped against one -another, they quickly drifted apart, as helpless as if in two -strait-jackets. - -About sunrise, a Mormon boy, belonging to a freighter outfit, which was -camped over in town, going out after the horses which had been taken -across the river the night before to graze, came whistling down the road -to the bridge, and started to cross. As soon as his footfalls were heard -on the flooring of the structure, the almost helpless men below roused -and began to call as loudly as they were able with their numb lips and -jaws chattering like castanets. It took him a minute or two to locate -the voices. - -The lad took one hasty look over the railing of the bridge, and, with a -shriek of horror, fled toward town as fast as his feet could carry him. -Here he told the first man he met that he had seen two bodies hanging to -the bridge, and a crowd was soon on the way to the river, expecting to -find the results of a vigilance committee suspended from the stringers. - -The two men were quickly pulled up on to the bridge and the ropes that -bound them like steel bands were cut from their bodies. Both men were so -stiff that they had to be carried to town, and the doctor and several -men worked over them for more than an hour trying to restore the -circulation in their stiffened limbs and almost frozen bodies. The story -of their capture set the whole town to laughing, and the more people -laughed, the more ridiculous the happening grew. Nor did it lose -anything in the telling and soon the entire county was also laughing -over the misfortunes of the two peace officers. Jenkins' chief political -opponent naturally made the most of it and under such conditions that -gentleman was literally laughed into political obscurity. - -About that time the Wells-Fargo Express Company feared a hold-up on the -railroad, and Jenkins and Tex, glad to leave the scene of their -water-cure adventure, secured positions as guards and soon dropped out -of polite society in Horse Head as represented by the gang around the -"Bucket of Blood" and its immediate vicinity. - -[Illustration: "_They gave the money to Jackson, the Cross J wagon -boss_"] - -The next time they came to town the "Cross J" boys chipped in a dollar -each and gave it to old "Dad," the cook, counted the luckiest "wheel" -player in the bunch, who took the coin and with a burst of good luck -soon ran it up to something over a hundred dollars at the roulette -wheel. This entire amount he gave to Jackson the wagon boss, who went -down to Chinese Louie's place, and poured it out on the counter before -the heathen's astonished eyes, as a peace offering from the "shoot 'em -up" crowd that had wrecked his place. - -That night about midnight Louie and his assistant set out to the boys -the very swellest "feed" his culinary abilities could prepare, and the -affair of the shooting up of Horse Head and the putting of the marshal -and his aid-de-camp to soak under the bridge in the cold nasty waters of -the Rio Puerco was thus amicably settled over the viands that the -Chinaman furnished. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - - - - - Transcriber's notes: - - The following is a list of changes made to the original. - The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. - - she's a-grazin' and' it's a sure shot the calf's hid away in - she's a-grazin' an' it's a sure shot the calf's hid away in - - It was the end of the road for the blue roan. - It was the end of the road for the blue-roan. - - like videttes on guard over the canon. - like videttes on guard over the caņon. - - deep box canons impassable for miles. - deep box caņons impassable for miles. - - It brought very man in camp to his feet, for high above - It brought every man in camp to his feet, for high above - - the Little Colorado River 'bout the mouth of the Canon - the Little Colorado River 'bout the mouth of the Caņon - - "I'll never miss them spurs, said Bob pointing to an - "I'll never miss them spurs," said Bob pointing to an - - steer round up" he asked of the new comer. - steer round up?" he asked of the newcomer. - - burst from my eager lips." - burst from my eager lips. - - I sent one of the boys back with the hoss, an tole him to - I sent one of the boys back with the hoss, an' tole him to - - "Then the captain he sort of grins an' sez. 'That's - "Then the captain he sort of grins an' sez, 'That's - - Then the captain, he bein' a fine old sojer man, with - "Then the captain, he bein' a fine old sojer man, with - - iver seen in all his life. 'Twas sure no fault wid thim steers - iver seen in all his life. ''Twas sure no fault wid thim steers - - of the Stars and' Stripes a-flyin' overhead. I was busy - of the Stars an' Stripes a-flyin' overhead. I was busy - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Tales from the X-bar Horse Camp, by Will C. 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